Plan on getting it.

From the title Im sure you know what Im going to go on about, sorry if you are a sick of these threads. I am a Final Fantasy XI and World of Warcraft Veteran and big fan. I stopped playing these games recently (well FFXI a long while ago) as I had reached the level cap in WoW and FFXI was too hard. I stopped it because I couldnt afford the monthly fee.

I basically chose this MMORPG as my next choice since I hear it has no fees to play online once you bought it. (right?!)
Well I was wandering what I would expect when I get this game? Will it be better then WoW? World of Warcraft is a magnificent game and Im sad to leave it. But I am now looking for a cheaper alternative for fun. So will guild wars provide a funner experience then my past games? Also are the party roles pretty strict; For example I take it the monk class is like the "white mage or preist" but can he do some damage?
Also is the Warrior always the "tank"? Does this game follow traditional MMORPG party rules (which is no real problem). Also the level cap is 20 - I take it, it will be hard to train between levels; or has it a different level up experience.
Aaaaaand, are there europian servers?

Sorry for the Q&A, but I cant get this from a FAQ, only from an experience player. Hope to play with some of you soon!

oh boy.

NOT AN MMORPG

no crafting fishing or other usual stuff.

however no

ganking
loot stealing
campers
etc.

hit the 20 cap in 20-30 hours and that is early in the game.

professions are hard to have a crippled build and fast to fix.

a monk/? can be anything from a healer or smiter or a healer that can smite.

an elementalist/monk can be a healer or burner or both with tradeoffs.

phone ringing

there's no monthly fee..wich is great

guild wars has a variety of possibilities, pve, pvp, farming, etc.

let's say WoW was new york and GW is Miami...
WoW is big and cold, GW is warm and relaxing...

to train to level 20...you don't really have to..just follow the story line, and you'll end up level 20 about midway...

there are 3 "realms" , european , american, and korean...but if you have an american friends, you can always hop over to international districts to play with them...so there's no way you cannot play with someone else who has GW...

on the warrior tanking..most of the time he is the tank, because he's pretty ..bad at other stuff

Warriors tank, cry and spam alot, and calls people noobs.

I take it this is mainly a pvp game? Im not a fan of pvping mid game I see it only as the dessert at the end game. Will I be able to play Pve and still enjoy the game.

Yes, I know I do. Also the game is focused on both pve and pvp with attention to both being equal.

i am PVE only and do not PVP at all.

i still have over 900 hours played since april 27 release.

the PVE is threadbare at the moment but i expect the next chapter (due 1st half 06) with chapters following about every 6 months will fix that.

each chapter will have new content about equal to the entire original game (cost as well) so do not consider chapter 2 as an expansion.

consider it a complete new adventure your existing character (s) can go on or try out new professions that come with chapter 2.

the first official new profession is ASSASSIN

this is a game you play for the fun of it and then put it on the shelf until you feel like it again.

you can leave as alevel 20 in a level 20 world, read a book play something else or whatever.

when you come back you will not be a level 20 in a level 40 world trying to catch up with people who have kept playing while you did something else.

this game is just getting started and you will *finish* it before the next chapter comes out.

however they are constantly balancing or adding new content here and there so it looks promising.

if you feel that the game *owes* you unlimited new content and play 4-8 hours a day this game is not for you.

EXAMPLE

one person spent over 12 hours a day for a short time did everything he wanted then complained that he only got 500 hours of playtime for his 50 bucks and claimed robbery and complained bitterly

this is MMORPG very lite at the moment.

also the max in a party (for now) is 8 persons and you will not meet random groups of people except in towns/outposts which are open air areas and not a inside tavern etc.

i am having more fun on this than any game so far but that is me and everybody is different

to me it is a great big playground with a few sandboxes (PVP ARENAS) here and there.

PVP is only in arenas so you can avoid it completely (as i do)

To the OP:

You don't have to ever PvP in this game just like in WoW, it's soley by your choice.

Mind you, the PvE experience here won't be comparable to Wow<--I didn't start WoW when it first came out, acutally not until recently but I can tell you that it probably wont live up to what you're used to. Graphics will surprize you in comparison for certain but you will loose ALLOT of the options you are accustomed to.
Having said that - Tanks are tanks in this game...no other choice really. Monks can do damage but with recent updates have had that hampered a bit in terms of them soloing but it's still feasible in allot of places.

It won't take you long to reach the level 20 cap nor the end game content and at this point, unlike your previous game, they don't continue to add high level areas etc. to keep you interested but you would benefit from the fact that chapter two is coming around April'ish.

Some of your questions have in my opinion been answered very well, some not too well:

Is GW better then WoW; I say yes, some say no, that's your own opinion.

Some have answered it is strictly, but it's not really. I think the paladin in WoW is more forced to be a tank then a warrior. But yeah, most warriors are used as a tank, you can play a totally different warrior if you want.
But about 95% will expect if you are a monk, you are a protection/healing monk. This doesn't mean you can't be a smiter, it will just take a little more time to find a group for missions.

In this game, level doesn't mean everything and you will level up rather fast, and if you follow the storyline and don't get run, you will never be left out of a group because of your level.

Yes there are, but you can switch to any server in the game. What you should also know, if you aren't english, you can in europe also go in:
German server, Spanish server, Italian server and French server.

Hope this helped you a little.

lol. Not all of them. Like me.
But mainly true...

GW cant really compare to WoW as just another duplicate mmo, it is an original idea built on the foundation of an mmo, and it can be just as fun and entertaining as WoW... of course dont forget the best part: no monthly fees.

There are a few other differiences:

You can only play human and an ascalon, capter 2 will have other races, so I assume there will be new armor skins.

Unlike other games (SW:Galaxies) you only play a good guy, unless the mission allows it. One of the winter quest was this.

This game is mission and story based. You have to play the story, you can skip parts of the story, but then some of the things you do will not make sense. So I suggest you take your time with your first character, you can skip around for the rest.

IMO some will say that class X is better than Y. Lets say you start of with a warrior, a good solid class, I have seen warrior walk away from a dozen monsters pounding on them thinking the are the greatest and then drop dead from one low armour mesmer (hex magic, that ignores armor) and wondered "WTF!!!", each one has it's strengths and weaknesses, wich I am not going into here, there are other forums for that. As far as are the classes restricitve: each has it's own set of skils and armor, for instace a warrior with high armor and low energy will struggle with the enrgy requirement for healing and a monk with really low armor and meduim enrgy won't survive long enough to tank.

Warrior, is a good beginnig character, the high armor means that you can afford to make mistakes.

So this is what GW really is: an interative story, so it can be a little restrictive, because you have to play with in the confines of the story. Also since it is a story, you can take time off with out have to worry to much about what you have missed or where every one else will be when you come back.

The story mode is the part I like. I like to know that all this killing has a point, an end. Some day when I can put up my armor and weapons and tell stories of killing monster X and saving the world.

Untill chapter 2!!

Warriors are one of the best damage per second wise. Next to a ranger of course. Or above. I can't remember which of those two is the best.

Just buy the game, there arent any monthly fees. What do you have to lose ?

Buy it, play it, when it gets boring, stop.
Then buy chapter 2, play it, when it gets boring stop.
At 5 cents an hour for your enjoyment or something it's hard to argue with.

If you end up enjoying PvP you'll get even more playtime out of it, but I'd have trouble believeing most people didn't get a good 200+ hours of fun out of it, I'm on about 800 hours so far. Don't expect an MMORPG, it isn't anything like one - it's an action RPG in a beautiful but somewhat linear 3d setting. It looks very MMO, but it isn't. Interacting with 7 other people for hours at a time doesn't say MMO to me, and the RPG part is only there as much as D2 was an RPG - you develop a character, but there is no backstory for you, no jobs, no hobbies, nothing like that.

about the 'white mage' to monk thing...

(granted, i havent played the online ff game, but i have played all the others)

monks are closest to whitemage, but with a bit of fighting added...make a mixture of monk and fighter of you want to get the most attack from your whitemage type.

closest to blackmage is the elementalist. what wit their element attacks ^^
although, the fire/ice lightning/water thing does not apply here, unfortunately.

mesmer and necro have some of both whitemage and blackmage skill types.
some mesmer skills absorb hp/mp and some of the necro skills are like bio.
the only sumoning is necro and its bone minions from bodies.

true, theres pve and pvp, and some like one and others like both.
its like.....pve is the main game, and pvp is....gold saucer's arena ^^

(and yeah, if it wasnt p2p, i would have considered ff online...till i heard that they REALY! dont like people that play alone..sheesh>.<)

The damage is the same, this difference is in the weapon skill level. Warrior skill "strenth" does add damage, and ranger skill "expertise" lowers the amount needed for the skill.

axe: 16-68
sword:15-22
hammer: 20-35, but I'm not sure on this one
bow: 16-28
staff/wand: 15-22

Warrior armor allows new palyers to stumble into an aggro ambush and maybe live to walk away, a new caster, the only question will be one hit or two.

Rangers are a good all around player, medium armor, good damage dealers.

Fixed.

I repeat, Warriors are hands down the best damage dealers in the game.

Thanks, I don't play my warrior much, so I was going on memory.

Umm, sure they are...

When they aren't blind, crippled, weakened, slowed, attacking a target with evasion, with adrenaline draining and so on, attacking high AL foes... yeah, they're pretty good damage dealers, but I'd never imply that they did the most. The most against a AL60 target that doesn't move over a minute, maybe.

Warriors are big damage dealers when they can connect, and if they haven't been rendered ineffective. There are unfortunately many ways to render a warrior ineffective, so you hope you have a monk cleaning your conditions and removing the hexes.

I finished the game long ago. There are a lot of things to do after you "finish" the main story.

You can build up elite skills for quite some time. Special runes also add to your players abilities. Armour maxes out at a reasonable price, but you can buy more aesthetically pleasing armour for a lot more money. There is a special ultimate armour, that is very difficult to afford, and a challenge to obtain. It has no special power, but it is quite noticeable among other players.

There are several areas that are for advanced players that are quite challenging where special weapons, armour, and items can be found. Wealth accumulation is something to work on.

Also, you can have multiple characters that you can use for different situations or needs of your particular quest or what your guildmates need from you.

It has kept me quite interested for a longer time than any game in years.

Some differences between this game and WoW:

Instant transportation, once you have been somewhere in GW you are a mouseclick away.

No lag. All content is instanced so when you enter a gaming zone, you and your party are the only players there. No griefing/ganking. Some find this lonely in GW. I think its great because you dont run into the random utter idiots that all these games are full of (other than those you may have the misfortune to be teamed with).

Not equipment intensive. No raids for uber loot. Any expensive gear in GW is expensive for looks only. Cheap gear that anyone can get works just as well as expensive gear, no stat differences with very few exceptions and the exceptions arent uber.

PvP is much better in GW. GW includes a metagame unlike anything in WoW whereby you try to unlock skills to build better more diverse pvp characters. Once you play through the game a couple times and naturally unlock skills that way, you can create a variety of different types of pvp characters. You can build skill with different classes much faster than you can in WoW.

All that said, the player base and general skill level in GW is as bad as WoW. This causes skilled players to either adopt a condescending or elitist attitude making it hard for good players who are still learning to participate in pvp with the better players. There are so many horrible players in the game that decent players don't want to waste time cultivating good newer players.

With respect to class balance, go to the WoW forums and look at all the infinite crying about how x class is weak or x class is uber. A nonissue in GW because after playing a couple months, you can roll up anything you want for pvp instantly, and balance in GW is generally better IMO. WoW designers are of the EQ school where everything is about camping better gear to be better than those without that gear. GW gives everyone the same gear and rewards thinking and skill more than loot camping.

I think GW is an excellent game whereas I thought WoW was mediocre at best. I played WoW for a year and had high level characters but will never go back.

Oh but of course. Having a class with the best AL as well as best damage has to have its drawbacks. They have to be the front line being the up close and personal when it comes to battle, so it would make sense they have the best AL. Then of course the damage a warrior can deal is directly countered by the illusion line which is specifically targeted to counter the class. Then again there are counters for that as well, and counters for that counter and so on. ArenaNet done a pretty top notch job of keeping this game balanced.

People in PvE tend to have the mentality that Warriors are tanks because of their superior damage sponging ability to any other class. It unfortunately also carries over into the Competition Arenas where we get the 'uber' W/Mo's with mending and a fiery dragon sword. It's a pity that an Axe and Hammer are superior when it comes to damage dealing. I quite like the look of swords myself.

If we are going to talk about the different classes, it really is about personality.

For instance I have played all of the characters, and I only really enjoy playing my ranger. I like my warrior, my monk is ok, I appreciate the power of my necro's skills, my mesmer has by best searing record 11-1, and elemental sould spam flare and take some one out faster than any thing else (searing 9-0).

The good thing about the pre, the tutorial, is that it can be done in a good couple of hours. You can create a character, play it, fun right out of the box, if you don't like it, feel free to delete and start over.

Just to let you know, dont expect this to be "WoW without subs". This is a different game and you will like/dislike it for different reasons.

But whatever you do, have fun

if you got bored because you leveled out in wow...then expect to get bored here quickly.
if you want to have a different mmo experience, then play gw and enjoy it

lets not say wow is new york b/c new york is big but only cold in the winter (obviously)
lets replace the "new york" with "alaska" or even better, "canada" because those are actually cold most of the time.

If you could afford a monthly fee for WoW, just buy it. There is nothing to lose because if you don't like it, you don't pay monthly

These numbers are (very) incorrect. The real figures are
Axe: 6-28
Sword: 15-22
Hammer: 19-35
Bow: 15-28
Staff/wand: 11-22.

And to the person who says it takes 20-30 hours to reach level 20, I also don't think this can be right, or at least, very hard to do without power leveling. I rushed my warrior to get to level 20, and it took around 30 hours. I did the missions up to The Wilds, then got bored and rushed to Ascension (of course, I went back and finished it all up though ). Doing most of the quests and all of the missions with probably leave you with around 50-60 hours to reach max level and probably around 110 hours to finish the game with most quests done.

Well in guild wars there is an unofficial name for a monk. A W/MO that wields a sword. A character can be a hero just by utilizing 2 classes. Example

E/MO= Cleric
W/MO= Paladin
R/E That uses an element and beast mastery= A retarded druid that cannot transform

See what I'm gettin at? Its my preference for Guild Wars over World of Warcraft. But I'll let you decide as you are the buyer.

Canada? People who confuse Canada with Antartica and think we live in fricken igloos and ride beavers to work annoy me. However to us hockey is a tradition. Just like your inferior football. Which you stole off the English. Call the real football "football" and your imaganary sport Pacalap or something. I don't care. Just go eat a shirt of laundry or something. SHUT UP!



-:EDIT= Sorry bout double post :/ :-

I can't really say I can compare Gulid Wars and World of Warcraft with true accuracy. In my eyes, they are two different games. Yes, there are similarities, as both the games allow the player to get their characters to progress through the game,-kill things-. and make yourself feel uber.
Guild Wars (to me) is mostly about completing the storyline and PvP with others.

On the other hand, though I havn't played much much of it, WoW is based on making yourself the best while completing the storyline in the game. Or so it seemed, after I played for a few weeks at my friends house.

You can't really ask "Will it be better than WoW?", as it is completely based on playing styles. I say Guild Wars is better, because it fits my style of play for some strange reason. I have nothing against WoW, I do believe it's a great game, I just hope that you (Threadstarter), will enjoy Guild Wars with all your gaming time as much as you have enjoyed World of Warcraft.

And regarding the comment on Canada's temperatures..it's not really that cold..We had what..two snowflakes drop this winter here in Vancouver? Comparing the USA and Canada is like comparing Guild Wars and WoW..don't knock it unless you've tried it.

Funny how that works out.