Guild Wars

[Crandaeolon]

While looking for RTW previews I stumbled on a preview of Guild Wars at Gamespy. In short: I'm interested.

Take a look at the preview here: http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/guild-wars/509820p1.html

ArenaNet is also making the alpha version of the game playable to everyone during E3, May 12-14. A ballsy move, considering that if the alpha is in a bad shape, a lot of negative publicity will result.

[Lehesu]

Alpha version is available now, for anyone that cares.

[Kraellin]

so, what's the url?

K.

[Crandaeolon]

Try www.guildwars.com

The engine looks solid and is surprisingly fast for an alpha. Haven't played it for more than a half hour though.

[Basileus]

ive been playing since yesterday and its lots of fun, to bad its hard to find a good group heh. Great graphics though but alittle buggy as an alpha should be i guess..

[Kraellin]

k, i also tried it out last night. pretty clever how they do all the installing. also clever how they balance the server loads. quite innovative.

the graphics are a slight step up from neverwinter nights, but not on the order of an unreal tournament or railroad tycoon 3. in other words, they're a little 'modular' in places. still, decent enough.

this is mostly mission oriented. it's not just a nice big open world like asheron's call or something like that. the world comes in large blocks and they do make it easy to get from block to block.

they've also got an arena for those that like player vs. player combat.

the game is also geared to both solo play and team play. and that's part of the server balancing, load sharing they're doing. i do like that for the most part. if you want to go out and just hunt on your own, you go to a solo area, but can 'portal' to a team area easily enough. the towns are centers for everyone. this is where the trainers and merchants are and where you can chat with everyone in that town. it's also where you form teams or partys. once a party is formed, you pick an area to go to and teleport there and take up a mission. this again is another server load trick. only your team will show up in that area for that mission, so you're never in competition with another team or getting bogged down by server loads. pretty clever.

the downside is, sometimes it's fun to compete with other teams or have them around. and with this system, you're prevented from that, except in the arena.

currently, during this demonstration period, you're only allowed to reach level 15, and that can be done in a couple of hours. the skill system is a bit odd. i mean, it works, but they put some serious limits on the things you've earned. i also dont like the skill gem system that much. learning a skill shldnt require an artifical means like finding a certain gem. that just seems weird.

the game is fairly fun, but i can see where it's going to get a bit boring after 30 missions and 1000 creatures killed. they do have some interesting innovations, so maybe there's a lot more to come to keep this game from being one of those go here, make this level by killing 16 of these, then go there and kill 20 of these critters to make this level, etc, etc, rinse and repeat ad nauseum. they also make one old mistake as well; critters always re-generate in the same locations. bah. too predictable.

but, i did have fun last night. it's a new take on an old genre and done fairly cleanly. didnt find myself making one bug report. there are a few glitches here and there, but nothing so annoying as to warrant a real bug report.

the interface is simple to use. there's no manual, but there are some online helps. playing is rather straight forward and maybe just a bit too simplistic, particularly in combat. i liked being able to draw and aim my bow in asheron's call. this game, it's all semi-automatic and sort of idiot proof.

and another minor annoyance i found was that the non-magic classes use a lot of magic. d'oh uh, so the reason for playing a magic class again was what?

still, it was an enjoyable evening. i'd recommend at least taking a look for yourselves.

K

[Crandaeolon]

Quote[/b] ]the graphics are a slight step up from neverwinter nights

I'd give it a little more credit. It looks much better than NWN IMO, and the environs are fully 3D instead of NWN's pseudo-elevations. Machine requirements are pretty low considering the graphics quality.

I don't like the invisible walls that exist in some places, though. Not a big problem, but I'd still like to be able to jump down from ledges etc...

Quote[/b] ]the downside is, sometimes it's fun to compete with other teams or have them around. and with this system, you're prevented from that, except in the arena.

AFAIK, the retail version supposedly _focuses_ on competition against other player teams. It's also supposed to have integrated clan support with player-owned guildhalls and suchlike. And it actually sounds possible with the instanced-mission structure they're using for the game...

Quote[/b] ]currently, during this demonstration period, you're only allowed to reach level 15, and that can be done in a couple of hours.

Incorrect. You _start_ at level 15 and can't gain any more levels. You can gain skill points, though.

Quote[/b] ]the skill system is a bit odd. i mean, it works, but they put some serious limits on the things you've earned.

As I understand it, that's sort of the point. They're intentionally limiting powerplayers so that the more casual players can be competitive against them.

Quote[/b] ] i also dont like the skill gem system that much. learning a skill shldnt require an artifical means like finding a certain gem.

Agreed. If they want to steer the game away from munchkinism, why do they include things like skills that are rarer than others? Oh well. I guess they're trying to cater to everyone. Which may not be a good thing.

Quote[/b] ]the game is fairly fun, but i can see where it's going to get a bit boring after 30 missions and 1000 creatures killed.

I think they're counting on the game's focus on PvP and clan vs. clan aspects in maintaining interest. I'll definitely steer clear of GW if it appears to degenerate into endless level grind.

Quote[/b] ]playing is rather straight forward and maybe just a bit too simplistic, particularly in combat.
...
and another minor annoyance i found was that the non-magic classes use a lot of magic. d'oh uh, so the reason for playing a magic class again was what?

Well, I found the combat quite interesting when human teams fought others. It was also much faster-paced than soloing against monsters.

Good reasons to use a magic class are higher energy reserves to cast spells from and higher attributes, which translate into more damage and longer-lasting effects.