Guild Wars

[Griking]

I pre-ordered it a while back and picked it up Friday. I have to say, this is one gorgeous looking game. while exploring the landscape I've had to stop frequently just to admire the visuals.

Gameplaywise I have to say its been a bit disappointing but I hear that it picks up later in the game. So far I'm completing mostly Fedex type "deliver this" "get me this" type of quests and there doesn't seem to be any primary plot but again, i'm still early on in the game.

Other than the fact that I enjoy PC RPG games the major selling point to me about this game is that the online play is 100% free. No monthly fees at all.

so is anyone else playing?

[davepesc]

Arise from your grave, dead topic.

I just wanted to say I've been playing for 3 weeks now ind this is one fantastic game. It has all the best parts of an MMO without the drawbacks.

Levels are capped at 20 and that can be reached pretty easily (I've got 2 characters to 12 playing a total of about 30 hours), so the player vs. player arenas (no pvp kills in the field) are about skill, not levels.

Small group tactics (pvp is 4-4 to 8-8) stress teamwork above "uber" characters.

Graphics: beautiful. Gameplay is open-ended enough that you can just go hunting if you want, there are only a few missions required to advance the story/open new areas. Vast majority are optional.

The only possible drawback is the lack of specialized skills. You won't spend 75 hours working on your brewing skill like in EQ2, if you can call that a bad thing. In GW, all of the skills for your 2 jobs are relatively easy to come by. The test is what you do with them.

/gush
Seriously. If you have a pc, the game is $50 and there are no monthly fees. The world is huge and they just added 2 new areas yesterday. A seperate expansion (not free) is planned (fall?) but will not be required.