Step 1 of improving Guild wars

Ok firstly I would just like to point out that I havn't played any of factions but I have heard alot about it and how it is rushed...this is reason why im not playing it im going to wait till it is finnished properly.

What I want you guys to do is to tell me your views on Factions...compare factions to the orignal and tell me why it's better on the orignal or if it has plus points that are better than the orignal.

If Factions is good as the orignal then I can worry no more...however if it is as bad i've heard then I think a petition to tell Arena net would have to be done, why? Do you really want anouther expansion that might be rushed? and all that lag would start again...

obviously this is only if factions needs to fixed.

Factions is terrible! Very VERY bad...
For the first half of the game you get free quests where you do not even have to fight to get rewards...the second half is very easy...I beet the game and my best drop was a green (Which I did not pick up since it was a green) and I got a gold 13^50 jittie or sumtin lol!

In Factions the beginning (if you start a character in Cantha) is very rushed. It's fairly easy to get skill points, but all of your skills (except for a few starters) have to be purchased. *Ka-Ching!* Most of the quests have been described as "Fed-Ex". You go here and talk to so-and-so, go back there and talk to so-and-so, rinse and repeat. Two of the missions are reliant on two teams, and you have no control over who is in the other team, resulting in a couple major bottle necks for the story line. Not as much opportunity to just go out and explore as there was in Tyria, as many of the portal gates are locked until you progress in the storyline.

On the other hand, you level fairly fast, and get to the meat of the story (the main continent) fairly quick. You don't have to wait, and grind, across an entire continent before reaching lvl20. Once you hit the mainland, things really open up and there's a LOT to explore. There are a few features missing from the canthan continent (access to HoH or FoW), but on the whole, it's a good expansion.

Not true, there's a lot for them to show you, but not to actually EXPLORE, unless your definition of explore is extremly limited, the exploring is limited on the kurzick side to only 4 outposts, with really nothing to do other than fed-ex. This next sentence is extremly incorrect. It's a stand-alone game, chapter 2. Expansions require the original game to play. And it's a big let-down from chapter 1. To see more, read my thread(insert shameless suggestion thread here)

Actually, you can get to both FoW and UW through Zin Ku Corridor, and HoH through the Battle Isles.

Great suggestions. Wait....

The negative folks are always the most vocal. They feel the need to be heard.

Factions is a blast, and well worth it. You get to the level 20 content fairly quickly, and the game really takes off from there. You're cheating yourself by waiting further.

My 34 cents, after adjusting for inflation.

Factions provides a few more dimensions to the game, like Challenge missions, faction, elite missions.

However any semblance of an RPG that Prophesies had was completely blown away. The primary mission doesn't seem very cohesive, and I do miss the skill quests (adds to the feeling that the character progresses after lvl 20). While I wouldn't say capping elites early and purchasing any skill early on in the game is a bad thing, it did detract from my pve experience. But that may not be a bad thing either, since I'm conentrating on more pvp now.

so you basically want to start a petition for a game you havent played yet

I know people that prefer Factions to what they consider the "slow" Prophecies. Then again, they never got past Lion's Arch

I have quite a bit of bad things to say, BUT I'm going to use this as a chance to say something good which, I believe, fits in your topic of improving Guild Wars.

Keep the uber-level from1- 20 as you did in Factions. I believe that it falls in with the original idea that the game is about playing and not level grinding. In this one case, I believe that Prophecies was wrong (bad, evil, broke, grinding) and Factions was right. It took the first chapter for them to realize this. The other case may be that since most RPGs seem to have grinding levels as the norm, that Prophecies was a first step to ween people off of that and Factions is closer (or at the point) of where they wanted it to be.

I truly consider (now with Factions) that levels 1-19 are training levels and that you are not playing the actual main part of the game until you reach 20 (which may be around the time you reach the mainland). Hopefully, future chapters will be this way. It is almost the same as having no levels at all (just skill points/attribute points) in games such as Halo, Counterstrike, Super Mario Brothers. You just play the tutorial (incrementally to level 20) and then play the game.. Good Job..

That was one of the reasons Prophecies and Factions don't mesh so mush (Kaineng to Lion's Arch and the level differences of those areas). I believe that if they continue this through the upcoming chapters then the 'buy both get access to all' will mean that you get access to each of them with minimal non-playability (the tutorial areas, since they are walk-throughs at the higher levels).

Improve Guild Wars: Keep the same idea of Tutorial lvls 1-19, then play the game.. (Since the OP mentioned he hasn't played Factions and was including Prophecies, I submit this as a way to improve 'upon what Prophecies started' - the game as a whole, not necessarily improving Factions, as it is my example.

Step 1 of improving Guild Wars

Drop every other task, and put in an Auction House. No excsuses, no vague promises of a magical day in the future. Just get it done. Period.

QFT. The happy majority are on playing the game while the vocal minority are here griping. If you liked Prophecies, you'll like Factions. It is slightly smaller, but very well done. Most of the bugs, and there really weren't that many, have been fixed by now.

I absolutely disagree....one of the disappointing things about Factions thus far is how quickly you get rushed from Level 1 to Level 20.

I personally enjoyed Prophecies' rather slow level climb during the first half of the game - it gave you something to look forward to and a bit of a reward for learning to play the game better. Factions is basically a "you're at level 20, so now go play the rest of the game" PvE content, IMO.

I also dislike the fact that only the first few quests in Factions give you skills as rewards, which is completely different from Prophecies (hell, you're still getting skills as quest rewards in the desert). The skill rewards for quests keep people interested in PvE much after they achieve level 20 - acquiring that new skill and incorporating it into your skill base is something you should earn, IMO, instead of just buying it at the next town you come to.

There is nothing to improve or change in any of these games, factions or gw overall.. they are perfect, they are harder than others, they are MEANT to be like this,dont like it? Dont play it.. thats it. Why even bother to play when the ONLY thing you want is to change it..

Stop complaining guys.. havent you had enough already?....

In addition to the comments about leveling, I've noticed that when I first started playing Guild Wars and managed to hit the next level, I went 'YES! about TIME!'. It was such a rush of adrenaline knowing that I can carefully place my attribute points into Fire mastery to improve my damage.

Now, with the Factions "rush", my reaction to 'Jessie Tuirc is now level 19!' is just a 'oh, cool' feeling.

I really can't see myself purchasing another "expansion" of Guild Wars if it seems like an unfinished piece of work. I really can't. I guess I'll just leech off of my friend if he chooses to purchase the game, then I'll make my decision.

here we go more complainers...forums starting to get boring with you lot..

When I discovered Guild Wars Prophecies I was amazed at the sheer enjoyment that could be had with on-line gaming. I had played a little of Diablo on-line but it was nothing compared to Guild Wars. After I managed to get a couple of characters through ascension I decided to purchase another copy of the game. I foresaw needing eight characters. I tried several different guilds and they were a disappointment. Then I found my present guild. It’s a large guild really composed now of eight allied guilds all with the same name and capes. I was invited to a GVG battle and it was fantastic. I didn’t feel that my playing was equal to the other players but they kept asking me back for more GVGs and I couldn’t wait to accept. Eventually I became an officer and them a guild leader for number seven. I enjoy helping new players through some of the harder missions and even have fun recruiting.
When news of the new game coming out was released everybody in the guild was excited. New lands to explore and new characters to bring up through the ranks sounded terrific. With Factions a guild could even capture a city by accumulating enough faction points.
The preceding paragraphs were to give you an idea of how much I have enjoyed the game up till now. To put it in the vernacular of the time, this game sucks! It was released before it was ready. There were bugs galore. They are being fixed but those detracted from the game and disappointed players right off the bat. The early missions in Cantha are enjoyable but when you cross into the large city areas it falls apart. All of the missions take on a sameness and quickly become boring. I’ve got two copies of Factions and I very seldom play in Cantha. It’s tedious and boring.
I have talked to several players who tell me that their guilds have fallen apart since Factions was released. I can believe this and I see that as a possibility for our guild. We used to GVG a lot. With that many players it was never hard to get enough for a GVG. Since Factions was released all of our major players have been doing alliance battles. Our goal was to get enough points to acquire a city. We had over a million point but that is quickly disappearing. Every night, for some unknown reason, one tenth of our points are confiscated. It wouldn’t be so bad if that were a set amount, say 5000 points. As it is the amount taken gets larger as we progress toward our goal. I’ve noticed that the number of players doing alliance battles is decreasing. People are getting frustrated. It seems useless. As we near the 2,000,000 mark we lose 200,000 each night. Members of our guild are starting to talk about going back to GVGs. We will end up with those who want to continue the alliance battles and those who don’t. This will drive a rift through the guild.
I find myself playing less Guild Wars and looking for something to replace it but that’s going to be hard to do. It amazes me that Factions could cause factions to develop in our guild. Up till now it’s been a pretty cohesive group. I think I’ll start concentrating on helping new players and warning them of Factions.

But- The "Slow Grind" of leveling in Chaper 1 was never what Guild Wars was advertised as anyway.

They basically fixed the game to the way it was meant to be - and people are finding out that they liked to broke version better. (EVERYONE that says Factions sucks, has noted in their reasoning that factions has less MMO style content to it - even though Guild Wars was always advertised as not WANTING to have that style content in it)

And of course we do. Alot of GW players are MMO veterans and lovers, and MMOs imbrace the thrill of getting that new level or skill. When Chapter 1 came out, and even though it was different, you still felt that leveling and getting skills was rewarding - you loved it.

Only thing is, Guild Wars advertised itself (ALOT) that it wasn't an MMO, and you didnt have to worry about leveling or anything - just playing the game. So in Factions they further went into this promise (leveling process is basically tutorial only, and skills are almost all available right as you hit mainland). Only thing is...People LIKED how Guild Wars was a wannabe MMO the first chapter around, and they arent used to the style that Guild Wars is Supposed to be.