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| Source // MobyGames |
All the social interaction we learned from Façade can already be put to use in MMORPG Guild Wars, where players go through a fantasy world, slaying monsters and levelling up and all that cool stuff without endless queues of random strangers with weird names turning in the same quests to the same NPC.
Wait, what? So where's the interaction then?
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| Source // MobyGames |
Frustrations
It's nowhere near where I am, that's for sure. Guild Wars doesn't have a subscription, and nor does it have a demo, so far as I can tell. That leaves me with screenshots from the Internet and this boxed copy I found in a charity shop. With missing discs and - I kid you not - the manual to Tomb Raider: Legends on the PlayStation Portable, and not the manual to Guild Wars.
It was the Special Edition too. Art book? Nope. Map of Tyria? Nothing. Bonus music CD? No, but I do have an extra Disc 1...
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| Source // MobyGames |
Let's face it, even if I had purchased a full copy of Guild Wars, I was unlikely to gravitate towards it. I have at least watched a fifteen-minute video about it, to see what I'm missing.
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| Source // MobyGames |
Guild Wars does things differently, so I gather. Instead of having you grind your way towards the end game, you reach the low level cap relatively quickly, getting all the cool stuff and being able to play with it. But then what do you do? Well, the world is your oyster, and it's your world to interactive with. No random strangers running around on ridiculous mounts, no areas swamped with chat messages. Just pick somewhere on the map and explore it.
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| Source // MobyGames |
There are PvE and PvP areas, certainly, but you elect to go into those worlds. What's the point, if everyone is probably at the level cap? Well, out there in the wider world, hidden away behind quests and challenges and whatever else are a whole load of skills to equip your character and their party with.
Skills that can't be swapped out on the fly, prompting you to learn and utilise whatever skills you pick up, and make do with them until you find more.
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| Source // MobyGames |
Now, I can write all that easily enough, but I've no idea what it actually means in terms of gameplay. From what little I've seen, Guild Wars perhaps feels like a single-player MMORPG. It looks like an MMORPG, it acts quite like one, but it's yours. It's uncluttered. You're free to do what you want with the world before you. I hope you've got a good imagination.
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| Source // MobyGames |
There's a story of some sort, I gather, because there are cutscenes to watch. They actually look somewhat sensible, too, when there aren't any idiots flying around in the background. But what is that story? Is it engaging? Do people stick around to uncover it all?
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| Source // MobyGames |
Final Word
I've absolutely no idea, of course. Not until I play it for myself, and I'm just not interested. The evil-looking woman on the box cover isn't doing anything for me. The blurb on the back isn't either, though I do like the emphasis on enjoying it all without other players being necessary.
Maybe the art book would have swayed me, but alas, the previous owner of this Special Edition probably still has it. Did they enjoy it? How many hours did they sink into Guild Wars? Did they move onto the sequel before donating the leftovers that I would eventually come to own?
There are simply too many questions for me to answer. Guild Wars will go down on the 1001 list as another unplayed game, and though I might come across it in the future, I can't say that I'm actively looking out for it.
Maybe that's a poor decision on my part. What I don't know can't hurt me?
Fun Facts
You and your guild could have earned up to $100k in prize money in live PvP events, back in the day. You and your skills, really.
Guild Wars, developed by ArenaNet, first released in 2005.
Version watched: PC, 2005 (thadumbgoose)