Free Guild Wars Addon

[Oddmaker]

1up is reporting that the maker of Guild Wars, ArenaNet (http://www.arena.net/news/index.html), will be releasing a free addon for their Guild Wars players.

ArenaNet plans to introduce an entire new area and dungeon area, for free, in the upcoming months, complete with new monsters, new drops, new quests and more. While the size of the upload file will probably be pretty substantial, players will barely recognize the patch, since ArenaNet's streaming technology will upload the new data while players play the game. Certain extremely difficult quests can reward players with up to 10,000 experience points.
Get the Full Story over at 1up. (http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3141060)

Guild Wars just keeps getting better.

[Evil Avatar]

Amazing level design. I'm just astounded by how much detail there is just in the newbie areas I'm in right now. I do wish you could go into buildings, though.

[agentgray]

Hey, EA, it's so amazing and large that some people don't even realize that it is the "training" part of the game and not the full game. Plus, the plot is not that bad...lot of good twists. There was one I didn't expect. Totally shocking. Glad you like it.

[Savok]

10,000xp won't do us any good, give us 10,000g or something.

[agentgray]

10,000xp won't do us any good, give us 10,000g or something.
Your exactly right. If our cap is 20 the xp doesn't matter anyway.

[Darkholmme]

It does matter in terms of skill points.

[netcraazzy]

Amazing level design. I'm just astounded by how much detail there is just in the newbie areas I'm in right now. I do wish you could go into buildings, though.

I don't even mind not being able to go into buildings as much as I hate those invisable walls. WoW has spoiled me.

[ldi222]

GW has spoiled me, awesome game, upcoming content and no subscription fee!

[Bushido]

Every game has invicible walls, WoW is just better at tricking your dumb ass. GuildWars is teh best game evah.

[Gaile Gray]

:) I'll be sure the team sees this thread.

Thanks for your kind thoughts and great support of the game. I remember Evil Avatar being one of those who saw the potential a long, long time ago. It's just sweet that the game is meeting, even exceeding, your expectations.

GuildWars is teh best game evah. *happy dance*

[Leaving Hope]

It's good to see that they let you out of your cage every now and then, Gaile.

GW was exactly what I was looking for: a great role playing experience that I could enjoy with my friends without the monthly fee. I've said this over and over but the graphics are amazing, the streaming technology is top notch, and the new content is sweet icing on a very delicious cake.

You guys did a great job. Thanks for making such a damn good game.

[bradlay]

I just grabbed this yesterday and have played it pretty much non-stop. Except when I woke up this morning and my girlfriend took it over. Gorgeous game. Great combat. I am impressed. It is the baldurs gate 2 replacement I needed in my life. And I'm only right past the searing. I've monkied about on the PvP stuff but am really into the RP side. It's a big damn world they've made.

[bryan]

Every game has invicible walls, WoW is just better at tricking your dumb ass. GuildWars is teh best game evah.

Got Guild Wars just the other day, it looks great and it's pretty fun. I do hate that I can't cross less than 1 foot gap to close in an enemy kiting me. Nor does the game let me drop anywhere. I can't even drop 2 feet from a riverbank into the river! In WoW you can drop anywhere, even to your death. With some persistence you can even find ways around certain obstacles to get to your objective quicker. Not so in GW.

Does this make GW less of a game? No, it doesn't. But it stands as fact that your freedom of exploration is almost non existent in comparison.

[Intruder]

The thing about Guild Wars is that it does everything very well. From the Combat, to the Graphics, to the story! There are very few weak areas. Besides from a severe crash I have once every other day or so which cuases my screen to become graphically corrupted and then fall to a Blank blue screen with one big red square in it, then total lockup, Guild Wars has been an absolute joy to play. I can only wish the team great success and extreme congratulations on their project and hope more will come. I do hope we get to see bigger and badder enemies, huge dragons or hill giants. New weapons, effects and skills. Also I would love to see droppable armors. Nothing is more rewarding than finding a rare weapons but finding rare wearable armors in the field would just be even better. Also a bit more customiztion of the characters would be great. Be it sashes, ribbons, earrings, shield emblems, etc. This game has so much potential for expansion it is not even funny.

One HUGE fan.

[Savok]

Armour drops means camping, something the game eliminates almost entirely.

[keeks]

I've ordered GW, it's currently in the post. Can't wait to play it! Seems like ArenaNet's Blizzard roots are showing in their post-release support for the game. Good job!

[Draft]

GW has spoiled me, awesome game, upcoming content and no subscription fee!Why would it have a subscription fee?

[Rakael]

Draft, c'mon man. We all know you are an uber WoW fanboy and won't let anyone say anything good about GW without some snide comment. Please don't start a flame fest on this thread, please. :P

[Draft]

Draft, c'mon man. We all know you are an uber WoW fanboy and won't let anyone say anything good about GW without some snide comment. Please don't start a flame fest on this thread, please. :P
I don't wanna turn anything into a flamefest, and I don't hate Guild Wars. I spelled out why I wasn't having fun with the game, so no need to go back into that.

I'm just saying, guild wars doesn't do any of the things generally associated with games that require a monthly fee, so lack of said fee is not notable.

[Bushido]

so no need to go back into that......*wait for it*

I'm just saying, guild wars doesn't do any of the things generally associated with games that require a monthly fee, so lack of said fee is not notable.


hahaha dumbass

[Savok]

He's right you know, it doesn't have any crafting, or quests, or raids, or massive world to explore, or PvP, or items, or xp, or other people.... oh wait.

[Keeperofpeas]

hahaha dumbass
He's right you know, it doesn't have any crafting, or quests, or raids, or massive world to explore, or PvP, or items, or xp, or other people.... oh wait.


i believe draft means to say that guildwars is not a persistent world, but more a multiplayer RPG. however, new content is a great thing in any game IMO.

ppl have a right to find a game fun for WHATEVER reasons. i think you know deep down that WoW IS a different experience whether it appeals to you or not.

[Mason]

WoW is different...in the same ways as all the other MMOs.

Stuff like never having armor drop seems weird on the face of it. I mean, everyone loves getting better armor, right? But when you think about it, if you have random drops and mods there will always be the best stuff. And either you make it so that there's a tiny, tiny chance of ever getting the really good stuff, or everyone ends up with it after a month or two. In either case, all you've done is raise the time investment required to be competitive in the game, which is something GW tries hard to avoid.

The one change that is badly needed is a way to reconnect players to their groups in the case of crashes or network problems. That's a biggie.

And I'm curious about the blurb, as I'm pretty sure there are already quests in the underworld for 10k exp. And yes, that exp stays useful for skill points. Levels and missions don't get you close to enough skill points to capture all of the skills for two professions. I've got around 30 left to get, although about half I can pass on happily.

[Savok]

The one change that is badly needed is a way to reconnect players to their groups in the case of crashes or network problems. That's a biggie.

And I'm curious about the blurb, as I'm pretty sure there are already quests in the underworld for 10k exp. And yes, that exp stays useful for skill points. Levels and missions don't get you close to enough skill points to capture all of the skills for two professions. I've got around 30 left to get, although about half I can pass on happily.

The curve goes up that steeply? Ok fair enough then.

And yeah, teams need to be a little more sturdy, like being able to tp together, instead of having to constantly reform. Granted teams gotta stay together in the world, maybe they could have a confirmation thingy like cutscenes have where everyone has to agree to skip it.

Also the "persistence" levels of WoW and GW are pretty even. Actually it could be argued that GW is more persistent because when you kill stuff, it stays dead until you leave the area (in some cases even after that), in WoW it can (and will) decide to respawn on your head. Only thing persistent in WoW is that nothing you do will ever change the world permanently.

[Bushido]

Hey GuildWars tried something new and different. In a world where everyone complains all FPS are the same all MMO's are the same trite contrived garbage Guild Wars provides a fresh experience that reminds me of the best games ive ever played and still kicks it up a notch.

[Rirath]

Though I agree with Draft's Guild Wars thoughts 100% from his older post, I'll probably still pick it up if I can ever find it for $35 or so. As a hack n' slash PC game, it's not without at least some merit.

Saddens me though that so many Guild Wars fans can't come up with anything better than "u r teh st00pid". (I'll get plenty.) Not to mention there are just so many people shouting the greatness of it's content from the rooftops, but I honestly don't see where this content is. Nor do they ever say.

I've never complained that all FPS are the same, nor have I ever complained that all MMOs are the same, but people... Guild Wars is absolutely not unique. There's been tons of games in it's genre before it, and there will be many more after it. It's Dungeon Siege in 3d. It's a hack n' slash with an online component. And it's PvP when all else fails. In Guild Wars "stuff stays dead" because you're simply not playing with other people, outside your party. It's a simple slight of hand. If you really want to talk about a persistant world, try a game like Morrowind.

As for the no fee... expansion packs people. No, you don't have to buy them. That's great! But guess what? They're going to try everything to make you want to. It's their job. And if you do, and many of you will certainly do so, you might as well be paying a monthly fee. I hear you argue: "But, we'll get new content!" ... Great, but you still won't match the base content of a fully fledged MMO like WoW. I fear GW turing into The Sims, with a new expansion every time you turn around. (Yes, I know... 6 months. That's not a lot.)

Finally, if nobody (including the devs) ever compared it to the legendary Magic: The Gathering again, to which it is in absolutely no way related, I would be quite grateful. No, picking 8 skills out of hundreds has nothing to do with decks, hands, and cards. No, expansion packs have nothing to do with new decks. They just aren't the same thing.

[DevDict]

rirath,
How can you judge a game you have not played?
"A Hack-&-Slash PC game"? Please! You have no idea what you are talking about. Try to solo Crystal Desert with a primary caster and then we'll talk. Try to take on Glint with 7 randomly-picked players and then we'll talk. Ascend, and then we'll discuss Guild Wars.

First, in the most recent interview it was stated that the next expansion won't be released until at least 2006. It's no longer 6 months.
Guild Wars is an online game and the company has to pay for it's servers. Can you blame them? Unlike Dungeon Siege and Sims (the former not having servers the latter not having multiplayer) GW *do* have servers.

As far as the MTG comparison, get the game and try PVP. I doubt you will succeed in it unless you stop underestimating GW's strategy.

EDIT:
Ah, Morrowind - persistent world? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard today (okay, it's 8:43 am but still). Morrowind is a bore. The world is static, the combat is pathetic, the NPCs are dull and the "quests" are FedEx.

[Taco]

I don't think you know what a persistent world is. If Guild Wars doesn't have one then it can't be compared to Wow, EQ, ect. Even if it is a damn good game, it's a different game.

Now I don't know anything about the title, just going by bits in this thread. So feel free to correct me. Unless your nick is "Death At The Door", I don't trust your knowledge.

[Draft]

He's right you know, it doesn't have any craftinghoradric cube, or quests,certainly an element unique to MMO games or raids,Does it really? didn't think you could take more than 7 people into a dungeon. or massive world to explore,You mean a massive world to look at, because you can't really go off the beaten path or PvP,My, another exclusive forte of MMO games! or items,Sure didn't have those in games before Ultima Online or xp, That too! or other people.... oh wait.Oh, wait, the only time you get to see a lot of other people is in the glorified chat room called "town."

Peep this, Guild Wars fanboys, I don't want to flame you, or your game. But if you act like retards, I will put you in your place.

[Crispy951]

i own guild wars and do enjoy it, but its missing something that would otherwise keep me totally gungho about it

[Rakael]

And your doing such a good job of putting us in our places. I think I'll just be quiet now for fear of Draft's razor sharp wit.

[Draft]

And your doing such a good job of putting us in our places. I think I'll just be quiet now for fear of Draft's razor sharp wit.Didn't say shit about the game or my post, did you? Went for the uber weak ad hominem. Make a valid point, if you dare.

[Rirath]

rirath,
How can you judge a game you have not played?

I'm going to stop you right there, because I have played it. For the beta period, up to near the end. My local GameStop allowed me to cancel my pre-order. I switched to WoW, though I do still plan to pick up Guild Wars. Sooner or later Best Buy, Fry's, or some place will probably have a good deal.

I'm not sure what soloing as a primary caster has to do with hack and slash. You've got henchmen if you can't get a team, if they can't make it through the map then it's an AI problem. If you can't raise your skills high enough past the game's ceiling then it's a balance problem. I had no trouble soloing as a caster, myself. Of course I didn't play the uber dungeons, but I like a good challenge. I don't see how that changes the nature of gameplay, with or without teams. Hack n' Slash can be online, too.

PVP is still not Magic: The Gathering. It's also not the in depth strategy fest people make it out to be. It's a RPG, with set skills, in teams. It's not M:TG, it has nothing to do with M:TG, and it's not "counter strike with swords". Honestly, I wish people would just settle on what they want to call it and quit mixing in other genres completely unrelated. I might as well just call it "pinball, with teams!"

Whether or not you find Morrowind to be a bore has nothing to do with the point I was making about the world. The poster above me was impressed a body might stay in the same location for awhile, in a local game. Morrowind will leave every item you drop in the exact same location for the entirety. That's persistent in my book.

[Savok]

Good god, you went point by point on that

Draft, explain what a MMORPG is then, if not the sum of many parts that already existed tossed in together with loads of people and forced to work around that fact.

[Rakael]

I've made my valid points over and over again Draft. I'm not arguing about it anymore. You seem to feel it is your mission in life to weakly attempt to smack down all of us GW "fanboys". You know, we just happen to be people who like the game. Why does that upset you so? Are we not allowed to like things about a game just because you don't?

Regardless, I like GW. I feel no more need to defend my taste in games against your childish attacks. You go on putting us in our places Draft, as I've said your doing a fantastic job of it. I for one will be busy enjoying the game.

[Draft]

Draft, explain what a MMORPG is then, if not the sum of many parts that already existed tossed in together with loads of people and forced to work around that fact.The qualities of MMO games are not theoretical points up for debate. They are exactly as you said: RPG games in a large, persistant world. Guild Wars is not persistant, it is a series of instanced dungeons connected with communal town areas. It is not a MMO any more than Diablo is. This is not a bad thing. It is simply the game's design. You seem to feel it is your mission in life to weakly attempt to smack down all of us GW "fanboys". You know, we just happen to be people who like the game. Why does that upset you so? Are we not allowed to like things about a game just because you don't?Wrong. I have no problem with people enjoying Guild Wars. Why would I? All I did was point out that its lack of a fee is expected rather than some sort of bonus. I wouldn't pay a monthly fee for Diablo or Neverwinter Nights either. Go back and read my first post. I don't knock Guild Wars at all.

[Rirath]

Just noticed CompUSA has a really nice deal going on until the 30th, GW for $49.99 - $9 instantly. So, $40.99 + $5 shipping. But, you get a free GW poster, XL T-shirt, and mouse pad.

Had I not (amusingly enough) just got a new Magic: The Gathering mouse pad yesterday, I'd be ordering right now. Still a great deal.

[Savok]

The qualities of MMO games are not theoretical points up for debate. They are exactly as you said: RPG games in a large, persistant world. Guild Wars is not persistant, it is a series of instanced dungeons connected with communal town areas. It is not a MMO any more than Diablo is. This is not a bad thing. It is simply the game's design.

Diablo was hosted by players, not Battle.net servers. Guild Wars server's are more then simply matchmaking and anti-cheat machines. Again I put it to you that GW is more persistent then WoW because when you change the gameworld in important ways and it doesn't simply regenerate like nothing happened.

Not to mention the constant updates thanks to the streaming system, and the game is impossible to solo.

[Oddmaker]

Who would be playing Guild Wars if WoW wasnt released? :P

[Draft]

Diablo was hosted by players, not Battle.net servers. Guild Wars server's are more then simply matchmaking and anti-cheat machines.How? Again I put it to you that GW is more persistent then WoW because when you change the gameworld in important ways and it doesn't simply regenerate like nothing happened.Explain.

Not to mention the constant updates thanks to the streaming system, and the game is impossible to solo.Neither of which makes it a MMO.

[Taco]

Battle.net games were hosted by and large on Blizzard servers. You had the option to use player hosted servers and risk cheating, but you could not move your character between the two(due to cheating).

I just bought Guild Wars after reading about it. I wasn't planning on it since everyone was making it out to be a WOW or EQ type game. It's not, Draft is right, you guys are wrong. It is closer to Diablo, but in a 3d world and more in depth gameplay. Which appeals to me.

Its not persistent (if you think it is, leave this topic now, you are clueless), and you can't play with thousands of players at once, that town area does not count. At very minimum you need both of those to make a MMRPG. It'd be my guess if WOW or EQ players went to Guild Wars for a replacement on their current experience there would be a lot of disappointed people.

[DevDict]

I'm going to stop you right there, because I have played it. For the beta period, up to near the end. My local GameStop allowed me to cancel my pre-order. I switched to WoW, though I do still plan to pick up Guild Wars. Sooner or later Best Buy, Fry's, or some place will probably have a good deal.

I'm not sure what soloing as a primary caster has to do with hack and slash. You've got henchmen if you can't get a team, if they can't make it through the map then it's an AI problem. If you can't raise your skills high enough past the game's ceiling then it's a balance problem. I had no trouble soloing as a caster, myself. Of course I didn't play the uber dungeons, but I like a good challenge. I don't see how that changes the nature of gameplay, with or without teams. Hack n' Slash can be online, too.

PVP is still not Magic: The Gathering. It's also not the in depth strategy fest people make it out to be. It's a RPG, with set skills, in teams. It's not M:TG, it has nothing to do with M:TG, and it's not "counter strike with swords". Honestly, I wish people would just settle on what they want to call it and quit mixing in other genres completely unrelated. I might as well just call it "pinball, with teams!"

Whether or not you find Morrowind to be a bore has nothing to do with the point I was making about the world. The poster above me was impressed a body might stay in the same location for awhile, in a local game. Morrowind will leave every item you drop in the exact same location for the entirety. That's persistent in my book.

First, I made a mistake saying you haven't played the game so I apologize.

Until what beta event did you play? Guild Wars went a long way from the Open Beta but of course if you played until one of the last betas you know that. Guild Wars is not entirely hack and slash. It has a storyline, it has character evolution and the world changes around you: the Searing is an example of that. It has quests and missions which are more than "bring-me-seven-rat-tails". Yes, it's far from Vampire: The Masquerade but also leaps ahead of Diablo. I fail to see why Morrowind, which you seem to think highly of, is less H&S than GW. A Roleplaying game requires an involving storyline, a round character and memorable helpers of which MW has none.

If you fail to see the ressemblence between MTG and GW, fine. I see the similarity but no matter how you call the skill system, it won't change a thing.

I checked and you are nonetheless right about the lack of persistent world. I ascended and returned to a previous area for a quest I missed before. I was treated as I haven't ascended yet, which was rather funny.

I believe you should buy Guild Wars once the price drops and give it another chance. I am sure you will review your opinion once you pick a decent team and ascend.

[Rirath]

Until what beta event did you play? Guild Wars went a long way from the Open Beta but of course if you played until one of the last betas you know that.

Yep, a friend gave me a 10 day WoW pass at the end during one of the later events.

Guild Wars is not entirely hack and slash. It has a storyline, it has character evolution and the world changes around you: the Searing is an example of that.

True to a point, but I happen to like hack n' slash like Taco, the poster above. Personally though, I don't know of many hack n' slash titles that don't have some type of storyline. Changing the world is kinda nifty, but that just doesn't change the gameplay type. It's basically just a "level", you've reached stage / chapter 2. These are all just features of the game.

To be honest, and I'm not really trying to put GW down here, the story isn't exactly deep. It's the type of story I'd expect to see in a game like this, one side vs the other, humans under attack, etc. Many professional reviews has echoed this.

but also leaps ahead of Diablo. I fail to see why Morrowind, which you seem to think highly of, is less H&S than GW.

You need to make less assumptions. I don't even like Morrowind that much, I find it to be a bit of a bore too. The exploration is great, the do-anything is great, but the actual game is too dark and bland. Morrowind's combat was sadly lacking, but the story was very in depth and things changed as you went through based on your unique actions and choices. You could play any style you wanted. You made friends and enemies based on the choices made.

There were virtually no invisable walls, you didn't have to fight if you didn't want to most the time, etc. You could spend your days fighting, gathering herbs for money, or taking what you need. This kind of stuff makes it more. Exploration was rewarded with hidden dungeons for the sake of finding rare items and exploring the world. Guild Wars on the other hand gives you a pretty beaten path with markers telling you right where to go, with little to no choice on how you complete your quest. Fighting is a necessity.

This is the difference between open ended RPG and H&S. Just ask yourself, is the main focus on role playing my character, exploring, or on killing enemies?

A Roleplaying game requires an involving storyline, a round character and memorable helpers of which MW has none.

We disagree here. A roleplaying game need not involve helpers of any sort, Morrowind has a huge storyline, and a RPG need not provide a stock character... you role play your own character based on your own style. Guild Wars is an RPG, just a more action oriented one like Diablo, like Dungeon Siege, etc. Personally, I think Diablo 1/2 are two of the finest computer RPGs made.

If you fail to see the ressemblence between MTG and GW, fine. I see the similarity but no matter how you call the skill system, it won't change a thing.

The point I'm trying to make about M:TG is that even the devs are saying that, which to me just illustrates one of my problems with GW. They are all too happy for people, especially the casual gamer, to confuse Guild Wars for what it's not. Then we get threads like this with all this misdirection about GW being a MMO, about it being like M:TG, and I've even heard the term "counterstrike with swords".

I rather wish the game would just be proud of what it is.

[51|RandoM]

I'd bet a good $100 that everybody here who *doesn't* like GW is also somebody who hasn't spent more than a few minutes in Tombs PvP, or is somebody who doesn't like PvP at all.

Once you figure out that the game is Guild Wars and not Grind Wars, you can't help but like it---assuming you bought the game for online PvP. If you bought it for anything else, you might as well return it.