Feels more like work than play to me...

Been playing GW for a few weeks now. Well I love the game and the gorgeous grahpics in it simply blew me away. One thing that bothers me A Lot about GW is that it is really hard to party up with people in certain mission/quest which require real players instead of henchies unless you're in a guild (I'm not in one), a warrior or a monk. When I'm at the Temple Of Ages with my nec/ranger (Trying to get into UW to get the widow spider for a pet or else I wouldn't even bother), nobody would want to party me to the Underworld. And when I actually Spent time just Waiting for a group to party me, I get kicked out almost immediately just because I wasn't a healer, AOE caster or a tank. But when I use my ele/monk, I get invited once in a while just to have some people who simply wouldn't listen, screw up in the mid of the mission for the whole group in UW by taking all the quests at one go at the Reaper when some of us repeatly told them not to. It is vey very tiring. I feel that this game is extremely time-consuming when they clearly said its not about time spent on it or about grinding through levels. The ONLY reason I bought this game is because it allows us to have 'pets' (I love pets) and it sucks that I need to spend so much time doing missions/quests just to get to another area for a different pet, not to mention the difficulty of getting accepted in a party just because you're a necro or ranger and not a monk. 90% of the time, I solo quests with henchies and when it comes to certain mission, it was always a headache. Just my vent (So don't flame me) I'm tired of sitting in Temple of Ages for AGES just to get into a party. Or when I do create a party with my necro telling everybody I would pay for all for the entrance fee to UW, someone would screw up in UW by aggroing things or talking/taking all the quests at one go. I'm not that rich to keep paying 1k just to have someone ruined it within 5-10 minutes. I wanna have fun in the game! Not frustrations! Honestly if it wasn't for the spider pet that is avaliable only in UW, I wouldn't even bother stepping into that area. I bought this game to have fun, why should I work my ass off just to get a pet. I'm not asking for elite skills/weapons in it though. This game is starting to feel more like work than play to me. It would be nice if Arenanet could change/make pet spiders avaliable in other different areas too like those wolves/bears/stalkers/lizards etc which are spread thoughout the maps. And I still wanna repeat this, I hate the party/grouping in GW. It sucks that people only invites monks and warriors most of the time while rangers and necros are left out. My friend who could only play after work told me how time consuming those missions are in old ascalon. If only he knew those missions are peanuts and less time consuming compare to the deserts/southern shiverpeak missions. After 4 weeks of playing, he only just arrived in Yak Bend and is tired of the game already. Many of you might disagree/agree on my opinions about it but I'm sure some of us in here don't have the time to sit and wait for party/play/unlock certain things in GW 24/7.

Just my thoughts
Tricia

The problem is the lack of choice in selection of skills in PVE. This limits class use. That is a factor to this problem. Another thing is how warriors just generally live longer, and how monks can heal. That makes them more desirable, since PVE isn't very heavy on disabling any class.

The game isn't replayable because there is so little choice. Another fact is that monks are the only efficient defense any group has, so monks are already a dominant part of your team. And since warriors are easy to use and have high tankability, these two are going to be preferred over other classes when there is only 4 slots. This severely hurts PVE.

It's not too late to fix the game, but Anet needs to overhaul fast, and need to prioritize this instead of the expansion.

I find when I actively search for groups, and create them myself, I have more success. I'm playing a Elementalist, a Warrior, a Necro and a Monk. But when you track down folk, invite them in, organize all these strangers... often there are people who are grateful for that. As there are many folk who are having trouble getting a group together.

I have to admit, my Monk gets picked and gets recruits much easier. But I've had success with all my characters. and it is not because I know the mission or what I'm doing... often, I do not, but I'm forthright about being a noob or not knowing the mission. Asking folks what skills I should take for a mission is not only a great tactic, but a great icebreaker.

I also admit that I"m pretty chatty... I can type fairly fast and I like to know a bit about who I'm playing with.

Btw, I love having Necros in my groups. Combining them on a target with their life drains...that bypass armor... and hit them with ranger's arrows or smashmouth with warriors... great stuff!!!

I think that its highly replayeble.
first time u pick a support class.
Than the second time you play, you pick Warrior. And ill be sure ull play a different way than ure used to. Sure the missions will be the same, but ull get different players and play the mission differently ( faster, slower ) get different items.
Ure right about the warriors and monks, but in the low level areas, its realy not that desired. That only begins when ure over in Lions Arch. Than ull want a team with at least one warrior and a monk. Or else 2 warriors

Xellos, what are you talking about?

There's like 50-100 skills for each class... how does this constitute "lack of choice in selection of skills"?

i find there is a huge lack of choice in selection of skills for PVE because of two factors:

1. you hardly have any good skills to choose for a huge majority of the game

2. you can only effectively use 1/3 or so of the skills that you do have because you need to dump attribute points into the sub-division and only use skills from the area you want to specialize in (unless you wanna be sucky at killing anything)

as for the subject of this thread, i agree Guild Wars is often more like work than play. the main reason for this is because you have to assemble a new party for each and every mission and quest that you ever do. which results in endless tedium and incredibly boring work.

the best way make Guild Wars less like work is to fix the party-forming system. make it so you can invite anyone in any district into your current party, and so you can teleport anyone you want into whatever town you are in, no matter what (like the Town Portals in Diablo II).

and make it so you don't have to kill the same exact mobs 500 million times every time you step outside town

and make it so that bosses do not spawn randomly so you have to grind to get skills. you should be able to choose the bosses you want to spawn before you enter an area. or make it so that the same exact boss always spawns; no random spawns at all.

There are tons of good skills to use in the game. You just have to choose how your going to use them, and what combination your going to use. And each area you enter can have a better set of skills to use since the mobs may use more enchants, more physical damage, more large groups of small mobs, etc. The thing is, people don't want to take time to choose their skills. They just want to go go go, and when they get there they die because they didnt get their skills organized.

The best way to play this game is to have friends you know who play it, but if you don't, you'll just have to talk to more people. The ability to invite anyone in any district isn't very good, in my opinion. People who are monks or warriors will be barraged with invites and people whispering them to join, and then complaining when they don't. It may fix the problem for some classes, but it will make the problem bigger for others. The solution to this problem is just to actively search for people. And if you can't find any in one district, go to the next.

I do agree with making the regular mobs random. I do get tired of seeing the same mobs spawn in the same spot over and over. However, I don't like the idea of not randomly spawning bosses. It would be boring to know exactly where the bosses are and who they are. It would make no sense to do that, in my opinion.

Yes, of course.

And make it so that killing one monster can give you 10000 experience.
And make it so that you can teleport instantly anywhere.
And make it so that % of rare items drop gets doubled.

You know what? Playing soccer feels like working as well. Damn, I have to run all the time and pass the ball, then I have to shoot! That's outrageous!

Sarcasm mode: off.

Now, we all know GW is a MMORPG, or kind of. It's not as huge as E2 or WoW which is somewhat positive: GW is deep in another way. Still, you have to work around a bit. I agree with you, the party system is quite annoying at times, because so many noobs are out there. People think Monks can save them from their poor build. They don't even imagine that a simple E/... with many protection and aura spells can almost compensate the monk's healing, plus it has some pretty good offensive power. Casting a Ward against melee or a Ward against elements, for example, DOES MAKE a difference in an intense fight. It means in that area, in a certain sense, your HP are doubled while facing melee attackers (50% evade). Add a good mesmer and your enemies will suffer major disadvantages, so that an offensive player will have time to kill them without risking much.
This is one of the simple examples anyone could make.

There's only one problem here: the majority of people simply cant play. I dont want to sound arrogant or what, and I'm not saying I'm better than anyone. I'm just convinced that few players really exploit their character. You'll see W/MO everywhere, for example. Well, I saw some W/E adequately built beat the hell out of any W/MO.

The sheer number of skills is there for a reason: use them.

On that same note...

I saw a W/Me beat up on a W/Mo. Remove enchants / Diversion

I saw a W/N beat up on a W/Mo. Nasty Drains and damage blocks

I EVEN saw a W/E beat a W/Mo. Earth power


Just play the game as it was meant to be played. Have fun, run missions, do the quests, follow the plot, have some fun in PvP, then shut the damn thing off and go get some fresh air


Jana

The opening post could use some paragraph breaks. It's too difficult to read as it stands. But based on the subject line, I have some advice:

If playing any game stops being fun then don't play it.

Seems obvious enough, doesn't it?

I hate to use my Karate sensei's phrase, because it does my head in, but there is no gain without pain! If you get all the rewards of the game without having to put some effort in, then it makes the rewards worthless. After struggling through the shiverpeaks, i felt a sense of accomplishment at doing missions with only henchies and still getting my settlers through! Personally, the teams out there aren't bad, and if you are a non-essential character class, like a necro or mesmer, then it is often easier to form your own party to do a mission, as 1) you won't get kicked out and 2) people don't actively dislike having other classes, they would just rather have a monk for healing. If you talk to the guys you invite in a clear and easy to read structure, then you will find party members easily, as they want mature and respectful people more than they want some kiddie monk. Works for me.

First of all, just to make things clear, I do not have a single problem doing quests with Henchies. In fact I use Henchies all the time for questing and exploration. It's only the partying of the later end game missions that are frustrating me.

8 skill slots is a little too little for PVE especially in missions where you have to carry an extra rez signet/skill + capture signet in later missions for those elite skills which boils down to just 6 skill slots. And if you're a ranger with a pet (which I have), it sucks even more, and you're only left with 4 skill slots after having Charm Animal and Comfort. 8 slots are still fine with me though. But if there can be more, it would be so much better.

I had tried creating groups myself (most of the time I'm doing missions either in the Volcano Island or Southern Shiverpeak just to capture skills). Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. And as you know when you're getting more people in your group, one person in your group just leaves your party out of the blue does result in the rest of your party leaving you as well. This had happened to me quite a number of times. At times I see people spamming msgs saying that they are creating a group for mission and I would reply saying I would love to join. In return they would ask what class am I and I would reply saying I'm a Necro. Sure enough, no replies back from them which I thought was pretty rude. I guess they rather have a 2nd monk/warrior than a necro in a party.

I have 3 characters, N/R, R/Monk and E/Monk, one completed all missions and the other two that had made it furthest to Ember light Camp and I do not want to create another Monk character just so I can get easily get accepted/invited into missions groups. I do not want to go through all the tedious missions all over again. And I have to say its boring to repeat those missions especially if someone in the group decided to be an idiot and screw up the mission thus resulting in restarting all over again. I had a couple of times when I spent 30+ minutes in a mission and getting DC at the near end of it. Guess what. Restart again. It's a bore and it's frustrating. I grin and bear through every mission with all my characters until recently I started playing Temple of Ages with my necro which made me really mad. Lots of time spent waiting/getting a party, 1k money sink and always failure within 5-10 minutes (35 minutes was the longest I had stayed in it) in UW with people who simply don't listen to simple commands. Kinda had enough of it. Only thing that is making me stay in the game are the grahpics and the pets. I can sit my ranger down and stare at her pet all day. I really like animals.

So far the only map I really ENJOY playing alot is Presear Ascalon, where every single creature you see does not attack you. I actually enjoy walking around admiring the sceneries. It was really fun and relaxing. But at the later areas in the game, I simply can't do that unless I kill every single creature and by the time I had done that, I simply lost interest. I also wish Anet would change it so that not every single creature you see attacks you. Only certain areas where you can really just run around and enjoy the scenery beside towns and outpost. For example, like presear Ascalon.

I agree. They should really fix the party-forming system. It's a real turnoff for me. A few times I met some monks who were simply arrogant and rude and demanded that I pay them or at least give them any purple/yellow items that drop for me during the mission. There's this monk who was in my group in UW the other day. He said, "I am healing you guys for free, you should pay for my service. What do you expect?!" Nobody replied him and sure enough, he left the game and it does affect the group alot in UW with one less monk for healing. One warrior saw that the monk left and though 'we're screwed' and left too. And as you know 6 can't survive in UW and it was money and Time wasted again.

And just to make it clear again, I'm not interested in getting elite/uber items/weapons/skills whatever. I only wish its easier for us to get to places without having to spend so much time doing a certain mission just to get through. I love the sceneries and graphics of this game but I do not want to spend hundreds/thousands of hours to unlock certain areas of it just to See it.
Well enough venting from me today.

Tricia

P.S: To Mountain Man, you didn't have to say to me to stop playing which I personally think its rude. Like I said in my post, its only my thoughts and my opinions. And yea I know its your opinion too but I don't need that.

PARAGRAPHS!

{Just hit enter again so a space is left between thoughts. OMG}

Hey... if pick up group are the issue, then just join a guild. Go adventrue with a few people and if they are decent, ask them about joining . Makes life easier.


Jana

Oops, don't really post much so dunno much about it. I did hit enter but I guess I didn't hit them twice. Lemme edit them then. Thanks for reminding. I too have a little trouble reading them myself. lol

Are people finding it difficult to find pickup groups? For real?

I solo most of the time, but only one times I've wanted to group did I have a problem finding a group (and that was 4 o clock in the morning).

And how the hell do you get kicked out from a group? AFAIK there isn't even a votekick function in the game (there should be, though).

I really have no idea why people have to sound so sarcastic in these forums where all I'm doing is voicing out my thoughts. *sigh*

Yes you can get kicked out of the group when you're in town. I got invited into a group and then got kicked out of it again when they realise I'm not a monk. Is that so surprising?

What's with all the sacarsm with these people?

Tricia

That would be my biggest gripe about the game, actually. During the beta, we did have a lot of choice between skills, many of which are very fun to play with, e.g. it's a blast running into a group of Charr Axe Wielders with Hundred Blades. But that's no longer an option, nor is using a lot of the other really fun skills in this game. Skills are dribbled to you at such a low rate that half of them, and indeed a lot of the really fun ones, aren't available until you're nearly done with PvE. Ideally, you ought to have all your skills about the same time to Ascend. If more than 60% of the game has passed before you get the fun skills, you really miss out on a lot, because you barely have any chance to use them.

Mind you, I still like the game, but honestly, it's not half as fun as it was in beta, due largely to the lack of skills available during the majority of the game.

Personally, I don't put much emphasis on being the "strongest" or "Best" character of my class. I don't -have- to have that certain elite skill that will make me dominate, I don't -hate- to beat every mission on the first try. I like the challenge of working with new people, although sometimes PUGs pit you with some of the worst players you can imagine.
Point is, I try to take the game at a leisurely pace. I don't want to rush everything, because that just leads to stress. I'm playing the game to have fun, not feel compelled to be the best.

W/Mo is horribly overrated Imo,pvp they're easy-both my mesmer and necro have been able to kill them 1 on 1~~with mesmer,I use illusionary weapon,empathy,blackout,sometimes phantasim,if w/mo attacks me sheild stance and healing sig if I ever need it,this ussally kills w/mo without much trouble. (W/Mo is just a tank)

Now as for the game feeling like work-I felt like WorldOfWarcraft was work,the guild I had in WoW ALWAYS wanted everyone on for molten boring as hell core or something and you had to repeat runs that take forever to get items that were really unbalanced. With GW I can play when I feel like it,I don't have to farm all the time (items are pretty balanced,so I don't have to play forever worrying someones better),and if I do decide to farm it's not a problem because everythings instaced (noone to steal my Hill Giants ;P) If you want Underworld/Fissure I suggest finding a guild for them,as most pickup groups I've had done awful (but find a guild that dosen't make you go unless your up to it)

But not everyone is a turtle at the game, some people are rabbits, and like to zip through. It isn't compel, rather it's just their nature.

Well if that's their nature, they should find a game that emphasizes going through at a quick pace, rather than taking your time.

Which is exactly what guild wars was advertised to be duh? Since when was grinding and slow-paced thousand of hours content advertised on this game? I don't see it on the box. I see skill-based competition as a advertisement over time-based.

Regardless of how the game is advertised, most games take time and patience to become good at. Particularly ones that encourage PvP.
If someone wants to play a game where they don't have to work a little to become good at it, pick up a fighting game. If you want something with a little more drive to it, pick up GW.
Duh?

But currently, the item advantage is high enough that people would rather take their time to get that consistant variable over the inconsistant skill variable. Are you saying advertisements are allowed to plain lie? If so, please do so with your next product, so I may sue you out of your pants.

This is a fighting game. Guild WARS? A tiny rpg element obviously has completely shrouded peoples visions.

A fighting game can last a very long time too, and have very high drives. Look back before computer games are like they are. Marvel vs Capcom was played and mastered for hours. Guild Wars is just a RPG that emphasizes combat, combat which relies on skill, not time. And time is money, which equates to materials, which equates to items. And therefore, since items are important in combat, the game emphasizes on time, though lesser then other games, it still does a significant amount.

Many people come from games like CS, Starcraft, Halo, all sorts of competitive games that don't require grind to play competitively. Are you saying all these people read the damn box wrong? Sorry, but don't be a smartass to me when you can only see from your side of the road.

on a different thread awhile ago a hardcore pvp said that several hours a day practice was needed to be in the top rungs of the ladder

to me that amount of time investment sounds exactly what you are argueing against which is a grind requireing massive time spent instead of skill

I was only a smartass because you started being asinine to me.
If people are so damn displeased with having to actually do something before they can get complete satisfaction from the game, then they should just quit. No skin off my nose.
I never grinded in GW, and I play just fine at my own pace. Problem is, people are so impatient and want everything handed to them. This isn't that type of game. If your problem is equipment, there is plenty to be found very, very easily. If you can't find a PT that works to your standards, drop it and keep looking.
No, it's not a fighting game. It's an Action RPG. Just because you fight other people doesn't make this game a "Fighting Game".

I like this game a lot...but to address the issue of PvE replayability:

I personally find that replaying the missions is rather boring. Sure, they're fun the first time around, but after that, they're more tedious than anything else, to me. Particularly the missions that make people lug things around and pull levers. I don't like pulling levers, if I wanted to do that over and over, I'd play TombRaider.

But 'walking' to places, so far that doesn't get old. I'm not sure why not. Maybe I feel less restricted, even if it the pathways are still rather linear.
I also find that I enjoy this game (pvE) more when I skip days - ie, I'll play for several hours for a day, then not at all for a couple days. If I play a few hours every day, I find I start to get annoyed with certain things about the game (like how rez shrines are so few and far between at times, making a really long walk to get back to where you were), more often. If I break inbetween a while, when I do play, I love it. I don't know how often you play, but you might try that.

I don't see myself creating a new character more than a 3 or 4 times, tho - it would get too unbearable to re-play the first half of the game yet again etc.

Your point below?

That's stupid. You farm for runes, you have 0% control over how fast you get runes. Pure chance. You spend time to get better, your learning ability and skill and your own personal abilities come into play. What kind of comparison is this?

How about you just stop whining about people whining? Your not forced to read posts or reply to them. If your going to whine over things that you can control on your part, stop, because that is a true sign of a whiner.

Ha, like that's ever going to happen.

Yes your right, farming for runes is a boring grind. Thats why im glad a.net fixed the drakes and have random rune spawns now. Stops farmers like yourself flooding markets, becoming overpowered thanks to your superior runes of every god damn skill harvested 10 in a day.
Now its harder to grind them, though there are still hotspots.

Now id like you to consider the game you have purchased. Wizards and warriors and demons and magic and swords and dragons and monks and other crap.
Thats right, not counterstrike.
I dont care if you despise the lavish background that goes along with your characters in battle. Its there, face it.

I bought Guild Wars expecting some kind of complex mmorpg. Had I thought it was Quake 3 with wizards I wouldnt be here now.

Guess who's happy with the game?

Go back to counterstrike, and keep your muttering low so as not to disturb anyone on your way out. Thank you.

I like it I think it's a good game. I find mmogs too unbalanced and gankfesty. And first person shooter pvps too lacking in strategy. With this game I get pvp competition, story, character development and customization, and strategy. Being a fan of rpg's, strategy games and competitive games it fits me like a glove.

I like that fact that a game company is trying something new. If I didn't like it I wouldn't complain on some forum I would just move on to a new game. I don't like Halo but I have never posted on a Halo forum how I don't like. What's the point?

If you guys think skill selection is terrible, well, how about your second profession; it's there for a reason. Don't tell me the skill selection for your second profession is bad, too. And for those who complains grinding, name a RPG that has less grinding than GW. Thank you.

while I dont think having *all skills* is a required to be competitive


you do have a good point about the farming for gear/cash

A good FPS or RTS takes a hundred times the effort to be good, because you actually have to achieve something rather than just spend a long time. Stop trying to claim clicking on 7000 flesh golems is legitimate work. Getting your build order so efficient that you can start pumping out respectable armies 2 minutes into an RTS game is earning your PvP power. Learning to hit shock combos so well that you can knock someone out of the air with one is earning your PvP power. Picking up a randomly assigned item isn't.

Guild Wars doesn't take much to be good TBH. You need to have a group of players who work together, have an ability to time button presses (don't even need to aim the mouse cursor or anythign complex like that) and have some good items. I find it far easier than UT2004, Dawn of War or CS:S. What Guild Wars has is artificial constraints on player skill like rune grind and elite skills.

Why am I playing it? Because the core game is fun.

I have to agree about the skill selection being horrible. I started my Elementalist on...air. Yes, air. I had 1, maybe 2 skills before I left Old Ascalon. I think I got my 3rd at Yak's Bend. That sucked. =/ I wanted to use an element OTHER THAN FIRE but the game FORCED me to spec fire. Not persauded me, made it seem the better option, they simply didn't give me any other skills to work with. It wasn't until I hit around level 15-16 that I could fill my bar with Air and my secondary skills. I'm staying fire as I started enjoying it but I hate how every elementalist I make will have to choose the same element early on. How boring.

I think they really need to let you have more of a choice in the early game when it comes to skills. Such as allow you to pick 2 or 3 from a list of 6 skills. Instead of automatically giving you 2 or 3 skills that you might not even use/want .

That's what you get 90% of the time on any forum. It does suck, but people never grow up i guess.

Regarding your grouping problem. Maybe try to get your own group, invite people you want. Might work better for you. You probably do that too but thought i'd throw it out there anyways.

95% of the people playing Guild Wars are professionals and know-it-all's. So making a mistake gets under their skin and your an instant newb. I wish i could be as great as those people.

Just because something requires a great deal of time does not mean it is a grind ^^ In fact, learning a game is a skillful endeavor.

For example, take two people who both spend 1000 hours learning and practicing a game with some depth. At the end of those 1000 hours, those two players often have disparate abilities in the game. One's ability is often determined by how one approaches learning the game and executing their strategies and also drawing from past gameplaying experiences To a degree, there is also an element of intrinsic ability.

Whether you agree or not, the fact of the matter is, you're not required to play the PvE portion in this game at all. You can start a L20 PvP character right from the start and jump in on the 'instant action'. Thus, their advertising is completely valid. The game includes everything they say that it does and a lot more. Obviously there are benefits to exploring all aspects of the game and spending time in each, but that doesn't mean it's required.


The RPG portion of this game is very streamlined but heavily present. This is not solely a fighting game anymore than any other RPG. Besides, as everyone knows, 'fighting game' refers to a 1 vs 1 action fighting game of the particular genre. Don't try to be sly and twist the subject to prove your point. The nomenclature of 'fighting game' was perfectly clear.


This is true, but then it was never said that the game didn't take time to master or even to progress in. It wouldn't be much of a game if it didn't offer a challenge and long-term goals that people can work towards. Having these things is not a misrepresentation or bad design. Games require these things to keep the people interested. This game does not require you to invest time into it to play it, but if you want to excel at it, then like everything else in life, you must work at it.


Comparing apples to oranges. Comparisons between FPS's, RTS's and other such games mean nothing to a slimmed down version of an MMORPG. That's why its it's own genre. Because it has its own definitions and methodologies for playing the game. That's like comparing cars to airplanes, boats, or even motorcycles. Yes, they're all vehicles of transportation, but they're all completely separate of each other and distinct in their own ways. You can't compare the mechanics of one to the mechanics to the other. If you could, why don't sports exist where planes race cars around a track?

Lastly, all games are competitive. That's a completely useless statement. The competition is what creates the game. Competition against a computer opponent, competition against real opponents, it makes no difference. Even puzzle games, you're trying to beat the clock.

If you're going to flame others for something, try to be sure you're not doing the same things.

- Kymber

Personally, it sounds to me like you're just trying to do a little too much at once. If the game isn't enjoyable the way you play it, perhaps you should try to think of new ways to accomplish the same things. Particularly, you mentioned above that you find that fully half of your skill slots are gone before you even get around to equipping combat skills. My suggestion to you is, don't equip all the non-combat ones.

I found that I have a much better time playing missions and quests through on their own merits, rather than trying to bring a Signet of Capture with me everywhere I went. I found where bosses were that I wanted to capture things from, and then I went back later with other parties to help them, or with henchies, with the specific purpose of capturing that skill. I found that it was more fun because I was hanging out with more people, or just alone getting my own kills and taking my time.

I have a L20 Ranger as well, and I love my pet, but I don't take Comfort with me. Like me, you have several options:

1) Play a R/Mo and bring Heal Party and/or Heal Other. Not only will this heal your pet, it'll heal your teammates as well, and any carrying a Monk subclass is generally happily accepted in other player groups.

2) Drop Comfort altogether. If your pet dies, she/he dies. Many don't consider this an option, of course.

3) Drop the Resurrection Signet. Bring a Monk henchmen, or let others deal with it. Despite what you may hear not everyone needs to bring a Res Sig with them. If you find you can be more effective without it, that's probably best.

There are other options as well, but there's a few to consider.

I agree, there are certainly a lot of jerks in the game. All I can say is that I hope you stick with it and find a system that works for you. If I see you around in game, I'll be certain to send you an invite

- Kymber

People dream of the day they harvest 10 superior runes in that one day. The complaint is the fact that the availability of items impacts what is supposed to be contests of skill, which goes against what a lot of PvP players were led to believe would be the deciding factor in all competitions. (And if you want to argue that you don't need these items or that they don't have a significant effect, take a look at the damage a Spike Air Elem does with 13 Air Magic, which is the max he can obtain with headgear and skill points, and 16 Air Magic, from a Superior Air Rune).

Also, who said Sword and Sorcery automatically bars games from having the sort of competitive PvP aesthetics Counterstrike has. There's a whole world of fantasy/medieval Half Life mods out there, and we can even go as far back in PC Gaming history to Heretic if you want.

Though the PvP was not the deciding factor in my purchasing Guild Wars (I picked it up with a group of friends that I enjoy gaming with, with the intent of playing through the Co-op missions together, although I've come to enjoy the PvP content since), if you bought the game expecting a 'complex mmorpg', you went looking for the wrong game. A lot of the complex aspects of MMOs are dumbed down in Guild Wars to facilitate more straightforward play (Like crafting, thank god). If anything, Guild Wars is more the love child of Diablo and Morrowind in play style, but that's neither here nor there.

Remember, the game is titled 'Guild Wars', after its primary feature. A primary feature that figures nowhere into the PvE campaign (Except for a few cursory mentions as unexplained background info) and its storyline.

-Eirion