Guild Wars vs. World of Warcraft

[ScottyHutch]

I've been thinking of trying Online Gaming. I haven't played any multiuser online games since the text based Muds from about 12 years ago. Guild Wars and World of Warcraft seem to get alot of attention these days, and I was wondering if I could get some opinions of the 2 games from those of you who have played them both.

Thanks.

 

[Human1]

I've played them both and they're both really good at what they do.
If you want pretty graphics and an emphasis on balancing your builds, go with Guild Wars. If you are okay with blocky cartoon graphics and love being able to spend hours playing a game then WOW is for you.
Really out of the two I was more interested in WOW. I play GW first for several months then tried out WOW. WOW just blew GW away, for me anyways. But WOW does have that pesky monthly fee I just can see myself paying, so I'm stuck with GW for now.

 

[guruofchem]

Guild Wars was my first foray into the world of MMO gaming, and I really enjoyed the game. The lack of a monthly fee sold me initially, and the beauty of the game kept me coming back. My guild eventually decided to move to WoW, where I have been for the last 6 months. WoW is a much deeper game, with its professions and crafting abilities, not to mention larger world, but I pay rent for that privilege. I have been happy with WoW up to now, but my advice would be to start with GW - if you find you enjoy the MMO style of gaming, try a 10-day trial of WoW and then decide. One thing I truly missed was GW's ability to travel instantly to any unlocked town on the map - this made it very easy to gather up guildies for a run at a particular mission. With 2 continents and long flight times (which can be costly), this becomes considerably more difficult in WoW. Even though my guild has the same folks in it, I see less of them in WoW than I did in GW, and I miss the game interaction - chat just isn't the same as adventuring with a half-dozen buddies decked out in our snazzy guild capes...

 

[ryokinshin]

guild wars no fee, wow has a fee

guild wars has less content then wow, but by no means an inferior game, i suggest u get factions if u buy guild wars and i also highly recommend it, i would only recommend wow if u hav a lot of time to play, since theres a monthly fee ud want to get the most out of it

 

[Human1]

Yeah, Factions is probably even better to get than the original GW. It just feels more polished and gets you into the action quicker. Good game.

 

[ScottyHutch]

Thanks for all your advice.


Cheers.

 

[Digeratic]

Agreeing my fellow posters, go for Guild Wars over World of Warcraft. Especially if you love PvP. The PvP in WoW is next to pointless and nowhere near as fun as the PvP in GW.

Also the community in GW is a darn sight better then that of WoW.

 

[andopolis]

I got bored of GW quickly but at least I didn't pay £30 and then £15 per month for it...

 

[locharht]

I would just like to say as someone who has played both quite alot due to being a fucking loner that I like WOW, the content was better and it is addicting as meth without the sideeffects. (not that i have ever done meth) BUT OK LETS BREAK THIS DOWN:

Wow:
Positives
Guilds
More Character Classes
2 sided
More quests
Bigger overall
Negatives
Montly Fees
And it Has not bad graphics


Guild Wars
Positives:[/u
Good Graphics
Game Play is OK
Guild Capes

Negatives
More PVP based (bad if you like quests)
You can only bring 8 skils with you when you go out hunting
Guild Capes can be really ugly.


So really just buy one play it then buy the other and play it and then make a choice like the rest of us did OR go on the www.warcraft.com site and download the free trial thats what got me started on it from a very havily playing guildwars fan.

 

[cafuddled]

Talk about waking the dead...

 

[torque79]

I have tried both. It is very intimidating the first time you look at WoW of a high level player, it looks like there is SO much on the screen. the reality is though, I only use some core skills most often, and all the rest are for intermittant/very infrequent use.

I hate the idea of pay-per-month, so I really tried to give GW a genuine chance. I stuck to it for over a month. I found that the quests felt extremely repetitive, with only 3 or 4 different types of quest scenarios most of the time. Then, when some guild mates tried to help me providing better gear etc, I found it very difficult to figure out what gear was better than others (the descriptions help little in determining which is "better"), especially since the differences between low level and high level gear is so slight. I also found I had to ask a million questions about everything, the game seemed rather difficult to learn even the basics. there was absolutely no "tutorial" basic early-game to bring you up to speed, where I felt WOW did a much better job of that (although could still do better).

In fairness, I have been playing blizzard games for years, so I may be too used to their style of gameplay. However, I do not really agree with others opinion of the graphics. I feel that most of GW is in really wide-open areas with a camera WAY overhead, very slow and repetitive combat, and little to look at. With WoW, I find myself taking screenshots when I find nice new vistas, waterfalls, etc.

pay-per-month is really lame. I hate it. I also hate the crazy travel time between some areas of the WOW world. It is not my favourite game I've ever played (in fact, I think I preferred WC3 and Diablo2), but I do enjoy running instances with friends and playing together. I think these games are going too far towards PVP for my taste, where I prefer teamwork and co-op play.

 

[Bl4d3]

Guild Wars > WoW. i have been playing guild wars since beta and it is amazing. the graphics are sooooooo much better than WoW. if you like having a decent eyesight then you should get into Guild Wars. our guild is recruiting if you want to join us... lol later 😀

 

[TSIMonster]

I really like Guild Wars. I find the story very interesting and the graphics are good. I especially like how easy the game is on the computer and network. I have friends who play on Dial-Up as well as some who play with integrated intel graphics or worse... and it still looks good!

I haven't played WoW, so I can't comment on that. The only other MMO I have played was FFXI and while a good game and I enjoyed playing it... the monthly fee drove me away. I refuse to pay a monthly fee as long as free games like Guild Wars exists.

 

[torque79]

I really like Guild Wars. I find the story very interesting and the graphics are good. I especially like how easy the game is on the computer and network. I have friends who play on Dial-Up as well as some who play with integrated intel graphics or worse... and it still looks good!

I haven't played WoW, so I can't comment on that. The only other MMO I have played was FFXI and while a good game and I enjoyed playing it... the monthly fee drove me away. I refuse to pay a monthly fee as long as free games like Guild Wars exists.

you do realize there are now two expansions out for GW, which cost around $50 Canadian each last time I looked, right? These were released in much less time than WoW's first expansion (not yet released). For a new player, to get the full GW game with expansions now costs around $150 canadian (with tax), and they plan a 6 month expansion rotation I believe? It may not have a monthly fee, and of course you have the option of not getting the expansions, but obviously you'd be missing out on content. I submit that it is virtually the same as pay-per-month due to the frequency of expansions, though $50/6months is a little more than half Wow's monthly fee so GW is still more affordable.

 

[rocket_sauce]

I have both games and started on WoW, then went to GW. I hated GW aftger playing WoW. GW wars graphics are more realistic, but that does not make up for the gameplay. WoW graphics are more cartoony, but it still looks fantastic. Gameplay on WoW is fantastic and it has ruined me for just about every other game out there now. It was also my first foray into MMO's.

I recommend getting trial versions for each and trying them out for yourself. I am sure you will like WoW better (except for the monthly cost of course :x , but if you have the money it is worth it) Its not the no1 selling game for months for nothing.

 

[ragekage18]

I agree with Rocket sauce on this one, WOW blew my mind the first time i played it. I now start to jones if i dont play for a couple of days. 8O

 

[Ktaan]

Just a quick reply as im short of time:

WoW >>>>>>> Guild Wars


All the times i played GW I was spammed, shouted at, people tried to rip me off/scam me constantly, I just thought F*** this im not playing a game to be verbally abused all the time.

WoW was just sooo my friendlier (EU server Dragonblight) and the game just sem so much more playable, quests are really nice way of breaking you into the game..


Get a free trial account from the WoW homepage.....try it for 10 days for free.

Trust me, u will love it.

 

[TSIMonster]

I really like Guild Wars. I find the story very interesting and the graphics are good. I especially like how easy the game is on the computer and network. I have friends who play on Dial-Up as well as some who play with integrated intel graphics or worse... and it still looks good!

I haven't played WoW, so I can't comment on that. The only other MMO I have played was FFXI and while a good game and I enjoyed playing it... the monthly fee drove me away. I refuse to pay a monthly fee as long as free games like Guild Wars exists.

you do realize there are now two expansions out for GW, which cost around $50 Canadian each last time I looked, right? These were released in much less time than WoW's first expansion (not yet released). For a new player, to get the full GW game with expansions now costs around $150 canadian (with tax), and they plan a 6 month expansion rotation I believe? It may not have a monthly fee, and of course you have the option of not getting the expansions, but obviously you'd be missing out on content. I submit that it is virtually the same as pay-per-month due to the frequency of expansions, though $50/6months is a little more than half Wow's monthly fee so GW is still more affordable.

You do realize that those aren't expansions but full games? They can be played in any order. I recommend getting them all at once because they do tie together well if you play them in order. Also, I got the original for $35 from EBgames, Factions for $34, and Nightfall on sale for $25. Thats $94 for more the 300+ hours of game play with no $15/month fee 🙂!

 

[bfellow]

I've only tried WOW for awhile but I didn't want to pay any monthly fees:

However, I've played Guild Wars and here are the PROS and CONS of Guild Wars:

PRO:
Skill sets are balanced for each class combo
Great team PVP matches
Excellent graphics. Don't need an ultra-powerful card to run the game at high graphics settings (I had a Geforce 6200 AGP 256MB back then)
Most items do not cost alot
No monthly fee
Max armor/weapons items are easily obtained
Certain Max rare items easily obtainable (green items)
"Expansion" games can be bought/used as standalone or merged to an existing account.
You can play "single" player with henchmen or join/form a group.
Very challenging missions at high level

CONS:
Rare items sold by players to merchants can't be bought back by anyone.
Level cap is 20 (could be PRO)
People in towns selling rare items at overinflated prices
Character's mouths don't move in cutscenes.
Henchmen sometimes do stupid stuff.

 

[stemnin]

People in towns selling rare items at overinflated prices
Henchmen sometimes do stupid stuff.

True.

Character's mouths don't move in cutscenes.

They changed that a while back, still aint as great as other games, but Ok for a CORPG.


I played WoW for the first 2 weeks and was unimpressed, ive played many hours of warcraft, starcraft, diablo games, and wow was just bleh, but ive been playing GW for just over a year now, and its been fun.

Try both games first.

 

[TSIMonster]

People in towns selling rare items at overinflated prices
Henchmen sometimes do stupid stuff.

True.

Character's mouths don't move in cutscenes.

They changed that a while back, still aint as great as other games, but Ok for a CORPG.


Maybe in the newer ones, but not prophecies. The mouths still don't move and it is really annoying.

I agree with most of the pros and cons listed earlier. Pretty much on par. I haven't decided if I like the level cap or not. Makes the game based more on skill as opposed to hours played, but leveling up is fun in its on right.

 

[torque79]

I found the learning curve was far too extreme with GW. there were SO MANY skills to choose from, I had no idea what to do. I tried a few different choices, but with very limited success, and always did extremely poorly in PVP.

I tried to research the skills and options on some websites, but it seemed like there were so many different approaches nobody had taken the time to write anything specific that worked for them. When the weapons had such small differences between them regarding damage, benefits, etc even gear selection was very difficult.

I felt WOW was a lot easier to pick up and understand what was going on. Although it takes longer to become top level, it is fairly easy to understand what skills you can develop and pick some useful things to work together. The screen looks a lot more cluttered, but the controls feel familiar and easy to pick up.

 

[infection]

i played GW for a good while (because it was free monthly) but then come to realize that with all their expansions they come out with that its not really free (if you want the full content of the game). I found myself constantly bored (max lvl 20) and there was just no variety since everyone has the same weapons and armor levels (has this changed? can one person have a more powerful weapon than another? or is it just maxed at a certain dps still)

so i went to WoW and payed my 15$ a month and havent looked back. there is always something to do with my time, and i actually find i dont have enough time to play. there just hasn't been any times where i find myself bored with the game, and i've played it for more than a year and a half now.

and it will also be even better because the expansion is coming out on Jan 16th.

and for whoever said the pvp sucks in WoW.. please pvp more. i actually have pvp'd the whole time ive played and have raided hardly none (which gives me even more to do if i wanted to) but the pvp is just to much fun. one of the most balanced games with class's ive played (one class cant beat every other class in the game). some class's are gear dependent on how good they do.. but that gives plenty of variety to chose from and doesnt limit you to a max armor and weapon level.

with GW i got so tired of the limited ability to use skills (choose the 8 BEFORE you go into a match) that just sucked.. certain characters just could not beat others.. i dont think that is balanced at all.

but if all that has changed.. please post. these was my biggest turn offs.

 

[Tang]

IMO play GW first, then WoW. The other way around and you'll be hooked on WoW The lack of expansions doesn't mean a lack of content. Blizz updates bugs about every two months, and since release added 5 new dungeons(three 40man, two 20 man, and three PvP battlegrounds). It's worth the 15 USD per month if you like to play it.

 

[TSIMonster]

then come to realize that with all their expansions they come out with that its not really free (if you want the full content of the game).

While I agreed with some of the things you said.... this cracked me up. I ended up paying about $84 dollars for all three Guild Wars.

WoW = $20
WoW Expansion = $40

Thats $60 for WoW and $84 for GW.... $24 difference... that means I can play GW forever for $84, but can only play WoW for 1.5 months for $84