Starting GuildWars - Guild Wars Forums

singram · Nov 29, 2006, 02:36 PM // 14:36

Hey how do i start GuildWars? What Packs do i have to buy to play it?? Because there are so many different ones Guild Wars Prophesies 06, Guild Wars: Nightfall, Guild Wars 2: Factions (Campaign 2), Guild Wars: Special Edition, Guild Wars: Nightfall Collectors EditionGuild Wars 2: Factions Collectors Edition (Campaign 2). So which one should i buy or do i have to buy all of them?? Please Help me!

geekling · Nov 29, 2006, 02:39 PM // 14:39

Simply put, any of them. They are all freestanding full games in their own right.

Progor · Nov 29, 2006, 02:48 PM // 14:48

But if you want the "whole game," buy Guild Wars: Prophecies, Guild Wars: Factions, and Guild Wars: Nightfall. That will give you access to all the content in the game short of a few free weapons and special dances that come with the collector's editions.

Personally, if you were just buying one, I'd say go for Nightfall. It is the most recent one, there are more people in Nightfall than the other two areas, and it seems to have the most interesting storyline so far. Plus, you get access to a whole new game mechanic: heroes. Completely customizable NPC's that you can take with you to fight with you in missions and explorable areas.

singram · Nov 29, 2006, 03:00 PM // 15:00

Ok thx, but what do you mean if you buy all 3 of them you get the whole game?? Does that mean there are servers just for the people who have all 3 games??

Lyphen · Nov 29, 2006, 03:04 PM // 15:04

If you get all three you'll have access to more features and missions, but not really more items. Say you only have Prophecies. You'll still be able to buy items from those who have the others if they visit a city in Prophecies to sell their goods.

There's only one server, period.

singram · Nov 29, 2006, 03:07 PM // 15:07

OK kool thank you very much!

Lavindathar · Nov 29, 2006, 03:09 PM // 15:09

I'd get Proph personally.

mrgoat · Nov 29, 2006, 03:19 PM // 15:19

I'll try not to spoiler anything for you, though if you read around the forums a bit, you'll find plenty of spoilers one way or another.

Proph. Came first, and is probably the best way to learn the game, due to the slower pace and relatively long tutorial area (usually called "pre"). Factions was considered by many to be somewhat substandard. The tutorial area (or, "noob island") is short, and levels you up really fast. If you played through prophecies, you could probably pug through Factions PvE in a week. (Two days, if you're actually trying). Nightfall is the most recent campaign, and the pace sits somewhere between Proph. and Factions. I find nightfall endgame a bit harder than the other two so far.

Now, here's how they work: Once you have one, you have access to that "chapter". You can get the skills in that chapter, adventure in that chapter, etc. You can PvP with anyone, though you'll only have access to your chapters skills. (Plus a set of skills common to all chapters - "core skills") When/if you get another chapter, you can choose between using the key to create a seperate, second account, or you can add the key to the account you have. I reccomend adding the key, some people prefer otherwise.

Each chapter is a full game by itself, can be played standalone, no need for any others. But, if you get the other chapters, and you link them, you can take characters from one chapter to another.

The collectors editions are the same as the regular game, with a couple snazzy toys - your hands glow when you /dance, you get a /dancenew or something, and a couple of special edition items. I dunno, I never bothered with CE.

c_ras · Nov 29, 2006, 07:28 PM // 19:28

I spent a whole two minutes drawing this up in MS Paint to visually show the Connection between the 3 current GW titles. It should be self explanatory. Hope this helps.

Toutatis · Nov 29, 2006, 07:49 PM // 19:49

I would suggest starting with Prophecies to see if the game is really right for you. It's not like other RPGs on the market, and you'll either love it or hate it. Prophecies has a nice easy pace and is perfect for an introduction to what the game's all about. Prophecies is also the cheapest chapter at the moment (I picked my copy up from a game store bargain bin for £10). Then, if you like the game you can add the other chapters. If you link chapters together on the same account you get access to the continent and all the chapter-specific skills and professions.

For example, I have Prophecies and Factions linked together on my game account. I can make my Prophecies characters cross over to Factions, and vice versa. My Mesmer character in Prophecies can go to the Factions continent and can take part in the Factions campaign. Meanwhile, my Assassin character (a profession that can only be created to start in the Factions campaign) is able to cross over to the Prophecies campaign. While you don't need to buy more than one chapter to enjoy the game, linking chapters together allows you to take your favourite characters a lot further and lets you customise them more with broader selections of skills and different styles of armor.

And finally, let us know which campaign you start playing first. There are a lot of experienced players here who would be happy to join you in-game and help you learn how the game works.

bog boy · Nov 29, 2006, 08:02 PM // 20:02

in my opinion factions is probably the easiest game prophecies most rewarding and nightfall is obviously the game that everyone is playing atm

GODh · Nov 29, 2006, 08:05 PM // 20:05

Although i really like Prophecies i suggest to buy the last chapter (nightfall) first... atm there are not so many players in Prophecies right now (even Droknar starts to look like a ghosttown).

Nightfall has a good tutorial and there are many players so it is less of a problem to find players to do quests and missions with you. There is also the hero-system (customizable henchmen (henchmen are computer controlled players)) which can be very handy at times (it even eases up playing Prophecies or Factions when there arent enough players around)...

Horseman Of War · Nov 29, 2006, 08:21 PM // 20:21

hey man ill lay it down for you-

1.guildwars

rophecies/ '06 game of year/collectors edi(if you can find one) are all the same game. What you should do is get the 06goty edition because it will give you some nice (unique!) weapons that you cant get anywhere else- perfect for every nightfall Hero! Also i believe it gives you 'free unlocks' for a small amount of skills and weapons but Im not sure the specifics. The collectors edition is cool, and it gives you glowing emotes in-game along with a few other goodies (guildwars/logicte gaming headset, maps, art book, etc) but honestly, the GOTY edition will help you out more-- much more.

guildwars: factions/ factions CE/ in-game-store PVP edition- I personally love the PvP expansions that factions brought. Factions should never be a new players' first pick IMO because the low levels are rushed. basically after prophecies everyone wanted 'high-end' material, e.g. more 'endgame' type monsters/quests/missions. Playing an assassin in Cantha sucks too, because half the enemies always explode HOWEVER playing an assassin in Elona is SO FUN and it gives old assassin players a little more respect in general from the rest of the community- if that makes sense (anyone argue this point?? its my own observation..) I love my Ritualist btw, ritualist alone makes Factions worth it, but again Factions should be your second or third, not your first. It is still very very easy to get the 'Factions Pre-Order' CD (try amazon or something) and again- this will give you two unique weapons that you cannot get anywhere else (poisonous daggers and insightful spiritbinder staff) and like the GOTY items, you can spawn them over and over giving them to all your heros or characters.

Nightfall- Nightfall is amazing. The graphics are a little better than the earlier chapters (and the sys req is higher too so check that) and the storyline and map are so well done its rediculous. Like the above posters already said- the majority of the player base is playing nightfall, which for a new player means a much easier time of finding some good people to play with. There is also a bonus weapon pack (another pre-order cd like Factions) which will give you an Icy Scythe and a Fiery Spear, which really helped me out when I made a paragon and dervish.

-----------------------------------------------------------

so question- do you have experience in other similar games? (and i use the term similar loosely) Do you have an interest in PVP? The storylines of all 3 games are very good, but seriously my favorite part about guildwars is that when I get bored doing some hard quest, I can easily jump into an arena battle with my rpg character. I have set aside an extra 'pvp-only' character slot that I use exclusively for testing skills and builds etc and I use that to help plan the next direction I take my rpg character. Im pretty balanced between pvp and pve, but there are many people who play only one or the other exclusively and I promise you they are having just as much fun either way.

anyways, I hope you like guildwars- its the only game that has been able to keep my attention for (well, a year and a half) haha.

peace-

saiful redhzuan · Nov 29, 2006, 08:37 PM // 20:37

hi all..
i jus play Guild wars today, and its a good game..i bought GOTY Edition..and i suppose to get an exclusive weapon rite..

the problem is...how do i get 1..i start a char, but i get a starter weapon...is that the exclusive weapon?

Horseman Of War · Nov 29, 2006, 08:42 PM // 20:42

haha if that starter weapon was the exclusive weapon Id let you punch me in the stomach.

type /bonus to get your items. it should have a message in-game that tells you each item you get for typing it.

gl hf.

kuplo · Nov 29, 2006, 08:46 PM // 20:46

Personally speaking I would go with the nightfall game, the reason being as stated above it has the heroes, and sometimes it can be difficult to find other people that are either willing to party with you or that you want to party with and having the heroes really makes the game much more easy to get through the areas where you require more than just one character.

I have prophecies and I have nightfall but I didn't bother to buy factions, so I can't comment on factions but I can say that I enjoyed nightfall far greater than I ever did with prophecies.

Of course if you can afford all three and want them all then go for it.

Yanman.be · Nov 30, 2006, 10:33 AM // 10:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by c_ras

I spent a whole two minutes drawing this up in MS Paint to visually show the Connection between the 3 current GW titles. It should be self explanatory. Hope this helps.

You forgot what happens if you link all 3 of them...

singram · Nov 30, 2006, 05:19 PM // 17:19

Ok so if i get a lvl 20 character on prohices when i buy like fractions do i still have a lvl 20 character??

c_ras · Nov 30, 2006, 06:21 PM // 18:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yanman.be

You forgot what happens if you link all 3 of them...

I figured it was self implied but maybe a little confusing to some. If you just follow the lines from node to node, it makes sense.

For example. Say you have Prophecies only. That is what the box is (just the stand alone game). When you say buy Nightfall and Factions and want to link all 3 to your account.....start at the Prophecies node and follow it to the Factions node. THEN you'd also start back at the Prophecies node and follow it to the Nightfall Node (I'm using Prophecies as the base point, but whatever game he gets first can be used as the base point). I guess if you use Logic it makes more sense. If you follow Prophecies-Faction line AND follow Prophecies-Nightfall line, it yields Prophecies-Factions-Nightfall. Sorry for the confusion.

IRONCHEF · Nov 30, 2006, 06:30 PM // 18:30

Hi all! I'm not even a noob yet because I haven't even bought the game. But thanks to this thread and all the good info, I've decided to get the Prophecy chapter so I can take my time getting started and comfortable and learning game play.

I'm still scouring this message board's FAQs so I don't ask too many noob questions that will get me flamed and I'm noticing that there isn't a lot of noob stuff to help people get started. I've looked through the build sections and I'm getting an idea of what to build and I don't mind wasting alot of time on questionable builds. I've played NC Soft games before (Lin I for 5 years, Lin II for a little) and I"m guessing it's important to carefully study out each aspect of character growth so as not to get screwed..as is the case in Lineage. Anyone care to comment on this, or is it safe to go haphazzardly about adding attributes, selecting skills, gears, etc? ie., is it cheap to go through trial and error, or expensive?

And on the topic of "expensive" is it, dare I say, "ethical" to buy gold outside of the game (ebay, private gold hackers, etc)? Or is it easy enough to get started and comfortable? From what i've read so far, this game follows other NC Soft games that nerf and nerf in order to keep you poor limiting the high end stuff to a select, rich handful of players/hackers?

And on the topic of hackers...is this game "hacked" to pieces like many other popular games, or is it a pretty fair playing field?

Thanks in advance for replies, and I hope this isn't too much of a hijack!

Nov 29, 2006, 02:36 PM // 14:36	#1
singram Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Nov 2006 Guild: None Profession: Mo/	Starting GuildWars Hey how do i start GuildWars? What Packs do i have to buy to play it?? Because there are so many different ones Guild Wars Prophesies 06, Guild Wars: Nightfall, Guild Wars 2: Factions (Campaign 2), Guild Wars: Special Edition, Guild Wars: Nightfall Collectors EditionGuild Wars 2: Factions Collectors Edition (Campaign 2). So which one should i buy or do i have to buy all of them?? Please Help me!

Nov 29, 2006, 03:00 PM // 15:00	#4
singram Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Nov 2006 Guild: None Profession: Mo/	Ok thx, but what do you mean if you buy all 3 of them you get the whole game?? Does that mean there are servers just for the people who have all 3 games?? Last edited by singram; Nov 29, 2006 at 03:03 PM // 15:03..

Nov 29, 2006, 08:37 PM // 20:37	#14
saiful redhzuan Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Nov 2006 Profession: R/	Help on GOTY pack hi all.. i jus play Guild wars today, and its a good game..i bought GOTY Edition..and i suppose to get an exclusive weapon rite.. the problem is...how do i get 1..i start a char, but i get a starter weapon...is that the exclusive weapon?

Nov 29, 2006, 02:39 PM // 14:39	#2
geekling Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Sep 2006	Simply put, any of them. They are all freestanding full games in their own right.

Nov 29, 2006, 02:48 PM // 14:48	#3
Progor Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Sep 2006 Profession: N/Mo	But if you want the "whole game," buy Guild Wars: Prophecies, Guild Wars: Factions, and Guild Wars: Nightfall. That will give you access to all the content in the game short of a few free weapons and special dances that come with the collector's editions. Personally, if you were just buying one, I'd say go for Nightfall. It is the most recent one, there are more people in Nightfall than the other two areas, and it seems to have the most interesting storyline so far. Plus, you get access to a whole new game mechanic: heroes. Completely customizable NPC's that you can take with you to fight with you in missions and explorable areas.

Nov 29, 2006, 03:04 PM // 15:04	#5
Lyphen Lion's Arch Merchant Join Date: May 2006	If you get all three you'll have access to more features and missions, but not really more items. Say you only have Prophecies. You'll still be able to buy items from those who have the others if they visit a city in Prophecies to sell their goods. There's only one server, period.

Nov 29, 2006, 03:07 PM // 15:07	#6
singram Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Nov 2006 Guild: None Profession: Mo/	OK kool thank you very much!

Nov 29, 2006, 03:09 PM // 15:09	#7
Lavindathar Krytan Explorer Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Manchester, England Guild: The Monstrous Fangs (fang) Profession: N/Mo	I'd get Proph personally.

Nov 29, 2006, 03:19 PM // 15:19	#8
mrgoat Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Jul 2006	I'll try not to spoiler anything for you, though if you read around the forums a bit, you'll find plenty of spoilers one way or another. Proph. Came first, and is probably the best way to learn the game, due to the slower pace and relatively long tutorial area (usually called "pre"). Factions was considered by many to be somewhat substandard. The tutorial area (or, "noob island") is short, and levels you up really fast. If you played through prophecies, you could probably pug through Factions PvE in a week. (Two days, if you're actually trying). Nightfall is the most recent campaign, and the pace sits somewhere between Proph. and Factions. I find nightfall endgame a bit harder than the other two so far. Now, here's how they work: Once you have one, you have access to that "chapter". You can get the skills in that chapter, adventure in that chapter, etc. You can PvP with anyone, though you'll only have access to your chapters skills. (Plus a set of skills common to all chapters - "core skills") When/if you get another chapter, you can choose between using the key to create a seperate, second account, or you can add the key to the account you have. I reccomend adding the key, some people prefer otherwise. Each chapter is a full game by itself, can be played standalone, no need for any others. But, if you get the other chapters, and you link them, you can take characters from one chapter to another. The collectors editions are the same as the regular game, with a couple snazzy toys - your hands glow when you /dance, you get a /dancenew or something, and a couple of special edition items. I dunno, I never bothered with CE.

Nov 29, 2006, 07:49 PM // 19:49	#10
Toutatis Walking Wiki Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Isle of Medication Guild: Visitors from Aranna [VFA] Profession: Me/E	I would suggest starting with Prophecies to see if the game is really right for you. It's not like other RPGs on the market, and you'll either love it or hate it. Prophecies has a nice easy pace and is perfect for an introduction to what the game's all about. Prophecies is also the cheapest chapter at the moment (I picked my copy up from a game store bargain bin for £10). Then, if you like the game you can add the other chapters. If you link chapters together on the same account you get access to the continent and all the chapter-specific skills and professions. For example, I have Prophecies and Factions linked together on my game account. I can make my Prophecies characters cross over to Factions, and vice versa. My Mesmer character in Prophecies can go to the Factions continent and can take part in the Factions campaign. Meanwhile, my Assassin character (a profession that can only be created to start in the Factions campaign) is able to cross over to the Prophecies campaign. While you don't need to buy more than one chapter to enjoy the game, linking chapters together allows you to take your favourite characters a lot further and lets you customise them more with broader selections of skills and different styles of armor. And finally, let us know which campaign you start playing first. There are a lot of experienced players here who would be happy to join you in-game and help you learn how the game works.

Nov 29, 2006, 08:02 PM // 20:02	#11
bog boy Krytan Explorer Join Date: Jul 2006 Guild: pxks Profession: R/E	in my opinion factions is probably the easiest game prophecies most rewarding and nightfall is obviously the game that everyone is playing atm

Nov 29, 2006, 08:05 PM // 20:05	#12
GODh Jungle Guide Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: The Netherlands Guild: BFTW and DLRR	Although i really like Prophecies i suggest to buy the last chapter (nightfall) first... atm there are not so many players in Prophecies right now (even Droknar starts to look like a ghosttown). Nightfall has a good tutorial and there are many players so it is less of a problem to find players to do quests and missions with you. There is also the hero-system (customizable henchmen (henchmen are computer controlled players)) which can be very handy at times (it even eases up playing Prophecies or Factions when there arent enough players around)...

Nov 29, 2006, 08:21 PM // 20:21	#13
Horseman Of War Desert Nomad Join Date: Jun 2006 Guild: The Cult of Doom Profession: P/	hey man ill lay it down for you- 1.guildwars rophecies/ '06 game of year/collectors edi(if you can find one) are all the same game. What you should do is get the 06goty edition because it will give you some nice (unique!) weapons that you cant get anywhere else- perfect for every nightfall Hero! Also i believe it gives you 'free unlocks' for a small amount of skills and weapons but Im not sure the specifics. The collectors edition is cool, and it gives you glowing emotes in-game along with a few other goodies (guildwars/logicte gaming headset, maps, art book, etc) but honestly, the GOTY edition will help you out more-- much more. guildwars: factions/ factions CE/ in-game-store PVP edition- I personally love the PvP expansions that factions brought. Factions should never be a new players' first pick IMO because the low levels are rushed. basically after prophecies everyone wanted 'high-end' material, e.g. more 'endgame' type monsters/quests/missions. Playing an assassin in Cantha sucks too, because half the enemies always explode HOWEVER playing an assassin in Elona is SO FUN and it gives old assassin players a little more respect in general from the rest of the community- if that makes sense (anyone argue this point?? its my own observation..) I love my Ritualist btw, ritualist alone makes Factions worth it, but again Factions should be your second or third, not your first. It is still very very easy to get the 'Factions Pre-Order' CD (try amazon or something) and again- this will give you two unique weapons that you cannot get anywhere else (poisonous daggers and insightful spiritbinder staff) and like the GOTY items, you can spawn them over and over giving them to all your heros or characters. Nightfall- Nightfall is amazing. The graphics are a little better than the earlier chapters (and the sys req is higher too so check that) and the storyline and map are so well done its rediculous. Like the above posters already said- the majority of the player base is playing nightfall, which for a new player means a much easier time of finding some good people to play with. There is also a bonus weapon pack (another pre-order cd like Factions) which will give you an Icy Scythe and a Fiery Spear, which really helped me out when I made a paragon and dervish. ----------------------------------------------------------- so question- do you have experience in other similar games? (and i use the term similar loosely) Do you have an interest in PVP? The storylines of all 3 games are very good, but seriously my favorite part about guildwars is that when I get bored doing some hard quest, I can easily jump into an arena battle with my rpg character. I have set aside an extra 'pvp-only' character slot that I use exclusively for testing skills and builds etc and I use that to help plan the next direction I take my rpg character. Im pretty balanced between pvp and pve, but there are many people who play only one or the other exclusively and I promise you they are having just as much fun either way. anyways, I hope you like guildwars- its the only game that has been able to keep my attention for (well, a year and a half) haha. peace-

Nov 29, 2006, 08:42 PM // 20:42	#15
Horseman Of War Desert Nomad Join Date: Jun 2006 Guild: The Cult of Doom Profession: P/	haha if that starter weapon was the exclusive weapon Id let you punch me in the stomach. type /bonus to get your items. it should have a message in-game that tells you each item you get for typing it. gl hf.

Nov 29, 2006, 08:46 PM // 20:46	#16
kuplo Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Nov 2006	Personally speaking I would go with the nightfall game, the reason being as stated above it has the heroes, and sometimes it can be difficult to find other people that are either willing to party with you or that you want to party with and having the heroes really makes the game much more easy to get through the areas where you require more than just one character. I have prophecies and I have nightfall but I didn't bother to buy factions, so I can't comment on factions but I can say that I enjoyed nightfall far greater than I ever did with prophecies. Of course if you can afford all three and want them all then go for it.

Nov 30, 2006, 05:19 PM // 17:19	#18
singram Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Nov 2006 Guild: None Profession: Mo/	Ok so if i get a lvl 20 character on prohices when i buy like fractions do i still have a lvl 20 character??

Nov 30, 2006, 06:30 PM // 18:30	#20
IRONCHEF Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Nov 2006	Hi all! I'm not even a noob yet because I haven't even bought the game. But thanks to this thread and all the good info, I've decided to get the Prophecy chapter so I can take my time getting started and comfortable and learning game play. I'm still scouring this message board's FAQs so I don't ask too many noob questions that will get me flamed and I'm noticing that there isn't a lot of noob stuff to help people get started. I've looked through the build sections and I'm getting an idea of what to build and I don't mind wasting alot of time on questionable builds. I've played NC Soft games before (Lin I for 5 years, Lin II for a little) and I"m guessing it's important to carefully study out each aspect of character growth so as not to get screwed..as is the case in Lineage. Anyone care to comment on this, or is it safe to go haphazzardly about adding attributes, selecting skills, gears, etc? ie., is it cheap to go through trial and error, or expensive? And on the topic of "expensive" is it, dare I say, "ethical" to buy gold outside of the game (ebay, private gold hackers, etc)? Or is it easy enough to get started and comfortable? From what i've read so far, this game follows other NC Soft games that nerf and nerf in order to keep you poor limiting the high end stuff to a select, rich handful of players/hackers? And on the topic of hackers...is this game "hacked" to pieces like many other popular games, or is it a pretty fair playing field? Thanks in advance for replies, and I hope this isn't too much of a hijack!