Hello

Hi folks
I'm looking to start playing a new MMO, well new to me.
I've played Warcraft for a few years before starting on Old Republic, unfortunately I got bored with warcraft and I'm afraid Old Republic is not the game I wanted it to be, sadly.
My question is would I be ok starting to play Guild Wars now or will my online gaming not be good?
I would like to try this game out but don't want to play it if theres no one else online to enjoy it with, which is why I enjoy MMO's in the first place.
Thanks all

well sure a lot of ppl will move over to GW2
but ..a lot of ppl says they will stay in GW1

so get a good guild and get rdy to do all mission on U self (U get heros or henc to help U in the game)

I made it to all endgames..11 dif players..using heros and henc.

Right, as long as ppl are still playing it then I might give it a go

The game is pretty cheap atm (buy to play btw). but it's reached the end of the life cycle. To succesfully play the full game you'll need bout 30 USD to get all parts (3 campagins+expansion). If however your computer can run it, you got 30 USD more and another 30 days or so, I would say to check out GW2. I had a great time in GW1 but I expect that most people are gonna leave for GW2 (plus a lot more people joining in from other mmo's).

Hi Scarcrow & welcome to GW!

I loved playing GW1 for many reasons, but one of the big ones was because of how it's set up in terms of being an MMO. It isn't like WoW, where there are other people around both in towns and out in the explorable zones... it's an instanced game. An MMO in town, but more like an organized co-op once you go out into the explorable areas: you create a party with other players in town and then venture out together into areas in which you and the other members of your party are the only players.

For some (like me) this is a plus... for diehard MMO players, it's a big change and potentially a negative.

I've been playing GW2 during the BWEs now... it's set up like a more traiditional MMO where it's a persistent, wide-open world that other people are playing in. But what's lovely about it is that there is no kill stealing, no loot stealing, no griefing, etc. GW1 and GW2 are two very different games in many, many ways... but both are (in my opinion) simply fabulous.

So it's really going to depend on what you expect from your MMOs. If you're looking for more of a WoW-like experience (persistent, open world with thousands of other people), you're probably going to like GW2 better. If you like the idea of having an instanced world where the only people in the explorable areas are those you've chosen to be there with, you'll like GW1.

Last thought: the population in GW1 has decreased drastically. Unless you join a guild, it may be hard to find people to play with. The game offers henchmen (right away) and heroes (earned through progression) to accompany you instead of humans if need be, so the low population won't stop you from playing - and finishing - the game. It just may not offer the "social" atmosphere as much as it once did.

It's still an awesome game though, especially for the price (and no subscription!) and would be a good time-killer until next month when GW2 officially launches. Plus, if you get the EotN expansion, you can earn some nice little rewards for use in GW2!

I'm about to start GW1 - I'll probably start GW2 early next year when I get a new machine - so they'll be me at least :P

Having played GW2 for the last couple of days, I've decided to play both games; as Gizzy says, GW is more organised. GW2 is just a clusterfap of particle effects and zerging content with a hundred players.

tl;dr, people will still play GW.

One major difference with the current state of Guild Wars and most (all?) other MMOs is that there are no separate servers. Everyone who plays the game can easily interact without logging out simply by being in the same location (there are different "district" for outposts and cities, but its easy to switch between them). That being said, at this point in the game, you'll still find people playing, but it will feel like a mediam to low populated server in most other games. The Guild Wars content is huge, so the few people still playing are often spread out all over the place. Since most of the game in not persistent, you'll still run into players often, since everyone is forced to be in a town or outpost sooner or later.

Hi and welcome,

I am playing this game for almost 7 years now and i am still enjoying it. But the game has changed over the years. The biggest change is probably that people play less together, but instead of that they play with heroes and henchmen (computer controlled players).

Nobody really knows what is going to happen to GW1 when GW2 gets released (which is officially on August 28 but pre-purchasers get a 3 day headstart). There will still players left but probably not too many.

If you decide to buy GW1 i suggest you try to find a nice guild with people who can help you with your questions; hard quests and missions; advice on armor, weapons and builds, etc.

And make sure you are familiar with Guild Wars Wiki (one of the best game wiki's ever seen).

Thanks for your input guys
I may try out the 14 days free trial and see what it's like and to be honest the game itself and the expansions are not expensive.

I never used the trail version myself, but i think it's 14 day *or* 10 hours (what comes first).

And afaik the trail version has some limitations (this was done to prevent bots for abusing trail accounts to make money)...

^ This; I know at least 100 people that will remain actively in Gw1 - me being one of them

Gw1 has it's own ways of dealing thing, if you're not in for the shiny state-of-the-art graphic, shaders and aftereffects, and like to enjoy a good mission, dungeon or just some random vanquish with a group of friends or with NPC heroes/henchmen then Gw1 is a game for you.

If you, on the other hand, like flashy and shiny graphic, and don't mind open, non-instanced, world and doing some "Event missions" with 30 other random people that happen to stumble across it aswell, you might want to try Gw2.

I'll stay on both, played Gw1 for over 6 years and I still find satisfaction in it, but I however do want to try out it's sequel made by people who's game I played for quite a long time.