Guild Wars & World of Warcraft

[vee4473]

I am going to get one of these as my first splash into the MMORPG pool.

I have waded through much of the threads regarding these games, but I didn't notice anyone really comparing the two. There was alot to read, sorry if I missed it.

So, this thread is an attempt to have those who have played both give up some commentary. Or if you only have one, what drew you to that particular one and were you glad...that sort of thing.

The first thing that I noticed from screens is that WoW looks great, if a bit more cartoonish than GW. Other than that though...

Thoughts on gameplay, player interaction, performance, atmosphere etc...

Atmosphere is very important to me as escaping reality is a big draw. Which has the more fantastical environment and makes you feel like you are "there"?

Also, which requires more "party" play as opposed to lone questing? My preference could be for more lone play (and some might ask "whats the point then?", maybe so, but just the expansive environment is a draw.)

Are there computer controlled "henchmen teammates" in WoW like in GW in case no suitable humans are there?

Oh, and I think GW is free, where WoW is subscription which I don't mind at all if the game is good.

thanks alot.

[vee4473]

damn, should have posted this as a poll.

[Jon Miller]

they are very different

in GW Player interaction is mostly selling things to eachother, and the competition of the arena (which is similiar to team games like CS, I think (I haven't played much of it))

a lot of the PvE content is alone, or in a small group or pick up group

WoW is much more a true MMORPG

they both have good quests/story, but GW gets over sooner.. (I think), although WoW isn't near as long as some of the other, older, MMOs

all in all, they are different games for different people, and there is a third type (AO/old SWG/EVE) which is for an addition MMO wish (maybe even a 4th, hardcore grouping)

JM

[Jon Miller]

GW is free (to play), and has henchmen

WoW has neither

WoW has uber items to get, and lots of items, GW has just a few items, and while some with the best stats can take a while to get, they aren't that much better then ones that are easier to get

you will see more people in WoW, in GW if you are out in the country side, you only see your own party (which might just be you and henchman)

I played both, somewhat during the same time frame

right now I play GW (not much, but the nice thing about it being free is I can go back at any time), CoV/CoH, and EVE

while WoW has a bit of older, cartoony look to it, it does it well, and everything is very smooth

GW definitely has less production values, although they did a nice job on what they did

if you want to play PvE for a long long time, WoW is better (or even better would be something like FFXI or old SWG or AO or one of the other hardcore ones)

WoW is actually short, as far as MMOs are concerned, playing heavily you can complete it in a couple of months.. (and then you make an alt, or go on dungeon raid after dungeon raid for the 1% to get some rare loot)

JM
(honestly though, hardcore games like AO had even rarer loot... I had a freind who camped something for weeks...)

[vee4473]

thanks, is there a distinction that can be made?

Meaning, could you say"if you like x, then GW might be for you" or "since WoW tends be more blah blah blah, then it might be what your looking for" type thing.

On Blizzards site, they talk about the different realms...PvE, PvP, RP, RP PvP i think.

I understand the difference between them, but am I wrong in thinking that if you start WoW in a PvE realm, then you can't EVER go to a PvP?

that seems harsh if true.

[Jon Miller]

oh, you can PvP in a PvE realm

you just have to decide if you wish to (in arenas or duels)

and RP realms just have a few more people who want to RP, it isn't enforced

JM

[Jon Miller]

they both have put some effort into making a PvP game

I mean there is a competition to it, like in a team FPS game

other then that, think about WoW as MMO but for more casual players (unless you want the uber items)

while GW is a single player story, but where you can team with others and trade with them (that is the PvE part, the PvP part is complicated and interesting in its own right)

WoW is the true MMO, it is the true huge world to interact in..

JM

[vee4473]

thanks Jon. One other thing in my mind was a "goal".

I know there are quests to complete for items, XP etc... but is there actually a storyline that you follow in either? A definite end goal?

Or is it more just hooking up with other players to complete overall quests?

[Jon Miller]

GW has an end goal

WoW is a world...

JM

[vee4473]

interesting....

[Jon Miller]

I don't mean that you can't do random stuff in GW

you can

but it has a story line, and it isn't near as big

the difference, imho, between an MMO and a multiplayer game (GW is the later)

JM

[vee4473]

Thanks again. I'm sure more questions will pop into my head though. I don't know why this mmorpg thing is harder for me to digest than other game related things.

I guess I just have to dive in somewhere and things will be made clearer.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by vee4473
thanks, is there a distinction that can be made?

Meaning, could you say"if you like x, then GW might be for you" or "since WoW tends be more blah blah blah, then it might be what your looking for" type thing.

On Blizzards site, they talk about the different realms...PvE, PvP, RP, RP PvP i think.

I understand the difference between them, but am I wrong in thinking that if you start WoW in a PvE realm, then you can't EVER go to a PvP?

that seems harsh if true.

Yes. PvP is consensual on PvE servers. You turn on a PvP "flag" by attacking someone else who has turned theirs on, or by attacking certain NPCs, or by typing /pvp at the prompt.

On a PvP server you can be attacked by anyone from the other side whenever you enter a contested zone (most of the game world).

In practice there are plenty of scraps on the PvE server I play on (more than on the PvP server I rolled on in fact), but on a PvP server you will find that there are some high level players who will camp out lowbie zones and grief everyone who goes there. You don't lose much other than time because of this, but it does get a bit stupid after a while. Some of the instanced dungeons you will need to do are often camped out by the other side (the one who has cities nearest). Also, a lot of the time you go looking for fights you will find the opposing players being babysat by high levels, which means you can't really fight them.

All in all I have a pretty low opinion of WoW's PvP system. It doesn't seem to generate enough "good" PvP, but generates a fair amount of "bad" (i.e. non-competitive) PvP.

The other main difference is that the PvE servers seem to attract more mature players, while the PvP servers tend to take most of the leetspeaking teens. I go back to my PvP toon occasionally, but the community on PvP servers tends to drive me berserk very quickly.

Cheating and exploiting is also endemic on PvP servers (speed hacks, teleport hacks, etc. are the latest thing) compared to PvE (I've seen a grand total two people cheat on my server).

[Agathon]

Originally posted by vee4473
Thanks again. I'm sure more questions will pop into my head though. I don't know why this mmorpg thing is harder for me to digest than other game related things.

I guess I just have to dive in somewhere and things will be made clearer.

The difference is roughly that an MMOG brings with it a lot of the social benefits and problems that the real world faces - because it is a virtual society.

A multiplayer game limits interaction to certain kinds of contest (like a soccer game), and so doesn't either gain so much or face so many problems as an MMOG.

Multiplayer games require skill to win at. MMOGs require social skills to do well at. In a MMOG you will not get very far and will not enjoy much of the game content unless you can build up a social network based on trust. Of course some people manage this by creating associations that are not much different than organized crime. That is: everyone who is in is a member of the moral community, and the rest of the population are to be exploited.

MMOGs are still in their infancy. I think that a lot of the people who create them have a poor understanding of what makes real societies work: this means that virtual societies are often plagued with obvious social problems. For example: real societies need a fair amount of police. MMOGs have a few GMs who are really not sufficient to deal with a lot of the crap that goes on. Dealing with the beggars alone would take many more resources than are currently available. The program can't really deal with them in the same way that an AI can't really beat a human player.

It's really quite interesting. I guess I keep playing WoW mainly because of my interest in political philosophy. If MMOGs were really utopias I guess I would quit.

[FrostyBoy]

Start with WoW, then you will get a sense of large open worlds and a lot of things to play with.

I so want to play WoW again, I only played it for 1 month and had to leave country (I left my game with my flatmate to play instead).

But the problem is, I don't want to re-do everything I had done, and I only want to be one character, so for 1 month, it will most likely bore me to tears.


I hope for a WoW 2.

or even better, Civilization MMORTS.