'Play Guild Wars!' [GWEN is here - join our growing guild!]

[Zaxxon]

Updated August 2007: The Eye of the North expansion hits at the end of August. You should (re)join us!

Updated June 2007: Linky.

Guild Wars released in late April of 2005, and enjoyed a massive player base on OO for several months. As last summer waned on, we lost players slowly, until we whittled down to just a handful of actives. Near the release of Factions this April, we had a bit of a resurgance, which lasted through the first month of Factions' release. All was well with the world. However, the gods frowned upon our little community, and stole our wonderful players away again, until we were left with but a handful of actives.

Many of you have played some form of Guild Wars in the past, and for one reason or another have abandoned it. Others have heard of the game, but have no interest or are entangled in other games. Approximately three of you have never heard of GW. This post exists to convince the first group to return to us, the second to give us a shot, and the third to pull their heads out of the ground.

Guild Wars rocks. I fully admit that I became a full-on GW fanboi about a year ago. GW is my MMORPG nirvana (even without being a 'true' MMORPG), and has provided me with more hours of gaming goodness than any other--including UT. In short, it's my #1 game in the history of ever. You should join me, and here's why.

-GW is the deepest game I've ever played. Nearly limitless class/attribute/skill/party combinations, all fully customizable and nearly 100% modifiable at any time. Seriously; the PvP in this game is mind-boggling. No build has stood the test of time as 'best', and every battle plays out differently, even when you've played hundreds.

-GW is massive, both in Pve and PvP content. Especially combined with the sister game Factions, there are literally many hundreds of hours of play here. I'm sitting at around 455 hours, with no characters that have completed both campaigns, and hundreds of skill/item unlocks left for PvP. And the third campaign is only a few months away.

-Despite its size and depth, GW is accessible, accepting of all types of players and time commitments. Like to solo? There's a ton of soloable content, and fairly competent AI henchmen to use in place of players. Love PvP? GW includes so much PvP content that it's semi-ridiculous. Tend to play in 1-hour spurts just a couple of times a week? You can always accomplish something in an hour, and will reach the level 20 cap fairly quickly even at this rate, and won't feel dominated by l33t haxx0rs who play 60 hours/week. Prefer to run around collecting things rather than following a storyline? Much of the PvE portions of both games is optional, and you can putter around earning/capturing/buying skills and items while largely ignoring the storyline--or, you can play PvP and unlock the same, which totally ignoring the PvE aspect. Hate PvPing? It's totally optional, as well.

-No monthly fee. You can drop GW at any time to play Half-LifeCraft IV, then come back when the furor has died down, and find an awesome game right where you left it (albeit with some improvements).


So, why aren't you playing with us?

[Dirt]

This is in the wro..... ah, fuck it.

[JSL]

So, why aren't you playing with us?

Because I haven't gotten a free copy of the game and expansion.

[Exodor]

I tried it and found it inferior to World of Warcraft.

If I want to play a MMORPG, I resub to WoW for a month.

Sorry, Zax.

[SuperHiro]

See, the thing is, is that GW isn't really much of a MMORPG if you want to grade it on that scale. Barely any crafting, and all outdoor/dungeon areas are instanced. It's more like a...um... Diablo II on steriods. Sorta. Yeah, that's about as good as I can get. It depends what you generally like to do in an MMORPG I suppose. If you just want to grab a sword and fight the horde, you'll have a good time. If you want to PvP- You'll fucking love it, but it's generally just a whole lot of deathmatch remixes. Really fucking awesome remixes though.

If you're like Robert Palmer and Addicted to Loot, you probably won't like it. Loot, while important, isn't THAT important. There's no super-leet-items. And equipment/armor, while better with the addition of Factions... just isn't all that much. If you like to look super cool, you might like it if you like your girls slutty and your men gay.

If you just like to explore, dig for berries, and sew pants... yeah, GW probably isn't for you. It's also really embarassing when you get smashed in PvP. Because you didn't lose because the other team is comprised of 13 year olds who grind grind grind for leet gear. You lost because the other team is comprised of 13 year olds who are better than you.

Also, the game will live and die based on whether you have a good group of people to play with. The game just flat out SUCKS as a solo experience.

[Exodor]

If you're like Robert Palmer and Addicted to Loot, you probably won't like it. Loot, while important, isn't THAT important. There's no super-leet-items. And equipment/armor, while better with the addition of Factions... just isn't all that much.

I think that's the problem - I'm a loot-whore and there just didn't seem to be enough of it.

Titan Quest is currently filling the need quite nicely.

[Austin]

If you're like Robert Palmer and Addicted to Loot, you probably won't like it. Loot, while important, isn't THAT important. There's no super-leet-items. And equipment/armor, while better with the addition of Factions... just isn't all that much.

Titan Quest is currently filling the need quite nicely.

/kool aid guy - Oh yeah!

[Dan_Theman]

I'm a relative newb when it comes to MMORPG's, but here are the reasons why I stay away:

#1 - I hate PvP. I'll admit it's no fun being beat down by a 13-year-old, but in actuality the part I detest most is the behavior it brings out in some. I realize I'm a prudish, old-fashioned geezer but I like games where mean and nasty actions by players are routinely directed at npcs/monsters as opposed to other characters because it enhances the positive social interactions. Yeah, it leaves a bit to be desired for the true role-players that want every option available, but afterall this is my opinion I'm writing about.

#2 - With the above in mind, I look for the best experience I can have while either teaming up with others or on my own. Quite frankly, I've never read any claims that Guild Wars was a top-notch game for such play.

#3 - If I did want to venture into a Guild Wars type of environment, WoW has been heartily recommended by so many pople that I think I'd just bite the bullet on the subscription (or I may make my TSR/WoTC friends happy and buy a subscription to DDO just for the sake of loyalty, lol).

So, if someone can whittle away at these issues, then I'd certainly think about it.

[Toxo]

Im not sure if I can convince you about GW, but I can inform you. Guild Wars has some of the worst general chat of all time; especially in the PvP gathering areas. There is lots of trash talk, general asshattery, and Chuck Norris banter (ok, I like the Norris stuff). Of course you can just shut general channel off and never worry about it. Perhaps the blessing of all combat being instanced, is you never have to worry about some griefer messing with your quest/mission unless you let them in it.

If you hate PvP because you are not interested in any of the competition aspect, well GW losses a lot of its appeal. Without PvP you have a lot of PvE, but a bunch of folks think its horrible. I really like the PvE and a few others do as well. Some folks actually only PvE in GW. The thing about GW is mixing and matching your own weaps/skills and your teammates to try out new ways of dispatching foes.

Recently, we've been using a build that would work in both PvE and PvP. Basically we use a warrior to deal lots of damage and a monk specialized in smiting to boost that warriors damage. First the monk uses Zealot's Fire which causes every spell cast on the warrior to do AoE damage around him. Then the monk puts on Judge's Insight which increases the warriors damage and Balthazar's Aura which causes even more AoE holy damage and finally the monk can spam protection spells on the warrior, not only keeping him alive but also causing massive 'splash' damage around him due to Zealot's Fire.

For me and a lot of folks a big draw of GW is looking at all the skills and working with them to make really excellent (and unique) builds.

As far as teamplay in GW. PvP requires strong teamwork, moreso (in my experience) than any other MMO. As Hiro was saying; there are no uber weapons or armor that can be farmed with 1000's of hours of raids and effort. In under a week you can have a single build equal to someone who has 800 hours in GW. You won't have the flexibility in tweaking skills that the other person would, but your skills and items will have the same stats. PvE also requires teamwork for missions and (to a lesser extent) quests. This is probably what caused Zaxxon to post. Once our guild attendance drops below 4 or so folks on every night things get pretty stale. Teamwork in GW is key.

[Zaxxon]

For me and a lot of folks a big draw of GW is looking at all the skills and working with them to make really excellent (and unique) builds.

Bingo. A lot of people above are trying to make direct comparisons between GW and other MMOs (and Hiro's right--GW is a semi-MMO, not a true MMO in the same sense as WoW). It's not really fair to make that comparison. Guild Wars is certainly inferior in some areas to other games in hardcore MMO-type things, like crafting. It's also ridiculously superior to other games, for example in the skill system--there is no game out there that comes close to GW's depth of skills.

I tried to avoid direct comparisons above for this reason; apples to oranges doesn't work very well. I love the PvE because (most) can be done solo or team, you can always accomplish something worthwhile in a short period of time (which is definitely *not* true of most MMOs), and I find the whole experience fun. I love PvP even though I'm only mediocre because it's just so friggin' deep. I could play for a month straight and not have a full feel for all skills. The lack of crafting and other 'hardcore' MMO features isn't a downer for me, because I have no interest in them.

GW certainly has its flaws, but if you enter with an open mind and not looking for WoW with neat skills, I'm confident that there's something here for everyone.

[Kobra]

I just recently sold off 2 copies of GW.. I cannot explain it, but I just couldn't get into the game.. I loved it during beta, it was fun and exciting, and kept me glued to the PC. But when it launched, something seemed "Missing" and I cannot explain it.

It just never sucked me in, and I would have sold it long ago if it had a monthly fee. As it sits now, we have 1 copy of GW left incase one of us gets the "Bug" to login again.

I am at a loss to explain why it fell flat for me and my sons..

[Kobra]

#1 - I hate PvP. I'll admit it's no fun being beat down by a 13-year-old, but in actuality the part I detest most is the behavior it brings out in some. I realize I'm a prudish, old-fashioned geezer but I like games where mean and nasty actions by players are routinely directed at npcs/monsters as opposed to other characters because it enhances the positive social interactions. Yeah, it leaves a bit to be desired for the true role-players that want every option available, but afterall this is my opinion I'm writing about.

I'll bite on this rant.

You know, the sterotype 13 year old doesn't fit. I believe the age group most common in PVP MMO's is 22-35. I PvP, and I am 38, most of my friends PvP and they are 35-55 years old range.

Lets not forget, by nature games are competitions, and nothing screams out competition more than fighting other players. Lets not forget that MOST board games are PvP, Chess is PvP, so is checkers and any number of games from Ticket to Ride to Pickomino. My guess, you don't play games like those either, right? I think deep down, some people have an inherant fear of LOSING. As a result, they don't put themselves in a position where they can possibly lose against someone on the other end that they PERCIEVE to be "Laughing" at them. (regardless if they are or aren't) Tip: Most PvP'ers or Online Gamers don't give a fuck who you are, and don't really give any thought to your mental state after a game..

Finally, the best social environments for MMOs I have found, were in PVP mmos. Yet you claim the opposite as being fact? In my experience, nothing binds people together into a common cause like being under attack by someone. Shadowbane, Meridian59, Ultima Online, Neocron and to some extent DAOC had some of the best communities I have ever been a part of. I attribute that to the PVP nature, and in contrast, I found EQ filled with arrogant assholes, lewt whores, and elitest punks. (people that wouldn't last a day in a PvP game)

A lot of people view MMO's as a glorified chat room, a place to pull out their lewt, and show off their characters. To me, you might as well be playing dressup, or sims or something of that nature. Why bother with the combat at all?

[Jeff V]

I liked it well enough when we played that Factions preview, but it simply isn't gaming season right now and I'm not playing anything.

[Hetz]

If you're like Robert Palmer and Addicted to Loot, you probably won't like it. Loot, while important, isn't THAT important. There's no super-leet-items. And equipment/armor, while better with the addition of Factions... just isn't all that much.

I think that's the problem - I'm a loot-whore and there just didn't seem to be enough of it.

Titan Quest is currently filling the need quite nicely.

Yep, that is my problem with guild wars as well. It's fun for a little while, but unless you are a hardcore PvPer, it gets old quick.

[Kobra]

I think that's the problem - I'm a loot-whore and there just didn't seem to be enough of it.

Titan Quest is currently filling the need quite nicely.

This could have been my problem. I admit to being a loot whore as well, it seemed like I would do mission after mission, and nothing would drop. It got old for me.

Also, the guy I used to play GW with in beta, was really really looking forward to GW coming out (and so was I). He died of a heart attack 6 weeks before release and really soured the whole early experience for me.

Miss you Pete.

[Zaxxon]

Also, the guy I used to play GW with in beta, was really really looking forward to GW coming out (and so was I). He died of a heart attack 6 weeks before release and really soured the whole early experience for me.

Miss you Pete.

Yikes. I can see how that could sour a game for you.

[YellowKing]

Zaxx,

Hows about explaining Factions to me. I've given GW a shot in the past and bounced in and out of interest, but it's been awhile and I'd be willing to give it another shot.

What kind of content is Factions geared towards? PvP/PvE? Higher levels/lower levels? A little mix of everything?

[Gryndyl]

The problem is that most games do PvP very badly. To take Kobra's boardgame analagy a bit further, most PvP I've experienced would be akin to playing a game of chess where you put a pawn out on the board and 8 queens immediately come and kill it and then mock the body.

[Zaxxon]

The problem is that most games do PvP very badly. To take Kobra's boardgame analagy a bit further, most PvP I've experienced would be akin to playing a game of chess where you put a pawn out on the board and 8 queens immediately come and kill it and then mock the body.

This is definitely not GW. It can feel that way at first, but GW is rather unique in that once you've got the requisite level 20, you're 'about' equal to someone with 2000 hours. They will have more skills, and more items, and thus have more options for tweaking their build, but they will have nothing that is strictly more powerful than what you have.

Zaxx,

Hows about explaining Factions to me. I've given GW a shot in the past and bounced in and out of interest, but it's been awhile and I'd be willing to give it another shot.

What kind of content is Factions geared towards? PvP/PvE? Higher levels/lower levels? A little mix of everything?

First, an overview. Near the release of Factions, ArenaNet designated half the original game's (called Prophecies now) skills as 'core' and half as 'prophecies'. The core skills are in every release, along with the core professions (Warrior, Elementalist, Mesmer, Monk, Ranger, Necromancer). Each additional chapter (aka Factions is chapter 2, Nightfall will be 3) will add new PvE and PvP content, new professions, and new skills for all professions. Players have the option of buying any or all games, and having access to any or all of the content. In this way, it's becoming a bit like a collectible card game--my characters can obtain skills from any chapter since I own them both; I can play with someone who only has Prophecies or Factions, though. That's a bad explanation of how things work, but I think it'll get the idea across.

Factions adds a ton of new skills, and the Assassin (think teleporting ninja) and Ritualist (think Rangonkomancer) professions. It adds support for Alliances (which has been rolled back to Prophecies as well), groups of up to 10 guilds that can access each other's halls and have a shared chat channel. It also adds a ton of PvE content (the continent of Cantha, smaller in size than Tyria but more dense in areas, quests, and 'stuff'), and a bunch of new PvP content (cooperative and competitive missions, and Alliance battles--12 vs 12 matches to control areas on a large map--great fun.).

So Factions isn't really PvP or PvE-centric; there's a lot of both. The PvE is a little less solo-friendly in areas, though. There are some missions that consist of Luxon and Kurzick sides, and are thus PvP-based. There aren't a ton, though.

The content is mostly lvl-20-worthy. You can start a new character of course, and there is a tutorial area (Shing Jea Island) that functions much like Pre-Searing did in Prophecies; it gets going a bit quicker, though. There's also support to skip characters across from one continent to the other if you own both games (lvl 20 characters can move across via boat from Lion's Arch / Kaineng Center), and complete the PvE of the other continent, as well.

Hope that helps! Ask away if you have specific questions.

[Kobra]

The problem is that most games do PvP very badly. To take Kobra's boardgame analagy a bit further, most PvP I've experienced would be akin to playing a game of chess where you put a pawn out on the board and 8 queens immediately come and kill it and then mock the body.

I agree, which is why the PvP centric mmos were so good imo, and so few. But GW from what I did play, was nothing like this, and was pretty centric on PvP and balanced to be such.

If history is a lesson, you cannot "Slap on" PvP to a game, and expect it to fly. But games built from the ground up with it, have always impressed me to some extent.

[Dan_Theman]

#1 - I hate PvP. I'll admit it's no fun being beat down by a 13-year-old, but in actuality the part I detest most is the behavior it brings out in some. I realize I'm a prudish, old-fashioned geezer but I like games where mean and nasty actions by players are routinely directed at npcs/monsters as opposed to other characters because it enhances the positive social interactions. Yeah, it leaves a bit to be desired for the true role-players that want every option available, but afterall this is my opinion I'm writing about.

I'll bite on this rant.

You know, the sterotype 13 year old doesn't fit. I believe the age group most common in PVP MMO's is 22-35. I PvP, and I am 38, most of my friends PvP and they are 35-55 years old range.

Lets not forget, by nature games are competitions, and nothing screams out competition more than fighting other players. Lets not forget that MOST board games are PvP, Chess is PvP, so is checkers and any number of games from Ticket to Ride to Pickomino. My guess, you don't play games like those either, right? I think deep down, some people have an inherant fear of LOSING. As a result, they don't put themselves in a position where they can possibly lose against someone on the other end that they PERCIEVE to be "Laughing" at them. (regardless if they are or aren't) Tip: Most PvP'ers or Online Gamers don't give a fuck who you are, and don't really give any thought to your mental state after a game..

Finally, the best social environments for MMOs I have found, were in PVP mmos. Yet you claim the opposite as being fact? In my experience, nothing binds people together into a common cause like being under attack by someone. Shadowbane, Meridian59, Ultima Online, Neocron and to some extent DAOC had some of the best communities I have ever been a part of. I attribute that to the PVP nature, and in contrast, I found EQ filled with arrogant assholes, lewt whores, and elitest punks. (people that wouldn't last a day in a PvP game)

A lot of people view MMO's as a glorified chat room, a place to pull out their lewt, and show off their characters. To me, you might as well be playing dressup, or sims or something of that nature. Why bother with the combat at all?

While I appreciate the effort, I think you may have mistook part of my post; It was not a rant and I'm not looking for someone to say how wrong my opinions are. Instead, I'm looking for someone to say how right Guild Wars can be for a gamer with my tastes. Does that make more sense, now?

Oh, and BY THE WAY: just as I wouldn't say that a person's desire to crush another player's game-self is an expression of severe maladaptive and anti-social behavior, people should be careful to not imply that a lack of enjoyment with PvP gaming dynamics is a repressed fear of losing and that a distaste with some of the behavior they've witnessed is a persecution complex. We'd both be wrong, lol

So anyways, why is Guild Wars the right game for me? (a question to anyone)


PS - Just so you know, I'm also a mid-30's guy and have a teenage son to boot. I know that the "13 year-old" stereotype doesn't fit. I was just being a little silly and referencing an earlier post.

[SuperHiro]

Actually, with perhaps the lone exception of the Random Arena, most of the PvP stuff in GW is pretty friendly. There's a few cussypants in Alliance Battles (and sore losers), but it's really not THAT big a deal. I have had maybe... man... 2 really bad experiences running TA/GvG in my entire GW playtime. A bit more in Alliance Battles... but it's really no big deal. For the most part it's no where near Counter Strike levels. Hell, it's friendlier than WoW.

[Zaxxon]

So anyways, why is Guild Wars the right game for me? (a question to anyone)

I don't know if it's the 'right' game for you, but I can say that you can almost totally ignore PvP and still have hundreds of hours of enjoyable playtime. PvP is almost entirely optional--there are a handful of PvP situations in the PvE environments, but they are few and fa between. Also, you don't need to PvP for any special rewards or loot. PvP rewards you with 'Faction' that can be used to unlock skills and upgrades for PvP-only characters (this feature lets you instantly create a top-level character for PvP-only play; for example you really want to PvP with a decked-out Mesmer now, but your only role-playing characters are Warrior and Elementalist). You'll never need to PvP to get a skill or item for your PvE character.

With that said, if you are interested in PvP but just want to avoid the uber-kiddies, the Alliance feature makes it easier to PvP while totally avoiding the hosers. You can arrange a PvP group through Alliance chat, team up and get into a match, all with the 'local' (main) chat channel totally muted--you never need to hear the kiddies talking.

[Huw the Poo]

Zaxxon, you're slowly convincing me. I have very little time to play games these days but I already own a copy of Guild Wars so it's not like I need to invest anything in it. Few questions though:

1. Do you consider Factions essential? I haven't bought it and I'd rather avoid buying it unless I can find it really cheap. Which brings me to the next question...

2. Since I already have a GW account, could I buy a used copy of Factions or would I still need a new license key?

3. Is vanilla GW Prophecies still being patched?

4. If nobody's kicked me out of the guild I was a member of when I played, how do I gracefully leave it and rejoin OO?

[Dan_Theman]

Thanks, Zaxxon - that's good info to know. Websites may tout this or that, but actually hearing from players with hands-on experience is almost uniformly better. I have to admit that I'm starting to feel like The Poo and I *may* look a little more seriously into the game

[neofit]

What drove me off GW is the need to choose 8 powers among everything you can do. GW lasted one week-end on my hard drive. I have uninstalled it shortly after receiving my 9th power/spell/whatever.

I've heard the card game analogy many times, yet if I wanted to play a card game I'd play one. I am sure that in both EQ2 and WoW I do use more than 8 powers/styles/spells per 2-3 hours period. And I am playing these games to increase the amount of things that my character can do. Make me choose 8 abilities and/or spells before my character can even leave Qeynos and I quit EQ2 at once.

[Smoove_B]

I don't know if it's the 'right' game for you, but I can say that you can almost totally ignore PvP and still have hundreds of hours of enjoyable playtime.

It's true...but it really hasn't grabbed me. I've had a copy of GW for almost a year now and I've probably logged about 10 hours of time with it. I am completely not interested at all in PvP - not even a little. I had originally thought I'd get into exploring and running around seeing crap - but for some reason, I just can't get into that aspect at all. It feels...I dunno...hollow. Maybe it's the lack of diversity in the misions early on? They all seem to be bring this here or kill that over there. I never really feel like I'm doing anything.

I think my character (I only have one) just made it through the Breaking or whatever it's called. I thought, nifty something different...and then..meh.

I don't disagree that it looks awesome - I really enjoy looking at the game world (which is my biggest complaint of WoW).

I really wanted to like it - it sounded great for the amount of time I have to play. But it just didn't grab me.

Now Titan Quest on the other hand --- that's got me hooked - and I never really liked Diablo. Maybe because TQ has more of a sense of accomplishment? With GW I never really feel like I'm getting anywhere. My character's abilities never seem to change. I think I'm a Ranger Monk or something. I dunno.

[KiloOhm]

I'm still playing occasionally, I had to drop out of the OO guild because I had 4-5 friends that were giving it a go (only 2 of us left...) and they wanted to form their own guild.

put "Sir Mixitup" on your friends list and I'll join you for some PvP if you need an extra body (Mo / Ra).

I've only been putting in a few hours a week because I got stuck on a mission where the henchmen just don't seem to be cutting it.

[Elmo]

I had a lot of fun with GW, in large part due to the great folks in the OO guild(s). Factions just never grabbed me for some reason. I'm not a big PvP fan so perhaps that is why. Went back to WoW but my interest is fading again. Recently picked up EQ2 and we just adopted a 17 month old girl so they are occupying all my waking hours right now.

[Toxo]

You're on my friends list KiloOhm, feel free to add me (Toxo Exsulum).

I think one of the things I've learned about GW is that you either get hooked or just dislike it. Sure some of our folks who really are hooked get burned out, but they always seem to come back. The thing that keeps me hooked is that the game features are always implemented with a clear and consistent focus: fun and minimal grind.

I also enjoy the fact that they added 'grindy' elements for those of us who really want to do that sort of thing, but those items/armor or titles dont actually do anything better than their less expensive items (the elite Fissure Armor has the exact same stats as the lowly 1.5k plat armor, just the look is different).

[Blackadar]

I've thought about buying it quite a few times, but I don't feel like paying $40 just to try it. Worse, with the expansion out, I'd have to pay almost $90 because they're seperate games. If GW came out with a combo pack for $45, I'd give it a whirl.

[Zaxxon]

1. Do you consider Factions essential? I haven't bought it and I'd rather avoid buying it unless I can find it really cheap. Which brings me to the next question...

No, it's not essential; there are a lot of people playing in Tyria--this was actually one of my fears, that with new chapter releases, the previous areas could putter out, but that hasn't happened. If you get into GW and love it, then I'd highly recommend adding Factions on, as it will make the game better for you (new professions and wider skill selection, aside from the obvious 'more areas and stuff'), but it's by no means essential.

2. Since I already have a GW account, could I buy a used copy of Factions or would I still need a new license key?

This depends. If you can find someone with a standalone Factions account, I think you can still join it to your Prophecies account; if someone else has already joined the factions account to their prophecies, you can't disjoin them.

3. Is vanilla GW Prophecies still being patched?

Yes. All engine upgrades affect all chapters; there is only one game client. Some new features (like crafting item storage) only apply if you have factions, but the vast majority of 'feature' upgrades (observer mode, skill bar display, DX9 support, bug fixes, etc) affect all chapters.

4. If nobody's kicked me out of the guild I was a member of when I played, how do I gracefully leave it and rejoin OO?

You'll want to join the DUI guild, which means you'll want to leave your current guild (click the picture next to your name on the Guild screen), then let one of us officers know your game name so that we can invite you; PM me or post here.

Dan: I hope you give it a shot! We'd love to have you.

Neofit: That's certainly your call, but I view the 8-skill load limit as one of the game's biggest strengths. It 1) forces you to think about what build you want to run, how that fits into your team's build, and how it works versus the enemies you'll be facing at the time, 2) evens the playing field for competitions between a 20-hour and 200-hour player, as even though the 200-hour player likely has many more skills available to him, he still has to choose his 8. Further, you are increasing the amount of things that your character can do; you can totally change it up when in any town; you're just setting your build for the current excursion. If this feature went away, so would half the player base.

Smoove: The early portion, especially of Prophecies, can be a bit boring; on that I certainly agree. I think if you continue on a bit, you'll see that things do get more interesting. At 10 hours, I'm guessing that you haven't even left Ascalon yet. Kryta, the Maguuma Jungle, the Crystal Desert, Ring of Fire, etc are all very unique locales and have different enemies. Also you'll start to get a more versatile build. I'm not sure it'll totally change your mind if you aren't hooked in at all now, but I think it's worth a shot.

As to the sense of accomplishment, I get a rush out of capturing new skills, earning titles (which are likely a new feature since you've played), and just widening the options available to my toons; part of your problem may be that you haven't gotten far enough to really do much aside from get into the base of the game.

KiloOhm: Is your guild in an alliance? If not, we have room for more in ours, and joining us would get you into our chat channel and make our players available to you, and get your whole guild into our group activities. If you're not in an alliance, I highly recommend joining us; it really livens the game up. PM me if you're interested.

Elmo: We miss you, man! Boot up Prophecies sometime and we can go quest!

Blackadar: You don't need both just to get into the game; picking up either one would get you in and going really well.

[Grafvolluth]

The PvE is a little less solo-friendly in areas, though.

This is why I quit, I could never find anyone on that wanted to group with me mostly it seemed like because I was a bit behind everyone else and whats the point of playing by myself, there are better games out there for that.

[Blackhawk]

I honestly still don't know why it didn't catch with me.

Maybe it was the 'fit the niche' multiplayer attitude I was starting to run into ('No, you're class X, you're required to play this way, or get out of the group'), one of the things I despised about WoW. It was souring MP for me.

Perhaps it was that the single player isn't what I play single player for - pure single player games have a better solo feel, but GW never gave me that 'huge world to explore' feeling that makes soloing in MMOs so much fun.

Perhaps it was the art direction - they were really just trying to hard with the too stylized semi-anime look where everyone looks like a 20-something skinny ultra-cool anime hero. Fantasy-anime-Matrix. Blech.

It just wasn't much fun solo, the multiplayer was starting to fall into filling a niche and getting bitched at if you didn't, and the visual style is one that doesn't just not attact me - it is one that overtly annoys me.

It is a good game, it just wasn't the good game for me, which sucks - I'd love to have a drop-in fantasy multiplayer game like that that did appeal.

[YellowKing]

Zaxxon - I'll probably give it another shot. I'm wrapping up Titan Quest on Epic now (and don't anticipate doing a whole lot with Legendary). I still want to play EQ2, though at the moment I just don't have enough solid blocks of time to get a lot accomplished. Hopefully that will ease up next month.

GW would probably be a good compromise game to dick around in while my schedule's so busy, since it's got the MMO flavor without the huge time commitment.

I'll post or PM once I get up and running. (I'm going to hold off on Factions for now).

[Huw the Poo]

Zaxxon, thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions. You've convinced me to at least reinstall it and have another look.

You'll want to join the DUI guild, which means you'll want to leave your current guild (click the picture next to your name on the Guild screen), then let one of us officers know your game name so that we can invite you; PM me or post here.

(DUI?)

Heh. Yeah, I knew how to actually leave a guild, I was just angling for suggestions on how to suddenly show up in-game and tell my guild I'm leaving without making myself look like a wanker.

Oh, one more question - does the OO guild still have that hideous giant face thing on the cape?

[Elmo]

The PvE is a little less solo-friendly in areas, though.

This is why I quit, I could never find anyone on that wanted to group with me mostly it seemed like because I was a bit behind everyone else and whats the point of playing by myself, there are better games out there for that.

Surprised at that. Toxo, Zaxxon and others were always willing to help me whenever I asked even though I was behind the curve on levels.

[Zaxxon]

(DUI?)

DangeroUsly Incompetent.

Heh. Yeah, I knew how to actually leave a guild, I was just angling for suggestions on how to suddenly show up in-game and tell my guild I'm leaving without making myself look like a wanker.

One option would be to have your guild join our alliance, if they're neat.

Oh, one more question - does the OO guild still have that hideous giant face thing on the cape?

No.

YK: Awesome.

[Grafvolluth]

The PvE is a little less solo-friendly in areas, though.

This is why I quit, I could never find anyone on that wanted to group with me mostly it seemed like because I was a bit behind everyone else and whats the point of playing by myself, there are better games out there for that.

Surprised at that. Toxo, Zaxxon and others were always willing to help me whenever I asked even though I was behind the curve on levels.

Well since I quit WoW recently I will probably have time to go back and try again, I think I might start from scratch with a whole new character and see how that works for me.

[YellowKing]

Zaxxon -

This may be too big a conversation for the scope of this thread, but can you recommend a good solo class combo?