Considering buying this game. Need questions answered.

I've never played GW before. I'm considering buying the GW Trilogy (GW + Factions + Nightfall) that steam is offering for $20, seems like a steal to me. But I have some questions first.

1) Are there multiple servers that I have to choose from like other MMO's? If so, which one is the most populated?

2) Again regarding population, is this game still fairly active? I want to see other players in-game wherever I may be. I don't want to feel like I'm the only one playing.

3) How's the PvP like? Like many others, I mainly play MMO's for the PvP.

4) Finally, I'd like you to list what you think are the pros/cons to this game.

1.Your automaticly slotted in a server but can change at any time.
2.You will be hard pressed finding groups now even for low level missions
3.PvP is to elitest for beginners
4.Pro/Free to play Con/Consant nerfs by Fanboi driven Devs.

Thats my opinon.

1. There aren't multiple serves like realms in WoW you just pick like American English District in a town and you can change that at anytime like going to a European District of that town.

2. Some areas are more active than others get with an active guild and they will probably be with you on most missions if you ask.

3. For PvP it would be better to go to the official wiki for a better explanation.

4. Pros: Still active after 5 years, No monthly Fee, Elite Areas for nice rewards.
Cons: Elitists that won't consider you unless you have certain skills in build, Elite Areas can reward you with next to nothing for hours of work, Most people would prefer to solo missions with NPCs than with people.

Hi and welcome to Guru.

You post would probably be better suited in the Questions and Answers forum but anyway:

1) Unlike other MMO's GW's population is not split on servers. There are different districts (US, English, French, Asian etc.) but you can jump freely between them. The US part is generally the most active.

2) It's declining (game is getting older) but theres still plenty of people around. It's a good idea to find a guild of likeminded people - that way theres some to interact with. You can also party with random people but finding people for particular quests might be hard (ie. next to impossible). Doing the main storyline (yes, this game has 1) is easier even with randoms and doing "end game" dungeons are also possible (but again, finding a guild is better).

3) I only play "low level" PvP so I don't have much to say here. It's very easy to start (you can make a max level PvP character with max stat weapons from the start) but it'll be hard to master. I'm sure top level PvP'ers would tell you that expansions / power creep has ruined PvP - but thats another matter.

4)
Pro's:
Free to play,
The "grind" is mostly optional (ie. cosmetic changes)
It's fun

Con's:
It's getting older - and new content is scarce (though we still get updates)
There's lot's of QQ'ers on Guru

Just play american districts. Sure, it varies, but you should see people more often than not.

Unique. It's hard to define unless you try yourself. I came from other MMOs too, mainly L2, and PvP here is really different than there. Still quite good, but i personally preferred massive castle sieges of L2 and enjoyed GW's PvE side much more.
It's quite hard to get into a 'pro' PvP like GvG or HA at the beginning, but if you primairly focus on PvP and start playing RA, look for a dedicated PvP guild and so on, it should be just a matter of time and gaining experience, knowing the game mechanics, understanding the meta, etc.

The biggest pro of GW is its uniqueness. It's coherent. It has enjoyable PvE side with no grind necessary.
It has its problems, sure - some balancing issues (still, you can complete whole PvE content with any class), lack of new content (heck, the game is five years old) and the usual crap from 'elitist' whiners, but it's getting better - Test Krewe and the Live Team started to communicate much better with the playerbase a few months ago and new updates are coming.
What i personally liked (and, sometimes, hated) is that GW resembles a CCG - being a fan of Magic: the Gathering, i enjoyed assembling builds from vast pool of skills, checking what works and what not, trying to bring what's needed for the location or arena, or simply what i would like to play this time.

If you're looking for a great MMO and you haven't played GW yet, it's about the time to fix it - GW2 is coming ('when it's done™').

1) instead of servers there are 'districts'. You can jump between these instantly as much as you wont, and there is no penalty to it. It's kind of the norm to play in America districts, so that you see more players in towns.

2) Regardless of what anyone says, the game is still quite active. However, as the game is instanced, you can only see other players if you are in a town, and as such when doing missions etc, you won't see a huge amount of people. And, with the game being 5 years old, most players are past the low-end content, so low end missions are rarely populated, and if they are, the people there are after hard mode content (Complete the campaign once, and you unlock hardmode for that campaign, for more rewards and bigger chalenges)

3) The PvP scene is unfortunately very elitist if you want to play the 'srsbsns' stuff like guild battles and heroes ascent. If you want a more casual and less demanding PvP, fort aspenwood and alliance battles are MUCH more friendly, with little to no elitism there usually (As in all games, you will have the holier than thou assholes of course). If you've ever played WoW, alliance battles are closest in comparison to battlegrounds.

4) Pro's: Free, looks stunning IMO, much more interactive than other games, IE no rotation, you use different skills depending on the situation more often.
Cons: Old game, so playerbase is waning slowly, though with GW2 on the horizon, it's not so bad, elitism in top end PvP, lack of new content compared to some other games.


All in all, you're right, $20 is a steal, though you can try before you buy if you visit www.guildwars.com and sign up for a free trial.

I'd also add that bargain prices are bringing a lot of new players to the game...

... and lots of these new players would likely play with you to share the fun.

My 2 cents: go for it anyway. It's a great game, regardless of the community issues. Even if you end up not becoming an addict like most of us, you'll get enough to keep you entertained for months, probably the best fun your 20$ can buy today.

And with GW2 on the horizon, lotta players coming back to spruce up their Hall of Monuments

QFT

12char.....

Yes, please.



The money spent is well worth it, trust me. I've been addicted for 4+ years now. Although I find myself spending less and less time on Guild Wars I will admit I still find myself logging on every day regarldess (whether it's to go AFK right after or to look for items to buy/powersell for a few moments).

No. The closest you come to that are "regions", which are mostly for language and time zone differences, such as America, Asia, Europe, etc. But you can travel freely between regions. People say that the America region is most populated (I don't know for sure myself since I don't play in the other regions very often.)
So there is no need to choose a "server" when creating a character, as you would in WoW for example.

Some parts of the game are still fairly active. But, the game is basically all "instanced", so once you are outside of a town/outpost, you don't see anyone else except your own party. There is essentially no PvP during PvE.

Like many others, I play MMOs for the PvE, so I couldn't say what the PvP is like. The PvP is basically a separate game from the PvE, since you don't meet people to fight while you are PvE'ing.

Pros:
No monthly fee.
No PvP during PvE.
Lots of stuff to do.

Cons:
No monthly fee - no incentive to add content, and nothing to discourage the riffraff