The noobs starter guide : FAQ's

[James]

Right I am a noob and I am sure as hell gonna frequently ask questions. If the more experienced guys can give me a helping hand with Guild Wars Factions?

I have not got the game yet, only cause I have not been to the shops to get it. When I do get going I have some questions?

Q : My entire viewpoint on MMORPG is the point of other people on the server. I wanna play against and interact with people not AI so with time zones is UK or US better?

Q : With pings will I be alright playing with shaped. My entire game choice is based on a once off fee. I won't play the game that shall not be named as there is a monthly fee. If I need unshaped, I may as well be playing that?

Q : Guild War strangly suggests there will be guilds. How do I find the South African guilds(If any), do I need to pass a written exam to join or what do u need from me and most importantly what are the advantages of being in a guild?

Q : I would like to level up and learn the game, from what I have read I should stick to the PvE (Player vs Environment). With the name PvE, are there people there or is it purely NPC's?

Q : When should I leave PvE and join the ranks in the PvP?

Q : When I do meet people(if ever), how will I know they are online and how can I hook up with them. Is there some kind of built in IM system?

Q : What is the most balanced charactre to start with? Assasin sounds sweet but I don't wanna start with an advanced character.

Thanks in advance for helping me out

[GougedEye]

My 2c

Q : My entire viewpoint on MMORPG is the point of other people on the server. I wanna play against and interact with people not AI so with time zones is UK or US better?

Timezone is better on EU. Also no Americans which is nice. You can switch which zone you play in (5 times I think, but I'm not sure), so I'd advise you to find a Guild you like and play where they play. Lots of pointers to SA guilds all over the forums.

Q : With pings will I be alright playing with shaped. My entire game choice is based on a once off fee. I won't play the game that shall not be named as there is a monthly fee. If I need unshaped, I may as well be playing that?

Shaped account is fine. I have shaped and unshaped. I don't bother to use unshaped for Guildwars although it's a must for others internatioanl online games.

Q : Guild War strangly suggests there will be guilds. How do I find the South African guilds(If any), do I need to pass a written exam to join or what do u need from me and most importantly what are the advantages of being in a guild?

Guild is not a must, but if you don't want one stop wasting your time and rather play Oblivion. Just look on these forums. Lots of
SA Guilds lookng for people. If the guys seem cool, ask for an invite. The worst they can do is point and laugh. Also try aCe SA Guildwars site http://guildwars.systemshock.co.za I think. Use search.

Q : I would like to level up and learn the game, from what I have read I should stick to the PvE (Player vs Environment). With the name PvE, are there people there or is it purely NPC's?

PvE is about learning to play your character. Also allows you to unlock skills to use in PvP. Has a nice campaign as well. It is designed to be played with other real people (or even Americans). So you do the traditional MMORPG thing of LFG etc. But you can hire NPCs for your party if you want. Just they are dumb and tend to get you killed (something like Americans actually).

Q : When should I leave PvE and join the ranks in the PvP?

You mix it up. So you never really leave PvE. Unless you want to of course. There is lots of different type of PvE and all sorts of things to try. You can also start a level 20 PvP character at any time. There are also PvP arena's where lower level characters can get involved.

Q : When I do meet people(if ever), how will I know they are online and how can I hook up with them. Is there some kind of built in IM system?

Full chat system. Budy lists. Guilds etc. Really not an issue.

Q : What is the most balanced charactre to start with? Assasin sounds sweet but I don't wanna start with an advanced character.

Not Assassin. Assassin is more PvP focused and struggle a bit in PvE. Tend to battle finding groups, but if you have a guild they may help. Or find me ("Lucius Cornelius" or "Masurao Cearbhail" mostly), I'll group with anything. It really depends what you want to play. Easiest newbie character is a Warrior / Monk. Also have long term playability. Good alrounders and fun to play. Always welcome in PvE or PvP. Elementalists are also nice.

[James]

Thanks for that GE. Most helpfull. Now I just need to get my mitts on the game

[Etbal]

Thanks for that GE. Most helpfull. Now I just need to get my mitts on the game

Agreed, Thanks for that

[gkm]

Q : When I do meet people(if ever), how will I know they are online and how can I hook up with them. Is there some kind of built in IM system?

You can see who is online in your guild by opening in the guild window. You can then chat to the whole guild or to individuals. You can then also maintain a friends list of other people you know in the game and see when they are online and send them messages.

I tend to recommend a warrior or elementalist as your first character, depending on your play style.

[lilDeath]

Q : My entire viewpoint on MMORPG is the point of other people on the server. I wanna play against and interact with people not AI so with time zones is UK or US better?

None really. One of the things which makes it You are not bound too any time zones or servers. Just means that on depending what time you log on there will be more ppl from certain zones on.

Q : With pings will I be alright playing with shaped. My entire game choice is based on a once off fee. I won't play the game that shall not be named as there is a monthly fee. If I need unshaped, I may as well be playing that?

Shaped is perfect. Not an issue. This game is very bandwidth efficient and even their streaming system for pushing extra content is world-renowned.

Q : Guild War strangly suggests there will be guilds. How do I find the South African guilds(If any), do I need to pass a written exam to join or what do u need from me and most importantly what are the advantages of being in a guild?

Some guilds have strict rules, some not. Not any one guild is the same. Plus, you can leave a guild very easily if they are 'not for you'. Some you must fill in forms and spent certain amount of time online, or be online at least 2 weeks or so. Some not. You must find one which is good for you. There are loads of information from a lot of other SA guilds here in this forum and also @ GW SystemShock
Being in a guild allows you to ask people you know for help and who you can trust. Information sharing is also easy.
PUGs (Pick up Groups) have got a tendency of not being reliable, leaving, quiting, etc.

Q : I would like to level up and learn the game, from what I have read I should stick to the PvE (Player vs Environment). With the name PvE, are there people there or is it purely NPC's?

PvE is the learning curve of the game. This is the best part of the game IMO. This is where they have changed quite a bit between the 2 different chapters. It took quite a while to get to LVL20 (Max) in Prophecies, so you had lots of time to learn your character.
In Factions the process is much more progressive (not a bad thing). You get to LVL20 in 2-3 days easy.
PvE contains people and NPC's. There are only a select few missions where you absolutely require the help of others and NPC's will not do (or the option simply is not there)
PvP, is people only, with NPC's being able to assist you in your cause for domination!!

Q : When should I leave PvE and join the ranks in the PvP?

You can do PvP anytime. If you want to PvP immediately, by all means, go ahead. You just wont have any of the special / elite skills items available to you. PvE unlocks this for you as you gther them, for use in PvP as well.
You can create pure PvP characters or use your PvE (Roleplaying) characters to PvP. And switch between PvE and PvP at your leisure. No issue.

Q : When I do meet people(if ever), how will I know they are online and how can I hook up with them. Is there some kind of built in IM system?

You meet people in towns or outposts, which is where you see the 'others'
There are also different districts you can access, if you want to. English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, etc.
There can be several districts (according to demand) for the different regions as well, i.e. English district 1, 2, 3, etc.
There is an in-game chat system, which is: open to everyone (public, everyone can read and see it in that district), guild chat (guild members), team chat (party you create / join in towns / outposts for missions / quests), alliance chat (guilds joined together), trade chat (selling / buying stuff) and whispers (specific people).
There is a Friends (N) and a Guild (G) menu, here you can see who is online and add people to your friends list, for instance, and then talk / whisper to / with them.

Q : What is the most balanced charactre to start with? Assasin sounds sweet but I don't wanna start with an advanced character.

Assassin is awesome. This character was my first char in Factions. Hectic damage, but it aint a warrior (not as much armor rating), which is what most people mistake them for.
I did not have any issues playing this character. If people did not want me in their parties, I simply started my own.
I remember one time, another assassin and I could not get into a party at Boreas Seabed, we ended up going together with henchies and got the mission done.
Wonder how the other parties did that didnt want to take us. :/
Warriors are the most common class for newbies, and then I think Elementalists as well.

Welcome, Good luck and enjoy it!!

[James]

Once again, Thanks a whole heap.

my somewhat broad delivery time will determine when I start playing now

This is a courtesy notification. The following products you ordered have been SHIPPED using our courier and should arrive shortly.

Please note delivery usually takes place between 1 and 2 business days after the parcel is shipped.

I hope I will get in there tonight

[GougedEye]

lol, see you shortly!

[James]

Right now after playing the game I have a few more questions

I played for quiet a bit last night and I am alreadyon lvl 10. If you stop leveling up at 20 is the game still much fun in PvE mode?

The entire time I played last night I never found 1 person to adventure with so created a party of henchmen. What is the best way to find people to adventure with?

I got so sick and tired of not being able to find a sword and the weapon people in the monastary need you to bring materials so I ended up buying from another player a "Furious Long sword of Fortitude". Had no idea what stuff costs so gave the guy 150gp. Now I see that most swords and daggers cost less that 50 but where can u find them?

Friends (As mensioned in another thread), if I leave my IGN can people just add my name to the friend list and I will be able to chat to them? Same as Guilds?

Where or how is the best way to get better armour. If I need to find materials to have iit crafted where can I find these materials.

Thanks a million and look forward to seeing some of you on the inside.
IGN : Tenaka Askari



[edit]I just googled my sword which I thought I probably bought for way over price. Some guy payed 500gp for it on GWOnline trades http://traders.gwonline.net/viewitem.php?tradeid=137247 [/edit]

[lilDeath]

LOL@James

The lvl cap of 20 is no where close to being the end. It sounds like you think it is a bit easy at the moment....
oh, my friend...things will change....
Patience, guy, patience....
The game only really starts when you GET to lvl20. From then on, the fun never ends!!

Get / join people or parties in towns or outposts. You will see them advertising 'LFP' - Looking for Party, and LFG - Looking for Group, etc. You can typically join with these people depending on whether they actually want your character class in their party (yes you do get this).

Of course you can create your own party as well, using above methods.

150gp is nothing. Very cheap, it seems expensive in the beginning though because you don't have much and the drops are very poor. You get drops comparable to your lvl on the island. IMO, the best weapons on the island can be bought from the Weapons traders in the towns - Shing Jea Monastery, Tsumei Village, Seitung Harbor.
Look out for better weapons when you get to the mainland, or even in Seitung Harbor from the Weapons guy and Quartermasters (2nd last town on the island).

There are weapons selling from as low as 5k till way over 100K.

Friends work in the way that you can see when they are online and chat to them via whisper ("). And join up in this way in parties, where the party chat (#) will then apply.
Guilds work the same, but you use (@) to chat to everyone in the guild, that is online at the time.

Armor is really only worth it right in the beginning from the armor guys in Shing Jea Monastery and then maybe getting new armor in Ran Musu Gardens. I normally skip this one and get armor in Seitung Harbor.
The materials you require, you can salvage (with salvage kit - buy from merchant or trade for monastery credits from quartermaster in Shing Jea - get and Identification kit too - for IDing items that are 'unidentified') from items you pick up (weapons, materials, almost anything can be salvaged). This process will give you crafting materials, and in some cases, rare crafting materials.
These can also be bought from the relative merchants - Material traders and Rare material traders - for gold.

Hope I've covered all your questions...

[James]

for now

[James]

K more questions

What is "tanking"?

What is the best way to sell found items. I have a few purple and light blue, from what I understand they are more rare than standard items but if you sell them in the towns to the weapon merch they are worth nothing?

Similar to above, is it worth salvaging a rare item to hopefully make a better itme more suited mto ur style of play?

Lastly is there a list of acronyms, I can work out some but not others and as this is how everyonbe speaks I think I need to learn.

Thanks again.

[RisseN]

K more questions

What is "tanking"?

Im sure someone else will explain it better than I can. But you can get a warrior for example to go and attack a whole group of creatures. Then while they are all surrounding him and are pretty much in one place, you get a nuker to nuke the begeezes out of them. Its cool cos they are all in one place which is valuable for AOE nukers and such.

edited: unless there is some other meaning to tank that im not thinking of

[lilDeath]

K more questions

What is "tanking"?

What is the best way to sell found items. I have a few purple and light blue, from what I understand they are more rare than standard items but if you sell them in the towns to the weapon merch they are worth nothing?

Similar to above, is it worth salvaging a rare item to hopefully make a better itme more suited mto ur style of play?

Lastly is there a list of acronyms, I can work out some but not others and as this is how everyonbe speaks I think I need to learn.

Thanks again.

"Tanking" is generally referred to as the w/mo class that can agro and take all the damage and pull enemies toward him, while the rest of the party takes them out.
They generally do not inflict physical damage, but there are skills that deals damage when "tanking".
Check here for more info: http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Tank

Quite often, if the merchant barely wants to pay for it (between 2-50g) it probably wont be worth much more than that anyway.
You can try selling it in the game with WTS - Want to Sell (making use of the Trade channel "$"). This is time-consuming though, and a waste of time, IMO. I just sell it to merchants. I really only sell the RARE items: max dmg, gold (normally), nice skins, good stats (eg +30hp), etc.
WTB - Want to Buy

The valuable drops only start happening on the mainland when the merchant will offer between 50g-400g for it.
These weapons and items are generally referred to as MAX items, dmg, spells, energy, echantments, skills, %, +hp, etc.

Salvaging rare items / weapons to get upgrades off is a game of chance basically. Don't know the odds, but with expert and superior salvage kits the chances are apparently better.
I do it depending on what type of upgrade is on the weapon / item and what it's worth.
Check here for more info: http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Salvage

Weapon / Item rarity: http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Item_rarity

Check some acronyms / abbreviations and their meanings here : http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Category:Abbreviations

[dleerob]

I know this is probably a stupid question, but I'll ask anyway. Are there any local south african servers for guild wars? I am deciding whether to get IS or SAIX. If there are no local servers, then SAIX is probably the way to go. If there are local servers, and I get an IS account, I wont have to worry once iv reached my 3GB international cap, as I could still play guild wars locally.
Any advice would be appreciated.