guild wars VS WoW - Guild Wars Forums

Nigy · Jul 22, 2005, 03:20 AM // 03:20

can anyone tell me ways that guild wars is superior to world of warcraft?

and can someone also compare the map size of guild wars VS WoW.

thank you.

Ultimate_Gaara · Jul 22, 2005, 03:33 AM // 03:33

Well that depends on your gameing prefrence..

i could go on for countless days.. i really could... but ill try to make it short

Less grind (if you play it right)

No fee ( who wants to spend $15 a month?.. not I, having friends who pay for games sucks, they never do anything because they want their $15 a month's worth)

Graphics (ok granted WoW is supost to be cartoonish, but at least make that big bad dragon my friend showed me look less like Puff the magic dragon)

Updates (ive seen more people leave that game due to horrible updates and junk than for any other reason)

Balance (all my friends complained about was "rouges are too hard to fight" "shamans got another boost, thats gay", obviously there are some issues)

Bullys ( id hate to start GW having the fear a big bad lvl 60 is waiting right out side to kill me)

No fee (wait.. didnt i already say this?)

anyways thats all i feel like saying right now, after all i do have a life outside of disliking wow you know..

as for the map size, i dont know, but all i ever heard was "yah im going to iron forge today" so i coulnt imagine it being too big

Nigy · Jul 22, 2005, 03:46 AM // 03:46

yeah...thanks a lot.

it would help if someone know bout the map sizes...and what about character diversity...

Ninna · Jul 22, 2005, 03:53 AM // 03:53

what is Guild Wars?
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/content...ars-id1290.php

JoDiamonds · Jul 22, 2005, 04:08 AM // 04:08

You'd have to find someone who's played both a lot to know the map sizes. And the WoW map will always seem bigger, because in Guild Wars everyone gets teleportation. No world is going to seem smaller when you can remember spending a lot of real time running across of it. So, uh, that's also a point in favor of Guild Wars, in my opinion.

theclam · Jul 22, 2005, 04:26 AM // 04:26

I've played both games for a couple hundred hours each. This is a long post, but I'll try to make it very comprehensive. Here's what I think of them:
If you want, scroll down the conclusion, which is in bold.

The strength of GW lies in its core gameplay. Combat mechanics and character development are done very well. There's a great deal of strategy and tactics, emphasizing skill over patience (players who grind for 100 hours aren't significantly more powerful than someone who doesn't do any farming). However, the world isn't as rich, the UI is less customizable, and there isn't that much content. There isn't much item variety and the economy is pretty simple.

WoW has an amazing, immersive world. The UI, the quests, the economy, and many other things are done very well. However, my characters never really had a very interesting selection of abilities and combat is pretty formulaic. However, the Auction House, crafting, instances, and other elements makes the game a lot of fun.

They're both excellent games, but they cater to very different play styles. WoW encourages grinding (spending several hours doing a fairly repititious activity, in order to obtain experience, items, or abilities) and tedious activities. Expect to spend a lot of time traveling. GW is the opposite. Even if you wanted to do something tedious, there isn't that much to do. Farming doesn't reward you with that much. You can instantly travel to any town that you've already visited, so you don't have to spend cash and time siting on the back of a Gryphon.

WoW started out as a great game. It is very fun for the beginning player. However, once I got to the midgame (about lvl30), it just got boring. I was spending more and more time doing the same things (Immolate, Curse of Agony, Corruption, Drain Life, Drain Life, Shadow Bolt, Immolate, Drain Life, Drain Life, repeat). GW is the opposite. My first couple hours were a lot of fun. However, up until about the 30th or 40th hour in, the game was good, but nothing stood out. It just didn't have the captivating setting or extracurricular activies that WoW had. However, once I reached the Desert, things became very interesting. The 8 skill limit, which started out as being annoying, became a mechanic that encouraged me to develop unique strategies. Enemies starting to require more attention and quick thinking. The very high end PvE areas force you to adapt on-the-fly, depending on what your team is doing. For example, Aatxes (a mob in the UW) can kill a tank in 3 hits and a caster in 2. They attack about once a second, maybe a bit less. When you're fighting 3 of them at a time, you really do have to think, in order to succeed. But, you know what? It's very possible. I'm not a good, but not great player, and I have had a lot of fun playing in the high end areas.

In WoW, I never got to experience the high end areas. It just takes a lot of time to reach time. On the one hand, this speaks for the vast amount of content that WoW has. On the other, it requires you to have a lot of patience.

PvP is very different in both games. WoW's PvP works in battles from 1v1, to 45v45, or even more. However, you succeed or fail based upon your class and your items, not really on your skill. A player with trinkets that protect against Charm or Fear, or an Undead Rogue, will absolutely decimate a Warlock. Paladins have a huge advantage against Warriors. Priests usually beat Mages. Druids beat Rogues, unless the Rogues have a Spider Belt, which gives them an advantage. It felt too much like the battle was over before it started. However, large scale battles were more balanced because of the vast number of players. Defending the Redridge Mountains can feel epic, at times. GW is opposite, again, in the PvP system. You only have the option of 4v4, 8v8, 8v8v8, or 8v8v8v8v8v8. There's no 1v1 or 2v2. There are no random encounters with enemy players in the countryside (that also means that, unlike in WoW's PvP servers, a lvl60 Orc won't happen upon your lvl30 Human and destroy you). However, it is supremely well balanced. You win or fail based around the strategies and tactics that you and your team execute. You win based upon your skill. It feels like it's actually you that's playing, rather than your items or your character. It's pretty easy to acquire the abilities and equipment in order to compete at a high level of play, but it is still takes intelligence, organization, and quick reaction times to master.

WoW and GW have different types of servers. In WoW, there are 50 different servers. If you make a character on one server, you won't encounter anyone on another server, with that character, ever. This means that you may end up on a server with 4 Alliance for every Horde (or vice versa). However, it also means that there's only one copy of the game. If Orgrimmar is under attack by the Alliance, you can't just switch to another district and avoid combat. You either have to retreat to another town or fight. You also can happen upon players while you're adventuring and communicate or help them out. It builds a greater sense of community. However, it also means that you could be ambushed and outnumbered by enemies who delight in killing easy targets (this is only on PvP servers; on the other servers, PvP is purely consensual). This system does make WoW prone to lag. GW has only three servers (Europe, America, and Korea). However, everything is instanced. This means that only a certain number of people can occupy a given area at any one time. Thus, there can be 50 different copies (districts) of Ascalon City. On the one hand, this makes it easy to find friends or guildmates ("meet me in district 27"). On the other, GW has less of a sense of community, because of it. While you're out in the field, you will never encounter other players, since a unique instance of the game is reserved for your party. This cuts down on the lag. You also never have to worry about another player killing the object of your quest, forcing you to wait until he respawns. Since nothing respawns in GW, you can take it slow, or safely wait in a previously cleared area for someone to go to the bathroom or grab a drink. It's much less annoying.

It's pretty easy to solo in WoW. Everything except elaborate, time consuming, optional dungeons, can be done by yourself. However, you rarely encounter more than one or two mobs at any given time and it is almost impossible to kill anything more than 4 levels higher than you.

It's very difficult to solo in GW. You have to build your character specifically for it. Even then, certain types of mobs will destroy you. However, free, AI-controlled henchmen are available in every single town in the game, so you will have no problems filling out your party if you can't find any real players or just don't want to play with real players.

In WoW, there's no real direction to the story. You aren't special "chosen ones" who follow a linear path. You're just another adventure, making a name for himself. Because of this, everything is optional. No quests are required, although certain ones will nudge you in the right direction, so it's hard to feel lost. In GW, it's the opposite. There is a strong (but crappy, in my opinion) plot that carries you through the game. In order to progress, you have to complete Missions that require anywhere from 30m to 2h, to complete. Still they're a lot of fun and have some interesting mechanics that you don't find in WoW's equivalent (instance dungeons).

Character creation in GW is superior to that in WoW, in my opinion. WoW offers more options, like crafting, a larger selection of items, and races. However, it's difficult to make your character feel unique. Every single Priest in the game plays similiarily to every other Priest. Every Mage feels the same. There isn't that much to differentiate how you act. GW is different, yet again. There isn't any crafting, or extraneous mechanics, and the selection of items is mediocre. Still, it does feel like you are making a unique character. There is a tremendous amount of strategy in making a build, yet it's a simple and rewarding process. Every character customization choice makes a difference in how the character plays (except for cosmetic issues, like hair color). A Minion Necro will play differently than a Blood Support/Damage Necro or a Debuff Curse Necro. A Knockdown Hammer Warrior/Elementalist will do great damage while hindering the enemy's ability to do anything. A Sword Warrior/Monk will be able to survive tremendous amounts of damage. The greatest part about the game is that everything can be easily changed, except for your name, physical appearance, and primary class. If you feel like your Sword Warrior/Monk isn't doing enough damage, then you can switch to a Knockdown Hammer Warrior/Elementalist, although you may have to search a bit to find a good Hammer and do a few quests in order to get some Elementalist skills. WoW is the opposite. You have to pay a LOT in order to switch around your build. Most things take a great deal of expense or effort to change.

GW has better community-developer relations than WoW. ArenaNet releases patches more often and fixes problems earlier, although it is about equally communicative (Blizzard employees post a lot more frequently in forums, but ArenaNet grants an interview to a different fansite every week).

So, if you're a combat-oriented person who likes lots of strategy, tactics, and skill, and can stomach a lack of out-of-combat niceties, take GW. If you like all the extra features that WoW has, like mail, crafting, an Auction House, an immersive world, and all that, and you have the patience for somewhat rote combat and a bit of tediousness, take WoW.

Did I mention that GW has no monthly fee?

DrSLUGFly · Jul 22, 2005, 04:27 AM // 04:27

edit== to the above poster == excellent post dude... I am now totally sold on WoW (I am all about PvE in this game, and RP in games in general) I won't abandon GW since I don't see games as vs each other (elitist attitude, only play the best game, all others are teh suck?) but I'm going to start pulling some strings till I can finally figure out a way to get my account

I've asked the same question, because I have WoW but have no payment method... I can only comment on 4 things (3.5)

map = I heard that the WoW was many times larger than GW, and they don't have a map travel feature (they have ferry and air travel systems at designated ports) so even if it were the same size it would feel far larger anyway.

fee = gw is free...

fee = 15 bucks a month is piss change. If you get a 6 month membership it's around 10 bucks a month, little higher. That's nothing. You'll buy another game for 40 bucks and beat it and get bored of it within a month... If you bought any game and stopped playing it in under a month then try WoW for a bit.

graphics = yes, it looks cartoonish... that doens't make it bad in my opinion. There are a million reasons not to like Disney and several not to like particular anime features, but being cartoonish is never one of them.

Wa$d · Jul 22, 2005, 04:37 AM // 04:37

I think it comes down to
1) are you rdy for a serious comitment to a game. If not GW is for you. If so then consider WoW
2) Monthly fee. If you dont care about sheling out 15 bucks a month take WoW. If you do take GW
3) Up keep of the game. How offen does WoW update mabye 1 a month. GW=almost every week

My thoughs on WoW vs. GW

Also look for free trails of games, WoW has a free trail in PC gamer right now, i dont know about GW though

DrSLUGFly · Jul 22, 2005, 04:41 AM // 04:41

free trials still require credit cards though...

so does the free month you get for buying the cd

theclam · Jul 22, 2005, 04:44 AM // 04:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrSLUGFly

free trials still require credit cards though...

so does the free month you get for buying the cd

Fear not, there's a solution:
http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product_id=645985

You can buy WoW Game Cards, that work just like Gift Certificates. No credit card required. However, it is a tad more expensive.

TheGreatBoo · Jul 22, 2005, 04:54 AM // 04:54

Umm I'm going to avoid repeating what everyone else said, and just say that theclam nailed it. One thing I'm suprised no one mentioned is that wow will take your soul. It will suck going away and coming back later.

Haloknight9 · Jul 22, 2005, 04:54 AM // 04:54

I agree with Ultimate Gaara, on everything, lol.

GW does have a considerable less amount of grinding(levels). I stoped playing my hunter on wow at lv 53. Just got sick of trying to look for an instance group at my level. Heh and sick of stupid groups when i did. =P

No fee is a major plus, heck i even admit i shouldnt complain about most of the things i do just becuase it has no fee. And for this i salute anet.

Like Ultimate said, yeah... they made WoW cartoonish on purpose, but gw has pretty awesome graphics, and life like features like your char blinking every couple of seconds, and omg... have you ever tried turning on post process effects in glints portion of the cave? Wow....

Updates- Eh... no comment... but yeah, some people did leave due to mis balances..which was another issue when i left, shamans and rouges were basiclly demigods :P in my opinion of course.

Bullys - dont even get me started... thing i hated most was getting ganked just for thier ranking pleasure, and then i just continue grinding and leveling, get ganked by same people, repeat process. Sure pvp is pvp, but heck, one would think they would stop after 2 hrs :P

Yeah, GW rocks... in many ways, and is much more balanced. Ill admit though i had fun in WoW up to the point i left.

Wa$d · Jul 22, 2005, 04:57 AM // 04:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrSLUGFly

free trials still require credit cards though...

so does the free month you get for buying the cd

I am currently enjoying a free month on CoH with no credit card

KvanCetre · Jul 22, 2005, 04:59 AM // 04:59

The thing that made WoW less fun for me was having to go into PvP lands alone and trying to avoid people 20 levels higher than me who were in parties and ready to kill me

Nigy · Jul 22, 2005, 05:08 AM // 05:08

whoa Theclam, that was extremely helpful

it seems to me that if WoW was free of monthly charge, i'd go with it because of the huge immersive world, and the fact im a warcraft fan, but since im not that old, and dont have a job....15 dollers is good money.

so im leaning towards guild wars....of course im still faced with the intel extreme intergrated graphics controller graphics problem....

Wa$d · Jul 22, 2005, 05:13 AM // 05:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigy

whoa Theclam, that was extremely helpful

it seems to me that if WoW was free of monthly charge, i'd go with it because of the huge immersive world, and the fact im a warcraft fan, but since im not that old, and dont have a job....15 dollers is good money.

so im leaning towards guild wars....of course im still faced with the intel extreme intergrated graphics controller graphics problem....

If your a noob to the MMORPG scene, then go with guild wars, and for the graphics card problem, to and grab a Radeon 9800 128mb for like $150, that might seem like alot, but work on you mom and dad for it

Algren Cole · Jul 22, 2005, 05:14 AM // 05:14

WoW = crap
GW = decent game

/endthread

Wa$d · Jul 22, 2005, 05:17 AM // 05:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Algren Cole

WoW = crap
GW = decent game

/endthread

HAve you ever played WoW i doubt it, each has its advantages

theclam · Jul 22, 2005, 05:24 AM // 05:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wa$d

If your a noob to the MMORPG scene, then go with guild wars, and for the graphics card problem, to and grab a Radeon 9800 128mb for like $150, that might seem like alot, but work on you mom and dad for it

Hell, one of these is as powerful as a plain 9800, at almost half the price:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...m it=Property

If you're going for $150, the Geforce 6600GT is the best card on the market in terms of bang for your buck:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc... mit=Property

Wa$d · Jul 22, 2005, 05:27 AM // 05:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by theclam

Hell, one of these is as powerful as a plain 9800, at almost half the price:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...m it=Property

If you're going for $150, the Geforce 6600GT is the best card on the market in terms of bang for your buck:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc... mit=Property

Your right, i was just reciting from memory from a best buy price i saw, and yes the 6600 is the best for you money

Jul 22, 2005, 03:20 AM // 03:20	#1
Nigy Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: May 2005 Location: Seattle	guild wars VS WoW can anyone tell me ways that guild wars is superior to world of warcraft? and can someone also compare the map size of guild wars VS WoW. thank you. Last edited by Nigy; Jul 22, 2005 at 03:27 AM // 03:27..

Jul 22, 2005, 04:27 AM // 04:27	#7
DrSLUGFly Desert Nomad Join Date: May 2005 Location: European Server or International	edit== to the above poster == excellent post dude... I am now totally sold on WoW (I am all about PvE in this game, and RP in games in general) I won't abandon GW since I don't see games as vs each other (elitist attitude, only play the best game, all others are teh suck?) but I'm going to start pulling some strings till I can finally figure out a way to get my account I've asked the same question, because I have WoW but have no payment method... I can only comment on 4 things (3.5) map = I heard that the WoW was many times larger than GW, and they don't have a map travel feature (they have ferry and air travel systems at designated ports) so even if it were the same size it would feel far larger anyway. fee = gw is free... fee = 15 bucks a month is piss change. If you get a 6 month membership it's around 10 bucks a month, little higher. That's nothing. You'll buy another game for 40 bucks and beat it and get bored of it within a month... If you bought any game and stopped playing it in under a month then try WoW for a bit. graphics = yes, it looks cartoonish... that doens't make it bad in my opinion. There are a million reasons not to like Disney and several not to like particular anime features, but being cartoonish is never one of them. Last edited by DrSLUGFly; Jul 22, 2005 at 04:36 AM // 04:36..

Jul 22, 2005, 04:54 AM // 04:54	#12
Haloknight9 Academy Page Join Date: Jul 2005	I agree with Ultimate Gaara, on everything, lol. GW does have a considerable less amount of grinding(levels). I stoped playing my hunter on wow at lv 53. Just got sick of trying to look for an instance group at my level. Heh and sick of stupid groups when i did. =P No fee is a major plus, heck i even admit i shouldnt complain about most of the things i do just becuase it has no fee. And for this i salute anet. Like Ultimate said, yeah... they made WoW cartoonish on purpose, but gw has pretty awesome graphics, and life like features like your char blinking every couple of seconds, and omg... have you ever tried turning on post process effects in glints portion of the cave? Wow.... Updates- Eh... no comment... but yeah, some people did leave due to mis balances..which was another issue when i left, shamans and rouges were basiclly demigods :P in my opinion of course. Bullys - dont even get me started... thing i hated most was getting ganked just for thier ranking pleasure, and then i just continue grinding and leveling, get ganked by same people, repeat process. Sure pvp is pvp, but heck, one would think they would stop after 2 hrs :P Yeah, GW rocks... in many ways, and is much more balanced. Ill admit though i had fun in WoW up to the point i left. Last edited by Haloknight9; Jul 22, 2005 at 04:59 AM // 04:59..

Jul 22, 2005, 03:33 AM // 03:33	#2
Ultimate_Gaara Desert Nomad Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: BC, Canada.. how aboot that eh?	Well that depends on your gameing prefrence.. i could go on for countless days.. i really could... but ill try to make it short Less grind (if you play it right) No fee ( who wants to spend $15 a month?.. not I, having friends who pay for games sucks, they never do anything because they want their $15 a month's worth) Graphics (ok granted WoW is supost to be cartoonish, but at least make that big bad dragon my friend showed me look less like Puff the magic dragon) Updates (ive seen more people leave that game due to horrible updates and junk than for any other reason) Balance (all my friends complained about was "rouges are too hard to fight" "shamans got another boost, thats gay", obviously there are some issues) Bullys ( id hate to start GW having the fear a big bad lvl 60 is waiting right out side to kill me) No fee (wait.. didnt i already say this?) anyways thats all i feel like saying right now, after all i do have a life outside of disliking wow you know.. as for the map size, i dont know, but all i ever heard was "yah im going to iron forge today" so i coulnt imagine it being too big

Jul 22, 2005, 03:46 AM // 03:46	#3
Nigy Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: May 2005 Location: Seattle	yeah...thanks a lot. it would help if someone know bout the map sizes...and what about character diversity...

Jul 22, 2005, 03:53 AM // 03:53	#4
Ninna Desert Nomad Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Northeast USA Guild: Guilded Rose Profession: Me/	what is Guild Wars? http://www.guildwarsguru.com/content...ars-id1290.php

Jul 22, 2005, 04:08 AM // 04:08	#5
JoDiamonds Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: New England	You'd have to find someone who's played both a lot to know the map sizes. And the WoW map will always seem bigger, because in Guild Wars everyone gets teleportation. No world is going to seem smaller when you can remember spending a lot of real time running across of it. So, uh, that's also a point in favor of Guild Wars, in my opinion.

Jul 22, 2005, 04:26 AM // 04:26	#6
theclam Jungle Guide Join Date: May 2005	I've played both games for a couple hundred hours each. This is a long post, but I'll try to make it very comprehensive. Here's what I think of them: If you want, scroll down the conclusion, which is in bold. The strength of GW lies in its core gameplay. Combat mechanics and character development are done very well. There's a great deal of strategy and tactics, emphasizing skill over patience (players who grind for 100 hours aren't significantly more powerful than someone who doesn't do any farming). However, the world isn't as rich, the UI is less customizable, and there isn't that much content. There isn't much item variety and the economy is pretty simple. WoW has an amazing, immersive world. The UI, the quests, the economy, and many other things are done very well. However, my characters never really had a very interesting selection of abilities and combat is pretty formulaic. However, the Auction House, crafting, instances, and other elements makes the game a lot of fun. They're both excellent games, but they cater to very different play styles. WoW encourages grinding (spending several hours doing a fairly repititious activity, in order to obtain experience, items, or abilities) and tedious activities. Expect to spend a lot of time traveling. GW is the opposite. Even if you wanted to do something tedious, there isn't that much to do. Farming doesn't reward you with that much. You can instantly travel to any town that you've already visited, so you don't have to spend cash and time siting on the back of a Gryphon. WoW started out as a great game. It is very fun for the beginning player. However, once I got to the midgame (about lvl30), it just got boring. I was spending more and more time doing the same things (Immolate, Curse of Agony, Corruption, Drain Life, Drain Life, Shadow Bolt, Immolate, Drain Life, Drain Life, repeat). GW is the opposite. My first couple hours were a lot of fun. However, up until about the 30th or 40th hour in, the game was good, but nothing stood out. It just didn't have the captivating setting or extracurricular activies that WoW had. However, once I reached the Desert, things became very interesting. The 8 skill limit, which started out as being annoying, became a mechanic that encouraged me to develop unique strategies. Enemies starting to require more attention and quick thinking. The very high end PvE areas force you to adapt on-the-fly, depending on what your team is doing. For example, Aatxes (a mob in the UW) can kill a tank in 3 hits and a caster in 2. They attack about once a second, maybe a bit less. When you're fighting 3 of them at a time, you really do have to think, in order to succeed. But, you know what? It's very possible. I'm not a good, but not great player, and I have had a lot of fun playing in the high end areas. In WoW, I never got to experience the high end areas. It just takes a lot of time to reach time. On the one hand, this speaks for the vast amount of content that WoW has. On the other, it requires you to have a lot of patience. PvP is very different in both games. WoW's PvP works in battles from 1v1, to 45v45, or even more. However, you succeed or fail based upon your class and your items, not really on your skill. A player with trinkets that protect against Charm or Fear, or an Undead Rogue, will absolutely decimate a Warlock. Paladins have a huge advantage against Warriors. Priests usually beat Mages. Druids beat Rogues, unless the Rogues have a Spider Belt, which gives them an advantage. It felt too much like the battle was over before it started. However, large scale battles were more balanced because of the vast number of players. Defending the Redridge Mountains can feel epic, at times. GW is opposite, again, in the PvP system. You only have the option of 4v4, 8v8, 8v8v8, or 8v8v8v8v8v8. There's no 1v1 or 2v2. There are no random encounters with enemy players in the countryside (that also means that, unlike in WoW's PvP servers, a lvl60 Orc won't happen upon your lvl30 Human and destroy you). However, it is supremely well balanced. You win or fail based around the strategies and tactics that you and your team execute. You win based upon your skill. It feels like it's actually you that's playing, rather than your items or your character. It's pretty easy to acquire the abilities and equipment in order to compete at a high level of play, but it is still takes intelligence, organization, and quick reaction times to master. WoW and GW have different types of servers. In WoW, there are 50 different servers. If you make a character on one server, you won't encounter anyone on another server, with that character, ever. This means that you may end up on a server with 4 Alliance for every Horde (or vice versa). However, it also means that there's only one copy of the game. If Orgrimmar is under attack by the Alliance, you can't just switch to another district and avoid combat. You either have to retreat to another town or fight. You also can happen upon players while you're adventuring and communicate or help them out. It builds a greater sense of community. However, it also means that you could be ambushed and outnumbered by enemies who delight in killing easy targets (this is only on PvP servers; on the other servers, PvP is purely consensual). This system does make WoW prone to lag. GW has only three servers (Europe, America, and Korea). However, everything is instanced. This means that only a certain number of people can occupy a given area at any one time. Thus, there can be 50 different copies (districts) of Ascalon City. On the one hand, this makes it easy to find friends or guildmates ("meet me in district 27"). On the other, GW has less of a sense of community, because of it. While you're out in the field, you will never encounter other players, since a unique instance of the game is reserved for your party. This cuts down on the lag. You also never have to worry about another player killing the object of your quest, forcing you to wait until he respawns. Since nothing respawns in GW, you can take it slow, or safely wait in a previously cleared area for someone to go to the bathroom or grab a drink. It's much less annoying. It's pretty easy to solo in WoW. Everything except elaborate, time consuming, optional dungeons, can be done by yourself. However, you rarely encounter more than one or two mobs at any given time and it is almost impossible to kill anything more than 4 levels higher than you. It's very difficult to solo in GW. You have to build your character specifically for it. Even then, certain types of mobs will destroy you. However, free, AI-controlled henchmen are available in every single town in the game, so you will have no problems filling out your party if you can't find any real players or just don't want to play with real players. In WoW, there's no real direction to the story. You aren't special "chosen ones" who follow a linear path. You're just another adventure, making a name for himself. Because of this, everything is optional. No quests are required, although certain ones will nudge you in the right direction, so it's hard to feel lost. In GW, it's the opposite. There is a strong (but crappy, in my opinion) plot that carries you through the game. In order to progress, you have to complete Missions that require anywhere from 30m to 2h, to complete. Still they're a lot of fun and have some interesting mechanics that you don't find in WoW's equivalent (instance dungeons). Character creation in GW is superior to that in WoW, in my opinion. WoW offers more options, like crafting, a larger selection of items, and races. However, it's difficult to make your character feel unique. Every single Priest in the game plays similiarily to every other Priest. Every Mage feels the same. There isn't that much to differentiate how you act. GW is different, yet again. There isn't any crafting, or extraneous mechanics, and the selection of items is mediocre. Still, it does feel like you are making a unique character. There is a tremendous amount of strategy in making a build, yet it's a simple and rewarding process. Every character customization choice makes a difference in how the character plays (except for cosmetic issues, like hair color). A Minion Necro will play differently than a Blood Support/Damage Necro or a Debuff Curse Necro. A Knockdown Hammer Warrior/Elementalist will do great damage while hindering the enemy's ability to do anything. A Sword Warrior/Monk will be able to survive tremendous amounts of damage. The greatest part about the game is that everything can be easily changed, except for your name, physical appearance, and primary class. If you feel like your Sword Warrior/Monk isn't doing enough damage, then you can switch to a Knockdown Hammer Warrior/Elementalist, although you may have to search a bit to find a good Hammer and do a few quests in order to get some Elementalist skills. WoW is the opposite. You have to pay a LOT in order to switch around your build. Most things take a great deal of expense or effort to change. GW has better community-developer relations than WoW. ArenaNet releases patches more often and fixes problems earlier, although it is about equally communicative (Blizzard employees post a lot more frequently in forums, but ArenaNet grants an interview to a different fansite every week). So, if you're a combat-oriented person who likes lots of strategy, tactics, and skill, and can stomach a lack of out-of-combat niceties, take GW. If you like all the extra features that WoW has, like mail, crafting, an Auction House, an immersive world, and all that, and you have the patience for somewhat rote combat and a bit of tediousness, take WoW. Did I mention that GW has no monthly fee?

Jul 22, 2005, 04:37 AM // 04:37	#8
Wa$d Lion's Arch Merchant Join Date: May 2005 Profession: W/Mo	I think it comes down to 1) are you rdy for a serious comitment to a game. If not GW is for you. If so then consider WoW 2) Monthly fee. If you dont care about sheling out 15 bucks a month take WoW. If you do take GW 3) Up keep of the game. How offen does WoW update mabye 1 a month. GW=almost every week My thoughs on WoW vs. GW Also look for free trails of games, WoW has a free trail in PC gamer right now, i dont know about GW though

Jul 22, 2005, 04:41 AM // 04:41	#9
DrSLUGFly Desert Nomad Join Date: May 2005 Location: European Server or International	free trials still require credit cards though... so does the free month you get for buying the cd

Jul 22, 2005, 04:54 AM // 04:54	#11
TheGreatBoo Krytan Explorer Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: PA Guild: Once again I'm a free agent. Quality guilds ahoy?	Umm I'm going to avoid repeating what everyone else said, and just say that theclam nailed it. One thing I'm suprised no one mentioned is that wow will take your soul. It will suck going away and coming back later.

Jul 22, 2005, 04:59 AM // 04:59	#14
KvanCetre Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: May 2005 Guild: The Madison Scouts Profession: E/Mo	The thing that made WoW less fun for me was having to go into PvP lands alone and trying to avoid people 20 levels higher than me who were in parties and ready to kill me

Jul 22, 2005, 05:08 AM // 05:08	#15
Nigy Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: May 2005 Location: Seattle	whoa Theclam, that was extremely helpful it seems to me that if WoW was free of monthly charge, i'd go with it because of the huge immersive world, and the fact im a warcraft fan, but since im not that old, and dont have a job....15 dollers is good money. so im leaning towards guild wars....of course im still faced with the intel extreme intergrated graphics controller graphics problem....

Jul 22, 2005, 05:14 AM // 05:14	#17
Algren Cole Banned Join Date: Jun 2005	WoW = crap GW = decent game /endthread