GW vs. WoW v2

I've been playing WoW since the release in '04 but quit last month. I picked up guildwars the day it was first released and have decided to drop WoW for Guildwars for several reasons:

1: I don't care what Blizzard advertises or what some players say, but WoW is geared towards hardcore players, period. Especially at endgame, when WoW turns into the virtual treadmill of 40 man raids and honor grinding. It's the same thing over and over. A nonstop grind for raid gear and/or honor rank. That's all endgame is: Raiding and PvP'ing.

2: What I really hate about WoW is that it places a *huge* emphasis on gear. To put it bluntly, success and advancement in WoW depends on how much time you dedicate to playing the game. Skill takes a backseat. It's a very simple game. When you enter a raid or step into the battlegrounds, your success or defeat will mostly be determined by what gear you have equipped. I'd say it's about 70% gear and 30% skill. Don't believe me? Try doing a 40-man raid with everyone wearing green or blue gear. You'll be dead in no time. Or try fighting a player decked out in full tier 2+, epic trinkets and weapons while you're equipped with your greens and blues. Sorry, doesn't matter how much "skill" you have, but you're gonna lose unless the other player is AFK. I know this first hand because I've been in both situations. With my tier 2 mage, I absolutely destroy lesser-geared players, sometimes in only 2 or 3 shots. The only challenge I face in PvP is when fighting equally geared players or I'm outnumbered. I also have a second character who has crappy green and blue gear and gets owned in PvP against people with 40-man epics no matter how much skill I have. Speaking of skill in PvP, it only takes about 1 week of PvP'ing to learn how to properly fight every other class. It's very simple. Player builds are extremely cookie-cutter and similar. It's not diverse at all.

3: Monthly fees suck.

4: This may seem like an over-generalization, but WoW has a large elitist population. Due to the hardcore nature of the game, it attracts a lot of people who are arrogant and condescending towards "casual" players. I rarely see this attitude in guildwars. Go visit the official WoW forum on Blizzard's website. It has more drama than every highschool in the world combined. This attitude is widespread throughout WoW...both ingame AND out of the game.

I like guild wars for all the opposite reasons I've listed above. Success in PvP relies on PURE skill and knowledge of the limitless amount of builds in the game. Plus, PvP lies very heavily on group dynamics. Certain builds interact well with one another so this makes PvP even MORE deeper. There is single dynamics and group dynamics. Players are constantly inventing new builds, so you never know what you're going to see on the battlefield. PvP in Guild wars OWNS. All players have easy access to the same level of armor and weapons. There is no imbalance, unlike in WoW. You don't have to worry about getting destroyed because you are outgeared. There is no such thing as being "outgeared" in this game. Unlike WoW, It's all skill. You don't have to sell your soul and raid for endless hours in one sitting to have access to powerful gear. In Guild wars, everything is readily available to everyone. Winning or losing depends on how well you know your own class, other classes, your build, other builds, knowledge of skills, dynamics and interaction with other players and particular skills, reflexes...whereas in WoW it's all about who spends the most time playing the game and therefore has the most powerful gear.

The level 20 cap in Guild Wars is awesome. This eliminates the grind factor that plagues this genre of games. With the WoW Burning Crusade expansion, the level cap will be raised to 70! Yay, more countless hours of grinding!!! More endgame instances to run! Instead of focusing on the core problems of the game, Blizzard is just extending the endgame with all the same issues at hand.

I will admit that Guild Wars is lacking in PvE. I wish PvE was deeper. However, PvE still has a lot to offer, such as unique green drops, unlocking elite skills etc. What I love in Guild wars PvE is that it's grind-free. You will hit level 20 by just doing missions and quests. It's a PvP based game.

Anyway, I'm glad I cancelled my WoW account. I can play Guild Wars on my own schedule. I don't have to worry about "falling behind" with the rest of my guild if I don't play for a couple weeks. I could sit out from Guild Wars for a couple of weeks and when I come back I'll be right where I left off. In WoW, if you stop playing for an extended time your honor rank will plummet and your fellow guildmembers will have progressed further than you, which leaves you in the dust. The game is designed so you have to keep playing to stay on top. Of course, the design of the game revolves around the monthly fee. It's a virtual hampster wheel, and you're the hampster.

Guild wars is an MMORPG. People just like to say it isn't because they don't like that it's so different from WoW and traditional MMORPG's.

MMORPG = Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. Guild wars is a role playing game, it's online, and it's massively multiplayer, with thousands of other players on at the same time.. sorry it's not dumbed down to *beep* like WoW but it's still an MMORPG

aye it was.

RIP Star Wars Galaxies :(