Torn between retailers

Let me first introduce myself. I've been playing Guild Wars for quite sometime now but because of school my play time has been minimal compared to you other hardcore gamers. The thing about Guild Wars that really captivates me is the amount of variety that the game provides. Some may argue other wise, but I like it better than WoW where all you do is grind and spam the same skills.

When I started out with Prophecies, life was good. Everyone was happily trying to get to Ember Light Camp, we did Flint runs, etc. Well, to my disbelief, Factions came out. Being a student, money was somewhat hard to come by. And for those who would argue I could go to work and what not, when you go to a private school, money and time isn't something that you just toss around. Then to further my disappointment, two more expansions came out.

I figured, "Maybe I'll just ignore them, I still can enjoy Prophecies right?" Wrong...when a game as good as this one is, it's really hard to ignore flashy skills and new armors and new areas, especially when you're an avid gamer .

I'm a Graphic Designer and I just finished a commission for a band shirt. I figure I could rake in a good amount of money. Also I have a couple of bucks for selling my Starcraft and Starcraft: Brood War CD's. I was hoping of getting Factions, Nightfall or Eye of the North, but to my speculation, they were expensive...well in my terms.

Let's do some math.

In the Guild Wars store, in the log in screen, the price of Factions, Nightfall and EoTN are $39.99, $49.99, and $39.99 respectively. The total of them all would be $129.97. I'm pretty sure I cannot get that much money so I figured, maybe I'll buy one campaign at a time and play through them. Also, if I buy it from there I get the game instantly added to my account. But still, it's pretty damn expensive.

Then there's good 'ol Gamestop, your local gaming store. They have something special I like to call Guild Wars: Factions Platinum Edition, Factions and EoTN for the price of one! $39.99. Couple that with Nightfall ($39.99) and you get a hefty $79.98. Now I think I have a $20 gift card for there too, but I'm not sure if their gift cards expire or not... But still, way better than the $129.97. Plus, as a huge retailer, they're pretty reliable.

Now here's the real sucker. Amazon. It's probably the first actual time I've went in and looked for something there. I saw some really good pricess on Guild Wars games. For example, Factions was down at $18.99 on Sunday but it rose to $21.99 on Monday. Then I took a look at these 3rd party retailers. I totaled up my cart and got a total of $48.90 for all 3! Anyways, I do have a couple of questions for you users. 1. Is Amazon reliable on delivery and quality? 2. How does Amazon's 3rd party retailing service work? If I buy something from say CD-Rom USA and NothingButSoftware will they both arrive on the same day?

So what I'm wondering now is:

1. How reliable do you think these sources are?
2. Should I spread out and buy one at a time or act quickly and get good deals?
3. I've tried all but EoTN and I know their learning curves, is there somethings I should consider about those three?
4. How much did you spend and do you think it was a good deal?

That's all. Feel free to answer what ever you feel like and thanks for any feedback from you guys. This is such a great community.

Oh and sorry for the length. My brain is always set to "essay writing mode".

i've seen factions and nitefall for $29.99 a piece
and eotn for $9.99

btw factions platinum edition is proph+factions...
not factions+eotn

so i really hope u dun make teh mistake of purchasing that
since u already own proph

but i'd prolly buy 1 at a time, until u complete that

eotn @ $9.99 would be ur cheapest bet to start off with
but it doesnt have as much content as factions or nf

u'll find that its much more grind-based than teh other games

personally, factions is my fave campaign
u'll prolly enjoy both the sin and rit classes
(much more enjoyable than derv or para imo)

Thanks a lot for that.

What do you consider of Nightfall? I heard its really long and some what boring?

nitefall is the most "refined" campaign..
its presentation and quality r very polished
but imo lacks great depth

u get heroes, which can be either good or bad, depending if u like to play by urself or wit other ppl

the story line missions offer a wide variety...
but in terms of storyline, it does tend to drag a bit
as well theres a bit of confusion many times where u'll aks urself "wut next?"

derv and para can kind of be fun at first, but can get boring imo
they're kind of limited in the builds they can play

it does have a lot of content though
and a ton of sidequests to keep you busy
multiple storyline paths, etc
if u like pve, its definatelly got nuff to keep ur interest goin


oh, btw do u like pve or pvp more?

factions = pvp campaign
nitefall = pve campaign
eotn = also pve (but more grind based)

also wut kind of charas do u like to play?
i can give u an idea of wut skills u'll find fun for each class in each campaign

Do some shopping.

Check out your local Best Buy, Circuit City, Gamestop, and other such stores. Maybe even look in the "Not quite mainstream gamestore" You might even be lucky enough to find collectors editions for less than retail.

Online is convenient but not instant. You have to wait for it to arrive, and you must make sure the shipping costs don't drive the price beyond what you could get just by going to a local store.

As for the 3rd parties from Amazon. I haven't done any business with CD-Rom USA, but I have used NothingButSoftware and they have been fine with no problems.

I'm consider both actually. I love PvE for getting Elites and following the story. But everyone knows that the end result is PvP, I mean that's where are the fun is.

My favorite character is the ranger, but you're right, I tried the assassin and that was pretty kick ass. But my primary characters from Prophecies was Ranger and Elementalist. I love their skills. One thing I look forward to in Factions is the minion master Necros

If you think fairly certain you're going to maintain interest in the game for a good while then I'd get the deal from Amazon for all three. Its a pretty good price and Amazon are generally reliable (often they are offer some of the better deals avilable too), even their third party stores. You won't get it as quick as buying direct from GW, but then it costs a lot less. Besides you've waited this long a short delivery wait shouldn't be too much of a problem. It would be worth quickly scouting out some other online retailers first though, just in case there are some better prices.

If cost is your prime concern, don't buy direct from GW. I did get EotN like that, but I have to say I feel its a real rip-off when they are not even having to send out cases and discs, etc. They should encourage people to buy direct from them like that by making it cheaper.

With all 3, you'll get access to all the extra classes (Dervish, Ritualist etc) and heroes and extra bonuses that EotN brings. This should hugely expand your playing world and keep you busy for a long time.

Factions, theres much more to do.

I think something was left unsaid above and it needs to be addressed. Amazon itself is highly reliable. I've bought many many books and cds from them and they always arrive a few days later in perfect condition.

However, you mentioned Amazon 3rd party shops. This IS NOT the same as Amazon. These are regular folks selling used versions of books/movies/etc similiar to eBay. Guild Wars cannot be sold used. If you buy it used then you are just getting ripped off. If you do buy from Amazon, I'd recommend buying directly from Amazon and getting a brand new copy. If going with 3rd party then you need to be absolutely certain you are buying a new unopened copy and not a used game.

Obviously. However, I do like how Amazon deals with these 3rd party retailers by stating next to their product if it's new or used.

Thanks for all your feedback guys. I think I'll go with Amazon for now.

This should be emphasized. When you buy Guild Wars, the ONLY thing that is important is the access key, and that can only be used for 1 account and can never be transferred. The Disks are all useless, if you have the access key you can download the Guild Wars client and get the whole game from Anet. So if they key has already been used, you will not be able to play.

If you buy from the gw store you don't get any kind of cd or packaging (which means if you have to reinstall it you got a LONG download ahead.)

Might as well check out the stores in your area. One thing to beware of from amazon is if you're buying it from people, make sure it's a sealed unused copy - if you buy a used copy the cd key won't work and you'll be out of luck.

As far as your questions about Amazon and its reliability, always check the individual you're purchasing from... that goes for any online auction database such as eBay or Amazon. My experiences with both have been very pleasant and my brother does a great deal of online shopping through Amazon and has never been cheated. In the detail of the product when you're buying a Guild Wars game, you want to make ABSOLUTELY sure it SPECIFICALLY says it's never been opened. If the access key is used then it's a waste. I'm sure you can find some legitimate deals there, just check the user's ratings and last few comments (and last few negative comments if available - just to see where if at all they've erred) and you should be safe.

As far as choosing a campaign, generally speaking, Nightfall and Prophecies have more skill options for both PvE and PvP. That doesn't necessarily mean better gameplay in either PvE or PvP, it just means that often Prophecies and Nightfall skills are preferred. Concerning gameplay, I don't feel as though Factions really provided an enhanced PvP experience. Granted, Cantha is my favorite continent and Assassin is my favorite class, but overall, Nightfall has a longer campaign with more challenges, more space, and a larger elite area than Factions. From just reading your post you seem like a PvE kind of guy, so I'm suggesting Nightfall.

As for pricing, if you don't decide to go online or use a gift card somewhere, I know Target nationwide lowered prices of all Guild Wars stand-alone campaigns. I believe last time I saw Nightfall was $34.99 (from $49.99), so that's a notable savings from buying at the former retail price.

GW:EN... oh dear. In my opinion unless you can pick it up for the lucky low price of $9.99 at Target (which I'm sure sold out pretty quickly at that price) it's not worth it. You can go through the primary quests and dungeons rather quickly if you know what you're doing, and they don't offer as much variety as I know I was hoping for. If you're going to get into title hunting, GW:EN would be the one to buy though, as you can grind out 6 titles over a comparatively short period of time.

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I'm sorry, I know this may be a "too long, didn't read" wall of text, but I hope it thoroughly answered some of your questions.

My experience in game prices is that the larger game store chains are the cheapest.

That is stores who sell games and a few bits of hardware rather than a multimedia store that keeps a game section.

The Former discounts heavily after 6 months or even less if sales are bad.
The Latter keeps the same price for years.

Admittedly I am in the UK but I don't think things are that different and over here Prophesies and factions sell at £9-99 or $20 nightfall is a little more and eon seems out of stock near me.

As for buying from 3rd party make sure you have some form of buyer protection and always check its new and sealed.