Just been handed a copy of WoW...

[Lavindathar]

I have, and got a bit bored.

I found it to be much repeated throughout the game, where as GW differs.

Do you WoW players think it gets "repetitive"?

Plus GW is free.

[SpiritWarrior]

Well it is a tired old argument on these forums now but for me who plays both and owns both (Factions included) I think GW is equally (if not more) repetetive. WoW has alot more content. GW has only 20 levels. If you mean there is less of a grind well, yes there is less of a grind in GW because there are 40-less levels. The max level is 20 in Guild Wars.

I play both but always come back to WoW. When I play GW I get bored after awhile and need a break. I really notice the lack of 'premium' content personally. Where does GW renew itself so it doesn't become repetetive? As far as new content it rarely has any added unless it is an expansion. They don't get the huge updates WoW gets. To me GW is like a poor-mans MMO. This isn't a bad thing, and many who don't care to pay monthly will play only Guild Wars. But do you think if I felt I was getting ripped off for $15 a month while GW is free and "better" I'd still be paying?

[Timber Loftis]

GW isn't free. You have to buy expansions for new content. WoW has yet to release its first expansion, and the world has grown considerably since the original release.

I'd still like to try GW someday.

[Neo the Warrior Cat]

Ty Timber, might look that server up, probably after I get the real thing (damnable trial account limitations >< )

[Luvian]

Guild Wars is free, but their optional update system isn't. They don't claim you will never have to pay. What they said is that they will release multiple expansions every years, so instead of paying monthly for content you might no use, you only buy the content you want. They shouldn't be called expansions but premium updates.

You also dont have to keep paying for the right to play what you bought. In WoW if you ever stop paying you'll lose access to what you did buy. So you bought WoW plus Burning Crusade, but you're low on cash and so can't pay anymore. You're losing it all. So really the monthly fee isn't only about updates but the right to play. While in Guild Wars you'll always be able to play. The only thing you're missing out are the premium updates.

I'm not going to claim Guild Wars is the best mmmorpgs ever. I don't believe such a thing will ever exist. But it's fun, I think their pvp is really good, better than WoW's one in my opinion, because while the game has an interesting single player, it's really made for pvp. They compared their content system to collectible card games, with new editions coming out every couple of months and introducing more variety and rules to the gameplay, and I think this really affect their pvp.

You've got tons of classes, more get added all the time. Those classes have tons of skills, and even more of those get added all the time. But like card games, you actually get to pick only a couple of skills per game, so it add a whole new layer of strategy. In WoW there aren't that many classes, and all the classes can bring all their skills, so the pvp is more static. There aren't that many skills to start with, and everyone can use them all.

True, you've got talent points to specialise a little, but the number of possibilities are pretty limited. You know what a class's tricks are going to be as soon as you see him. But in GW? You never know what that mesmer will be able to do when you see him. Is he Anti-Warrior? Anti-Caster? Degen? Do you have to worry about him if you're a warrior? Is he going to disable the monk? Is his build going to be totally useless against your team? Are you the kind of warrior that can disable him? What about that ranger? Is he an interruption ranger? Trapper? Is that bridge safe? Will HE disable the monk too? Do you have someone that can counter him? And what about that guy playing the new class with totally different skills they just added, how will he affect your team, how will you counter him? There are so much possibilities...

Maybe it's because I'm a former Magic: the Gathering player, but that kind of active ever changing gameplay really appeal to me. You never know what your ennemy is going to throw out, but you need to be prepared to handle it while trying to get over his own preparations of what he think you're going to have.

Edit: And that's without even going into the fact that every characters has two classes. Is that monk actually a monk, or is he realy a necromancer? Will that warrior cast a meteor on you? etc

[ 09-18-2006, 04:53 PM: Message edited by: Luvian ]

[SpiritWarrior]

I also found GW is far more linear than WoW. Even in customizing your outfits. I think only weapons and offhands along with salvage stuff drop from mobs. I have never seen armor drop so most people look the same when you start out. (I don't know about the high levels). I can spot a mesmer or assassin a mile away as all they have to choose from is the current set that is avaialable to all of that class at the merchant. By halfway through the level grind, I can still immediately tell what class is what from their clothes. This is difficult for me as in WoW many people strive to and succeed in appearing unique.

I am searching for the words... it just feels "restricted" coming from World of Warcraft and when I play for too long this is when I'll decide I need a break. I can't go exploring in the same sense that I can in Azeroth. I can't leap off cliffs and into water and swim out to the edge of the land and actually *feel* like I am doing it and wonder 'where does this lead?' rather than smashing into an invisible barrier or being told I can't walk there. I can't just go riding and meet the other faction and see where they live and what they do. I can't bring my level 1 Orc warrior to Tirisfal and level him up there beacuse I decided he was an outcast. In GW everyone starts out in the same area. For me, Guild Wars seems to constantly remind me it is a game and not a role-playing game.

It does have the multiclassing going for it. There you can be somehwat unique...but then this is similiar to talent specs in WoW. Some classes can specialize in specific things via their talents.

For now, I would say GW is worth it since it's free and can be a fun game if it meets your gaming needs. I am critical and while I play GW from time to time and plan to add Nightfall when it arrives, I don't see myself ever absolutely loving it unless they add some major changes to the gameplay.

[Bozos of Bones]

Everyone on the same continent(meaning: expansion) starts in the same outfit, the only difference being the color you choose yourself. As you level, and venture into new towns, you get access to new, more powerful armors, some of which even have new abilities, as well as looks. For example, the Necromancer alone has 23 unique-looking armor sets, which may be further customised by dying them. These dyes themselves can be combined, up to a maximum of 4 dyes defining one, which allows for some really odd combos(silver+red+red+yellow for example). And you can even dye your weapons, not just the armors. I'd say there's more uniqueness in GW, because not everyone is a large, muscular broad-shouldered anime-armored brute.
As for the restriction, yes, there are no jumping, but it's really far from the invisible walls or "you can't walk here" notes you described. There are invisible walls, but they are usually on the edges of cliffs. Doesn't really take any time to get used to it, and you do get the *feel* of exploring, especially if you're somewhere for the first time, like in the Maguuma Jungle, or Echovald.
In the last month, another friend gave me his guest pass for WoW, played through that with him, and then played some off his account. Alot has changed since last I played WoW, sure. But it's still much the opposite to my taste. And that's what it finally comes down to: personal taste. Someone gets his kicks in farming for three weeks just to get his hands on the High Warlord Staff so he can finally show them dang rogues in the Battlegrounds that they're not all that. A different person might just want to assemble his team of trusted brethren, sharpen his Zealous Falchion of Defense, and cleanse the Fissure of Woe of all trace of the destructive Lord Menzies.

[SpiritWarrior]

Originally posted by Bozos of Bones: Everyone on the same continent(meaning: expansion) starts in the same outfit, the only difference being the color you choose yourself. As you level, and venture into new towns, you get access to new, more powerful armors, some of which even have new abilities, as well as looks. For example, the Necromancer alone has 23 unique-looking armor sets, which may be further customised by dying them. These dyes themselves can be combined, up to a maximum of 4 dyes defining one, which allows for some really odd combos(silver+red+red+yellow for example). And you can even dye your weapons, not just the armors. I'd say there's more uniqueness in GW, because not everyone is a large, muscular broad-shouldered anime-armored brute. As for the restriction, yes, there are no jumping, but it's really far from the invisible walls or "you can't walk here" notes you described. There are invisible walls, but they are usually on the edges of cliffs. Doesn't really take any time to get used to it, and you do get the *feel* of exploring, especially if you're somewhere for the first time, like in the Maguuma Jungle, or Echovald. In the last month, another friend gave me his guest pass for WoW, played through that with him, and then played some off his account. Alot has changed since last I played WoW, sure. But it's still much the opposite to my taste. And that's what it finally comes down to: personal taste. Someone gets his kicks in farming for three weeks just to get his hands on the High Warlord Staff so he can finally show them dang rogues in the Battlegrounds that they're not all that. A different person might just want to assemble his team of trusted brethren, sharpen his Zealous Falchion of Defense, and cleanse the Fissure of Woe of all trace of the destructive Lord Menzies.

Yeah, dyes are okay but I always feel like they added these into the game after realizing character customization was too limited. Only about a year later did they actually allow you to change the colour of your starting gear in the creation wizard. When I walk into Shing jea it is still terribly easy to see most classes from a distance, regardless of dyes. The only ones I look twice at are the level 20's really. I don't like weapon dying personally, it looks really bad IMHO and many weapons it is barely noticeable too.

What I meant by invisible walls is when you can walk into the water a bit then you just stop. I don't think it is limited to just jumping either, any surface that has a bump or hill and you have to guess if your char will be allowed to cross it or not. Some hills he will, others (even smaller ones) he won't. I ended up clicking to move to save time and guesswork as opposed to controlling my char with the directional keys. I amn't talking about exploring in the sense of travelling to new areas with the same restrictions. I mean to be able to explore the areas and zones seamlessly and without barriers. Due to the instanced mechanic and the movement limitations this doesn't happen in GW.

You are right of course, it all comes down to personal taste. There can be alot of grinding in WoW if you want there to be but the thing is it's optional. It's like the level 20's in GW still play and farm. With WoW I feel there are so many options you can do what you please at any pace you please.

[Luvian]

@ SpiritWarrior

Yes, the are not that many choices of armor, but I think this is on purpose. Every class has a different character model that stand out from the others, no matter what armor set you use. There are multiple sets, especially if you get the xp packs, but I think ArenaNet want your class to be recognizable at a sight. That said, personally, I like the fact that every class has a different model. I liked wow's characters, they had a nice cartoony look, but I wish their different classes had different models. For example it feel strange that a human mage or rogue is as big as an human fighter.

It's true that the game is more restricted than WoW, but again, I liked the difference. I absolutely loved the early WoW instances, Vancleef was awesome, SM and Shadowfang were great. But eventually, I ran into a point when the WoW story stoped interesting me, in wow you're just a little unimportant hero lost in an army of hero, it doesn't feel like you're actually accomplishing much. It was too static too. You do these quests, and you don't really have a feeling anything changed. I supossedly destroyed Vancleef's gang, I annihilated the Scarlet Brotherhood, and yet they're still going as strong as before when I encounter them in their cities and hideout trough the world. You can't bring the law to Westfall, that inn will never get repaired, and no matter what you do, Redridge's "siege" will never be broken, etc.

While in Guild Wars, you are the hero. Guild Wars feel like a single player multiplayer game. As far as the story goes, only you and your group exist. You do save the world, your actions have effect on cities and people, you even get cutscenes and a real storyline where time is moving, it doesn't feel like time stoped as in wow. From your first adventures exploring and getting ready to join the academy, your valiant efforts to save your country and your desperate travel trough hostile lands to save your people, you're doing something and the world change.

But I have to agree that some zones were not that well build as they should be. I got pretty sick of the damned devourers, I just can't stand them anymore, they poped all over the place. As fas as adventuring goes, I think pre-searing was great. You had lots of quests that took you trough all the available zones of that time, you had to explore to find armor crafters and quests, it was great. I didn't use any info on the net, so me and my brother had blast exploring every inch of pre-searing. After the searing, I agree things got a lot simpler.

I think they got better at world crafting in Factions, I thought the areas and missions were more interesting gameplay wise and I can't wait to see what they did in Nightfall.

Edit: About loading and instanced zones. I too at first wasn't really a fan of it, but I think it's a cheap price as far as I'm concerned if it give me my own storyline and allow me to be the hero of my own little world.

[ 09-18-2006, 08:37 PM: Message edited by: Luvian ]

[Hivetyrant]

Originally posted by SpiritWarrior: I am searching for the words... it just feels "restricted" coming from World of Warcraft and when I play for too long this is when I'll decide I need a break. I can't go exploring in the same sense that I can in Azeroth. I can't leap off cliffs and into water and swim out to the edge of the land and actually *feel* like I am doing it and wonder 'where does this lead?' rather than smashing into an invisible barrier or being told I can't walk there. I can't just go riding and meet the other faction and see where they live and what they do. I can't bring my level 1 Orc warrior to Tirisfal and level him up there beacuse I decided he was an outcast. In GW everyone starts out in the same area. For me, Guild Wars seems to constantly remind me it is a game and not a role-playing game.

Took the words right out of my mouth [img]smile.gif[/img]

While I haven't played GW's to lvl20, I did put a fair few hours in and I agree with Sprit that the game just feels very restricted, and I made that assumption before I ever started playing WoW, and after playing WoW for half a year and trying GW's again... There was no competition, GW IMO just sucks in comparison.
$15 a month is nothing (to me) anf the entertainment value I get out of it beats anything else worth $15

Without getting into another GW vs. WoW argument, I will just say this:
There are multiple reasons that 7 million people are subscribed to WoW and just over 1 million to GW's.....

Originally posted by Luvian: While in Guild Wars, you are the hero. Guild Wars feel like a single player multiplayer game. As far as the story goes, only you and your group exist. You do save the world, your actions have effect on cities and people, you even get cutscenes and a real storyline where time is moving, it doesn't feel like time stoped as in wow. From your first adventures exploring and getting ready to join the academy, your valiant efforts to save your country and your desperate travel trough hostile lands to save your people, you're doing something and the world change.

Unfortunantly that was only made possible by the one thing that annoyed me most in GW's, apart from "insances"(can't rememebr the name of them in GW's) and town's/cities you are the only person, unless you are in a group of 4 (don't know what the limit of parties is now) there was no one else in the world.

It just feels more realistic to be out in the world killing an completing quests only to be cheapshotted/stunned by the opposing faction, or to be almost dead while grinding something too hard only to have your ass saved by another player who can help you on your quests or share quests with you.

EDIT:Sorry, double posted

[ 09-18-2006, 11:47 PM: Message edited by: Hivetyrant ]