Hi
If you’re still taking members, I’m Chrysanthemum Bay, Elementalist/Ranger 9.
Is there a particular town number you are based in? I tend to home on European 7, but can change it.
I want in! I’m a level 6 R/W, named Jericho Storm. I’m still pre-searing, leveling up solo. Have a few more missions and have to find some crafters before I go post. Let me know.
Regarding the differences between Guild Wars (GW) and World of Warcraft (WoW):
I beta tested GW through 3 of their “beta weekends” and found it enjoyable at the time. Then, about a month before the final release of GW I bought WoW to tide me over until the “real” game came out.
I never looked back.
In some respects it is unfair to compare the two games as they are quite different- and depending on what you are looking for one or the other might be your preference. I will break the differences down into Social, RP and PvP:
Social:
WoW is a true to type MMORPG game, that is, it is largely social. You can solo effectively (as I do much of the time) but a lot of enjoyment is to be had via random encounters with fellow human beings. Groups are easily formed anywhere in the game, Guilds tend to develop power and reputation. The chat system is pretty good and built to make it easy to keep in touch with your in-game friends.
GW is more like an action-RPG with a multiplayer element. There will be no random encounters in the wild where someone steps in to lend a hand. All grouping happens in town and very goal oriented. Once you are “in the wild” you are on your own unless you have already formed a group. Henchmen are nice to have by your side but they do not take the place of real human companions. GW all takes place in one large realm (vs WoW 100+ servers) so you don’t need to worry about which server your friends have created their characters on.
RP:
WoW provides a fully realized world in which to RP. By and large, it is the game you choose to make it. There are a few in-game threads that lead you down one path or another but there are very few world-altering events. When you kill the big bad ogre that ogre eventually respawns; this can get in the way of the RP experience IMO. On the other hand, because WoW relies so heavily on human interaction the potential RP is enormous; the building of your character is based as much on the game mechanics as it is on your interaction with your fellow players. In WoW you have to create the RP experience it will not be handed to you.
GW is quite different in that the game world changes according to your actions. This can be very satisfying as things you do accomplish something tangible in the world (and not just in your RP). The ability to do this stems from the instanced nature of the world. Every time you leave town you go into a customized version of the world that takes into account your past achievements. It is much more like playing a traditional computer RPG (whereas WoW is more like a paper and dice RPG). This approach however makes a more social RP experience much more difficult to achieve.
PvP:
WoW has 3 kinds of servers; PvP, Normal and Role Playing. On a PvP server, characters are permanently flagged for PvP. On normal and Role Playing you are flagged PvP by choice only, either by toggling PvP on an off or by attacking an opposing faction NPC. PvP in WoW is only allowed (expect in specific situations) between members of opposing factions- the Alliance or the Horde. You cannot attack members of your own faction except in 2 scenarios: a duel or in the Arena a special area that allows for a free for all gank fest. A newly introduced Honor system rewards kills between factions with special artifacts and status. The soon to be released Battlegrounds patch will allow for instanced large scale battles with specific objectives. Until that time, if PvP is your thing you can either hunt down members of the opposing faction or engage in large scale raids on faction towns (or the defense thereof).
In GW PvP is non-existent outside of special arenas for PvP. The game allows you create a max level character from the get go who is only allowed to participate in PvP activity (bypassing the RP story arc). You form guilds and engage in quick guild vs. guild battles that rely heavily on the right combination of characters and individual skill sets. There is a worldwide guild and player ranking system with rewards. In many ways GW is all about the endgame PvP where the RP story arc is leading up to PvP.
Obviously those are not the only differences. The graphics are different, the way death is dealt with are different, the leveling/skill/crafting system is different, even movement (as someone else pointed out above) is different. IMO are all secondary to the above three aspects. I am happy to expound on any of these other issues if someone is curious.
For my money I find WoW to be a more enjoyable game, but I do own GW and play it when I get a little WoWed out.
Two invites sent. I haven’t been playing in a while, partly because I’m waiting for the Prima Guide so I can have that big poster-sized map.
I’m leery of buying a guide for this game, as so much can be altered day-to-day. The maps will probably be pretty solid, but the quest/monster/item sections of the guide are probably already outdated.
The guide to City of Heroes was outdated by two (now 3) Issues but I still bought it. Sure, there are websites that have up-to-date information but I find it easier to have at least have the stuff that is still current in an easily accessed form. Just a few days ago, I pulled out the CoH guide to look up binds again.
Is there a way to contact you all in game to get added to CECL? I would rather not post my character name for personal reasons.
You can try whispering one of my toons. I can be found as Jahaziel Stonebrow, Aragon Stormbow, or Tasha Moonglow.
I got the game for my birthday (May 31), and I’ve been playing it since. I’m not looking for a guild just yet (some friends may be forming one), but I’d certainly be up to joining a party for an outing or two. Or just a shout-out in town 
I currently have three characters:
Corvic Skald: 7th lvl Necro/Monk
Gorak the Large: 8th lvl War/Ran
Marius Kaine: 6th lvl Ele/Mes
So far, only Gorak has gone post-Searing, but the other two are about to…probably tonight.
One of my friends plays it all the time and has been asking me to join. Unfortunately, she’s in an upper-tier competitive PvP guild and I suck at RPGs. :o Maybe if I can find a group to play it with that wouldn’t mind my newbishness.
I’ve been playing this in preference to WoW lately. Currently I have a 10 Ranger/Mesmer called Donovan Hawkwing, and a 6 Necro called Ludmilla Bloodwine. I haven’t decided on her secondary class yet, but I’m thinking about going Monk and making a new Warrior/Elementalist. In any case I want to have 3 characters with all the classes so I can unlock all the skills to experiment with a 4th PvP character. I’m already in a guild with some friends, but send me a tell.
I just picked up the game, too, as an alternative to City of Heroes. To play in my copious free time. :rolleyes: My character is Quiescent Flower; I’m a level 4 Elementalist/Ranger.
And I’m almost totally lost. Are there any good online guides? Things I’m trying to figure out: [ul]
[li] How to change the zoom level? My mouse scroll does not work. My character is this tiny little figure. What’s the point of beautiful graphics if everything is too small to see? [] Where to get stuff? I kill monsters and take there stuff. I’ve found a lot of weapons and some shields, but never any armor. Am I just unlucky, or am I doing something wrong? [] Where to buy things? Like bags or armor? [] Where to sell stuff? I keep finding things that look valuable (blue names), but the vendor price is poor. Is there a way to sell to other players, beyond hawking in the street? [] What happened to all my quests? I had about a half-dozen quests/missions, but they all disappeared. And I lost that little girl who was following me around. [/ul][/li]
I like the henchmen that help me out, it’s very useful. The missions seem straitforward enough; I manage to do those. And I tried the arena where you’re grouped with random players to fight it out. Everyone else seems to be level 9 or 10, so I die quickly. Is there any point to PvP or is it just for fun?
So, any help for a newbie?
The mouse scroll should work, so if it doesn’t I don’t know what to tell you. You might try remapping a key to zoom in or out.
For armor, you have to collect various materials and take them to an armor crafter in town. You can talk to them at any time to see what you need. Materials are usually found by using a salvage kit on other items; you can get the kits from some merchants. There are also material vendors, but that can get a bit expensive.
I saw a bag vendor somewhere, but now I can’t remember where.
For selling stuff, there doesn’t seem to be an auction or market system like some MMOs have, so it looks like you’re stuck spamming the trade channel.
The first part of the game, known as Pre-Searing, is separate from the rest. Once you go with the dude who says, “Make sure you have finished your other business first,” that’s exactly what he means. After that, the world goes to hell, other quest givers get scattered or killed, and you have a new set of adventures. Don’t worry too much about it though; while it’s easier to pick up all the available skills for your classes before you do the Searing, you can still get them afterwards. Everything else is just additional XP, really.
[QUOTE=Pleonast]
I’m almost totally lost. Are there any good online guides? Things I’m trying to figure out: [list]Guild Wars Online and Guild Wars Guru are probably the best ones. Tthere haven’t been any major changes to my knowledge so the Prima Guide is still useful.[list][li] Where to get stuff? I kill monsters and take there stuff. I’ve found a lot of weapons and some shields, but never any armor. Am I just unlucky, or am I doing something wrong? Where to buy things? Like bags or armor?[/list[/li][/quote]
Look for collectors. You trade in things like Devourer shells and get your choice of an upgrade item in return. These can be protective icons, weapons, or armor. Exactly what is available depends on the collector.
You can also get armor from a crafter once you leave pre-searing by suppling the crafter with enough gold and the required materials for whatever armor you want. Materials can be obtained from item drops, salvaging item drops, collectors, materials traders, or artisans.
Artisans are a speical type of collector, they take certain items and exchange them for better ones. For example: a large quantity of iron ingots and one lump of coal can be exchanged for a steel ingot. Some wood planks can be exchanged for a big sheet of paper.
Doh! He could have explained it better. I thought he just meant to clear space in my backpack and choose my skills. This game is not very casual friendly so far, but I’ll get by. I’ll do some reading at the links and figure stuff out. For now I’ll just work on quests and try to level up.
Pleonast, is this what you’ve been doing while I’ve been getting my arse kicked in CoH. I guess it’s time to dust this off the hard drive. Someone’s got to save you from yourself 
I made, and deleted, about a half dozen characters just before or just after Academy. The game only lets you have four characters at one time, but as long as you delete unwanted characters, you can make them day after day. If this character went ahead before you desired, as it sounds like it did, scrap the character. There’s no penalty except for the time you put into the first character, and you’ll find that each time you go through Pre-Searing again, the quicker it will get done.
True indeed…I’ve found that I can go from fresh-out-of-the-box character to Post-Searing in about 4 hours, IF I do all the quests. If you skip some of the miscellaneous errand-running quests, you can probably get through in a couple hours. I’ve seen plenty of level 5 people going through; I usually take my characters through at about level 7 (which is about where you wind up if you complete most, if not all, of the available quests).
I deleted Gorak and replaced him with a Warrior/Elementalist, and I created a Monk/Mesmer, as well. I’ve found I don’t really care for the Ranger class.
Yup, about 4 hours sounds right for me too. Five if I want to have a decent bit of gold going in. But I think the next time I make a character, the gold thing will be irrelevant, since I’ve finally advanced a few characters further into the game, and am having no problem with income.
I made Ludmilla a necro/monk, but I’m having trouble finding my groove with her. I’ve respecced several times but have yet to find a combination that works. When I earn back my refund points I think I’ll try Blood Magic and Smiting with a minor in Soul Reaping, find a good sword and shield, and ignore other stuff. Death/Protection/Smiting didn’t create the cool holy zombies I thought it would, and running two enchantments at once used too much energy. Healing is likewise too expensive, and necros are about causing damage anyway, not fixing it. I’m curious about Curses, but I haven’t found enough Curse skills to really play with those.
On the other hand, my ranger/mesmer is pretty good. He has Marksman 7, Expertise 4, Wilderness Survival 2, Domination 4. A friend of mine found me a bow that restores 1 energy per hit, which totally rules. Ignite Arrows plus Dual Shot puts the hurt on groups, Backfire destroys casters, and Empathy makes melee attackers feel my pain. He’s definitely a tactical character rather than a wade into the fray character, but that’s cool with me.