Issues With Difficulty...

-------------Act 1----------------

Ive always been one to appreciate a challenge, in games like Diablo, Battlefield2, etc, in a way that makes the game engaging and difficult to master, forcing you to employ strategy, and giving you great satisfaction when you overcome a problem or do something great with a new skill.

But the line is drawn at the point that a challenge becomes a frustration.

When I started playing Guild Wars, I was at first shocked and awed to find the post-searing world so darn difficult and intimidating at first. There was a real sense of doom in the towns, as everyone seemed to be in a mad panic to save the world, while scrambling to upgrade their gear before going back out into the perilous world. This was great. It had a great sense of atmoshpere, and the challenge was very welcome.

You could go outside and get into fights with monsters, barely win, and have to progress carefully, avoiding certain enemies altogether. To get to other towns, people would have to form running parties, and be run there by a higher level player with the right spells to actually stay alive.

So this was great. The atmosphere was awesome, and the sense of difficulty was a welcome challenge, requiring you to form groups before going out into the world if you wanted to survive.

-------------Act 2----------------

Now I'm at Kryta, and the difficulty has lost it's allure altogether. First of all, there's no more story. There's no more sense of doom, or motivation to save the world, or really do ANYTHING that actually has an effect on anything other than your stats. There's no more sense of people grouping together to survive and save the world. This problem began as soon as I finished the Ascalon Missions and moved on to the Ice areas.

Where once I was running from fearsome Charr and thought the world was going to end, the Charr are now owned, and I was running from ten times more dangerous things, which really, really turn me off.

Here's an example of what goes through my head. I just owned the Charr and saved Ascalon, then owned the Ice areas (I'm not sure why yet), and now here I am at the beach in Kryta, and I get pwned by a level 20 sea shell.

These sea shells are teh dangerous. Even when idling, they just sit there and cast spells on themselves. If you get in a fight, they cast spells that drain your health, slow you down, stop you from attacking, and they take longer than almost any other enemy I've encountered to kill. If there are two or more, I usually have to run, while being barraged by their ANNOYING spells. And then there are those large groups of Mergoyles that look like they fit the descrition of Level 1 target practice... but NOOOO.... if you mix them with a group of mighty Hydras, guess who wins? The Mergoyles and sea shells.

The Fire Imps... don't even get me started on why I can't survive more than one Fire Imp at a time... they look teddy bears, and I'm a Level 14 Ranger with a Animal Companion and a powerful, carefully selected set of spells and abilities. It's anyone's guess why they can kill a Level 17 Ranger (with the best gear available) in about 7 seconds flat when there are 3 or more.


------- ACT 3 ------


Now, I understand (or at least Ive heard in towns) that Warriors are like tanks, but what if you're not a warrior? (im a Ranger) And what if you cant get a group together?

What if you want to play alone? Does it make sense to have a few very hard, carefully selected areas that contain the super hard enemies that defend super good items? Why does every fight in the game have to be against enemies that pwn? Aren't special areas with special rewards supposed to contain the hard guys? And why are all the indigenous life forms like Level 20, spell-casting sea shells? I like having difficult Charr, but when I find a snowy landscape filled with random animals that can all beat the living crap out of the Charr, I say "this is just stupid. The game-world sucks now."

So, now that I'm in a Kryta, it has also been a LOT harder to actually get a group together... (or at least a grop that doesnt get owned by the Fire Imps and sea shells).

This brings me to another HUGE thing that annoys the crap out of me about GW... What if I don't WANT to go with a group now? If you party up or go with Henchman, the XP you get from killing enemies is cut in half PER PARTY MEMBER. This means an enemy worth 100xp would give you like 8... and since your Level determines how much XP enemies can give you, if you never spent GREAT deals of time going solo just to get XP from enemies, you're missing out!... because now you're too high a level to get any XP from those enemies, and you lost the chance (even though they would have pwned you anyway if you went solo)

I spent about 2-1/2 hours just going outside in Kryta to beat up Mergoyles *by myself*, and leveled up TWO TIMES! They're worth 80xp each. I just went outside, jumped 20 of them, went back to town, went outside, jumped another 20 of them... rinse-repeat.

If I go with a party, I may be able to finish quests easier, but the XP becomes meaningless, and so the enemies become meaningless, as if they were just there to annoy you with all their stupid spells, and slow you down.

------ ACT 5 ------

Another problem that I feel the game is absolutely overidden with are penalties, as if I can't be allowed to enjoy anything. Henchman take most of your money when it's dropped. Merchants offer PENNIES when you sell super expensive stuff. Runes that are +2 take away 50 Health (WTF?!!!),... It just seems like everything is designed with absolute balance in mind, which means that everything sucks.

It's not like in Diablo, where charms, runes, etc let you feel BETTER about your stats, and actually DO something significant, without applying some ridiculously annoying penalty that takes away the benefit entirely.

-

So, in conclusion, I just want to ask if anyone else shares these annoyances with the game. I am more interested in the opinions of rangers, monks, and people who have taken a hit from the incredible difficulty, and also might think the game is overidden with peeves and annoying design decisions, as I do.

I enjoyed the game very much up until now. I still enjoy it, but a very large, dark cloud is slowly overshadowing the gameplay, as I find myself not liking the story (or lack of story), being killed by very n00b-looking creatures that cast some of the most annoying spells imagineable, and having to share 90% of my Experience Points (and gold) with other party members, like Henchmen, as I set out to do yet another set of quests that are no different from the first 150, with the exact same rinse/repeat gameplay that's been going on all along, except that this time the game is really beginning to fall apart, because the story, freshness, and reasonable enemies are all gone.

Anyone else feel these things? I could write an entire book on how I would have handled this game (oh, if only I could design the expansion), but this is just the surface area. I think the second half of Guild Wars just becomes too disagreeable and arguable to be considered anywhere NEAR a perfect game, despite having a good start. Unlike almost any other game, this game leaves me with a profound sense of having MUCH to be desired, as I'm perpetually peeved by the inventory and stat design decisions, and all the shortcomings besides.

Man, nice post, but you know what, this isn't Diablo, or BF2, its GW,an entirely different game, and each MMORPG reacts differently to each person, like my friend is Deathly in love with EQ2 how ever i'd play GW over it anyday, and then I have a friend who plays runescape over gw... and trust me rs is horrible i spent a year of my life playing that game,and i totaly regret it.

Well, i personally kinda know how you feel tho. Like with my level 20 warrior, i was so happy, i ascended, went to Temple Of Ages ready to go to Underworld for the first time, took aobut 2 hours to find a group that needed the warrior, and then went to go, and europe took favor... It really dashed my hopes, so i came back the next day, except this time ready to go to the Fissure of Woe, and i did, except, i entered the game after loading the files, and everyone was dead but me...

This is where i made my ranger, (whos now level20) i made him just for the purpose of going to Under World, because people don't accept but what they want in groups, and it really makes me mad... and thats where i feel the pains of this game, people being picky and wanting things there way

As for quests, they're the best for xp at your area, just to let you know

Well i hope that helped,
~Ulivious

You haven't even been thru half the game yet! I'd move on to something else if you can't handle GW already.

I cant beleive you just wasted that much of your time to write that. You havnt beaten the game and all you talk about is yourself and henchman. Keep playing and get more experienced b4 u make judgements b4 u even get to the desert lol. I cant beleive i wasted my time to read that and then waste my time to write this.

PEACE

Go play runescape or something

Did you meet a mesmer by chance? Bwahahahhaah .
But like my buddy, the reaper, here the game is just personal preference.

As for joining groups, it's pretty hard for a ranger. Cause everyone is stereotypical. Get a guild or friends to help you.

As for the henchmen taking your money, they also take your loot. I swear, I've done sorrows furnace so many times I'd have 10,000000000,000 greens if it weren't for those nasty, greedy, henchmen. Once I got a superior vigor rune, and Stephan was looking at me funny. Good thing I had running skills. Damn henchmen.

All I can think of. If you don't like the PvE portion, try the PvP version. Almost like diablo, and not a lot of work involved! I suggest the premade paladin .

-Cheers!

Man, let me start by saying that I totally get where your'e coming from with storyline and gameplay. I had the same questions ("What's my motivation?") when in Kryta and beyond. I feel you. But,

On the issue of XP:

Firstly, players/henchman do not take your XP to the degree that you stated. If it's you and five others, you will get 1/6 of the experience you would have earned for each kill. It may not be the same share as each player, if everyone is a different level, but the XP is getting distributed fairly.

Secondly, if you are playing through all or most of the quests and missions, with full parties, you will have more than enough XP by the time the game would make you level 20 (won't get too specific - don't want to spoil anything). I remember getting to the area in question, and hearing in-town chat about people being noobs for having as much XP as I did when arriving to that town. Really, do not worry about getting enough XP. You'd have to try very hard not to.

On solo vs. team play:

You're right. The game is designed to be too hard to play solo, at least on the first go round. If grouping with players or henchies isn't your style, then I could see why you wouldn't be into Guild Wars. I rally don't see the problem with at least grabbing henchmen, though. One nice thing about GW is that you really don't need alot of loot. Really. The only thing you really need money for is armor, and if you only buy armor a few times during the game, you should always have enough money. And since you said you already have the best gear available, I don't see the point in fretting too much about henchies snatching your loot. Besides, if henchies didn't take a fair share, nobody would ever team with other players, who do take a fair share.

Also, really, if you could walk outside and own everything solo, what would be the point in playing a multiplayer game?

On balance:

I disagree with you on this one. The rune system may not be perfect, but it does force you to make careful choices with your character's build/s. If every superior rune gave a +3 attribute with no penalty...guess what? Everyone would walk around maxed out with superior runes, head to toe. The game would have be balanced around that. Now, instead of a choice, they'd become a necessity. So, you'd have to by armor, and then you'd have to buy a full set of runes. That would make you feel good about your character? That you had another thing you had to spend your money on to compete? With the current system, a poor character may not be able to afford superior runes, but they aren't penalized - they have full hit points. When a character can afford them, then they have a choice, with consequences. And if you think that +2 to an attribute is fully negated by -50hp, you may want to look at your build.

Balance is a core concept of the game. There's a reason you max out at level 20. There's a reason you have to learn how to defeat foes with many powerful skills, instead of mowing through them as you stroll through the world. A ranger isn't supposed to be able to defeat everything; a balanced party is.

It sounds like the game may not be your style, but it's hardly a failure. I'd recommend sticking with it to complete the game with at least one character. If you feel like creating another, you'll have a lot more "aha!" moments where you see how much each class has to offer, and how combining these classes into parties can make the game challenging and fun, and not difficult.

Hope you stick with it.

For your information, MMO's arent about what you think when you're *done* playing. This game is too long to even *consider* finishing it before drawing a conclusion.

If a person is going to spend so much time playing an MMO, the time spent playing better be time well spent. You seem to think this is a 5 hour game like Max Payne where I can't speak until I'm done. I've been playing GW 5 hours a day for weeks, and have had more than plenty of time to draw many well thought out conclusions.

Besides, this a list of ongoing issues I've had with the game, having nothing to do with progression, and they'll all be there at the end of the game. - Don't tell me the ending of the game will be a big Charr saying, "Guess what! The inventory is fixed now! The story is back! All the enemies are beatable next time! Party-Members don't reduce your XP anymore! You shouldn't have drawn any conclusions from Kryta, because everything is fixed now! YAY!!!"

Personally, I think the satisfaction of the game is derived from the frustration of playing it.

I'm soloing the game (without henchmen) with my N/Me right now, and having some of the same difficulties in Kryta after having a relatively easy time before that. But I know that those difficulties will make me a better player and learn to utilize more of the non-straightforward skills to defeat them. And when those are mastered, I'll move onto the jungle for a whole 'nother set of problems.

You just gave away the ending!

There is only one conclusion for this,
Don't like the game mechanics? Don't play it. Play something more worthwhile.

It's like a marriage. If you have many ongoing issues with your wife, play with her 5 hours a day, and had thought out conclusions about how she was, would you leave her?
The answer would be yes. If your not happy with the game, go be happy with someone else.
Dang that was a bad example.

Cheers!

very, very bad example, but you get the point through, don't hate the player(s) hate the game... or somthing like that


also tehres more to the game than stories, and what not, its strategies that really get you through the game.
~Ulivious

IMO the GW storyline sucks from the end of pre searing ending at Thunderhead Keep.


runners ftw i guess.

If you play more, you get more frustrated. Best to take your time and play with people.
When playing with henchmen you don't get player interaction and might as well play a signle player game.

It gets better when you get friends and a guild.

Anyway, it is because of the players that most of the "difficulty" issues come. People try to solo, and that's what hurts the rest of the community.

Just do quests/missions. That's the best way.

in post-sear game you arent suppose to solo everthing, its designed for team (hence the increased party size) if youre complaining about not enough loots, i think ur only in kyrta, theres hardly anything to get in kyrta. (if u keep playing by the time you get to drok you should have around 15k with just doing quests and missions) get a good team together and enjoy the game. Kyrta has a 6 people party size for a reason. This game isnt hard its about team work, with a good team u can own about any place. (if ur complaining about difficulty wait till u get to THK)

I almost forgot something from my example!
Marriage conseling! That's whay D-dawg is here! He's here for marriage conseling! WWOOO!

Ok, it would be helpful to get with groups that know what to do, and how to counter problems that you stated in your post. You get more loot if you go with real people and it's less frustrating with them.

So they came up with new monsters and new challenges in a new area. Beating down Charr all the time would get kinda boring (unless you finish the game and take on the Last Day Dawns quest with level 24 Charr )

But I can understand the story line let-down going from Ascalon to Kryta. You didn't end the Charr threat, you just migrated to a new area to find a home in. Then you discover this new problem with the place you've chosen for a new home, but it's not exactly clear on what exactly IS going on, so you've got a mystery to solve. meh.

But the game goes much better when you team up with real people. There's a bit of joy to be had when you manage to get into a really good group. (There's more of those than you realize.)

No offense, but if you're being wiped out constantly and you think enemies are impossible to beat:


1.) Practice coordinating better with PUGs or managing henchmen better.
2.) Stop rushing and take the time to do quests to get the XP so you get more levels (if it's important.)


God help you when you get to the desert. You'll be eaten alive

I hope it's by something more convincing than spell-casting sea shells.

There are no sea shell enemies in this game. I have no clue what you keep yammering about sea-shells for.

Judging from your criticisms, (dislike of team play, balance,etc), you're playing the wrong game. Diablo or whatever is probably more what you want.

I felt the same way when I hit Kryta. I continued on & finished the game & now laugh at myself. Someday you will hopefully do the same.

Remember this post.... when you have completed the game/chp 1 we will have a few Dwarven Ale on me. =)

yeah after a while when u have done the game serveral times with diff chars, the pve side gets a little tiring. but ah well, theres always the pvp side to look at. imho i love eq2 for the pve,but theres no way it beats gw for the pvp.guild wars pvp owns! lol i love it.

Um. Play the Ascalon missions again?

Charr didn't get owned, Ascalon didn't get saved. Prince Rurik FLED Ascalon with some people of Ascalon, heading to Kryta to make a new colony there. King Alderbeen [however his name is spelled] staid back with rest of Ascalonians, still attacked and harassed by Charr army.

'Owning' Ice area cost Rurik's life, and fled from there as well, no 'owning' unless running with tail between your legs is concidered owning. The reason you had to go through ice area, is because it's the only way to Kryta where the new colony should be started.

Watch the cinematics before complaining about the game story.

It's 'multiplayer' for a reason. Either learn to master your profession well enough so you can solo, or play with henchies.

Well considering you got run everywhere in Ascalon, it's a wonder you even got to Kryta. Learn to play.

Dario I would like to compliment you on one thing in your first post.
At least you used paragraphs
Most people that make such a huge rant never bother with them.

As for everything else you said
This is a game. Games should be fun. If your not having fun with it this may not be the right game for you!

This entire game is based on balance and skill and you seem to hate everything that makes the game balanced and if removed to your liking then it would require no skill.

If you have a ranger and can't play solo you may want to look at the rest of the skills given to that class. They just so happen to be one of the easiest classes to play solo with.

I played my first character w/n solo 'without henchies' through the game up until the desert where my life changed suddenly and I realize that maybe I may have to meet some of the other people in the game. And while it was obvious before then that the game wasn't meant to be played alone it was still possible but rather time consuming.

You can acheive anything in this game with however you choose to do it but just because you don't like aspects of a game that you have barely even played yet is no reason to bitch about how bad it is. If you really hate it that much I know there are other games out there that require much less thinking and may save your keyboard from you having to type out a rant about something you honestly have little understanding of.

Have fun in WoW

Dario D.

You say that the storyline is lacking. And that you just went out of LA and killed things. Did you try to do any of the Kryta Missions? Missions, not quests, like D'Alessio Seaboard etc. There is a storyline, but Kryta just has different problems than Ascalon

And maybe, just maybe, your 'powerful, carefully selected set of spells and abilities' isn't as good as you think it is

So much frustration...

If Kryta is already too difficult for you, then either you should stop playing and move to another game, or you - as a GW player - need to improve, or you should find a decent team and understand GW is based on team play and basic strategy, not about diablo-like superhuman feats. No offense intended, but experienced player can complete the game with henchmen only and Kryta is *incredibly* easy compared to what's coming in the last missions.

Last but not least, please don't make a fool of yourself making ridiculous statement about game balance when you haven't seen 25% of the game.

Hi,

I agree on the storyline, it has some really odd twists. When finished the game, you still have the feeling there's a lot of unfinished business. I disagree partly on the difficulty of the game however, appart from some missions and quests, I find it to be too easy. I completed the game with all quests in about 3 weeks with my first char (W/E, later W/Mo). With my second char (Me/Mo) it took me only 5 days. Most of the difficulty depends on the group you're playing with. Since all missions/quests are replayable, chances are that you'll end in a group with ppl who've done the mission already and who know exactly what to do, already have the best gear etc etc. A way of solving ths problem could be that, when entering the mission, a message pops up saying that there's a player in the team who has completed the mission before. In this way, other partymembers can decide if they want the aid of an advanced player or not. In this way the game can be challanging for those who want to play it in an "honest" way.

With my second char things were awfully easy. First, I had about 100k in my storage. After leaving pre-searing I immediatly had green weapons on my mesmer. I had enough cash to buy the best armor. Me and my guildmate rushed the ascalon mission with all quests and bonusses in about 2-3 hours, gaining XP quickly cause we were only with 2 ppl.

Then there's the much debated droknar-run. Ppl who can afford it already have droksarmor when reaching Gates of Kryta. Doing this is the players own choice of course. But when I was playing from Kryta and onwards, about half of the ppl (including myself) were wearing droksarmor, making the game a lot easier. (I rushed my mesmer through the game cause of PvP)

And last, there are sites like these where all the info you need can be found. Again, this is the players own choice if they wanna read it or not.

The game's difficulty stands or falls with how you and your partymembers, manage their skills. Having a good build makes the game easy as pie. Havind a bad build makes it a pain in the arse. Take FoW for example. May ppl have come up with builds that even that area becomes relatively easy. Yesterday I was in a party with 6 (me being a mesmer, for those who don't know, backfire/interupt memsers own in FoW ). We completed all the forgemasterquests in an area which is supposed to be challenging for an 8-man party.

I could give an entire list with examples but I think I've made my point clear.

My advice to you, since this is your first char, is: don't use spoilertactics. Read everything in the game carefully, especially your skills. Try to play PvP. And last but not least, be innovative. In this way GW is a very rewarding and interesting game.

Cheers.

Erm, TBH I actually thought you was joking - untill I read that.

Most GW players actually think that the PvE part of the game is ridiculously easy (although I'm a PvPer, I've done lots of PvE too and completed the game with 3 chars).

If you find even PvE too difficult for you ... why not read forums about builds/strategies that other people use in areas where you are having difficulties? Read and learn about pulling (you do *not* have to fight a gazillion mobs at the same time), and other useful tactics. How can PvE be too difficult when my level 6 W/E in presearing armor, with a candycane sword, can do all Beacon's and Yak's Bend skill quests with ease?! Henchies have been improved so much that they practically do everything for you ... you just need to target.

Lack of storyline ... when I played through it for the first time, I actually enjoyed the storyline alot - so I think it's fine for first time players (I did watch all the cinematics tho - didn't sound like you did! :O ). GW simply is not a RPG, it's a cooperative PvP game, there is just much more depth and versatility in PvP, and the shallow and repetitive PvE areas are only there to let new players learn the basic skills and for farming perfect greens =p.

/sigh
I think the spell casting sea shells refers to the Spined Aloe's... the monk skilled creatures. I originally read the title of this thread and assumed it was in regards to the lack of difficulty through much of this game.

I will try to address your points in the format you provided...

Act I
Glad you enjoyed, I felt the same sense of wonder and success as I slowly progressed through the Ascalon storyline.

Act II
The Charr threat was not overcome; you, Rurik, and company left Ascalon because the King banished Rurik. Many of the folks from Ascalon tagged along with Rurik and fled what they thought was a doomed Ascalon. They moved with Rurik, and you, across the Northern Shiverpeak Mountains to Kryta. The storyline continued here with the introduction of the Deldrimor Dwarves, a group that you become very... familiar with later in the game in several missions, quests, and explorable areas.

Out of the critters in Kryta, only the Spined Aloes fit the description of sea-shells. These critters are simply a monk based monster, they just have different skill setups than the Charr monks from Ascalon. The mixture of spells you are describing sounds more like a bad pull of Skales, Aloes, and Mergoyles. Luckily, there are no hydras there.

As for the Fire Imps, Troll Ungent or Healing Breeze (if you have monk 2ndary) can reduce or completely remvoe the health degeneration caused by the burning attacks. The Fire Imps never presented a huge challenge to me but the Mergoyles did (I had problems with many Mesmer monsters). As for your powerful and carefully selected skill lists... no idea there, sounds like you may want to reconsider them if you are unable to use the henchies as a team in this area.

Not quite sure what happened to Act IV, is that gonna be in a sequel or something?

Act V
Rangers form an important part of the game, I have found myself kicking myself in the hind quarters for want of a Ranger. Rangers have a utility belt sort of skill set up, with good ranged, traps, self healing, condition inflicting, and even melee capability (through their pets).

As for the monsters getting harder... ummmm... look at nearly every game, cRPG, MMORPG, 1st persons, so on and so forth. Normally, the skill level and power level of the monsters does not decrease as the game progresses. You don't continue to advance and all the monsters just keep on being the same. I will admit that its not realistic to see a Level 10 collector standing out in the middle of a volcanic wasteland with Level 24 monsters milling around next to him, but it is a game where magic, dwarves, minotaurs, plants, and dragons are the like. The loot of the game gets progressively better, kill a Charr and get 8 gp than it becomes kill a mergoyle and get 30 gp. Though you have more slots for party members, you still don't have to fill them, and even if you did, 8/4 = 2 gp each... 30/6 = 5 gp each... the loot is progressively better. The xp for these monsters also goes up. I found that most of the experience in the game, initially, came from quests... kill 40 Charr with henchies get like 25 xp each, so 800 xp. Or do 1 Mission and get 1,000 plus a skill point, plus all the xp along the way, +1,000 more if you do the bonus.

As for going outside Kryta (I assume you mean Gates of Kryta or Lion's Arch) and leveling up 2 times... I can recall going outside Augury Rock and leveling up 4 times in a setting. Level 20 character, Level 22 monster... 136 xp each.

As for the enemies being there to annoy you... I suppose thats part of the idea... I'd hate to play a game where I just went from location to location without over coming anything, being handed xp and loot. The only importance of enemies is for small xp (until end game), loot, and to provide some modicum of challenge.

Henchman take a portion (equal share) of the cash dropped, they are after all members of your party. They additionally get a chance for any items dropped. As for the merchants offering PENNIES for super expensive stuff... ummm... I can't think of anything besides dye drops and a couple of runes I got in Kryta that were worth anything to anybody besides the merchant. Remember to hit the vendors with materials, dyes, and runes. And as for major runes, well, unluckily they are kinda like the red-headed step child of the game. Minors get a +1 bonus for no health, stick them until you can grab a single superior that you want...

As for the comparison to Diablo. I assume you mean D2. Diablo was a inventory and click game. It relied heavily on the mathematics of stats, far more so than GW. In D2, you simply loaded up on the currently available best gear went out and clicked until every opponent was dead. GW is a bit more about skill and using the right ones for the right situations, especially on the PvP end of things. Grab the best rune of vigor you can for one, stick to the minor runes to avoid the health penalties... The caster classes seem to gain a very largely apparent advantage from runes compared to the more subtle physical damage dealers which still get some great advantages.

Now in conclusion, not sure what to tell you... if you are not enjoying the game that much, I'd tell you to move on. Unluckily, most of the things you call problems are something that have been part of the game for a long time and have little chance of being changed. As for the noobish looks of the monster Aloes... I can't come up with anything to tell you. I hate to say something like this, but either buck up and figure out the game isn't about soloing every monster so you can get everything, its about finding a party, guild, and group of folks to go play and have fun with. The 20 levels, small skill bars, and so on make this game far less DIFFICULT than other games out there and make the game more about skill than endless grind.

Good luck.

You talk to much about XP leveling up ect.

You have a "diablo" mentality, if it cant be beaten up go levle up and come back stronger.

Guild wars dosnt work like that, you have to choose better skills and win by skill. And without tyring to sound nasty, if you keep getting pwoned as you put it its not the game, but your skill that needs looking at.

Again think outside the box

there is no 400+ damage sword that kills in 1 hit, that adds 150 to attack rating ect ect.

A super rune ads +3 and -75 health, now if you think -75 is just stupid, then you dont understand anything about game balance and how builds work. That +3 can be waaaaaaaaaay more important than losing a measly 75 health.

Its up to you to THINK of what skills to applly in what area, and no you CANT solo kill the whole game. Most areas are designed to be to tough to kill solo, thats why you have party sizes of 6 in the jungle/kyrta area. (and im talking general play here not exp farmers).
well said

You asked for opinions from people who play classes like rangers and monks. I play a monk and a good friend of mine is a ranger and we're both enjoying this game immeasureably. It most definitely is NOT so difficult a game that it can't be played. Just takes some time, like any decent RPG or MMORPG.

Storyline aside (you can either take it or leave it, but good luck finding a decent storyline in any of the other multiplayer online RPGs out there), we've had a LOT of fun with this game.

But, I think the main reason why we are is that it's definitely a social game. Three good friends of mine and I play all the time... rarely will one of us get on and solo or even if we do, it's just to do a bit of collector quest item hunting. Sometimes two of us will get on and do a little mapping (we're not through the Crystal Desert yet). But we try to do most of the quests and missions together as a team.

Like I said, it's a social game, hence GUILD Wars... it's not Solo Wars. The game, both PvE and PvP, is designed with the notion of working within a team framework. This doesn't mean you can't solo... by all means feel free to do so, but I'd strongly suggest taking henchmen if you don't already. The game's mechanics are NOT meant for you to go out and play the missions and quests alone. There are some that you simply can't do without at least some henchmen along.

Join a guild. Or if you don't like that idea, join some Pick Up Groups (PUGs) - the people in the towns that shout "Looking for group" for whatever mission or quest they might need help with. Myself, I'll stick to playing with the guys I do. When the four of us get online, as frustrating as the game can sometimes be, we still have a good time in the long run.

If the whole idea of this being a "multiplayer" game is not cool with you, then perhaps you picked up the wrong game in the store. My suggestion: keep playing. The area you're in isn't even remotely difficult. The parts of the game that are, aren't even that bad with the right teamwork.

I actually enjoy the increasing difficulty as I progress through the game. If it didn't then it will certainly bore me silly. When I return to earlier areas and the foes can be killed quite easily, it sometimes bore me to the point where just walk/run pass them rather than waste my time whacking them.

Yes, there have been times when I found things seem quite impossible to do, enemies appear invincible but they're not...not after you've worked out their weakness or come up with a good strategy. Just because you have carefully picked a set of skills that seem powerful, it doesn't mean they are for every part of the game. I play a warrior, a mesmer, a ranger and a monk. And each one of them has had their attributes and skills tweaked more than once. Most of the time I use a particular build, but more often than not, I have to make adjustments to deal with the type of foes in the area.

If you're finding it difficult to kill or get pass an area then it's time to revisit your skillset. Furthermore, there are times when you need to know who to attack and who to avoid. There was a time when I couldn't get very far out of Bergen Hotsprings, the mass of undead just beat me up. These days, with good aggro control, I can get pass them easily without them knowing and just fight the odd group that I think will pose a problem.

i always found that the desert was easy for that point in the game, with my first character i had more trouble with the end of maguuma/kryta part deux then with the desert
but then thats when i started to really use henchies.... I LOVE HENCHIES

Good point!

I'd just like to make it known that it wasn't for a LONG time that I learned to use henchmen.

That means, as a mesmer, I SOLOED quite a few of ascalon quests (not the missions, did those with people). And people wonder why my death-count is so high (3050 or so)

You think you had it hard? Pshh! Mesmer is also one of the worst classes to lead henchmen as because you don't have armor or healing to lead... and lets be honest people, mesmer firepower + henchman firepower does not equal very much in the early game.

But I quite liked the difficulty level of most of the game, Kryta was my favorite part of the whole Prophcies campaign.

True, this is the reason my brother has stopped playing GW, th story moves along so quickly and in such a fragmented way he lost the plot. I sent him this link http://www.guildwiki.org/wiki/Storyline to help him get his head round it. Hope this helps for you too.

Good post, sorry I only have time to comment on this little bit

1. GW is intended to be a party game, you must use a full party either of players or henchmen until you are leveled up. The PvE balance is not intended for a single warrior, and solo adventures are really for those who have fully leveled up and have all the skills and the best equipment. Even then, it does not always work.

2. I would agree with many of your points, though. GW PvE has never had the satisfying feel of other games, such as WOW (plug plug), but it has really improved a lot since release.

3. Even so, just follow the missions, do some quests, with a full party, get all leveled up, and the story will begin to make some sense.

i know that you've been bashed enough, so i'm going to keep this short and sweet. the source of your problem lies here:

i cannot disagree with this more.

as a first time player, you SHOULD NOT get yourself run everywhere. the reason why you don't know how to survive is because you've been taking the easy way out and didn't actually take the time to learn how. some parts of post sear ascalon might be tough for a low-level first time player, but it certainly isn't impossible. i don't recall any parts where you absolutely need someone of higher level to run you through.

with that said, the difficulty you find with the game doesn't lie with the game itself, but with your own shortcomings. as many have already stated, learn to play the game.

also, the game is not meant to be done solo. as invincible as you might want to be, you just can't. if you don't want to form a group, then henchies are your friend. with alesia, thom, stefan, and company by your side, you will have no trouble dispatching those pesky sea shells.

in short, stop paying for runs and learn to play.

This is your mistake, you should be with a group of your peers fighting your way from town to town. Maybe even form a little guild for yourselves. Not getting ran, especally your 1st time playing, I'm not blaming you for this because the culture of the game has changed, where this has went from embarassing to perfectly normal and acceptable behavior. But if you didn't take the time to learn the survival skills at an early level, you maybe lacking experience in the environment and playing catch up now. Not to mention you still got fog on your map.

As far as the storyline goes, yeah it reads like a bad comic. But you can overlook it and still enjoy the game. GW is a great game and yeah you will be broke going though the storyline, getting just enough to survive and get armor and skills nothing more. Riches await in the ascended endgame content, but dont rush it just have fun. Dont need money for storyline.

I made it though the storyline as a ranger with my 1st charactor and its not for everyone , if you dont enjoy the class, dont play it. Most PUGS arn't gonna want you so plan on 90 minutes to find a grp at times, and it takes a while to master the class. But if you stick it out with ranger in the end you will pwn the game in both PvP and PvE, but a newbie ranger got a hard road so you can may want to try something easier if you are having to much trouble to bear.

DevilStick was happy to get to Kryta. DevilStick longed to see green after all the brown of post-Searing Ascalon and white of the mountains.

I will not browbeat you here. The first time through it took me 3 months. I now get my characters ascended in a week or two. It does seem confusing and the story is a bit convuluted, but I found that the 2nd time through it was more fun because I knew what to expect and was able to equip my characters better. My latest character got Drok's Armour before starting in Kryta and it is rather easy.

On my later runs through the game I found out how to better use henchmen and also saw some of the characters like Cynn, Mhenlo, and Aida appearing in the story only to join you later in the game as henchies. Ascalon is a chapter that closes, even though you can return to it. The White Mantle and Shining Blade are another part. The Dwarves are another part. Connected, but not very tightly.

Take a hard look at your skills and see how best to combine them. Look for quests that offer up skills, some are in obscure parts of the game. As a ranger there are more things you can do than you realize. Traps, Spirits, Pet attacks, combining different arrow attacks, draining enemy casters and healers energy with Disrupting Shot all create different results. Are you staying back from enemies and picking your target before you rush in? Are you looking for the healers from a distance and attacking them first? I find the TAB key to be especially helpful when I first approach a group before I aggro them. In the jungle I found the spiders to be infuriating until I learned to move slowly through the trees and wait for them to drop and back off for the attack without aggroing the others. Think about what went wrong and adjust your strategy. Rangers do much better back with the casters and healers than in the thick of the fight.