…if there is such a thing as “too much Guild Wars”, offcourse.
I love the game, and play it more then I watch television. My wife plays it too, maybe even more then me.
So, ask away!
Oh, and before you start, I’ll give some pre-emptive answers…
No, I can not run you to Droks. Or Augury Rock. But the wife can, if she feels like it. But she probably won’t.
No, you can not borrow x-ammount of platinum from me to buy armour/weapons/whatever. Get a job! (or go farm some ettins…)
What’s your guild? What do your cloaks look like?
At the moment I’m a proud member of (or annoyance to 
) Gladiatores Victorialis, or [GV] as it is known by it’s Guild-tag, Our cape is red, with a gold phoenix and green flames.
The Guild is quite international, with Scottish, German, Dutch (like me) and Scandinavian players. We even have a guy playing with us all the way from Cyprus (Erroll, our Cypriot Idiot)
Look for me, Chrysanthemum.
In Cantha, Chrysanthemum Myrrh. I’ve finished and am polishing my map and mission bonuses (6/13), Tonight it is Bloody Tannahki Temple AGAIN. Im 2 minutes outside master. Least favourite pug member quote, when I’ve said Im only there for the masters is “Whats the hurry - we have plenty of time”. You want to smell the roses, fine. Just not in a group that is going for the third sword.
Guild is Rite of Passage.
I got my husband playing too.
Too much Guild Wars - hah!
My question is pretty simple: what exactly is guild wars? I have no idea whatsoever.
I just finished the Factions storyline (don’t have Prophecies, I just started playing), so if you ever need a partner in crime look me up (Jayk Newl…figured if I’m gonna be mistaken for a guy might as well look like one). I think I’m also at 6/13, and just over 60% explored. I’m in The Amazon Basin.
My WoW guildmates would kill me if they read this…
I have up to Prophecies, I am hoping to get Factions this month. I’ve only been playing since Christmas myself. nyctea scandiaca Look here, there, and here to answer your question. 
Er, Prophecies came first btw, but Factions is designed to be stand alone for those who do not play Guild Wars, and are puzzled by Jayn_Newell’s post.
Thanks for the links, Zabali. I am still wondering… once you buy the game, and you start playing, how do you join a “guild,” and how do you come up with your character? How much time do you have to devote to playing?
Well, you can join a guild by being in PUGs (Pick Up Groups) and meeting people to see who you can get along with and having them eventually invite you to their guild. There are guilds who are more easygoing and not focused on the competitive drive. Or, you could just get together with some friends who also play at the same time you do, (late night) and start your own guild like I did. How much time you put into the game really depends on what your goal is. My guild is really just a group of friends who gets together to have fun, but oneday we may do some Arena matches.
Meant to add, the reason we aren’t yet doing matches is because most of us just recently started playing, and some of us can’t play very often. One friend has moved from California to Illinois and is still getting settled in for example. Before that he had school and work.
My husband plays too much WoW, I play no games at all. I’ll play poker if pressed and then only with breathing people in the same room with me…if they have junk food and alcohol.
So I ask why.
Why do you play too much? Why spend the limited time allotted to you in this life playing a game? Tell me what you gain, what you learn, the seductiveness of your game.
My husband has never been able to explain in a way I can understand even a little. This has caused us unhappiness.
I don’t have answers for you that you haven’t already heard, I’m sure. “Because it’s fun,” “I get to do complex things with friends.” “I can pretend to be a mighty warrior instead of an office drone.” Things like that.
But you’ve clearly started with a negative view of things:
My bolding. Basically, you want to know why your husband’s being such an idiot. I appreciate that you’re unhappy and confused (really!), but there’s no good way to answer a question like that. If it’s causing other problems in your marriage then that’s one thing, but you may have to accept that he likes playing MMOs instead of getting drunk or playing poker or whatever, even if you don’t understand it.
On topic: I don’t play Guild Wars, but I’m about to. There are lots of little reasons: the flat fee that lets me quit and rejoin without screwing myself, the innovative skill system that appeals to the part of me that used to build Magic decks, drops are bound so there’s no need to click like mad and hope you get the elite drops when the monster dies. But I don’t really know what kind of character I’m going to play yet.
In Diablo II, I loved the Necromancer. Make some minions, buff them up, put the hex on the opposition, and watch the xp roll in, that was my style. Now, I understand that henchmen in this game are actually good, so I won’t need to be a Necromancer to indulge that in Guild Wars. I’m thinking Monk/something, since Monks are apparently much prized in group play too. Maybe with Necro for even more minions, maybe with Ritualist? Maybe primary Ritualist since they can apparently heal too, although not as well I guess? I know I don’t want a Warrior or Elementalist type, at least not to start. Any thoughts on this, Guild Wars players?
I got my bros into RPGs. Table, back then. And at first, Mom was angry at me for it.
FFWD 7 years or so. Middlebro in college, littlebro finishing high school; we have friends over. RPG hasn’t just improved our English: it got littlebro to read something not school related for the first time in his life when he was 14 (now he’s as bad a bookworm as everybody else in the family, he had us worried). As I go to the kitchen to refill the cocoa jar, I hear Dad complain that we’re too noisy. Mom’s answer: “would you rather they were in a bar getting drunk, like other kids their age? Let them scream about orcs all that they want!” (legal was 16)
Why we like it? Whatever “it” is, the only real answer is “because”. Likes are what they are; he enjoys it, you don’t. There’s other things you enjoy and he doesn’t. If that interferes with your marriage, that’s bad - but I learned a long time ago to not try and “understand” other people’s tastes. Doesn’t work.
Why do people do any sort of fun stuff/hobbies? Does everything you do provide you with a “gain” or teach you something?
Gaming is like any other hobby. There is no point to it, much like there is no point to going to parties, watching TV, shopping for non-essential stuff, bowling, golfing, or reading a trashy novel. Do you have trouble understanding why people do those things?
Not trying to be snarky here at all… it just bugs me sometimes that someone can come home from work, sit down on the couch and watch TV for 4-6 hours every night and that’s considered OK and normal, but those of us who would rather do the same with a computer game have something wrong with us.
Taran Necro/mesmers are quite effective, so are Mesmer/necros or Mesmer/ele. You might like a necro/mesmer or a Rit/necro, given your style of play. (There is even a “minion master” build for necros that is like the Diablo necromancers, it is rather effective. Zerg 'em!) Rit/necro seems to be solid, I got to try that combination out during a free trial period prior to the release of Factions. Take a look on that guildwiki site I linked earlier at the various Professions and “builds”, their info is pretty solid, proven and tested by gamers. (Also take the time to look over the various scams that people might try to play on newbies, you get that in any online game though.) The henchmen are “ok” in this, (they get MUCH better as you progress, from “ok” to “good”.) but they get exp and loot drops, so it behooves you to have as many PCs in a group as possible, and you really need a full group to get stuff accomplished. The amount you can have in a group goes up, starting at 2 in Pre-Searing Ascalon, then 4 in Post Searing Ascalon, then 6 and finally 8. I do not know if you get more than that in Factions or not.
Drat! Meant to also say, really you should focus the most skill points into your Primary profession, and put some into other strategic skills that will compliment your Primary profession. You get a total of 200 skill points to allott, and the cost to increase your skills goes up.
This is what I really like about Guild Wars, there is effectively no “grind” or “farming” time spent. Your time spent is rewarded immediately by results, most mission are bite sized and can be completed in under an hour. Most combat is done as an objective to achieve a mission goal, or to clear the way for exploration. There are no areas where you are required to just hang around smacking hundreds of rats for experience.
Another very nice touch is that there are no server restrictions. All of your characters can freely hop between servers and districts, so you aren’t locked in to a particular server zone. Makes it easy to hook up with any friends that are playing.
Loves my domination Mesmer and my barrage Ranger
As far as party sizes in Factions, it’s 4 on Shin Jea Island, up until the harbour area. Then it goes to 6 for the next set of quests and the second mission, and 8 when you hit the mainland. There’s also two elite missions (one Kurzick, one Luxon) that require parties of 12. Alliance battles (PvP where you fight for territory, as either a Kurzick or a Luxon) also are 12 per side, but formed of 3 parties so your actual party size is just 4.
Love Guild Wars for a few of the reasons mentioned. Lots of low key, friendly players, no need for farming in order to get great items in order to be competative at all, and I can play at my leisure without paying a monthly fee.
I got Factions a week or so ago and have only started getting into it. I’ve got a Ritualist/Necro that seems like a good combo.
My question relates to items. Various folks seem to have armor and weapons that look very cool (and I assume are relatively powerful). Where do they come from? My character is up into the Southern Shiverpeaks now, and I have yet to have tasty-looking armor come my way. What’s the straight dope?