On the Fence!

Lazarus71 · December 2006

Hi all, I have been on the fence about getting into Guild Wars for some time and even had Nightfall inhand and was walking to the checkout counter when I changed my mind. Could some active players give me some good and bad points on the game.

Also if some nice person could send me a trial key so i could just check the game out myself I would realy appreciate it. this way I could give the game a spin.

VGJustice · December 2006

Alright, I think I can break down what's generally good and bad about this game.

Good Points

- Cheap. Meaning, you pay for the box, and THAT'S IT YOU'RE DONE HOORAY. No hidden fees, no "mandatory" expansions, no monthly, zip, zero, zilch, nada.
- Graphics. The graphics are quite nice, not the standard blocky cheese that most MMO's seem to have.
- Easier on newbies. You don't need to grind your butt off for a month before you can even become competative, you start out pretty good. Max level equipment of all kinds isn't all that hard to find, and you can create a character specifically meant for PvP that starts at max level with whatever equipment you've managed to find or have unlocked.
- Higher game difficulty. Not everyone would agree that this is a good thing, but it's one of my favorite parts about the game. You can't just blindly march your way through the game, you have to actually think about what you're doing. Which brings me to...
- Player skill defines you're character. If you spend the time to learn how to play this game, it will reward you a thousand times over, no mater what class you play.
- Very limited grind. With a max level cap of 20, max level weapons easily obtainable, and armor within reach of even the very casual gamer, there's almost no reason to grind at all in this game. Even in Nightfall, which has the most grind of any of the three, it's still kept to a bear minimum.
- Fully instanced world. Whenever you step out of town, the only things that will be there are you, a pet if you brought yours, whatever henchmen you took, and any other player in your party. No one else will be able to disturb you. Which means, no PKers, no spawn campers, no loot ninjas (loot is also asigned in this game), and no power farmers getting in your way.
- Generally accessable PvP. If you really felt like it, you could start out in PvP on day one and have a chance. It would be hard, but not impossible. And that's with a regular purchase, not the PvP Editions.
- Generally balanced PvP. Every class has a use in PvP. Everything is useful. It all depends on HOW you use that character.
- Amazing level of customer support. I've had several problems with my account and other various things in the time I've played, and I've always recieved excelent customer support, no matter what time of day no matter what day of the week.
- Most of the game is meant for max level characters. Seems kinda strange, but a large portion of each of the games in intended for a max level character. Likely, you'll complete the last third of the story missions at max level. And the content doesn't end there, with quests still giving experience, monsters still posing a challenge, and plenty of High End content.
- Each chapter is stand alone. There is no need to purchase every single Guild Wars "expansion", because you only need one purchase to play, be it Factions, Nightfall, or the original. They can act as expansions, however, giving you even more options and play time.

Bad Points
- Semi-steep learning curve. Because the game itself is rather difficult, it can be pretty jarring for the very new.
- Not good for grind zombies. Because of the basic game setup, there are no "life skills", there's no real crafting. It's meant for "pick up and play". If you spend 12 hours a day (or more, heaven forbid) and totally crush the game in a week, then it's gonna get pretty boring pretty quick. With that in mind...
- Not good for soloers. If you like to play the game solo, you're gonna get bored in about a week most likely. The game is designed at every level with a "team" mindset. If you just play alone all the time, you won't get the player interaction that the game was meant for.
- High level dungeons restricted badly. Some of them aren't so bad. Sorrow's Furnace of chapter one (Guild Wars) only requires that you be level 20. The new one for Nightfall requires that you have completed the basic story mode of that game. In Factions, you either need to be in an Aliance that has taken control of the capital city of a specific region (which is every bit as hard as it sounds, probably harder) or get a lift from one of their members (and many of the Aliances that take those cities don't like to give "ferries"). The Fissure of Woe and the Underworld, elite areas that are available in all 3 chapters, require that your region have "Favor of the Gods", which is won in one of the PvP setups (that's right, PvP controls the access to the high level content for PvE) in addition to requiring that you be level 20, or "Ascended". This is a semi-large problem, as a large portion of the game is geared towards level 20 characters anyway. But, these are the greatest challenges that the games have to offer, and it is rather sad how exclusive they can be.
- Some items are cost prohibitive in game. This is a rather small problem in most cases, but some class specific items and the odd non-class specific items have inflated prices. This is because the price on these items is based on a player created Supply And Demand at the NPC vendors. Can be annoying at times, but many of the exorbently expensive items are not needed or there are less popular alternatives.
- Limited character creation slots. Sometimes this can be a problem. With only one chapter, you get 4 character slots. With 6 classes in the first chapter, and 8 classes in each of the other chapters, chances are you may not get to play every class. If you purchase more than one chapter, you can link them to get an extra 2 slots, but this is balanced out where your old characters can gain access to the new content.
- Whiners. Oh, wait, that's every game ever made.

I think that about does it. I recommend giving the game a try if you can pick it up cheap. Like I said, once you buy the game, you're done.

Akaraxle · December 2006

Originally posted by VGJustice
- Semi-steep learning curve. Because the game itself is rather difficult, it can be pretty jarring for the very new.

Well, you know what you're talking about but that's probably not the best way to put it. The game itself is extremely easy to pick up, controls are comfortable, UI is tidy, etc. What is really steep is mastering the game, and I think you can never really master PvP for it tends to change over time.
The first chapter, Prophecies, really grabs your hand and helps you walk slowly through the game (you play at least 2/3rds of the game under level 20); Factions basically kicks you quickly at 20 and makes you face lv 20+ monsters on the main continent; most of Nightfall's content is also for 20's, but at least it feels less rushed.

- High level dungeons restricted badly. Some of them aren't so bad. Sorrow's Furnace of chapter one (Guild Wars) only requires that you be level 20. The new one for Nightfall requires that you have completed the basic story mode of that game. In Factions, you either need to be in an Aliance that has taken control of the capital city of a specific region (which is every bit as hard as it sounds, probably harder) or get a lift from one of their members (and many of the Aliances that take those cities don't like to give "ferries"). The Fissure of Woe and the Underworld, elite areas that are available in all 3 chapters, require that your region have "Favor of the Gods", which is won in one of the PvP setups (that's right, PvP controls the access to the high level content for PvE) in addition to requiring that you be level 20, or "Ascended". This is a semi-large problem, as a large portion of the game is geared towards level 20 characters anyway. But, these are the greatest challenges that the games have to offer, and it is rather sad how exclusive they can be.

My pet peeve about high level "dungeons" is not their restrictions (the only one that really matters is for the two Factions elite missions, you can access the others pretty easily) but the population of twinkers that plays them. UW is almost only duo farmed, and Sorrow's Furnace is solely 5-man farming. I personally like to play, rather than farm (which is pretty useless in GW, but the grindmonkeys can't live without it), and it's annoying to not be able to find a proper group with a non-gimmick team build for a change.

- Some items are cost prohibitive in game. This is a rather small problem in most cases, but some class specific items and the odd non-class specific items have inflated prices. This is because the price on these items is based on a player created Supply And Demand at the NPC vendors. Can be annoying at times, but many of the exorbently expensive items are not needed or there are less popular alternatives.

The last part needs to be remarked. You don't need expensive items to be competitive, they only make you look cool. If you fight a warrior with a huge max damage Fellblade and you have a puny max damage shortsword, you're still gonna kick his ass if you play better.

Ka7raK · December 2006

Originally posted by VGJustice

- Not good for soloers. If you like to play the game solo, you're gonna get bored in about a week most likely. The game is designed at every level with a "team" mindset. If you just play alone all the time, you won't get the player interaction that the game was meant for.

I don't question any other thing you've said VGJustice but i don't think that. If you try to grab a party, you get abused by people saying you **** and stuff like that. If you play solo you'll get bored but, at least, you don't need to deal with those crappy kids playing the game.

VGJustice · December 2006

@ Akaraxle: You're correct about the learning curve being wildly different between the chapters, but I left that out for the sake of simplicity. But, I see now that I should have included what you said there.

I also agree with you about the super farmers. I've left Sorrow's Furnace for good because of them, there's just no one there that just wants to play. Pretty much the same thing for Tomb of the Primevil Kings, which I forgot to mention.

As for the last part, I had pretty much forgotten about the player generated market for junk items with rare skins. It should be something I of all people should remember, seeing as to how many times my Ranger with his Rinblade skinned Longsword and Crimson Carapace shield (both collector items, worth less than 5k) could outlast some W/Mo with a Fellblade and FoW armor (valued around 2 mil).

@ Ka7raK: My only intention was to state that if you play the game solo, it's a lot more boring than playing with people. You're right, it's no fun playing with jerks (which is why I'm OH so glad that Nightfall introduced the Heroes), but I find there's plenty more friendly people out there than jerks. I guess that depends on where you are and what you're doing.

I was only trying to point out that the game isn't so good for people that like to play "Solo Only". Like everyone in WoW from level 1-30+.

Lazarus71 · December 2006

Ok guys thank you very much for the well thought out responces. I like all the points you made and it has peeked my interest even more. I just don't want to plunk down 50 bucks for a game though and end up not enjoying it, so until I can find someone who is willing to float me a key I will probably not get it. You never no though!

If you guys know someone with a key they are willing to spare send it to kpowers71@adelphia.net and thanks again!

VGJustice · December 2006

Well, I don't know anyone personally (and I'm all out of mine), but if you head on over to Guild Wars Guru and check out their forum, I noticed they've got a topic for requesting buddy keys and the like. I'd give that a shot.

Lazarus71 · December 2006

Thanks justice I'll do that.

Ka7raK · December 2006

Originally posted by VGJustice

@ Ka7raK: My only intention was to state that if you play the game solo, it's a lot more boring than playing with people. You're right, it's no fun playing with jerks (which is why I'm OH so glad that Nightfall introduced the Heroes), but I find there's plenty more friendly people out there than jerks. I guess that depends on where you are and what you're doing.I was only trying to point out that the game isn't so good for people that like to play "Solo Only". Like everyone in WoW from level 1-30+.

I think that people react accordingly to how you deal with them. But there's a lot of guys that always answer crappy stuff. Everytime i asked something, either i got no reply or it was something like "ahah, u newb". I get that in EO as well but sometimes i'm luck and find someone really willing to help.

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