BWE vs. RETAIL

So what happens to guilds and their rankings once the game is released? A wipe? Things stay the same? A new ladder?

I don't understand why a ladder is even set up before the game is released, at least any sort of permanent one.

Other than this, what are some of the differences we should come to expect with the release of Guild Wars, and how will it effect the PvP and GvG aspects of the game? Please post your pre/post release opinions.

Someone said that Gaile replied in an interview that guild names will be reserved. So, fears about a random pick up guild stealing the Fianna's name can be quelled. As for the ladder.. why not have one in BWE? It's all for fun, after all. A game isn't going to give you any lasting fame irl by far, so it's not that big of a deal, considering that everyone knew of the wipe going in.

So.. I don't think the actual wipe will do anything. If they implement any major changes before release, then yes, post-release gaming experiences might be different. However, at the way that things are going, I just expect the top 10 to quickly move back to top 10, with possibly a few new guilds sprinkling in. A few weeks later, the top 10 might get some serious contenders.. but immediately after release, after the initial mad scramble to rebuild characters, things should go back to normal. And by normal, I mean normal growth and development without any earthshattering social changes in the fabric of Guild Wars.

The guilds should be wiped. Characters wont in a sense, their names and facial features will stay, but their job/level/skills won't.

Well I guess it's better then no ladder.

Well you won't see anything mind blowing. But they should add a plethora of quests/missions/npcs, some minor features and maybe a few skills.

What I really want is pet improvement. First of all, commands. Then no DP.

I agree, pets can mess up plans, especially for a ranged attacker, i had the same problem with the Fighter Henchman, when i was trying to catch a group off guard and hit them with firestorm, the fighter runs over to them and then all the melee people of the group come running over to me and my firestorm only hits the ranged enemys, the same problem happens with pets. So instead of when you go to attack an enemy the Henchman/Pet justs runs over, there could be a "Hold Back" command or something.

If only the Guild Name is saved does that mean the all the guilds will lose all their members. My guild is just starting out and we only have 3 members but I just got more poeple to join. Will they all have to rejoin when the game launches. Also will I have to buy a new cape . I seem to remember capes were only 100g in Feb now they are 1000g so which is the right price?

Ren

The "right price" will depend on whatever economy they decide on; for the February event, Guilds were 10 gold, Capes were 100 gold. For the March event however, they increased the gold output and costs by ten times, so what normally would have been 10 gold (i.e. Guilds) were then 100 gold, and capes were similarily 1000 gold. We'll most likely see another new economy in place for this next event, but I'm not certain for that, and somebody else out there would probably have your answer. I'm fairly certain that the pricing system will be totally different once the game is actually released though...

If the Guild Name is reserved, I was under the assumption that the members of the guild would also be reserved so that you didn't have to worry about trying to remember all of their names and reinviting them. There has been discussion in other threads about whether or not guild capes will be saved, and the consensus at the time was that they would be wiped with the start of the game, but it's been a couple of days since I checked that thread and maybe we decided on something else.

I'm almost positive the ladder is wiped out. Though this is just my personal opinion and the validity of this statement is in question, I would like to see the actual guilds and guild capes preserved just as a little bonus for those of us who have spent the insane hours in the BWEs.

Well, the point behind the wipe is to make it so that nobody, including those of us who have done several events or did the WPE, has any advantage over those who are playing for the first time. Obviously we would know how the game runs and more about skills and such, but A.net wants to make it as fair as possible.

But yeah, I would like to keep our guild stuff, just because it takes a while to get the money

I see where you're coming from (and ArenaNet for that matter) but I don't think having a preserved guild cape is really an advantage, only more of a bonus. Now that I say this it makes me think that all the BWE people including myself will only have the bonus of our special item given with the preorder.

Will the item we get actually be any good? I've preordered the collectors edition from EB Games, so I'll be getting the 'Ithas Bow' and the 'Divine Aura' in-game. Since ANet wants to make this fair, as they should, how does the usefulness of these items factor in? I'm asuming the Divine Aura will have no modifier really, as it's description just describes 'a god-like aura'. How about the items like the Ithas Bow and the targe, etc. I'm asuming they will be useable, but it order to keep things remotely fair, they would have to suck, right? Does anyone have any experience with these types of in-game item rewards with other games?

I'm debating working a ranger into whatever character I choose for release since I'll be getting a bow to start...is it worth it?

I actually emailed support about the pre-order items, because I was freaking out that I couldn't find Censor's Icon anywhere (I would have had to drive a half-hour to the nearest retailer that carried it) and they said something along the lines of the fact that they would be cool items, sure, but would give no real advantage to people who pre-ordered over people who just buy the game. I would think that instead of getting your starter 5-6 damage bow (arbitrary statistic) you would get the Ithas bow with 8-9 damage and plus 1 to Marksmanship (as it says that it's used with Marksmanship). It might look cool, too, which is always a plus.

The Divine Aura is probably just aesthetic, as you said. Or like, plus one to the god's chosen attribute, or something. Whatever it is it would have to be cool enough to warrant an extra twenty dollars on the game but not cool enough to let that twenty dollars give you any advantage over other players.

lol, quite the predicament, though it makes total sense. I suppose that's where aesthetic value comes in, since it doesn't offer any real gameplay advantage, as we asume will be the case with the Divine Aura. The other items though, should be useful to some degree. I know you can upgrade things somehow in GW though I never go to that while playing the March BWE, so perhaps the items just look really cool, with average stats that can be upgraded. I really really really hope the items aren't so bad that you might as well toss them as soon as you get them. A cool idea would be to have them 'assimilate' their regular counterparts, so they share the stats and mods, but the appearance is the special item. My item is effected my perfession choice, so it better be worth it.

Is it possible for retailers to add items to collectors editions? I saw a list of contents that was different than the list posted on the GW site. One of the items was a cloth map, which I didn't see listed on the GW site. Maybe this was just confusion, who knows.

I heard about the cloth map too, But think it is only a rumor. If map is real that would make me have to swich to CE.

Ren

Cloth map comes in the Deluxe Edition, so I'll assume it comes in the Collector's, as well. It's not all that big a deal, you get a regular glossy paper map if you just ordered the regular version.

the only real info is the info on the GW site. there is no cloth map. there is no "Deluxe Edition".

Shoot, how 'bout that. Everyone was preselling the "Deluxe" Edition, like, a week ago, I guess that's what the Collector's Edition used to be. I'll be damned. Thanks, Bgnome, for the info. You're a good man and/or woman.