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The Guild Wars, Part 1
13 years ago
General
Know that I don't always know what I'm going to say. Games, Entertainment, Self, Weather, Politics, Events, History, Philosophy, all are fair game and any are free without the waring eyes of family or work.
As you probably know, Guild Wars 2 has been online for the last week. Much hype was generated in the MONTHS before, between beta testing and press announces; was it worth the hype? So far: Yes. I'm currently a mid-40 level mesmer, focusing on both crafting as a means to gain useful items and experience, and trying to "quest" my way to level 80. I have not experienced PvP first hand but I have back-seat watched those who do. I have no idea where the story is going to end or the PvE experiences that will come with it... yet.
When you adventure out into the world there are events taking place along with "quests" you can take part in with ZERO restriction. The heart system is their version of quests; which is to say a particular NPC wants help with challenges (maybe its facing off bandits, maybe its feeding animals, maybe its serving ale and food at an inn... no I'm not kidding) facing them. They give you a progress bar and there are 3-4 different ways you can help them. (Fore example: Apple orchard is infested with spiders, you can pick apples, clean out eggs, kill big spiders, or probably a 4th that I don't remember) Anything adds to your progress bar and it's entirely up to you how you proceed. The game also does not care about levels, you can perform a level 40 task/event even if your 30, or vise versa, and get something out of it. Probably not much, and facing a lvl 40 mob alone will kill you out right, but the game does very little to restrict you.
Everything has a reward; You can literally play the game however you desire. Level by questing, pvp, crafting, exploring, there is no wrong answer. Most things are in proportion to how much time you invest, not how you invest it.
The game looks wonderful, the world is open and colorful, structures are to scale and capital cities are actually full of life and activity, not just a mere dozen useful npcs. Vistas are a particular favorite as you get to explore the lands and when you see a vista, it gives you a panoramic show of your surroundings and some of them make amazing wallpapers. The music in the game can be summed up by saying: Guild Wars 1. I only have my human but start a character and your blasted with that nostalgic soundtrack that hooked most of the original players, a daring move but one I applaud for.
Combat is very fun, where as other games gives you 40 different skills to manage, Guild Wars 2 will give you those skills but they are sub-divided by the type of weapon you have. And when your underwater that too influences weapon use. So your combat style is constantly changing (or not changing at all if it suits your style) and it keeps it very fresh. The elements of having to aim, having to dodge, having to think rather then push the same button rotation over and over, is very fun. In fact grinding mobs is maybe the ONLY thing that's bad for leveling, just blatant killing with no purpose is horrible experience. Completing tasks and accomplishments is how your rewarded. Which is great! The developers basically looked at it and said "we'd rather have 5 kills that feel very rewarding then 50 kills of boring." And they accomplished just that.
The story mode so far, is a lore junkies wet dream. Like the first game there's not a series of quests that lead up to a grand foreseen encounter, instead your being driven through the story itself. They make you choose how you want to proceed, what missions you take. Like the first guild wars its a campaign element that the journey is almost more important then the destination. They help you define your personality for dialog style, everything just digs you in and makes you enjoy things. Personal story is indeed personal.
The system requirements... I don't know them off hand but my computer runs the game like a champ, and most people I've spoken to have had good success playing. For me the launcher takes some time to load up, especially if there are files being updated, but when I hit the PLAY button the game is up, running, and I'm in the world. When I hit close, I'm at my desktop screen and my computer is happy (not wheezing and catching for air like other games). Speaking of updates, there's ALWAYS something going on. While that may seem like a turn off to some let me argue that it's really interesting to know that there are developers working on fixing bugs, fixing balancing issues, and all around being present in the game. If they do kick you off it's warning given by a real person, not a machine. And like real people, they make mistakes =).. We've seen them typo, change their minds, clown around, it's really funny and makes you have a positive sense of humor over the fact that for 3-5 minutes (while your launcher updates) your off the game. The longest I've seen myself off was about 30-40 minutes and they gave a notice saying 20-60. So far they have not had what other games call "patch day" where everything is down for 12 hours.
The servers, IT DOES NOT MATTER. You have a friend playing on another realm? Join them in the game, you don't need to BE on the same realm. You find guilds you like? Join it, your not limited to just one (witnessed, not performed myself). DLC? Yes it exists. They have an in-game currancy called GEMS. You purchase everything with gems, you purchase gems either with real money, or with in-game gold. You can get character boosts, you can get pets, you can get cosmetic items, you could get additional character slots, but the awesome thing is if you really want you don't need to use real money for it. Speaking of real money, no monthly subscription! Buy the game and start/stop whenever you want.
This is ArenaNet, this is Guild Wars, in the first game I was amazed at the dedication they put into personalizing seasonal events, and I would be surprised not to see it again. I'm looking forward to what sort of end game exists, and what the PvP is like when I'm "ready" (you can do that at any time, all characters are equal in PvP). I'll post more about those when I learn, but everything so far says that this was a well made purchase =)
When you adventure out into the world there are events taking place along with "quests" you can take part in with ZERO restriction. The heart system is their version of quests; which is to say a particular NPC wants help with challenges (maybe its facing off bandits, maybe its feeding animals, maybe its serving ale and food at an inn... no I'm not kidding) facing them. They give you a progress bar and there are 3-4 different ways you can help them. (Fore example: Apple orchard is infested with spiders, you can pick apples, clean out eggs, kill big spiders, or probably a 4th that I don't remember) Anything adds to your progress bar and it's entirely up to you how you proceed. The game also does not care about levels, you can perform a level 40 task/event even if your 30, or vise versa, and get something out of it. Probably not much, and facing a lvl 40 mob alone will kill you out right, but the game does very little to restrict you.
Everything has a reward; You can literally play the game however you desire. Level by questing, pvp, crafting, exploring, there is no wrong answer. Most things are in proportion to how much time you invest, not how you invest it.
The game looks wonderful, the world is open and colorful, structures are to scale and capital cities are actually full of life and activity, not just a mere dozen useful npcs. Vistas are a particular favorite as you get to explore the lands and when you see a vista, it gives you a panoramic show of your surroundings and some of them make amazing wallpapers. The music in the game can be summed up by saying: Guild Wars 1. I only have my human but start a character and your blasted with that nostalgic soundtrack that hooked most of the original players, a daring move but one I applaud for.
Combat is very fun, where as other games gives you 40 different skills to manage, Guild Wars 2 will give you those skills but they are sub-divided by the type of weapon you have. And when your underwater that too influences weapon use. So your combat style is constantly changing (or not changing at all if it suits your style) and it keeps it very fresh. The elements of having to aim, having to dodge, having to think rather then push the same button rotation over and over, is very fun. In fact grinding mobs is maybe the ONLY thing that's bad for leveling, just blatant killing with no purpose is horrible experience. Completing tasks and accomplishments is how your rewarded. Which is great! The developers basically looked at it and said "we'd rather have 5 kills that feel very rewarding then 50 kills of boring." And they accomplished just that.
The story mode so far, is a lore junkies wet dream. Like the first game there's not a series of quests that lead up to a grand foreseen encounter, instead your being driven through the story itself. They make you choose how you want to proceed, what missions you take. Like the first guild wars its a campaign element that the journey is almost more important then the destination. They help you define your personality for dialog style, everything just digs you in and makes you enjoy things. Personal story is indeed personal.
The system requirements... I don't know them off hand but my computer runs the game like a champ, and most people I've spoken to have had good success playing. For me the launcher takes some time to load up, especially if there are files being updated, but when I hit the PLAY button the game is up, running, and I'm in the world. When I hit close, I'm at my desktop screen and my computer is happy (not wheezing and catching for air like other games). Speaking of updates, there's ALWAYS something going on. While that may seem like a turn off to some let me argue that it's really interesting to know that there are developers working on fixing bugs, fixing balancing issues, and all around being present in the game. If they do kick you off it's warning given by a real person, not a machine. And like real people, they make mistakes =).. We've seen them typo, change their minds, clown around, it's really funny and makes you have a positive sense of humor over the fact that for 3-5 minutes (while your launcher updates) your off the game. The longest I've seen myself off was about 30-40 minutes and they gave a notice saying 20-60. So far they have not had what other games call "patch day" where everything is down for 12 hours.
The servers, IT DOES NOT MATTER. You have a friend playing on another realm? Join them in the game, you don't need to BE on the same realm. You find guilds you like? Join it, your not limited to just one (witnessed, not performed myself). DLC? Yes it exists. They have an in-game currancy called GEMS. You purchase everything with gems, you purchase gems either with real money, or with in-game gold. You can get character boosts, you can get pets, you can get cosmetic items, you could get additional character slots, but the awesome thing is if you really want you don't need to use real money for it. Speaking of real money, no monthly subscription! Buy the game and start/stop whenever you want.
This is ArenaNet, this is Guild Wars, in the first game I was amazed at the dedication they put into personalizing seasonal events, and I would be surprised not to see it again. I'm looking forward to what sort of end game exists, and what the PvP is like when I'm "ready" (you can do that at any time, all characters are equal in PvP). I'll post more about those when I learn, but everything so far says that this was a well made purchase =)
Damn fine game.
PvP is something I've never liked in an MMO, mainly due to bad experiences in WoW when I had to join a pvp server in order to play with a friend. I am very glad there are no factions in this game, and no "constantly on, good luck" pvp where you could be ganked at any given moment while out in the world picking flowers for Mankrik's wife's grave.
The pvp matches I have been in have been an absolute blast, and I know I will be coming back to them again and again. The experience of World vs World is unlike no other. Seizing castles with your guildmates is something I will never forget.
When you're ready for pvp, I'd be glad to play it with you. :P