Guild Wars - There's So Many - Now I'm Confused!

[Big Daddy 101]

Hi,

I've been playing WoW for a while now and decided to go to Guild Wars as it is free per monthly. But there are so many version I am very very confused!

Guild Wars
Guild Wars: Factions
Guild Wars: Nightfall
Guild Wars: Eye of the North

Also if anyone could link me to a trial of the game, through PM or Post it would be much appreciated also. All I want to is, which are neccessary to play the game and which are not. And which order did they release? thanks!

[A,E,I,Ownd,U]

Dude there is no trail the games free to play, just buy the first one, if you like the general idea of the game then you can just go buy the rest. or not. I personally found guild wars to get old after a while PVP was fun, for a week... after i got a mesmer/elementalist maxed out, i tried a warrior/monk i got him to like level 14-15 i think. and then i stoped playing that. and moved to pvp for about a week. then i quit playing all togeather. and that was a month or so before the first expansion came out. thats just my 2 cents. but you'll probabbly like it. so go buy the first one its like 20 bucks and give it a spin.

[Musedmark]

Factions and Nightfall were both like content packs that introduced new areas and classes (afaik), Eye of the North is a true expansion pack that upped the level cap? (not quite sure tbh) and added new content and skills.

So, in essence, unless you fancy playing as one of the classes in the content packs, then Eye of the North is the only other install you will need aside from the main game.

[Musedmark]

Double post, however a True sequel to GW is due to be released (Guild Wars 2 funnily enough) No idea when, but if you dont mind the wait, hang on for that and be on a even playing field with everyone else.

As it stands now, the game will be hard to get into since they introduced ranks and what not (you know what epeen kids are like, no rank = no skill apparently)

[Hadrian]

OK to clear this up a bit as I am a bit of a GW fanatic .

Guild Wars ; Original title, gives you access to the core classes and the first world of Tyria. The character level maximum across all version of GW is Lvl 20, but the game contains well over 200 skills to collect and mix and match how you use (maximum of 8 active at a time). Tyria is your standard world design of desert , jungle, grassy plains etc. Good introduction to the GW style of play.

Guild Wars Factions; Second release title, adds in two more classes to choose from. The game world is a Japanese esq world of Cantha, where a vast plague has decended on the world from an evil spirit known as Shiro. Geared towards Person v Person gameplay, with several new types of PVP battles and styles of play. IMO a rather lackluster effort on the person vs enemy style of play but a good addition to the original, with more skills added and newer weapons/armour etc.

Guild Wars Nightfall; Third title in the series, adds another 2 new classes to choose from and is set in the African/Arabian style of game world known as Elona. Geared to towards adventuring style of play, this game adds in "heroes" which are NPC characters the player can keep, use and customise as support players of every major class (good for when its quiet or you want to play alone). This world is in the grips of a civil war after one of the mainland country rulers, becomes a pawn and architect of the "Nightfall" (end of the worlds), where and evil god is marsheling his forces in an attempt to free himself from imprisonment and take over the worlds ending in there destruction. Excellent story line and gameplay additions, again adds in litterly hundreds of new skills to get for your exisitng characters, or new ones.

Guild Wars Eye of the North; First true Expansion of GW, this game adds the frozen north lands to Tyria (first game world) and is geared towards level 20 characters. Again adds in new classes and more heroes to add to your team, with additional skills, armour, weapons to collect. Adds unique achievements that can be added to a new GW2 character when it comes out. I wont say much about this version as I have yet to get very far in it myself and would not want to spoil it for others.

All versions feature super dungeons of various types which are all designed for team play with other players. If you have never played GW before I highly recommend it, over WoW. NO grinding up levels, no need to be in fear of others with your new low levels character as all game world locations are instanced (meaning one team of 4 or more players at a time), so no getting bumped by meeting high level players outside of town.

All in all I recommend to get All versions if you can, but start at the begining with the first one (Guild Wars) to ensure you get a well rounded view of the worlds and there interaction with one another. The first title also has a very strong story that is enhanced and built on in the other titles. All versions are stand alone, and can be played seperate or can be combined to allow you to use any character from any world anywhere in the GW universe (recommended). Tournaments and special events abound (such as halloween or xmas) to keep the game fresh and appealing.

Hope this helps out a bit

[Hadrian]

Oh I forgot to add, all version of the game come in standard or collectors versions. The collectors version feature bonus items in game along with extra actions to perform with your hero and various free gifts in game. Some also feature nice items in the box (such as factions; comes with top quality mouse mat and cloth picture of a game character). If you decide to get it, try and get the CE versions of all games as the add in some nice perks that others can help you discover.