Questions from someone considering the game (LONG).

Well, I read over the FAQs pretty much and still had some questions about the game.

I'm currently involved in World of Warcraft. Now don't get me wrong, it's a fun game. But at the moment it's not very stable. I'm getting very tired of not being able to play 75% of my free time, with no end to the problems in sight.

With this in mind I've started looking for other games, not nessecarily MMORPGs (as I know how much emphasis there is on this game NOT being one), but games that I can play online, in a similar setting with other people.

Few questions:

I like the idea if lower level cap, especially because I have a habit of creating multiple characters, and this isn't fun in other games because you're forced to be powerless and wade through hours upon hours of the same drudge before getting to the 'good stuff' with a new character. This was a major problem for me. I like to try out all the classes and get an idea of which one I like the most before committing, and other game styles don't really support this.

I know it only takes a few days to get to 20, but my question is... How much of that is possible solo? Does this game, for the limited time that you spend leveling, require grouping 100% of the time like such games as FFXI? Also, if it does, how hard is it to find groups? Is there a stigma like in some games that only certain classes are wanted in groups, or if you don't have X set of skills or Y playstyle no one will want you? Just exactly how loose is it, in terms of grouping/etc.

Although the ladder and GvG gameplay interests me, I am by no means a 'hardcore' gamer. I'm good, and I have lots of time to play, but I don't have the whole mentality, nor the urge to be like that. With that in mind, is it possible to enjoy the majority of the game without being in some uber guild or 'knowing the right people'?

How is the class balance? Do they seem to match up pretty well? One of the problems I have in most games is that the character I enjoy playing the most is underpowered, or off in one way or another. So although I enjoy the character, I don't enjoy the imbalances that result from playing him, if that makes sense.

In terms of areas, zones, whatever you want to call them, is there a good amount? How detailed are the zones? Is it just the same walking around similar looking areas or is there room for exploration, nooks and crannies, etc etc? Do the zones have good variety? Are there enough to keep you interested, or are you restricted to a few at the 'end game'?

Lastly, but certainly not least, how is the social atmosphere? Are the people friendly, is there elitism, rudeness, etcetc? I know, personally, with World of Warcraft (although I hate to compare the two seeing as they're very different games) the people that play often have little or no skill, because of the ability to solo. How is the skill level of people you encounter? Do you even make friends, or interact with others, with the hub-based system the game uses?

Sorry for such exhaustive questions, but I'm very curious about the game and found what I read a little lacking... I don't have the funds at the moment to pursue getting into the weekend events, but I'm very much interested in trying it out.

No problem, questions are good.

It's not like FFXI, you can solo pretty well with Charm Animal or you could do it without that. I'm not 100% sure how long it takes to get a group, but I know they aren't picky and it doesn't take as long as FFXI.(which I play)

The areas, or zones are very unique and beautiful.

Well judging by the community in GWG, I think GW's community is excellent.

I've been posting on this particular forum for the past few days, and I think I can answer that last question: If the social atmosphere in the game proper is like it is here on this board, meeting new people and generally sociallizing will not be a problam at all. I'm not a hard core gamer either, I'm here mainly for the meet-and-greet stuff too, and even though I haven't played yet, I'm liking what I 've seen so far.

Near as I can tell, the Guilds are mainly who you want to pal around with, more than who you can know and be known by. You do, it seems, have to have a certain set of requirements to form a guild, but nothing extraordinary.

As far as the ladder/competitive thing goes, I have no intention of paying much attention to that. I'd far rather party up with someone I like rather than who has the "right" skills or such-and-such ranking.

I hope this allays some fears you might have had aboput the game. ^_^

Dave III

I agree with Dave III.

Thing is, GW rocks. You need to play. The BWE is in 1 day, so you should try it out.

That's good, it sounds a lot more casual then most other games of similar type, which is nice. Also seems to incorporate skill, which is another deciding factor for me.

I was more then sick of playing online games where the 'uber' players are the ones who spent a billion years leveling and aquiring the best loot - even if they weren't good players. GW seems to have taken a nice approach to all that.

Another thing.

Armour and weapon designs, how are they? Is it like the same few meshes rehashed with different textures, or does the stuff look significantly different? What difference is there between the higher end stuff and lower stuff in terms of looks/function?

Also, is there crafting of any kind ingame, and if so, what is it like? How is the best armor/weapons obtained?

I'm just a little too curious

Well I'm not quite sure. But you can dye your armor different colors so you look different.

No such thing, Mi'laddo. ^_^

I reccomend flipping through the screen shots here, which about all the info I have. It looks about the same as most games you're likely to find; as in all Warrior Light Armor looks the same, all Mesmer Heavy Armor looks the same, (excluding dyes, etc.), but that's just an assumption on my part.

Dave III

Soloing is limited but possible. The missions are balanced for groups of 4 - 8 players, depending on where you are int he storyline. It is possible to solo these missions, but some can be very hard even with a full team. Fortunatly, if you don't want to play with other people you can recruit (for free) henchmen who will join you on your mission. These henchmen are average at best, but can substitue for real players if you really need to. I would reccommend grouping though. Generally it's not hard to group. Monks are the most wanted, but for the most part it shouldn't take you too long to find a group, no matter what class you play.

Defintily. I myself am more of a casual PvPer and enjoy both the PvP and PvE portions of the game. Since much of the game is PvE you can see that withouth being in a guild at all (although being in a guild makes grouping even easier). Even on the PvP side of things the only area (so far) that is "Guild only" is the Guild Vs Guild competition where the ladder rankings are set. The Tombs of the Ancient Kings (where the highest caliber of PvP is) is available to people not in guilds, and it is still easy to find a group, although many groups won't take someone who is not lvl 20.


The classes are very close to balanced. There are a few attribute lines that are not very powerful, but the game is still in beta and I am confident that ANet will have everything perfectly balanced by release.

A recent Fansite Friday mentioned that there will be about 70 explorable ares in release. Many areas look the same but some will change depending on the area of the world that you are in (snowy mountains, jungles, scorched desert).

The community is great. There is and always will be those types of people that you wish didn't play, but there seems to be much less here than in other games. I hope that doesn't change in release. As for interaction, since each mission is instanced, you can get to know the people you are playing with quite well, and often people will add teammates to their friends list after a mission or two.

I really like how the armor looks. Each class has about 5 or 6 different styles at lvl 20 that all look quite different. Some Armors will still be updated and I hope to see more styles that I haven't seen this weekend.

The lower end stuff does not look as good as the higher end stuff, but by lvl 5 you can craft better looking armor. For function, the lower level stuff is much worse, but you don't need any higher for the enemies you would be fighting at that level.

There are no trade skills, so no skinning or mining, or fishing for horus on end. The only crafting is done at crafters. To craft armor you need to find the matierials for them and then visit the crafter, give him the matierials and you have new armor. All armors must be crafted, they will not drop from monsters. Weapons are different and can only be obtained through trading or drops form monsters.

Well, much thanks for all the questions answered. The more I read the more interesting this game seems. I'll certaintly check out getting it around release, if not preordering.

That's a long post? Sheesh, you're in the wrong place. It's not a long post around here until you start hitting the character limit...

It's possible solo but not very recommended. The game's definitely designed for groups and unless you know what you're doing you'll have a hard time in certain parts. However, you'll gain more XP by yourself so you can safely stick around a few easy missions and do them repeatedly to level up quickly. But, you'd probably do just as fast in a group. Even if you can't find anyone else to group with there ae NPCs called henchmen available. They'll fill out your party so even when you're by yourself you can have a party and mow through things faster. Even just taking along the Monk henchmen to have some healing can make for faster leveling.

For the record, I've done just about every mission available during the BWEs all by myself. No teammates, no henchies, it can be done but it was a long, slow, cautious process and I'm, all modesty aside, far from a novice at Guild Wars.

That said, finding groups is easy. This isn't a traditional MMO. For one, all professions, all classes are relatively well-balanced. There are oddities and ways of making a character that don't work well, but that's more from your skill selection. Certain combinations are unpopular and others more recognized as valuable, but there's really not any stigma attached to any particular combination yet (Ensign will tell you that Mesmer/Necromancers are for scrubs, don't listen to him. They have their place, just as everyone else does, and that place is pretty broad and encompassing, even for a character that's not going to be very good at dealing damage, healing, or anything "classic" they can still debuff and deny exceptionally well and they make fine support characters, it's just they have trouble capitalizing on things by themself. That's why it's a team game, after all, they can party with others who'll finish things off for them. The point being that there's an arguement or a reason to take any profession combination at the moment.) and because those combinations can be pretty varied in what they do - a Hammer/Earth Warrior/Elementalist is going to be a lot different than a Sword/Fire Warrior/Elementalist, to name just one - there's no set way to play anything. You might have trouble if you're doing something out of the ordinary with your character and you're in a random, pick-up group, beccause there are certain expectations like Warriors being able to tank, Elementalists being able to damage, Monks being able to heal, and so on, but there's no set skills for any character.

Also, everythign is instanced. When you head to a mission or a map you'll wind up in a stagging area, a lobby, where everyone is waiting around, looking for people to go and do that map with. In other words, the chances of finding someone looking for a group is pretty good. You might have to wait around a little bit until someone notices you but you won't have to scream and shout in a general chat for hours looking to find that last member to your group. Grouping is quick, easy, and painless. You can stay with your group for a while or head a different way after finishing a map.

No, not really. I mean, if you want to get to the top of the guild ladder you'll probably want to be in a guild that's serious about PvP. But, if you're interested just in taking part in things, then you can do just about everything else with just random people you meet in lobbies. You won't stand much of a chance in competitive areas like the Tombs, you'll need to find some very good people to get to the number one slot in that tourney, but you can still jump in and have a fun fight in the early rounds at any time. Other areas of the game like the Arena or PvE missions don't require you to have excellent teammates, either. In short, if you're really hardcore, yes, you need skilled teammates because otherwise you'll be frustrated at losing so much. But if you're not all that competitive, if you don't *need* to be #1 constantly, then you're not missing out on much by not hanging around with the rest of that crowd. Just, you know, being #1.

As I said, it's pretty good. Most balancing is done through skills and there's certainly some wide imbalances in terms of what's there. But profession against profession, it's pretty good. Certainly better than most. There are some disparencies at the moment, of course. I think Elementalist is pretty weak, overall, and needs something to make it better, and Ranger has a few things at the moment that make them a bit too strong, but because you pick two professions you're never completely awful, you just might have to work a little harder, and you're never godly, you just have an easier time of making things do what you want.

Keep in mind no one's seen everything that's out there yet. Not testers, and certainly not people who've played the beta weekends. That said, again, it's not a traditional MMO. There's not vast and boundless tracks of land to explore. Not yet anyway. There's a good deal of content, most of it optional and explorable, but not as much as long running MMOs like EverQuest or whatever else. It's all one continent so far, although there's already a wide variety of places and creatures to fight. Check out the areas section of this site for an idea of what's there so far.

The skill level of people I encounter is usually pretty good. But that's because, well, I know the right people. But I met most of them just by playing the game. It's a team-game after all. I've become acquainted with lots of folks just by grouping with them for a mission or a Tombs run or whatever else. Others like to just hang around town and talk, too. Not me, I like to chat while I'm actually doing something but to each their own. So there's definitely ways of meeting people.

Are there jerks and rude idiots? Sure. But, by and large, I've found most people in the game to be very nice, very fun to play with. And, hey, there's no penalty for starting a map over, so if someone's a jerk or an unrepentant scrub you can always just quit the map to the lobby and find a new group.

Anyhow, if you can't afford the preorder, I certainly understand, but I'd look into seeing if anyone you know has a friend's pass so you can try things out one of the next two BWEs and see if it's right for you. And, hey, when it comes down to it, a preorder's a small price to pay for a weekend of gaming. For $5 you can get three days worth of what's, in my admittedly biased opinion, pretty darn good fun and if you don't like it you can always just not buy the game. I've paid more for games I've played less, that's for sure.

Thanks again for going into depth with the answers, I always appreciate someone taking the time to explain things.

Now, just to see if I'm getting this right (as the whole thing is a little confusing to me).

There are currently two things you can purchase, the starter kit which includes a pass for the BWE, and the preorder for the full game. Am I correct? IE: This would be what I would get if I was interested in the BWE/etc, and this is what I would get if I was purchasing/preordering the full game.

If this is the case, I will most certainly see about getting my hands on that ASAP so I can partake in the next BWE.

Right. Whatever store you go to you put down a deposit on your pre-order for the full game that retails for $50US. Most places require a $5 or $10 deposit on the pre-order. When the game comes out you turn in your preorder and they discount the game by the amount of your deposit. If you put down $5 initially you only need $45. $10, you need $40. That's if you end up buying the game, of course.

But, with your pre-order you should get a box. It looks just like the box for a retail game and inside that box is a CD with some art and music and stuff, a guide, and most important, your passcode. You can use that to take part in the BWEs. You also get a friend's pass that's good for one, and only one BWE, that you can give to whomever. Don't preorder without getting a box. And if you did, go back to the store and ask where your box is because you want to play and they should have a box for you. If you buy the game, the box is free. If you don't buy the game, it cost you your lost pre-order deposit (Which you might or might not be able to get back, depends on the store and, anyway, they might not since you actually "bought" something with it but you never know.) so, yeah, if you can don't go to the movies this weekend and pick up a pre-order and your box and hop onto the BWE. Which is this weekend starting Friday morning, Pacific US time, but there's another one in April before release, too.

well...when i see the website...it seems that starterkit is same as pre-order.
you get Kanthan Targe as special pre-order item if you get it from bestbuy.

and welcome to world of guildwars
you will enjoy it alot

remember...guildwars is designed that you will have fun as you log on; not prepare to have fun like other mmorpgs.

Very little outside of the tutorial areas. You will likely be able to solo in areas that are several levels lower than you are - with varying degrees of difficulty - but soloing at the top of the curve is maddeningly difficult at best. If you want to progress at a reasonable pace, you're going to be playing with a group.


The game is laid out to make it as easy as possible to find a group - each mission has a staging area, and from those you can usually find several dozen people who are interested in forming a group for that mission.

The biggest obstacle in finding a group is social - people are surprisingly timid for a game environment and I sometimes feel that I'm playing with a bunch of wallflowers. You'll find that there are a lot of people milling about waiting to be invited, but very few wanting to start a group from scratch. My advise - start a group.


It'll vary from hour to hour. Sometimes you'll find a bunch of people who are just desperate for a game and will take anyone they can to get up to the mission limit quickly. Other times, people will be more picky and will wait around for a member of the 'right' class.

As far as desirable classes, Monks are severely underplayed and you'll have three group invites within 5 seconds of joining a staging area if you play one. Warriors are overplayed and overvalued, in my experience, but you won't have significant problems getting a group. On the other side of things, Mesmers are nigh useless in PvE missions, as well as overplayed, so you'll get used to having to sell yourself or start your own groups if you play one, because you won't be getting any invites.


If your definition of 'enjoying the game' doesn't include fighting over the top of the ladder, then definitely, the majority of the game will prove interesting to you. PvE maps are designed with the casual player in mind so even a pick up group can experience success - guild battles use a pairing system to attempt to match you up against an opponent of equal skill. The only place you'd have issues is the Tombs, which is an evergoing single-elimination tournament, where you'll likely run into a wall of better teams after a few rounds.


It's a work in progress.

There are some classes that are only playable in PvE missions (like Death Necromancers) and some that only shine in PvP (like Mesmers). Some classes play completely differently in PvE and PvP (Warriors).

Then there are a few classes that are just plain bad - Hammer Warriors and Fire Elementalists spring immediately to mind. But even those classes have their fanbases that swear by them, and the game is easy enough that even those classes can find success as long as you aren't trying to smash other players.


There are a reasonable amount - it looks like a couple dozen missions and maybe twice that number of explorable areas in retail. Mix in half a dozen to a dozen PvP zones and you've got the game world.


Fairly. Some of the areas just feel like 'Oh, more jungle. This is me being excited. Really.' But there are also unique, *noticible* features that make exploring the game world worthwhile.


I relate to you John Gabriel's Greater Internet F***wad Theory:

Normal Person + Anonymity + Audience = Total F***wad


It's a public game, and it's full of people from the public. In towns or low level PvE I've generally found people to be generally decent and friendly, if cautious. There's some bad sportsmanship there, but not too much - that's pretty much reserved for PvP. I'd estimate that every fifth PvP team will have an incredibly bad loser on it who will be sure to let you know what a bad sport they are.


Abysmal. But remember that the game is designed with that in mind.


Well, you don't run into the same people as much as you would on a smaller, shard based game. But you'll still be exposed to and playing with a bunch of different people, and you can do with that what you will. Personally, I keep an extensive buddy list that I call upon frequently when forming groups for whatever purpose.


Fairly unique - there aren't a ton of item types, but each type has a unique look - you don't have different items with the same model but different texture, for example. At the same time a long sword is a long sword, so there's a certain amount of uniformity.

But when you have the choice of six different types of armor, that really does mean six distinct suits of armor with their own graphics, not some palette shifting nonsense.


In terms of looks, virtually none - there are a few high level armors and weapons with unique graphics but generally the stuff you're using at level 5 will look like what you're using at level 20. In terms of function, higher level items generally just have bigger numbers. The types of effects you can find don't seem to vary much as you progress.


Crafting is handled entirely by NPCs - you bring them crafting materials and they give you back finished goods.


The best, and in fact all armor is obtained via the crafting system - bring materials to an armorsmith and they'll make you a customized suit of armor for your character.

The best weapons are acquired by pharming the hell out of later missions, or via the secondary market. Rare weapons are one of the hot-button issues of the game at the moment so I would not be surprised to see changes in weapon acquisition between now and retail.

Peace,
-CxE

The first link is to the actual preorder box. See best buy does the whole preorder thing differently. If you are going to get it from best buy pick up that box and go the the cashier and pay your 10 bucks. KEEP THE RECIEPT!!! It's the only way you will get your 10 bucks put towards the final game. Gamestop/EB actually keep track of the preorder for you so you don't have to keep the reciept. Also call the store you will be going to just to make sure that they have the preorder box and to make sure that they have a clue.