I miss the old GW.

I specifically have a prophecies only account with a wammo on it as the only pve character just for when im feeling nostalgic.

"I'm using Cleave on Stone Summit Gnasher!"

Good times.

OMG,me too,I remember that period,I still love Aura of Displacement,im actually trying to figure out a new pwnage build with this lovely & fun elite!

You detest all the expansions after Prophecies because they 'ruined the spirit' of the original game and you suggest adding content to pre-searing??

It appears you don't like change and would like things to stay like they've always been, then changing Pre is the worst you can suggest.

awww, we all mis it =(

...... get over it tho......

I like this thread

I imagine in three years some of us may end up saying the same about GW2, how it was a blast to discover things through *gasp* playing the game!

Wait if you miss the old gw so much why not go play it, just because you have all the other expansions dosent mean you have to play them....

It's rare to find parties that are doing missions anymore. I missed the days before titles. That was when people wouldn't QQ about not getting a bonus.

The old game don't exist any more, A-net has changed it so much since the beggining, some changes have been good but the majority of changes to the game have been on the negative side. So even if you play Prophecies you are still missing alot of the experinece it was before any of the expansions.

Guild Wars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

man i got teary eyed reading ur post OP. i remmeber when i first picked up the game and had to pug wit everyone. doing missions wasnt a chore cuz everyone had to talk and work wit each other thru them. i remember running around old ascalon and meeting lots of friends, 99% of which quit and i had to sadly replace wit pvp'ers. i remember struggling thru the jungle and wiping to someone over'aggroing, and nobody knowing which way to go. we were lost, but we had fun being lost. i especially remember the first time i ever been in the lower shiverpeaks, where mobs completely decimated me. i remember my first pvp experience ever, going into ha and getting wiped, as do i remember the first tiem i ever won halls being r2.

gw really was the best thing ever right at the beginning.

i miss being a noob when pre-searing felt soo big

Meh i miss it when i though Pre-sear was Whole Gw, then when get into post was like WTF WHat happened

The game devolved. It has been changed too much from its original form. The game seems like it is in a constant state of flux and I've seen a fair share of updates that alienate players. Guild Wars felt more finished a few months after prophecies was released than it does now.

If GW just had near unlimited types of weapons with unlimited types of mods/upgrades that would have extended its life a lot (like Diablo 2). The equipment in GW is pretty stale and everybody by now must have at least one 15^50 and +5E and +30hp mods on something and the fact that everyone has the same thing also makes the game boring and stale. I've always said what good is skill > time if there's nothing out there to go for to use that skill > time? By the time I got all the skill I needed I had everything. lol I really hope GW2 adds this feature into the game otherwise it's just going to be another GW clone, some new content and that's it. Equipment needs to evolve and be in hard to get to dank and dark places so only the very SKILLED players can get to it. That is when SKILL would really matter most and you could never get to it using heroes and henchies.

So what's your point? Shit gets old after three years especially when endgame pve is stagnant and the only interesting part of GW pvp is the skill limitation. Move on to another hobby/special interest. I sure as hell will when I finish playing through the campaigns.

Great thread OP, brings back memories.
I miss the community too. You can tell it's changed just by reading what some of these posters posted. = \

GW is alive because of the feeding tube anet has down its' throat. That feeding tube gets removed for the most part when they feel GW2 is finished/ready to be unveiled.

I too miss the original community, but to quote a famous poet, "Nothing Gold Can Stay." However, there are also elements from factions, nightfall, and yes, even EOTN that did improve the game. Things grow and change and as much as I dislike it myself, I accept it.

As far as burning crusade ruined the spirit of WoW... I fail to see how more grind isn't the true spirit of WoW.

Note: Anet will continue to provide little intrigues at the start of each month like skill balances and MOX, to make players check stuff once in awhile and try to reel them in for gw2.

I also sometimes miss the days when GW first came out. Ah, the pugs ...
I remember that i was stuck on frost gate because every pug i joined either had only 1 crappy monk, or a wammo that was healing *sigh*. After a while people finally grew some skills to hit the impenetrable wall of what is called hells precipe...(after trying for 2 months, being traumatized, i finally done it alone 2 years later(H/H ftw)).
I those days ToPK was THE big hype and everyone used b/p teams to farm the greens. I made soo much money (made 150k from selling the greens and only got 6 ectos), and nowadays you can't even give them away for free because nobody wants them.

This.

Seriously my noob days were the best ive ever had, Tyria was for me a huge world of discoveries.

So yeah, in a way, i miss MY old guild wars.
But i think the game has gone for the better now.

And no, i do not run this build nowadays -_-'

Meh, things get old, as has been said numerous times, a new hobby is always a good idea, break it up a bit, stop playing for a while then come back, it refreshes the game, that's what i've found.

The community is the only difference really, it has devolved into a bunch of douche bags, you can't even make a broad generalization to sort of support a basic theoretical point anymore without being crucified, that's seen often on this forum for example.

It's kinda sad that now adays it's not the game that brings me back to the game but rather other things irl, lol, i quit for a while, but now i'm back to being a student, and have been moving too frequently to maintain a job, being an insomniac that only sleeps like every 2-3 days doesn't help either.

The whole thing about
Your girlfriend must be un-inventive in the sack or gives terrible handies to be able to be compare it to a game, handies>any video game....

I appreciate the emotional imagery you intended to instill by making this statement, but, seriously, dude..........

Hamstorm ftw.

bwaha that's true, Joe xD

By the way, yea I'd love to play GW again, as it was in its origins...I remember when I was stuck on thunderhead keep and then, after a whole week of fails, I managed to organize a pretty good team (with pugs ofc ) and we managed to pass trough ^^

The funniest thing I am looking for is the first year of pure fun that GW2 will offer.

Leetness will come later ofc :l But that's inevitable.

dude, agreed, i enjoy being a rich pig sometimes and having that feeling of "wtf am i gonna spend this excess cash on now" but that gets old very fast, and boring, nothing compares to starting over again, i've been known to occasionally buy a buddy a fow suit or help them buy it then go and splurge all my cash on useless crap just so i can bring myself down to semi poor (semi poor being what some would consider ok, poor is a relative term) just so i actually have something to play or farm for.

I understand the feeling of nostalgia. It stems from finding something fun, then having to adjust to changes, and always comparing what we have now against what was.

My suggestion?

Give GW a rest, and come back to it fresh, as if it were a new game.

That's what I did. After 2500 hours and three well-equipped character runs through all the campaigns, I was frustrated, annoyed, and burned out.

After a six-month "vacation" from GW, I've returned, started a new character, and find it much more enjoyable.

yes, guild wars has changed a lot through out time, but thats how anything is. Nothing can stay the same for an extended period of time. All you can do is try to adjust to new things.

The ever-growing and ever-changing and "unstale" aspect in Guild Wars has always existed, and that's you as a player. You'll always be getting newer skills, creating newer builds, and in general coming up with new and cooler ideas. It takes a very, very long time to reach that peak of "amazing player", and that's where the "endgame" in GW lies.

The emphasis is not in the gear but on the player.

If you want an RPG that puts more focus on time rather than player development, I'd look around for something else. Or you can stick around and pick up GW2 anyways, in which case I don't see why you'd support something you don't like : \ Puts more money in ANet's pockets, though, so go for it!

Let's begin with the fact that GW isn't a difficult game to master. The amount of "skill" required is... well, not much.

Once you've conquered all the end game areas, have all the armors and weapon skins you want, you've pretty much developed all the skill you're going to have.

And then what is there to do?

Sure, I can do it all over again with a different toon -- but after the second or third iteration, it's just doing the same old stuff, again.

Indeed it is still for people new to it, a friend of mine just started playing it a few months ago and has the same feeling of awe and fun I had when I started it.

He refuses to look at the wiki which is a blessing, I think, I freely admit that I read everything on the wiki too but not before I tried playing the game (with that I mean the games that came after the wiki, when I started there was no wiki) because it does 'ruin' the fun a bit.

I can empathize with the TS but you cannot go back, alas, I'm just happy GW was made the way it was and I was able to enjoy the game from quite early in its existence and learn together with other players how to play it, nobody can take all those hours of fun (and sometimes frustration ) away.

I managed to fill nearly 3000 hours in GW, there's plenty to do if you arent a solo artist. I've helped countless people through THead when that was a big deal, I run certain missions so many times I can do them blindfolded and none of them, none, turned out the same way. The wildcard is people, sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes in between but I've made real life friends through it and with my wife (we play GW together) we had really great fun.

YMMV ofcourse.

lol ur talking about pve. u ever heard of pvp? (not ra/ab)

Yes I miss the pugs they were far better back then they are today.It made the game more fun even doing quests.

Same for me. I especially miss the many possibilities to improve your character that I had in the beginning. The best part of the same is to earn new levels, armor and everything.

1. Power creep.
2. (Some) people getting better at the game, which means pugging with bad players more noticeable.

I remember the days back when I used to pug and such. Used to be quite fun, I tried it again more recently and I just found myself getting pissed at nubs =/

While I agree that the community in-game and on most of the Forums can be, at times, not worth the effort to interact with, it's just a part of game-life. Every game goes through it's stages, and everything eventually gets stale. Thing is, it's not up to the players that irk you or ANet to make this game fun for you 24/7. You PUG with people at your own risk today, just like you did back when Prophecies was the only campaign available; the difference now is that you get that annoying message asking if you REALLY want to go through the Mission with a character from another Campaign.

ANet did their part already. They designed, built, and marketed GW. They are still here, believe it or not, checking balance, implementing changes, and adding new content, no matter how much or how little. But they have lives IRL, too. If they just kept Prophecies, how the Hell were they supposed to pay their car note, or insurance, or a mortgage or rent? How were they supposed to feed and clothe themselves and their families? With no pay-to-play fees, they had to constantly move forward with new Campaigns and the eventual 'first, last, and only' expansion GW:EN.

I have many memories, GREAT memories of Prophecies. I started playing in January of 2006, just a couple of months before The Day of the Tengu. I remember thinking that my Guild Leader's 200k in his stash was a TON of money (checking the High End section in Ventari's a couple days ago and I found a Mini Kanaxai with a c/o of 8k Ectos... lol @ 200k, even though Ectos are now less than 1/3rd of the price they sold for when I started GW), I remember thinking that I would NEVER get the cash for 15k armor, and I remember the fun I had as a Warrior who pwned PvE with Life Transfer.

Do I like all of the things that the ANet team implemented? No. Do I blame ANet for crapping up my game? No. Do I let other players control how much fun I have in GW? No. Point is, it's all up to you whether you ultimately have fun in the game or not.

If you are having a hard time, why not, as others have said, challenge yourself? Run through missions with the (lovably) inept Henchmen instead of Sabwaying through HM with ease. Why not take your Sword-wielding, Mending-maintaining Wammo of Light through the game with a Hammer instead of that req7 max damage Fellblade? And make him a Warrior/Necro. And maintain a skill bar with a minimum of 3 Necro skills? You can do all sorts of things to have a blast in GW, I promise!

What I miss the most about GW isn't anything that ANet did or didn't do, isn't anything that the GW Community as a whole did or didn't do. What I miss is all the people who at one time or another were on my Friends List, Guild Roster, or Alliance Tab. I miss the times when I knew that as soon as I logged in, I'd get PM's from half the people I knew screaming "EAT BABIES!" in all Caps in Alliance and Guild Chat. I miss the disappointment when my Guild or Alliance didn't need another Warrior for whatever they were running, and I miss the pride that I felt whenever a new Guildie or Ally would ask my why I had a W/N instead of a W/Mo, and being able to share my thoughts instead of just saying "Run this" and CTRL-clicking my Skillbar, or doing the same in the Template menu.

What I miss, ANet and the GW community CAN'T bring back. Because they never took it away, nerfed it, or balanced it to the UW and back. I miss the people who, for whatever reason, have left GW. The people that were there when I started playing, and helped me through THK, Hell's Precipice, and took me on my first FoW run. ANet can't bring them back. No other player can replace them. But I CAN have a blast with new players and friends. I CAN reminisce with the few people who have always been on my Friends list since the day I met them.

Yeah, I'd change a few things, and I'm not even sure that I am going to make the move to GW2. I might just chill in my Guild Hall until the day that ANet shuts down the GW servers because the player base has moved on. But no matter what, I have my memories (though many screenshots were lost due to my original GW comp deciding to quit), I have my game, and I'll keep on playing until the day that ANet pulls the plug, regardless of whether or not I think they, or anyone else, has taken my old GW away...

We're not in much of a position to say that. It's equivilent to me saying about Doom, "Nightmare mode is easy".

That isn't to say that GW bears the same difficulty as Nightmare mode, but the skill threshold can be pretty high. It just may seem simple for players that have played for numerous years.

Play something else.

Games aren't made to last forever. Guild Wars definitely won't last a lifetime, but with all of the skills to unlock, weapons to collect, armors to wear, and not to mention the PvP, there is a LOT to do.

I have no interest in PvP.

If you remove all the PvE-only people from GW, it would be dead.

Proof of point: Fury, a purely PvP game that was going to kill GW. GW is still here; Fury is a memory.

PvP can be great fun; I love competitive RTS, for example. But in an RPG, I want to explore, cooperate, save the world, and get cool stuff.

Yup. I do.

Some games are better at maintaining interest over the long term. And therein lies the problem... with no new chapters, GW is increasingly stale, and fewer new people will come in under the impression the GW is "old."

It's easier to keep a customer than it is to find a new one -- in many ways, GW2 depends on the continued success of GW1. ANet knows this, and with delays in GW2, they've put resources back on GW1.

When people grow bored with GW, they move to other games. I can barely afford the time for one MMO -- it was GW, now it is LOTRO. LOTRO has massive quarterly expansions (for free), and a major new expansion (for $) coming soon.

Will GW2 be good enough to drag me away from LOTRO?

Good. So, what's the problem? You've gotten bored of a game. That happens to every game at some time or another, is it ANet's "fault" that GW1 is no longer being as supported? Far from it.

"Keeping your customers" isn't the only way to get people to buy your new game. In fact, there are seldom game companies that do. Why do people look forward to and anticipate Bioware's games? None of them are constantly "pushing out content". They're simply *good games*. People bought their previous title, enjoyed it immensely, and know that since it's by the same developer that it should be equally good - and they were right.

The same will happen with Guild Wars: People bought it, people enjoyed it, people will likely purchase the next game. Most of ANet's sales aren't going to come from GW1 players, either; how do you think GW1 got so popular in the first place? It was ANet's first game with no pre-existing fanbase, yet it still did amazingly well.

It's this treatment of GW1 being an "MMO" that's bothering me. It was never intended to be one, never intended to "draw you in for life". It was always meant to be a game where you played and enjoyed it until you got bored with it - like every other game out there. If you're no longer enjoying it it's not a problem caused by ANet, it's natural.

Yeah buddy good things to remember... tengu farming on riverside (i made a really awesome amount gold with sup runes) or UW smites solo with a 55 monk (there was no normal/hard mode at that time), Doppelganger was actually a big challange among so many other things...

When all started there were no rich/poor player, we all were poor, until ppl start to make Droknar's Forge runs (which was really hard at that time). Thats when it all started, after that we had those RMF (some bots) spamming their stuff to sell in some asian language in Ember Light Camp american district and others.

I miss the feeling of "new".
Bring on Guild Wars 2!!

Seriously, I miss that new car smell of a game as much as the next guy but I am not all heartbroken and melancholy about it. I had my fun with GW1 and am ready for GW 2.

I hope for many changes to happen with GW2, but hope it still will feel familiar to me. I could give 2 [email protected] about being able to jump tho. I still want 8 skills on my bar. The ability to use heroes or henches. The ability to remake/reskill my character with out wasting money or some arbitrary points like it used to be. (hated those days).

But to keep the feeling of community I think they should re-think how they introduce expansions. Instead of making compelety seperate zones they should just expand the world we start with instead. I hate having to "travel" from Tyria to Cantha or Elona. That way the towns will stay full and more people will be haning around. I also hope they make "SELLING ONLY" districts to keep the chat from getting clogged up with WTS.

Back then, that probably wouldn't happen. The power creep and various bad additions, or changes to the game drove many players who PvP'd away from the game. Only a few remain playing.