Mac version of GW!

First off, I don't think AN can ever stack up to Blizzard, even though they have a lot of history together.

Anyways, I am just bitter because AN didn't make a Mac version of GW, whereas Blizzard did, even when they didn't really have to. It's not just WoW, though... They have done it with all the games they have previously created since the beginning.

At my university, we do all of our work on Macs, so it's only natural that I have one. I don't have one by preference, per say. I am trained to do my work on them, and that won't change even after I leave school. I don't consider myself a gamer, thankfully, however I still want to play them once and awhile. As it so happens, the only two games I have any interest in playing right now are World of Warcraft and Guild Wars.

I realize that they say they are "planning" to make a Mac/Linux port, but talk really is cheap-- especially when we're talking about ports. A perfect example of this would be with Half Life. I don't want GW to end up like HL. Not only that, though... Ports are usually of lesser quality. Sometimes to an increadible extent. So I guess my suggestion for GW would be "make a Mac version as fast as possible!" But in reality, my true suggestion to the company would be:

Make PC/Mac/Linux versions simultaneously. The quality suffers less that way, and it can only lead to more happy customers

Blizzard has always had mac versions of their games, minority market anyways.

People who use macs for gaming should suffer anyways. If you had enough for a mac in the first place you should have enough for a PC.

Remember what the handles on all the macs are used for kids, boat anchors.

Your comment was so stupid it hurt my brain. Should suffer anyway? You can take your PC fanboism somewhere else.

Wow, that was dumb [no pun intended].

Guild Wars is the first online game in which I have met a throroughly mature community. I'm pretty sure a lot of people appreciate this as well. Don't go and blow it.

You do have to admit that you can't expect every game to come for Mac, although I guess Guild Wars probably should have. We'll see what's in the works...
I can work on a Mac about as well as I can work on a PC, but the major preference is gaming and hardware customizability with PCs. Otherwise, Macs are fine with me.
And please, let's not go berserk with system fanboism. It drives me nuts, and it's immature.

Considering that mac users make up only ~2% of the computer user market at the moment (2004) and an even smaller percentage of the computer gaming market I think it's a little unreasonable to expect non established game companies to release Mac/Linux Ports concurrent with their PC release.

It just doesn't make sense from a financial perspective. You would have to treat the mac port of the game almost like another game with it's own beta testing not to mention the need for a Mac support team. I'm pretty sure you would need different programmers that knew the Mac environment to get any port done as well (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

Anyway, hopefully ANet will keep good on their word and release a MAc/Linux version in the near future.

This is ANet's first game. WoW is Blizzards um ... lets see Warcraft I, II, III, Startcraft, Diablo I, II, all the expansion packs ... maybe 10th game? You have to admit that's a lot of experience under their belt before making their first MMORPG. The point is Anet isn't Blizzard so you shouldn't expect them to do the things Blizzard does.

That's a shame if MAC users cannot play. One of my friends has a MAC. Do they plan on adding a MAC version in the future?

Blizzard did it when they were unestablished, and they did it at a time when the code was much less portable. I don't see how being the minority means that we somehow become a burden.

I can't say how the Mac market would react to GW, but I can say that the PC market is definatly reacting well to it. Mac users are people after all, and I know we are buying into the hype that PC users are generating. I'd say we'd earn our worth, but then again... Neither of us really know.

Apple has been working really hard to adapt it's technologies to coexist more peacefully with Windows machines. Macs can use the same languages, namely C and C++, as a Windows machine. The problem does not lie with the language itself, however, but rather the graphics API. I assume GW is using either DirectX or OpenGL. If it is the latter, there would be no excuse for the absence of a Mac port. The former, however, could very well be the counter-argument from a PC user. Converting an engine that is as advanced as GW's is no simple task, no doubt. But that's why I suggested that they make the ports in real time! OpenGL is just about as powerful as DirectX these days (a common misconception is that OpenGL is much slower than DirectX-- which is completely untrue), and it makes for seamless ports because it was designed to work on all of the major operating systems. They would need one or two guys at most making minor system-specific changes to the code, and thats it!

Of course there would have to be someone to handle Mac-specific issues, but even that job could be handled by the folks handling PC issues. There's really only so much that can go wrong with a Mac (that an ANet or NCSoft tech support employee could help with) since it is all standardized hardware. For better or worse, there's not that much you can do to trick out a Mac, which leads to the virtual elimination of hardware conflicts.


In case you were not aware (I'm not blaming you if you weren't), ANet is comprised of people who once upon a time, made all of those games you listed. They are Blizzard's experience. They are the Blizzard that most of us remember from the good old days. As such, I hold them to the same level of quality that I hold upon Blizzard.

I am hoping they do come out with a Mac version. I would like to play GW with my friends, but they all have Macs. They have assured me that they will each rush out and buy a copy of the game when it is released for their platform. I don't really have any interest in joining a guild unless it is the guild my friends and I started...so no guild for me...yet.

They're getting a little tired of me talking about how great it is when they can't play...I've only been mentioning it since last years E3...

Sorry, to come off as a bit whiny, but my friends really want to play...

I don't see the problem. Mac users are used to delays in programs/games. Even if they port they have to hire people to port it and also take care of those bugs and errors that come up.

That is extra resources they can do without right now and see if the game financially takes off. This model in itself is risky, adding Mac version is another risk they can do without.

Give it time. I just walked out of the Apple store in our mall and still see some games that are so old from the PC era that it isn't even funny. You should just expect it to be PC first. Just like GTA is PS2 first and XBOX later.

I realize that this thread is pretty much... 2 years old... but was wondering if any news has come around about there being a Mac version?

Macs are not meant to play.
There are many Macs that can allow Linux and Windows to work in other partitions, you can always make so to play.

I know, I know, it's a res thread but I can't be bother making a new one. My friend from work has a mac running bootcamp, which allow him to run win xp (no vista!) on mac (those new model which have intel chipset inside only). Think of it as dos-box on window, anyway he managed to install and run GW, it's playable...but.

I'm not sure if anyone gonna read this so I won't post what happen next, til there're more posts after me

Well, I'd love a Mac version of Guild Wars, though at this point, its likely GW2 and not GW that would even be considered.

I do all my work on my Mac. I simply have the PC for testing and it mostly sits idle, except for some gaming of course. I'd prefer to play in my Mac environment though, since its there I have the larger screens and performance is much higher than my PC, even though my PC isnt half bad and plays GW just fine. It'd make me really happy, but its not like I am banking on it or counting on it.

Be glad there's still a PC version.

Everyone is moving to console games only. MMOs are the only genre that, for now, thrives on PC. As soon as the next gen consoles come out, even online will be done on consoles.

PC game market is shrinking rapidly, and consoles offer several times faster and cheaper development without the hassles of compatibility.

Wait two years, and the only developer still publishing for PCs will be Blizzard, since they'll be the only one able to publish on a niche market (same as now with Macs), but then PC gaming will be niche.

The number of Mac copies sold simply doesn't outweight the development costs.

Very unlikely I think.

care to back it up with any evidence? would you happen to know how many copies are projected to sell? or even how much it would cost to develop?

it amazes me how many people that know nothing on the subject feel the need to comment on it.

Lol @ Antheus. Find me some hard numbers for that fanboy.

As long as PCs exist (and they WILL exist for a long LONG time) there will be games for them. Nobody would let a single company corner the market in gaming.

Computers will always be on the cutting edge of consoles since they can have far superior stats AND most importantly, a higher resolution moniter then a HD TV, meaning the quality of picture on computer games will almost always be higher. Ever wonder why when you using a video camera to look at a computer screen, you see all those pulsing lines running up the moniter? Its because your TV isn't a high enough resolution to properly display what is on the computer screen.

Mac users can use Bootcamp and afford a new OS. Fixed. However, if this wasn't possible then sure, why not? Otherwise, no.

Funny, I'm quite certain that it's going to be the other way around. Game consoles are now just computers that can only play certain cames. Add to that the fact that they cost as much a resonably good computer and that you have to pay extra in order to surf the internet on them, and you get very few reasons to get a console anymore.