Guild Wars... how is it?

[Anime Kidd]

I've gotten a bit bored with NWN lately and I have been looking at both Battlefield 2 and Guild Wars for a new venture. Now I know how BF2 is (nice demo), but I don't know much of Guild Wars. To those who have it, how fun is it? What is the good and bad about it? How are the required computer specs? Could an AMD 2400+ with 512 ram and a Radeon 9600XT handle it pretty good? What other things can you tell me that I haen't thought of?

 

[Goodsport]

It's an absolutely awesome game on many levels! I kid you not!

The level of detail in the graphics, sound and story is absolutely amazing, the gameplay is easy to pick up, and the instancing outside of cities/towns/outposts eliminates much of the problems inherent in MMORPG's (though Guild Wars isn't technically an MMORPG).

This game certainly has something for everyone. If you're only interested in the PvP, there are arenas for that. If you're more interested in the PvE (like me), you can still play it many ways: you can simply go out and kill enemy NPC's, or you can complete the many quests that refreshingly aren't all "kill someone/deliver something" type quests and that do flesh out the story and the world more. When you're ready, you can advance the overall story by completing particular missions in order - in this regard, it is (as a friend described the game) "a single-player game with an online twist". I would even favorably compare it to many single-player and multiplayer RPG's on the market today (and considering it's about the same price - NO MONTHLY FEES - why the heck wouldn't I? ), one that updates online automatically.

When none of your friends are online, you can pick up NPC henchmen from cities/towns/outposts to help you on quests and missions. While usually not as strong as good player-characters, they're competent enough.

Of course, there's trading and other activities in the cities/towns/outposts. Though players don't craft items, NPC's can be paid to do so. You can also join Guilds with whom you can battle other Guilds in the arenas, chill with them at the Guild Hall (once the Guild leader buys one), and/or go on quests/missions together.

The world of Tyria is absolutely vast, with different environments clearly evident from one part of the world to the next. And it's not a resource-hog at all on the computer (unlike Battlefield 2, another game I've been otherwise enjoying immensely lately).

And most importantly, the game has perhaps the most beautiful female characters I've ever seen in a videogame.

I hope that helped!


-G

 

[Anime Kidd]

That sounds real good. But how is it at low levels? Most games are really boring in the begining, fighting sewer rats or rabid squirrels, etc.

Also the "no monthly fees" is also a huge factor.

 

[Goodsport]

That sounds real good. But how is it at low levels? Most games are really boring in the begining, fighting sewer rats or rabid squirrels, etc.

The game actually has a relatively short beginning part, and the leveling up is almost primarily through quests. I'm not sure if I can say much more than that without revealing part of the story, but you definitely reach a high enough level to start the next stage of the game before you know it.

Also the "no monthly fees" is also a huge factor.

As well as the beautiful female characters you meet along the way.


-G

 

[trancejeremy]

I got Guild Wars about a month ago. It was fun at first, but got real old real fast.

First off, the PvP is not for the casual gamer. Unless you play the game a lot (specifically PvP) and know how to exploit the engine/system, you will lose. And lose quickly.

Secondly, the PvE (Player vs. Enviroment, or the traditional RPG part) is extremely linear.

Basically, you have to do the game in missions. Sort of like levels in an FPS or platformer (though no jumping, thankfully). Most of the missions are extremely linear and consist of moving a few feet, killing enemies, and repeating 30-40 times.

There are quests, but they are grouped around the mission areas. That is, once you finish all the quests in your given area, you have to do the mission to advance. And most the ones I've found are either deliver something, or go to place x, or kill y. (Which probably can't be helped, I guess).

That said, you can skip missions. By paying a higher level character to move you from one mission area to another.

And even though I got tired of it, I still played it for 100 hours or so (and still play it occasionally). So it's definitely worth the money.

Also, it should run great on your computer. I have a AMD 3400 and the world's worst video card, and the graphics are the best I've seen. Amazing. And the frame rate is great. The game is supposed to be optimized for ATI cards, too, so you should have an edge.

 

[Anime Kidd]

Alright sounds like it's Guild Wars over BF2 (guess the demo will satisfy me for the moment). Now I just got to find the thing. :\

 

[Goodsport]

Alright sounds like it's Guild Wars over BF2 (guess the demo will satisfy me for the moment). Now I just got to find the thing. :\

You should also get BF2 at some point as well, as that's also an awesome game. But definitely get Guild Wars.


Two more things in GW's favor:

1) Though you need to make your way to each city/town/outpost on foot, once you get there it'll appear on your world map. From that point on, you can simply click on any city/town/outpost you've already reached and you'll appear there automatically.

2) The game's musical score was composed by acclaimed game-composer Jeremy Soule. The Collector's Edition of the game even has a separate soundtrack CD included.


-G

 

[trancejeremy]

Another thing that I hate about GW, is that it's very hard to find people to do missions/quests with.

Right now, I was playing GW trying to do a mission so I can get to another continent. But after 30 minutes of looking for a group to do with it, no luck.

(I tried it once with the AI henchmen, but they simply abadoned me about halfway into the mission for reasons unknown, so apparently it can't be done with them. Grrrr - that's the trouble with online games - the other people....)

 

[Goodsport]

Another thing that I hate about GW, is that it's very hard to find people to do missions/quests with.

Right now, I was playing GW trying to do a mission so I can get to another continent. But after 30 minutes of looking for a group to do with it, no luck.

If you can get into a good guild, you'll usually have at least some players online to do missions/quests with.

I suppose without being in a guild, the success rate of finding other players to team up with varies. In those cases, I found the AI henchmen to be adequate. Speaking of AI henchmen...

(I tried it once with the AI henchmen, but they simply abadoned me about halfway into the mission for reasons unknown, so apparently it can't be done with them. Grrrr - that's the trouble with online games - the other people....)

Did that happen to you recently?

That never happened to me. However, I got the game sometime after it was released (i.e. not immediately as it hit stores), and from what I've read on the game's various forums, the AI henchmen abandoning was apparently an early bug that was eventually fixed in one of the later updates.


-G

 

[Goodsport]

And most the ones I've found are either deliver something, or go to place x, or kill y. (Which probably can't be helped, I guess).

There are actually many quests that don't exactly fall into those categories (though "go to place x" is unavoidable in most cases).

One example is the Family Ties quest in the Old Ascalon area. Though the only reward is 500 experience points, it's one of the more poignant quests I've played in any game of this type (MMORPG or otherwise), particularly when

Spoiler

the ghosts of Barris and Tamra Lefey are reunited with their son and his aunt Elise (both of whom survived the Searing) just outside of Ascalon City

.

Those type of quests may be a bit harder to find in the game, but they're definitely there.


-G