THinking of buying GW.. few Q's

Hey everyone.. thinking of buying GW soon, but I am a long time player of WoW. I was hoping to get some info on the player base. I am getting tired of the melting pot of WoW with cross server satuff happening etc bringing the game to the lowest common denomenator. I was hoping to get involved with a somewhat more mature game.

Now I know not all games are mature and anyone can play, but what is the overall concensus of the community? Is it active? Are there multiple servers to access with limited numbers of players on each? How is the progression of the game? Is it stop start with Lore?

Basically I want to leave WoW for different reasons. Sick of paying US prices from NZ, sick the young player base ruining gameplay with cross server antics etc..

Any help?

Thanks

There aren't servers like there is in wow. The main gameplay takes place in instances, where it's just you and your party, and the only public gathering places are the towns. Towns are divided into districts of 100 people each, with separate districts for different regions and languages. However, you can easily switch from one to another at anytime, so there isn't any type of permanent segregation as in other MMOs.

As for the community, just like anything online, you're going to have a good share of idiots. The population is spread a bit thin considering the game is over 5 years old, but the starter areas are usually populated enough to get new players acquainted, and the higher end zones have their own crowd. The middle sections are sparse, but you can always round out your party with AI heroes and henchmen.

I never played WoW, so I don't know their level of n00b asshat-ery. Shing Jea Monastery, America District 1 is known for it's n00bs, but for the most part, there aren't a significant amount of n00bs. In GW, there is a bigger issue of 'l2p' (learn to play), but you have heroes and henchmen, so it's not like you are forced to play with them.

So you reckon the game is past its use by date? I have seen that GW2 is coming soon.. do you think it will rekindle the game? Are there many changes coming through with GW2?

The Hall of Monuments here in GW1 is going to offer unmentioned rewards for GW2. If the rewards are good enough, it just might bring players back.

There are new players arriving daily, plus old players coming back again. The constant news about GW2 has gotten them interested in getting their Hall of Monuments done or, in the case of new to GW players, learning the lore which will be continued in GW2.

The game is far from dead. The player base is very spread out throughout the three campaign areas and the expansion area. Except for the port cities which see a lot more constant population. But you won't be alone, you just join a guild (check out our Guild Connections section) and you will find people to help and people to play.

I agree with the post above. There are actually many people that play the game, some new, some old, some veterans. I know I've been playing this since release and I still enjoy it. There are your typical idiots and trolls in game, but name a game where they don't exist.

If you do feel like trying Guild Wars out, I recommend the Prophecies campaign to start, that's where it all started and it probably has the biggest population and the best story line. It takes place in Tyria, so if you do plan on getting GW2 you'll know your history of Tyria as this is the continent GW2 takes place. And someone mentioned a Hall of Monuments, that's in a seperate expansion itself but all that so far represents are GW2 mini in-game bonuses that have no impact otherwise besides looks, not game-play itself. Call it a trophy room if you may

Guild Wars 2 is a completly different game. All of it's features are impossible to sum up in one post, but read up on Guild Wars 2's homepage (guildwars2.com)

Guild Wars 2 was attracting a lot of attention on GamesCom and PAX, and won the "Best Online Game" award on GamesCom. I myself am very exited about GW2, looks like it's going to "revolutionize" key aspects of MMO's.

I agree with above posters.

On a sidenote, I've played GW with lots of ex-WoW players, and their biggest problem is that they compare GW too much to WoW. "LOOOL You cannot jump" etc etc.

So if you really want to enjoy Guild Wars, Forget all about WoW.

The game is far from dead, just join a guild and make some friends

If you feel better, I heard that also very often ... It is also very hard to explain to WoW players that the eight skills in the bar is a game mechanic restriction and not an interface restriction...

I'd say try it out and look for a beginner-friendly, helpful guild. Or convince a friend to start gw as well.

Being limited to 8 skills only at a time is no limitation in the sense of limiting the players experience. It's more about giving each and every skill a more unique feeling to it and create different synergies, so you have to decide what you want to do and excel at doing it.

It's just a form of specialisation that has its up- and downsides.

considering you come from WoW, be warned, GW1 has no persistent areas. Once you leave a town you won't meet any players until you reach another town. It's closer to Diablo than WoW in this aspect.

Thanks so much for the input everyone. I think I might give it a try. I do want another MMO to balance the hum drum WoW. I am not a hardcore gamer so my experiences with games are usually kept seperate with everything given a chance. I have played Earth and Beyond when it came out for a little while on beta I think it was. Not much interaction with the opposite side, but you could if you wanted to easily.

Based on this.. how is PvP done? Do you enter an instance and fight? Or is it more random encounters like WoW? ( sorry to compare, but WoW is my only PvP experience since Asheron's Call back in the day ) .. I like the soloing aspect of the game, being I have moved to NZ 7 years ago, and have yet made friends with gamers.. less one who won't think of leaving WoW... ever.

PvP takes place in PvP arenas; there's no "random" PvP like in WoW.
For example you go to the Random Arenas, hit "Enter" and after a short wait you'll be put in a team with 3 players and you againt 4 other players.

GW is a team game, besides from the very early tutorial region you'll never fight alone; you don't need other human players though, in every outpost are henchmen, AI controlled team mates, available. In Nightfall and Eye of the North you can also get heroes, they are like henchmen but you can customize their skills and equipment.

WoW's community is terrible and is also the reason i quit playing that game, guild wars is nothing compared to that and it's quite enjoyable. once you find a good guild the community experience doesn't get any better imo. especially with ts or vent also if you plan to do serious pvp you might want to get yourself a mic as it's really dependent on team play and coordination. you won't find yourself soloing a lot of content like in WoW but you can play with NPC heroes/henchmen if you prefer not to play with other people.

Being that you have played WoW and know about the guilds etc there.. are the guilds in GW similar?

I think I am leaning now toward getting it. My wife just said to me on the phone that she feels like a big spend up after the recent earthquake we have suffered through.. some retail therapy is in order.

In gw guilds usually have a cape and a hall. The latter is basically a meeting place for all members of the guild and may be entered by alliance members. You may form a group in your guild hall to start a GvG, which is a highly competitive pvp format. Alliances can be formed by multiple guilds. One guild is the leader an may invite other guilds. You can talk to other guilds via alliance chat channel.

Usually many guilds share an extra ts3 or vent server to make communication easier and reduce the server costs.

The thing i most like in GW is the almost infinite combination of skill and effects you can use, even if there are many of fixed builds that everyone use for a specific purpouse...

You can be creative in GW and find out new builds and tricks i actually do many things that anyone else don't...and i'm pretty proud of it...you just have to learn mechanics of the game!

People in GW are as in all other games, so you know what you are going to face

If you are looking for a New Zealand or Australian guild, then go to guru's Guild Connections section. You can post a thread yourself and also check a few pages of Guild Looking For to see if you can get a guild in your time zone.

i suppose they're similar, not much you can do to make it uniquely different if you know what i mean. i've played a lot of games with guild systems and they're pretty much all the same. you don't have a guild bank but a good sized chest like in diablo2. you have a guild hall, which is a place you can customize with npcs and what not, chill with your guild etc. and rather than tabards in WoW you have capes to customize for your guild. this game is way different than WoW so don't expect any big similarities, like if you enjoy jumping 24/7.. you won't like gw cuz you can't jump lol. if little things like that don't bother you then i'm sure you'll enjoy gw.

edit: also i don't want you thinking that guild wars community is perfect, any MMO is going to have it's fare share of idiots, people just don't get away with much on guild wars like in other MMO's, such as trash talking. see something you don't like, /report