Is it casual friendly ?

Snikes

 

I bought the original GW a couple of weeks after its release. I was looking for an MMO, I played a couple of weeks then I switched to Eve Online. Because of IRL issues I'm gonna have very little time to play online games and I was wondering if GW could be a good choice for the casual gamer I'm gonna be.

What's the population ? Should I buy a special extension to be on the most populated servers ? which one ?

Is it better to buy all the GW expansions to have a good game experience ?

Will I be able to PvE, PvP solo ? Will I have to be in a guild ?

Finally, GW is getting old now. Does it worth the shot to get into it or is it mostly now a veteran only game (ie DAOC ) ?

 

 

 

 

 

Rayana

Originally posted by Snikes


 
I bought the original GW a couple of weeks after its release. I was looking for an MMO, I played a couple of weeks then I switched to Eve Online. Because of IRL issues I'm gonna have very little time to play online games and I was wondering if GW could be a good choice for the casual gamer I'm gonna be.
What's the population ? Should I buy a special extension to be on the most populated servers ? which one ?
Is it better to buy all the GW expansions to have a good game experience ?
Will I be able to PvE, PvP solo ? Will I have to be in a guild ?
Finally, GW is getting old now. Does it worth the shot to get into it or is it mostly now a veteran only game (ie DAOC ) ?

If there's any time to get back in, population wise, it's in the next upcoming weeks. When a new expansion is released, it tends to be extremely busy.

Populated servers: There aren't any 'servers' in this game, at least not what most people would define as 'servers'. There are areas however, that are more populated than others. Usually the latest area (read: latest extension) is the busiest. I take it you have the orignal GW, which is often referred to as 'Prophecies'. GW: Factions came out in May 2006. GW: Nightfall came out in October 2006. All of those are standalone games (campaigns), which can be linked to each other if you add the game code to your existing account. Meaning that you can travel from and to these areas with characters from other campaigns (you get a small quest with your character to go there, and once you have finished the quest, you can zip back and forth between the campaigns through map travel). Nightfall is the latest one and is the busiest.

However, in a few weeks, a real expansion comes out: Eye of the North. For this one, you need at least one of the campaigns to play it. I reckon that EotN will be very busy once it goes live.

As for getting all the game expansions: you don't need them all for the best game experience, unless you want to get into high end PvP. If you like the game, than you might be wanting all of them, but it isn't needed at all.

You can both PvE and PvP solo. For PvE, you can make use of henchman to play through the game, or, when you have a daring nature, join a Pickup Group. Both Nightfall and Eye of the North add so called 'Heroes' to the game. These are customizable henchman that you own for yourself. Depending on how well you manage your skills, they can be a LOT better than the henchmen you hire in town. You can also PvP solo. The standard PvP modes offer RA (Random Arena), TA (Team Arena) and HA (Hero's Ascent). You will need a PuG to play TA and HA, but you can jump into RA anytime. For the last standard mode you will need a guild: GvG, which is guild versus guild. Nightfall adds Hero Battles (you take 3 of your Heroes into the arena and battle it out against another player that has 3 Heroes), so that's solo as well. Factions adds Alliance Battles (3 groups of 4 against 3 groups of 4). You will need a PuG for that. To sum it up: you don't need a guild at all. You can solo all the way through the game if you wish to. A good guild can make things infinitely more fun though.

Guildwars is getting old, but it's by no means a veteran game. Because the game is casual, the level cap is low, and uebergear doesn't exist, you don't have any extreme hurdles to take to get things going.

Would I suggest is: log into your existing account and take a look around in Prophecies. Play a bit. Then decide whether you want Eye of the North (latest one that is coming out soon, so you can ride on the wave of returning players) or you want to try out Factions or Nightfall, or whether you are satisfied with Prophecies for now.

8hammer8

Wow Rayana...I was just gonna suggest he look at the sticky thread at the top of the forum as most people should before posting a question such as this.

That was kind of you to reply in full.

Shadowziel

not really a good comminuty or guilds.

gamerman98

well ive been playing well beyond launch of the first GW and i can say its still a great game for casual gamers or otherwise. i had no problems with the game as it is now...its even more fun than it was when it came out

leipuri

In short GW is very casual friendly and you can solo both PvP and PvE.

devilsin

Stuff like general PVE and casual PVE(random arenas, alliance battles) are all casual friendly. However, if you want to actually get into serious PVP (stuff like Heroes Ascent, Guild vs Guild) then that requires quite a bit more time and patience.

But overall, yes I think you will find that there are still many new players in this game and you will find stuff to do even if you only play like a few hours a week.

Snikes

I missed the sticky, shame on me. I'm gonna whip my ass until I bleed. 

Snikes

Thanks Rayana for this great reply.

I'm gonna log into the game with my old account as you suggested.