Guild Wars, questions...

[lord_spaceman]

Howzit

I brought Guild Wars from CNA two days ago, but cannot play it yet due to me being capped for Feb, so I have to wait until March to play it.

I would just like to know how does it run ? I'm on a 384kpbs package from Telkom (SAIX) and would like to know ping rates etc. Does the game lag at all ? And if so, is it bareable ?

Also, I have never played WoW before (mainly due to the fact that it hasn't been officially launched here in SA like Guild Wars has) and would just like to know what WoW players think of Guild Wars and vice-versa.

Thanks
PS: Can't wait to start playing (I can't even wait to start installing it !)

 

[Vexx007]

GW has superb NetCode. I play it on a 56k modem and it only really lags when Im in a town with lots of other people. I used to play on the European Servers but I recently changed to the American server where I experience less lag.

WOW and GW are not really comparable. But I like GW more, although it seems that WOW is more popular.

 

[gkm]

GW tend to be able to handle a fair variation in pings as far as I can tell. Lots of lost packets can be a major pain however. I have an unshaped account (and it seems many of the SA player on international games tend to gravitate that way, despite the higher costs,) so I cannot say for sure how the lag is on a shaped account. It does not use all that much bandwidth and works fine on normal analog dailup as well. I know some people use nukecap as well for GW, so if you are soft capped, that might be an option as well.

I see people like SAOL sell an 1GB unshaped account, so you might consider that as well. 1GB should be more than enough for a month of GW.

I have not played WoW, so cannot compare.

 

[gkm]

GW has superb NetCode. I play it on a 56k modem and it only really lags when Im in a town with lots of other people. I used to play on the European Servers but I recently changed to the American server where I experience less lag.

WOW and GW are not really comparable. But I like GW more, although it seems that WOW is more popular.

SA player might get less lag on US servers, due to less people being online there when we tend to play. However, that makes it harder to find people to party with. I would therefore recommend going for Euro zone in any case.

I think is Wow is more popular because the marketing budget of WoW is probably 100 times that of GW. And personally I have a high regard for Blizzard. I suspect this also attracts a lot of players who feels the same. WoW is probably the first PC game of theirs that I have not played.

 

[Vexx007]

SA player might get less lag on US servers, due to less people being online there when we tend to play. However, that makes it harder to find people to party with. I would therefore recommend going for Euro zone in any case.

I think is Wow is more popular because the marketing budget of WoW is probably 100 times that of GW. And personally I have a high regard for Blizzard. I suspect this also attracts a lot of players who feels the same. WoW is probably the first PC game of theirs that I have not played.

My sentiments exactly. It a shame that Blizzard can't/won't adapt ArenaNet's business model (no monthly subscription).

 

[LogoGuy]

If they only made it "free roaming" char can walk of the clift or take short cut etc.

 

[Vexx007]

If they only made it "free roaming" char can walk of the clift or take short cut etc.

I don't agree with you. How many times have you been killed or mugged by a high level character in WOW? I got tired of a level 60 char running after me and killing me and/or killing the critters and stuff around me, and/or challenging me to a duel when Im only level 5.

This is exactly why I like the Instanced game play of GW (in PVE). When you play PVP in GW you are rewarded for your skill, not for your character being a higher level then the person you are duelling against.

WOW has a lot of charm as a game and I really like the way the art was done, but the community really put me off.

 

[LogoGuy]

I'm talking about that GW limit my explore area. Try running of a clift...you cannot, have to follow the "path" way.

 

[gkm]

I think it is a bargain that one cannot run off a cliff. In a hectic battle that is one less thing to worry about. Plenty of other ways to die already.

 

[lord_spaceman]

I've just brought a 2GB account from Telkom right now (I couldn't resist) and I'm gonna load Guild Wars up when I get home. Does anyone know roughly how many MB's need to be downloaded after an installation for all the patches etc. ?

Thanks.

 

[gkm]

It depend on how up to date the CD is. Budget about 200MB I would guess to be safe, but it is probably a lot less.

 

[lord_spaceman]

Okay, playing it and loving it. I would just like to know, are there any SA guilds out there looking for a new player ? Also which district is best to play on ? And are there any SA Guild Wars websites on the net (can't seem to find any) !

Thanks

 

[gkm]

The Southern Storm is still recruiting:
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=37332

We are mostly a social PvE guild. If you want to play serious PvP or GvG, you probably need to look elsewhere at the moment. Many of the guild members have done some PvP, but as a guild we have never done a GvG battle that I know about. (But if a subgroup in the guild wants to do PvP as a guild group, the rest of the guild is certainly not going to get in their way.)

TSS plays in the euro zone. Euro has favour very often in the evenings SA time, which is useful to play some of the higher level areas. Also, there are more random people around to join with to do missions etc.

More info on favour:
http://216.86.149.248/wiki/Favor_of_the_Gods

Our website is down at the moment. (And that of a number of other SA GW guilds with us.) I guess the web site that hosts us exceeded their bandwidth again or something like that. I am not involved with it, so have no idea what happened.

 

[gkm]

Welcome to then guild lord_spaceman. I hope you will have lots of fun.

PS. I see GuildWars can now be bought from Kalahari.net etc. as well.

 

[lord_spaceman]

Thank you ever so much gkm! Loving Guild Wars so much at the moment! Yip Guild Wars should be available from any shop that sells PC games now as it's been officially launched here in SA, unlike WoW.

 

[Vexx007]

So when do you guys think factions will be available locally?

PS. Everyone reading this thread, there is a HUGE preview event for FACTIONS, the sequel to GW, starting on the 24th March. If anyone want to try the sequel for free, for 3 weeks, the first 4 people who PM me will get an invite tonight.

ArenaNet has made it possible for everyone with an account to invite 4 people to beta test the sequel. Guild Wars: Factions will be released in Europe on the 28th April.

 

[gkm]

Thank you ever so much gkm! Loving Guild Wars so much at the moment!

Pleasure. Yes, this is probably the first game I have played more hours than Diablo 2.

So when do you guys think factions will be available locally?

I hope so and at the same time as elsewhere. But even if it is not, one can still easily buy the extra key online. I expect it will be pretty painless, whichever way one goes.

As I understand it, the preview event is just three days, not three weeks:
http://www.guildwars.com/events/faq-factionspreviewevent.php

I think they are pretty brave to run a beta event where they expect the people showing up to be in terms of millions. Should be interesting.

 

[lord_spaceman]

Will Guild Wars: Factions still be free in terms of a monthly fee or will one have to start paying a monthly fee like WoW ? I read somewhere (I think it was even in NAG) that although the original GW is free, all expansions after that will require a monthly fee ? Does anyone have any clarity on this ? Is this true ?

Another thing out of interest, can Guild Wars be finished / completed ? Is there like a last boss or something like that ? And what happens when all quests are completed ? Or are quests always been added on ?

Thanks

 

[gkm]

The current situation is there will never be a monthly fee. Chapter 2 (Factions) will cost (about) the same as Chapter 1. But you do not have to buy Chapter 2 if you do not want too. You can still play the first chapter for as long as you like.

Guild Wars can be "finished". On a character, you can do all the missions (and maybe all the quests), which means you have basically finished the chapter.

After that you can still do the super hard titan quests which you can only get if you have finished the final mission. Also, there are the Furnace of Sorrow quests which one can do as many times as one like, which they added late last year. There are also other high level areas one can only do after ascending called the Underworld and The Fissure of Woe. They have also added another high level area, which I am not sure what its name is, but which people call the new-Underworld, a couple of weeks ago, which is also a very hectic fight. I was there yesterday evening. It is great fun for me and I have gone a number of times.

After that, if you still look for something to do, you can aim to get Fissure of Woe armor. It has the same stats as Droknar's Armor (Droknar's is the best armor, but still pretty cheap). FoW armor costs about 200 times what Droks armor cost and is prettier. It however has no value other than being a status symbol. (Personally, I do not think I shall ever have any FoW armor, since I do not like farming.)

After that you can start another character of a different class. Each class plays very differently, so too some extent it is a completely new game each time.

 

[Vexx007]

Will Guild Wars: Factions still be free in terms of a monthly fee or will one have to start paying a monthly fee like WoW ? I read somewhere (I think it was even in NAG) that although the original GW is free, all expansions after that will require a monthly fee ? Does anyone have any clarity on this ? Is this true ?

Another thing out of interest, can Guild Wars be finished / completed ? Is there like a last boss or something like that ? And what happens when all quests are completed ? Or are quests always been added on ?

Thanks

Yep, it will still be free, you only need to buy GW: Factions, wich is considered a sequel, not an expansion, so it will cost just as much as GW did.

GW can indeed be finished. There is a last boss. After you defeat him you get access to the end-game missions (Titans Quests among other) wich are VERY hard. As far as I know there is no new quests being added with patches, I could be wrong. However, Sorrows Furnace was an free extra content patch that was released a while ago.

As I understand it, the preview event is just three days, not three weeks:
http://www.guildwars.com/events/faq-...eviewevent.php

I stand corrected. I should learn to read properly. Oh, and a valid GW account holder can invite 3 players not 4......

The free beta weekend starts on the 24th March.