Anyone considering Guild Wars?

[Sir Rubi]

I've been hearing some yummy things about it, aside from no monthly online fees.

Here's a teaser for it
http://www.designsbyeve.com/guildwars/teasers/index.html

ripped from Norrath's Studio. Opinions?

[EricStratton]

I played in the beta a bit. I was fun but I found myself tiring of it quickly. I felt it was a Diablo-style twitch fest. I do hope my impression was wrong, tho, cuz I'm all about no monthly fees. :mrgreen:

[Sir Rubi]

OOo, did more research at their site...


Game Details

What kind of game is Guild Wars?

Guild Wars is a global online roleplaying game. Players can engage in cooperative group combat, in single player adventures, or in large head-to-head guild battles. Guild Wars is a mission-based game set in a stunning 3D fantasy world that offers excellent support for guilds. Because the team that is developing Guild Wars has had experience creating successful online game series such as Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo, the members are familiar with the complex issues surrounding online games, and are creating a game that is both easy to learn and compelling to play long term, and yet does not require players to spend hundreds of hours slogging through the preparation just to get to the fun bits.Is Guild Wars an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game)?

Guild Wars has some similarities to existing MMORPGs, but it also has some key differences. Like existing MMOs, Guild Wars is played entirely online in a secure hosted environment. Thousands of players inhabit the same virtual world. Players can meet new friends in gathering places like towns and outposts where they form parties and go questing with them. Unlike many MMOs, when players form a party and embark upon a quest in Guild Wars, they get their own private copy of the area where the quest takes place. This design eliminates some of the frustrating gameplay elements commonly associated with MMOs, such as spawn camping, kill stealing, and lines to complete a quest. Guild Wars takes place in a large virtual world made up of many different zones, and players can walk from one end of the world to the other. In Guild Wars much of the tedium of traveling through the world has been eliminated. Players can instantly return to any safe area (town or outpost) that they have previously visited just by clicking on it in the world overview map.

Rather than labeling Guild Wars an MMORPG, we prefer to call it a CORPG (Competitive Online Role-Playing Game). Guild Wars was designed from the ground up to create the best possible competitive role-playing experience. Success in Guild Wars is always the result of player skill, not time spent playing or the size of one's guild. As characters progress, they acquire a diverse set of skills and items, enabling them to use new strategies in combat. Players can do battle in open arenas or compete in guild-vs-guild warfare or the international tournament. Engaging in combat is always the player's choice, however; there is no player-killing in cooperative areas of the world.

Finally, unlike existing MMOs, all characters in Guild Wars inhabit the same virtual world -- they are not divided onto different servers or shards -- so players can always team up with or compete against any other player in the world.

Can my character be killed by other players?

While Guild Wars has player vs. player combat, you are in control. You can choose to join in competitive missions and receive acclaim for winning against other gamers, or you can reap the rewards of solo adventures or cooperative team missions with an entirely different set of challenges.Will the game have guild support? Will there be ladders and tournaments?

Guild Wars, as evidenced by its name, will have broad support for game guilds, including integrated support for worldwide tournaments and ladders, the ability for a guild to own and operate a guildhall, private guild forums, and more. You can find the current Guild Wars Ladder on this link (http://ladder.guildwars.com/).Do you have to be in a guild to play Guild Wars?

Membership in a guild is not required to play Guild Wars. Although there are many positive aspects to belonging to a guild, players will have access to a wide variety of solo adventuring possibilities as well as team cooperative and competitive missions that will ensure you of many of those gaming sessions that run into the wee hours, no matter your playing style. Missions will come in all sizes and difficulties and can be joined individually, as part of a one-time team or as a member of a full-fledged guild.Is Guild Wars always played online?

Yes. Guild Wars is designed from the ground up to be an online game. This allows maximum security to prevent cheating by other players, so your gaming experience will not be diminished by others. Perhaps most importantly, our online network allows us to stream content to your computer, so you will always have the most current version of the game, and will play in a world that can change on a continuous basis.

Technical & Support

Is there a Support Function for Guild Wars?

If you need support, the best place to go is our Support Knowledge Base, found on this link (http://support.guildwars.com/). By inputting a few keys words, you will be given potential answers right on the spot, and these will most likely provide you all the information that you need. If you find that the Knowledge Base does not provide you the information that you require, simply use the "Ask a Question" tab within it and submit your question through the system. We will answer as promptly as we are able.What are the system requirements for Guild Wars?

Minimum System Specs

Windows® XP/2000/ME/98
Intel Pentium® III 800 Mhz or equivalent
256 MB RAM
CD-ROM Drive
2 GB Available HDD Space
ATI Radeon 8500 or GeForce 3 or 4 MX Series Video Card with 32MB of VRAM
16-bit Sound Card
Internet connection
Keyboard and mouse
Recommended System Specs:


Windows® XP/2000/ME/98
Intel Pentium® III 1GHz or equivalent
512 MB RAM
CD-ROM Drive
2 GB Available HDD Space
ATI Radeon 9000 or GeForce 4 Ti Series Video Card with 64MB of VRAM
16-bit Sound Card
Internet connection
Keyboard and mouse
Special Note: These system specifications are for the released version of Guild Wars. Those participating in the World Preview Event or the Beta Weekend Event, as well as our alpha and beta testers, will find that they require more available hard drive space in the short term. This extra space will not be needed when Guild Wars goes gold.

I am using a NVidia GeForce FX video card and am having trouble seeing some terrain features.

There is a known issue with NVidia GeForce FX video cards (GPUs) and driver version 61.77 when the user has changed "Image Settings" to "High performance". Some of the problems include missing terrain. The solution is to change your video settings to "High quality". To do this, follow these instructions: On Windows XP:

Open Display Properties control panel
Click Settings tab
Click Advanced button
Click GeForce "Version" tab
Select Performance and Quality Settings in left window
In the Global Driver Settings window select Image Settings
Move the slider to the right to "High quality"
The video cards/GPUs that are affected by this problem are:


GeForce FX 5200
GeForce FX 5200 Ultra
GeForce FX 5500
GeForce FX 5700
GeForce FX 5700 Ultra
GeForce FX 5700LE
GeForce FX 5900
GeForce FX 5900 Ultra
GeForce FX 5900 XT
GeForce FX 5950 Ultra
GeForce PCX 5300
GeForce PCX 5750
GeForce PCX 5900
Will I be able to play Guild Wars on a dial-up modem?

Yes you will. We are well aware that many users do not have broadband access, and we want the largest possible number of gamers to be able to join our game without being held back by technical issues like their Internet connection. We have designed Guild Wars to function excellently on a dial-up connection and our testers confirm they have no problems with their connection, even testing from other continents. During our E3 for Everyone Demo Event, our World Preview Event, and our Beta Weekend Events, many thousands of players successfully played using a dial-up modem.Are your in-game screenshots altered in any way? Do you rework them in an art program before adding them to the site?

No, our Screenshots Section includes only totally unaltered in-game images. We use a distinctive glow technology that gives a fantastical appearance to the game. All the in-game screenshots that are in our Gallery (http://www.guildwars.com/gallery/default.html) are completely unaltered, and come straight from the game to you.

Company & General

Who is ArenaNet?

ArenaNet is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCsoft Corporation, and was founded in March 2000 by some of the key members of the creative teams behind Blizzard’s game series Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo, as well as the Battle.net gaming network. You can find a lot of good information about the company at our website: www.arena.net (http://www.arena.net/).Does ArenaNet plan to offer Official Guild Wars Forums?

At this time, we do not have plans for an official forum. We are pleased with the support of the many fansite forums that are currently in operation, and encourage fans who would like to participate in forum discussion to visit our Community Page (http://www.guildwars.com/community/default.html) for a list of fansites and forums.Do you provide fansite resources? Where can I learn about the rules and guidelines for use of your materials?

ArenaNet strongly believes in fansites and wants to support them. Our Community Section (http://www.guildwars.com/community/default.html) is full of information and resources for fansite webmasters and other interested parties, including a program outline, a fansite kit, a program Q&A, and a Fansite News page that is updated regularly. All fansite staff members and others who use Guild Wars materials are bound by our Terms of Use document (http://www.guildwars.com/termsofuse.html), which contains a good deal of useful information as far as copyrights, image usage and so forth.Where can I learn more about Guild Wars?

There are a number of articles, previews, and interviews on the 'Net, and Guild Wars has been featured in several print magazines, as well. The game has also been honored with several awards. Visit the Press Page (http://www.guildwars.com/press/default.html) for a list of reading resources. For current updates and other items of interest, please visit our many Guild Wars fansites, listed here (http://www.guildwars.com/community/default.html).

[Lycos]

I will play initially. I'll probably play with Rebecca if she likes it. I tried the Beta a couple of times. It's ok. I like the idea of not paying the monthly fee. We'll see.

[Sylvene]

*delurks*

The PvP is more like school sports. :P You form a team and you'll get assigned another team to go head to head with. Very nifty if you have a few people you like to play regularly with. Each character has a primary class and a secondary class.

[Raveneye]

No monthly fee makes this one a winner in my book. I'm sure my son will beg me to purchase it (and probably outlevel me in a weekend) so it's likely I will have some sort of presence in the game.

[Erudite]

*delurks*

Hey, shouldn't you be, like, moderating somewhere? :lowrazz:

[RJO]

Syll.. omgeese ;P

As someone said ... this is diablo in new clothes....

My time spent in the beta for it was that it was nothing special.. being an MMO hoe though I will get it at release im sure ;P

[Sylvene]

Hey, shouldn't you be, like, moderating somewhere? :lowrazz:

What? Huh? Who? Me?

[Raveneye]

What? Huh? Who? Me?

Careful Sylvene, a few more posts and your title will change, then you're stuck posting regularly from then on. :wink:

[Greebo]

Do we need a forum for this?

[Sir Rubi]

Might not be a bad idea--not sure whether the interest will eventually justify it. Unless we come across a bunch of $$ quickly, we're not picking it up immediately ourselves, but our interest IS peaked.

Up to you guys since you have to do the maintenance ;) I can mod it, since I brought it up :lowrazz:

[Yuglooc]

Just what I need - another online distraction. Between EQ1, EQ2, WoW, CoH, Toontown, etc., etc., etc., I'm not sure I can squeeze in the time for this. The price is certainly right though.

[Shiz]

The word on the game is the PvE is boring as hell, but there isn't too much of it necessary.

[Xaxor]

N00b alert!

Player -Vs- ... Environment?

[Greebo]

Correct.

Moving this thread to the new GW forum.

[GravenStone]

N00b alert!

Player -Vs- ... Environment?

Yup...er, yes (silly post length filter is oppressing me, man :lowcool: )

[Asharad]

I can't commit to another game. EQ2 already rules my world and I wanna play Jade Empire and the new Elder Scrolls when it comes out.

[Tulenyre]

N00b alert!

Player -Vs- ... Environment?

Player Vs Everything... means everything in the world is hostile... including the trees and merchants.

[GravenStone]

Player Vs Everything... means everything in the world is hostile... including the trees and merchants.

That's only your world, Moo. :lowlol:

[Greebo]

Watch out for the trees! They're closing in!!!

[Drax]

Watch out for the trees! They're closing in!!!

Uh oh! We'd better leaf quickly! Their bark really is worse than their bite!

[Greebo]

Quick! Lets get to the root of the problem! We woodn't want it to get any worse, or we'd be saps!

[Sir Rubi]

Quick! Lets get to the root of the problem! We woodn't want it to get any worse, or we'd be saps!

..an edition of the Encyclopedia Galactica that had the good fortune to fall through a time warp from a thousand years in the future defines Drom and Greebo as "a couple of hoopy froods who really know where their towels are."

EDIT!! You... you... you... ADMIN :P:P:P:P

[Greebo]

..an edition of the Encyclopedia Galactica that had the good fortune to fall through a time warp from a thousand years in the future defines Drom and Greebo as "a couple of hoopy froods who really know where their towels are."
Thanks!!!

[Sylvene]

Careful Sylvene, a few more posts and your title will change, then you're stuck posting regularly from then on. :wink:

*hunts around for her Hatted Greebo bunny icon with I "heart" Sylvene on it for her avatar*

[kullen]

I thought they were the first against the wall when the revolution came.

Viva la revolution!!! :twisted:

[Sir Rubi]

I thought they were the first against the wall when the revolution came.

Viva la revolution!!! :twisted:

A forum revolution?! You mean *whispers* we storm the Evil Overlords Stronghold and, *gasp* *whispers more quietly* take...over?

YOU'RE MAD!!! INSANE!!!!

Ahem. Um, nobody pay any attention to what I just shouted at the top of my lungs!

*whispers* It's like the Pantless Alliance and the French Revolution! Except they'll like us, because we're not French.

FWIP!

[Greebo]

It is good that you realise that overthrowing me would be a pointless attempt.

[Greebo]

/em waits for the impending explosion from Rubi...

[Sir Rubi]

/em waits for the impending explosion from Rubi...

YOU DIEEEEE!!!!



































And that's arsesmoocher, thankyouverymuch

[kullen]

*cough* *sputter* What?!?! No Revolution??

/quietly runs behind a tree and slips back on his pants

Ah, fits like a glove.


Nothing to see here. Move along.

[Gaelrond]

Pantsless Alliance + French Revolution = Frogs with no pants?

I'm sort of half-heartedly interested in this, if for no other reason than there is no monthly fee. The g/f would love it for that. However, from the 200 or so screens I've looked at, I'm not terribly impressed with the purty factor, and with no clue about mechanics, I'm hesitant to consider dumping $50 on what may turn out to be a very short distraction.

[Winduforce]

I got the game as an escape from EQ2 when I need a break. Since there is no Monthly fee you can play it when you need a break from other games. Two of the characters so far I see can have pets. The archer can charm animals to become a side kick or pet to help with the fighting and also the Necromancer which can raise the dead to help him fight. Don't know much about the other characters since I haven't played those yet. You will get quests to do and to find other people to advance your training. The graphics in the game seem to be done right with the landscape.

[Tulenyre]

No online fee... and gamespot gave it a 9.2 review. The graphics look good... no online fee... the skill system sounds unique... I like choice PVP... no online fee... No real death penalty... instant travel to any city you know of... areas are instances (not cities).... no online fee...

Ya, I'm seriously considering picking it up. No online fee is really attractive, even if I only play it like all the other SP games (go through the story and shelve it after 2 months, pick it up and play rarely after that) it works out the same really. Supposedly it's like CoH, easier to jump in and out of and actually do something as well.

[Kiir]

I picked it up a few days ago. It is really nice and easy to play for short periods. The graphics are great and it is very easy to understand and get use to. The starting area is like one big tutorial which is also really nice and it doesn't feel as complex as something like EQ2. The major positive piece I have found is I can play for an hour and feel like I've accomplished something. Which isn't really something that happens for me in EQ2 or even WoW.

[Quervo]

Max level of 20 but LOTS of after 20 content. the first 5-8 levels can be found in the newbie stage of the game... very few skills to learn and those are auto learn, IE do not use your skill points. Attribute system is kinda like a DAOC... your Attributes are things like Swordmanship and healing prayers... these affect your skills depending on thier level. You get att buy back points every 250 xp.. so you can redistrubute them as often as needed if you get the buy back points.