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  1. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by ASG View Post
    I've never played or really read much about guild wars until all the recent gw2 news which really has my interest piqued. Is GW1 worth checking out at this point? I assume I should get the 2 extra expansions to really get the most out if it.
    I just started a couple weeks ago for the first time and I'm really enjoying it. I was really confused for the first day or so, but it got really fun pretty quickly after that. I just bought Trilogy (original game + Factions + Nightfall) and Eye of the North from a site called offgamers, it was only $30 for everything. If you're interested, that was the cheapest I was able to find.

  2. #42
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    Are Guild Wars keys region specific? If I could buy that off that site and use on my EU NCSoft account that'd cost me almost less than a half than getting of EU sites ^^;

  3. #43
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    I don't believe they are, the wikipedia article on GW says...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild_Wars
    An account is initially set to a specific region depending on the version of the game purchased; Europe, America, Korea, Taiwan or Japan. Players from Europe, America and Korea may freely move among those three regions. Regardless of the account's home region, players in all regions can meet and form parties in international districts (instances of in-game outposts). These districts are also in the language of the original region.
    And actually, when I used the key I bought, originally I was in a european instance of the towns before I realized there were even region-specific instances, so I'm guessing the key I bought actually was from an EU copy. I switched to the US instance and it's far more populated.

    Edit: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/a...t10310326.html also says you can buy outside your region.

  4. #44
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    Awesome, so awesome.

  5. #45
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    I am pretty flexible on what I can come as on my Rit. I can come as SoS spirit spam, SoS support, SoGM spirit spam, Spirit Twisting offense or support, or DwG spam. I do have a resto build, but I am not all that great at playing resto.

    UW & DoA are probably the hardest areas. It might be best to start with something easier like FoW or SF to get people acquainted with elite areas. Max party size for all areas but The Deep & Urgoz Warren is 8. The other 2 have a max of 12 iirc. Heroes can be used to fill in any gaps.

  6. #46
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    My original and factions collectors editions are NA editions, whereas my nightfall collectors, and EotN are both EU versions. Not region specific by any means.

  7. #47
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    If your strapped for platinum do not merch items , iron ore per 10 is 170+ gold, granite slaps are lik 200-300 gold per 10 , feather sell for alot too, basically unless it has a "show me the money inscription" on it dont sell. I made like 22k extra from salvaging peoples whites after a doa run lol people dont collect their whites.

  8. #48
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    I find that whites aren't worth picking up when I duo farm UW with my friend. other times I pick up everything, but in UW and the like, I usually skip over them, but that's just me

  9. #49
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chrian View Post
    If your strapped for platinum do not merch items , iron ore per 10 is 170+ gold, granite slaps are lik 200-300 gold per 10 , feather sell for alot too, basically unless it has a "show me the money inscription" on it dont sell. I made like 22k extra from salvaging peoples whites after a doa run lol people dont collect their whites.
    Hmm, that may be. I haven't really looked into what the crafting materials sell for. I'll have to look into that. I was told I'll need lots of granite, so before I merch anything I've always opened this page to pick out all of my granite-containing items first: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Categ...ntains_granite

  10. #50
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    Granite is used to make destroyer weapons. You need a full stack per weapon.

  11. #51
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    Obligatory OBVIOUS SPOILERS warning.
    Don't watch if you're gonna play the game and haven't gotten started yet.

    How it all began. Nice little series this guy's putting together.


  12. #52
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    Flameseeker Chronicles: The clock is ticking
    by Rubi Bayer on Sep 26th 2011 3:00PM

    "When you come to an old, established game like this
    with a large goal and a deadline, there's not a lot of time
    for story and lore, and that's unfortunate
    "

    Disclaimer: today's Flameseeker Chronicles is more along the "observation and thinking aloud" line than the "guide or news" line, so your input is very welcome at the end.

    It's been well over a year since the Hall of Monuments was unveiled for Guild Wars 2, bringing with it a large and ongoing influx of new players. These are players who either tried Guild Wars 1 and it didn't stick for them, or players who never tried it in the first place but are here now to prepare for Guild Wars 2. New players are great -- a bigger community is often a win for everyone involved. But this new player base isn't exactly what we're used to. Follow along after the jump and let's take a look.

    http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joy...7/os-rb-73.jpg

    It's all about the points

    OK, let's start by being brutally honest: The vast majority of these newer players are here to fill their Halls in anticipation of Guild Wars 2. Many of them likely would never have touched the game if it weren't for the promise of a head-start on GW2. This is not a bad thing; don't get me wrong. I personally think it was a brilliant strategy on ArenaNet's part to link the two games in this manner, and every player who joins, stays, and becomes a contributing member of the current community is a big win in my book.

    However, it would be silly not to acknowledge why they're here in the first place. They want that GW2 loot, and playing GW is the way to get it. Therefore, they are coming in with their eyes on a specific prize. The Hall of Monuments is the thing; the game, world, and story are secondary. Not the other way around.

    Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing. I'm as enthusiastic as anyone about participating in Underworld clears with my guild because I need that statue, and I diligently pick up Zaishen bounties and missions to min-max my progress on titles. It's such a great incentive for everyone to play together because we're all striving toward a common goal.

    http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joy...eotn-rb-59.jpg

    Time is growing short

    There's another side to all of this, however, and I don't view it as a positive thing. Those of us striving toward HoM points are very aware that the launch date -- whatever it may be -- is creeping closer by the day. We've got a lot to do and we want it done by launch day.

    This means that there isn't necessarily time to stop and smell the red iris flowers [ed: shame on you if you don't know what a Red Iris is]. Latecomers who are heavily focused on HoM points don't necessarily have time to wander Pre-Searing for weeks, enjoying the warm morning breeze and gaining familiarity and affection for the citizens. I've mentioned this before, but when I played in the Charr starting area at PAX, the fight with Duke Barradin affected me strongly.

    I didn't want to kill him. I didn't want to be a part of that group taunting him about what happened to his home. Barradin was part of that Pre-Searing world that I still love because I've spent a lot of time there. This isn't because I'm so empathetic or I feel things so deeply or whatnot; it's because I've had the luxury of years to get to know Tyria and those who live in it. It's also because the team that created this world told a great story.

    Sure, we joke about Kormir stealing all our credit, and we wish loudly and often that we could knock Togo and Mhenlo unconscious and stuff them in an out-of-the-way corner so we can just finish the mission already, but it's still a world that we know and are a part of, virtually speaking.

    http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joy...s1131gw580.jpg

    When you come to an old, established game like this with a large goal and a deadline, there's not a lot of time for story and lore, and that's unfortunate, in my eyes. The Hall of Monuments isn't the only thing in GW1 that can give you a boost in GW2. Knowing that Duke Barradin isn't just a random evil ghost in a smelly crypt gives you a deeper appreciation for the story and what you're doing. Knowing the history behind the Sons of Svanir because you were a part of it makes it that much more interesting.

    I've seen a growing trend in the Guild Wars community in the past months, and that's a heavy focus on titles and points at the expense of just taking your time and enjoying the game -- the AFK farm of Glint's Challenge, players beating their heads against infuriating skill caps or hard-mode missions and vanquishes until they actively dislike playing, and so on, all in the name of HoM points.

    It would be easy to place all the blame squarely on ArenaNet and say that the devs forced us into this by setting up the HoM, but I've frankly never had the patience for that way of thinking. There are not words for how hard I rolled my eyes last year during the mass bannings. The howls from people insisting it was not fair because ArenaNet forced them to bot by making the titles too hard to get were laughable to me. Nobody forced anyone to do anything. If it's that awful, then stop playing it.

    http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joy...270-gw-530.jpg

    I'm not denying that some stuff is grindy. I still haven't maxed my Kurzick or Luxon titles, even on my main account, because good grief. But I don't blame ArenaNet for that. If I wanted it, I'd go grind it out. I don't want it badly enough, so I don't. The end.

    Therefore, I can't really point a finger at the ArenaNet team and bellow, "You did this!" Any game is what you make it for yourself, and while that means a thousand different things to a thousand different people, I maintain that if you're not enjoying it, you're doing it wrong.

    Which brings me full circle to my original thought: this trend of people grimly plowing through the game with HoM Tunnel Vision, not enjoying the journey. I believe there's time to sit back, find out why your character is doing these missions, enjoy the scenery, and have some fun playing this game.

    This, readers, is where I turn to you

    Is this just the way the community needs to be at this point? Is it too late for latecomers to truly enjoy Tyria to the fullest? Are we running out of time to fill our Halls too rapidly? Is it really even that important to be invested in the current world to prepare for GW2?

    Hit the comment button and let's talk it over!

    Rubi is a longtime Guild Wars player and the writer of Flameseeker Chronicles here at Massively. The column keeps a close eye on all the events in Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2, and anything bridging the two. It's also the home of a weekly summary of the travels of [MVOP], Massively's Guild Wars guild. Email Rubi at [email protected].

  13. #53
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    I'm at 22/30 and finding it hard pressed to give a shit about playing the game anymore. I have enough gold to maybe squeeze another point out of my HoM, but meh. Hoping I can muster some motivation to do it before GW2.

  14. #54
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    Best advice is a sort of derivation from that article. Just enjoy the game. Play casually and for the sake of the story and just accumulate points naturally. That's what I did, and I'm definitely glad I don't feel like I did any grinding to get to 34/50 where I am now (started in August 2009).

    Here's another link from Rubi at Massively.com that you may have seen.

    Flameseeker Chronicles: Stop telling me how to get 50 points when I only have three

  15. #55
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    Posting this strictly on the odd chance that most of you aren't aware that there's an easily-obtained free trial for Guild Wars 1.

    C'mon... you know you want to. All that downtime, watching the shouts in Port Jeuno...
    if only you had a free-to-play MMO of good quality that you could play casually, even solo, to Alt-Tab to...

    http://www.guildwars.com/images/land...ynow_hover.png

    ...and then inevitably buy the game, of course.

    Look for one of these two boxes:

    Guild Wars: Trilogy (plus Eye of the North separately)
    For that extra-packed Hall of Monuments. Includes Guild Wars: Prophecies, Factions, Nightfall and Eye of the North; usually anywhere from $30-50.

    Guild Wars: Platinum Edition
    Contains just enough story content and lore to completely familiarize yourself with what will be Tyria's history. Includes Guild Wars: Prophecies and Eye of the North; usually around $15-25.

    Note that the Platinum Edition is getting to be hard to find. I got my copy for $10 at Newegg.com before the Guild Wars 2 hype train got rolling, and now it's out of stock at most online retailers.

    http://www.cjs-cdkeys.com/product_im...ogy__18012.jpg http://cdn0.spong.com/pack/g/u/guild...ition-PC-_.jpg

  16. #56
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    Winds of change part 2 is now out. Looks like I really need to get my ass on doing cantha vanquishes so I can start part 1. Hmm...

  17. #57
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    lol I've been doing vanquishing only shing jea seems bitchy to do ~_~ so many crimson brotherhood on shing jea

  18. #58
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    Found this article just today via the Mike O'Brien wiki link I posted in the GW2 thread, lol. Interesting read on a bit of ArenaNet's history and its purpose.
    __________________________________________________ ____________________________________

    'Guild Wars': An experiment that worked
    Hit game may be the most popular MMO you've never heard of

    by Kristin Kalning Games editor
    updated 3/28/2007 11:28:28 AM ET

    Guild Wars: Prophecies”, the game that started it all, boasts a fantasy art style, quest-driven gameplay and no monthly subscription fee. With more than [7 million units] sold, legions of passionate fans and heaps of critical acclaim, “Guild Wars” is probably the most popular massively multiplayer online game you’ve never heard of.

    It’s easy to see why. Blizzard Entertainment’s “World of Warcraft” is a seemingly unstoppable juggernaut, with 8.5 million worldwide subscribers. “Burning Crusade,” the expansion to the original game, sold an estimated 3.5 million copies in just one month.

    “Because of those big numbers, and because ‘WoW’ is the first subscription-based MMO that’s broken out of hardcore market, [Blizzard] gets a lot of attention,” say Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, the company that developed “Guild Wars.”

    But small, scrappy ArenaNet thinks it has plenty to brag about, too. In seven years, Strain and its co-founders, have taken a pretty radical idea about online gaming and built it into a successful company.

    Beginnings in Battle.net
    The idea, an online game without monthly fees, was born in 2000. The dot com boom was about to bust. Strain and the two other ArenaNet founders, Mike O’Brien and Patrick Wyatt, held big-time positions at Blizzard in Irvine, Calif. All had been involved, in one way or another, with the company’s string of successful franchises: “StarCraft,” the “Diablo” games and the “Warcraft” games.

    O’Brien was the original creator and champion of Blizzard’s Battle.net, a free service that let gamers go head-to-head against each other online. Because it was free, it was an instant hit — and, as Strain puts it: “one of the single most important and positive decisions in the history of that company.”

    But Battle.net was expensive to maintain. And Blizzard was looking ahead to “World of Warcraft,” an extension of its popular “Warcraft” games played completely online. It was a pricey proposition, requiring constant care and feeding. But the upkeep would be paid for by the $15 monthly subscription fees.

    Traditional MMOs like “World of Warcraft” and “EverQuest” are based on this subscription system. And the whole design of these games is indivisible with the business model: If people are paying $15 a month, they want to get their money’s worth. So developers architect gameplay that rewards those who spend hours and hours online killing rats for experience points. For these players, time spent leveling up is a badge of honor.

    'MMO for the rest of us'
    Strain, O’Brien and Wyatt wanted to do something different. They wanted to create, as Strain puts it, an “MMO for the rest of us.” Those folks who may have played their fair share of “Ultima Online” as teenagers, but were now looking for something that didn’t require five hours a day to feel satisfying.

    “Our design goal when creating ‘Guild Wars’ was this: ‘If I’ve got 30 minutes before dinner, will I have fun playing this game?’” says Strain.

    It took the trio a year and a half to build their “secret sauce,” a smart publishing system that would let them stream cool new stuff to players in real-time, rather than the massive downloadable patches used by traditional MMOs.

    Plenty of naysayers
    There were plenty of naysayers, including, at least initially, Robert Garriott, CEO of NCsoft North America, the company that would go on to acquire ArenaNet in 2002.

    “Back in the day, everyone was looking at subscription-based games,” he says. “That seemed to be where the action was and the money was.”

    In the end, Garriott — and NCsoft — was swayed by the quality of the technology — and the pedigree of its creators. And, ultimately, by the fear of being scooped.

    “We looked around and thought: ‘what would we feel like if one of our major competitors released a product like this?’” says Garriott. “We thought this could revolutionize the business model for online games.”

    By the time the first “campaign” — which is what ArenaNet calls the stand-alone installments of “Guild Wars” — rolled out in the spring of 2005, the game had generated good buzz. “Guild Wars” was — and is — stunningly beautiful and meticulously detailed. Ex-Blizzard guys were running the show. And, NCsoft believed in them. But still, some in the industry and the game press believed “Guild Wars” would fail.

    Brisk sales
    By August 2005, “Guild Wars Prophecies” had sold 1 million units. The following April, ArenaNet released its next campaign, “Guild Wars Factions” and followed it up in short order with “Nightfall” in October 2006. At the end of last year, the company announced that the game had sold a total of 3 million copies worldwide — a bonafide success by any metric.

    “Certainly you can look at business model as a big reason for the success of ‘Guild Wars,” says Strain. “But another reason is that people who love games but don’t want to spend their whole lives playing games can enjoy playing ‘Guild Wars.’”

    But despite this success, “Guild Wars” exists mostly below the radar. Although the company’s games have a passionate fan base, some hardcore gamers sneer that it’s tailored for "newbies", and lacks the mechanics of a traditional MMO.

    “They want ‘World of Warcraft’ with no monthly fee, and I don't think it's fair,” says Amanda Rogers-Hays, a 36 year-old Guild Wars fan from the U.K. who often plays the game with her husband. “You’re never going to please everyone, and we enjoy the game for what it is.”

    'There's no obligation to play'
    Like many players on Guild Wars, Rogers-Hays was new to MMOs when she started playing the game a year ago. And for her, the lack of a subscription fee was a definite incentive. “I can walk away from it for a week, a month,” she says. “There’s no obligation to play Guild Wars.

    But Guild Wars also has a number of fans that have played plenty of MMOs in the past — and found them wanting. Thom Gavin, 39, has been playing games for 25 years and online games for 10.

    “I have played games that require a fee and have found them to be hardly worth the original price,” he says. “This is simply not the case with the Guild Wars franchise.”

    Many fans cited the constant updates to Guild Wars as a major reason to keep playing. Log in around Christmas and you’re likely to find a winter wonderland complete with candy canes and gingerbread men.

    “They try to keep it fresh with these little mini-events,” says Rogers-Hays. “They don’t have to do these things. But they do it because they obviously love the game,” she says.

    The next phase
    At the end of 2007, ArenaNet will ship the final installment of what has become the “Guild Wars 1” set of games. But this chapter, unlike the previous, full-fledged campaigns, will be an add-on, the company’s first expansion, called “Eye of the North.” It will add new content, wrap up the storyline, and cost fans less than the $50 they'd pay for a campaign.

    “Eye of the North” will also build a bridge to “Guild Wars 2,” whole new game scheduled to release in 2008.

    So why are some fans freaked out? Because “Guild Wars 2” adds some features that are typically seen in those other, traditional MMOs. And because fans are used to getting a brand-new campaign every six months or so — not some cheesy expansion pack. Expansions are what other game developers do to milk their hard-up fans between full versions. Could ArenaNet be forgetting its fans?

    Strain insists that ArenaNet is not messing with success — or their loyal fan base. But Guild Wars is now seven years old. And each stand-alone campaign had the tricky proposition of having to appeal to new players — and existing ones. It was becoming complex — even bloated.

    “The campaign model is designed to bring people back in a cyclical fashion,” says Strain. “The expansion is meant to support our existing player community.”

    Whether “Eye of the North” can hold over players until 2008 [ed: lol, 2008! try 2012] is another story. “Waiting will probably drive me to start watching TV again," says Gavin. "But I will be first in line to get [the new version] when the time comes."

    For those fans that like their current Guild Wars just fine, Strain asks for their indulgence — and trust.

    Guild Wars has been a phenomenal success, and we’re proud of it,” he says. “We’re not going to ruin it by making it more like every other MMO on the market.”

    © 2011 msnbc.com

  19. #59
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    Anybody still play regularly? Need to get back into this, just got busy with life/other games.

  20. #60
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    I took a break for a bit and played dragon nest, vanquishing was getting to me , but sure what do you want to do?

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    Last Post: 2007-10-22, 20:34