New: Thinking of buying the Game:Advice - Guild Wars Forums

dntel · Jul 10, 2007, 10:01 AM // 10:01

Hey People,

I'm thinking about getting this game, well actually i think someone already bought it for me, so im wondering what its like, im a big fan of science fantasy books, and this seems to be the same kind of genre as that, elves dragons weird magics etc

Tell me: Is it worth buyiong this? at the moment i play city of heroes, but its getting tiresome because its a bit easy, you get told where to go, what to do, and its not relaly that hard once you get good, so im looking for a new challenge, maybe this could be it, ive never been a fan of WoW even though i havent tried it, and this apparently has a good community which i think is important.

Anyone got any Advice for a new (soon to be) player?

Cheers

Div · Jul 10, 2007, 10:13 AM // 10:13

If you're starting out, get prophecies (or nightfall if you really have to). Both provide great playing experiences, and feel free to ask questions. Since a lot of people have played for 1-2 years, it'll be hard to start out, but once you get the hang of it, it's not that hard.

Alperuzi · Jul 10, 2007, 10:14 AM // 10:14

I've been playing for around twoandahalf years, and still enjoy it.

But there are three different standalone games in the GW series which can be interlinked, which one (or ones) are you thinking of getting?

TBH, I think GW is incomplete if you don't have all the chapters, and its substantially more advantageous in PvP if you have all the skills from the different chapters.

I agree with holymasamune though, start out with either Prophecies or Nightfall if you have to.

Lonesamurai · Jul 10, 2007, 10:29 AM // 10:29

Aye, beta player here with close to 5,000hours on my account and still going with a great guild and good friends in and out of game (oh and a business thats arisen from my guild too)

DDeathblade · Jul 10, 2007, 10:36 AM // 10:36

Buy proppies, make a caracter of your choise which could be your main character, complete Prophercies. Then buy Factions, apply your main character also to Factions and complete it. Then do the same for Nightfall and all other GWs you got.

Toutatis · Jul 10, 2007, 12:28 PM // 12:28

My best advice for a propspective player is this:

Head to the GuildWiki website and bookmark it. Pretty much everything you could ever need to know about the game is there, from mission guides to skill details to links to builds to armor styles to scams to look out for and everything inbetween. There are even some guides on there aimed specifically at new players, so be sure to read them through.

Sol Solus · Jul 10, 2007, 03:06 PM // 15:06

I came to Guild Wars from City of Heroes also. I, too, got bored of CoH's endless months of grind, often times alone due to lack of henchmen. Taking 1-2 weeks to earn 2 levels only to be disappointed by the single new skill that I got. About the only good thing at the time I played was the cool costumes. If you play CoH, most likely you want to make a bunch of heroes you've dreamed up. GW actually allows you deeply develop multiple characters at a time, due to laid-back level cap and 8-skill limit. It's not hard to make your character good, but it takes work to make him great. There's always a new build to test or elite skill to hunt down, and you can laugh at CoH as you respec your character not once every several months, but on a task-to-task basis. The variety of play GW allows you will keep you from getting bored for a long time. Oh, and GW has some pretty cool armors too, just remember to look www.guildwiki.org before dropping your money on something.

KZaske · Jul 10, 2007, 04:53 PM // 16:53

I would advise starting with Prophecies, expand into Nightfall when you complete Prophecies. Once both chapters have been completed dive into Factions. Here are a few reasons;
1: Prophecies has the slowest learning curve of the three chapters. By the time you complete it you will understand the interface and skill usage quite well.
2: Nightfall introduces heros, these heros are required to complete Nightfall and will assist you greatly in completing Factions.
3: Nightfall has the second slowest learning curve but it leaves you a little unprepared for some aspects of the tactics required to complete the PvE (Player vs Enviroment or role playing) portion of the game.
4: Factions has the fast learning curve in the game and the poorest interface training of the three chapters.
5: The skills available in Prophecies are all that is really required to complete all three chapters for most character professions even if there are only four.
6: Prophecies has the lowest ration of useless skills of the three chapters.
7: The few of the skills available in Nightfall are some of the most powerful in the game.
8: Factions has the highest ration of useless skills of the three chapters.
9: Factions has the best music and scenery of the three chapters.
10: Factions could be viewed as PvP (Player vs Player) in a PvE world.

In short, Prophecies will teach you enough about the working of Guild Wars that you can easily tackle the other chapters. That can not be said for either Nightfall or Factions. I an not going to say that it can not be done because I know of a lot of people who did it. But all of them have said they learned new things about the skills when they started a Prophecies character and played it through the complete game.

havok019 · Jul 10, 2007, 05:28 PM // 17:28

Well, I've finished all campaigns. I'd suggest starting in Nightfall for the simple reason that you can get Heroes immediately. These are characters that you can equip and set skills for and take around with you. If you don't have heroes, you'll probably have to take around henchmen for quests and missions. These are party members that you are unable to equip and unable to set their skills so you're kind of stuck with what you get. Still they are usually ok for most of Prophecies.
Prophecies (the first GW) has a long story storyline and a very expansive map. It will take a long time to complete and it will be harder to do so without having Heroes to take along with you because it is more difficult to find other players to form groups for missions due to how long that chapter has been out. Some missions on Factions are absolutely barren of other players and you really need Heroes now to do them.
Also, there is a Guild Wars expansion pack (Eyes of the North also called GWEN on the forums) coming out in just over a month. You'll need Prophecies, Factions or Nightfall to play this and you'll need to be level 20. Most of the people that play now will migrate to that chapter immediately which will also make it more difficult to find people to join up with for missions in Factions and Prophecies.
Really, you need all three campaigns for skills and all the campaigns are important for different reasons (Prophecies has very important skills and the backbone of GW; Factions has better player versus player games and elite missions; Nightfall has Heroes, GWEN will have a Hall of Monuments which is important for GW2).
As a brand new player with a new campaign that's just about to start, I'd buy Nightfall first, then GWEN, then Prophecies and then Factions. Your storyline will be messed up a little, but you'll be able to get up to speed to everyone else faster having Heroes and you'll be able to get into GWEN where everyone else is going to be.

Just another tip -- when playing these other campaigns, I'd skip the quests (unless they are in Prophecies with skill rewards) and just work on getting through the missions ASAP. All the action is going to be in GWEN and you'll probably have more fun getting up to speed there as soon as you can.

Killed u man · Jul 10, 2007, 05:44 PM // 17:44

^ Lol, there NO reason to give him so much literature in so little space

If u want Lore/Storyline as you said, BUY THIS GAME! You'll get dragged into it like a black hole...

If u want to do PvP, there are better options out there

EDIT: Ooh yeah forgot, It's best if u start with prophecies, since the story begins here... 2 Year later (In-game) comes the Canthan story, and another year later (So 3 In-game) comes Nightfall.

Effendi Westland · Jul 10, 2007, 07:15 PM // 19:15

Prophecies if you like slowly learning your character and the skills you use. Great scenery too. Long game, will keep you entertained for quite a while. Plus it is actually well-balanced if you do not take shortcuts (to get better weapons/armor/skills), so can be quite difficult the first time round (unless you get help from max-level players and their heros). I liked this aspect of the game alot.

Factions is fast-paced, short, and quite intimitating at the start (in my opinion the area with the hardest hitting foes is right at the start of the mainland). Very different compared to the first game, and typically people who found prophecies too slow loved this game. If you want to do end-game stuff and get there quickly this is a good choice, though you'll miss out on the mid-level experience prophecies provides.

Nightfall is a mix-match of that. It's alot bigger then factions, and so is the starter island. But for the most part of the game you will still be max level, where in prophecies 3/4th of the game is designer for lower then max levels, but unlike factions the areas do get more difficult as you progress.

I am still glad I started with prophecies, but I like games that have a slow pace to start out with. Though after getting 6 chars through it am I glad with the faster starts that factions and nightfalls provide.

Healers Wisper · Jul 10, 2007, 07:32 PM // 19:32

I love this game but just a warning: I think Crack is less addictive!!! SO be Warned. Other then that I love this game and have many friend that play that love it too.

bart · Jul 11, 2007, 12:57 AM // 00:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by dntel

Hey People,

I'm thinking about getting this game, well actually i think someone already bought it for me, so im wondering what its like, im a big fan of science fantasy books, and this seems to be the same kind of genre as that, elves dragons weird magics etc

Tell me: Is it worth buyiong this? at the moment i play city of heroes, but its getting tiresome because its a bit easy, you get told where to go, what to do, and its not relaly that hard once you get good, so im looking for a new challenge, maybe this could be it, ive never been a fan of WoW even though i havent tried it, and this apparently has a good community which i think is important.

Anyone got any Advice for a new (soon to be) player?

Cheers

Seeing as you're a fan of science fantasy books u should try out WoW since u said u haven't tried it. GW is more "realistic" with "realistic graphics". Oh and the part where u said "good community" i loled. well ok if u're talking about GWG community then its fine but if u're talking about in-game community... lol

dragon spy · Jul 11, 2007, 01:44 PM // 13:44

hi my name is dragon spy and im a guild warsaholic. ya over 2 years and still play it daily.

my pc game habbist were i would buy a game beat it in a week and buy another one. i have not bought a game other then guildwars, fastions and nightfall in over 2 years.

anet keeps gw exciting you will love it.

Jul 10, 2007, 10:01 AM // 10:01	#1
dntel Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Jul 2007	New: Thinking of buying the Game:Advice Hey People, I'm thinking about getting this game, well actually i think someone already bought it for me, so im wondering what its like, im a big fan of science fantasy books, and this seems to be the same kind of genre as that, elves dragons weird magics etc Tell me: Is it worth buyiong this? at the moment i play city of heroes, but its getting tiresome because its a bit easy, you get told where to go, what to do, and its not relaly that hard once you get good, so im looking for a new challenge, maybe this could be it, ive never been a fan of WoW even though i havent tried it, and this apparently has a good community which i think is important. Anyone got any Advice for a new (soon to be) player? Cheers

Jul 10, 2007, 10:13 AM // 10:13	#2
Div I like yumy food! Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Where I can eat yumy food Guild: Dead Alley [dR] Profession: Mo/R	If you're starting out, get prophecies (or nightfall if you really have to). Both provide great playing experiences, and feel free to ask questions. Since a lot of people have played for 1-2 years, it'll be hard to start out, but once you get the hang of it, it's not that hard.

Jul 10, 2007, 10:14 AM // 10:14	#3
Alperuzi Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: An/TR Guild: Need One! :( Profession: W/Mo	I've been playing for around twoandahalf years, and still enjoy it. But there are three different standalone games in the GW series which can be interlinked, which one (or ones) are you thinking of getting? TBH, I think GW is incomplete if you don't have all the chapters, and its substantially more advantageous in PvP if you have all the skills from the different chapters. I agree with holymasamune though, start out with either Prophecies or Nightfall if you have to.

Jul 10, 2007, 10:29 AM // 10:29	#4
Lonesamurai Furnace Stoker Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Cheltenham, Glos, UK Guild: Wolf Pack Samurai [WPS] Profession: R/A	Aye, beta player here with close to 5,000hours on my account and still going with a great guild and good friends in and out of game (oh and a business thats arisen from my guild too)

Jul 10, 2007, 10:36 AM // 10:36	#5
DDeathblade Academy Page Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Lahti, Finland Profession: W/	Buy proppies, make a caracter of your choise which could be your main character, complete Prophercies. Then buy Factions, apply your main character also to Factions and complete it. Then do the same for Nightfall and all other GWs you got.

Jul 10, 2007, 12:28 PM // 12:28	#6
Toutatis Walking Wiki Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Isle of Medication Guild: Visitors from Aranna [VFA] Profession: Me/E	My best advice for a propspective player is this: Head to the GuildWiki website and bookmark it. Pretty much everything you could ever need to know about the game is there, from mission guides to skill details to links to builds to armor styles to scams to look out for and everything inbetween. There are even some guides on there aimed specifically at new players, so be sure to read them through.

Jul 10, 2007, 03:06 PM // 15:06	#7
Sol Solus Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Feb 2007 Profession: W/R	I came to Guild Wars from City of Heroes also. I, too, got bored of CoH's endless months of grind, often times alone due to lack of henchmen. Taking 1-2 weeks to earn 2 levels only to be disappointed by the single new skill that I got. About the only good thing at the time I played was the cool costumes. If you play CoH, most likely you want to make a bunch of heroes you've dreamed up. GW actually allows you deeply develop multiple characters at a time, due to laid-back level cap and 8-skill limit. It's not hard to make your character good, but it takes work to make him great. There's always a new build to test or elite skill to hunt down, and you can laugh at CoH as you respec your character not once every several months, but on a task-to-task basis. The variety of play GW allows you will keep you from getting bored for a long time. Oh, and GW has some pretty cool armors too, just remember to look www.guildwiki.org before dropping your money on something.

Jul 10, 2007, 04:53 PM // 16:53	#8
KZaske Jungle Guide Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Boise Idaho Guild: Druids Of Old (DOO) Profession: R/Mo	I would advise starting with Prophecies, expand into Nightfall when you complete Prophecies. Once both chapters have been completed dive into Factions. Here are a few reasons; 1: Prophecies has the slowest learning curve of the three chapters. By the time you complete it you will understand the interface and skill usage quite well. 2: Nightfall introduces heros, these heros are required to complete Nightfall and will assist you greatly in completing Factions. 3: Nightfall has the second slowest learning curve but it leaves you a little unprepared for some aspects of the tactics required to complete the PvE (Player vs Enviroment or role playing) portion of the game. 4: Factions has the fast learning curve in the game and the poorest interface training of the three chapters. 5: The skills available in Prophecies are all that is really required to complete all three chapters for most character professions even if there are only four. 6: Prophecies has the lowest ration of useless skills of the three chapters. 7: The few of the skills available in Nightfall are some of the most powerful in the game. 8: Factions has the highest ration of useless skills of the three chapters. 9: Factions has the best music and scenery of the three chapters. 10: Factions could be viewed as PvP (Player vs Player) in a PvE world. In short, Prophecies will teach you enough about the working of Guild Wars that you can easily tackle the other chapters. That can not be said for either Nightfall or Factions. I an not going to say that it can not be done because I know of a lot of people who did it. But all of them have said they learned new things about the skills when they started a Prophecies character and played it through the complete game.

Jul 10, 2007, 05:28 PM // 17:28	#9
havok019 Academy Page Join Date: Jan 2007 Guild: HdCr Profession: W/Mo	Well, I've finished all campaigns. I'd suggest starting in Nightfall for the simple reason that you can get Heroes immediately. These are characters that you can equip and set skills for and take around with you. If you don't have heroes, you'll probably have to take around henchmen for quests and missions. These are party members that you are unable to equip and unable to set their skills so you're kind of stuck with what you get. Still they are usually ok for most of Prophecies. Prophecies (the first GW) has a long story storyline and a very expansive map. It will take a long time to complete and it will be harder to do so without having Heroes to take along with you because it is more difficult to find other players to form groups for missions due to how long that chapter has been out. Some missions on Factions are absolutely barren of other players and you really need Heroes now to do them. Also, there is a Guild Wars expansion pack (Eyes of the North also called GWEN on the forums) coming out in just over a month. You'll need Prophecies, Factions or Nightfall to play this and you'll need to be level 20. Most of the people that play now will migrate to that chapter immediately which will also make it more difficult to find people to join up with for missions in Factions and Prophecies. Really, you need all three campaigns for skills and all the campaigns are important for different reasons (Prophecies has very important skills and the backbone of GW; Factions has better player versus player games and elite missions; Nightfall has Heroes, GWEN will have a Hall of Monuments which is important for GW2). As a brand new player with a new campaign that's just about to start, I'd buy Nightfall first, then GWEN, then Prophecies and then Factions. Your storyline will be messed up a little, but you'll be able to get up to speed to everyone else faster having Heroes and you'll be able to get into GWEN where everyone else is going to be. Just another tip -- when playing these other campaigns, I'd skip the quests (unless they are in Prophecies with skill rewards) and just work on getting through the missions ASAP. All the action is going to be in GWEN and you'll probably have more fun getting up to speed there as soon as you can.

Jul 10, 2007, 05:44 PM // 17:44	#10
Killed u man Forge Runner Join Date: Feb 2006	^ Lol, there NO reason to give him so much literature in so little space If u want Lore/Storyline as you said, BUY THIS GAME! You'll get dragged into it like a black hole... If u want to do PvP, there are better options out there EDIT: Ooh yeah forgot, It's best if u start with prophecies, since the story begins here... 2 Year later (In-game) comes the Canthan story, and another year later (So 3 In-game) comes Nightfall.

Jul 10, 2007, 07:15 PM // 19:15	#11
Effendi Westland Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Isle of the dead Guild: [DVDF][LDS] Profession: P/W	Prophecies if you like slowly learning your character and the skills you use. Great scenery too. Long game, will keep you entertained for quite a while. Plus it is actually well-balanced if you do not take shortcuts (to get better weapons/armor/skills), so can be quite difficult the first time round (unless you get help from max-level players and their heros). I liked this aspect of the game alot. Factions is fast-paced, short, and quite intimitating at the start (in my opinion the area with the hardest hitting foes is right at the start of the mainland). Very different compared to the first game, and typically people who found prophecies too slow loved this game. If you want to do end-game stuff and get there quickly this is a good choice, though you'll miss out on the mid-level experience prophecies provides. Nightfall is a mix-match of that. It's alot bigger then factions, and so is the starter island. But for the most part of the game you will still be max level, where in prophecies 3/4th of the game is designer for lower then max levels, but unlike factions the areas do get more difficult as you progress. I am still glad I started with prophecies, but I like games that have a slow pace to start out with. Though after getting 6 chars through it am I glad with the faster starts that factions and nightfalls provide.

Jul 10, 2007, 07:32 PM // 19:32	#12
Healers Wisper Lion's Arch Merchant Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Anaheim, CA Guild: BoMB Profession: N/	I love this game but just a warning: I think Crack is less addictive!!! SO be Warned. Other then that I love this game and have many friend that play that love it too.

Jul 11, 2007, 01:44 PM // 13:44	#14
dragon spy Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Feb 2007 Guild: csi Profession: W/	hi my name is dragon spy and im a guild warsaholic. ya over 2 years and still play it daily. my pc game habbist were i would buy a game beat it in a week and buy another one. i have not bought a game other then guildwars, fastions and nightfall in over 2 years. anet keeps gw exciting you will love it.