It's never too late to start playing Guild Wars

Haven't had a chance to play Guild Wars yet? You're thinking maybe three years after launch is a bit late? Nah, you're just in time! Guild Wars has so many enticements for people who are just getting into this new-fangled MMO scene, but also for people looking for a change from their regular game. We're here now to explain a bit about ArenaNet's masterpiece, targeted at someone who has only heard of Guild Wars, but never actually played it.

Guild Wars is different from many of the larger, more popular MMOs we have to choose from today. The main reasons include the fact that it has no monthly fee, it centers around instanced worlds and it is one of the few games that successfully combines PvE with PvP.

So let's start from the beginning and explain a bit about the history of the game and why it came into existence. No, this will not be on the test later, but it is an important piece of back story when considering why it is the game that it is.

ArenaNet was founded in 2000 by Mike O'Brien, Patrick Wyatt and Jeff Strain, originally all from Blizzard. They were involved in the development of such games as Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft, WoW and the Battle.net gaming network. Their initial vision for Guild Wars (their sole project from Day 1) is a grindless alternative to the projects they've worked on before, for the more casual player.

Some gaming outlets may ignore Guild Wars in the full scope of MMOs, mostly stemming from the fact that the worlds are instanced and the storyline is linear. This is a topic of much debate, but ArenaNet has said themselves that they consider it to be a CORPG, or competitive online role-playing game.

Also, the game being free-to-play has inspired many people to make that initial leap into the MMO world, possibly even opening their eyes to a subscription-based game eventually. This factor creates a solid social infrastructure to the game because you never have to worry about un-subscribing if you can't afford the game any longer. Coupled with the fact that there's so much to do in the game, it makes it easy to return to the game at any time.

The initial business plan for the game involved the release of chapters for players to purchase on a regular basis. These chapters were originally established on a six-month release cycle, but this idea has recently been scrapped in lieu of a completely new and original sequel slated for release sometime next year. For this reason, many people are cautious about starting up now in the GW world. So we will address a few of these issues, as well as explain a bit more about how the original Guild Wars will tie into Guild Wars 2.

So far, ArenaNet has released three chapters of the game, as well as an expansion pack and a bonus mission pack. These are all for sale separately and, with the exception of the expansion pack (Eye of the North) and bonus mission pack, all chapters can be purchased and played as completely separate games. This brings up one of the most frequently-asked questions from a new Guild Wars player: Which chapter do I buy?

Guild Wars: Prophecies is the original game, considered to now be Chapter 1. This chapter holds many nostalgic memories for the original players of the game, so most of these people will tell you it's their favorite. It offers a vast map across a variety of environments. The mission system is set up where you can complete each mission simply to progress, or you can complete a bonus side quest for extra experience and rewards. The other two chapters use a different system of regular mission completion and mission mastery.

Guild Wars: Factions is the first real additional chapter for the game. It has an oriental theme which plays throughout the entire storyline, and introduced hundreds of new skills to the game. It also is the originator of the Alliance Battle, where PvP was brought to a much larger scale. If you were looking to buy only one chapter, and you enjoy solo-farming, this is said to be the chapter for you. It has some of the most rewarding boss-item drops of all three chapters, and has ideal areas for the consummate farmer.

Guild Wars: Nightfall is the third and final chapter in the original GW series. It is wrapped in a North African theme and eventually degrades into a desolated ethereal wasteland. In this chapter, we're introduced to Heroes for the first time, which are basically highly-customizable and controllable NPC henchmen. If you were to buy the other 2 chapters without integrating Nightfall, you would not have access to these Heroes. Some have said this chapter introduced the grind into GW with reputation points and titles, so keep this in mind if thats something you're trying to get away from in your current game.

The only expansion pack, Eye of the North uses all of the features of previous chapters and wraps them in a shiny new shell, including our first glimpses into different ally races, ridable mounts and multi-layer dungeons. One of the most important parts of this expansion is the way it ties in Guild Wars 1 to Guild Wars 2. This expansion gives us a storyline segue into the sequel, as well as a way for your titles and achievements to be carried over into GW2 through the Hall of Monuments. Personally, we think no matter which chapter or chapters you decide to assemble for your own GW experience, Eye of the North is a welcome supplement to enhance the overall experience.

So what's with this instanced world then? Is it a good or bad thing? Well, there are many reasons that ArenaNet designed GW this way. It creates a separate zone for each individual player or group of players to fight their own enemies that won't respawn randomly, with no fear of getting your loot taken by another player just passing through. Of course the ganking and PKing of WoW has been resolved since the release of Guild Wars, but it's nice to know sometimes that when you clear an area, it's cleared until you rezone. The only real persistent areas in Guild Wars are the safe zones like cities and outposts, which are used mainly as neutral spots to find groups, merchant items and just generally socialize with other players.

But even within these persistent areas, there are multiple districts for each city or outpost. Originally, there were districts set up for each area of the world, and they were unreachable by the various continents. For example, let's say you live in the UK, you play on the European districts, and you wanted to join with a group of friends in the US. You were out of luck until recently when they made all districts of all areas reachable through a simple drop-down menu. This is also a distinct feature of Guild Wars that many take for granted. Even though there are separate districts and zones, you can still join your friend's zone at any time without worrying about being on separate servers or the high cost of a server transfer fee.

In all, Guild Wars is the ideal game for the casual gamer on a money and time budget who doesn't want to settle for a free-to-play game with minimal content and horrible graphics. Guild Wars has redefined what an MMO can be in so many ways, and it will continue to do so in the future.

Be sure to check out the next in a series of Guild Wars guides coming soon!

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