Guild Wars Prophecies

Then came Guild Wars.

The number 1 initial reason for me buying this game was because there was no monthly fee - unlike all other "Massively Multiplayer On-Line" games. I don't consider myself tight, but I refuse to pay a monthly fee to allow me to play a game that I've already paid for and feel I have to play a certain number of hours to justify the expense. That's just wrong in my eyes.

This game is so well thought out in many respects, you really do get the impression that it was design "for gamers by gamers". It sounds cheesy, but it's true.

The updates and patches download in the background whilst you're playing, so you never have to go out and hunt down a patch. You aren't forced to play in groups of other real people, as there are computer-controlled players available to be your "team" if you so wish - this is often preferable, as you can then do things at your own pace. There is a good community available on the internet, full of resources and information. The game has a steady learning curve, but it doesn't go mad with "levelling up" like some RPGs do. Levelling stops at "20" and will never go higher. This was to allow more people to be on a level playing field after a shorter period of time, making success being more down to skill than the number of days you've sunk into the game.

The game allows you to create 4 separate characters on your account and the money and resources that one character collects in the game can be shared to the other 3. The accounts (saved game position etc.) are stored on the internet not your PC, so you can log in on a friend's PC provided they have the game, and carry on where you left off. Your computer could be completely destroyed, and all you need to do is re-install the game, and log back in using your user name and you are right where you left it.

The game is suitably long, and the storyline flows well. There are plenty of areas to explore.

The game is segregated into 3 "regions". USA, Korea and Europe. Those three regions play in their respective zones, but when it comes to certain areas in the game, the regions battle out against each other. Also, when you join a "guild", individual guilds can fight it out - hence "Guild Wars".

A change in the European server structure meant that the servers were then sub-segregated into Language-specific servers, meaning that English, French, Italian, German and Spanish servers all exist. It made life easier when trying to find people to play with who you understood - and a problem unique to the European region.

Each region also has an "International Server" section that is common to all, so if you have friends in the States you want to play with, you can find them there if they go there as well.

The game runs what's called "instances", meaning that once you have picked your team in a town, and choose to go on a mission, or just explore the game world, only your team exists in that instance of the game, no-one else. This allows the game to have excellent lag performance as it isn't having to constantly update the positions of hundreds of other nearby people. You can still talk to your friends once out in the game world.

The game performs well, and will graphically scale to lower-end systems. It also performs well in a window with little or no detrimental effect. The game world is very well drawn and in many instances is really quite stunning. On a high-end system with all effects turned on, it is a sight to behold. The sound is decent and atmospheric, with a quiet track running in the background appropriate to the situation you are in.

Due to the highly active on-line community for this game, suggestions and problems are assessed quickly and easily.

An expansion pack is suggested to be being released in the coming months, which is rumoured to add more to the game and open up some more areas, and is the developers way of getting an income I guess, but in my opinion, this is a vastly more acceptable method of progressing. I understand that not owning the expansion will not mean you can't play the original game.

Overall, if you are keen on RPG games as a whole, then you have no reason NOT to buy this game. If you have never played a Massively Multiplayer On-Line game, this is as good-a-place to start as any.

An essential purchase for any RPG fan

One of the things that suprises me still now is the amount of people in the game. In other games, certain area's will be totally devoid of players, even at peak times. But guild wars area's will always have lots of people in them(Except for when everyone is asleep, obviously). Simply because there isnt 5 different European servers, just one.

The biggest thing about guild wars is the subscription fee's; there is none. I stopped playing Star Wars Galaxies, not because i didnt like the game, i just wasnt prepared to pay £10 a month for something that wasnt very good anymore. Whereas with Guild Wars, if its going through a bad patch its comforting knowing that you arent paying for something that isnt working quite right at that certain space in time.

I will always go back to Guild Wars if i find a new game i like; ive been playing World of Warcraft quite a bit, but i always to back to playing Guild Wars until i feel like playing WoW again. Because i know it will always be there and i wont have to keep giving ArenaNET money to play their great game.

Unlike many games that you play online for a good PvP experiance, this game is also a 'world' in itself, where you can quest for items or spells or skills or armor etc. or simply hang about with some friends exploring stunningly beautiful areas, while taking on admittedly dumb npcs.

However when it comes to PvP this game stands alone.
You start off with a character with 8 skill slots, a set amount of Hit Points, and specific class 'perks' like energy regeneration or ability to wear strong armor.
The customisation choices of items and equipments and skills after this is utterly mind boggling, and you can fight in teams of up to 8 players against up to 7 other teams.
All of this sounds nothing overly exciting, except ArenaNet the developers have created a game of unparralled balance.

When you play this game, with or against players that have experiance and skill, you will realise this is one of the most complex and engaging strategy games in existance.

If you are looking for the most expansive and unlimited MMORPG, get Eve-Online. If you are looking for a beautifully crafted and engaging world and adventure to lose yourself within for months on end, buy Oblivion.
If you are looking for a fast paced, highly tactical, and graphically stunning communal Player versus Player experiance set in a fantasy world you can explore, buy Guild Wars.