Gameplay? Should I think about joining this game?

This game obviously has alot of intresting concepts. Though I do find my decision on hold due to the fact that the beta only runs on certain weekends.... I did read abou the no monthly payments... which makes me wonder how the game plans on paying for the servers and updates that games of this magnitude usually require...

Anyway... so here is a place for people to help me decide, considering I cannot play the game now until mid Apri and thats if I order the beta... Please.. can anyone help me out here? I will be tending to the boards soon... but they can only go so far.. Thanks in advance for the help...

P.S. I am intrested in the pvp... is it fast? slow? I noticed also that the powers of each class are somewhat limited... does this effect the gameplay? Also, is setting up ambushes for enemies easy or difficult? I WoW its quite difficult the forests are not thick enough and the names above the heads reveal locations too easily...

VectorS

Arenanet hasn't explained how they're going to pay for it, but they definitely will not charge a monthly fee. They plan on having expansions... not sure about the time frame. BUT, you don't have to buy the expansions to keep playing. Those will add new maps and areas and things like that, but it's not compulsory to purchase them.

PvP could be fast and slow depending on your team. For example, I've read about hour long PvP games, and I've been in 5 minute long ones myself. LOL.

The classes are very well balanced, and in my opinion, not limited at all. Most of them have 4 categories with lots of skills in each category. It's listed here on this site.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there are a lot of ambushes in this game. If you fight PvP, the games are like Last Man Standing, Capture the Flag etc and if it's a GvG fight, you have to protect your flag or your 'emperor' from the opposite team.

Hope this has helped you some. I think you're going to love this game.... like the rest of us. ^.^

A magazine review I read sometime ago stated that the expansions will be the funding, and will (potentially) be released every 3-4 months. Whether or not this timeframe is correct will have to be seen, but when you think about it, people WILL buy the expansions, and strategically, they will probably be priced adequately so that the cost will be approximate to the other games with monthy fees. Buying an expansion for $30-40 every few months is about the same as a $10-15 monthly fee, but a little easier to explain to a spouse (read: my spouse) as theres an actual product in your hand, at your discretion, instead of a hole in your Visa that endlessly leaks money with no obvious return (she just doesn't understand).

The time frame for expansions from what I've heard is supposed to be every 6-9 months or so, though unlike expansions for other games, they're intended to have about as much content as the origional release. Since the world is already finished(graphics, client/server stuff, gameplay, etc), they just have to work on creating new maps, new professions, and anything else they want to add for the expansions.

As it is, most games with monthly fees don't actually require that much money to keep up- the games produce an incredible amount of income for the companies that produce the games- which is why so many companies are producing MMORPGs with monthly fees- they see it as free money coming in. Look at older games, like Diablo and Diablo 2, Starcraft, etc. that have been playable for years via Battlenet- Blizzard managed to keep games and free online gaming alive for years off of only game sales. I have no doubt that ArenaNet will be able to succeed in this way as well, especially with the quality of game that they are making.

As for the classes, every character has 2 professions, so you're not making an Elementalist, you're making an Elementalist/Monk, or Elementalist/Necromancer- you've got a large variety of options open to you with any combination of classes. Each character has access to about 150 skills, of which you can only take 8 into a mission- meaning that there's 142 that didn't make your skill bar.

PvP is fast-paced, but can take quite a while for matches to finish if you're playing a similarly skilled team. While in combat, it's rare for a few seconds to go by without me using a skill, and during those seconds, I'm either moving(running away from or chasing enemies), or attacking. GW PvP is not something you can do while relaxing and drinking a beer/soda, or while watching the TV across the room- it takes a lot of concentration and coordination with your teammates. There are some lulls in combat, especially on maps that aren't just annihilation- you might wipe out the enemy, but they'll respawn in a short while and be coming back at you.

Intresting... I did read on one of the interviews last night that this game is kind of like a "Midevil Counter Strike" when it comes to pvp... which I must say is a great and bold new idea... I think I will go and drop down the pre-order money to try the game in april... thanks for all the info!

VectorS

BE SURE

that you have the PREORDER BOX in your hand in time for the april event on the 15th i think as simply preordering the game may not get you the beta codes if the store is simply taking preorders for the retail game box which is separate from the preorder box