I hate making newbie threads

But I feel inclined to before I jump out and purchase GW. I have some questions that maybe some of you would be willing to answer.

I was checking out some GW gameplay videos and was wondering, is GW similar to SWG in its look and feel in-game? For some reason I got that impression, but granted the majority of the videos I saw definitely weren't high quality.

Coming from a decent line of MMOs, from SWG beta until they ruined it with holocron grinding, FFXI from NA release to ToAU, CoH and CoV until my fingers bled, and WoW from beta all the way up until Sunwell (I just handed in my stripes and called it quits), GW looks like a welcome break from the norm. From what I've seen, there doesn't seem to be much competition with high level farming spots (UW I guess is popular?), much like FFXI had. Is this true, or do the good farming spots get just as congested and competitive in GW?

How is the soloing gameplay? One of the great things of WoW, that everyone pretty much agrees with, is its ability to keep someone busy with solo quests. Although the rewards pale in comparison to what might drop from a nightly raid, they are a decent source of income and absolutely crucial to grinding. Is GW similar to this, completely different, or is the question just retarded and not worth answering?

Lastly, with all the expansions, which ones are necessary, etc? If I wanted to be an Assassin, which is from the Factions expansion I believe, would that profession be available if I just went out and purchased GW and Nightfall, but not Factions? In other words, are all professions included in later expansion releases? And isn't it about time a gold GW was released with every expansion included, if it doesn't exist already, because I haven't seen one yet?

Well, I appreciate any time you've spent on reading this. I'm a gamer that's in need of something fresh. I'm spent on WoW, FFXI has gotten mind-numbingly boring, and SWG is the punch-line to 80% of all internet-based gaming jokes. CoH and CoV is actually kind of fun, for 10 minutes, and then those base-raiding memories make you remember why you quit.

I'm sure there are hundreds of you out there that are identical to me, tired of the same old pay $15 a month crud out there. So, whatcha think, is this the game for someone like me?

Thanks again!

Welcome to Guild Wars! (if you're going to get it, that is >_>).

As for your question about farming, Guild Wars has an instance set up just like WoW instances/raids. However, Guild Wars is different in the fact that every single place except for outposts is instanced. Because of this, you can solo a place and not have to worry about anyone else bothering you.

Bringing up the topic of soloing, you'll actually be doing a lot of partying. This doesn't mean that you'll have to play with people though, as there are NPC's called Henchmen with a set amount of skills to help you. Along with that, if you have Nightfall or Eye of the North, you also get Heroes which are basically Henchmen, but you can customize their skills yourself.

And yes, a lot of aspects of Guild Wars require campaigns (expansions) to use. Prophecies has Warriors, Rangers, Monks, Necromancers, Elementalists, and Mesmers (the core proffesions), Factions has the core proffesions along with Assassins and Ritualists, and Nightfall has the core proffesions along with Dervishes and Paragons.

All in all, it's pretty hard to get bored with Guild Wars for a long time due to the vast amount of things that you can do. Tired of your current skill set-up? No problem, just buy a few other skills and change it around to do something completely different. Tired of PvE? Make a PvP character (which automatically starts at the max level) and try out PvP without taking a ton of time. The list goes on and on XD.

If you do end up getting Guild Wars I hope you enjoy it! Also, you can contact me (my main character is Destromath Warrior, and most of my characters go by Destromath <proffesion>) if you need help with anything.

I've never played SWG, so I can't help you there.

There is only moderate competition, if any, and that is only for getting a group. It is rather easy to get a group, you just have to find out what skills to bring. Unfortunately, alot of people won't party with you unless you have a specific build. But once you get that group there won't be any competition between other groups, as Guild Wars is completely instanced, so once your group leaves the town you won't encounter anyone else until you return.

Soloing is different than other MMOs I've played. Very rarely can a single character handle anything outside of the beginning areas. Because of that, if you can't/don't want to party with anyone else, you are able to bring Henchmen (pre-set NPCs) and Heroes (customizable NPCs) with you to help out. Certain groups of monsters and certain bosses can be solo-farmed with various builds, but you can't really find a build that can do entire missions or quest all alone.

There are three campaigns and one expansion. The campaigns are stand alone, so you only need to purchase one to play. Prophecies is the first campaign, and allows you to make the "core" professions (Warrior, Monk, Ranger, Mesmer, Elementalist, and Necromancer). Factions is the second, and allows you to make the core professions in addition to the Assassin and Ritualist. Nightfall, the third, allows the core professions as well as the Dervish and Paragon. Without Factions you cannot make the Assassin or Ritualist and without Nightfall you cannot make the Dervish or Paragon. The expansion (Eye of the North) doesn't provide any new classes and is not stand alone. (Side note: Only Nightfall and EotN get the Heroes mentioned above)

A couple of my favorite aspects of Guild Wars are the liquidity and the lack of grinding. Once you pick your primary profession you cannot change that, but you can always change your secondary profession, attribute points, and skill set up at any time (as long as you are in an outpost). This way you can run one build, get bored, load another, and fight with that build, very quickly and at no charge at all (unlike the skill points in WoW). As for the lack of grinding, in Guild Wars the level cap is 20, which one can easily get in a day or two if wanted, but that isn't the end of the character. This just brings you on par with everyone else, so player skill determines who is better, more than time played.

Well, I hope this helped you out in your decision on whether or not to get Guild Wars.

Try to get a trial key from here.

Guild Wars has a completely different playing style and you might not like it.

Dont even bother trying the links Buzzer pasted .. they dont work.. Believe me I've been trying for 3 weeks to get a trail key ... It's 3 weeks, and 5 posts later ... Guess what still no trial key.

You'll have to go out and buy the game to see if you like it

Ok, didn't know that. I guess the people helping in that thread have run out of keys.

You could have avoided the whole newbie thread by reading Frequently Asked Questions

~closed~