MMORPGs are developing fast, with new titles seeking ways to make the genre more interesting. Some of the criticism levelled at the new breed of RPG is that there isn’t sufficient structure to make the games interesting. You spend hours wandering between quests, it takes an age to build up a character that isn’t a total buffoon, and the attractiveness of having an online world is detracted from by the fact that players are spread across several independent servers. Guild Wars looks to addres ... more >>

MMORPGs are developing fast, with new titles seeking ways to make the genre more interesting. Some of the criticism levelled at the new breed of RPG is that there isn’t sufficient structure to make the games interesting. You spend hours wandering between quests, it takes an age to build up a character that isn’t a total buffoon, and the attractiveness of having an online world is detracted from by the fact that players are spread across several independent servers. Guild Wars looks to address many of these problems and more: for starters, all participants are catered for on one large server, so if you want to find any player online, you’ll be able to. Many MMORPGs are using the idea of specific quests to make the gameplay more structured and interesting; In Guild Wars you meet allies at centralised towns and outposts, then take part in quests which you are transported directly to the start of. Each quest is unique to your party, so you don’t have to worry about kill-stealing.

Characters in Guild Wars don’t have to be built up on some ludicrous treadmill. Not to say that there is no character development, but just that your newly created character will be usable and useful. You won’t get lumbered with one character you grow sick of either - each account actually contains four deletable character slots, so you can experiment with different character types, selected from 36 possible configurations of Warrior, Ranger, Monk, Elementalist, Mesmer and Necromancer. As well as quests, you can join guilds, each with their own insignia, and take part in guild-on-guild battles or challenge individuals to duels. With the emphasis more on player skill than 'deep-develop' characters, you’ll be more encouraged to do so too. With the attraction of all-inclusive, competitive play and accessibility, Guild Wars is an honourable challenger in the fast developing and increasingly less monotonous world of MMORPGs.
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