What's the differences in the Guild Wars?

Hey, I am currently trying out the demo of Guild Wars Fractions and I like it a lot. I'd just like to know a few things:

1. Is there PvP in the Fractions version?
2. What's the major differences in all three of the games? (I heard EOTN was just an addon).

Which one should I buy if I choose to buy it?

Eya, welcome.

For starters, it is Factions, without the 'r'. All Guild Wars installments are able to participate in PvP, via the Battle Isles.

Also, there is a handy thread about what campaign to buy.

factions*... and yes there is pvp in it (as well as the other 2 campaigns--eotn is an expansion)

prophecies was the 1st gw campaign. very slow learning curve with open-ended areas and extremely long missions.

factions was the 2nd guild wars to come out. added the assassin and ritualist classes. it is pvp-oriented and added new pvp gamemodes: alliance battles and competitive missions. pve-side of the game, it is shorter and less open-ended.

nightfall was the 3rd campaign to be released. the two new classes were dervish and paragon. it introduced two major things: heroes and the inscription system (basically more customization options). it also expanded on ideas of branching storylines to give players a even more options.

eotn is an expansion, and requires one of the other 3 campaigns to play. it is not nub-friendly, so i would not recommend picking it up right away (unless you get one of the bundles). that aside, eotn is basically a grinding/farming game.


my personal favey campaign is factions. i don't like spending 30mins+ on missions and running around endlessly (prophecies). but if you like taking your time and exploring, then prophecies is definitely a good choice (also if you care bout canon at all). nightfall would be a good choice if you like spending more time setting up than actually playing--it has a ton of customization options. however, this can make it harder on you if you don't know what your doing and you give your heroes horribad skillbars.

i recommend checking out http://wiki.guildwars.com for some more information on each game and the unique classes from each one.

u should just buy the trilogy ;-)

Go with Factions, later on buy the rest, they are pretty old and therefor also cheap, you wont regret it, it has months/years of play time and is just a great game.

Okay, thanks for the replies guys! Just a few questions:

1. Which version is the trial?

2. Which one is best for PvE and Questing, also does it have henchmen?

3. In the "Which one to choose" post it says "number of missions", what does that mean? Is that the amount of quests?

4. Also in that post it says Prophecies focus is PvE but the PvP importance is very high? Does this version revolve around PvE or PvP?

Currently, I'm leaning more to Prophecies. If I beat that and think it was a great game (which so far the trial is) then I'll probably move onto the rest. Sorry for so many questions. Thanks.

Prophecies just has the most widely used and most needed SKILLS for practically all PvP formats. Still if you want to get into serious competetive PvP you should have access to all skills - have all campagins+EotN OR the PvP Access Pack.

henchmen are everywhere, the pve and questing side is well developed everywhere. i'd personally start with nightfall though, due to introduction with heroes what makes generally easier gameplay. on the other hand, i've personally started with prophecies, as it's the first part that came out and it happens earlier in the lore.
prophecies has henchmen, very great developed pve side, lots of missions and areas (the biggest part), lots of fun during the playing, and also it's pretty hard if you play prophecies not having access to other parts - it might a good way to learn the game mechanics, just jumping into the water.

mission is a very specific area which requires you to complete a given task. it might be anything - starting with killing a certain boss at the end, through keeping someone alive for a time, up to freeing someone and fleeing from a fortress. the missions + primairy quests (which have lots of differences too) form the main storyline. there are also many many secondary quests, sometimes even chained into a small story.

to have some fun at random arenas in pvp, it doesn't really matter which campaigns you own, as your skills will be limited anyway. in order to participate in high-end pvp or at least start getting into it, you need all parts.
keep in mind you can just create a lvl 20 pvp character, that doesn't follow any kind of storyline, has editable equipment and just fights against others, keeping your pve character for missions, quests and stories. the most pvp activities are available in factions (jade quarry // fort aspenwood), but it doesn't really matter in the beginning.

further reading:
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Mission
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Quest
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Henchman
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Hero
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Guild...ete_Collection

So it still seems that I'm liking the features of Prophecies. By the way, which version is the trial? My start menu says Factions, yet in-game it says Prophecies.

Also, I can't seem to see the Prophecies version in the store, so I'm guessing that it's the GoTY edition?

The trial is Prophecies, iirc.
Originally, the game was just "Guild Wars" (like the movie was just Star Wars). When they added the Factions campaign, the original GW became "Guild Wars: Prophecies" (like the movie became Star Wars: A New Hope) to distinguish it from the others.
The GotY edition is Prophecies with some bonus materials.

Start a new character and look at the options you can select for the campaign. That'll tell you what's open on your trial...

Prophecies will be shown just as "Guild Wars" or "Guild Wars Game of the Year Edition" on the box.

Oh, and I see no one's mentioned, as usual, the Factions Platinum Edition (contains Factions, Prophecies GotY, and the Bonus Mission Pack) as a combo pack to watch out for in case you can't find the Trilogy/Complete in your area.

Alright, I'm currently enjoying the Prophecies version right now so I probably will buy the GoTy edition. Thanks guys!