I will say, however, that I haven’t been this confused by an MMO in a long time. In a GOOD way. I’m going over the newbie FAQ I found paragraph by paragraph.
More later.
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Both Lore and I found Guild Wars entertaining but could never convince any of our friends to give it a try.
What I liked best about it is that the actual game play mechanics are fairly simple but the actual creation of your build can be extremely complex. It’s also nice that you can experiment with different builds and not gimp your character because you can always go back to town and switch out your skills.
The Guild Wars wiki has a lot of good information also. There is also a nice quick reference card at the official web site with keyboard commands, slash command, terminology explanation etc.
If you try to approach Guild Wars like a normal levels-based game, you’ll get confused and leave. Think of your time in Wizard101. It has little characters you move around and level up like “normal” but get into combat and it becomes a CCG. GW is very similar; in fact I’ve always compared it to Magic: the Gathering anyway. Just like “the point” of leveling in W101 is to get more cards, the same applies to adventuring (not leveling) in GW. From buying skills at various trainers to capturing elite skills from bosses, it’s about collecting more skills and then coming up with a build usable in the scenario before you. Just like in M:tG you can have hundreds or thousands of cards in your collection but only so many in your deck. With GW the total build is not only the 8 skills, but how you synergize them with gear and the mods you place on your gear. There’s very rarely a “one size fits all” approach.
@Scott
Agreed. The “collections” part of this game is truly supreme. From skills, to items you find (fangs, claws, teeth to turn in for armor pieces or weapons)
But, depending on WHICH campaign you play there is a…–surprise–…STORY.
So, enjoy the PvE aspect, learn how to mingle your skills, learn how to counter attacks or rain Fire DPS. Then play some PvP, which actually works in this game.
I got to the point that the level bar does not mean ANYTHING!
Oh, and did we mention how GORGEOUS the characters and landscapes look as well.
Your player experience will depend a lot on which campaign you start with. Prophecies has a story, but it takes a while to level, and I personally found the missions to be plentiful but boring. Factions has ultrafast leveling, and then everything is at max level; it also has the smallest number of missions. Nightfall is somewhere inbetween, and you get heros that make it much easier to solo. However, Factions/Nightfall both have some grinding which is nevertheless not significant. All three have completely different themes (European vs Asian vs North-African).
If you use heros and good builds, and have some experience, then going through the PvE contents is fairly easy but still *fun*.
I’ll probably be going back and giving GW another try sometime in the ‘near’ future so will be interested to see how you get on.
It’s a game I’ve dropped into a few times but it just never ‘gels’ for me. Y’know?
Tipa, I am stunned. I cannot believe you haven’t played Guild Wars before. It looks like you are playing Nightfall. If so I can understand your confusion because things move pretty quickly at the beginning. I loved Guild Wars and I only played in PVE mode. That game bends over backwards to make life easy for the player with instant travel, henchmen, free respecs and so on yet it remains surprising complex because of the skill and combat systems. PVE combat in Guild Wars is tougher than in most mmos but it can be a very enjoyable challenge.
I echo Sisca’s comments about the fun to be had with builds and I also echo Sente’s reccomendation of Guildwiki – it remains my favourite help site of any game I have played.
From the screenshot, looks like she’s doing Nightfall which is exactly what I’d recommend for new or returning players. It does a good job leveling you quickly and teaching the basics on the noob island before turning you loose on the mainland to get through the main storyline. The story is also longer than Factions, and with Heroes added to the mix, you get more bang for the buck with Nightfall than the other two campaigns.
Interesting. I actually just launched Guild Wars for the first time in probably a year just today. I only ever bought the original game (prophecies). With a new video card, it really is very pretty and very fluid; no reduced FPS yet.
If WAR wasn’t coming out, I would consider picking up one of the expansion packs just to try something new.
/me goes off to Guild Wiki and read up as was suggested here
Nightfall rocks…and then if you do master that part of the game, adding Eye of the North REALLY hits home the challenge and fun for PvE also.
A great story backed with missions that require more than “Kill 10 x” (anyone who did the Asura Campaigns can attest to this)…I have put more hours in less than a month than I did with the brand new Conan.
And I already had played GW before.
Any questions, make sure you ask us as well…we will be more than helpful.
Cheers
@Ryver: the advantage of GW’s business model is you never really have to “quit,” you never have to go through the bother of canceling then re-subbing later. It’s always there for you.
The disadvantage is the rather unfortunate community.
GW has an interesting model where levels, gold and items don’t matter that much. A lot less grind then most, and much more skill.