Guild Wars 2

Besides when it was made, what are some of the differences between these games. I never played GW1, but I hear some people are disappointed with GW2 because of the differences. Also with the new profession coming out, I hear a lot of people referencing GW1 material. So what are the Pro’s and cons between the two?

1. Guild Wars 1 is basically a huge maze because of terrain blocking. Guild Wars 2 doesn’t have that issue.

2. Guild Wars 1 all but requires you use hirelings, heroes, or other players to complete the game. Guild Wars 2 does not. And you must micro-manage those hireling, heroes, and their pets.

3. Guild Wars 1 forces you to choose a secondary class. Not GW2.

4. GW1 is ten years old or older. And it shows with the AI and art. GW2 is more polished.

5. GW1 Pet AI is atrocious. While GW2 Pet AI is . . . not so atrocious.

6. GW1 mobs completely respawn when you zone from a map. GW2 mobs are on a timer.

7. GW1, back in the day, had a lot more Guild versus Guild battles. GW2, for now, does not.

8. GW1’s story is very much on rails. GW2 is less so on the rails.

9. GW1 storyline is great, but feels forced and tedious at times. GW2 storyline is a little more forgiving and fluid. It doesn’t force you to do it, near immediately, in order to progress.

10. GW1 has more holidays and seasonal events than GW2. A lot more.

11. GW1 has no dailies. GW2 does.

12. GW1 has an extreme learning curve. Especially once you reach level 20. GW2 is a lot more forgiving.

13. GW1 max level is 20. Max level in GW2 is 80.

14. GW1 requires A LOT of running around between areas to complete certain tasks. The waypoints in GW2 lessen this feeling a great deal.

15. GW1 requires you return to certain NPCs to complete a mission or quest. GW2 does not.

16. GW1 does not have area looting. GW2 does.

17. GW1 mapping is tedious and opens in small sections. GW2 mapping is faster and opens in larger sections.

18. GW1 map completion is based on those small sections. GW2 map completion is base on certain components like Points of Interest, Hearts, and Vistas.

19. Certain class combinations are ungodly powerful in GW1. GW2 is more balanced all around to where no one class is head and shoulders above the others.

20. You pretty much have to play GW1 if you want to get all the ingame references in GW2.

Ardenwolfe.8590:

11. GW1 has no dailies. GW2 does.

Not strictly true:

• when you reach level 10 in Pre-Searing, you get a daily quest to help levelling towards the Legendary Defender of Ascalon title.
• There’s 4 Zaishan dailies: Mission, Bounty, Combat and Vanquish

Well first of all, GW1 was a cooperative RPG and not an full fledged MMORPG. It had a lobby system, where players formed groups in outposts/towns then went out through portals and entered instanced versions of the zones. This meant you could never meet randoms in your travels. Ironically enough, this made the GW1 world much more believable because how many “heroes” could someone found in a medieval world just wandering around?

GW1 didn’t have a jump option, so it was impossible to bug mobs and attack them from safety. GW1 also didn’t have a z-axis, you could hit someone with your sword even if he was super high up a tower while standing next to said tower. Or you could put traps UNDER a bridge and they would affect those above (fun times!)

In GW1 the state of the world (what quests are active) was depending on the party leader. The zones revolved around them, much how other -non MMORPG- multiplayer games work.

GW1 had a traditional MMORPG quest system, however due to the instanced nature of the game, quests could actually change the world, npcs could die or move etc. Those changes were only available out in the instanced zones, not in towns because towns had to be the same for everyone.

In GW1 players in a group had different roles. Interrupters, Protectors, Healers, Damage dealers all had a use in the game. You couldn’t do the harder content with ANY party composition you wanted, which lead to the ever so popular “LF Healer!” posts. -unlike other games those “Healers” could be many many different combinations so it wasn’t as big an issue as in other games. In GW2 you can do pretty much everything with any profession combination

GW1 had an extensive dual class system, both for the player AND his heroes, which meant loads upon loads of customization and character building. GW1 worked in a similar way to trading card games (like Magic the Gathering) with players hunting for their skills. Elite skills were captured from Boss mobs, you first had to find, then defeat them, to learn those skills. Bosses could be used to “learn” normal skills too, before they were available on trainers.

I think the AI of GW1 was better than in GW2. In GW1 the AI had a calculator ready, they calculated which target was about to die faster and focused fire there. That was for ranged mobs of course, melee mobs in group spread out to attack multiple targets and “block” enemy melee characters from moving. GW1 had body block feature and the spread out of mobs helped with it. Mobs could move out of AOEs, they could prioritize interrupts, and do very nasty SPIKES.

But of course the best AI in GW1 was at bosses. Bosses used their skills well with a variety of combinations. In GW2 mobs (and bosses) are pretty much dumb and follow a set pattern. Even the best Bosses like Lupicus have a set pattern of attacks that you can learn to defeat them, in GW1 bosses were more “intelligent”

GW1 had a lot more PVP modes, different game types for everyone to enjoy. Much like GW2, players in PVP were boosted to max level, while PVP-only characters had access to max gear so there was no unfair advantage. In GW1 you had to “unlock” all skills and gear, either in PVE by finding them, or by using the PVP currency (Balthazar faction points), in GW2 basic skills/gear is available for everyone from the first minute.

There was no World PVP in GW1, like WvW. Instead there was an alliance battle system, where two warring factions competed in instanced PVP games. Although the matches were instanced, each win/lose affected the outcome of the war, and as the war progressed different maps became available. Players couldn’t influence the war directly (like getting a Keep in GW2) however with enough “wins” they could push the battle lines further into enemy territory.

GW1 had very complex mechanics and loads of different skill types. In GW2 we have Boons (buffs), Conditions (debuffs), Control effects and Transforms. Skills that do not belong to any of the above are very few, like Stances, and skill like Rampage as One.

In GW1 there was a huge variety of ability types, for example while there are Shouts in both GW games, in GW1 there was a subsystem for Shouts using skills like Refrains (reapplied every time a shout is applied on a target) or Finales (which apply when a shout ends on a target) offering a large variety of options.

In GW1 you were locked to your skills for the entire dungeon, so before starting a run you had to plan for every single encounter, even including skills on your skillbar that you use only once or twice during the entire run. In GW2 you can change your build at any moment out of combat, including ALL your gear and traits.

TheDaiBish.9735:

Ardenwolfe.8590:

11. GW1 has no dailies. GW2 does.

Not strictly true:

• when you reach level 10 in Pre-Searing, you get a daily quest to help levelling towards the Legendary Defender of Ascalon title.
• There’s 4 Zaishan dailies: Mission, Bounty, Combat and Vanquish

Huh. Never even heard of this. Thanks.

GW1 was better.

GW2 is great but it’s also becoming more and more like every other MMORPG on the market with every update.

/2 cents

In GW1 traits powered up skills in a major way. Higher Fire Magic meant higher damaging Fireballs, this meant that traits were a lot more important. GW1 didn’t have generic stats like Power and Precision which meant builds relied on clever allocation of those trait points. Traits couldn’t be changed in an instance, so much like skills, the player’s build had to be carefully crafted to account for everything the player might encounter.

Itemization in GW1 was both more varied and less varied. For example weapons had a prefix, a suffix, an insignia and the BASE weapon which meant a large variety of combinations and item creation. However, in GW1 items didn’t have stats boosts like Power which meant less stat variety than in GW2.

There was a list of item abilities and then the magnitude of those abilities. For example a Hearty prefix gave the character health, however there were different ranges of how much health they give. “Perfect” mods were those that had the highest bonus, the difference between a +30 and a +29 health mod was insane, even though the difference they provided in combat was nearly nothing.

Weapons required a set amount of trait points to be invested to be used and “Perfect” weapons had a rating of 9, for example a “Perfect” Sword required Swordsmanship 9, this meant that only Traits increased your skill power, but also allowed you to use more powerful items. (Lower item req meant accessible by a large variety of builds)

Health was very low in the game and so was damage, much much more manageable than the huge amounts we have in GW2.

fireflyry.7023:

GW1 was better.

GW2 is great but it’s also becoming more and more like every other MMORPG on the market with every update.

/2 cents

Respectfully I must disagree about Guild Wars 1 being better. I recently bought, within a few months, Factions, Nightfall, and Eye of the North to earn those achievements and those fancy, flaming gloves.

I have to tell you, it takes real effort and boredom on my part to log into the Prophecies. I’ve gotten to the around four or five mission from the end of the story line. Did all the side quests too. Yet, even so, I’m bored out of my mind.

I also got to as far as past ‘ascension’ in Factions as well with my ritualist. Got bored with him too and deleted him. Getting zergs by mobs every time I took a step was not fun at all.

Of course, I was using hirlings at the time. Heroes have made the missions a pinch, but still. Having to micro-manage them all the time. Them and their pets, and mine.

Maybe I’m just playing the wrong class (ranger – beastmaster), but I’m so not into Guild Wars 1. So much so, I wish there was a way I could ask for a refund. . . .

GW1 is more about teamplay. There is no open world, every “world map” is instanced.
You always enter with a team of 4-8 players. There are 25? storymissions in GW Prophecies which can be compared to dungeon storymodes (cutscenes, a little bit diffcult), hundreds of quests, dungeons, elite missions, … everything is teamcontent.
Without human players GW1 is less attractive (for me), it’s a strong teamplay game, not a strong singleplayer game. Way more fun to play with other players.

GW2 if focussed on solocontent. You don’t need a team to go SW farming. There are a lot of other players, you don’t need to interact with them, they could be replaced with bots/npcs and nobody would realize it. Basically playing “next to each other, not with each other”.

GW1 had stronger roles. You always got a backline (healer, protection) and the rest of the team was usually dmg. But you could support each other, for example the warrior could use a skill which reduces dmg by ~20% for the team (=protection in GW2) or he could interrupt enemy casters. Eles could blind enemies (blind stays permanent for a few seconds, so you could protect other players by keeping dangerous enemies blind).
GW2 has roles, too. Mightstacking, stealth, condi removal, stabi – roles which need to be fullfilled or you will be slower/dead. But those roles are not so important like in GW1, you don’t rely so much on each other. —>less teamplay.

GW2 has better graphics, more fluent gameplay, better movement system, WvW, events… lots of pros., but it’s more mainstream, more a standard MMO.

GW2 has less buildvariety, less “buildcrafting” – GW1 is very complex. Too complex for beginners.
GW2 dungeons or “highend PVE” is hard to do as a beginner. You have to dodge or you will die. No one can help you. GW1: get a build, get other people in voicechat with you and you will be a good teammember.
So: learning curve in GW2 is less forgiving when you enter “endcontent” than in GW, but just playing story is more difficult in GW1 than GW2.

GW1 PVP is better, GW2 pvp is basically the GW1 halloween event minigame “costume brawl”.

Some GW1 quests had an huge impact on the environment. The map could be filled with other enemies, for example. It’s impossible to change the open world, since a beginner doesn’t want to die because of a lvl 80 char doing his quests and fills the map with tough enemies.

GW2 is about stacking. GW1 is about staying away from each other, using your range, to avoid getting all hit by the same AOEs or to make the way longer for enemy melees.

GW1 had skills which worked together. For example a ranger could use an double attack (two arrows instead one), another player could give him a buff which increases his dmg (per attack) and he gets a chance to “stun” the enemie. The buff will trigger twice, one time for each arrow. A necro could set a hex on the enemy causing aoe dmg for every hit – so it will trigger twice too. So more teamplay required.
With some clever choices you could easily increase your dmg. By using skills, not by using berserk gear. Mightstacking is nice teamplay in GW2, but….you only need it for fast dungeonruns. You can do everything by just doing your stuff and ignoring your teammates, feels often like diablo.

TL; DR:
GW2 = better solocontent, great open world, great movement/actionoriented gameplay
GW1 = better teamplay, more tactical gameplay, tons of teamcontent.

The main difference, I’ve found, is that gw1 players can’t stop talking about how much better gw1 is, while gw2 players just play the game

I think people look back at GW1 with rose-colored glasses. La Tyria en Rose.

I loved GW1 and still prefer many of its features compared to GW2, but GW2 is a much, much better game in my opinion. I have tried going back to GW1 to help folks out with their HoM and… I can’t do it. I spend an hour in old Tyria and that’s all I can take for six months.

• There’s no jumping in GW1. None! I press [spacebar] and I end up following an NPC. Consequently: no jumping puzzles, like the amazing one in Silverwastes.
• You generally can’t move during combat (some exceptions), so it’s less dynamic and less interesting.
• Combats and missions can be trivialized by including heroes with efficient builds, i.e. you can solo most of the game.
• It’s not massively multiplayer: except for chatting in outposts (equivalent of towns), you can only have 8 people per instance. In other words, the entire game is just a series of dungeons.
• GW1 lore is considerably more naive (in my opinion). GW2 has more interesting and complicated personal, group, social, and political relationships.
• Drop rates are worse in GW1 than in GW2. You have to play a lot to see someone get a nice skin (and it won’t be you) and then it often has the wrong stats (since: no wardrobe).
• The economy is entirely underground: unless you are a market player, you are going to get paid less for your unwanted (but coveted) items and going to pay more for the ones you want. Worse, you have to spend time waiting for potential trades without being able to play the rest of the game. (I bought a second account just to be able to play and trade, without “wasting” time.)
• It doesn’t have the useful build variety of GW2. Sure, GW1 has 50-200 times more skills than GW2, but most people never used most of them. Further, in PvE at least, choosing the right build matters more than your skill at using it.
• In GW2, people matter. In GW1 (at least for the last 5+ years), builds matter.

Some good things about GW1:

• Easier learning curve. I find it’s a lot easier to introduce new people to online gaming via GW1 than GW2.
• 8-person instances. Be nice to have some instances in GW2 that took more than 5.
• Skin variety. I didn’t like most of the skins in GW1, but I felt like the different skins were more distinctive. (That could be my own rose-colored specs, tho.)
• Player-to-player bartering. I think GW2 is better off with the TP’s truly global economy, but I miss the social aspects of bartering. (Unfortunately, that’s a system that favors people like me at the expense of those who don’t follow the markets, so I don’t think it belongs in MMOs.)
• Pre-searing: The original GW1 had a tutorial area that couldn’t be entered once you left. It therefore has some special game mechanics and social dynamics not found elsewhere.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

I think people look back at GW1 with rose-colored glasses. La Tyria en Rose.

I loved GW1 and still prefer many of its features compared to GW2, but GW2 is a much, much better game in my opinion. I have tried going back to GW1 to help folks out with their HoM and… I can’t do it. I spend an hour in old Tyria and that’s all I can take for six months.

• There’s no jumping in GW1. None! I press [spacebar] and I end up following an NPC. Consequently: no jumping puzzles, like the amazing one in Silverwastes.
• You generally can’t move during combat (some exceptions), so it’s less dynamic and less interesting.
• Combats and missions can be trivialized by including heroes with efficient builds, i.e. you can solo most of the game.
• It’s not massively multiplayer: except for chatting in outposts (equivalent of towns), you can only have 8 people per instance. In other words, the entire game is just a series of dungeons.
• GW1 lore is considerably more naive (in my opinion). GW2 has more interesting and complicated personal, group, social, and political relationships.
• Drop rates are worse in GW1 than in GW2. You have to play a lot to see someone get a nice skin (and it won’t be you) and then it often has the wrong stats (since: no wardrobe).
• The economy is entirely underground: unless you are a market player, you are going to get paid less for your unwanted (but coveted) items and going to pay more for the ones you want. Worse, you have to spend time waiting for potential trades without being able to play the rest of the game. (I bought a second account just to be able to play and trade, without “wasting” time.)
• It doesn’t have the useful build variety of GW2. Sure, GW1 has 50-200 times more skills than GW2, but most people never used most of them. Further, in PvE at least, choosing the right build matters more than your skill at using it.
• In GW2, people matter. In GW1 (at least for the last 5+ years), builds matter.

Some good things about GW1:

• Easier learning curve. I find it’s a lot easier to introduce new people to online gaming via GW1 than GW2.
• 8-person instances. Be nice to have some instances in GW2 that took more than 5.
• Skin variety. I didn’t like most of the skins in GW1, but I felt like the different skins were more distinctive. (That could be my own rose-colored specs, tho.)
• Player-to-player bartering. I think GW2 is better off with the TP’s truly global economy, but I miss the social aspects of bartering. (Unfortunately, that’s a system that favors people like me at the expense of those who don’t follow the markets, so I don’t think it belongs in MMOs.)
• Pre-searing: The original GW1 had a tutorial area that couldn’t be entered once you left. It therefore has some special game mechanics and social dynamics not found elsewhere.

What’s the difference with the Mesmer between games?

Ardenwolfe.8590:

TheDaiBish.9735:

Ardenwolfe.8590:

11. GW1 has no dailies. GW2 does.

Not strictly true:

• when you reach level 10 in Pre-Searing, you get a daily quest to help levelling towards the Legendary Defender of Ascalon title.
• There’s 4 Zaishan dailies: Mission, Bounty, Combat and Vanquish

Huh. Never even heard of this. Thanks.

They were added about five years after the game released, so for the first five years or so, Guild Wars 1 had no dailies. The Zaishen quests were added because as the point in time they were, everyone has already done everything many times over. Pretty much like Guild Wars 2 is now for many of us.

So Anet added Zaishen Quests. The daily in Pre actually came much later than that.

That said, I like the Zaishen dailies far more than I like the dailies in Guild Wars 2, but I think they server a different purpose.

So to abbreviate,
GW1 players play as group together being lvl 20 in instances with max 4-8 ppl
Gw2 players play alone together being lvl 80 in open maps with max 125 ppl

the amount of skills in gw1 was tremendous, there were also special skills tied to factions or races which could be very intersting…. the one calling your spirits from kurzick/luxon did make ritualist/* instant OP for normal mode… Signet of spirits…

yes… yes… a time gone by. Sometimes I log in to visit proffessor yakkington in pre searing… loved the area. with little Gwen…

I saw Gwen marry Logan.. it was in my last week before gw2 started the prestart,.

It felt like some kind of achievement. I got icegloves, firegloves, chaos gloves and all.. I had good builds with decent weapons. But the story was nicer, more detailed and I sometimes miss the lore in gw2.

Gw2 looks nicer you can jump, swim, and the AI has less problems with height difference (trying to kill people with bows in gw1 could be tiresome, but realistic, the arrow dropped with distance travelled. so people on hills were having range advantages on people below… )

PaxTheGreatOne.9472:

I saw Gwen marry Logan…

Don’t you mean Kieran?

VocalThought.9835:

What’s the difference with the Mesmer between games?

GW1 mesmer had lots of control. Manadrain, interrupts (you can see which skill the enemy is casting – 5 second cast are easy to interrupt, 0,75 second casts not), disabling skills, skills which cause dmg when enemy casts/attacks (similar to confusion).
Three examples:
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Panic
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Ineptitude
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Power_Block
Mesmer was not very popular for a long time in PVE, since he got control and only less dmg. He was always strong in PVP, but not in PVE.
Since they changed several skills (panic, ineptitude for example) he got better and became more popular.

VocalThought.9835:

What’s the difference with the Mesmer between games?

Huge. Illusions weren’t creatures that you summoned out on the field, but just a spell cast on the target. Mesmer spells were mostly conditional – “If x, then y,” with a lot of punishment baked in. Their main attribute reduced casting times to enable snappy interrupts. In GW1, fighting a mesmer could hurt. They could drop you in a few seconds if you weren’t watching yourself.

I still find myself giving wind riders a wide berth, even though the ones in GW2 aren’t mesmers. (All mobs in GW1 had a profession, just like players. I actually miss the way groups of mobs were designed as teams, and PvE felt a little like PvP.)

Ardenwolfe.8590:

1. Guild Wars 1 is basically a huge maze because of terrain blocking. Guild Wars 2 doesn’t have that issue.

2. Guild Wars 1 all but requires you use hirelings, heroes, or other players to complete the game. Guild Wars 2 does not. And you must micro-manage those hireling, heroes, and their pets.

3. Guild Wars 1 forces you to choose a secondary class. Not GW2.

4. GW1 is ten years old or older. And it shows with the AI and art. GW2 is more polished.

5. GW1 Pet AI is atrocious. While GW2 Pet AI is . . . not so atrocious.

6. GW1 mobs completely respawn when you zone from a map. GW2 mobs are on a timer.

7. GW1, back in the day, had a lot more Guild versus Guild battles. GW2, for now, does not.

8. GW1’s story is very much on rails. GW2 is less so on the rails.

9. GW1 storyline is great, but feels forced and tedious at times. GW2 storyline is a little more forgiving and fluid. It doesn’t force you to do it, near immediately, in order to progress.

10. GW1 has more holidays and seasonal events than GW2. A lot more.

11. GW1 has no dailies. GW2 does.

12. GW1 has an extreme learning curve. Especially once you reach level 20. GW2 is a lot more forgiving.

13. GW1 max level is 20. Max level in GW2 is 80.

14. GW1 requires A LOT of running around between areas to complete certain tasks. The waypoints in GW2 lessen this feeling a great deal.

15. GW1 requires you return to certain NPCs to complete a mission or quest. GW2 does not.

16. GW1 does not have area looting. GW2 does.

17. GW1 mapping is tedious and opens in small sections. GW2 mapping is faster and opens in larger sections.

18. GW1 map completion is based on those small sections. GW2 map completion is base on certain components like Points of Interest, Hearts, and Vistas.

19. Certain class combinations are ungodly powerful in GW1. GW2 is more balanced all around to where no one class is head and shoulders above the others.

20. You pretty much have to play GW1 if you want to get all the ingame references in GW2.

2) You do not need to micromanage pets, henchmen, or heroes. You can choose to do so however.

3) You can play your character without a secondary class in GW1 and, “Pure,” single class builds are quite viable.

4) GW1 is more polished than GW2, but is also more dated. Being dated is not the same as not being polished.

5) GW1 pet AI is superior to GW2, but then AI in GW1 in general is better than in GW2.

6) A mob that you kill in GW1 stays dead (in general) until you leave/reenter the zone while one you kill in GW2 can respawn on top of you.

8) GW2’s story is more on rails than was GW1’s. In GW1 you could complete (some at least) major story missions out of sequence. In GW2 you have to complete PS episode 1 before you can do 2 which in turn must be completed before you can do 3, etc. (Note currently in GW2 you are required to do some story episodes out of sequence, but always in the same non-sequence).

11) GW1 has multiple types of dailies.

19) Both games are poorly balanced with some options much more potent than others.

Ardenwolfe.8590:

fireflyry.7023:

GW1 was better.

GW2 is great but it’s also becoming more and more like every other MMORPG on the market with every update.

/2 cents

Respectfully I must disagree about Guild Wars 1 being better. I recently bought, within a few months, Factions, Nightfall, and Eye of the North to earn those achievements and those fancy, flaming gloves.

I have to tell you, it takes real effort and boredom on my part to log into the Prophecies. I’ve gotten to the around four or five mission from the end of the story line. Did all the side quests too. Yet, even so, I’m bored out of my mind.

I also got to as far as past ‘ascension’ in Factions as well with my ritualist. Got bored with him too and deleted him. Getting zergs by mobs every time I took a step was not fun at all.

Of course, I was using hirlings at the time. Heroes have made the missions a pinch, but still. Having to micro-manage them all the time. Them and their pets, and mine.

Maybe I’m just playing the wrong class (ranger – beastmaster), but I’m so not into Guild Wars 1. So much so, I wish there was a way I could ask for a refund. . . .

Respectfully, I must disagree with you on this

It kinda seems like you’re hating on GW1 because you’ve rushed through and not really given it a chance? I totally appreciate your opinion on finding it boring, post-searing Ascalon in Prophecies was notoriously boring for me! However, the game really comes into its own from Nightfall/EoTN.

I think your comments about the heroes/pets are misguided. Their AI was fantastic (in most cases…) and the fact that you could choose their skill bars meant that ultimately, their performance was down to you. Choosing their skill bars was hardly a laborious task and I personally enjoyed finding great team synergy. Failing that, there were several ‘meta’ builds that you could copy and win the game with. Out in the zones, heroes (and henchman) would pretty much take care of themselves with very little management. So I’m not sure what your management issue is?

I think Prophecies suffered from pop-up syndrome pretty badly, and Factions had zones that were tightly packed so I do think that these were tedious in places. However, the other expansions drastically improved upon mob design and numbers. Mobs became much more complex but reduced in number, which made every encounter pretty exciting for me. I personally found that it was really satisfying to see your party take down tricky and irritating mobs.

GW2 has awful mob design… If anything, GW2 is far worse for saturating maps with tedious mobs. Plus, they all seem to function in almost exactly the same way by running up and scratching you. Skill diversity in GW1 meant that mobs could have a range of skills to use against you. As such, I would argue that fighting enemies in GW1 was far more engaging than it is here.

Story wise, GW1 wins hands down for me. It had proper cutscenes with a fairly engaging story, as opposed to the lazy ‘two characters stand still on a static screen and talk for 5 years’ approach (GW2). Well… Prophecies was a bit hit and miss, but otherwise the games drastically improved their presentation.

Also, perhaps being a beastmaster isn’t the class for you if you’re against micromanagement. Personally I’d go with an elementalist so you can nuke things

Again, not trying to hate on your opinion at all, but just giving my two cents

Too much text, in short GW1 > Gw2.

I sure everyone will get the other points but Ardenwolf’s first point about the terrain blocking I don’t particularly agree with it being worse, but different.

GW1 was more of a strategy game imo, and as such the terrain played an important role, and allowed for more interesting plays. In gw2 its fun to bounce around freely, but I can just run through an army of enemies without slowly and hit every one of them by waving a sword back and forth, so their positioning doesn’t matter much.

For me its more game breaking that mobs get a free pass card with cliffs and we get blown off in gw2 than we can’t step over a slight ledge in gw1, but neither are pleasant.

In short, when I want to a game with more planning and thinking, I play gw1. When I want to duel in a fast paced and pretty fight, I play gw2

I played GW2 since beta, but GW1 only since last August (now at 42/50 HoM and 19/30 titles). I had a guildmate who was going back to work on her HoM/GWAMM as well, so it was much more enjoyable to have company. I love both games, even if they are fairly different.

The above comparison to Magic: the Gathering is very true. There are a massive number of skills, many of which are “draft fodder”, but you have a lot of really powerful non-elites, elites, and PvE-only skills to build your skill bar (deck) around. You had to change skills depending on what you were doing, and preparation was a bit more important in GW1 than GW2. GW2 lets you adapt on the fly, letting you change traits and skills before a fight in mid-dungeon.

Traits in GW1 were both simpler and more complex. Many trait lines had no inherent effect, only improving the effectiveness of skills of that type (duration, damage, etc). Balancing traits with the skills you are using is one of the fundamental aspects of a GW1 build. Traits did not affect stats (though weapon mastery traits did affect how much damage your autoattacks do).

GW2 traits do a lot more to vary how a profession is played. Traits don’t affect skill damage quite to as much of an extent as GW1 traits, but they can radically change how a skill is used or adding affects to.

The GW1 multiclass system added a massive amount of build variety, but also made it a balancing nightmare.

Team play is important in both games, but team play only really gets used by the higher end WvW, PvP, and dungeon groups in GW2. GW1 required it early, and often.

The graphics of GW1 are dated, and it’s very noticeable in Prophecies and parts of Factions. By Eye of the North, maps were incredibly detailed and really looked nice.

GW2 is much more action/rpg like in gameplay, while GW1 is a lot more cerebral. Positioning is important in both.

Mob AI was much stronger in GW1 than GW2 (aside from Beta 2 and before). Many mobs actively move out of and avoid AoE’s, making snares, “chills”, knockdowns, and cripples much more important. Hero AI was also pretty good, as long as you avoided certain skills that confused them. Micromanaging wasn’t always necessary, but could be extremely effective. GW2 allied NPC’s tend to not be very intelligent, and really need to learn how to run out of AoE’s.

As for the lack of jumping and the terrain blocking, it was a huge issue in Prophecies. The above comparison to a maze I feel is very true. The same is true in a lot of Factions, especially Kaineng city. The terrain issues eased up a bit in Nightfall and Eye of the North.

EDIT: Due to new information, please disregard my earlier statement, as I have been working towards Defender of Ascalon title in GW1 and have not been able to access all the features in that game.

The most core difference is simple: GW1 is not a true MMORPG, more like an optionally multiplayer roleplaing game where you have a story to work through.

GW2 is a true MMORPG

Headcase.4618:

Here are some differences between the two games I think are worth mentioning;

1: In GW1 you could only have two ppl in a party (not counting henchmen or pets) where in GW2, you can have five.

2. In GW1 you can only rez fallen party members with a resurrection signet and, unless you get a morale boost, you can only use the signet once.* GW2, however, does not require a signet to revive players and you can do it as many times as you want.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that playing GW1 really makes me appreciate what I have in GW2, flaws and all.

*unless that changes after pre-searing.

Errr yeah, that’s literally right at the beginning of the game and only a a ‘tutorial area’. You should play further into the game

You can have up to 8 party members in GW1 (depending on your location in the game) and 12 in two special missions.

There are multiple reusable resurrection spells/skills in GW1 that you can only get after pre-searing. Plus they also introduced resurrection items after the last expansion was released.

Ardenwolfe.8590:

1. Guild Wars 1 is basically a huge maze because of terrain blocking. Guild Wars 2 doesn’t have that issue.

This was one of the reasons I didn’t make it more than a week in the game when it was launched, nor out of the first leveling area, and went back to whatever else I was playing. It reminded me of the old afx slot cars.

guild wars 1
guild wars 2

VocalThought.9835:

So what are the Pro’s and cons between the two?

The original Guild Wars was released by the time WoW was released. Which means, players didn’t have the assumptions they have today about what a MMORPG “must” have or not. This allowed ArenaNet to take many liberties with the game that the current batch of MMORPG players would never accept, such as:

1) The level cap was very low, at 20. In most of the games, you were also meant to reach the cap by the time you were at the end of the tutorial. You didn’t increase in power as you went by (or you increased marginally, in a few aspects).

2) Max stats were very easy to achieve. The most powerful weapons were sold cheaply after the tutorial areas in most of the chapters.

3) There was no jumping, no mounts, no real crafting, and no real raids. There was no gear check, and no gear lock to access any area.

4) No multiple races. Humans and humans only.

5) Everything in the game was instanced. There was no open world.

This led, years laters, to a rift. There were GW1 players, and there were MMORPG players (the players who were first introduced to MMORPGs with WoW and alikes, and expect every MMORPG to work like that). Most of the latter simply left GW1, but the forums would often see a new poster come by complaining about the low level cap and the lack of grind for more powerful gear.

The game had a lot of issues, though. Mostly due to poor long term planning by ArenaNet. The very high number of skills, for example, meant that ArenaNet could never balance them all, and since they were so focused on PvP, it was easier to keep most skills underpowered and only worry about balancing the few useable ones than trying to keep everything useful.

GW2 was announced as a way to fix the things that were broken with the original GW, but that’s not what it was. Guild Wars 2 is a game made for the WoW-based MMORPG players, not for the players of the original Guild Wars. It has moved from the features that made the original GW unique, and embranced many of the features seen in all other MMORPGs.

I liked the original GW, and I would be playing it right now if it had not become stagnant, due to the lack of new content. Guild Wars 2 was not made for me or for the other players who made GW1 successful.

Headcase.4618:

Here are some differences between the two games I think are worth mentioning;

1: In GW1 you could only have two ppl in a party (not counting henchmen or pets) where in GW2, you can have five.

2. In GW1 you can only rez fallen party members with a resurrection signet and, unless you get a morale boost, you can only use the signet once.* GW2, however, does not require a signet to revive players and you can do it as many times as you want.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that playing GW1 really makes me appreciate what I have in GW2, flaws and all.

*unless that changes after pre-searing.

You clearly never played much of the actual game (just did pre-searing). You can have as many other players in your party as the current area allows (ie. if the area allows four party members, you and three other players can party up). You have access to other resurrection spells, some of which don’t rely on a morale boost to recharge.

It helps to actually play more than the very beginning of the first campaign before trying to weigh the pros and cons of a game.

Almost forgot: no weapon section of the skill bar, and no weapon selection or skills at all for mages.

A secondary profession could give you access to more weapons and their related skills, and this is where a lot of the more interesting thematic builds came in. For example, my Factions main is a “ghostboxer:” a ritualist/assassin equipped with brass knuckles.

One more note: elites are completely different. In GW2, they are emergency moves that you bust out in a pinch. GW1 elites were often the keystone of your build. They synergized with other skills to make everything click in place, almost more like how the F1-4 skills work in GW2.

To make a long story short, GW2 would probably never have been as successful if it was designed the same way as GW1. Both of the games are too different and the target audience is different too . GW1 isn’t really an MMORPG and you play it differently too. And despite how ’’different’’ GW2 should have been compared to other MMOs (and it is to some instance), the game is still traditional compared to GW1.

GW1 is more unique but has a much smaller target audience. Alot of GW1 players play GW2 for the nostalgia of the world they have loved in the original game. They complain because GW2 wasn’t really created to statisfy the same audience. These same people who complain about GW2 still play the game because they still like Tyria I assume.

VocalThought.9835:

What’s the difference with the Mesmer between games?

They aren’t the same profession at all. The GW1 mesmer is about punishing the enemy for …being an enemy. The GW2 mesmer is about using illusions to damage foes (in a variety of interesting ways).

In GW1, you could create a situation in which the enemy takes damage for using any skill and for failing to use a skill; there is no similar skill-punishment tactic in GW2. The closest is confusion, which is ineffective in PvE (mobs don’t use skills often enough) and easily avoided in PvP. The closest GW2 really has is Feedback, but a skill or two doesn’t make a profession.

Similarly, in GW1 you could prevent casters from…casting (in PvP, not PvE), by denying them the ability to use or regenerate energy (sort of like being able to remove initiative from a thief). There’s no similar mechanic in GW2, so it’s a style of play that can’t be replicated at all.

Originally, it was extremely tough to play the GW1 mesmer: steep learning curve, difficult to master techniques, etc. After the great Mesmer Un-Nerf of May 2010, it got a lot easier and mesmer heroes are extremely powerful now. Similarly, the GW2 mesmer is also challenging.

Mind you, I love the mesmer in both games; it’s still my favorite class. I just consider them to be two entirely different professions that have the same name for nostalgia, not for their game play.