From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action


Remember "Guild Wars"? Released in 2005, back when "World of Warcraft"
was king, it was a fantasy MMORPG with a (for its time) unique hook:
you'd pay for the software, but after that you could play the game for
free. This was a drastic change from the usual games of the genre,
where you not only had to pay a monthly subscription fee but also had
to buy the game software first.

Beyond that, though, it wasn't a particularly inspiring game. Oh sure,
it pioneered using instanced dungeons and its was built around the
idea of people joining clans (or, as they were called in the game,
"guilds", hence the title) from the start but the actual mechanics and
setting were fairly standard. Still, unlike most of its
contemporaries, "Guild Wars" survived over the years, and you can
still buy the game (it's even available on Steam) and keep playing for
as long as you want.

Over the years, "Guild Wars" got a number of expansions and upgrades.
A sequel came out in 2012 but the original kept chugging on, and it
still boasts an average daily player count of about 25000 people. Not
bad for a twenty-year old MMORPG! And now its finally getting an update/re-work, with improved visuals and updated mechanics. *

I have a soft spot for the original "Guild Wars" because it's the
MMORPG I put the most effort into enjoying. I'd tried a variety of
other games in the genre but I never stuck around very long. Partly
because I disliked the whole subscription based model, but also
because I just didn't care much for the gameplay. Spending more money
each month for a game I was struggling to enjoy didn't appeal to me,
so "Guild Wars" was the perfect game in that respect: I could stick
with it as long as I wanted until I either gave up on the MMORPG
concept or realized why people enjoyed it so much.

I poured months --on and off, over a year-- into the game before I
gave up on the experiment and decided that MMORPGs were just not
something I was ever going to favor. I tried soloing, I tried joining
a clan, I tried the PVE arenas... it just never clicked. I find the
games too shallow and mechanical to ever be entertaining to me; I intellectually can understand why some people like them, but they
never filled what I needed from a game.

Still, I can't help but appreciate that "Guild Wars" allowed me to
explore the genre at my own pace. It's not a great game, but its good
enough and, most of all, it's a survivor. So as down as I am on
remakes (which the "Reforged" edition really isn't), still I'm glad to
see its name in the news again.

"Guild Wars", you'll never be a game I _like_ but I'm thrilled to see
you keep chugging on. May you survive another 20 years.






----
* "Guild Wars: Reforged" announcement here
https://www.guildwars.com/en/


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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Tue, 18 Nov 2025 21:22:27 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

Remember "Guild Wars"? Released in 2005, back when "World of Warcraft"
was king, it was a fantasy MMORPG with a (for its time) unique hook:
you'd pay for the software, but after that you could play the game for
free. This was a drastic change from the usual games of the genre,
where you not only had to pay a monthly subscription fee but also had
to buy the game software first.

Yes, I remember Guild Wars 1. I did not care for it. I did not like
the instanced nature of it. I want to see other people running around.
It is part of the appeal of the MMO genre for me. Also, I did not like
being limited to taking only eight of my skills with me into each
instanced mission. That felt very 'gamey' to me.

Guild Wars simply did not have what I want from an MMO which is ok,
because there are plenty that do. I have found the ones that I like
and I cycle between them when I am in the mood for an MMORPG.
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 11/18/2025 6:22 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

Remember "Guild Wars"? Released in 2005, back when "World of Warcraft"
was king, it was a fantasy MMORPG with a (for its time) unique hook:
you'd pay for the software, but after that you could play the game for
free. This was a drastic change from the usual games of the genre,
where you not only had to pay a monthly subscription fee but also had
to buy the game software first.

I always hear people saying it's the best MMO ever made. I watched a
couple videos and didn't see the appeal. I was also heavily in my
'Recovering MMO (EQ) addict' phase and was trying to avoid them at the
point it was newish.
--
-Justisaur

ø-ø
(\_/)\
`-'\ `--.___,
¶¬'\( ,_.-'
\\
^'
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

Remember "Guild Wars"? Released in 2005, back when "World of Warcraft"
was king, it was a fantasy MMORPG with a (for its time) unique hook:
you'd pay for the software, but after that you could play the game for
free. This was a drastic change from the usual games of the genre,
where you not only had to pay a monthly subscription fee but also had
to buy the game software first.

Beyond that, though, it wasn't a particularly inspiring game. Oh sure,
it pioneered using instanced dungeons and its was built around the
idea of people joining clans (or, as they were called in the game,
"guilds", hence the title) from the start but the actual mechanics and setting were fairly standard. Still, unlike most of its
contemporaries, "Guild Wars" survived over the years, and you can
still buy the game (it's even available on Steam) and keep playing for
as long as you want.

Over the years, "Guild Wars" got a number of expansions and upgrades.
A sequel came out in 2012 but the original kept chugging on, and it
still boasts an average daily player count of about 25000 people. Not
bad for a twenty-year old MMORPG! And now its finally getting an update/re-work, with improved visuals and updated mechanics. *

I have a soft spot for the original "Guild Wars" because it's the
MMORPG I put the most effort into enjoying. I'd tried a variety of
other games in the genre but I never stuck around very long. Partly
because I disliked the whole subscription based model, but also
because I just didn't care much for the gameplay. Spending more money
each month for a game I was struggling to enjoy didn't appeal to me,
so "Guild Wars" was the perfect game in that respect: I could stick
with it as long as I wanted until I either gave up on the MMORPG
concept or realized why people enjoyed it so much.

I poured months --on and off, over a year-- into the game before I
gave up on the experiment and decided that MMORPGs were just not
something I was ever going to favor. I tried soloing, I tried joining
a clan, I tried the PVE arenas... it just never clicked. I find the
games too shallow and mechanical to ever be entertaining to me; I intellectually can understand why some people like them, but they
never filled what I needed from a game.

Still, I can't help but appreciate that "Guild Wars" allowed me to
explore the genre at my own pace. It's not a great game, but its good
enough and, most of all, it's a survivor. So as down as I am on
remakes (which the "Reforged" edition really isn't), still I'm glad to
see its name in the news again.

"Guild Wars", you'll never be a game I _like_ but I'm thrilled to see
you keep chugging on. May you survive another 20 years.

----
* "Guild Wars: Reforged" announcement here
https://www.guildwars.com/en/

I thought the first Guild Wars were pretty good but didn't carry on to
Guild Wars 2 for various reasons.
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