Welp, finally trying this :)

Elnator · April 2006

Following my usual policy with any game I refused to try Guild Wars (though I did play the betas) until a free trial came out. Well a free trial didn't hit shelves but a friend who got 2 copies for his birthday gave me one of them so I'm giving Guild Wars a spin. And since there's no monthly fee I'll probably keep it installed to play every now and then even if I decide it's not for me.

So far I like it. Very well done and my hat goes off to NCSoft for finally producing a game that I enjoy. Literally NONE of their other titles are worth the monthly fees they charge for them, imnsho.

Things I like so far:

I actually really like that the entire game world outside the cities is instanced. At first I thought I would hate this but it's actually nice. Makes the game feel a little more like Dungeons and Dragons. I'm not sure I like the fact that you can't interact with ANYONE not in your group once you go out there though but I'll save that for my 'dislikes' section.
Love the quests. They are pretty creative so far. Nice twists on some of the fedex type quests you are used to seeing and I really like that in some you have to carry an item that's so big you have to put it down to fight. (Apples mission in the starter levels comes to mind, as does the bee-hive mission).
Love that if you can't find/don't have time for a real group you can pick up NPC party members that will fight along with you. This is very cool and makes for a very casual friendly experience. Really love this feature.
Graphics.... not much more to be said. A TAD anime' for my typical taste but it's well done and the animation is much better than Lineage II. I can actually enjoy the graphics in GuildWars very much. They're better than WoW and EQ2 both. Not QUITE as 'photo-realistic' as I like but very well done and enjoyable (nobody runs around bent over like they have corn up their rear... god I hate that in L2)
Sounds... a lot of thought and effort went into the sound system. I do regret that they didn't bother to do voice-overs for the quest stories. That would have been very cool to have and since EQ2 did it for a true MMO there's no reason why GuildWars couldn't do it in a hybrid MMO/CRPG. Would have added that special touch it needs there. But the music, effects and ambient sounds are top notch.
Combat... Very interactive and fun. I am still getting the hang of it but they really did a good job of making combat very involving. It's not just a 'mash this button endlessly' like I thought it would be. Some skills really complement each other well and that makes for a very involved battle if you want to fight truely effectively.
Crafting... Not exactly the style I typically look for but I like that it's
1. Quick
2. Easy
3. Intuitive
4. Creative
5. Useful
6. Not tied to level
7. Anyone can do it

Things I dislike:

(C'mon now, you KNEW I'd have a gripe or two)

It's extremely, painfully, agonizingly annoying that if you get disconnected or just have to log out and are out in the wilderness that the game doesn't remember where you were if you get disconnected or have to log out. This REALLY annoys the hell out of me. It completely breaks immersion whenever it happens and the fact that I have to re-fight my way through hundreds of nasties to get back to where I was annoys me to no end. This single feature has driven me nuts repeatedly. It's easily the biggest of my gripes and if I ever just flat out quit Guild Wars this will be the biggest reason.
Lack of roleplaying. There isn't much roleplaying going on in the world, even though I specifically chose to make a 'roleplaying' character. Most people just run around grabbing things then heading off into the wilderness.
Community is pretty immature. This is probably due to the fact that there isn't a monthly fee so the 'under 21' population is probably high compared to other MMO's out there. Typically maturity doesn't really phase me but it is kind of comical to see how many of the players find it entertaining to run around 'starkers' in this game when playing a female toon. Apparently Elementalists are very popular for this.
Communications are a PAIN IN THE REAR! /Tell is particularly annoying. I like that you can make your name really unique if you want to but the fact that you have to type the players ENTIRE name then a comma in every message is AGONIZING. There's also no quick way of replying like in other MMO's. That or I just haven't figured it out. (I tried the pretty much standard practice of /r but that hasn't worked. I'll have to dig in the manual a bit more to see if there is a reply feature or not). This is a real pain. The other methods of communication seem fairly standard. My other gripe about communication is that once you leave the town the ONLY people you can talk to are group mates. I haven't joined a guild yet but I'm hoping that you can still talk/see guildchat while you're out in the wilderness or that's going to be another major gripe for me.

That about sums up my feelings so far. I'm enjoying Guild Wars a lot and am actually considering saving a dime or two and de-subscribing from my subscription based MMO's. I am looking forward to seeing what the expansion has to offer but probably will wait and get it in the summer rather than grabbing it right away. After all, I'm barely into the original game at this poing Grabbing the expansion would be a bit of overkill right now imo.

Anyway, nice game. I still say it's not really an MMO though It's an MMO/CRPG cross-breed. It does it well...

VGJustice · April 2006

I can at least help you with the whisper command, and there are some shortcuts for that.

Let's say someone whispers you (doesn't matter if you /tell'd them first or not). If you want to directly reply to that person, just click on their name in the message screen. This will bring up the Whisper Chat Tab (which you can also get to at any time by hitting " ), and their name will be automatically placed into the box. Then, all you have to do is hit Enter to send messages to that person, and it will save that name until you log off or put a different name in. So, that way, you can easily communicate with someone who's no where near you.

Also, there's a couple other useful features in the Whisper Tab. Anyone who is online and in you Friends list will be "bookmarked" in that name box. Hit " then Tab, and type a couple leters until your friend's name pops up. Hit Tab again, and type away. After that, you can talk to that friend directly just by hitting Enter so long as you're talking in the Whisper Chat tab.

As far as your other complaints go, I agree totally about kiddies treating the game like it's a single player game and that there's no one else but them. Warriors seem to be worst for that, but there's a lot of kids that couldn't care less about the other toons in their party. Bugs me to no end. But, once you find some good friends that actually know what the heck they're doing, or want to play the same way you do, then it's not so bad.

As for the field thing, yeah, the only thing it tracks is the last town you were in. But, the whole game is instanced. In this game, if you logged out while on the map, and logged back in to the same place, you'd probably get killed in about a second, unless you're pretty powerful for the area. Unlike in other MMO games, monsters don't respawn within a single instance. The whole thing is as-is until you reload it. So, you can (and I have) wipe out an entire map and make it your very own temporary home, as no more monsters will appear until you zone. Sorry if that bugs you, but that's the way the game was structured.

Well, at any rate, I wish you luck with Guild Wars. One last piece of advice before I'm done, though: in the Crystal Desert and the Southern Shiverpeaks, you can trade with NPC's for max damage equipment that has the best mods at maximum values. There is no need to spend unhealthy ammounts of money on weapons, unless you want something for its looks.

GaileGray · April 2006

Good feedback, on both sides of the equation, and we're always up for good feedback.

Welcome to the Guild Wars community. And yep, there is a big one, and yes, it's a lot more diverse than you might expect or be accustomed to. But dang, the best WC3 player I ever teamed with was 13 years old, so I'm more than willing to look at someone's worth as a team member and as a friend over his or her chronological age. (((And I've learned to just roll my eyes and gently ignore the whole n00d thing. *grin* )))

Hope you continued to enjoy the game, and that you'll give Factions a try, too. See you in Cantha!

exanimo · April 2006

about the imature comunity : it gets better as you advence in the game . and you will learn how to spot the good players.

ive read a person saying once in a fan site , one of the bigest problem in guildwars is , that there is no guide or anything that tells you the most important things.

the game is team based , i advise you to start geting in random groups , some may be crappy , but you will also find good people , make friends and join guilds , dont be afraid to join a guild and if it doesnt fit you just leave and try another one , its how it works. only after 8 months of playing i found a good guild becose i didnt try many , after i start trying this tecnique of get it and get out , i find a good one for me , i care more about friend ship then ladder

this game is mind bloging , its like team chess , combining players setups is where the brain fun lives. so if you only play with henchs when you start joining groups you will be a alien with no clue of what people are talking about.

it may lack of pve content , but its HUGE in skills combinations , and becose its team based ( i know im reapeting this over and over , but its really the most important thing in gw ) the possibilities of combinations are almost endless

mean while , my main advices are :

go slow , do all quests and exploring ( since you are a mmo veteran , im sure there is no other way for you )

meet people , join guilds , talk about skill builds

and to finish

welcome

Elnator · April 2006

Originally posted by GaileGray
Good feedback, on both sides of the equation, and we're always up for good feedback.

Welcome to the Guild Wars community. And yep, there is a big one, and yes, it's a lot more diverse than you might expect or be accustomed to. But dang, the best WC3 player I ever teamed with was 13 years old, so I'm more than willing to look at someone's worth as a team member and as a friend over his or her chronological age. (((And I've learned to just roll my eyes and gently ignore the whole n00d thing. *grin* )))

Hope you continued to enjoy the game, and that you'll give Factions a try, too. See you in Cantha!

Thanks Gaile

And I agree that age has little to do with maturity Some of the most 'mature' players are actually kids in their teens. The "under 21" comment is more a 'maturity' comment than a real 'age' comment for me. Been playing online games since before most folks who frequent this site had computers I'd bet. So I'm completely in agreement with the whole "age isn't really an indicator" thing Using "age", however, does get the point across rather nicely. Doncha think

Personally I'd rather group with a mature 13 year old kid than an immature control freak who's 50. (and yes, there really are some out there).

Thanks for the warm welcome .

If I can give any 1 piece of feedback to the devs of Guild Wars it would be:

Put out a 14 day trial. You will like the results. I know a LOT of people who aren't willing to shuck out $50 to try a game anymore. I'm one of them. I won't even buy single player games sight unseen anymore. Too many games today are total crap. It's just not worth spending $50 on a game that is probably going to wind up being a coaster or frisbee... or... my favorite: Skeet Targets

AshMcMahon · April 2006

This really is a great game. Doesn't take to long to get to level 20. Great storyline and exciting pvp, easy to get the hang of.

Only problem I have is with all the abreiviations, I can't remember them all :P

Aseenus · April 2006

the community is immature? name one gam that doesnt havea immature community and ill quit all games for it :P

zeedaam · April 2006

Originally posted by canadian19
And meanwhile, the days are passing agonizingly slow while I wait for Factions... :P

same here!

hadz · April 2006

Hehe...how come Elnator got a comment from Gaile when I've been saying identical things in every thread for 3 months j/k

Welcome to the GW community Elnator, the game actually gets better and better as you progress, and good to see a GW rep on the boards! I will refrain from kissing too much butt

CplPunish · April 2006

LoL

I was thinking about DLing this game and playing it.

Thanks guys. How is the amount of armors and equipment you can get? Is there allot of variations?

VGJustice · April 2006

For armor, you start with a VERY limited selection of about 3. And that's only after you've played for a bit. Near the end of the game, you'll have access to about 11 different suits of armor with all different looks, not to mention dye combinations. This will be the major thing to make your character look different from everyone else, as the facial selections are a bit limited.

As for weapons, there are, by my rough guess, 20 different skins and types for each of the weapons. So, with a little work, you can have a unique looking character with unique weapons.

This, of course, does not include the mass of stuff that's going to be added in Factions, including new armors for all of the current classes.

exanimo · April 2006

i will kiss butt big time

I LOVE YOU GAILE

Elnator · April 2006

Originally posted by Aseenus
the community is immature? name one gam that doesnt havea immature community and ill quit all games for it :P

Let me put it this way. Other than WoW, which has a very comparable community. Every other MMORPG I have ever played has had a more *overall* mature community than Guild Wars. I didn't say it's a BAD community. Just a bit more immature than most.

No need to get defensive about it. I'm not saying YOU (or anyone else in particular) is 'immature'. I'm saying that the community, on average, is a bit more frivolous and carefree than in other MMO's I have played.

And if you'd like to see a list check my profile... there's a *partial* list of the various MMO's I have played there.

Elnator · April 2006

Originally posted by hadz

Hehe...how come Elnator got a comment from Gaile when I've been saying identical things in every thread for 3 months j/k
Welcome to the GW community Elnator, the game actually gets better and better as you progress, and good to see a GW rep on the boards! I will refrain from kissing too much butt

Dunno

I was surprised to see a community rep from Guild Wars on here. Though DAOC has one who posts here as well. It may be a growing trend. There are one or two other games in the forums here that have reps from those games posting in them.

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Welp, finally trying this :)

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