Curse

Cube B. · Jan 29, 2007, 03:19 AM // 03:19

Well, the main reason I chose Prophecies over factions was the fact that I love events. (Strong filter. o.o). Tyria and Elona have Winterfest and Halloween, as well as access to Canthan new year.

Cantha had the Dragon Festival, and they are going to have the Canthan New Year, but they had limited acess to Winterfest, and No acess to halloween.
A-Net is working on balancing that though, so I guess that won't be a reason any more.

Second, there's the fact that it is pretty short. And I've heard of a learning curve, and the infamous 10k grind. Of course, If you plan ahead you can avoid it.

I personally see it as more of an addon campaign for me... It does have it's merits, but you need to understand the game to get the full effect.

Rezing yourself is pretty useful though. Those Rits are very useful if you know how to use them.

-Old 3FL- · Jan 29, 2007, 05:40 AM // 05:40

I liked it alot.
I like it the same as NF but less than Prophecies.

rohara · Jan 29, 2007, 06:53 AM // 06:53

imo factions > nightfall > prophecies

blasphemy, i know

i can play through the factions campaign many more times before getting tired of it. i love popping afflicted and doing quests in the echovald forest, and raising my 10k faction at fort aspenwood. i was uber sick of prophecies after my first go through it, and cba to do it again. LFR ftw in tyria.

zakaria · Jan 29, 2007, 07:48 AM // 07:48

1- FedEx quests.
2- timing mission to complete mission + bonus is stupid.
3- density of mobs are insanely high.
4- no solution yet for AFKers in fort aspenwood and jade quarry.

Orinn · Jan 29, 2007, 08:23 AM // 08:23

Nobody's mentioned the abundance of mobs that blow up in your face? When a boss mob hits for double damage and leaves you at a sliver of health, then dies and wipes all your melee teammates? Assassins don't suck, Afflicted are build to kill assassins, either straight up or with a retributive strike.

The density of mobs was another sticking point. Being unable to start a fight without half the zone stepping in and whaling on your party was disheartening. It acually got to the point where I would watch a spawn for several minutes each, just to get the patrol patters down, then rush one group at the far end, kill them, and run away. Next group, same thing. Too many mobs doing too much damage at once. I like it sometimes, but it's not conducive to a fast playstyle.

Bosses doing double damage. Whoever thought this was a good idea should be smacked in the head with the nearest 4 blunt objects sequentially. And then, whoever thought of giving them half casting time should get the same treatment. There's no fun or challenge in being hit once for your entire life total, it's just aggravating. See: Argo, Koosun, Orosen, and my personal favorite, Tin Dao Kaineng.

Shiro is a joke. He's pretty unbeatable with a balanced team, you need to just throw dirty tricks at him. He's not challenging, he just cheats, and to beat him, you bring stance ending, blindness, and damage. The special monster-only skills he has are ridiculously overpowered. You really don't fight SHIRO, the big bad guy. All you have to do is plan against his skillbar, and you win.

The bad voice acting never bothered me much, although Danika still gets on my nerves a bit.

Arborstone. The number 1 reason to hate factions, in my opinion. My dervish is there, has been at that mission for a week, and I haven't attempted it yet because it's just frustrating and annoying. Being knocked down every few seconds isn't fun. I'm not playing the game to sit around on my *** half the time, I want to actually PLAY the character I'm on.

Locked Gates. Fun once. It was nice getting to each new area in turn, having to go through the storyline. By the 10th run through, I don't even care. Just let me past already.

FA: leechers and an unbalanced playing field turn what could have been a fun setting into what seems to be a lost cause. Why bother going there if the Luxons get an easy win most of the time, and half the kurzick team is just botting "enter mission" every time the window pops up?

10k faction required to continue. Ouch? I honestly just got to 10k luxon, 10k kurzick faction, then saved it so that I could get any character through without the boring repeatable quests, or having to go to FA/JQ to earn faction.

No skill quests. So what if a quest gives me 250 gold when skills cost me 1kk apiece? In prophecies, there were many quests that would give you a skill from your primary AND a skill from your secondary. Losing skills quests was a bad idea, and one that they continued in Nightfall, although the hero trainers are a step in the right direction, letting us once again earn skills without paying a ridiculous amount of gold for them.

Clord · Jan 29, 2007, 09:04 AM // 09:04

I know good account reward after finishing Factions once. Open every gate from Factions to every other character too but not let in Raisu Palace without completing at least few from those previous missions before it.

reetkever · Jan 29, 2007, 09:19 AM // 09:19

The storyline was kinda obvious and not much happened... oh wait, didn't the emperor die in last mission? Or was it Togo :S Ohh, and what did the kurzicks and luxons do to stop Shiro?

Also, my assassin can't die, cause when she has death penalty, she dies with 1 Afflicted putrid explosion.

Outposts traders being un-usable because of PvP really annoyed me as well, and did I mention the HORRIBLE city? It's like walking on a scrapheap, and the buildings don't even look like buildings. And of course the bosses who spike for 500 damage with 1 skill.

In factions, I wasn't playing for the fun of it, but I was playing to get out of the friggin city, and Luxon/Kurzick area seemed fun, but the factions screwed that up for me as well.

Factions had some good stuff though. Vermins and Shiro'Ken farming... And some skills. But that's about it.

Corinthian · Jan 29, 2007, 09:24 AM // 09:24

It was boring. Enemies were insanely hard in insanely large mobs. Too much repetition. No variety.

swiftygem · Jan 29, 2007, 09:55 AM // 09:55

I don't like it because:
- the devs idea of fun was like "Hey, let's make the enemy groups at least twice as big and let them explode when they die! Fun fun fun!"
- you get to buy top notch stuff after few hours in the game (and you're already lvl 20).
- the environment is just disgusting, especially the city where the map is completely pointless since it all crosses above and under each other. Looking back at Tyria, I realize how beautiful and diverse it is. Unfortunately, Elona is only a bit better than Cantha.

Bhaaltazar · Jan 29, 2007, 10:11 AM // 10:11

Personaly i dislike Factions because fast lvling ( way too fast for me, only good to lvl my heroes now anyway )
and i didnt like that 10k faction to proceed on either side.. cmon stupid grind... Well i also hate that 2500 sunspear points grind...
Oh and i just realy hated that huge city there.. same thing all over the place.. it was realy boring ! If it would be half that big it would still be too large. Well just my opinion anyway

I prefer the prophecies advancing but over all i liked the surroundings in Kurzicks forest.

Cebe · Jan 29, 2007, 10:23 AM // 10:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPIRIT OF THE SEA

And for thoose of you that say RIT AND ASSASIN SUCK, your horribley mistaken.

Quite. Rits are awesome...only Assassins suck.

All the Factions hate also annoys me a great deal...all these nutters claiming to have "burnt all the boats on their arrival in Elona"...Most of my characters are Canthan. Not because it's easy levelling...because Factions was the first game I bought. I now have all 3....I guess as "classic" as prophecies is it's stupidly boring between pre-searing and Lion's Arch. And it's, imho, too slow to level up in. I find Nightfall has the best balance between "Length of Starter Island" and "Speed of Levelling Up"

I've noticed a lot of people claiming to hate Cantha because of the City of Kaineng. Sure, the town area is a but grubby...but it's riddled with plague! What do you expect? Personally I like the city, and I like the gently background humming music that goes with it. For most of my characters it's a warm feeling and it feels like home.

*Don't cut me down for the assassin statement. Ok, so they can farm a bit but ... I tried one once and for me they will always suck. Needless to say he got deleted. *

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corinthian

It was boring. Enemies were insanely hard in insanely large mobs. Too much repetition. No variety.

So, just like Tyria? Tyria REALLY gets on my nerves. All it is, is:
*walk 2 steps*
*kill all the devourers which pop up*
*walk 2 steps*
*kill all the devourers which pop up*
*walk 2 steps*
*kill all the devourers which pop up*
*walk 2 steps*
*kill all the devourers which pop up*
*walk 2 steps*
*kill all the devourers which pop up*
*walk 2 steps*
*kill all the devourers which pop up*

Quote:

Originally Posted by reetkever

And of course the bosses who spike for 500 damage with 1 skill.

But that's part of the fun! I LOVE a good, overpowered, Rit or Ele boss...and [wiki]Wavecrest Stonebreak[/wiki], [wiki]Bazzr Dustwing[/wiki] and [wiki]Kunvie Firewing[/wiki] sure know how to lay the smack down. Some form of challenge is nice every once in a while. But if you don't like Cantha because of some of the bosses...have you ever met [wiki]Droajam, Mage of the Sands[/wiki]?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orinn

Shiro is a joke. He's pretty unbeatable with a balanced team, you need to just throw dirty tricks at him. He's not challenging, he just cheats, and to beat him, you bring stance ending, blindness, and damage. The special monster-only skills he has are ridiculously overpowered. You really don't fight SHIRO, the big bad guy. All you have to do is plan against his skillbar, and you win.

There's nothing wrong with Shiro. You can go in with the most balanced of balanced teams. A warrior, couple of monks, couple of eles, necro... Just make sure one of the eles is E/Me with Arcane Echo and Echo so they can use 3 Celestial Storms.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bhaaltazar

Oh and i just realy hated that huge city there.. same thing all over the place.. it was realy boring !

So...just like Post-Searing Ascalon? Disgusting, depressing greyness everywhere. Every 2 steps has Devourers popping up. Music you can slit your wrists to. Kaineng OWNS Ascalon on entertainment value imo.

Edit: To correct spelling

sh4d0whunta · Jan 29, 2007, 10:37 AM // 10:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bale_Shadowscar

and to the OP: Not everyone does hate Factions, but just think that Prophecies and Nightfall are a lot better. Since Factions was the first expansion, most of us didn't know what to expect, and perhaps got our hopes a bit too high up, and so were a bit dissapointed when factions failed to deliver an awesome game like prophecies.

personally i think factions is the best guildwars game only guildwars game ive finished and only done it once on my warior x majin buu x but i like it because
the two factions joining together to defeat an arch enemy that threatens there land.
also personally i dont think guildwars is about lvling its more about strategy with skills for example u can ruin a 55 monk with disenchants(well from my experiances) but if u got the disenchants ur missing other important skills so u gotta make up for it someway maybe in your skillbar or maybe an ally like a paragon could help you with that with his shouts or you could disenchant then an assasin spike em.Ritualists are one of the most ownage classes in pvp they absolutly destroy there enemys with spirits and channeling magic. and when combined with other classes they can be devastated. also a ranger/dervish with symbiosis and avatar of meldanru(wouldnt last as long but still) could have alot of health if made right also maybe a prot monk could enchant a blood necro with lots of enchants and then a ranger have symbiosis up(for those of you who dont know what symbiosis is its a spirit that gives extra health for each enchantment on you) the blood necro could use lots of awesome skills that need sacrifice.

Jetdoc · Jan 29, 2007, 03:08 PM // 15:08

Here is what I find to be the appeals of the three campaigns:

Prophecies:
* Slow character development. From gaining levels to acquiring skills to gaining your 30 extra attribute points/elites, Prophecies by far is the campaign for the classic RPGer.
* Diverse environments. From the lush presearing to the scarred Ascalon to the snowy Shiverpeaks to the jungled Maguuma to the barren Crystal Desert to the firey Ring of Fire - it's just breathtaking.
* Complete freedom of choice. Absolutely no grind is required in the game - there are only two mandatory missions - Sanctum Cay and Thunderhead Keep - needed to visit every part of the game. Running, farming, etal - it's your choice.

Factions:
* Fast character development. Great for the experienced MMORPGer/PvPer that just wants to get it all now.
* PvP for PvEers. Fort Aspenwood and Alliance Battles are relatively non-competitive areas for PvEers to dabble in PvP, and get a reward for their efforts.
* Ritualists. Yes I'm biased, but this character was the first "out of the ordinary" character that GW introduced. The six core classes (and to a lesser extent the Assassin) are very common themes in most RPG games.

Nightfall.
* Medium character development. IMO, took the best aspects out of Prophecies and Factions to make a moderately slow character development.
* Heroes. Love them or hate them, this is a big selling point to Nightfall and the better ability to control/customize your NPCs.
* Inscriptions. Absolute freedom of choice by separating the appearance of items with their functionality.

lightblade · Jan 29, 2007, 03:19 PM // 15:19

I never made a character other than in Cantha since I gotten Factions

Eonwe · Jan 29, 2007, 05:56 PM // 17:56

From a pvp perspective factions is usually considered the weakest campaign in terms of skill selection.

the_jos · Jan 29, 2007, 05:58 PM // 17:58

I don't hate Factions, but don't spend too much time there anymore.

I have all my 6 tyrian and cathan chararacters past the 10000 factions and don't want to do the same on my two Elonians.
Kurzick is not much of a problem and I have some Luxon quests on other characters, but I want to progress somewhat faster.

Furthermore, I was really annoyed this weekend.
I took my monk, protector of Cantha, to Unawakening Kurzick side.
Only to find out I forgot the quest leading there (so had to fight the entire area again). Hello, I've completed the mission! I want in....

The other thing that I remember are the mobs there.
Compared to most parts of Prophecies, the damage is insane.
The only place I've found that kind of damage in Prophecies are in Southern Shiverpeaks, outside main mission/quest area's.
And the bosses in Cantha do even more damage.
When you are not prepared, you'll get killed in no time.

Missions:
I don't mind timed missions, but not all of them please.
It's ok when you just want mission, but hard to get masters on them.
I've managed to get protectors on my 4 Tyrian characters, so I know what I'm talking about.
The combined missions (specially Square) are also hard to get masters on, because you cannot control the other team.

I still have mixed feelings about Factions.
I did like the storyline and the landscape.
That is, excluding the Citi.
I also liked the missions in general and the challenge some mobs gave me.
I also liked the new professions.
I still have aggro control problems when henching with Sin (he's crit. barrager at the moment, so less problems). And my Rt is mule right now, but that will change when I get my 4 core characters through NF.

In the end, I think it is a decent chapter.
Prophecies still favorite, NF and Factions about the same.

sixdartbart · Jan 29, 2007, 06:38 PM // 18:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celestial Beaver

Most of my characters are Canthan. Not because it's easy levelling...because Factions was the first game I bought. I not have all 3....I guess as "classic" as prophecies is it's stupidly boring between pre-searing and Lion's Arch. And it's, imho, too slow to level up in. I find Nightfall has the best balance between "Length of Starter Island" and "Speed of Levelling Up"
.

Ummm thanks I think.

If I'm reading this correctly you are saying that you don't own all 3 chapters, but continue on to criticize games that you haven't played.

I personally thought Farmwars was a piece of garbage but there were alot of good aspects to it.

First off there is my mini siege turtle.
Secondly ummm , wait , *thinking* , ummmm , drawing a blank for #2 so I give up

xxSilhouette · Jan 29, 2007, 06:53 PM // 18:53

I didn't hate factions, but it's not my favorite of the three.

When it first came out, and i went through the game i enjoyed it. What i really liked about factions was the fact that you couldn't be a level 1 and get a run to a 15k armor town. You are pretty much going to be at level 20 before you get to those towns. I also liked both of the character classes introduced, I liked the styles of the armor very much, and I loved the scenery in the jade sea. i didn't like the big groups of stuff everywhere, I hated trying to explore with 60% dp because i had to bring henchies. I hated that to get a masters reward you had to do a mission in a certain amount of time. I also didn't like the fact that it was so small. Granted it kept me busy throughout my summer last year, but that was only because i took all of my tyrian characters and the new factions ones through a big part of the game (mostly to get armor).

I never suggest factions to people who ask "which chapter should i get" though. I prefer nightfall over factions because its longer, its not horribly repetitive, theres no "crap, i have to go over to cavalon because i have more luxon faction to use the merchants" kind of thing. (that annoyed me badly.) I prefer prophecies over either nightfall or factions because its the biggest, and offers the most variety scenery wise, but there are a lot of small problems it has.

I think they all have there ups and downs though, I mean Prophecies is my favorite, but I think some of the features in Nightfall and Cantha make for a better type of game. (Mainly the hero's, and the fact that you have to work to get further, not pay some warrior to get you there.)

darktyco · Jan 29, 2007, 06:54 PM // 18:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celestial Beaver

So...just like Post-Searing Ascalon? Disgusting, depressing greyness everywhere. Every 2 steps has Devourers popping up. Music you can slit your wrists to. Kaineng OWNS Ascalon on entertainment value imo.

I love the city, IMO it is less dreary than Ascalon, but still manages to have a perfectly dreary atmosphere. It is completely unlike any other area in the other campaigns and features quite a bit of variation in its own theme as you visit its different areas.

darktyco · Jan 29, 2007, 07:12 PM // 19:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jetdoc

Here is what I find to be the appeals of the three campaigns:

Prophecies:
* Slow character development. From gaining levels to acquiring skills to gaining your 30 extra attribute points/elites, Prophecies by far is the campaign for the classic RPGer.
* Diverse environments. From the lush presearing to the scarred Ascalon to the snowy Shiverpeaks to the jungled Maguuma to the barren Crystal Desert to the firey Ring of Fire - it's just breathtaking.
* Complete freedom of choice. Absolutely no grind is required in the game - there are only two mandatory missions - Sanctum Cay and Thunderhead Keep - needed to visit every part of the game. Running, farming, etal - it's your choice.

Factions:
* Fast character development. Great for the experienced MMORPGer/PvPer that just wants to get it all now.
* PvP for PvEers. Fort Aspenwood and Alliance Battles are relatively non-competitive areas for PvEers to dabble in PvP, and get a reward for their efforts.
* Ritualists. Yes I'm biased, but this character was the first "out of the ordinary" character that GW introduced. The six core classes (and to a lesser extent the Assassin) are very common themes in most RPG games.

Nightfall.
* Medium character development. IMO, took the best aspects out of Prophecies and Factions to make a moderately slow character development.
* Heroes. Love them or hate them, this is a big selling point to Nightfall and the better ability to control/customize your NPCs.
* Inscriptions. Absolute freedom of choice by separating the appearance of items with their functionality.

Almost a perfect list- for Prophecies I would add skill quests and for Nightfall I would add mission goal + bonus structure.