questions, need answers

K well I'm jsut dropping by, found this site on the official site and thought I'd drop by. K lets just say I've been into solid MMORPGing since FFXI's launch then moved over to WoW. But like many I'm not to impressed with WoW, I've been thinking of returning to FFXI but then remember somethings that really pissed me off in that game too lol. So I've been looking into new mmorpgs, and guildwars looks like one to look into. I have some questions and requests, if these have been answered I apologies and just as for the link to that thread.

First off can anyone post a screen or two of the character creation page.

k question time

1. Is there a story to this game? It really didn't agree with me that WoW had no story, and I loved the way FFXI displayed theres. Through missions and cutscenes to go along. I noticed that GW has missions, is this similar to FFXI?

2. How stable is this game going to be with no monthly fees. Though I love the idea of not having to pay I want a stable game that will be up most of the time I want to go on and with frequest updates and as little lag as possible.... stupid WoW lol. NOt to mention this game is all on one server right?

3. The sub job system, can you screw yourself up to the point where you really can't fix it? Is is anything like FFXI's?

4. Mounts? Its a big world right, how do you get around?

5. I've read some stuff about the guild stuff. Are there area like WoW where I have to be worried for my life because of other factions? In other words, am I going to be ganked while trying to do quests?

6. There an auction house system, or anything liek a bazaar (personal shop)?

7. In general how does htis game compare to FFXI and WoW, I'm a huge fan of FFXI, but not so much of WoW. If they merged the two games now... any way, just some simple how they're the same, how different.

8. How long is this game, and how long will it take to level? I know that chances are expanision packs will eventually come out but I don't want a game that I will cap a char and be bored with in 1-2 months...(WoW again ><)

9. Finally, Is war/mes a good combo?

Wow I sound like a total newb... sorry guys, any help if appreciated.

-----------haha and Ididn't introduce myself cause this will most likely be the only thread I post in, if I am going to ramian at this board I'll introduce.



Edit - sorry had to add some stuff

1. yes... it is linked to missions..and short video contents explaining as you go.
2. streaming technology..... as stable as your internet connection will allow

2(second). no screw ups...refund points awarded every 250 experience gained...do something wrong..can fix in short time.

3. NO mounts ever..click map and go travel or walk in mission area

4.No. All partiesd are instanced..no one can enter your exploration without being in your party.

5. no auction system as of now...for future..still uncertain.

6. It doesn't compare..this an entirely unique game style. has premise from others..but works and setup solely unique. must play to understand.

7. combinations?..any one can be good if done right..is no uber weapons or characters..all have counters. game of skill and ability..not items and stats.

NOTE- a lot of things you may want to ask are in the FAQ at top of thread page in Questions and Answers. It should help you a lot.

1. There is a story that is followed through the missoins and cutscene during and after the missoins. I can' tell you much of the story yet since we've only seen half of it, but I like it so far.

2.Stable? GW is an incredibly stable game. They've had their servers running for a few years and have rarely had them go down. IN the last beta, some people experienced some lag, but thats a novelty, most people don't, even with sub standard computers (like mine)

3.There are no mounts at all. If you want to travel to anywhere you've been, you press 'm' to open your map and click on the button for the area you want to go to. (note: this only applies to mission outposts, towns, and other outposts scattered over the world. You can't teleport to the middle of am explorable area.)

4. GW is designed so that there will be no kill stealing, PKing, ganking, or griefing. When you start a missoin it is instanced so that only your party is there. It loses the traditional MMO feeling since there aren't hundreds of people around you all the time, but I really don't care. The positives outweigh the negatives.

5. There is no auction system yet, but it has been suggested many times and I think they are working on something to cover this.

6. my MMo experience is limited so I'll elt someone else cover that.

7. Every combo can be good, unless you pick skills that don't work well toegther. Check around this site and you'll find lots of builds people have created.

For more info check out the Guild Wars FAQs. I guarantee they'll answer more than I did.

Edit for new question: The level cap is 20 in GW and that can be reached in a week if you want (probably less). Fortunatly, the game really only begins at the cap and you ahve years of PvP to look forward to as well as the rest of the story (I think you'll hit lvl 20 before the end of the story) and lots of exploring (75 explorable areas, we've seen 30ish. I've done a fair bit of exploring and haven't seen much more than half of those.)

1. there is definitely a story to the game. Most of the important missions are instanced which allows the game "world" to be changed - unlike WoW. There is a continuing story that progresses as you play more and more of the missions.

2. Well I dont know how it will be during release but if it is anywhere near as lag free as it is now, it will be many many times better than WoW. During the first E3 event, I beleive 200 thousand people signed up to play, and I barely noticed a drop of lag. When the last BWE went up, there was a tag bit of lag during the first day (nothing as bad as loot lag in WoW) but by the end of the event it was seemless. I believe the servers are hotswapable so there will never be downtime due to hardware issues. Patches are streamed so there will be no downtime downloading and implementing patches as well.

2 (again) I believe they are implementing the ability to switch secondary professions. I dont believe you are able to actually screw up your professions. Attribute points are refundable and wrong skills can simply not be used - you simply lose some gold and a skill point.

3. There are no mounts; however, after you have been to a location, you are able to teleport immidiately there if you ever wish to return. There is no cooldown like the hearthstone in WoW.

4. There are no "contested zones" similar to WoWs. However, from what I read and heard, if you are a member of a guild you can be challenged to a fight. Most of the PVP is restricted to Tombs and the Arena.

5. There is currently no AH but it is being worked on supposedly.

6. I never played FFXI before, but I have played WoW. If you are into senseless grinding, this game will not be for you because the level cap is so low. However, that doesnt mean that there will be nothing left to do in the game. In fact, when I played the BWE I didnt even notice or care if I leveled up. I was not glued to my XP bar (I actually got rid of it on my screen). The missions are well varied and interesting - each posing different challenges. Furthermore, there is TONS of replay value. There are tons and tons of different builds you can try out and still be viable in PVP and PVE (unlike WoW -- try a melee hunter). PVP is more involved and at a faster pace than in WoW as well (terrain advantage, the ability to actually manually dodge an incoming shot, ect) There is no jobs; it is replaced with crafters located all around the world.

7. I dont think there is such a thing as a BAD combo

I hope this helps. For more information read through this site, it has tons and tons of info

NEW QUESTION:
I had the same problem with WoW as well. Leveling is thought to be an extended tutorial in this game. The majority of the game as well as all the future expansions are for people at the level cap. In fact, of the 25 missions, I believe something like 10 will be for max level characters. This game also has a working PVP system - not the "i-run-away-from-you-if-there-is-the remotest-chance-that-I-will-die-and-bring-my-level-60-buddy-to-come-gank-you" PVP that WoW has.

I am a true WoW convert and am in the process of preaching GuildWars to WoW barbarians

I think a read somewhere that one of the main guys who made guild wars used to work on WoW but didn't like it so quit and made his own game.

Ya I heard something about that too but was never too sure. Anyways thanks for the info guys, I'm currently reading the site now, lots of stuff to go through. Just wanted a few quick answers lol cause it was sorta 1 in the morning and I couldn't stand reading everything the site had to offer, good stuff though.

THanks again.

im not sure about WoW BUT MOST OF aNET USED TO WORK FOR BLIZARD, theyre the onews who made battle.net for starcraft hence the name ArenaNet

Quite a few former Blizzard developers now work at Arenanet yes.
The engineers behind the Battle.Net system, the former lead designer of World of Warcraft, etc.

I haven't played FFXI so I don't know how it compares to their storyline, but I'll tell you how GW works. Yes there is a story. You discover this story by completing missions, speaking to loremasters, doing some of the explorable area quests you'll find in the game. Each of those things uncovers more of the story of this game.

This is probably the most stable online game I've ever played. The network architecture is simply amazing. Even way back at the first public showing (E34E) it seemed rock solid. I've never had to sit through long patch days, server outages, etc... I've seen a server go down once and it was back up rather quickly.

It's also not on one server. It's on a server farm like any game is. There are probably literally hundreds of servers running the game. However you don't have to choose a seperate server/shard/whatever you want to call it.

Again, I have not played their game so I don't know how their sub jobs work. Basically you choose a second profession in this game which allows you access to their skills and most of their attributes. Every combo is very viable and can be played well. It seems incredibly balanced. However, if into the game you decide you don't like your second class, there is going to be an option to change your secondary profession although that hasn't been released as to how you can do that. Also you earn attribute refund points which allow you to change your attributes around.

No mounts, don't need em. You first explore to find missions, areas, etc... Once they've been discovered you can instantly travel to almost any area by choosing it from your map.

No, due to instancing you won't have to worry about being ganked, camping spawns, kill stealing, etc... You only enter missions with people you choose and then only encounter them during the mission, explorable area, etc...

As far as PvP, PvP takes place in arenas, tombs, guild halls, that are specifically setup for PvP so you will only enter PvP when you choose to and for the designated purpose of PvP (it's similar to the maps in FPS games).

Not yet, we have not heard if there will be or not.

I can't compare it to either of those games. I never played FFXI and only played the WoW open beta which I despised. I can however compare it to EQ and DAOC which I did play for a considerable amount of time.

IMO, it's a completely different game. It's like they took the basic premise of MMORPG's and then evolved it to something much much greater. There is incredible balance between the classes, very little grind (other than having to find skills), no downtime whatsoever. Personally it's unlike any of those games other than being online, and in a fantasy world. To me it's a very nice mixture of Diablo and those other games.

You'll reach lvl 20 rather quickly, but then you'll learn something. Having fun in an MMO is not about levelling. For me, the game truly becomes fun once I cap. There's tons of great PvP, there's the missions, the explorable areas, and other things that will be streamed in occassionally. As for how long PvE will remain fun I honestly can't say. I believe we'll have tons of content to play through and then all the PvP stuff. However, I've been playing this game for a long time and have the opportunity to play every day if I want being an alpha. I still have as much fun going back and playing mission 1 over as I do playing the last missions.

Every combo can be an efficient and good combo, so it all depends on how you build the character. Post in the builds forum for some info on making a good war/mes combo.