is this the game for me???need help

k id like to start off by saying i am a little cranky b/c i spent like 30 minutes making a post then it didnt work for some reason and here oi am again w00t

i am an old school daoc guru, an oldschool diablo guru, and an old school asherons call 2 guru....not (that game licked) and this is what im concerned with...i have been playing MMOs and D2 for a long time now and im sick of them getting ruined by some lame aspect that companies are trying to implement---realism.

daoc was great back in the day with old school rvr ganking and stuff...it took skill and a well constructed and versatile group to combat whatever form of group that you ran into of the other realm. then mythic decided that even though their game was flourishing and no1 was complaining, they wanted the game to be more realistic of how it would of been in the old days so they added new frontiers... great idea, too bad no1 liked it. so if you get past the tedious lvl 50 grind then you get to experience trials of atlantas expansion if you want to have adequate gear to hold your own and you also have to spend countless hours completing the even possibly more tedious ML levels to venture to the pay off of new frontiers keep and zerg based rvr that doesnt really pay off IMO.

i was looking into guild wars a long time ago and thought it looked cool but didnt have enough info about it. when i heard it was going to release soon i think its about time to do my homework b4 i shoot myself paying daoc any longer because i refuse to play WoW which is no more than eye candy from what i see and hear. they try and argue that getting behind a target and spamming one button twice to kill some1 is skillful GL and good game...those people should still be in diablo 2...which was badass in 7th and 8th grade until they ruined it with a patch. another game was asherons call 2...what a joke why would i pay money to play a game in a huge boring atmosphere with lacking graphics and an even worse gameplay? (because i was in the same crisis i am in right now) and before i get a headache expanding on what was wrong with that game...another thing i played was lineage 2 offering impressive graphics and a more gothic theme and open pvp than any of the other MMOs i have mentioned...too bad it didnt work...hard to get anywhere with noobs that have no skill hitting you with their good items whi,e you cant do anythig except talk to some chinese speaking fools that cant even "govern" their in game bugs such as falling through the ground...much less macroers and exploiters..so yea the pvp and pve (which was a huge stupid and pointless grind with the chance of losing your items by being killed in pvp) in that game blew.....not only was there no reward system for pvp besides ganking other peoples items, there was a horrible punishment system (the karma system)...let me give an example...some douche is hitting you with an expensive sword while your trying to pve and you ask him to stop...he doesnt and he has 2 of his friends around him and your unable to do anything progressive in fear of getting a pve death b/c of your low hp (b/c he is hitting you) so you attack him and his friends kill you and you lose an item...or worse you chase him and kill him and you have red karma and now any1 that sees you can killl you at free will and lose your expensive items that you have ust tried to be pve'ing for in the first place....grr getting off topic still kinda agitated about that... anyways here are some questions in the hope that this will be THE game and mayb i can be rid of that other crap...

1. how many can be in a group and is there a bonus to having a certain group setup (like 3 rangers and a warrior as opposed to having 4 warriors) and does it require skill likw in daoc or is it like button mashing in world of warcraft?

2. can certain characters be origional or is there a set "i win" item that every1 uses

3. how does the pvp system work

4.how do skills work and how many are there and are there varying spec lines and versatility...if any1 has a link to the skills id appreciate it

I will try and answer some of your questions.

Group sizes vary depending on where you are on the map, it start at 2 per group in the intro/tutorial place, than goes to 4, then 6. Not sure if it will goto 8 for PvE or not. For PvP, when level 10 and below, there is a random PvP arena that is 4v4. After that you have the Tombs, which is 8 per team, you pick the teammates, and you can fight more than one other team at a time in different sorts of scenarios. Then Guild v Guild, is 8v8.

There are no specific benefits to having certain teams, but there are in different situations more important characters to bring along.

Arena Net's big claim about this game is that is requires skills, not days of farming and leveling to enjoy and be competitive.

There are no real cookie cutter, this set up always owns builds. You can be original in your builds, and still be competitive. There probably are/will be items that will be extremely powerful, but the way the modifier system works, those kinds of items are insanly rare. There are not set "unique" items like in Diablo 2.

For skills, you get to take 8 skills with you to whatever instanced area you goto(PvP, PvE, GvG). There are lots of skills, I think its around 75 per class, and you get a Primary and Secondary class. For more info on the skills go here, and for info on the different classes go here.

I will let someone else talk more about PvP, since I'm too knowlegable(sp?) in that area.

Ok, read the whole article and I must say, if you HATE all those things, then you'll love Guild Wars.

I myself left Ragnarok Online for pretty much all the same reasons you mentioned for the other games, + monthly fees are the same thing as highway robbery, only slower and legal. No monthly fees? I'm sold ^^

Answers to your questions:

1. The number of people in your group depends on the mission. It can be anywhere from 4 to 8. The tougher the map/mission, the more people are allowed. Bonus? Well, a Ranger with 3 warriors can "first strike/ambush" an enemy more effectively than just 4 warriors. A diverse well developed group is better than all one classers since well, the weaknesses are too obvious and easy to exploit. Guild Wars wins here

2. You can be original. Oh yes. You can be any class combo you want and there really isn't a class combo that's worthless. [only the noobs will come up with some lame excuses as to why a certain dual class won't work.] From what I've read from interviews and the like, there won't be a "god item" worth 19087349871230947 gold that'll EVAR be dropped. I see those damn things in Ragnarok Online all the time. Boss Cards auctioning for either 10 billion zeny or sold on eBay for real money. Damn sad losers... lol There is no "I win" item that anyone found or used. So Guild Wars wins there.

3. PVP system. You enter the arena when you want. You can only be killed by players in the Guild Wars battles or the arena. If you're out in Tyria just partying and minding your own business, there is no fear of you losing ANYTHING! ^_^ No exp, no items, no gold, nothing. You get nailed with a TEMPORARY death penalty of 15% health/energy each time you die, but again, it's nothing major. [like 1% exp in RO which can take a lvl 95+ character who has a social life a week to get back] Also, nobody outside arena/guild battle can hurt you. Guild Wars wins here too.

4. Skills? Well, there's 75 skills per class [give or take a few] and since you're a dual classer, you can have 150ish. But it's most probably not worth it since this game encourages specialization. But hey, it is possible to get every skill. Each skill varies according to each skill's corresponding stat. i.e. Blood magic skill? Just up your blood magic stat to make it do more damage, heal more, etc. No skill mashers with no brains bringing you down? You can't mash in this game. Warrior adrenal skills are practically impossible to mash and all skills save for a very select few possess a respectable "recharge" time so those no brain mashers can't play this game without destroying their computers and if they did well, they can mash all they want and they won't be getting their skills activated till the skills are ready so again, Guild Wars wins in this regard.

Hope you like the game!

Nice Rant , I love it and only having played D2 for a few months I can totally level with you. I will start off saying GW is such a godsend.

1. Usually anywhere from 4-8 depending on where or what you are doing.....4 and 6 for quests and explorable....8 for PvP such as Guild vs Guild and the legendary Tombs (fun stuff, you can have battles as big as 8v8 v 8v8 v 8v8). No there isn't really a bonus per say for having a certain group type, but to say this...you will have the advantage if you try to put your group togethor instead of just letting whoever into your group. Skill is a BIG part of GW in my humble opinion. It kind of sides with the group part too. If you didnt already know, you can only carry 8 skills on your bar, thus limiting your play style and such. That is where your groups come in; they can cover your weaknesses. Also to add, there is no UbEr 1337 K!llX0r$ build; everything is almost perfectly balanced (the almost only because they have until end of april to make it perfect or near to it).

2. I kind of addressed that in the last ramble of mine, but here it goes. No.....plain and simple....no. Really you could not even have any rare items and still easily match up to someone who has put 5x hours into the game. It is a big skill based game. Yes, of course, the people that have put those extra hours in will be better - not because of some incredibly good item or some win all build - but because they know the game just that much more. They have the extra few hours to hone their skills (even if they are not trying to do that). Even when making a 'build', alot of it depends what style you play. You could steal the exact alpha build off this site, but everybody will play it different, so it may not work as slap in the butt as if someone else used it.

3. PvP system....I love it....There is no griefing at all in this game. They only time you can kill another player is in a designated PvP area. Sometimes the areas can be competitive though, but no worries! There only thing that can hurt you when PvPing is the Death Penalty. Win you get killed, you lose a certain percentage of your life. "But that can add up quite fast....can't it?" Nope! You get your DP (as it is commonly refered to as) erased. So really the only thing you have to worry about in PvP is wasting some of your time, and as long as you are having fun, that shouldnt happen. Now there are currently three areas of PvP: the Arena, Guild vs Guild Matches, and the Tombs. The arena is set up into two areas...a level 1-10 and a level 11-20 area. Basically you join an area, get your skills ready, then click Enter Battle and it randomly selects a team for you and sticks everybody in a 4v4 battle. Then there are GvG battles, which consist of your guildmates playing against another guild - 8v8 - and eventually trying to kill the opposing players Guild Lord to win (there will be alot more types too, but they havent been implemented yet, [that info is from last Beta weekend though]). Last but not least, and probably the most competitive also....the Tombs. You enter this area and get a team of 8 togethor and try to ascend to the Hall of Heros. First you pass a PvE area, then you are thrown into a bunch of different battle types ranging from Capture the Flag to just plain kill the other team. Eventually if your team is worthy, you will reach the Hall of Heros, where only the best will reside. Anet has a whole War of the Worlds thing going that has to do with reaching the Hall of Heros, but that is a whole other topic.

4. Well, you add them to a skill bar on the bottom of your screen. You click (or whatever other hotkey you want to use) and the skill is activated...that is about it. There is only 8 skills though, and you may only have one elite skill on your bar, thus giving you one heck of a choice . There are many lines and versatile elements added. There are six professions and you are allowed two profession for each of the four (that isnt set in stone yet, as of now you may only have four chars, but it may change) characters you have. So essentially you have 30 different combinations to decide between, and that isnt even mentioning the different attribute lines for each profession. There is an average of three or four attribute lines for each profession. 150 skills also...and dont look at me to do the math on how many different combinations that will create.

Oh, I just thought to add this. It pertains to items. Basically to state the obvious, some professions will be more item dependent then others, such as the difference between a warrior and a monk. So if warriors fall to your liking, you will spend SOME time looking for a better weapon, but even average will suffice.

thnx for the fast and knowledgable replies...one more thing i was wondering and i dont know if they have released anything about this yet but will there be a reward system in GW... example: realm points/realm abilities in daoc or a rank and items in world of warcraft?

That is the War of the Worlds I alluded to....we dont have much info on it at the moment though. Basically to put it simple, if your 'world' is holding the Hall of Heros, then everybody in that world will be able to enter a special mission with....assumingly....harder enemies, better drops, etc etc etc.

this game sounds friggin sweet where do i sign

1) Not sure what you're asking here, but without a spec group you'll lose in a guild ladder. So class choices and character templates do matter. Skill does matter, and skill will be even more important after a release when both average and highest skill will be higher. Here skill is not about who clicks faster. Teamplay, coordination, knowledge of all skills, knowledge of major character teamplates, tactics, group/character building etc. Of course, you'll need it only if you want to compete for a top places in a ladder.

2) If by characters you mean professions, then the answer is no. If you mean skills, then there are some "staple" skills that are obviously more powerful than others (but it's designed that way). Some skills are more powerful compared to similar skills (but devs balance things all the time). Overall, there are a lot of choices when you're making team/character builds.
Talking about items, +Energy/hit on a sword or axe is probably too good. Sword is better than both axe and hammer. Currently there are rare hard-to-get items that shouldn't be in a game according to dev's words about what kind of game Guild Wars should be, but most likely this new change will be fixed soon (after all, it's still a beta).

3) Instanced PvP.
Tombs: 8 vs 8 arranged group (there can be up to 6 groups on one map), ladder-like (after a victory you fight with other winners, if you lose you're playing from the beginning again, winner tries to hold a last map "Hall of Heroes")

Guild vs Guild - 8 vs 8 (clan members only, one clan vs one clan on a map).
There is a worldwide guild ladder similar to chess or battle.net one http://ladder.guildwars.com
guilds fight with other guilds with similar score, you get score when you win and lose score when you lose (you get more when you win against higher-ranked etc.)

Arena - 4 vs 4 random players in a teams

Here is a list of current maps, but they'll add more before a next Beta Weekends event
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...20&postcount=6

4) http://www.guildwarsguru.com/ (but it's outdated because of the constant skill changes)
currently your best bet is to look here for a list of fan sites
http://guildwars.com/community/default.html
check their skill listings and look at the date when skill was updated
Reading forums also helps.

any place that will sell it to you

If you didnt know, you can preorder for about.....$5-$10 USD. I got mine for $10 at Best Buy. When you preorder you will get a code that you can use to play during the Beta Weekend Events every month. You could also try to get a friends pass though. (A friends pass comes with every preorder so you can get a friend to play too. So basically you can have two Beta Accounts for one preorder.)

Let me explain it to you in DAOC terms....

Q1. Already answered. Interesting addition: sometimes in DAOC you find yourself waiting for a healer/cleric or Druid so you can PvP or PvE. In guildwars, you can also just add an NPC Monk. This NPC is not as good as a well played real toon, but better than some people. So that is a nice addition to avoid the sometimes waiting around in DAOC. But yes, PvP Group size is the same as DAOC.

Q2. Actually no, pretty much everyone has access to the same skill sets. You get access to all the skills available for your class but, you can't cast them as well as someone who specialises in a skill tree does. Eg. Dark Runey in DAOC gets access to just Dark Spells. Elementalist here gets access to all Elementalist spells but a fire specialist elementalist casts those better. There are no "I win" buttons, no MoC, Purge or RAs or anything like that.

Q3. You don't get mezzed etc... Crowd control is limited (which is nice), to things like slow and knockdown (sort of like a short stun). Special zones for PVP sort of like DAOC but when you enter them, the game places 2-5 different groups into a smaller zone to duke it out. Sometimes in DAOC you run around for 1/2 and hour and only see a few stealthers, this doesn't happen in Guildwars due to the above. Actually there are no stealthers Survivability/Healing is better in Guildwars so you don't usually fall over in 2 seconds to an assist train.
I would imagine the worlds at war is something like Darkness Falls though we havn't seen it yet.

Q4. Already answered. But whenever you leave an area and goto a town you can change your 8 skills for the next area or PvP. You essentially get 2 classes in Guildwars and you can pick and choose your skills from the two classes.

All I have to say is I have played D2 off and on for years and it has never been worse than it is now. Thousands of bots in trade channels and they even whisper you to try to spend money on program code on a battle.net server that isn't even theirs.

What i like about Guild Wars over D2. 1. Actual strategy come to play in this game it isnt just teleport around and try to land on top of your aponent and shoot. 2. No healing potions or mana potions. This means no more people using a pot during PvP. 3. No stupid body recovery like in D2 and no gold loss due to death from PvP. 4. No spending hours leveling in stupid Baal runs (or diablo runs in Classic non expansion D2). 5. Once you find runes or item parts you can apply them to a level 20 PvP character and same with skills so if you find somthing for another type of character you like you can put it on a level 20 character. 6. IT JUST A WAY BETTER GAME D2 IS ALMOST 7 YEARS OLD PUT IT DOWN~~!! lolZ

The only that this game NEEDS is 1 vs 1 challanges. That would make teams so much better. You could experiment easier on what works best for you agains certain character classes. This is the only thing in Guild Wars that I don't like. If I want to fight my brothers Ele/Me with my Ele/Me I want to do it darn it~!

End of my post o_O