Questions from a potential GW player - Guild Wars Forums

Garak1701 · Feb 16, 2007, 07:50 PM // 19:50

Hey Guys...For at least the past 6 months, when I first picked up the GW box to look at the back, I have been dying to play GW. However, thanks to having a computer that is relatively old, I knew there was no way that it would run the game. Now I stand poised to buy a new computer and notebook to be exact, the prospect of playing GW makes me absolutely giddy. While I've spent some time around this site trying to get a better idea of what the game entails, I am still left with questions. Mostly technical in nature. I would appreciate any assistance you could provide in helping me answer these. Will I have any problem running any of the GW games on a new laptop equiped with Vista? Are Nightfall and Factions expansion packs to GW Prophecies or are they each their own game? Will I need to purchase any special equipment to play the game or should a brand new cpu have the right video cards etc. Lastly any suggestions on what brand to buy? I know alot of people have told me to go with dell but I'm not entirely comfortable with buying online site unseen. Also I have never played an MMORPG, but looked forward to it, so take it easy on me.

Thanks.

Jaws Of Doom · Feb 16, 2007, 07:55 PM // 19:55

I can hit one of those. Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall are three seperate games that build on each other. You can buy Factions without Prophecies and Nightfall, or Prophecies and Nightfall without Factions. When you start playing, you download the content for all three games, but you can only use the content from the game you bought. So if you buy Prophecies, you will be able to see and interact with other people using Assassins, Ritualists, Paragons and Dervishes, but you won't be able to play as them without the respective game.

Hmm.... That sounds confusing..........

Sofonisba · Feb 16, 2007, 07:57 PM // 19:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaws Of Doom

I can hit one of those. Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall are three seperate games that build on each other. You can buy Factions without Prophecies and Nightfall, or Prophecies and Nightfall without Factions. When you start playing, you download the content for all three games, but you can only use the content from the game you bought. So if you buy Prophecies, you will be able to see and interact with other people using Assassins, Ritualists, Paragons and Dervishes, but you won't be able to play as them without the respective game.

Hmm.... That sounds confusing..........

To clarify, the 3 games are independent, but if you link them all to one account, your chars can travel between them.

DeanBB · Feb 16, 2007, 08:00 PM // 20:00

I'll let someone else answer PC questions. Do make sure that the game's requirements are met, especially with a laptop as you probably cannot upgrade it at all.

Each game is standalone but you can only explore the continent that each provides. So if you start with Nightfall you can play it without the other 2 and explore all of Elona. When/if you desire you can add the other(s) and then explore them, learn the skills that come with them, etc.

Internet access, mouse and keyboard are all that are required but of course video, ram and CPU are all important. I run it on an old Celeron 1.3ghz just fine but it has an upgraded video and something like 468 ram.

Garak1701 · Feb 16, 2007, 08:08 PM // 20:08

Let's put it this way...last time I bought a computer 32mb was alot. Anyway I appreciate the response so far and can't wait to play.

{BHC}KingWarman88 · Feb 16, 2007, 08:10 PM // 20:10

Hey,

I got the Orginial,Nightfall and used to have Factions, and I think you can connect all the charactes I think though..

the_jos · Feb 16, 2007, 08:14 PM // 20:14

About the computer.
2 people of my previous guild ran GW on laptops, no problem at all.
So most new laptops should be able to run GW without a problem.

But, you should check the technical questions forum ( http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/f...splay.php?f=16 ) and use the search function on Vista.
I've seen some people having issues with Vista but I'm not sure which are real problems.

Star Naiad · Feb 16, 2007, 08:14 PM // 20:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garak1701

Let's put it this way...last time I bought a computer 32mb was alot. Anyway I appreciate the response so far and can't wait to play.

if you need help building a PC join the Nvnews.net Forum friendly people will advice you with the best build. and you can ask any PC question.

*Darcy* · Feb 16, 2007, 08:34 PM // 20:34

You can order a Dell laptop built for gaming. My brother has one and loves it. Also, Dell has opened stores around the US, so you can check their website to see if one is near you.

Somewhere in the Gaile Gray logs, she answered a question about Vista and GW. Gaile said that GW runs very well on Vista, and ArenaNet was just in line awaiting the Microsoft approval.

lakatz · Feb 16, 2007, 09:12 PM // 21:12

Hi Garak...

Congratulations on your new purchase! You must be excited to not have to say 486 any more. hehe... lil joke.

Notebook owner here w/ some do-overs if and when I have 'em to do over.

I will make sure my screen resolution is at least 1280x1024. Mine is currently 1024x768. It works, but the game has beautiful graphics and deserves the best resolution possible.

I will make sure my video card is supported. My current one is not, and, though I can play the game, I'm missing some really great effects.

I'll have at least 1 gb of RAM. I have 512 right now, and it works, but I do lag a lot in Cantha (the poly rich continent in Factions). I might upgrade the RAM to 1 gb soon, or... I might just buy a whole new system instead... just for GW

Also, I find a laptop keyboard and mouse to be cumbersome for gameplaying, so I have a USB keyboard and a USB mouse attached to it. It works well for me because my notebook is actually a tablet too and I can pivot the screen around so that the laptop keyboard is in the back out of the way.

Can you upgrade Dells now? Last time I asked, I was told (by our in-house engineers) you couldn't, and that was a huge reason I decided against Dell. I get a pretty nice discount on Dells through my company, so if they are upgradable it's something for me to think about.

So you got the idea about all the chapters of GW right? They are all stand alone if you want... or you can play them altogether by adding all the keys to the same account. You can add them whenever you want and in whatever order you want.

turbotoes · Feb 17, 2007, 09:25 AM // 09:25

To be honest a dell laptop is a upgradeable as any laptop and indeed more upgradeable than most, you will find clear instructions on how to replace ram and hdisks on the dell support site. My dell 8500 lappy has a geforce 4200go a 2.2ghz pentium and a gig of ram and I can play guildwars fine on that (its nearly three years old now but still used everyday, So what I'm getting at is if you make sure to avoid the cheap graphics chips that you get with "budget" laptops you should be ok with guildwars. BUT, one thing to bear in mind with nvidia chips thse days is that any of their cards with a 200 on the end is not a gaming chip, the good old days of the 4200 ( a great gaming chip) are long gone the 5's and 6's (200's) are rubbish.

turbotoes

Garak1701 · Feb 17, 2007, 03:42 PM // 15:42

Hoping to be up and running in the world of GW by the end of the weekend. Thanks...

Coridan · Feb 17, 2007, 04:34 PM // 16:34

there was a post in the riverside forum about a trilogy package where u can get all 3 chapters for 99.99 save your around 50 bucks or so....that is if u want to get all 3... Also since you are new to the whole online gaming experience I strongly suggest going with the original guildwars (prophecies) as it has a slow learning curve and several other great benefits that are missing in other chapters (skill rewards) .....then IF you don't buy all 3 at once i suggest you pick up the Nightfall package as that will give u the abilities to have customized heros...then get factions to round it out...

Although the order of purchase that i gave you doesn't follow the actual story line you should be able to piece it together with no problems...the actual story goes..prophecies, factions..then nightfall.

Cheers and good luck...

BTW if you get the original stay in the "newbie" area also called presearing..until you reach lvl 5-7 be sure to try out mutiple character types as well as secondary professions to find the one that suits you best...and don't worry no matter what you do AFTER you create you character such as picking a secondary subclass etc can be changed...although the looks of the chacters, the size , haircolor, name.. etc..can not be changed

dansamy · Feb 17, 2007, 06:17 PM // 18:17

Yep. Sam's Wholesale Club has the trilogy 3-pack for $100. Buy 2, get one free kind of deal there.

If you don't have Sam's where you live, check Costco. I understand that frequently Sam's and Costco offer similar products. (I wouldn't know, we don't have Costco here in the South.)

Coloneh · Feb 17, 2007, 08:15 PM // 20:15

if its a new high-end laptop it will probably work fine. It dosnt run on my notebook very well, but mine's basically a word processor with a Wi-Fi card. also, if you are wondering which game to buy I would go with nightfall, there are more new players and players in general, Prophecies is mostly old players who know everything and factions is abandoned.

ElinoraNeSangre · Feb 17, 2007, 08:15 PM // 20:15

We've got a Dell laptop running Vista, and Guild Wars is running awesome.

I've been running GW on Vista for round about a year (since before the Factions preview event last year), and it's worked well for me. I've never had a problem with the last 6 months or so of Vista use.

I suggest that you go to a computer place (Circuit City, Best Buy, whatever) and play with some of the laptops hands on. Dells are good but their tech support is sketchy. Sony isn't bad (I've had luck with mine), either. Check out some at a store and see what you like, then find the best deal. Costco also sometimes has decent laptop deals, and I've heard they're good about their warranties.

If a machine can run Home Premium or Ultimate versions of Windows Vista, it should run GW great, if that helps.

The biggest problem with Vista and GW is usually video driver related, and most new laptops will have great Vista drivers. The big manufacturers work with Microsoft to ensure there's good driver support, so that shouldn't be a problem for you.

The other thing is that it might not hurt to turn off desktop compositioning when you play (you can change the shortcut to do that, I can tell you how if you need it) because it'll turn off the visual themes while you play which improves perf. It might not even matter on some computers, but since I"m usually playing full screen anyway I don't even know they're off so it doesn't hurt.

I've got a buttload of Vista experience if you have any questions there, feel free to ask.

-kel

Feb 16, 2007, 07:50 PM // 19:50	#1
Garak1701 Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Feb 2007	Questions from a potential GW player Hey Guys...For at least the past 6 months, when I first picked up the GW box to look at the back, I have been dying to play GW. However, thanks to having a computer that is relatively old, I knew there was no way that it would run the game. Now I stand poised to buy a new computer and notebook to be exact, the prospect of playing GW makes me absolutely giddy. While I've spent some time around this site trying to get a better idea of what the game entails, I am still left with questions. Mostly technical in nature. I would appreciate any assistance you could provide in helping me answer these. Will I have any problem running any of the GW games on a new laptop equiped with Vista? Are Nightfall and Factions expansion packs to GW Prophecies or are they each their own game? Will I need to purchase any special equipment to play the game or should a brand new cpu have the right video cards etc. Lastly any suggestions on what brand to buy? I know alot of people have told me to go with dell but I'm not entirely comfortable with buying online site unseen. Also I have never played an MMORPG, but looked forward to it, so take it easy on me. Thanks.

Feb 16, 2007, 09:12 PM // 21:12	#10
lakatz Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Jun 2006	Hi Garak... Congratulations on your new purchase! You must be excited to not have to say 486 any more. hehe... lil joke. Notebook owner here w/ some do-overs if and when I have 'em to do over. I will make sure my screen resolution is at least 1280x1024. Mine is currently 1024x768. It works, but the game has beautiful graphics and deserves the best resolution possible. I will make sure my video card is supported. My current one is not, and, though I can play the game, I'm missing some really great effects. I'll have at least 1 gb of RAM. I have 512 right now, and it works, but I do lag a lot in Cantha (the poly rich continent in Factions). I might upgrade the RAM to 1 gb soon, or... I might just buy a whole new system instead... just for GW Also, I find a laptop keyboard and mouse to be cumbersome for gameplaying, so I have a USB keyboard and a USB mouse attached to it. It works well for me because my notebook is actually a tablet too and I can pivot the screen around so that the laptop keyboard is in the back out of the way. Can you upgrade Dells now? Last time I asked, I was told (by our in-house engineers) you couldn't, and that was a huge reason I decided against Dell. I get a pretty nice discount on Dells through my company, so if they are upgradable it's something for me to think about. So you got the idea about all the chapters of GW right? They are all stand alone if you want... or you can play them altogether by adding all the keys to the same account. You can add them whenever you want and in whatever order you want. Last edited by lakatz; Feb 16, 2007 at 09:16 PM // 21:16..

Feb 17, 2007, 06:17 PM // 18:17	#14
dansamy Chasing Dragons Join Date: May 2005 Location: Lost in La-La Land Guild: LFGuild Profession: Mo/Me	Yep. Sam's Wholesale Club has the trilogy 3-pack for $100. Buy 2, get one free kind of deal there. If you don't have Sam's where you live, check Costco. I understand that frequently Sam's and Costco offer similar products. (I wouldn't know, we don't have Costco here in the South.) __________________ Former Gladiator's Arena Moderator. Retired. Awaiting GW2.

Feb 16, 2007, 07:55 PM // 19:55	#2
Jaws Of Doom Academy Page Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: USA Profession: R/E	I can hit one of those. Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall are three seperate games that build on each other. You can buy Factions without Prophecies and Nightfall, or Prophecies and Nightfall without Factions. When you start playing, you download the content for all three games, but you can only use the content from the game you bought. So if you buy Prophecies, you will be able to see and interact with other people using Assassins, Ritualists, Paragons and Dervishes, but you won't be able to play as them without the respective game. Hmm.... That sounds confusing..........

Feb 16, 2007, 08:00 PM // 20:00	#4
DeanBB Forge Runner Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Arizona Guild: Wizardry Players Guild, http://4guildwars.7.forumer.com	I'll let someone else answer PC questions. Do make sure that the game's requirements are met, especially with a laptop as you probably cannot upgrade it at all. Each game is standalone but you can only explore the continent that each provides. So if you start with Nightfall you can play it without the other 2 and explore all of Elona. When/if you desire you can add the other(s) and then explore them, learn the skills that come with them, etc. Internet access, mouse and keyboard are all that are required but of course video, ram and CPU are all important. I run it on an old Celeron 1.3ghz just fine but it has an upgraded video and something like 468 ram.

Feb 16, 2007, 08:08 PM // 20:08	#5
Garak1701 Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Feb 2007	Let's put it this way...last time I bought a computer 32mb was alot. Anyway I appreciate the response so far and can't wait to play.

Feb 16, 2007, 08:10 PM // 20:10	#6
{BHC}KingWarman88 Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Castle 2_5_2 SwissLand Guild: BHC Profession: W/N	Hey, I got the Orginial,Nightfall and used to have Factions, and I think you can connect all the charactes I think though..

Feb 16, 2007, 08:14 PM // 20:14	#7
the_jos Forge Runner Join Date: Jun 2006 Guild: Hard Mode Legion [HML] Profession: N/	About the computer. 2 people of my previous guild ran GW on laptops, no problem at all. So most new laptops should be able to run GW without a problem. But, you should check the technical questions forum ( http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/f...splay.php?f=16 ) and use the search function on Vista. I've seen some people having issues with Vista but I'm not sure which are real problems.

Feb 16, 2007, 08:34 PM // 20:34	#9
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 order a Dell laptop built for gaming. My brother has one and loves it. Also, Dell has opened stores around the US, so you can check their website to see if one is near you. Somewhere in the Gaile Gray logs, she answered a question about Vista and GW. Gaile said that GW runs very well on Vista, and ArenaNet was just in line awaiting the Microsoft approval.

Feb 17, 2007, 09:25 AM // 09:25	#11
turbotoes Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: France Profession: N/R	To be honest a dell laptop is a upgradeable as any laptop and indeed more upgradeable than most, you will find clear instructions on how to replace ram and hdisks on the dell support site. My dell 8500 lappy has a geforce 4200go a 2.2ghz pentium and a gig of ram and I can play guildwars fine on that (its nearly three years old now but still used everyday, So what I'm getting at is if you make sure to avoid the cheap graphics chips that you get with "budget" laptops you should be ok with guildwars. BUT, one thing to bear in mind with nvidia chips thse days is that any of their cards with a 200 on the end is not a gaming chip, the good old days of the 4200 ( a great gaming chip) are long gone the 5's and 6's (200's) are rubbish. turbotoes

Feb 17, 2007, 03:42 PM // 15:42	#12
Garak1701 Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Feb 2007	Hoping to be up and running in the world of GW by the end of the weekend. Thanks...

Feb 17, 2007, 04:34 PM // 16:34	#13
Coridan Forge Runner Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: US Guild: Old Married Gamers {OMG} Profession: W/	there was a post in the riverside forum about a trilogy package where u can get all 3 chapters for 99.99 save your around 50 bucks or so....that is if u want to get all 3... Also since you are new to the whole online gaming experience I strongly suggest going with the original guildwars (prophecies) as it has a slow learning curve and several other great benefits that are missing in other chapters (skill rewards) .....then IF you don't buy all 3 at once i suggest you pick up the Nightfall package as that will give u the abilities to have customized heros...then get factions to round it out... Although the order of purchase that i gave you doesn't follow the actual story line you should be able to piece it together with no problems...the actual story goes..prophecies, factions..then nightfall. Cheers and good luck... BTW if you get the original stay in the "newbie" area also called presearing..until you reach lvl 5-7 be sure to try out mutiple character types as well as secondary professions to find the one that suits you best...and don't worry no matter what you do AFTER you create you character such as picking a secondary subclass etc can be changed...although the looks of the chacters, the size , haircolor, name.. etc..can not be changed

Feb 17, 2007, 08:15 PM // 20:15	#15
Coloneh Furnace Stoker Join Date: Nov 2006 Profession: D/W	if its a new high-end laptop it will probably work fine. It dosnt run on my notebook very well, but mine's basically a word processor with a Wi-Fi card. also, if you are wondering which game to buy I would go with nightfall, there are more new players and players in general, Prophecies is mostly old players who know everything and factions is abandoned.

Feb 17, 2007, 08:15 PM // 20:15	#16
ElinoraNeSangre Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Near Seattle, WA Guild: Talionis De Cineris [EXUR] Profession: N/Me	We've got a Dell laptop running Vista, and Guild Wars is running awesome. I've been running GW on Vista for round about a year (since before the Factions preview event last year), and it's worked well for me. I've never had a problem with the last 6 months or so of Vista use. I suggest that you go to a computer place (Circuit City, Best Buy, whatever) and play with some of the laptops hands on. Dells are good but their tech support is sketchy. Sony isn't bad (I've had luck with mine), either. Check out some at a store and see what you like, then find the best deal. Costco also sometimes has decent laptop deals, and I've heard they're good about their warranties. If a machine can run Home Premium or Ultimate versions of Windows Vista, it should run GW great, if that helps. The biggest problem with Vista and GW is usually video driver related, and most new laptops will have great Vista drivers. The big manufacturers work with Microsoft to ensure there's good driver support, so that shouldn't be a problem for you. The other thing is that it might not hurt to turn off desktop compositioning when you play (you can change the shortcut to do that, I can tell you how if you need it) because it'll turn off the visual themes while you play which improves perf. It might not even matter on some computers, but since I"m usually playing full screen anyway I don't even know they're off so it doesn't hurt. I've got a buttload of Vista experience if you have any questions there, feel free to ask. -kel