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BEFORE You Buy GW, Consider These Things....
Tilden
Member Posts: 94
Here is a comprehensive rundown of the game. There is a lot of hype and myth about it and much left unsaid. Here's the rundown:
"Is it really an MMO?" - Yes, despite what bitter people say about it. There's so many people playing that when you're in the cities, you can sometimes choose from thirty or more instances where 50-100 players are gathered. People talk, scam, joke, argue, barter, trade, buy, sell, advertise for missions and groups, and ask for help. However, outside of town, you will ONLY see whoever is in your group. It works well and I don't miss the EQ overloaded-zone crap that GW has eliminated.
"Can the game be soloed?" - Technically, no, BUT. There is one forced grouping mission where the game puts you into a group for a cooperative storyline mission and 2-minute PvP encounter. It's not bad, and lasts maybe 15 minutes, total. After you reach the post-searing Ascalon, you can "Leave Group" without anyone complaining. Everyone does it. After that quest, you'll never have to group again, if you don't want to. BUT, the quests are almost impossible to do alone. Fortunately, the game provides you with NPC henchmen who will join you for free and help you out. They're not as smart as good players, but they're not bad, and you can do almost the entire game just using NPC henchmen.
"Is GW all about PvP?" - Not really. It's PvP focus is what the title implies; guild versus guild, or group vs group. There is no single PvP. There is no ganking, dueling, or ANY PvP outside of the group-vs-group Arenas. Hopefully, they will release some 1-on-1 arenas in the future. Rumor says they will.
"If GW is not all about PvP, then what is it?" GW is a game that leads you to group-vs-group PvP play. But you don't have to PvP to play this game. In the beginning, you have an option to start a role-play character or an automatic level 20 PvP character. The roleplay character leads you from level 1 through level 20 and involves so many quests that even a total quest-junkie will find him/herself skipping quests along the way.
COMMENTARY
Customization - You can only play human. You have several several classes to choose from. The face customization is varied, but some models lack "older" faces. Certain female classes can ONLY look like a 9-year-old anime chick. Some classes/genders allow white hair, some don't, etc. There are no color selections, other than skin color. Clothes and armor get dyed in-game. The game is designed so that your class is easily recognizable at a glance. Thus, there are few armor variations. Critique: Need more hair choices! Crap, what an awful selection on some of the classes!
User-Interface (UI) - This was one of the easiest UIs I have ever played with. I didn't read the manual and I was instantly moving around and interacting. The tutorial pop-ups help, too. Critique: Need an auto-attack key! Trying to click a moving mob name is as frustrating as plucking nose hairs. SH!7! EDIT: SPACEBAR IS AUTO-ATTACK TARGET
Skills - Each class can choose from at least 3 different styles of ability sets. Some get 4 and all get some minor primaries that you can amuse yourself for hours with in trying to figure out what "flavor" you want your class to be. Some skills require Stamina/Energy to use, some don't, some require "combat adrenaline," some are freebies. Whole strategies go into the load-out of skills. You might have 45 skills, but you only get to load 8 of them, and only in cities.
Combat - Easy, usually fast, and the game increases the mob-abilities as you progress. Typical and serviceable. Combat skills are so varied with so many different skill combos that I don't even want to try imagining them.
Role-Play - Two different ways of looking at this. People only RP if they want to. In most games, they don't. In GW, they act like they do in other games, so for RP purposes, GW is like any other game. As to the RP version of playing this game, GW is under-rated. This US$50 game is as good as any other single-player RP game. The quests and gameplay are worth the $50 as a 1-player stand-alone RP game. Some idiots claim they make level 20 in two days. It ain't possible, not even playing a straight 2 days with no sleep. This game is good for a week of the hardcore grinder that plays 8-10 hours per day. Casual players will be kept busy for weeks. With the online play being FREE, the game is well worth the $50 just for the storyline. Critique: break-dancing characters ruin the immersion. It's stupid and should be removed.
Equipment - All kinds of equipment is looted from mobs. Sure, you wonder where a small mob hides a huge 2-handed hammer, but almost every game is like that. Mobs drop weapons and auxillary items. They do not drop armor. Armor must be bought at an armor vendor. Alternatively, armor can be acquired by trading quest pieces at certain NPC "collectors." There is normal equipment, there is blue (magical) equipment, there is "purple" (special) equipment, and there is "yellow" (elite - or more special) equipment. Think Diablo2, and you'll have the concept. Critique: Weapon choices are very limited. Warriors have no 2-handed sword, no 1-handed hammer, and no 2-handed axe. I understand the weapon focus as to why, but the different handed-versions can be worked into the game by varying the damage ranges.
Crafting - There is none, period. At least, not the way we all are familiar with. You can "salvage" certain materials and get components. You can take those components to an NPC crafter who will take those and some coin to produce something for you - a weapon or an armor piece. You can salvage magical properties from a magical piece and apply the result to one of your existing armor pieces or weapons. But if you wear it, you can never sell it to another person for use - only to an NPC vendor. You could conceivably turn in quest items for armor that you don't wear and resell it to others, or even use the NPC crafter to create extra armor to resell, but not many people do it when they can craft it themselves.
Player Economy - Hey, us players will make an economy out of almost anything. It exists in GW and works pretty good. You can sell quest components for money that your class doesn't need. There is a thriving market for dyes that is supported by the NPC vendors that use a wonderful supply/demand system that keeps the prices fluctuating. You can always buy dyes from the vendor using their supply/demand system, but players give you better deals because the NPC vendor gives you far less when buying.
Quests - Way too damn many. This game isn't hyped for quests, either. The quests and cutscenes and storyline are worth the $50. GW has one of the most varied quest-bases I have seen. In other words, the quests just aren't "go get this" or "kill 25 dung beetles." Quests fall into these categories: escort, kill, find, talk to, cooperate, collect, destroy, and multi-part versions of the preceding. Some are timed, but very few. I've had to try "Little Thom's Corpse" 7 times this last character build before I got there in time to save him. Quests will take you all the way to level 20. Critique: I really hated chasing the stupid pig when thousands of my countrymen were dying. Chase your own damn pig.
Multi-Classing - This game promotes dual-classing. Part of the main quest urges you to take a 2nd class. Hint: If you're a warrior, avoid the cliche warrior/Monk combo. There's a zillion of them running around. Next popular and almost as cliche is the "I-wanna-be-Legolas" Ranger/Elementalist.
Raids - Wrong game. Everquest charges you monthly and is above GW on the forum listing.
Uber-Posturing - Not in this game. You can't see helmets or weapons in town, so you never know how cool someone looks apart from their armor. Sorry, uber-dudes, no wow-ing the kiddies, here.
Immaturity - know-it-all 14 year olds seem to be ubiquitous across the gaming spectrum. But we were all 14, once. Seems to be less of them in GW, actually. Most must be playing WoW.
Ease of Grouping - Super easy, although many seem to claim that finding groups is hard. I get so many invites....
Names - This is the only game I know of where the use of the word "the" is not only allowed, but suggested. I've seen some great names, and some really stupid ones. "The Tainted Lady" is a good one, but "Bloody Maxipad" is not. There are no numbers, so you 14-year-olds can't do NeoMatrixLegolas666. Sorry, suck it.
Guilds - Making a guild costs 100gold. That's peanuts when you start the game, and you can form one by yourself in the tutorial. Getting a guild cape costs 2000gold (auto converted to 2plat) and is so varied that the combos are amazing. Capes can be varied in the selcetion of colors for 3 areas, shape, and symbol selection. Critique: you only see the abbreviation of the guild name. For example, my guild is Iron Nightmares, but the only indication you see is the "IN" after our names. No one would know the full name unless they asked. Needs to be some info when you click on a character that shows the full name.
Lag - Almost none, but I have a gig of ram and an Nvidia 6800 on cable-modem. In the cities, there can be some stutter when you turn a corner into a populated area. Very few freezes or crashes. I've had two, I think, in 3 weeks.
Customer Service - None. But I haven't seen the need for any, so far.
Bugs - Minor ones, here and there, but none that ruin the game. For example, sometimes your NPC henchmen get stuck on a twig. Stupid, but not serious.
Graphics - Not top-of-the-line, but very nice. Character graphics are the best, and environmental graphics are just okay. Most games are reverse. GW cuts alot of the environmental lag and gives you stunning characters. I like that better.
NO MONTHLY FEE. Many people buy a stand-alone game and don't like it. They've wasted their $50. But in GW, if you don't like it, you can drop it and pick it up without ever having to worry about "losing" your $50, or having to "pay" the monthly fee to keep your account. Once you've bought GW, it's yours, free, and you never have to worry about your account being closed or losing your characters. Expansions are planned in the future. Those will be offered at a cost, but the plans are that each expansion will be at least the size of the original game. If you don't want the expansion, you don't have to buy it, and neither are you forced to.
Opinion: worth the $50, considering the free monthly play.
Games:
WAR, LotRO, AO, GW, EQ, EQ2, AC, AC2, Vanguard, CoH, EVE, HZs, SO, MxO, SWG, DAoC, WoW, WWIIOL
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There's a world behind the world, Professor Robinson. Lie once, cheat twice and everything becomes clear. Do not mistake my deception for a character flaw. It is philosophical choice, a profound understanding of the universe. It is a way of life. - Doctor Smith
Comments
Good post, all in all.
The Obsidian Kings
I can auto-target anything, yes. But unless I use a combat skill, there is no attack key. When all your attack skills loaded are adrenaline-based, you're out of luck and limited to click-attacking.
I love the setting in post searing Ascalon. Lots of ruins and smoking rubble. The missions have some really nice environmental graphics. But it's not top-of-the-line. Let me say it another way - I think the graphics are satisfying, not a disappointment.
Games:
WAR, LotRO, AO, GW, EQ, EQ2, AC, AC2, Vanguard, CoH, EVE, HZs, SO, MxO, SWG, DAoC, WoW, WWIIOL
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There's a world behind the world, Professor Robinson. Lie once, cheat twice and everything becomes clear. Do not mistake my deception for a character flaw. It is philosophical choice, a profound understanding of the universe. It is a way of life. - Doctor Smith
The Obsidian Kings
Games:
WAR, LotRO, AO, GW, EQ, EQ2, AC, AC2, Vanguard, CoH, EVE, HZs, SO, MxO, SWG, DAoC, WoW, WWIIOL
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There's a world behind the world, Professor Robinson. Lie once, cheat twice and everything becomes clear. Do not mistake my deception for a character flaw. It is philosophical choice, a profound understanding of the universe. It is a way of life. - Doctor Smith
But you can choose between 5-6 colors when you create your character??? You have 10-15 hair choices, and about 5-6 colors to choose between from. I'd say they need some other hair styles, because some of them are ridiculous.
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Yep. You'll have a good half dozen skin color choices that are all human shades - no dark elves here! Sorry, Drizzzt-clones.
You'll also get at least a half dozen hair color choices.
But yes, the hair choices are horrendous. Some just look like anal hair. What's worse is that some people pick them.
Games:
WAR, LotRO, AO, GW, EQ, EQ2, AC, AC2, Vanguard, CoH, EVE, HZs, SO, MxO, SWG, DAoC, WoW, WWIIOL
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There's a world behind the world, Professor Robinson. Lie once, cheat twice and everything becomes clear. Do not mistake my deception for a character flaw. It is philosophical choice, a profound understanding of the universe. It is a way of life. - Doctor Smith
before I stick my foot up your butt,consider these things.GW sucks...I own it...the areas are instanced...and the whole by yourself unless in a group sucks....only things good...area design and graphics.If your going to get an MMORPG..pay for it monthly cuz their usually better that way.Get Lineage II.not the best but has big and good community...has the most users ever...over 2 mill i think.but hey...before i forget*sticks foot up your butt*
Lineage 2? BAHAHAHAHAHA
I think you missed mine and got your own butt, instead.
Lineage 2 has millions of users, but that doesn't make the game better. It's a Korean game and those Koreans approach MMOGs as some kind of cultural neurosis. Too many of my fellow Americans have played that into the higher levels and reported a hopelessly horrible game. No thanks - ain't going to waste my money. The testimonials are enough.
"...and the whole by yourself unless in a group sucks"
Ahem.... uhh.... it's like that in any game you play, you know... <snicker>
Games:
WAR, LotRO, AO, GW, EQ, EQ2, AC, AC2, Vanguard, CoH, EVE, HZs, SO, MxO, SWG, DAoC, WoW, WWIIOL
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There's a world behind the world, Professor Robinson. Lie once, cheat twice and everything becomes clear. Do not mistake my deception for a character flaw. It is philosophical choice, a profound understanding of the universe. It is a way of life. - Doctor Smith
Most of the review was pretty accurate except for these things IMHO
There is none that I have seen. Since most contact is in towns, most are looking for parties, selling items, or offering 'rushing services' (getting people through to high level cities so they can get top grade armor)Player Economy is not good at all. Although you can get a plethora of items everytime you kill mobs, the only items that sell are Runes, Dye, and Weapon upgrades everything else it too easy to get on your own. Since there is no crafting there is no dependancy on gathering. NO AUCTION HOUSE
Actually there is quite a bit. Since a level 8 can wear level 20 armor...well you can imagine
PvP is worse
sorry double post
Consider this before posting: punctuation and grammar
And also backing up your statement. I'm thinking about the first 2 lines.
The only thing you say it it sucks and not why it sucks. That sucks because they people won't real insight on what you mean. See thats easy.
Thank you.
And please stop bashing GW(I seriously doubt you own it) and then move back to your own boards.
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Yes, I really want such a feature that enables us to see whole guild name. Perhaps a small detail, yet it shouldn't need hard effort to add. It can be implemented by left-clicking on the character's healt bar at the top of your screen for example.
Great Post
...
Let's take this one at a time, and no, I'm not "bitter" about anything. Surprise, people can actually disagree with your take on things without being "bitter".
1. "Is it really an MMO?". The answer is both yes and no. It's an MMO in the cities ONLY, because literally everywhere else is TOTALLY INSTANCED. There isn't a value to playing online with thousands of others when you are flatly guaranteed to never run into ANY ONE else except in the towns. So, it is, technically, beacuse folks have to log in online only to play, but it isn't in terms of the value (the social value) of MMORPG since the bulk of the game is spent in instanced areas where no one else is.
2. Can the game be soloed? Agreed on all comments.
3. Is GW all about PvP? It is, without a doubt, and even the developers have stated that their primary focus was on Player-versus-Player. You only PvP in the arenas -- but the design of the game is principally to draw people into the arenas for a lot of nice, bash-each-other fun. And in case you don't want to be bothered with Roleplaying, you can just step right into the arena and be auto-levelled to the max and get rocking.
4. I love this. In #3, you say it isn't PvP, really... and then in your answer to #4, you state, and I quote, that "Gw is a game that leads you to group-vs-group PVP". Er, um, if it isn't PvP, per your #3 answer, how can your #4 answer make sense, where you state that it not only includes PvP but that it is designed to "lead you to group-vs-group PvP"???
5. Customization is apalling. Get used to looking like everyone else.
6. GUI. GUI was easy to use, save for the critique you mention. Then again, almost all the games coming out are intuitive in their interfaces (WoW, EQ2, etc.). There's little nowadays that don't default to a basic predefined pattern that's easily recognizeable.
Aagh, that's enough. You need to grow up and not assume that, because someone disagrees with you or didn't like what you liked, that they're "bitter", as you label them. Also, consistency within your own analysis would help any points you're trying to make.
Before you review GW, Consider knowing the game first.
I guess you can't tell the difference between one-on-one dueling and group-vs-group PvP or you wouldn't be claiming I'm inconsistent.
"Before you review GW, Consider knowing the game first."
Unless that's a badly misdirected response to Spydermr2, I think it should be obvious that I didn't review this game blind. I'm in the game and know it well.
Games:
WAR, LotRO, AO, GW, EQ, EQ2, AC, AC2, Vanguard, CoH, EVE, HZs, SO, MxO, SWG, DAoC, WoW, WWIIOL
--------------------------------------
There's a world behind the world, Professor Robinson. Lie once, cheat twice and everything becomes clear. Do not mistake my deception for a character flaw. It is philosophical choice, a profound understanding of the universe. It is a way of life. - Doctor Smith
That was just a general statement. But it was mostly directed at spyder.
Yarr dude! I got scammed by the GM's LOL, that tells us all how good the game really is.
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
Oh... a constructive thread.... except for the 'this game sux... mine is better...'
we'll be soon allowed to talk about gw without flaming posts
Perhaps you would like to comment on where he is mistaken then?
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
Perhaps you would like to comment on where he is mistaken then?
I read through all the posts and realized a few people have already corrected him on some things.
Don't take what I originally said as a flame, I just think you should be 100% sure on stuff before saying it, when reviewing a game.
Gee, thanks for that piece of information
)
I really wonderd if I should get GW. Now I know. As soon as I have the time, I'll go rob the store, legally
(I have this pass that gives me a big price cut
World of Warcraft is not a crime. Inflicting your stupidity on humanity is!
Player Economy is not good at all. Although you can get a plethora of items everytime you kill mobs, the only items that sell are Runes, Dye, and Weapon upgrades everything else it too easy to get on your own. Since there is no crafting there is no dependancy on gathering. NO AUCTION HOUSE
Actually there is quite a bit. Since a level 8 can wear level 20 armor...well you can imagine
PvP is worse
Saw this a bit too late. Yes a level 8 can say wear a shield that requires lvl. 13 tactics. He gets a penalty from that, which virtually renders the weapon useless.
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Customer Service: I've had one short series of conversations with customer service through email regarding someone using an inappropriate name. (Something Genitalia Based.) It went well, although one of their automated messages confused me a bit. I asked about it and got a very rapid reply with clarification. They did not tell me what happened to the player because of privacy concerns, but to be honest, I'm not worried about that. Besides, the user agreement makes it pretty clear, character probably got banned until deleted or name changed to something acceptable. Yes, you can now change names of banned characters.
All in all, it was a faster and better response than I've gotten from most games, including PSO, EQ, AC, RQ, FL, E&B, and Horizons, among others.
Lost my mind, now trying to lose yours...
"BUT, the quests are almost impossible to do alone."
This is just not true. You can easily get to 20 on your own.
Also, GW graphics are better then most, and the ones that do beat it are horrible anyways.
Ok... let's stop bashing Tilden. It was a great post, and I would have liked something like this when I considering buying GW(not that it matters now, since it love it
)
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