Should we cover Guild Wars?

[Sol Invictus]

First, I must personally say that I'm looking forward to this game.

In case you were wondering what Guild Wars is, it's a next generation MMORPG by the guys who worked on Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo/II and Battle.net. Before you get nightmares about powergaming, spawncamping, killstealing and treadmilling, and relative uninteractivity, you should know that the game is going to be a lot more like a 'mass multiplayer diablo 2, with fun parties' rather than some dreary mess like Anarchy Online.

The difference between Guild Wars and an MMORPG is that Guild Wars has been built from the ground up to create a fun and exciting experience right from the start of the game, even for first time players. We’ve eliminated frustrating elements such as spawn camping, kill stealing, endless traveling and treadmill gaming. Guild Wars provides an environment where you can meet new people and make friends in public gaming areas, but enjoy all the excitement of battle that comes from team-based combat in private virtual worlds. Finally, Guild Wars has been designed to reward gamers for their playing skill, and not solely for the number of hours they've spent gaming, which enables well-balanced competitive missions between players of almost all skill levels.

The best part about it is... no subscription payment!

That's the best thing I've heard in a long, long time. In any case, I'd like very much to cover this game and Saint isn't too opposed to it, so we decided to hear what you guys have to say. I certainly think that the more 'action-gaming inclined' ones here are probably bored to death of Diablo 2, and Sacred's multiplayer certainly didn't turn out as well as we hoped (in fact, it doesn't work right now) and this game's coming out sometime in the 2nd Quarter of 2004, so it's certainly something for us to look forward to. Here's something I particularly like about Guild Wars:

After learning the game and building up your first character, you may choose to test your skills in head-to-head competition or guild warfare. The game is designed to reward player skill and teamwork, not time spent playing, so you won't need to spend hundreds of hours leveling up your character to compete.

If true, this game could be a whole lot of fun. There's a big reason why I don't enjoy most MMORPGs: It's the sheer amount of time that you have to spend playing them in order to reach those 'fun' areas when you achieve a certain level. Man, that totally sucks. For once I'd like to just delve into the action. Diablo 2 allowed that, to a degree, by making it pretty easy to level up and easier still to go wherever you wanted. If they can improve on that, it'll be really good.

As well as the little bit about Guilds that Diablo 2 (and most games, including MMORPGs) sorely lacked:

Guild Wars, as evidenced by its name, will have broad support for game guilds, including integrated support for worldwide tournaments and ladders, the ability for a guild to own and operate a guildhall, private guild forums, and more.

The cool thing about this game is that it's designed to be played to support 56k and non-broadband gamers, much like Blizzard's games were. I wouldn't usually believe that kind of claim, but after all, these guys were the ones behind Blizzard's very good networking.

Yeah, okay, enough hype. What do you think?

Replying "No" without explaining why will be considered rude. :wink:

 

[Spazmo]

In case you were wondering what Guild Wars is, it's a next generation MMORPG

No.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Oh yeah, you might think, "hey wtf does this have to do with RPGs", well, seeing as how they're having unique quest maps for each questing party, I'd say that's a pretty good opportunity for role playing without a bunch of assholes spoiling your fun by spawn camping or whatever.

 

[Killzig]

No.

 

[Sol Invictus]

In case you were wondering what Guild Wars is, it's a next generation MMORPG

No.

Man you are such a dick.

Give the game a chance. I mean, finally, you can quest without powergaming dickheads being better than you all the time.

 

[Spazmo]

I have single player CRPGs for that. MMORPGs can go take a running jump in the lake.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Dude, I tend to like socialising too. Games can get pretty boring, especially KOTOR, when your only partner (Carth) starts whining about how he can't tell you his super secret. You wouldn't get that in this game.

 

[Spazmo]

So your point is that KOTOR handles 'CNPC' (I hate to use the term) poorly? I agree. MMORPGs are not the solution. If you ask me, we just need better designed NPCs, like the PST ones or the Arcanum ones. And while I hate to use a horribly lame cliche that usually makes even me pull a Volourn (er... that is to say ), if you want to socialise, see real people or go on IRC or whatever.

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Fine with me.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Dude, it isn't as if you play D&D campaigns alone. Or do you? :\

Having other people around, especially other roleplayers, is a really fun way to play.

 

[POOPERSCOOPER]

No one online will take it serious, and the ones that do will be the DnD faggots. You can't rely on people to fill the roleplaying in an online game, its impossible.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Still, it'll be more fun than any of the current mmorpgs that are nothing more than levelling treadmills. That's gotta account for something. After all, we cover Diablo 2.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I don't care. I'm opposed to anything that starts with MMO, but if you like / care about it so much that you made a post about it, I won't bitch and complain if that's what you're asking.

 

[Volourn]

Wll.. consideirng all the non rpgs alreayd covered on the site (NWN, BG1, KOTOR); one more surely can't hurt. :D

 

[Whipporowill]

I'm not interested in Guild Wars whatsoever. I'm interested in World of Warcraft and to some extent Dragon Empires and Warhammer Online... the amount of interest for mmorpgs usually seem to dissipate the closer to release these games get. Huh, imagine that?

What's interesting is that MMORPG's are actually MORE true to being actual roleplaying games, since they offer you a lot more freedom in what you say and do. No more scripted dialogues and such.

Still, my answer is NO, unless we cover the whole genre, which I would probably say no to as well.

 

[Vault Dweller]

What's interesting is that MMORPG's are actually MORE true to being actual roleplaying games, since they offer you a lot more freedom in what you say and do. No more scripted dialogues and such.

And that proves that scripted dialogues are often (99%) much better then so called role-playing in MMORPGs :wink:

 

[Sol Invictus]

Well, I'm probably going to be playing World of Warcraft as well but I don't think we should cover that. Guild Wars hasn't gotten much cover compared to the other games so I wouldn't pass this one up so quickly. I like what they did with Diablo 2 and I'd hate to see that kind of talent go to waste because WoW or whatever got more coverage, either.

 

[Whipporowill]

What's interesting is that MMORPG's are actually MORE true to being actual roleplaying games, since they offer you a lot more freedom in what you say and do. No more scripted dialogues and such.

And that proves that scripted dialogues are often (99%) much better then so called role-playing in MMORPGs :wink:

Heh. Yeah... most "roleplayers" suck ass at roleplaying. That's for sure.

 

[chrisbeddoes]

The best part about it is... no subscription payment!

I have heard that there will be no subscription payment! just for north america.

Is greece in north america ? If it is then we should cover it.

 

[Sol Invictus]

It's true dude, there's no subscription no matter where you live. If you buy the game, you don't have to pay any kind of subscription at all. After all, the game simply uses a cd key (e.g. Diablo 2) and nothing else. From what I understand you don't have to have a credit card for account activation or anything like that, so the subscription payment shouldn't be only for North America but for the entire world.

 

[chrisbeddoes]

http://www.gamespydaily.com/news/screen ... sp?id=5003

Guild Wars is a role-playing game for the PC with a strong (and free in North America) online component that lets players cooperative group combat, in single player adventures, or in large head-to-head guild battles.

http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/427/42 ... ?fromint=1

The underlying technology will stream updates to gamers while they're online, and in North America at least, there will be no monthly subscription fee. Although the projected release date of late next year is still some time away, the Co-Founders did agree to tell us about their project.

http://www.gamezone.com/gzreviews/p21979.htm

And for fans of online gaming, here is the best part of all – current plans call for no monthly fee for play in North America.

An interview here.

http://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/guildwars1.php

GB: Your website states that there will be no monthly charge to North American players. How do you plan on continually updating the game with new content without having a steady stream of income?

Is this info wrong ?

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Booo!

:starts throwing assorted rotten vegetables:

 

[chrisbeddoes]

Is Malaysia in north america ?

 

[Sol Invictus]

Edit: Skip this post. Thanks to listening to Chris mumble on about how it'll only be free in the United States, I dcided to re-read their website and guess what I found (see the next page)

 

[Sol Invictus]

Eh besides, those are extremely old (year old) interviews. Their website mentions ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about pay-based subscriptions plans. It's totally free (aside from the initial purchase).