Hi,
We just posted the following news on the GW website: http://guildwars.com/players/
Since the launch of Guild Wars in 2005 we’ve stayed locked into our original minimum system requirements. Unfortunately, the game has reached a point where this is preventing us from deploying important features. After serious consideration, we’ve decided that Guild Wars will no longer be supported on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows ME beginning June 14, 2012. In order to continue to play Guild Wars after this date, we recommend upgrading to a more recent version of Windows.
Realistically, we do not expect this to impact the vast majority of Guild Wars players. Our logs indicate that fewer than 0.05% of our active players use one of these versions of Windows. Discontinuing support for older versions of Windows allows us to deploy features that will improve account management and security.
We will be updating the System Requirements on our websites, but we wanted to provide an advance notice to you so that you can prepare for the change. If you have any questions, please visit the Guild Wars Support Forums: https://forum.guildwars.com/forum/fo...ns-of-Windows/
Thanks.
Discontinuing support for older versions of Windows
St??phane Lo Presti
ogre_jd
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Originally Posted by Stéphane Lo Presti
Discontinuing support for older versions of Windows allows us to deploy features that will improve account management and security.
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BenjZee
I've always known gw to work on all my anicent home pcs, but wow are people really on those older ones? I cant imagine the people on them being capable of reading guru.
Aycee
Sacrifice for the greater good.
Kunder
Anyone still using these systems to play games deserves a RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOing medal.
Mintha Syl
Uhm I really wonder what those important features will be..hope good ones but can't think of anything.
And yeah...ME and 98 I can almost understand but 95...really?:P I think you get hardly any support from any program at all for that stuff...
And yeah...ME and 98 I can almost understand but 95...really?:P I think you get hardly any support from any program at all for that stuff...
Orfas
what's a Windows 95????
/sarcasm
I can't wait to see what changes they're going to make to the website
/sarcasm
I can't wait to see what changes they're going to make to the website
Porkchop Sandwhiches
Holy crap I'm surprised GW has been supporting those older systems for this long. I can only imagine how much of pain in the ass that has been. 
Amy Awien
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Originally Posted by Kunder
Anyone still using these systems to play games deserves a RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOing medal.
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What if I'd want to play NfS Porsche Unlimited? It runs on Windows 98/SE - but (afaik) none of the NT-based systems
Kunder
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Originally Posted by Amy Awien
Why?
What if I'd want to play NfS Porsche Unlimited? It runs on Windows 98/SE - but (afaik) none of the NT-based systems |
MithranArkanere
Just 0.05%?
That's nothing.
The 7% of the Entire World still uses Internet Explorer 6.
That's just preposterous.
Totally understandable dropping support for OS older than 10 years. The game is just 7 years old, for Kormir's sake.
That's nothing.
The 7% of the Entire World still uses Internet Explorer 6.
That's just preposterous.
Totally understandable dropping support for OS older than 10 years. The game is just 7 years old, for Kormir's sake.
Hanok Odbrook
What!! If I knew they were supported, I wouldn't have virtualized all my old systems (which I still use to play all my old games BTW!).
Now I have have a real urge to grab up an old hard drive and throw '95 back on it just so I can play GW old style for the next couple of months. I just wish Windows 3.0 was supported - I could fire up my old PC XT and load it up there - of course I would need a 3D card for it, but that's what auction sites are for.
Hanok
Now I have have a real urge to grab up an old hard drive and throw '95 back on it just so I can play GW old style for the next couple of months. I just wish Windows 3.0 was supported - I could fire up my old PC XT and load it up there - of course I would need a 3D card for it, but that's what auction sites are for.
Hanok
Ayuhmii Shanbwa
but be happy, GW keeps supporting windows 3.1 
i never knew those versions could handle GW o_O maybe 98SE and ME, but before that???
does GW also support win 1.3? that'd be really important
i never knew those versions could handle GW o_O maybe 98SE and ME, but before that???
does GW also support win 1.3? that'd be really important
Zenzai
Wow, people still use those outdated garbage?
Wyndy
Only 0.05%? That's about the same as the odds for getting a mini Polar Bear!
Bristlebane
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Originally Posted by Stéphane Lo Presti
After serious consideration, we’ve decided that Guild Wars will no longer be supported on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows ME beginning June 14, 2012. In order to continue to play Guild Wars after this date, we recommend upgrading to a more recent version of Windows.
Realistically, we do not expect this to impact the vast majority of Guild Wars players. Our logs indicate that fewer than 0.05% of our active players use one of these versions of Windows. |
Out of interest though.. 0.05% of 6 million accounts, that would be about 3000 players. I can't believe 3000 people still stuck on such archaic version of Windows. Makes me curious though, playing Guild Wars on Windows 95..
N E D M
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Originally Posted by Amy Awien
Why?
What if I'd want to play NfS Porsche Unlimited? It runs on Windows 98/SE - but (afaik) none of the NT-based systems |
Nymph of Meliai
OMG!!! ANET!!!! half of my guild won't be able to play anymore!!!
lol - but seriously, GW2 specs are causing a few problems... alot of people are not going to be able to play without updating their machines (me included).
lol - but seriously, GW2 specs are causing a few problems... alot of people are not going to be able to play without updating their machines (me included).
Chthon
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Originally Posted by ogre_jd
Here's hoping it's customer-friendly and not extremely scummy like having a monitoring program running in the background - about the only reason I can think of for dropping support for older OSes that the game already builds against. (and, if that is what ends up happening, NCSoft/ArenaNet won't be getting money from me for GW2, that's for sure, or any more purchases for GW1)
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Dark-NighT
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Originally Posted by Nymph of Meliai
OMG!!! ANET!!!! half of my guild won't be able to play anymore!!!
lol - but seriously, GW2 specs are causing a few problems... alot of people are not going to be able to play without updating their machines (me included). |
Swingline
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Originally Posted by Dark-NighT
Honestly, i sort of expected the minimum reqs for gw2 to be higher, especially on the processor side of it, Core 2 duo is now almost 6 years ago since that launched, a Geforce 7 series for minimum is very generous as i was expecting it to be atleast something in the 8 series.
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Chrisworld
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Originally Posted by Swingline
Those are the minimum requirements, not recommended. Just meeting the minimum requirements gives a person many limitations that will force most graphic settings to be on the lowest. Obviously they are probably being a bit generous because of how populated the cities will be. I assume older machines will explode on launch day.
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Daesu
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Originally Posted by Stéphane Lo Presti
After serious consideration, we’ve decided that Guild Wars will no longer be supported on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows ME beginning June 14, 2012. In order to continue to play Guild Wars after this date, we recommend upgrading to a more recent version of Windows.
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I am surprised the game is still supported in old Windows XP when Windows 8 is going to be out soon. I hope GW2 (and maybe even GW1?) would continue to run well in Windows 8.
You guys can download a free beta copy of Windows 8 and test GW2 on it before releasing. Helps to know if there will be any compatibility issues before release.
You can even make a bootable thumb drive for your windows 8 installation from the preview bits.
Do Urden
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Originally Posted by Amy Awien
Why?
What if I'd want to play NfS Porsche Unlimited? It runs on Windows 98/SE - but (afaik) none of the NT-based systems |
Ayuhmii Shanbwa
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Originally Posted by Daesu
How about Windows 3.1? Does this mean you still support that? Just kidding.
I am surprised the game is still supported in old Windows XP when Windows 8 is going to be out soon. |
and i hope they keep supporting XP, as thats the only windows which runs fine for me with anything
tried win vista and 7, and those suck
i've seen so many bad things with those 2, i got back to XP and everything was going very good again
plz Anet, keep supporting XP even after microsoft doesnt anymore (they said for years they would stop it, lol), cuz thats the most balanced windows for these times
tbh, imo 7 and vista (and 8 as i've seen it), are having too many extra's instead of just having everything required to do extra stuff yourself, if you want to
Mintha Syl
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Originally Posted by Daesu
I am surprised the game is still supported in old Windows XP when Windows 8 is going to be out soon.
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Abedeus
Wow. People still have Windows 95? WHAT? But... I was a kid when I used it.. HOW. WHAT.
Yol
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Originally Posted by Bristlebane
0.05% of 6 million accounts, that would be about 3000 players. I can't believe 3000 people still stuck on such archaic version of Windows
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I'm glad they are still supporting xp though, as some of my old computers still run that.
JONO51
Great, time to upgrade from 95. Guess I'll have to take 'ol faithful round the back of the farm. 
Bristlebane
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Originally Posted by Mintha Syl
Come on, XP is not so old, like half of the population still uses it and every program still supports it...
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Personally I use 7 myself, don't see any needs to upgrade to 8 yet.
JONO51
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Originally Posted by Mintha Syl
Come on, XP is not so old, like half of the population still uses it and every program still supports it...
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akelarumi
but but.....
How on earth am I gonna play both my favourite games?? Guildwars and Hover!
But on the other side of realism, I totally understand why they withdraw the support. This doesn't mean however it will stop working instantly on that date. It means when they make new builds or updates they won't test it on a windows 95 pc if it works. So a good change that if you still living underneath a rock in bikinibottom you can still play GW.
How on earth am I gonna play both my favourite games?? Guildwars and Hover!
But on the other side of realism, I totally understand why they withdraw the support. This doesn't mean however it will stop working instantly on that date. It means when they make new builds or updates they won't test it on a windows 95 pc if it works. So a good change that if you still living underneath a rock in bikinibottom you can still play GW.
Raven Wing
Time to opgrade my good old 486 with DOS....j/K, I think this is a good idea.
Actually Im old enough to remember when I bought my 486, and it did cost like 3x my current PC with win7.
Actually Im old enough to remember when I bought my 486, and it did cost like 3x my current PC with win7.
cosyfiep
guess I wont get to play gw on my old laptop (win95)...still runs, has 2gigs of space (of which only...like 140 megs is free 
)....but it still boots (guess I wouldnt even be able to upload the program since gw is what 4? 5? gigs now---)...ah, guess it can continue to be my keyboard rest .....
(wonder why the date of june 14th----)
)....but it still boots (wonder why the date of june 14th----)
Amy Awien
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Originally Posted by Do Urden
Actually I've been able to run it perfectly fine with Windows 7...
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Virtual PC requires Win 7 Ultimate which makes it a lot more expensive then running a separate box with windows 98 - or multi-booting...
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Originally Posted by ogre_jd
Here's hoping it's customer-friendly and not extremely scummy like having a monitoring program running in the background - ...
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Nymph of Meliai
... lol - but seriously, GW2 specs are causing a few problems... .
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cosyfiep
https://buy.guildwars2.com/
scroll down to the bottom and you will see :minimum system requirements:
Windows® XP Service Pack 2 or better
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, Core i3, AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 or better
2 GB RAM
NVIDIA Ge force 7800, ATI Radeon x1800, Intel HD 3000 (256 mg of video ram and shader model 3.0 or better)
25 gigs HDD space available
mouse, keyboard, boardband internet
(sorry if I mistyped--early am and blurry vision will do that).
scroll down to the bottom and you will see :minimum system requirements:
Windows® XP Service Pack 2 or better
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, Core i3, AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 or better
2 GB RAM
NVIDIA Ge force 7800, ATI Radeon x1800, Intel HD 3000 (256 mg of video ram and shader model 3.0 or better)
25 gigs HDD space available
mouse, keyboard, boardband internet
(sorry if I mistyped--early am and blurry vision will do that).
ogre_jd
Yeah, the specs are low (except for the hard drive space - yeesh! Gonna take forever to download at 500KB/s :/), but if you're anywhere near that, don't expect to get even 20fps at the lowest settings... Hell, I bet my 3GHz Athlon 64 X2, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, and 512MB [stupid me for saving $10... :/] Radeon HD5670 will only be able to just get 20fps with the lowest settings, but only on a lower resolution than my normal 1280x800 screen or 1280x720 window.
makosi
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Originally Posted by ogre_jd
Yeah, the specs are low (except for the hard drive space - yeesh! Gonna take forever to download at 500KB/s :/), but if you're anywhere near that, don't expect to get even 20fps at the lowest settings... Hell, I bet my 3GHz Athlon 64 X2, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, and 512MB [stupid me for saving $10... :/] Radeon HD5670 will only be able to just get 20fps with the lowest settings, but only on a lower resolution than my normal 1280x800 screen or 1280x720 window.
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I can't see them having servers capable of providing acceptable download speeds for the hordes who are likely to want to play GW2.
Amy Awien
I imagine the game data will be on your hard-disk in uncompressed form, while during download it is compressed, so you'd be looking at a lot less data to download then is stored. The full 25 GB might also be what's needed to store all textures and gfx for all resolutions and settings while in practice you'd only use (and store and download) for one setting.
Abedeus
x1800 or GF7800 are both ANCIENT cards. Diablo 3 has much higher requirements and on max details those games don't differ in quality that much.
Honestly, I'd be surprised if you could run Windows 7 fluidly on those GPUs.
Honestly, I'd be surprised if you could run Windows 7 fluidly on those GPUs.