Guild Wars World Preview Event Details

Beginning this weekend is another chance for prospective players to check out Guild Wars, the upcoming free MMOG by ArenaNet and NCSoft. If you're interested you can download the client in preparation for this Friday's event kickoff. Gamerfeed has some details on what to expect in the preview, while Gamespy has details from the first preview and an update since then. Finally, reader Detritus wrote in to tell us about two Stratics guides to prepare you for the event, one on Player vs. Player strategy and the other on Player vs. Environment elements of the game.

Comments

So tired of fantasy cliches

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm so incredibly dispirited by the lack of creativity in games nowadays. Tolkien has done the world of fantasy irreperable harm. Orcs, Goblins, Elves, Men, Dwarves, even Gnomes...all of them in every game. They have become a shorthand for lazy game developers, the computer game equivalent of "Once upon a time". Wooo, dwarves are short and have strong constitutions. Elves are very dextrous. Orcs are powerful but slow.

It's just lazy. It reminds of Stargate, where they indulge in cultural strip-mining to have the heroes chased by any mythical creature they can shoehorn into the episode for a week. Minotaurs for chrissake! It just shows how tired and unimaginative most game developers and tv show writers have become.

Why shouldn't they? You're probably wondering. Well, if you ask me, the developers then become limited into the same one size fits alltactical system. The choice is essentially the same in different games using these characters. Your experience doesn't change, an Orc in one game has a similar experience to an Orc in the other game. Small details may differ depending on training and earned abilities but the underlying simplistic choice is all that is available to the player. And it's so stupid.

Why use them? Invent your own races. Be creative. Don't be stuck with ground bound humanoid essentially similar experiences, think out of the box for once. Flying digging climbing creatures. Huge blobs and tiny insects. Wake up, you lazy Tolkien obsessed bitchdevelopers.

Re:So tired of fantasy cliches

[Anonymous Coward]

Fortunately Guild Wars doesn't suffer from most of these cliches. They stated a long time ago that they wanted to be more inventive in their races, etc.. which is why the only playable race is humans.

If you would have played during the E3 event, you would have faced the Charr invasion, which.. I'm pretty sure Tolkien never wrote about.

I do agree though, in most games creativity with races is extremely lacking.. but it's the easy, comfortable way of doing things.

Re:So tired of fantasy cliches

[MMaestro]

Games that try to create their own races generally don't do well. (Horizons let you play as a dragon, but didn't do well) Games that create their own races and do well, generally end up with players that don't play the 'unique' races for X reasons. (Morrowind lets you play as a cat-like and a lizard-like races but they're underplayed) Games that create their own races, do well, and have a number of player using them are generally niche games. (NES/SNES/Genesis era games where the player would range from a Mechwarrior pilot, to a tank commander, to a sentient blob, to a dragon commander, to an ant)

Re:So tired of fantasy cliches

[davidbailey]

I'm so incredibly dispirited by the lack of creativity in games nowadays. Tolkien has done the world of fantasy irreperable harm. Orcs, Goblins, Elves, Men, Dwarves, even Gnomes...all of them in every game. They have become a shorthand for lazy game developers, the computer game equivalent of "Once upon a time".

While I disagree with your assessment of Tolkien doing harm, I agree that things have gotten stagnant. Of course, Tolkien only studied the great epics of the past to craft his work. Prior to him everything was minature- dwarfs, sprites, nymphs, leprechauns, etc. He made fantasy more approachable by making it more human. But it isn't his fault that no one since has been able to lift fantasy to the next level.

I will say that one game that was different and did relatively well is Bungie's Myth tactical series. (There were three of them, although the last one tanked, but it wasn't made by Bungie either so it doesn't really count.) The Myth series wrote its own storyline, races, characters, lands, languages, etc.... It was a blast to play too! There are humans and dwarves, but the humans do lots of things and the dwarves... well, they're mostly drunk and launch molotov cocktails and other explosive things.

I will forever remember fondly those slugfest king-of-the-hill matches with the zombie-like, slow-moving Thrall and a few well-placed dwarves chucking bombs causing massive amounts of limbs and other detritus to go flying around the screen. What a hoot!

Re:So tired of fantasy cliches

[C0rinthian]

I'm so incredibly dispirited by the lack of creativity in games nowadays. Tolkien has done the world of fantasy irreperable harm. Orcs, Goblins, Elves, Men, Dwarves, even Gnomes...all of them in every game. They have become a shorthand for lazy game developers, the computer game equivalent of "Once upon a time".

You know, I agree with you. Which is why I WILL be playing this game, as it has none of the above. Playable characters are human, and the non-human characters are original races. (Charr for example)

Of course, I'm sure you already knew this before posting. I can't imagine anyone posting their opinion on something they know nothing about...

Re:So tired of fantasy cliches

[ChTh]

> Of course, I'm sure you already knew this before posting. I can't imagine anyone posting their opinion on something they know nothing about...

Welcome to Slashdot. You must be new here.

Compliments for "no monthly payments"

[dagoi-koi]

I am glad to see that this game will not be basesd on paying monthly fees. That is what has held me back from trying mmorpgs. Optional expansion packs are a much better idea. I will definitely try this one.

Re:Compliments for "no monthly payments"

[Acidic_Diarrhea]

The question is whether this is a viable financial model. The MMORPG market is problematic in that most people who play them are only going to actively play one [or MAYBE two] and thus the market size is already limited in that respect and established games already have an advantage over newer ones as players are hesitant to give up their characters.

Sure, you're glad to see a MMORPG that doesn't have a monthly fee associated with it but how long is this going to last?

Re:Compliments for "no monthly payments"

[dagoi-koi]

You bring up an interesting point. Your premise is that players will only play one mmorpg at a time. This is because of the subscription fees. If a player is paying $20 (US$) for the game and $15 for each month , then playing two at a time will cost $30 a month for subscription fees. This monthly model will bring $155 (11 months plus initial) a year to the company. But if Guild Wars charges $45 for the game and then 6 months later charges $45 for the optional expansion pack. Then you get a year of enjoyment for $90. But not only that, you also can keep playing for free and have no other fees. This should be very attractive to gamers. Arenasoft is banking on being able to retain more players to offset the cheaper fee. And I think they can.

Re:Compliments for "no monthly payments"

[Rallion]

As others have said, it doesn't really fit into the mold of traditional MMORPGs. If I understand it right, the towns are what you'd expect. Filled with people and shop owners. But then, to fight mosters and level, you make a party and go into an instance together. In essence, you're joining a Diablo II game. The big town is really just like the bNet chat area.

Still, I like it. Just wanted to make sure that was clear.

Maybe not what you think it is...

[Anonymous Coward]

As an alpha tester, let me tell you that this is not your standard MMORPG. This game uses instanced worlds for all leveling. You go to an NPC and get a mission for your group, then you get teleported to that instanced place. This is not a normal MMORPG in the sense that you will be in the same world as others. When you are not in a mission, you will be in some instanced town area where other people not in missions will be as well but theres a small cap on each zone...its essentially a 3D chat room while you wait to get missions.

Its a lot more like a 3D battle.net than an MMORPG, so that is why there is no monthly fee.

No monthly fee... check... No fun... check

[LordYUK]

I played this during the E3 event they had a while back... graphically, it was very nice, but the game bored me to tears.

Note, I am an avid game player (everything by Blizzard, and a few MMORPGs, including WoW), and I was very excited about Guild Wars.

Its just not... fun.

Re:No monthly fee... check... No fun... check

[prator]

I think the E3 event was more of a technology demo. They even labeled the thing as an Alpha if I remember correctly.

You have to admit that it ran pretty well for such an early state.

However, I agree that is was pretty boring.

-prator

Re:No monthly fee... check... No fun... check

[zanidor]

Somehow I had a whole lot of fun playing this game during E3. Keeping in mind that it was only in an alpha stage and that compared to other, finished games it wasn't that all that great, I was still pretty impressed with what was there and had a good time playing around in the (admitidly limited) world they had going.

huh?

[sgant]

Sorry, I've tried reading this and I just don't understand it...

Games that try to create their own races generally don't do well...Games that create their own races and do well...Games that create their own races, do well,

which one is it?

Re:huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

You have to read the stuff where you put "..." too.

>> Games that try to create their own races ***generally*** don't do well.

>>>> Games that create their own races ***and*** do well, generally end up with ***players that don't play the 'unique' races*** for X reasons.

>>>>>> Games that create their own races, do well, ***and have a number of player using them*** are generally ***niche games***.

It's the story, stupid.

[Jaeph]

Having familiar props doesn't make the game or story any better or worse; it's what the designers/writers do with those props that counts.

Oh, and please keep your incredibly imaginative evil insect blobs in outer space where they belong.

-Jeff

This game is amazing

[kc78]

I've been following it ever since E3 when it blew me away at such an early state. I've been following it closely for months since and it's evolved to even better game play. The PvP battles are fierce and the PvE is fun for once. No more sitting in front of my spell book meditating for 20 minutes while I fight for 5. I suggest everyone download the free 65k client and give it a try this weekend. Don't just buy into the, it's another diablo comments. Download it and give it a run, you'll find it's much more than you expect.

Lazy? Perhaps not.

[jothaxe]

I dont see the use of "Tolkien's" races as being lazy on the part of developers. In fact, Tolkien hardly invented dwarves, or elves or even middle earth. In fact he borrowed heavily from older mythologies, especially Norse. I would argue that having ties to ancient mythologies can be a good thing, as it lends quick familiarity and can lead to more gentle learning and initiation curves, especially in terms of a game's otherwise alien plotline. If anything it sounds like you have a gripe against the AD&D style approach to personalizing the characters in a game (hit points, AC, constitution, wisdom etc.) and perhaps you have a point. But many games have tried to alter or replace this type of system, and in my opinion the alternative is usually worse. Just a thought.

GW is different from most MMORPG in more ways

[Goosey]

Ok the obvious differences, which have been mentioned in many posts already:

- Normal: Monlthly fee.
GuildWars: No Monthly Fee.

- Normal: Fully Persistant world.
GuildWars: Instanced missions.

There are a number of other huge differences between GW and normal MMORPGs:
- Normal: Fragmented servers, and no way for groups to compete with each other between them.
GuildWars: Everyone, in the entire world, is playing in the same enviroment allowing a truely world-wide competition ladder, if that is your fancy. Yet everying you do is instanced allowing you to play as if you and your friends are the only ones in the world, if you choose so.

- Normal: Lasting Death Penalties (lost items, lost experience, etc.. Discourages 'for fun' PVP).
GuildWars: Temporary Death Penalties (a percent loss of health and life in your current mission, but regained as soon as you leave the mission.. Allows you to join a PVP zone and have some fun with some duels without worrying about having to work back to the point you used to be)

- Normal: Consecutive low-risk fights followed by a long period of down time (not very exciting, IMHO).
GuildWars: Every fight is a near-death fight, but there is no downtime due to highly increased regeneration when not in combat (Makes everything much more exciting, IMHO)

- Normal: A higher level person will be stronger, have better skills, and in every way dominate a lower level person (thus eliminating playing skill as a factor in PVP).
GuildWars: A higher level person will have a wider variety of skills to choose from, but they will be from the same pool that the lower level person chooses from (thus allowing a skilled player to win when they are the underdog.

- Normal: Waiting in line for quests, since there are many people all fighting over the same thing.
GuildWars: Instanced quests mean no waiting in line, and you and your friends are free to enjoy the entire quest without any inturruptions.

The list goes on, but the post is getting long so I guess I will end it here. I guess the main point I am trying to convey is that GuildWars is, in many ways, a unique MMORPG that (IMHO) eliminated many of the problems that MMORPGs commonly face.
You may find it objectionable that I have just clumped all the many MMORPG's into one 'normal' catagory, butlets be honest. Almost every single MMORPG since EQ has played just like an EQ clone with only micro-differences in gameplay. Isn't it time for a truely revolutionary game?

I'm definently going to be playing this Halloween Weekend. Join me. :P

Re:GW is different from most MMORPG in more ways

[Breakfast Pants]

"Isn't it time for a truely revolutionary game?" It was called Ultima Online. Granted, after EQ came out Ultima Online was slowly turned into a shitty 2D EQ but believe me, for its first couple of years, it truly was a revolutionary game.

Re:GW is different from most MMORPG in more ways

[Goosey]

Maybe I should have said "A new recolutionary game". Granted I think it is self-implied that I don't think GW is the first revolutionary game to ever be made. That would be rediculous.

Free CD's On Campus

[wally mean monkey]

Today the campus newspaper had a Guild Wars cd stuffed in the middle of it. Judging by the piles of cds on the ground I think it's safe to say that students at the University of Arizona are lazy litterbugs who aren't interested in this game.

Language Options

[Lust]

Download the client and click on the castle-like button in the upper right to access options. You'll see the language options are English, Korean and...SWEDISH CHEF :)

Fun touch.

This is getting out of hand.

[wrinkledshirt]

C'mon, I understand the importance of marketing, but a preview for a preview?!?

Some things you may want to know.

[Thorizdin]

The main story has the link to Detritus' content incorrect, this is the correct link
All I can say is this is truly an amazing game, I am currently in the Alpha and have been for almost a year. For those of you that have avoided the MMoRPG scene because, this is the one you want to try. The graphics are simply amazing, but more importantly it actually has fun PvP. Arena.net has done their best to elminate the "unfun" parts of most games, the most obvious being the infamous level grind. So far it looks like the process to level from 1 to max (currently 20) only takes a few weeks. While the PvE is fun, the focus is PvP and the game is balanced for team PvP. Also of note the Word Preview Event has started a day early, so those who want to play can jump in now.