New player account questions

Hello I have just downloaded the trial and I have a few questions if you could please help me out with some information I would appreciate it.

Is there a package I can buy retail that will give me all access to this game and every single expansion? I would prefer to have physical copies, and I would like to buy everything at once.

For instance I see the virtual sale "Guild wars trilogy including eye of the north"
If I buy the trilogy package in a store will I still get the eye of the north free, or must I buy the trilogy offline if I wish a physical backup, and then the north star expansion online?

I read some other posts and I think I understand how the skills works, I just want to confirm, if I do buy the original game and all expansions, I can in fact use all skills (and pvp items) in the game without an additional purchase if I choose to earn them through gameplay, and until a new expansion comes out I would only have to buy (Optional whether I am a min/max player or not?) missions packs if I wished, or inventory slots/appearance items, but my gameplay would be completely up to date based on what I earn within the game either way?


I read from another new player's post that expansions are "standalone"
Does this mean that I must start a new character for each expansion, or is that simply an option and I may carry over a character's level if I choose to?

Is there an ample amount of endgame content? I am not going to risk derailing my first thread by asking for comparisons with other mmo's, I basically want to know if I could raid regularly for an extended period of time if I eventually desired to and sought out opportunities to do so if raids in fact exist in this game.

Can I become competetive in whatever endgame exists and within pvp by my own in game merits or must I purchase consumables with real money?

I am sorry if these questions have been answered elsewhere in a sticky that I have missed.
Thank you for your time in reading this and for your answers if you choose to reply.

If you'd like a physical copy of the game you can purchase the Guild Wars Trilogy which comes with Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions and Guild Wars Nightfall. You will need to purchase Eye of the North as well to have a physical copy. Purchasing from the online store will not give you one, it's completely digital.

Skill & Weapon Unlock packs are up to you if you'd like to buy them, they're completely optional. You can unlock skills and weapons through normal game play as well as Balthazar Faction which is earned by PvPing.

Standalone simply means that you do not need the other campaigns in order to play it. The only exception to this is Eye of the North which is an expansion and you must own at least one other campaign to access it. You're free to take your characters to any of the other campaigns so long as you own it.

Factions & Nightfall have 2 new classes each that can only be created in that campaign however. Factions has Assassins and Ritualists, while Nightfall has Dervish and Paragons. You can still take any of those four classes to the other campaigns though.

Comparing end-game Guild Wars to end-game WoW is meh. There's a lot less "raids" and more dungeons (Or instances). Once you complete a campaign you unlock hard mode and can complete it again for a title. There's other titles you can grind for, or you can do one of the elite areas. Underworld, Fissure of Woe, The Deep, Urgoz's Warren or Domain of Anguish.

Usually joining a guild for elite area's and pvp is your best bet. You don't need to purchase anything extra to do these.

Thank you very much for the information!

btw I was mainly thinking of the eq's and other similar mmo's, I am fairly ignorant of the one you mentioned

And thank you for the links, it looks interesting!

What do you mean by "Physical backups"? When you buy Guild Wars, you are paying for an account. All of the game files are free to download any time you wish. A poster above mentioned the Trilogy, the Trilogy seems to be available to some regions, whereas others (UK, NZ, Aus, Europe?) get the Complete Collection, which includes all of the games (Prophecies, Factions, Nightfall, Eye of the North).

Purchasing all the games gives you access to all the skills. You can purchase extra things like inventory panes and makeovers etc. These are cosmetic and will not effect you abilities in comparison to other players.

Standalone means you can purchase them and play them without having the original game. All the games are standalone except for Eye of the North. You have the option to start a new character for each expansion or simply jump through with an already existing character. You will keep that characters level, skills, etc.

There is pleanty of end game content. Examples include Dungeons and the elite areas the earlier poster mentioned as well as farming and trying to achieve titles.

If you wish to get into high end PvE and PvP my best recommendation would be to find a guild that does that.
You do not have to purchase anything to become competitive, all real money purchases are either new games or affect combat in no way as I mentioned above.

If you are in Europe you can buy the Guild Wars: Complete Collection in stores. This is a physical copy of Prophecies, Factions, Nightfall and Eye of the North. In the US, you can't buy the Complete Collection but instead the Trilogy, which does not contain Eye of the North.

You are mixing up two concepts here. First, all skills have to be earned by the character in some way (quest reward, bought from a skill trainer, captured with the signet of capture,...). Every new character will have to do so.
However, each campaign has its own skills. If you don't have that campaign (bought in real life) you will not be able to get those skills at all. You won't be able to travel to the skill trainers that teach them and so on.

It means that you can start a new character in each and play them as if other campaigns didn't exist.
You CAN bring an existing character to the other campaigns. You can then play just as if you had created the character in that campaign (OK, you skip the beginning part, but that's only a little bit).
Imagine it like this: your first character reaches the first great port city. He can now remain in the same campaign and continue his native storyline, OR he can take the ship to another continent and join the players in the storyline at that point. He can freely travel from continent to continent at any time, progressing in one storyline or another as he pleases.

GW is in the very concept different from most MMOs. So, endgame content is something else.

In other MMOs, you level up for most of the game and then raid for great gear. In GW, the maximum level is low, achieved in a few days, BUT it's more like becoming an adult - you're now an adult, you can stop leveling and focus on playing the game. Gear has a very small effect on a character's power - the most expensive armor in the game is exactly as strong as the standard armor that you get for a thousandth of the price. But, (depending on taste) it's plain looking. So, a plain looking sword in the hands of the plain looking warrior is EXACTLY as powerful as the jewel encrusted blade in the hands of a warrior armored in obsidian.

The power of a character comes from using the skills of the character (actually, the party of usually 8 characters) to maximum effect.

PvP is completely unaffected by consumables (they are PvE only). The only thing you can buy that makes you stronger in PvP is all the campaigns - because that way you get all the skills.

The PvE endgame is not really competitive. It's more like people demanding you use specific skill sets. It's more like doing extra dangerous tasks for the small chance a really cool looking item will drop, worth hundreds of thousands.



One thing you really must understand, however, is this: GW is already an old game. This means that players who still play have already done everything, got all the max items they need and only really want the very very very rarest things, so by now, the economy is limited because everyone is already filthy rich.

This is because GW was not intended to leech a monthly fee from you for years, but for you to play a few months, get through the storylines, and then either play a new game or play the "grind" type content (grind in GW is.. well, it's NOT necessary). The grind is there if you WANT to play more of the same, but not part of the gameplay.

Accept this, and you'll play GW to play through the storylines, and see you've had a fun few months at the price of a few months of a regular MMORPG. And you can always play a bit more, without paying more.