Guild Wars 2

So, I’ve been playing GW2 almost since launch, and have been loving the game, especially it’s lore having found myself, several times, searching both wikis about GW lore and i find it fascinating. I wanted to ask, Guild Wars 1 players, if you think it is still worth to buy GW1 because of the story/lore (and some gw2 in-game bonus as well xD). Also I’ve been seeing some other things about the game that are actually prety good, it is just that with GW2 already 2 and half years on its way, and Heart of Thorns on the way, I wanted to know if there are still people in GW1 or if it’s lore vallue surpasses the need for a community.

GW1 is a completely different game mechanically, and a pretty solid one to boot. if you plan to just do the campaigns, it’s also rather solo-friendly (though i heard it’s still somewhat populated).

Guild Wars 1 has a free trial available. Play it and see if you like it or not. It’s a very different game so there’s no use playing it for the lore if you’re not going to have fun doing so.

I personally think it’s worth it. It’s a really fun game and the lore is rich and interesting. The perks are also worth it as well. I find myself using the Heritage armour quite often, it’s one of the nicest sets in GW2 if you ask me.

BrunoBRS.5178:

GW1 is a completely different game mechanically, and a pretty solid one to boot. if you plan to just do the campaigns, it’s also rather solo-friendly (though i heard it’s still somewhat populated).

I dont know about population but I can attest to the solo-friendliness. The henchmen system worked decently but heroes made solo play pretty fun and you actually had a great deal of control over heroes.

I would always say that GW1 is still worth buying. And as far as I know, the Living World actually resulted in some folks returning to GW1. The games are just too different resulting in some folks not liking GW2 where they still like GW1.

You get achievement points! That’s kinda why I brought it, that and for the lore… Too bad I can’t really get into it.

FlamingFoxx.1305:

Guild Wars 1 has a free trial available. Play it and see if you like it or not. It’s a very different game so there’s no use playing it for the lore if you’re not going to have fun doing so.

Unfortunately, when they changed GW1’s website a month or so ago, they removed the free trial registration links.

That said, if you can get it cheaply, it’s definitely worth playing the campaigns, Eye of the North, and at least War in Kryta. The AP and Hall of Monument skins are a good bonus. The cheapest way to purchase is to find somewhere in your area that still sells the physical only Guild Wars: Complete Collection. In the absence of that, you may have to shop around to purchase the different components.

Like said, it’s a VERY different game. If you’re uncomfortable with dated graphics and an older, less mobile combat system (positioning and movement is important, but you can’t move while casting), it may be tough for you to get into. Otherwise go for it, the combat is strategic, there is a LOT of content, and “end game” content can be extremely challenging.

While nearly all the game can be played solo, using AI controlled party members (heroes and henchmen), I strongly recommend playing together with a friend. Several missions really benefit from splitting up, and two people with their own mini-party of AI really helps get those missions done without much pain. Having someone to talk to and explore the game with you really adds to the experience.

It’ll probably take 40-70 hours of play to get through the three campaigns and the Eye of the North story. It’ll probably take 300-500 hours of play to get 30 Hall of Monument points without help (less if you have friends/guildmates who can give you stuff).

Sarisa.4731:

It’ll probably take 40-70 hours of play to get through the three campaigns and the Eye of the North story. It’ll probably take 300-500 hours of play to get 30 Hall of Monument points without help (less if you have friends/guildmates who can give you stuff).

GWAMM!
“Do, or do not. There is no try!” ~ Prince Rurik

Sarisa.4731:

Unfortunately, when they changed GW1’s website a month or so ago, they removed the free trial registration links.

So they finally changed it, huh?

Only took them 3 years since the redesign for the site’s announcement was made.

And I rather disagree with your hours – that’s if you’re speeding through it all, experienced. I’d probably double it if you’re a new and reading all the text, taking your time. Potentially even triple it if you’re very leisurely. Plenty of stuff to do, after all.

Edit: Wow, they removed a lot more than I thought they would when Stephane said they were removing stuff in the redesign.

If you can get a free trial, deffinitely do that. GW1 is a very old game and without nostalgia I suspect a lot of GW2 players will tire of it very quickly.

As far as the lore goes, I’ve returning to GW1 recently to refresh my memory and tbh it barely feels worth it. So much of GW2’s story either ignores GW1 lore, superficially references it or gives it a face lift so it still links to GW1 lore but it feels foreign. ArenaNet is reinventing the wheel a bit with the story, so in some ways it might be better to exclusively view Tyria from the pov GW2 is written with – often it doesn’t match with the pov GW1 was played with.

If you do buy GW1, focus primarily on Prophecies and Eye of the North. Factions and Nightfall are significantly less relevant to GW2 due to those campaigns taking place far away from anywhere we can explore in GW2 today.

GW1 actually plays into a lot of my vanilla WoW nostalgia, too. As A GW2 player that came from WoW, GW1 is rather refreshing. I haven’t made it any farther than Ascalon just-barely-post-Searing, though, but there’s a lot of references in Charr-infested Ascalon of GW2 that I understand better, now.

There’s a broken wall with graffiti on it in GW2 that said something along the lines of, “Run little mice. We are coming for you.” After having played the little bit of GW1 I’ve played, I got chills. From a purely GW2 perspective, the Charr try to make you sympathetic to them trying to retake their lands. But playing as a Human dealing with the assault of the Charr, I can see why the Separatists exist.

Don’t know if you’ve fully explored the Catacombs Koviko? Definately worth checking out before you proceed to post-Searing
Not much lore related info you can draw from it, but there sure are some beautiful sights down there.

I explored the Catacombs enough to see a few things:

• Grenth has several statues in his honor, whereas the other Gods seem to only have one each.
• There’s some kind of undead griffon statue motif all over the place.
• There’s multiple “exits” (even though players can’t utilize them) that explain how Vatlaaw Doomtooth is able to traverse Ascalon unnoticed. If we could jump, maybe we could utilize them too, but Humans haven’t yet discovered the secret of defying gravity that they learn 250 years later.
• There’s that huge pit surrounded by Cadavers that doesn’t have any sort of explanation… It reminds me of the pit in Divinity’s Reach.
• There’s a lot of waterfalls pouring into the catacombs.

I spent a lot of time in there to see if I could compare it to the Ascalonian Catacombs in GW2. Not much in common aside from the name and location, though.

The way I always looked at it is, for a one time purchase of an individual box, you got the game it offered. That being said, the Hall of Monuments does to some extent tie into GW2 so if you have the time and wish to farm – you have a chance of being rewarded for your hardwork.

Shiren.9532:

If you do buy GW1, focus primarily on Prophecies and Eye of the North. Factions and Nightfall are significantly less relevant to GW2 due to those campaigns taking place far away from anywhere we can explore in GW2 today.

Actually Factions and nightfall are the ones i’m more interested in, even though i really want to know tyria’s history, i’m also kind of tired of it a bit so a “new” continent and culture would be nice. Ever since i started to know a minimum of gw2 lore i was kind of:
“Oh! there is another continent to the desert? Nice! How do I get there?”
“You don’t”
“Why?”
“Because it’s dangerous”
“-_-”

Anyway, if I end up buying I was thinking of the trilogy and later when i have done most things i want to, i buy the EotN (no complete collection available for me, and no money to buy all at once :C ). Also depends on how GW2HoT is and if it is also worth, but that I have to wait and see

Rahkylus.8097:

Shiren.9532:

If you do buy GW1, focus primarily on Prophecies and Eye of the North. Factions and Nightfall are significantly less relevant to GW2 due to those campaigns taking place far away from anywhere we can explore in GW2 today.

Actually Factions and nightfall are the ones i’m more interested in, even though i really want to know tyria’s history, i’m also kind of tired of it a bit so a “new” continent and culture would be nice. Ever since i started to know a minimum of gw2 lore i was kind of:
“Oh! there is another continent to the desert? Nice! How do I get there?”
“You don’t”
“Why?”
“Because it’s dangerous”
“-_-”

Anyway, if I end up buying I was thinking of the trilogy and later when i have done most things i want to, i buy the EotN (no complete collection available for me, and no money to buy all at once :C ). Also depends on how GW2HoT is and if it is also worth, but that I have to wait and see

Prophecies will be completely new to you; much more than you think.

Rahkylus.8097:

Anyway, if I end up buying I was thinking of the trilogy and later when i have done most things i want to, i buy the EotN (no complete collection available for me, and no money to buy all at once :C ).

Yeah, sadly there’s no complete collection available at gw.com. For those interested in gw1: you should buy the whole trilogy (definately worth it) http://store.guildwars.com/store/gw/en_IE/pd/productID.305600100

Obviously, if you’re able to try it out first (through a friend or something) that’d be the best, as it is quite a different game than gw2. EotN is, as has been mentioned in this thread, primarily a filler between gw1 and gw2. Though I think it is a great expansion, it’s probably the least interesting part of the game story-wise.

Unfortunately, despite promises to keep it alive, it appears that ANet has all but abandoned GW1. There was supposed to be at least one more chapter to Beyond, taking place in Elona, as well as more skill balancing which never got done. It’s a pity, really. In all honesty, many aspects of balance were better in GW1 than GW2, particularly in balancing the effectiveness of long and short range combat. In GW1 you would have players with both long range and short range builds working together in a scenario, whereas for much of GW2 either one or the other is vastly more effective. Dungeons? Almost always melee only, and they few that are ranged friendly are actually ranged exclusive. I think that, with reflection, dodging, and leaps/teleports so common, long ranged skills should do roughly the same damage per second as melee ranged skills, especially given the often far superior utility of the latter.

I am skewed in my perspective, since I never played with more than a single other actual person in GW1, but I think the balance thing you’re talking about is a side effect of hard vs. soft trinity design. Both have their pros and cons, and the Six know there’s little chance of me saying anything about it that hasn’t already been said, but it bears pointing out that it’s not a matter of one succeeding at doing the same thing better than the other, but rather of the two being designed to play different ways.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

I am skewed in my perspective, since I never played with more than a single other actual person in GW1, but I think the balance thing you’re talking about is a side effect of hard vs. soft trinity design. Both have their pros and cons, and the Six know there’s little chance of me saying anything about it that hasn’t already been said, but it bears pointing out that it’s not a matter of one succeeding at doing the same thing better than the other, but rather of the two being designed to play different ways.

I don’t dismiss that possibility, as it is almost certainly a factor, but I believe that there are other factors as well. For example, in dungeons the short range of AoE boons is a major problem for longbow rangers and greatsword mesmers, who both have a minimum range cap for their maximum dps. On the other hand, GW1 featured a much longer ranged and more effective system for buffing party members. In GW2, party members need to cluster in order to share boons effectively, with the side effect of forcing everyone to be in melee range. There is no option to stay out of melee range in these situations in order to lower your risk, as doing so would deprive you of many of the boons that your party members are giving. In fact, there often isn’t a need either, as damage mitigation is largely an all or nothing affair that favors dodging and blocking over armor and healing.

GW1 was different. You had, as you referred to, a distinct difference between front, mid, and back line roles. However, another major difference was the boon system used. Most beneficial targeted spells and other skills had spellcast range and a single target, which allowed the party to spread out. Most AoE ‘boon’ skills had spellcasting (or shout) range as well, also allowing the party to spread out considerably. The lack of these mechanics in GW2 causes most scenarios to favor a clustered up, mobbing behavior rather than careful positioning, at least for dungeons and bosses in PvE.

Honestly, I would like to know what GW2 would look like if they had kept the shout range AoE on boons, even for combos, with the limitation that it affects the caster and the 4 closest allies, with party members favored over others. I think that this would make things a little bit more even between short and long ranged play, at least in dungeons and such. I also think that the amount of gap closing, dodging, blocking, and retaliation is rather excessive and tilts things too far toward melee advantage; the only reason long range combat is viable in PvP, from what I can tell, is that most builds ignore those options in favor of more damage.

As others have said Guild Wars 1 is a great game by itself. Don’t play it for the lore or the HoM points. Play it for the game it is amazing. Different take on the genre.