Free Trial and Insanely Long Updates - Guild Wars Forums

Kymeric · Aug 11, 2010, 08:53 PM // 20:53

I signed up for the free trial and was surprised by how quickly the game downloaded. From my experience in other games, I expected that on opening the game I would spend some time letting it update files, so I was suprised again that it went right to a character creation screen after login.

But then, after creating the character.... an update screen appeared, and the bar began to fill extremely slowly. So now, after only an hour or so downloading the game, it's going to take hours and hours to update?

My big question, is this update process eating into the free trial time, since I've logged into a character before it starts? With only 10 hours of trial time, if I leave it running all night so, will I get up the next morning to find that the game is ready to go, but "Your trial time has ended, would you like to purchase Guild Wars now?" on my screen?

*Darcy* · Aug 11, 2010, 08:57 PM // 20:57

You can use the -image command to download the .dat file without running the game. When finished it will log you back out. As you haven't logged into a character at that point it will not affect your playing time.
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/-image#-image

Angel Killuminati · Aug 11, 2010, 09:46 PM // 21:46

It will take a long time to download, because in essence GW is placing all the content from all the chapters onto your hard drive. Then if you like GW, you only need to buy the access keys and jump straight into the game with no downloading to be done at all.

As for when the game starts, it should start (I believe) when you are actually logged in playing on the game servers.

Moonstalker · Aug 11, 2010, 09:51 PM // 21:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angel Killuminati

It will take a long time to download, because in essence GW is placing all the content from all the chapters onto your hard drive. Then if you like GW, you only need to buy the access keys and jump straight into the game with no downloading to be done at all.

As for when the game starts, it should start (I believe) when you are actually logged in playing on the game servers.

At some point in %, loading screens count as you being there. So his time will still go even if he's downloading the content.

The Scorpion Knight · Aug 11, 2010, 10:22 PM // 22:22

This is one of the other reasons I'm thinking of uploading my Gw.dat file to a torrent.

MisterB · Aug 11, 2010, 10:28 PM // 22:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Scorpion Knight

This is one of the other reasons I'm thinking of uploading my Gw.dat file to a torrent.

That action would be illegal. You are free to make backups for your personal use, but you may not publicly publish ANet's content in that fashion.

The Scorpion Knight · Aug 11, 2010, 10:36 PM // 22:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by MisterB

That action would be illegal. You are free to make backups for your personal use, but you may not publicly publish ANet's content in that fashion.

Hmm interesting, didn't think it would have been illegal. Isn't it basically like downloading it from there site, or the torrent, but the torrent has everything already in it. Plus I'm not making any profit out of it.

MisterB · Aug 11, 2010, 10:41 PM // 22:41

It infringes ANet's & NCSoft's property rights and copyright to publish their content publicly. If ANet were to host a torrent as an alternative download procedure, that would be their choice to do so. But publishing a torrent yourself would be software piracy.

It doesn't matter if you make a profit; it is still ANet's property, so you may not publish it without first obtaining their consent.

The Scorpion Knight · Aug 11, 2010, 11:05 PM // 23:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by MisterB

It infringes ANet's & NCSoft's property rights and copyright to publish their content publicly. If ANet were to host a torrent as an alternative download procedure, that would be their choice to do so. But publishing a torrent yourself would be software piracy.

It doesn't matter if you make a profit; it is still ANet's property, so you may not publish it without first obtaining their consent.

Thanks for informing me.

Schnellburg · Aug 12, 2010, 12:33 AM // 00:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by MisterB

That action would be illegal. You are free to make backups for your personal use, but you may not publicly publish ANet's content in that fashion.

It's only illegal if you get caught. Just like downloading movies/music via torrents.

*Darcy* · Aug 12, 2010, 03:08 AM // 03:08

But ArenaNet does not fool around with illegal actions involving their game as gold sellers have discovered. You notice that in over five years, they have never authorized another download site.

The OP can do his download, then start another trial account if necessary to play the game. Just create a temp hotmail account.

Edit: And just make sure you never delete the gw.dat file. Updates to it are very quick, but no one likes to do the whole download again. That file is the whole of the game info that resides on your computer, so you can move it to any computer and play the game immediately.

hattara · Aug 12, 2010, 10:32 AM // 10:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schnellburg

It's only illegal if you get caught. Just like downloading movies/music via torrents.

...no, that's not how law works AT ALL. It is illegal whether you ever get caught or not. Whether there are repercussions depends on if you get caught or not, but the action itself is illegal from the start.

Kymeric · Aug 12, 2010, 01:21 PM // 13:21

Thanks, all. The -image command did the trick, and it was done updating when I got up this morning.

CakeTown · Aug 12, 2010, 03:51 PM // 15:51

Whenever I download the client, downloading a small outpost takes ages..
Whenever I install GW's via CD, downloading a small outpost takes a matter of seconds.

Snograt · Aug 12, 2010, 10:43 PM // 22:43

That's because the disks install a gw.dat that was current at the time of the disk's pressing - still plenty of downloading to do, but not as much as a client + full d/l from the site.

CakeTown · Aug 13, 2010, 12:30 AM // 00:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

That's because the disks install a gw.dat that was current at the time of the disk's pressing - still plenty of downloading to do, but not as much as a client + full d/l from the site.

Ahh thanks, I was always wondering why the downloadable client took ages to download an outpost while the CD version was done in a couple of seconds.

Quaker · Aug 13, 2010, 07:25 PM // 19:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by CakeTown

Ahh thanks, I was always wondering why the downloadable client took ages to download an outpost while the CD version was done in a couple of seconds.

Just to be picky, once you have the outpost downloaded/installed, you don't need to "download" it again unless something changes in it. The few seconds it takes to connect are not "downloading" they are just the time that the system takes to connect you to particular program loop and setup the various conditions and variables, choose a district, etc.

Aug 11, 2010, 08:53 PM // 20:53	#1
Kymeric Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Aug 2010	Free Trial and Insanely Long Updates I signed up for the free trial and was surprised by how quickly the game downloaded. From my experience in other games, I expected that on opening the game I would spend some time letting it update files, so I was suprised again that it went right to a character creation screen after login. But then, after creating the character.... an update screen appeared, and the bar began to fill extremely slowly. So now, after only an hour or so downloading the game, it's going to take hours and hours to update? My big question, is this update process eating into the free trial time, since I've logged into a character before it starts? With only 10 hours of trial time, if I leave it running all night so, will I get up the next morning to find that the game is ready to go, but "Your trial time has ended, would you like to purchase Guild Wars now?" on my screen?

Aug 11, 2010, 08:57 PM // 20:57	#2
Darcy Never Too Old Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Rhode Island where there are no GW contests Guild: Order of First Profession: W/R	You can use the -image command to download the .dat file without running the game. When finished it will log you back out. As you haven't logged into a character at that point it will not affect your playing time. http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/-image#-image __________________ That's me, the old stick-in-the-mud non-fun moderator. (and non-understanding, also)

Aug 11, 2010, 10:41 PM // 22:41	#8
MisterB Furnace Stoker Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Planet Earth, Sol system, Milky Way galaxy Guild: [ban] Profession: W/	It infringes ANet's & NCSoft's property rights and copyright to publish their content publicly. If ANet were to host a torrent as an alternative download procedure, that would be their choice to do so. But publishing a torrent yourself would be software piracy. It doesn't matter if you make a profit; it is still ANet's property, so you may not publish it without first obtaining their consent. Last edited by MisterB; Aug 11, 2010 at 10:44 PM // 22:44.. Reason: ArenaNet is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCSoft.

Aug 12, 2010, 03:08 AM // 03:08	#11
Darcy Never Too Old Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Rhode Island where there are no GW contests Guild: Order of First Profession: W/R	But ArenaNet does not fool around with illegal actions involving their game as gold sellers have discovered. You notice that in over five years, they have never authorized another download site. The OP can do his download, then start another trial account if necessary to play the game. Just create a temp hotmail account. Edit: And just make sure you never delete the gw.dat file. Updates to it are very quick, but no one likes to do the whole download again. That file is the whole of the game info that resides on your computer, so you can move it to any computer and play the game immediately. __________________ That's me, the old stick-in-the-mud non-fun moderator. (and non-understanding, also) Last edited by Darcy; Aug 12, 2010 at 11:00 AM // 11:00..

Aug 12, 2010, 10:43 PM // 22:43	#15
Snograt rattus rattus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST Guild: [GURU]GW [wiki]GW2 Profession: R/	That's because the disks install a gw.dat that was current at the time of the disk's pressing - still plenty of downloading to do, but not as much as a client + full d/l from the site. __________________ Si non confectus, non reficiat

Aug 11, 2010, 09:46 PM // 21:46	#3
Angel Killuminati Krytan Explorer Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: UK	It will take a long time to download, because in essence GW is placing all the content from all the chapters onto your hard drive. Then if you like GW, you only need to buy the access keys and jump straight into the game with no downloading to be done at all. As for when the game starts, it should start (I believe) when you are actually logged in playing on the game servers.

Aug 11, 2010, 10:22 PM // 22:22	#5
The Scorpion Knight Krytan Explorer Join Date: May 2009	This is one of the other reasons I'm thinking of uploading my Gw.dat file to a torrent.

Aug 12, 2010, 01:21 PM // 13:21	#13
Kymeric Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Aug 2010	Thanks, all. The -image command did the trick, and it was done updating when I got up this morning.

Aug 12, 2010, 03:51 PM // 15:51	#14
CakeTown Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Jul 2009 Profession: Mo/	Whenever I download the client, downloading a small outpost takes ages.. Whenever I install GW's via CD, downloading a small outpost takes a matter of seconds.