Is GW worth the investment? - Guild Wars Forums

Orbdweller · May 23, 2010, 02:45 PM // 14:45

Hello Folks!

I have recently downloaded and setup a free trial account. Unfortunately it seems that NCSOFT in their ultimate wisdom has limited major game functions for free accounts. Some of these IMHO are necessary to evaluate the game most of all being able to communicate with other players. Now I do understand their reasoning for not allowing communication after playing other mmorpgs.

Well to get to my question. Is it worth the investment? I have played a little with the GW free trial and it seems interesting enough. It has been a little bit of a learning curve not being able to seek knowledge of other players. Is there a good size player base, or is it a dying game? Whats the player base like are they friendly and helpful or just @$$hats? Do players actually talk in group, guild chat, or does everyone use VoIP programs? See the things I want to learn about the game can't be done with a 10 hour trial.

It seems there are numerous versions of the game as with any game that has been out there for awhile. I have looked at the different versions available and think Trilogy is the best buy.

Can anyone give me some suggestions or their opinions?

Thank You in advance for your help!

Orbdweller

vamp08 · May 23, 2010, 02:57 PM // 14:57

The answer to your question is this: If you would have known Microsoft would be as successful as it is today at the start of the company, would you have invented heavily into it?

Quaker · May 23, 2010, 03:02 PM // 15:02

There are still a lot of people playing, but you don't find as many in the early stages any more. You also don't find people looking to group up in early areas very often. So, it tends to be a 1 person plus henchmen if you don't belong to a guild.

As far as people talking goes, you'll find a lot of chatter going on in places where there are lots of players. As with any MMO, you will find both friendly, helpful people and a'hats - and everything in between.

Guild (and Alliance) chat can only be seen by the people in that guild (or Alliance) and, since there is no voice chat built into GW, some guilds use Ventrilo or Teamspeak for voice chat. So, it's really up to the particular Guild, how much and what kind of chat goes on within them.

As far as worth it goes - I'd say yes. I've spent more money on games I played a lot less. I'd say that the worst that could happen is that you'd only get your money's worth.

P.s. In spite of the impression you might get from some posters below, I've been playing GW for 5+ years and I wouldn't say the game is "dead" yet. But I would say that GW is not the game it once was - whether that's good or bad is a matter of opinion.

Bristlebane · May 23, 2010, 03:05 PM // 15:05

Trial accounts wasn't that limited before, but after bots and players abused it too much, it was severely limited at the expense for new players to be able to evaluate the game properly. Personally I rather see theese limits in place than the tons of gold selling spambots that plagued all major cities.

Some people will argue it's a dieing game as it has been around for 5 years and many people have gotten bored with it. But there has also been an influx of a large number of new players so I'm sure you will find players you can join. There's no doubt that for the money you pay, you will get YEARS of entertainment so it's well worth the money. I would recommend you start with at least Prophecies and Eye of the North. You can complement with the other campaigns later when you feel the need for it (to gain access to more zones, heroes, and skills).

Compared to some other games I've seen, Guild Wars players are generally nice people. Sure there are always idiots, a**hats and scammers, but there's also a large number of friendly people out there. Hopefully you find a good guild with friendly people who you can play through the game with.

Slasher of Darkness · May 23, 2010, 03:09 PM // 15:09

Short Answer: Yes.

Long answer: I've spent my money on the game, and had a lot of fun in it, it's a good game even when you don't have that much time like I do lately, but you can still get stuff done and experience most of the things. Try to find a guild early on (PM me if you'd like to join my guild and alliance, we happily accept new players as well) cause it gets much easier and better with a guild. As about the "game dying", I wouldn't say so, many people might tell you this, but I find the game is still going strong, sure you don't see that many people in the low level areas, but it gets more crowded later, and a lot of people are in American districts. IMO you can always find chat in the bigger towns and most of them I find to be friendly, maybe I'm just lucky to find such people, but I don't think so.

So yeah, I'd do it if I were you, Guild Wars was and still is a great game, IMO.

Zebideedee · May 23, 2010, 03:10 PM // 15:10

No doubt the people that have played from day 1 will tell you the game is dead, because after 5 years it's not as busy as it was back in the day. Best bet is if you're gonna buy it, try and find a decent guild/alliance, that way you have people to chat to (in guild/ally chat or on vent cos most guilds/alliances have vent or teamspeak etc.) and can ask for help or advice.

Players are probably 75-25% in favour of helpfulness, you'll always get some idiots calling you a "NOOB" always with caps lock on for some reason

If you do get it, best to get all campaigns/expansions, so you have access to heroes & all skills etc. etc.

Hope that helps a little

Orbdweller · May 23, 2010, 03:12 PM // 15:12

Thank you Quaker and Bristlebane!

Yeah as I said i do understand the limits that are in place... I figured it was gold/PL spammers that forced that. Since that goes on in other games and is very annoying.

BTW what does eye of the north offer to complement the prophecies?

kosh · May 23, 2010, 03:13 PM // 15:13

in short: YES.

how many games you can tell me give you hmm over 6.7 k hours for the past 5 years?

you pay for a single player rpg today about 50$ and those give you what? ME2 is about 40 hours top, DoA is 80-100 hours (with all the dlc but awaking)

so imo yes.

Orbdweller · May 23, 2010, 03:23 PM // 15:23

WoW two more reply's while I was typing the first tnx. I never got this kind of response on IGN boards.

Thank you Zebideedee it does help.. yeah no matter what game you play your going to get 12 yos or 40 yos acting 12. :}

Slasher of Darkness thank you for the invite I may take you up on that if I do decide to buy the game.

The only thing I dont understand is when I started playing i thought there was two different types of factions. Like Good and Evil or Loyalist and rebel but when i got started I didnt have a choice.

Zebideedee · May 23, 2010, 03:34 PM // 15:34

There are 2 Factions in the campaign with the same name, Luxon (beachcombing types with a fondness for crabs) or Kurzick (treehuggers who need a tan lol), you'll see what I mean in game. If you join a guild it'll be one or the other, then you can do some PvP with the oppossite side.

Orbdweller · May 23, 2010, 03:40 PM // 15:40

Can you have both types on one account or do you have to choose before you can play?

Zebideedee · May 23, 2010, 03:50 PM // 15:50

You can change from Luxon to kurzick whenever you want. Just means leaving your guild to go to one of the opposite Faction. Outside of a guild you're neither Lux or Kurz.

Carboplatin · May 23, 2010, 03:53 PM // 15:53

yes it is. considering that you can get trilogy packs for ~$30 and ~$20 for eotn, it'll last you months if you are playing for the first time.

Orbdweller · May 23, 2010, 03:54 PM // 15:54

AHHHHH okay I get it.

So there is no advantage to one or the other just a choice of allegiance?

Orbdweller · May 23, 2010, 03:56 PM // 15:56

Carboplatin $30 to Trilogy? I haven't seen it that cheep but I ll look around tnx!

Zebideedee · May 23, 2010, 03:57 PM // 15:57

Pretty much, later on if you go for the Lux or Kurz titles it'll matter more but early on just go for the most fun bunch you find

Spiritz · May 23, 2010, 03:59 PM // 15:59

Another reason for the limits i think was also due to Gold sellers ( evil scum who sell ig gold for real cash ) who abused free trial accounts and used for trade

wilebill · May 23, 2010, 04:05 PM // 16:05

Kurzick and Luxon? Neither are evil. Both are Canthan. But they are at war.

You are one or the other because Luxon or Kurzick title track points apply to all your characters on that account and it doesn't matter which character you are playing. When you are high enough on the title track you can buy special skills usable only in PvE. So you want to stay one way or the other.

Kurzick can earn points fastest, usually, though a mixture of PvE and PvP. Which you are determines your side in various PvP events. In PvE, you can adventure on both sides. But the merchants and NPCs of the opposing side will not deal with you. Their henchmen will go out with you though. This is no problem since you just teleport to where you are loved to sell stuff and do crafts and such.

If you want to do the PvE quests for the other side, you can temporarily switch sides by building up "friend" points on the other sides title track. it is an ideal system.

Kurzick are human but sort of elvish. They live in a series of forest maps. The Luxons live on and around The Jade Sea.

Del · May 23, 2010, 04:09 PM // 16:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by wilebill

Kurzick and Luxon? Neither are evil. Both are Canthan. But they are at war.

neither are canthan, they are to cantha as to what puerto rico and guam are to the U.S.

Bristlebane · May 23, 2010, 04:20 PM // 16:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orbdweller

BTW what does eye of the north offer to complement the prophecies?

Eye of the North, or EotN for short, will give you access to heroes. Theese are like henchmen but much more customizable. You can change their skillbars, equipments and weapons to complement your character better.

EotN also gives you access to some rather powerful PvE skills that are not tied to attributes or professions. Instead of attributes, theese skills scale with titles you can work on. But even without any grind at all, many of the skills are still very strong. I'll give a few examples:

Asuran Scan. An insta-cast hex that cause your attacks to do 45..69% more damage. Very good skill, cheap and spammable.
Pain Inverter. Another hex causing foes to take heavy damage everytime they deal damage. Great against boss monsters.

There's plenty more skills like that.

May 23, 2010, 02:45 PM // 14:45	#1
Orbdweller Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2010	Is GW worth the investment? Hello Folks! I have recently downloaded and setup a free trial account. Unfortunately it seems that NCSOFT in their ultimate wisdom has limited major game functions for free accounts. Some of these IMHO are necessary to evaluate the game most of all being able to communicate with other players. Now I do understand their reasoning for not allowing communication after playing other mmorpgs. Well to get to my question. Is it worth the investment? I have played a little with the GW free trial and it seems interesting enough. It has been a little bit of a learning curve not being able to seek knowledge of other players. Is there a good size player base, or is it a dying game? Whats the player base like are they friendly and helpful or just @$$hats? Do players actually talk in group, guild chat, or does everyone use VoIP programs? See the things I want to learn about the game can't be done with a 10 hour trial. It seems there are numerous versions of the game as with any game that has been out there for awhile. I have looked at the different versions available and think Trilogy is the best buy. Can anyone give me some suggestions or their opinions? Thank You in advance for your help! Orbdweller

May 23, 2010, 03:02 PM // 15:02	#3
Quaker Hell's Protector Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Canada Guild: Brothers Disgruntled	There are still a lot of people playing, but you don't find as many in the early stages any more. You also don't find people looking to group up in early areas very often. So, it tends to be a 1 person plus henchmen if you don't belong to a guild. As far as people talking goes, you'll find a lot of chatter going on in places where there are lots of players. As with any MMO, you will find both friendly, helpful people and a'hats - and everything in between. Guild (and Alliance) chat can only be seen by the people in that guild (or Alliance) and, since there is no voice chat built into GW, some guilds use Ventrilo or Teamspeak for voice chat. So, it's really up to the particular Guild, how much and what kind of chat goes on within them. As far as worth it goes - I'd say yes. I've spent more money on games I played a lot less. I'd say that the worst that could happen is that you'd only get your money's worth. P.s. In spite of the impression you might get from some posters below, I've been playing GW for 5+ years and I wouldn't say the game is "dead" yet. But I would say that GW is not the game it once was - whether that's good or bad is a matter of opinion. Last edited by Quaker; May 24, 2010 at 02:55 PM // 14:55..

May 23, 2010, 02:57 PM // 14:57	#2
vamp08 Krytan Explorer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: PA, USA Guild: [COPY] Profession: D/	The answer to your question is this: If you would have known Microsoft would be as successful as it is today at the start of the company, would you have invented heavily into it?

May 23, 2010, 03:05 PM // 15:05	#4
Bristlebane Desert Nomad Join Date: Jan 2008 Profession: Mo/	Trial accounts wasn't that limited before, but after bots and players abused it too much, it was severely limited at the expense for new players to be able to evaluate the game properly. Personally I rather see theese limits in place than the tons of gold selling spambots that plagued all major cities. Some people will argue it's a dieing game as it has been around for 5 years and many people have gotten bored with it. But there has also been an influx of a large number of new players so I'm sure you will find players you can join. There's no doubt that for the money you pay, you will get YEARS of entertainment so it's well worth the money. I would recommend you start with at least Prophecies and Eye of the North. You can complement with the other campaigns later when you feel the need for it (to gain access to more zones, heroes, and skills). Compared to some other games I've seen, Guild Wars players are generally nice people. Sure there are always idiots, a**hats and scammers, but there's also a large number of friendly people out there. Hopefully you find a good guild with friendly people who you can play through the game with.

May 23, 2010, 03:09 PM // 15:09	#5
Slasher of Darkness Lion's Arch Merchant Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Lots of places~ Profession: D/	Short Answer: Yes. Long answer: I've spent my money on the game, and had a lot of fun in it, it's a good game even when you don't have that much time like I do lately, but you can still get stuff done and experience most of the things. Try to find a guild early on (PM me if you'd like to join my guild and alliance, we happily accept new players as well) cause it gets much easier and better with a guild. As about the "game dying", I wouldn't say so, many people might tell you this, but I find the game is still going strong, sure you don't see that many people in the low level areas, but it gets more crowded later, and a lot of people are in American districts. IMO you can always find chat in the bigger towns and most of them I find to be friendly, maybe I'm just lucky to find such people, but I don't think so. So yeah, I'd do it if I were you, Guild Wars was and still is a great game, IMO.

May 23, 2010, 03:10 PM // 15:10	#6
Zebideedee Jungle Guide Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: 55?? 57' 0" N / 3?? 12' 0" W Profession: N/Me	No doubt the people that have played from day 1 will tell you the game is dead, because after 5 years it's not as busy as it was back in the day. Best bet is if you're gonna buy it, try and find a decent guild/alliance, that way you have people to chat to (in guild/ally chat or on vent cos most guilds/alliances have vent or teamspeak etc.) and can ask for help or advice. Players are probably 75-25% in favour of helpfulness, you'll always get some idiots calling you a "NOOB" always with caps lock on for some reason If you do get it, best to get all campaigns/expansions, so you have access to heroes & all skills etc. etc. Hope that helps a little

May 23, 2010, 03:12 PM // 15:12	#7
Orbdweller Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2010	Thank you Quaker and Bristlebane! Yeah as I said i do understand the limits that are in place... I figured it was gold/PL spammers that forced that. Since that goes on in other games and is very annoying. BTW what does eye of the north offer to complement the prophecies?

May 23, 2010, 03:13 PM // 15:13	#8
kosh Krytan Explorer Join Date: Dec 2005 Guild: hydrponic agriculture society [Herb] Profession: Mo/	in short: YES. how many games you can tell me give you hmm over 6.7 k hours for the past 5 years? you pay for a single player rpg today about 50$ and those give you what? ME2 is about 40 hours top, DoA is 80-100 hours (with all the dlc but awaking) so imo yes.

May 23, 2010, 03:23 PM // 15:23	#9
Orbdweller Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2010	WoW two more reply's while I was typing the first tnx. I never got this kind of response on IGN boards. Thank you Zebideedee it does help.. yeah no matter what game you play your going to get 12 yos or 40 yos acting 12. :} Slasher of Darkness thank you for the invite I may take you up on that if I do decide to buy the game. The only thing I dont understand is when I started playing i thought there was two different types of factions. Like Good and Evil or Loyalist and rebel but when i got started I didnt have a choice.

May 23, 2010, 03:34 PM // 15:34	#10
Zebideedee Jungle Guide Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: 55?? 57' 0" N / 3?? 12' 0" W Profession: N/Me	There are 2 Factions in the campaign with the same name, Luxon (beachcombing types with a fondness for crabs) or Kurzick (treehuggers who need a tan lol), you'll see what I mean in game. If you join a guild it'll be one or the other, then you can do some PvP with the oppossite side.

May 23, 2010, 03:40 PM // 15:40	#11
Orbdweller Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2010	Can you have both types on one account or do you have to choose before you can play?

May 23, 2010, 03:50 PM // 15:50	#12
Zebideedee Jungle Guide Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: 55?? 57' 0" N / 3?? 12' 0" W Profession: N/Me	You can change from Luxon to kurzick whenever you want. Just means leaving your guild to go to one of the opposite Faction. Outside of a guild you're neither Lux or Kurz.

May 23, 2010, 03:53 PM // 15:53	#13
Carboplatin Jungle Guide Join Date: Jul 2005 Guild: [PIG] Profession: W/A	yes it is. considering that you can get trilogy packs for ~$30 and ~$20 for eotn, it'll last you months if you are playing for the first time.

May 23, 2010, 03:54 PM // 15:54	#14
Orbdweller Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2010	AHHHHH okay I get it. So there is no advantage to one or the other just a choice of allegiance?

May 23, 2010, 03:56 PM // 15:56	#15
Orbdweller Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2010	Carboplatin $30 to Trilogy? I haven't seen it that cheep but I ll look around tnx!

May 23, 2010, 03:57 PM // 15:57	#16
Zebideedee Jungle Guide Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: 55?? 57' 0" N / 3?? 12' 0" W Profession: N/Me	Pretty much, later on if you go for the Lux or Kurz titles it'll matter more but early on just go for the most fun bunch you find

May 23, 2010, 03:59 PM // 15:59	#17
Spiritz Forge Runner Join Date: Apr 2007 Guild: DMFC	Another reason for the limits i think was also due to Gold sellers ( evil scum who sell ig gold for real cash ) who abused free trial accounts and used for trade

May 23, 2010, 04:05 PM // 16:05	#18
wilebill Desert Nomad Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Mt Vernon, Ohio Guild: Band of the Hawk Profession: W/Mo	Kurzick and Luxon? Neither are evil. Both are Canthan. But they are at war. You are one or the other because Luxon or Kurzick title track points apply to all your characters on that account and it doesn't matter which character you are playing. When you are high enough on the title track you can buy special skills usable only in PvE. So you want to stay one way or the other. Kurzick can earn points fastest, usually, though a mixture of PvE and PvP. Which you are determines your side in various PvP events. In PvE, you can adventure on both sides. But the merchants and NPCs of the opposing side will not deal with you. Their henchmen will go out with you though. This is no problem since you just teleport to where you are loved to sell stuff and do crafts and such. If you want to do the PvE quests for the other side, you can temporarily switch sides by building up "friend" points on the other sides title track. it is an ideal system. Kurzick are human but sort of elvish. They live in a series of forest maps. The Luxons live on and around The Jade Sea.