Intersting GuildWars review

cHodAX

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Not a direct competitor to DAoC so I thought I would post here, IGN did a real nice review and scored the game at 90%. I can throughly recommend GuildWars as a good companion game for DAoC, the instant PvP takes alot of beating and it really is a game that you can play for an hour, have alot of fun then logoff. Anyways, read this and make your own minds up ;)

http://pc.ign.com/articles/612/612079p1.html
 

old.Tohtori

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I've heard from a couple of players that the way it's designed(fast pace semi hack), well, more then a usual MMO, it doesn't reward you very often. At level 15, a friend was still using the same gear from way back when.

Wonder if he just ran in the wrong places :D
 

cHodAX

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old.Tohtori said:
I've heard from a couple of players that the way it's designed(fast pace semi hack), well, more then a usual MMO, it doesn't reward you very often. At level 15, a friend was still using the same gear from way back when.

Wonder if he just ran in the wrong places :D

Very few item drops but you can get get quite a few ingrediants and then get an NPC crafter to make some good gear pretty fast. If it is weak in one area in the game right now I have to admit it is itemisation but I am certain that will be fixed as time goes on. The game is selling well right now so the future looks bright, for £17 and no subs it is a shitload of fun, there are MMO's that cost twice that and have subs and yet are nowhere near the amount of fun that GuildWars is. Anyone who loves PvP and a little bit of PvE will like GuildWars, it isn't as comprehensive as most MMO's but it much more fun that pretty much all of them.

Oh and all that said I left one important point out, GuildWars is much less item dependant to compete than any other MMO ever made. The good items do help but being a skilled player helps so much more and I really like that aspect of GuildWars, I don't feel like I have to whore myself to get items just to compete. GuildWars is how the effect of items should impact a game, ToA is the complete opposite, when a game becomes all about the items and less about the skill I really don't want to play it.
 

Chronictank

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played it in s cyber caf
and i thought i broke it whena cutscene came up >_<
the game is awesome and alot more polished than daoc
agree with most things in the article except the armour like it was aid above you need to farm the ingredients to get the armour made not just get ready made drops

There is a real storyline to your pvp, powergamers will hate it as u need to do the quests to unlock the better end of gear as it is very time ocnsuming (altho you can just zerg it in most cases but you wont be getting much xp)
 

Escape

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Depends what your friend considers a 'reward'!

Levelling is quite fast in GW and the max level is 20. I've made it to lv17 without even feeling like I'm XP'ing, it's all about exploring the world and doing missions/quests. At level 15 I had the same shoes from level3 or so, while levelling up this isn't a problem(If you desperately need armour, you can have it crafted by an NPC merchant). There are lots of weapon drops, so you will always have an appropriate level weapon. The item farming comes at level 20 when you want to improve your character for PvP.

GW isn't a strict PvP game, there's a lot of PvE too but it's mostly entertaining. The main plot is unraveled through a series of missions(14) which lead you across the world and open new areas/cities. These are fun to do in a decent group, they take about 40-60mins.

The Quests are ok too, not as bland as DAoC and not the item farming repetition of WoW. Travelling in this game rocks, just click on a city/outpost on your map to teleport there!

The mob AI is impressive too. Henchmen(NPC characters you can group) will assist on your target, heal and even res! They play better than real players! So I mostly quest with henchmen :p The Mob AI is just as good, they will assist, heal, use styles/spells...

Graphics are superb, got to love the water effects and reflections!
(will post some screenshots later)


On the downside, there is a lack of social interaction. You only meet other players in towns/outposts and the common languages are German and French. Generally players only use these locations between missions to sell loot etc and get ready for the next quest. All Missions and explorable areas are instanced, so whenever you leave town you're either with your group or solo in that area.

I'd say the game is definately worth trying, the future potential of the PvP is promising and the game could become one of the defining moments in MMORPG if Arenanet play it right.

The PvP follows a paper-scissor-stone formula, theoretically every 'fotm' setup can become cannon fodder to another group, and so on. Groups will probably remain balanced, to be able to counter any opponent.
 

Rediknight

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My house mate has been playing this since not long after launch and although he's only managed 16th so far (He's not Korean, so unlikely he'd get 20th in the standard 3 days or whatever it takes them crazy Koreans ;)) he's having a great time.

Apart from CS, which hardly counts, this is his first MMORPG and yes, as is expected, he's showing all the signs of becoming the regular addict to online gaming :D

Only problem i've seen with the RP side of the game, is the apparent "leading" of the landscape. You can't jump/climb to higher levels, and you can't fall from a drop/cliff edge, so the pathing is all pretty pre-determined. When on a mission you basically appear to follow a beautifully crafted, yet really basic path through an area.

Again, not entirely sure how it works, but the idea of having your own encounter area is wonderful! Lag??? whats that??? hehe!! Plus theres no Power levelling in dungeons, or spawn camping or anything - all very, very well thought out, and i can see this in time being the one that future online games refer to as the benchmark.

At the moment its almost unbearably basic for someone like me - i enjoy the other aspects of ORPG's, other than constant combat - but i can't find fault with it other than that, tbh...
 

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