Hello

I am thinking of purchasing guildwars but I had some questions for the community before I do.

First off, the official site says that the game is divided into two types of areas, towns and everything else and what i understand is that towns are the common meeting areas but the "everything else" is set as instances where you are not going to encounter anyone else unless they are in your party. Is that the way it works?

Second How many people still play this game I know that its getting up there in years now and seeing as I would be joining for the multi player It would probably suck trying to level up a character the whole way solo.

Third Will owning the expansions matter for a noob? I see there are extra professions and more character slots in each but how else to the expansions impact the early game?

Lastly where are the servers located and how badly does a high ping affect game play? I live on the far east coast of Canada (which isnt far from New York) but i know that many game servers are based out of Cali so it may be worth knowing before i sign up and can't play.

Thanks in advance!|||Quote:








First off, the official site says that the game is divided into two types of areas, towns and everything else and what i understand is that towns are the common meeting areas but the "everything else" is set as instances where you are not going to encounter anyone else unless they are in your party. Is that the way it works?




That is exactly the way it works, yes. In the towns you'll set up your party, and then you'll go into the instanced areas which will be set up specifically for you and your party, and there you will carry out the actual gameplay.


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Second How many people still play this game I know that its getting up there in years now and seeing as I would be joining for the multi player It would probably suck trying to level up a character the whole way solo.




I'm not sure, but I'd say a couple of hundred thousand people. Don't take my word for it though.

However, most people have already maxed out their character and are now playing high-level content. Even if you run into them in starter-area towns, they are there to play "hard mode", which is basically a high-level version of the entire game. Unless you find a good guild or have a friend or so to play with, you likely will spend a lot of time soloing.


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Third Will owning the expansions matter for a noob? I see there are extra professions and more character slots in each but how else to the expansions impact the early game?




Since each of the three standalone campaigns is a full story from start to finish, it doesn't really matter which one of them you have, since they are made to be played without any of the other ones. However, if you do combine them, you will have some extra perks, none of which actually matter early on.

If you wish to PvP, you need everything, though.


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Lastly where are the servers located and how badly does a high ping affect game play? I live on the far east coast of Canada (which isnt far from New York) but i know that many game servers are based out of Cali so it may be worth knowing before i sign up and can't play.




High ping doesn't affect gameplay that much, actually, unless you are doing something which demands quick responses, like healing, or pretty much any PvP. The servers are great and even though there are threads on this board complaining about ping sometimes, I find the problems to be very limited compared to many other games of this kind.

There are some posters here from the same area as yourself, they can probably tell you about any local issues.|||Quote:








I understand that towns are the common meeting areas but the "everything else" is set as instances where you are not going to encounter anyone else unless they are in your party. Is that the way it works?




Yes.


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Second How many people still play this game I know that its getting up there in years now and seeing as I would be joining for the multi player It would probably suck trying to level up a character the whole way solo.




ANET doesn't release figures, but there are still people playing. You'll have trouble finding groups in the more remote areas, but there are always NPC henchmen available. They're not as good as real players, but they're free, and they're good enough to beat the game with if you can't find real people.


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Third Will owning the expansions matter for a noob? I see there are extra professions and more character slots in each but how else to the expansions impact the early game?




It has no impact on the game for a new player until you reach a certain point. (Lion's Arch for prophecies, Kaineng City for Factions, and Consulate Docks for Nightfall). Once you reach that point it will have some effect, though relatively minor.


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Lastly where are the servers located and how badly does a high ping affect game play? I live on the far east coast of Canada (which isnt far from New York) but i know that many game servers are based out of Cali so it may be worth knowing before i sign up and can't play.




Well, ANET is headquarted on the west coast of the US, but I'm afraid I don't know exactly where the servers are. I do know, however, that it's more then possible to play from the east coast of the US. A reasonable ping doesn't matter much for PvE play, and you don't sound like the kind of person who's going to jump right into competitive PvP.|||*waves*

Far east coast of Canada has no issues with ping, at least none that can't be traced to your Internet provider... |||Quote:








the "everything else" is set as instances where you are not going to encounter anyone else unless they are in your party. Is that the way it works?




Correct.


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Second How many people still play this game I know that its getting up there in years now and seeing as I would be joining for the multi player It would probably suck trying to level up a character the whole way solo.




The game is designed so you can solo well. You have heroes and henchmen to team up with, in fact, it's expected that you won't leave town without a full team.

If you find a good guild, you can get people to join up for missions. There's still people making new characters.

Regardless, it's fairly quick to level up to max level, and catch up to the player mass... It'll take you a long while to catch up with regards to titles, but titles don't actually affect gameplay, so it's a moot point.


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Third Will owning the expansions matter for a noob? I see there are extra professions and more character slots in each but how else to the expansions impact the early game?




Heroes are a big boon to gameplay, whether you get them from NF or EotN. Expansions also improve your skill choice, but you can get by without it.

However, you can very well play 1 campaign, then get another, and continue playing. Normal mode difficulty doesn't require anything that is not included in the box.


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Lastly where are the servers located and how badly does a high ping affect game play?




I'm in Montreal, and my ping is great. I hear that it's not as good in europe... but what do I know?

Lag with affect gameplay in several ways... (1) Builds based on interrupts will be greatly impaired... interrupting is something rangers and mesmers do well, but you can play those two classes without interrupting. (2) Generally, laggy games are not as fun, and GW is somewhat more dependent on quick reactions than WoW, but less than 1st person shooters.

Otherwise, being a team-based game, you can usually survive through lag most of the time... even if you play a survivor.|||Thanks everyone your feedback has been great, I already like the community :)

I will likely end up buying the box set with the two expansions and the original, because its about $30 cheaper then the three titles individually and you get some golem thing for your party.

Now I must as a question that is probably overly common on this board. Does anyone have profession suggestions? I would like to play a character that is fun to play, helpful in parties but will not make or break them like a tank or healer. Something that would maybe act as a damage dealer and provide buffs. Any personal opinion is great.|||Okay, there's no specific tanking class, since tanking in GW usually consists of standing in a narrow spot so the enemies can't pass you rather than building up an agro meter. The enemies go for characters with least health or armor first, and prioritize healers. All of the professions that ever play the role of a tank (ie. bodyblocking enemies so they don't get to the backline) usually play some other role, like dealing damage or healing.

Classes that I would not recommend for a new player would be assasins and mesmers. For someone new to MMOs in general, I wouldn't recommend monk either, because monks usually act as healers or require very specific execution of a certain build to tank or deal damage.

Every profession is helpful in parties, and most of them can buff others in one way or another (mesmers and assasins are only ones that I can't think of a way to buff teammates for.)

The professions biggest on buffing people is a paragon, but a paragon isn't much of a damage dealer. Ritualist and ranger are very versatile professions, and both of them can use buffs in one form or another, though the ranger ones are something that's used in specific gimmick builds and rarely in general gameplay. Rangers however can deal a lot of damage, and they can have pets that can be used to adsorb some of the damage dealt by the enemies. Rangers also often play with interrupts and conditions (think DOTs if you've played other MMOs)

Ritualists on the other hand can be very useful as buffers, too. They can act as effective healers, damage dealers, buffers, minion masters with necromancer secondary (creating undead minions that fight enemies and act as meatshield) and use their summoned spirits to bodyblock enemies.

For professions,I would recommend reading: guide to character creation and the articles ticles on each of the professions. From the articles for each professions, I'd recommend taking a a quick look at the "guide to playing as [profession]". They give a pretty good image of what each one is like.|||That's great, thanks again.|||Quote:








Does anyone have profession suggestions? I would like to play a character that is fun to play, helpful in parties but will not make or break them like a tank or healer. Something that would maybe act as a damage dealer and provide buffs. Any personal opinion is great.




In GW you choose a primary profession that is permanent for the character, and a secondary profession. You can change the secondary profession at will (only in towns) once you reach a certain point in the game.

Warrior: Standard melee class. Among the best all-around tanks, but just as good dealing damage while someone else tanks. High armor and decent single-target damage output and the ability to tank if needed make it a decent first class. But not very easy to find a group with, due to the number of people who take this option. Good secondaries: elementalist, monk.

Ranger: Ranged martial class. In PvE it's reasonably possible to play a warrior just to deal damage. On a higher level one would expect a ranger to manage enemy conditions (blind, bleeding, poison, cripple, etc.) and interrupt important skills, but in PvE not so much. Armor nearly as good as a warrior, their position in the backline, and certain skills available to them make them the hardest class to kill and almost as good a choice of a first class as warrior. Less demand for rangers in groups, but also fewer of them around. Good secondaries: monk, ritualist.

Elementalist: Standard nuker if you play fire. Single target ranged damage if you play air. Enemy debuffer if you play water. Tank if you play earth. Easy to play, just about every group wants at least one, and nowhere near as many about as warriors. Just remember to pick one element at a time. Good secondaries: monk, ritualist.

Monk: Healer. Healing isn't difficult, if you want more difficult and at least as useful you can go protection instead. Monks with a few smiting prayer skills are among the basic solo farmers if you ever get into that. Every group wants at least two, and there are never enough to go around - if there are people about you'll have a group. But then you specifically said you didn't want to heal, so you'll probably want to avoid this one. Good secondaries: mesmer, warrior, elementalist.

Necromancer: Buff allies a little, hex enemies, raise a small army of undead from bodies. Pretty easy to find a group with, but more difficult to play well then warrior or elementalist. Good secondaries: monk, mesmer.

Mesmer: Hex enemies, interrupt skills. Probably the hardest class to play well, and the most difficult to find a group as in PvE. Never recommended for a new player. Good secondaries: (depends radically on the build)

Assassin: Factions only. A warrior with less armor and more damage. Combine frontline, low armor, and shadow step skills and these are the classes that die the most in PvE. Monks hate you. Not impossible to find a group as, but pretty bad. Good secondaries: monk, elementalist.

Ritualist: Factions only. Secondary healer, team buffer, or damage. Not the easiest to play or find a group as, not the hardest. If monks are short you could always go pure healer and find a group fairly easily, but expect rage if you don't do well. Not recommended for a first time player. Good secondaries: monk, mesmer.

Dervish: Nightfall only. Melee damage dealer, not a tank. Attacks up to 3 targets at once and relies heavily on self-buffs and their removal. Sometimes preferred to warriors for non-tank melee, but perhaps a bit below average for finding groups. Good secondaries: monk, mesmer, warrior.

Paragon: Nightfall only. A bit of ranged damage and lots of team buffs. Hard to be very effective without careful coordination of builds within the team, which doesn't happen for random players. As such, difficult to find a group. Good secondaries: mesmer, necro, monk.|||I'm about an hour outside of Halifax and my ping is fine, so far east coast Canada isn't too bad.