This is information for Guild Wars players, people interested in starting play, or those just interested in what goes on in an online PC game. Fellow Dragons, please forgive my selfish attitude with the pictures. All my group pictures are on the hard drive in the new computer being built. One more thing, if you click on the pictures they will enlarge.
Guild Wars is a online role playing game that premiered in April of 2005. It started with one continent, now there are three and there is one expansion pack for the original chapter. So, to have the whole game you need four different purchases. If you only want to buy one start with the original Guild Wars. It's called Prophecies. You must have it to buy the last chapter and it's just a generally good place to start. Always check online for great prices (Amazon, NewEgg) and BestBuy usually has discounts on Guild Wars products. Please remember, Guild Wars does NOT charge a monthly fee.
Before doing anything - CHECK YOUR HARDWARE. This game can be graphic intense. You must have a bare minimum of a AGP 256 video card and several gigs of RAM. Faster the processor the smoother the game too. Don't listen to the hype. Make sure you have a nice video card. PCIe 256 or 512 is even better. Don't expect a 4 year old machine with 64 megs of video memory, 512megs of ram and 1.2 processor to be a great performer. Even though you can log in, it will be jerky and frustrating. Yes, I know some people know enough about tweaking their machines to make such a unit work, but make it easy on yourself.
Why play this game instead of Crysis, World of Warcraft, etc.? It's beautiful. Guild Wars has absolutely the most awesome rendering in the game world. If you want to experience one of the most over hyped and definitely the most hardware hungry game by all means play Crysis. If you want your characters and background to look like cartoons then get you a big bowl of World of Warcraft. Pay those ridiculous front end costs and absurd monthly fees (
EDIT: After some review and help I don't think Crysis has a monthly fee - please see edit at the bottom of this paragraph). I have tried both and don't like them, especially that stupid Crysis. This may be attractive to the younger set (teenagers) and that's okay with me. I have met several good players that are in their teens in Guild Wars. They have manners and treat people with respect. Then many have been seen whining like children because they can't blame their mistakes on someone else. They tend to criticize others, forgetting we are playing a game. But hey, what do you expect out of a group of 7,000,000 people? There will be good and bad. (
EDIT: I've made a huge mistake. Crysis is NOT the game I played. Apologies to those that are fans of this game. I've got to get that other computer up and running and find out what game it was that I disliked so much. Crysis is great n wunnerful and all that. Thanks out to Ashby and Mudslingr for pointing out my error. My bad)
Guild Wars is a fantasy set in a fantasy world with fantastic characters. It has a lot of interaction between live players yet can be played solo or with in game characters called heroes and henchmen. You don't have to be in a hurry. Stop, look around. Some of the scenery will amaze you. Do not be afraid to play. The game teaches as it progresses. It will move along at your pace. There are many awesome adventures at all different levels. The newness and complexity of creatures showing up is a hoot too. The big lion looking fellow in the top picture is an enemy you learn to despise at first. Then you find out some of them are actually kewl. They are called Charr. At the beginning you may play a lot with the heroes and henchies. Later you'll want the company of live players. This means interaction with fellow humans.
Find a guild and join. Make sure it suits you. You can always leave and join another. Some guilds expect mass participation and expect you to play a certain profession. Others are casual and not in a hurry. Our guild, Kudzu Dragons, is wayyyyy on the casual side. Yet several of us seem to find time to play as a group for a few hours each week. We constantly help other guildmates and provide gifts of virtual money and awesome weapons when possible. If someone requests aid with certain missions, quests, etc., people will respond. Then sometimes we just stand around in the guild hall and talk.
Talk. This is extremely important. Purchase a good headset. Have you seen the headphones that have microphones attached? Download and install your voice chat client (usually Teamspeak or Ventrilo, both free). We'll use Teamspeak as an example. The Kudzu Dragons use it and own their own servers. Get with the Server Admins and let them help you set up your voice program. Believe me, if you have never done it, you don't have a clue how to do the initial setup. But, that said, it's easy with help - if you can take directions. Plug that headset directly into your audio card or make sure your front panel audio connection is well shielded. Absolutely turn off all other speakers. Echo and stuttering can be a problem and you'll notice that less people will get on Teamspeak with you if you don't strive to eliminate these problems. Don't lie either. People can tell if you are not co-operating. With their ears.
Our group doesn't advocate profanity or rudeness. We are slow to recruit and use Teamspeak most of the time. There are occasions when people will enjoy a refreshing beverage and this is tolerated. Most people in our guild don't drink. Things just happened that way. We do have one thing in common. We all laugh. The constant banter and goofy things that happen in the game are a great source of humor. It's like gathering virtually to play Bridge, Rook, Chess, or D&D. Time spent is fun. We don't tolerate anyone gettin' their control phreaky on and encouragement abounds when someone makes a mistake, not criticism. It's a fun group.
I am using this topic for a few days since it has been requested several times and it is something I can post from my feeble memory. Changes are being made in the background. Non-Guild Wars fans please be tolerant. Our mode will change and cover tech topics again.
Have a great Sunday. Prayer is a wonderful thing. Even though I've been called a hypocrite by other humans it doesn't matter. That's between God and me and is really of no concern to them. My salvation is a personal relationship with our Lord. So be nice. Pray positive things. You might pray for our government. This financial crisis is tough and they could use some positive backing.
"Our whole life is solving puzzles."
~Erno Rubik
It's Canthan New Year on the three continents. Many people will be playing this weekend. It actually continues through 2:00PM on Monday. Look forward to participating since the SuperBowl holds none of my interest. Hey, Ole Miss isn't playing so it does not matter around the beach house. Anyway, looking forward to spending some time in the game with fellow Guild Members. If you haven't checked out this great online game it's fun just to view the awesome art work. Go to GuildWars.com. If you play the game look us up. We are the mighty Kudzu Dragons of the Imperial Guild Hall. Nice friendly folks that always enjoy meeting nice people. Give us a shout! Heck we'd even like folks to join us on our TeamSpeak server!
