Guild Wars Factions Comments by Ellie Gibson

I think it's great to see a game of this scale without monthly fees is built upon as much as Guild Wars.

I think it's great to see a game of this scale without monthly fees is built upon as much as Guild Wars.

Is there a difference between monthly fees and releasing an updated game every six months though?

What do people think? I haven't played guild wars so cant really comment.

It works out cheaper when you consider WoW as an example. A monthly fee of 8 quid for 6 months = £48, then the £30 for the actual game, then £20 for the expansion, compared to the GW model which is £20 for the normal game (Or £20 for the Special Edition if you get down to Game atm, Deal of the Week) then around £20 if you shop around for the new Chapters. So thats £40 in the inital 6 months, as compared to £78 + £20 if the company is quick with the expansions.

hog-lumps:

yes, the obvious difference is no-one will *make* you buy a new game every 6 months.

Plus, like the man said, you don't actually have to buy the expansions to keep playing - and they don't stack on top of each other, in that you can just skip Factions if you don't fancy it, and buy the next one instead. Or buy Factions and the next one and never bother with the original Guild Wars. It's a nice system.

Cheers chaps, I was honestly interested in the economics of it all (I've yet to venture into online gaming)

Hog-lumps Guild Wars is a great place to start with the no subscription and it's a stonker of a game too with so many hours of content already + the PVP stuff

Can't wait for Factions.
Although the promise of a whole new GW every 6 months, does make me slightly nervous that i won't complete everything in time for the next one.
Gotta love the art in the screenies of that jade sea.

I was completely addicted by WOW, but Guild Wars played a large part in breaking that.

It's a superb game, the pve side was not the most interesting in the first game, but the pvp is just great fun and so balanced.

It ain't an mmorpg, so I wouldn't compare it at all with WoW. GW = Diablo 2 with better skillsystem + great PvPoptions - expansive itemhunt. Looking forward to those addons if they deliver what they are promising.

Although the promise of a whole new GW every 6 months, does make me slightly nervous that i won't complete everything in time for the next one.

Same thing here. I still haven't completely finished the first chapter (some mission bonusses left and the Final Assault quest in Sorrow's Furnace) so I never get to finish an entire chapter in 6 months :(

I never 'got' GW like I did WoW, but I always wanted too. Maybe now's the time to try again.

/has attention span of ADD child.

Don't forget that Everquest charges for expansions AND a monthly fee.

If anyone wants a pass code to the Factions preview event at the end of the month send me an email. If you are a lapsed GW player you will already have free access to it.

Anyone else not really 'gripped' by GW? I bought it cos it was cheap and easy enough to dip in and out of, but I've just never been that taken with it really. Admittedly, I don't like PvP which the whole game is centred around, but as a coop PvE game it's thuroughly 'meh', for me.

"It ain't an mmorpg, so I wouldn't compare it at all with WoW. GW = Diablo 2 with better skillsystem + great PvPoptions - expansive itemhunt. Looking forward to those addons if they deliver what they are promising."

Guild Wars is an mmorpg - and yes there is expansive item hunting and farming in it, mainly for green items and XP in tombs, the underworld and Sorrow's Furnace. It does not have the subscription or as much of a level grind as most mmorpgs, but it is still most definitely a massively multiplayer role playing game and a valid comparison to WOW.

Guild Wars prophesies does not have the social depth of Warcraft, or the same size in terms of game world, complexity of endgame instances or pvp raiding. However I expect Factions to go some way to make up for that seeing as they're bringing in larger scale battles for control of areas, plus keeping the level cap at 20 will make at easier for them to design challenging pve areas.

The reason GW is free is because nobody would pay a monthly fee to play it.

I have GW and stop playing long ago, I have no intention of getting any of their "expansions".

The reason GW is free is because nobody would pay a monthly fee to play it.

I have GW and stop playing long ago, I have no intention of getting any of their "expansions".

And should we care about this?

I like Guild Wars, especially the fee-free part - it means that I don't feel like I'm wasting money by not playing, and when they release new expansions I can dip back into it, play the missions and then stop until the next one :)

EG, the two Factions are called Kurzicks and Luxons, not Canthans and Luxans. Cantha is the area name, making them all Canthans I guess...

Nearly there - Luxon, not Luxan - and there's still references to the factions battle between Canthans and Luxans further down from where you have changed it already.

"Guild Wars is an mmorpg - and yes there is expansive item hunting and farming in it, mainly for green items and XP in tombs, the underworld and Sorrow's Furnace. It does not have the subscription or as much of a level grind as most mmorpgs, but it is still most definitely a massively multiplayer role playing game and a valid comparison to WOW.

Guild Wars prophesies does not have the social depth of Warcraft, or the same size in terms of game world, complexity of endgame instances or pvp raiding. However I expect Factions to go some way to make up for that seeing as they're bringing in larger scale battles for control of areas, plus keeping the level cap at 20 will make at easier for them to design challenging pve areas. "

Not quite, the item hunting is nothing in comparison with Diablo II, since there is less dependence on items during fights, the main grind is for XP and the skills. You still don't give a valid reason why GW should be called an mmorpg and Diablo II should not be called one. Really, if this game is an mmorpg, then Diablo II is one too. Replace the Battle.net chat channels with the neutral cities found in GW and things should start to get clear. There isn't too much difference at all. GW is even more limited than DII in some aspects (at least in DII you can still join a game while it is in progress).

And I guess ArenaNet themselves prove I am not really that wrong:

"Rather than labeling Guild Wars an MMORPG, we prefer to call it a CORPG (Competitive Online Role-Playing Game)."