Poll: Should GW1 characters be able to cross over to the GW2?

Now, for those who want to keep all their characters with all their old stuff, well... You always have the option of not switching over to GW2, and continue playing GW1 instead.

Imho, guildwars is all about skills and builds. Nice outfits and weapons are just eye candy (I am a PvE mesmer, yes I know a warrior wanding with an empty skill bar is better).
Hopefully skills in GW 2 won't be the same than in GW1. We don't even know if there will be Warriors, Monks, Mesmers and the like in GW2.

A fresh start is the only thing that makes sense to me.

No never nada jamais

Its a new game,
items gonna be differents,
weapons gonna be differents
armor gonna be different (wish more piece of armor not only 5)
skills gonna be differents (I hope)
Alot of things gonna be different

Its a new system, its not suppose to be compatible.

I wouldnt buy a game where I can import my stuff from an old version of the game. That would mean the game is not very different from the first one and its gonna suck.

For people who think its gonna be possible.... you will be disappointed.

Yeh its called Hellgate:London

I hope there's no transfer. If it's GW2 then I hope it's completely revamped, a different game, a brand new experience which will be as enjoyable to discover as the first game was. If that is the case, the characters won't be compatible so it won't even be a question.

If you could take your character across, it might as well be an expansion. It won't be fresh or new, it will be the same old, and once you've beaten it three times in as many weeks you will be bored and whining for a new chapter.

On the other hand I hope the GW1 servers stay open for a long time, because obviously I have invested a lot of time gaining skills/rank/unlock/pve baubles, and I like using them. I'm not entirely heartless towards my little toons. I may not even play GW2. I just hope there is progress.

And I personally would NOT take a stats crash/item wipe to transfer my character. No damn way!

It might be. However, we don't know for sure that will be an option. And even if it is, we also don't know if GW 1 will ever get new content.

Without new content, what would the point be.

So... nice try, but your "option" is actually a restriction. :P

Nope, it should be a fresh start.

That way I may have a chance at taking Chuck Norris as a name! Damn whoever has it...

For the last time, NOTHING absolutely NOTHING is better then tipping over cows!

Honestly, I agree with you.

And people, NCsoft is the PUBLISHER of the game. They don't make the games, they don't announce the games, that's all up to A-net, right?

I mean, come on. Why leave a successful project when the concept has been pouring in money for them? Why GW2?


And besides, why follow the directions of OTHER games? Start a new path! GW was the first in no monthly fees, get new ideas, branch the two games together! Heck, if that's not a great economic plan, I don't know what is.

This is probably a HUGE misconception. Look somethings WILL BE fundamentally the same Doom was Doom, Doom II was Doom II and Doom III was Doom III. Guildwars 2 isn't going to be some RTS or FPS it will be under the basis of a "Co-Rpg". Therefore something along the lines WILL BE SIMILAR.
Want to carry a character over? Ok you get to keep your armor/items, but since alot of skills dont exist anymore, lets just give you skill points?

Conclusion: If nintendo can make all those goddamn pokemon games work, I would be insanely disapointed if Anet couldn't come up with a system that is half decent.

No - new game, new start.

If GW:2 is real which I expect it isn't.

Also, it would be far more expensive to run servers for two games instead of one. Factions = GW2, Nightfall = GW3. Don't mess with the winning formula.

I originally voted for option 3, but I've changed my mind to option 4.

Importing will really only make sence if GW2 is really similar to GW1. If GW2 makes huge changes in how you play the game and in how characters work, importing would be kinda weird. It would be like trying to import a rogue from Diablo 1 into Diablo 2. But if GW2 is similar enough to allow importing, than its not really a real sequal anymore is it? Its pretty much just GW chapter 5. I'm perfectly fine with this (I originally assumed there would be many, many, chapters of GW) but then they probably should just call GW2 a new chapter and not a sequal. However, I'm also fine with a brand new game and a fresh start. Guild Wars has been a lot of fun, and I'm sure that I can continue having a lot of fun, but it would be neat to try a brand new way of playing.

Of course, I realize that many players (including myself until recently) are very reluctant to abandon their characters and accomplishments. However, I think the best way to look at it is that the things you accomplished shall exist no matter what A-net decides. That 15k armor you bought and that title you earned may no longer exist on the servers, but you know you managed through much hard work and effort to earn something you sought. As long as your proud of what you did, thats all that matters.

The question of whether GW1 characters should be carried over to GW2 really isn't a fair question. Anyone who disagrees is set up to look like a jerk. I mean, we may as well put up a poll that says Do you like kittens? or Should small children be allowed to laugh?

A better question to ask is this: Does making GW2 completely compatible with GW1 hinder the sequel's ability to grow? I'm not talking about carrying over a name or the hairstyle or facial features. A complete and total carryover forces GW2 to be nothing more than a glorified expansion.

In what scenario does this not create a severe restriction on the developers? They have to design completely new content and bring in new players at the ground level. How do you do this when you also have four chapters of earlier content available? How do new players catch up when there are hundreds of skills they don't have access to? Do we simply include every skill from the previous chapters? If so, doesn't that shortchange the older players who bought all the previous chapters? Do they cry foul because they already invested their hard-earned dollars?

And what about the items? Anet would have to design a new game with the understanding that a significant portion of the playerbase has zero use for most of the items that are going to drop outside the end-game areas. Of course, that's how things are right now, but this is after two years of gaming and farming. At the very least a clean slate restarts the economy.

I think the best compromise is allowing people with GW1 accounts to reserve a name. Find your own reasons, logically speaking, for having to start over.

I know people are attached to their characters and I know they feel like their effort is wasted here. But let me ask you a question: did my Paladin make it from EQ1 to EQ2? Did my Warrior make it from Diablo 1 to Diablo 2? If you feel strongly enough, let your money speak for you, but I think GW2 cannot be a great game so long as it's completely compatible with GW1. The developers need that tabula rasa to correct the mistakes they've made earlier in the franchise and produce a high quality product.

Edit: I forgot the disclaimer: Assuming, of course, that GW2 is actually happening.

If they let you reserve names in a WPE or pre-order betas, that's almost as good as keeping your name, since there won't be the masses of casual newcomers competing for it.

To be a new game and not just a continuation of the original series, GW2 will have to have many, many options that aren't available in Guild Wars. Even something like the variance in races, assuming plans are as leaked, increases character diversity fourfold. Even if there were an option to port characters over from Guild Wars, those characters would be locked into a fairly narrow range of possibilities which might or might not be the best available for them.

That in mind, I don't see why "fresh start" has to exclude character porting. It's not like everyone (or even most people) will stick to their old toons if there are newer and more interesting choices, and it'd be nice to be able to keep old characters and accomplishments in the new game for nostalgia purposes.

I vote 3.

I say yes to keeping old characters; however, you shouldn't be allowed to play your old characters until you've gone through GW2 with a new character.

Well for everyone that thinks like this, give me all your gold and expensive weapons and such now

I'd like to see the characters carry over

Notice most people in favor of porting their characters simply are doing so because "they can't go on without them" and aren't considering that GW2 may be so different from GW1 that porting characters would take a lot of hard work, not to mention it takes place a few centuries later!

I know how wonderful your characters are with their FoW armor and "Kind of a Big Deal" titles, but it's a new game. You'll be totally lost if you port.

I WOULD like the ability to enter cd keys from GW1 and its chapters into your GW2 account to unlock special auras/weapons, though. Something to show off and say you're a veteran.

Name keeping may be a good thing. If a guild carries over to GW2 I'd want the names to still be recognizable. Maybe for the sake of lore I'll name one of my chars as the great great great grandson of a GW1 char.

Notice most people in favor of porting their characters simply are doing so because "they can't go on without them" and aren't considering that GW2 may be so different from GW1 that porting characters would take a lot of hard work, not to mention it takes place a few centuries later!

I know how wonderful your characters are with their FoW armor and "Kind of a Big Deal" titles, but it's a new game. You'll be totally lost if you port.

I WOULD like the ability to enter cd keys from GW1 and its chapters into your GW2 account to unlock special auras/weapons, though. Something to show off and say you're a veteran.

Name keeping may be a good thing. If a guild carries over to GW2 I'd want the names to still be recognizable. Maybe for the sake of lore I'll name one of my chars as the great great great grandson of a GW1 char.