If you install Guild Wars for one campaign from CD, it counts for all of them, right?

I ask this question because I KNOW (from experience) Guild Wars loads slower when you download the client from the website instead of installing it by CD.

I need to know this b/c I want to buy a campaign by acess key (cheaper) instead of buying the whole thing (Cd and case). I have one campaign installed by CD, and I want to know whether or not it will matter if I actually have the CD of the new campaign I want to buy.

I have nightfall and want factions, so if I bought the CD of factions and put it in my computer, what would happen? would anything load at all or would nothing happen because I already have the guild wars client?

I don't think the client is campaign specific but I want to be sure, because on this EotN weekend I did the trial and downloaded some content... and it was SLOW, much slower than if I was loading any unexplored location in nightfall.

you need to have the game installed and the access-key on your account to go onto other campaigns and/or EotN.

I know its a complicated post and question but plz read it before replying :P ty

The client is not campaign-specific. Everybody uses exactly the same game client, and it is the access kets attached to your playing account that determine the game content that you can play.

The CDs that come with the game only contain the basic data required to install the game client on your computer. As a result, it doesn't matter if you have a game CD or not. If you have already installed the game client, you can ignore the CD that comes with the game and just add the access key to your account.

There is also a reason why EN tends to download slower - when there's a higher load on the servers, download rates decrease. EN is a very busy area with a lot of players coming in and running around (even more so since the level requirement was decreased) so it's not surprising that the EN sections of the game are downloading slower.

Here's the key - while the client *does* contain all the info for every campaign, it still needs to download any information on areas it hasn't already gotten. Thus, while the prophecies cd can install the game, and you can go to any other campaign that's unlocked on your account, you still have to download those maps/textures/etc when going to a new area. A way around this is to use the -image command when you run the game, and that will force a full download off all the content, maps, textures, etc. It is a very long download, but afterwards it will just read from your hard drive instead of downloading anything that's new. Once you have the info on your hard drive, then that stuff is what is used instead of trying to download it.

I think the answer is no, but you need to be more specific. Most of the game is pictures and textures, and you have to get those whenever you install a new campaign, either by downloading or from the CD.

Do you mean the speed that new maps are downloaded, or the speed that the game runs? Defragmenting your hard drive might make the game run faster, but I don't think downloading the game will slow that part down.

Everything on the CD has to be downloaded, so using a CD will speed that up, but only once.

edit - in that case, I guess I'm wrong. It's been an awfully long time. Your question is really confusing, though.

Im talking about the speed the new maps are downloaded, b/c when I play with the downloaded client everything loads WAY slower than if I had installed, I think toutatus gave a clear answer, one set of game disks is the only thing you need, not multiple.

Lol srry i had to write my question in such a roundabout way, but its mostly because there is no terminology reffering to it because no one brings it up much. I guess its simplified to: If I DL the client from one game disk for the game to run smoothly, do I need another game disk for a new campaign to run smoothly?

I have all the campaigns on cd and there has never been a need to run through an install with all the disks.

I made this mistake when I bought a new hard disk.
Installed Prophesies then factions then nightfall, I really saw little difference in the size of the data file as the install continued.
There was still a heap of updates "as expected" when the installs were finished.

Unless there is a bargain price boxed set in the store you should probably buy online as you planned.
I like boxes and artwork so I got the games from a computer store but then Im a traditionalist.

Once you add the key it would make sense to use the -image command mentioned in many threads to fully update the game before playing in any new areas.

Use the the -image command as mentioned above,You have to download the content, maps, textures, etc. any way might as well do it once and be over it.
Depending on your conection this may take a couple of hours but belive me it is still worth it.

I believe your best bet would be the EotN disc if you don't like DL'ing.