WoW vs. Guild Wars 2 vs. everything else...

[tomster2300]

Is World of Warcraft easy to get started on? I'm looking for a mmo to play this summer but out of all the ones I try, I always end up being a day late and a dollar short. Can you quickly level up in WoW or are you stuck with nothing to do for a long time?

I somewhat enjoyed EVE Online but the leveling up of skills was in real time, with a level IV taking up to a month to finish. You could only do one at a time, and there were usually 10 levels to a skill (5 levels for a skill, then 5 more for the advanced skill that needed the former maxed out as a prerequisite). The only way to really get anywhere in that game was to have started years ago when it first came out.

I'm waiting on the new pirates mmo to come out, but I'd like something to play in the meantime. Do you think WoW will be around for awhile longer, or should I wait for something like Guild Wars 2 to come out and get started with that? I'd like to find something where it's enjoyable to play and you're not always sitting around being bored waiting for that next skill to upgrade. EVE was a lot of wasted time sitting and waiting because you really couldn't do anything at times until you had the proper skill set.

Oh and SWG is awful, like I said in my other thread.

[Alaron]

Guild Wars 2 is not coming out for another year, so that would be a heck of a wait.

I will highly recommend Guild Wars though. You can pick up any of the expansions as a standalone game, Nightfall is the best of the three.

I found WoW was too slow to start out. In GW you feel like a part of the story very quickly. WoW is too big to feel significant until you have spent a long time leveling up.

[tomster2300]

I downloaded WoW this morning and have been playing it for the last hour or so. I'm enjoying it so far, but there is a lot of walking. I know some people who play it, but similar to what you said Alaron, it might be a bit before I can do anything with them.

I'll give Guild Wars a shot as well. Is it as good as gameplay wise?

[Alaron]

Well I didn't play WoW long enough to give a fair comparison. But I will say that I am a fan of action, I don't care much about overly detailed statistics and character development. I liked that GW got you into the action quickly and had plenty of interesting quests to keep me engrossed for a long time. I only stopped playing because school started again in the fall.

[rspassey]

What I like most about guild wars is that it isn't a game of constantly farming for supplies or killing to level up. It actually requires skills, as opposed to some other mmorpgs where you spend all your time killing, mining, etc. to level up in order to make it further into the game. In GW you level off at 20 (unless the expansions have changed this) and from there on it becomes a test of skill and tact, not pure combat level.

[tomster2300]

That does sound interesting, I didn't know the skills capped off so low. How long does it take to reach level 20 though? I'm currently a level 8 druid in WoW at the end of a day. That seems quick, but you have to remember the goal is now 70...this might take awhile.

[rspassey]

You can level up to 20 in a week of really hard play. It usually takes 2 weeks for me because I take my time to get into good, dedicated groups, as opposed to just being run through all the missions.

[tomster2300]

So is it better to join a guild in the beginning, or should I keep soloing it? Is there a certain you recommend getting to before looking for a guild?

[Alaron]

I solo-ed pretty much the whole game. I joined a few guilds, but rarely played together. With the henchmen you can use, none of the quests are too tough, except maybe at the end of the game. And with Nightfall's addition of customizable heros (beefed up henchmen), you can solo the game no problem.

I think ryan's one week estimate is a little low. I don't recall getting to 20 that fast, even though I played fairly often. But I didn't see the game as a leveling grind, I just focused on completing quests.

[Stretchman]

I played Wow in Beta and then in retail for around six months. It was a lot of fun. In many ways it can said to be the last great 'traditional MMO', so yes, there is a long grind between the lower and upper levels. To Blizzard's credit however, they make the experience pretty fun for the most part.

Have you thought about Lotro? Or perhaps Vanguard saga of heroes? I know there are a few freebie MMO's out there as well.

[Vigor]

I leveled to 60 on one of my characters about 7-8 days of playing time. 13 days on my first character. I quit by the way, it took too much of my time. That game is more toward Dungeons and grinding, I don't mind the dungeons (instances) but I don't like grinding.

Waiting for Warhammer Online!

[Jaggannath]

I've had GW for ages but have yet to actually play the game... really looking forwards to it though, I think working out your starting combo will be pretty important.

[thaigecko]

I can't say anything about GW. However, I've been playing WoW since it came out basically. It is is a bit of a grind to go from level 1 to 60 solo. However, there are many quests to do to keep things interesting. The best thing to do is quest and group play when you can. If your region is out of quests to give, but you're not quite ready to move up to a higher region, there is usually another region at your level you can go to with more quests to get you over the hump. Here are a few tips to combat the grind... If you can, find a RL friend who is willing to help you out. Join the newest server you can to increase your chance of group play with your peers at the lower levels. Choose two gathering professions (i.e. mining and skinning) and sell all you collect on the auction house. Final note... I mentioned the grind is from 1-60. That's not a typo. Once you get to 58 or even 57, you'll be running for Outland as fast as you can. There, getting groups together for instances will be A LOT easier, which will make your leveling easier. There are many many many fun quests to do. And as always, the loot is better