Poll: Sell me on (or warn me about) Guild Wars

[linkblade91]

I recently saw the quiz for determining my Profession for the up-coming Guild Wars 2, and curious I decided to take it. In the end I received the "Guardian" outcome and so, equally as curious, I went to Guild Wars 2's website to check out the class and its offerings.

What I found was rather intriguing. Not only did I come to like what I saw of the Guardian, but I was interested in most of the other classes as well, like the Mesmer, Thief, and Elementalist. The races had some interesting choices as well, and the combat videos helped draw me in further. The idea of World vs World was something I had never known of before; PvP at a ridiculous scale beyond the 1-on-1 duels I remember from Diablo II. I was starting to get hooked.

I went to Gamefaqs, and started looking at player reviews of the original Guild Wars. The opinions were mostly positive, and a common theme emerged: this game was not your "average" MMO, and we like it.

The fact that it has no subscription is icing on the cake, and now I'm seriously considering buying Guild Wars 2 when I get the chance. But I'm still not yet completely sold. I do not personally know anyone who has played the first game, so I want to look to my fellow Escapists for advice. I've messed around with the Starter Edition of World of Warcraft, but I'm not heavily invested in the MMO experience. I love games of all kinds, and I am not above or against interacting with my fellow man, especially if said interaction is uniting to smash a monster's face in. I've easily logged a couple hundred hours playing Diablo 2 and 3, and untold amount of time playing similar Action RPGs like Champions of Norrath and the like split-screen with my Real-Life friend on the Playstation.

So now that I've talked your ear off, let's get to the heart of the matter with my question(s):

- Have you played Guild Wars?
- Did you like it? How much so?
- Should I get Guild Wars 2?
- Is it worth going back and getting the first title?
- Should I convince my RL friend to get it with me?

I would really appreciate to know your feelings on this, and I thank you for the assistance in advance

 

[WinstonJEC]

I started playing guild wars 1 a while back and loved it! The level cap was only 20 which was discouraging but not that big of deal. I started my three day head start on saturday and immediately fell in love with Guild wars 2. Level cap increased to 80, great graphics for an MMO, and free to play! I personally don't think it's necessary to play the first one but it's good fun. The second one is amazing and while you're running around the enormous world you have a decent story line and constant side quests that you and many other players embark on together. I would definitely recommend you pick this game up and have your friends as well although it's not hard to meet friendly people on the game to join up with.

 

[Norrdicus]

So now that I've talked your ear off, let's get to the heart of the matter with my question(s):

- Have you played Guild Wars?
- Did you like it? How much so?
- Should I get Guild Wars 2?
- Is it worth going back and getting the first title?
- Should I convince my RL friend to get it with me?

-Yes I have, around 300 hours worth, which is a bit impressive as I'm not generally an MMO player
-I did like it, though when I first played it, I didn't "get it". You've probably heard of the 1'000+ skills that Guild Wars has, and you can use 8 of them at a time. It's very "Magic the Gathering"-ish in that sense, you have to stop and figure out how skills work in combinations, rather than their individual effects.
-DEFINITELY
-Well, the thing is, GW1 and 2 were vastly different. GW1 was extremely PvP-oriented while GW2 is more traditional in many ways and gives you plenty of PvE content. In GW1, the PvE was essentially a long tutorial for PvP in my opinion, all the monsters were essentially reskins of your selectable classes. You'll find that every monster can use the skills you can, there are barely any monsters that just run at you, attack you and keep attacking until they're dead.
-Guild Wars 1 is much more fun and easier with friend, without other players, you're stuck with AI partners throughout the game

 

[Ferisar]

I've logged a good 10 hours into the second game, I think... Not really sure. Would I recommend it? Oh yes. I wouldn't pass any judgment past that in terms of any actual "review", but so far it's passed everything with flying colors. Game looks good, the animations are solid (read: not AHMAHAZING), the leveling system is very well done and leaves it up to you to point the rails rather than take you on long chains that you have no choice in, the combat is new to me (but this is personal, as I've hardly veered off the path of teh WoWz), and most importantly there are people around.

That last bit is slightly optimistic, as we all know what happens when an MMO has been out for a while (people vanish), but nonetheless. I wish I could give you some PvP rundown, but I haven't tried it. I've seen videos of it, and it looks absolutely batshit insane considering how LARGE the map for WvWvW is.

As a note: You very want to have people you know to play with you. You don't necessarily need to level together, but having other people to bug when you need some tips or are stuck somewhere is always a plus. It will also more than likely make your pvp experience much better, because there is strength in numbers.

 

[LetalisK]

I just barely got it, been playing it a little bit, but what drew me in was the pvp. Yes, you have the WvWvW, which will be fun. But the more traditional battleground-ish pvp seems to put everyone on a level playing field. I like that, though I could be wrong if it does that.

Btw, question. When I first started and picked a server, it warned me that if I wanted to go to a different server, I would have to pay money to move. PLEASE tell me they're just talking about the character I created? The way they phrased it gives me the sinking feeling it's an account thing, not just a character thing. If I'm locked down to one server for all my characters, assuming limited character slots as well, that's some hardcore bullshit that needs to change right quick.

Edit: So yeah, it's account wide. They're just "benevolent" enough not to be actually charging for transfers yet. So basically, you're restricted to five characters per account. That makes no fucking sense to me. Unless I'm missing something, I can't imagine that is going to go over well at all once people start realizing this. If this was an actual F2P game, I'd be fine with this, but I just shelled out $60.

 

[Ganath]

I can't give you a game review. I havn't touched Guild wars 2. One thing I know though is that GW1 and GW2 are not very alike at all and shouldn't be treated as such. As for the game itself I have a neutral opinion. I do however think it's a bit overhyped. I'm going to wait about 1 month before I decide to buy it or not and see what people think of it then.

If you have the money to burn and you don't feel it would hurt your wallet at all, then hell, go for it. I seriously doubt it's a horrible game. Doubt it's an amazing game though, but maybe I'll be proven wrong in 1 month.

 

[Smertnik]

Edit: So yeah, it's account wide. They're just "benevolent" enough not to be actually charging for transfers yet. So basically, you're restricted to five characters per account. That makes no fucking sense to me. Unless I'm missing something, I can't imagine that is going to go over well at all once people start realizing this. If this was an actual F2P game, I'd be fine with this, but I just shelled out $60.

Considering that there isn't a subscription fee it's a very fair deal, in my opinion. Besides, you don't have to actually pay for the extra slots, you can buy the gems just as well with gold.

 

[Danceofmasks]

I like this game, but ... as of right now, a bunch of stuff is broken.

The Trading Post is down, joining guilds doesn't work properly, and some events end up bugged after awhile - and due to their cyclic nature, get permanently locked that way.

So, like all other good but buggy games, wait a week or two to play it.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Edit: So yeah, it's account wide. They're just "benevolent" enough not to be actually charging for transfers yet. So basically, you're restricted to five characters per account. That makes no fucking sense to me. Unless I'm missing something, I can't imagine that is going to go over well at all once people start realizing this. If this was an actual F2P game, I'd be fine with this, but I just shelled out $60.

You could buy new character slots with in-game gold, if you're opposed to buying them with cash. It's one of the ways they compensate for a lack of sub fee, and they want to stop world switching/stacking for WvWvW (hence being tied to a single home realm). 5 is enough for me, although I can see why a true alt-o-holic would find it painfully limiting.

So now that I've talked your ear off, let's get to the heart of the matter with my question(s):

- Have you played Guild Wars?
- Did you like it? How much so?
- Should I get Guild Wars 2?
- Is it worth going back and getting the first title?
- Should I convince my RL friend to get it with me?

I would really appreciate to know your feelings on this, and I thank you for the assistance in advance

1. I have played Guild Wars, both of them.

2. I enjoyed the first one, although not to any extraordinary extent. It was more similar to Diablo...an instanced co-op experience...than an MMO proper with large shared spaces. The world was also very on rails...you couldn't, say, run down a hill side, or hop over a fence. Still, it had some unique ideas and was refreshingly unique for its time. The second game is quite a departure.

3. Without knowing much about your gaming tastes or your expectations this is hard to answer, but I will tentatively say "yes". Without a sub fee it's a smaller investment than most MMOs, and I find the game enormously charming.

4. At this point? Probably not.

5. Sure, if you want. Do be aware it's having something of a rough launch, and one of the primary ways in which it is rough is that playing with friends can be a bit of a chore. I play with my GF, and trying to get us both into the same overflow instance is a constant struggle whenever one of us zones, or a niggling error forces a quick relog. It's not impossible by any means...but it is something that requires more effort than I'd prefer. This is not inherent to the game's design, this is just a glitch. They are struggling to meet demand for the game right now and their servers are taking a hammering. To their credit, they are not making the classic MMO mistake of opening 100 new servers just to immediately turn around and close them down again, but that means some extra headaches for launch week.

You sound like you have a relatively open mind, and you're not adverse to MMOs in general. GW2 is probably the best MMO I've played since WoW. Which is not to say it's a WoW approximate, I just get a similar sense of quality craftsmanship from it. The game is enormous, and a tremendous amount of care and detail has been poured into the world. You can tell it was a labor of love for the developers, and that's seldom the case in this genre, where there's been a lot of me-too cash ins over the last decade.

 

[Quaxar]

A tip: for further questions there's always <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Guild-Wars-2>a group.

Also, the game is great. I've played for 22 hours since headstart on saturday and that's not counting the half day login was broken due to too many people attempting to get in at once and all the client issues I keep having atm. But after all it's launch day today and might I remind you of all the problems WoW was having then.

 

[LetalisK]

Edit: So yeah, it's account wide. They're just "benevolent" enough not to be actually charging for transfers yet. So basically, you're restricted to five characters per account. That makes no fucking sense to me. Unless I'm missing something, I can't imagine that is going to go over well at all once people start realizing this. If this was an actual F2P game, I'd be fine with this, but I just shelled out $60.

You could buy new character slots with in-game gold, if you're opposed to buying them with cash. It's one of the ways they compensate for a lack of sub fee, and they want to stop world switching/stacking for WvWvW (hence being tied to a single home realm). 5 is enough for me, although I can see why a true alt-o-holic would find it painfully limiting.

Edit: So yeah, it's account wide. They're just "benevolent" enough not to be actually charging for transfers yet. So basically, you're restricted to five characters per account. That makes no fucking sense to me. Unless I'm missing something, I can't imagine that is going to go over well at all once people start realizing this. If this was an actual F2P game, I'd be fine with this, but I just shelled out $60.

Considering that there isn't a subscription fee it's a very fair deal, in my opinion. Besides, you don't have to actually pay for the extra slots, you can buy the gems just as well with gold.

Oh, okay. Well, now it makes sense to me. Seemed a little out of character for them, but now it makes more sense if you can also use in-game currency.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Oh, okay. Well, now it makes sense to me. Seemed a little out of character for them, but now it makes more sense if you can also use in-game currency.

Everything in the cash shop can be bought with gold. You just trade gold for gems, and buy the items you want.

 

[The_Lost_King]

Oh, okay. Well, now it makes sense to me. Seemed a little out of character for them, but now it makes more sense if you can also use in-game currency.

Everything in the cash shop can be bought with gold. You just trade gold for gems, and buy the items you want.

What is the exchange rate? How many crystals does it take to make a new character?

 

[Xin Baixiang]

Is it enforced PvP, or is there PvP-free Care Bear PvE servers too?

 

[BloatedGuppy]

What is the exchange rate? How many crystals does it take to make a new character?

No idea, as I've not done it. I know the market fluctuates with supply and demand though.

 

[Baralak]

What is the exchange rate? How many crystals does it take to make a new character?

Yeah, there's no set exchange rate, it fluctuates a lot, so theoretically, you could turn a nice in-game profit if you can manipulate the market. You can exchange gold for gems, and gems for gold. Last time I tried exchanging, my 4 silver would get me 14 gems, lol

No idea, as I've not done it. I know the market fluctuates with supply and demand though.

Is it enforced PvP, or is there PvP-free Care Bear PvE servers too?

It's mainly PvE, there's no in-world PvP, it's all arena based.


Just putting it out there, I love this game. Fantastic MMO.

 

[linkblade91]

I want to thank everybody for your input! Don't think I just typed up that mountain of gibber-jabber and then walked away.

-Yes I have, around 300 hours worth, which is a bit impressive as I'm not generally an MMO player
-I did like it, though when I first played it, I didn't "get it". You've probably heard of the 1'000+ skills that Guild Wars has, and you can use 8 of them at a time. It's very "Magic the Gathering"-ish in that sense, you have to stop and figure out how skills work in combinations, rather than their individual effects.
-DEFINITELY

Three hundred hours is...quite a lot. I would dare to think that you might have an inside-track as to the quality of Guild Wars

And while some of those Gamefaqs reviews referred to "a lot" of skills, I guess they probably should have rephrased that. A thousand-plus skills is not "a lot", it's "A LOT" lol

I've played Magic the Gathering to some extent, so I get what you're saying there (my college hallmates and I would use LackeyCCG and play online; every card in the game + free = readily accessible to new players, i.e: me). But I enjoy that process of honing your character, "power-gaming" almost to an exact science, so not a turn-off for me at all.

Edit: So yeah, it's account wide. They're just "benevolent" enough not to be actually charging for transfers yet. So basically, you're restricted to five characters per account. That makes no fucking sense to me. Unless I'm missing something, I can't imagine that is going to go over well at all once people start realizing this. If this was an actual F2P game, I'd be fine with this, but I just shelled out $60.

You could buy new character slots with in-game gold, if you're opposed to buying them with cash. It's one of the ways they compensate for a lack of sub fee, and they want to stop world switching/stacking for WvWvW (hence being tied to a single home realm). 5 is enough for me, although I can see why a true alt-o-holic would find it painfully limiting.

I had heard about the 5-character limit, which disappointed me as it would restrict me from playing all (or at least most) of the classes. Dungeons and Dragons Online made you pay real money to acquire additional characters slots, if I remember correctly, and you only start with two, which was a huge annoyance. Being able to also purchase such things through in-game gold helps redeem that, in my opinion.

 

[SFMB]

Well, it's a MMO, so I would not recommend it to anyone. If you go for it, it will die in matter of months and you return to your World of Warcraft disillusioned.

 

[linkblade91]

A tip: for further questions there's always <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Guild-Wars-2>a group.

Thank you for the notice. Hell, if I do actually get this game, I might just join the Escapist Guild and see you all around

Well, it's a MMO, so I would not recommend it to anyone. If you go for it, it will die in matter of months and you return to your World of Warcraft disillusioned.

Ah, but you see, I am not attached to World of Warcraft, having only played a few hours through the Starter Edition. My ability to enjoy that game was dampened heavily when I discovered that, as a SE-player, I could not communicate or join up with anyone else without being talk to/invited first. Playing the World's Most Popular MMO single-player is truly a lonely existence.

When it comes to Blizzard, I'm one of those "weirdos" who wants less WoW expansions and more:
Heart of the Swarm/Legacy of the Void release dates
Diablo III patches/updates/expansions
Warcraft IV!