Said Ketchman Assignment 1 CIS 487 Fall 2007 Dr. Maxim NCSOFT and ArenaNet Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game Cost: $30

Minimum System Requirements Intel Pentium III 800 MHz or equivalent 256 MB ram, 2GB HDD space ATI Radeon 8500 or NVIDIA GeForce 3 or 4 MX Series Video Cards with 64 MB of VRAM 16-bit Sound card CD-ROM Drive, Internet Connection Recommended System Intel Pentium III 1 GHz or equivalent 512 MB ram, 2GB HDD space ATI Radeon 9000 or NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti Series Video Cards with 64 MB of VRAM 16-bit Sound card CD-ROM Drive, Internet Connection Installation The game comes on CD-ROM which you just install onto your computer. Periodic updates come automatically when you login. You may also download the game online and use your existing account.

Quick Overview Guild Wars is a massively multiplayer online role- playing game. The game is totally online and features no single player mode. What makes Guild Wars unique is the fact that while the whole game world is connected, each mission and quest is unique per party that attempts to complete them. Meaning once you leave the cities and outposts with your party, you can no longer see or interact with other players (except for chatting with them). The game offers many different professions that a person can choose, starting from a warrior, monk, elementalist, necromancer, Mesmer, and ranger. In later expansions this range is increased with various new professionals and characters. Each profession has its own unique skills that aid the player throughout the game in various ways. Overview Summary  Massively Multiplayer Online Role- Playing Game  Team Missions and Quests  Professions and secondary professions

The Story The story of the original Guild Wars takes place on the continent of Tyria, a place where three different human kingdoms exist and other races of creatures, including the Charr. Within each of the kingdoms existed guilds that were bands of people like clans or cults that fought for dominance, money and influence. War broke out between the guilds of each neighboring kingdom and before long each nation was thrown into the conflict. For 50 years the humans fought each other until one day the lion-like creatures called the Charr invaded the human land. They laid waste to the northern most kingdom of Ascalon, destroying the kingdom in a Searing of magic. Later they proceeded to the kingdom of Orr and while they did not defeat the kingdom, dark magic was used by the advisor of the Orrian King that killed off all the people and left the land sunken and barden. The last kingdom, Kryta, fought against the Charr and was able to expel them from their land, thus saving their people from destruction. Story Summary  Human Kingdoms at War  Invasion of the Charr  Destruction of Tyria

Role Summary  Start before the ‘Seering’  Assist in helping Ascalon against Charr  Begin quest for greater cause Player’s Role You come in after the events explain in the story line. The trouble is there is nothing that indicates your particular purpose on the grand scale. As you go through the game, you are given minor missions and major quests that explain more of the story, but you go from ally to one person or kingdom to ally of another. Towards the later part of the game you find out that you need to get special powers through following an ancient ritual but still you don’t know what the full purpose of what you are doing is.

Interface  See for yourself…

Game Play You control a single player and battle in a 3D environment against your enemies. The game allows you to group up with other players to complete missions and quests. The game is an RPG with real-time fighting. There is also an option to fight against other players. This can be done by joining a random team, or joining a guild and competing in the guild wars. Game Play Summary  Control Single Hero  Real-time RPG Fighting  Cooperative Battles

Scoring A player’s character gains levels based off our experience points. Experience points are gained by completing missions and quests. There is a cap at level 20, afterwards characters gain skill points which allow for having more powerful skills. There are also guild scores and competitions that rank each guild based off of the number of team battles won. Scoring Summary  Experience from Missions  Level 20 max  Guild Competition

Sound and Art Their isn’t much to talk about in terms of music for the game. There is, however, a great deal of sound effects per unit in the game, but as this is a fighting RPG many of the sounds are grunting and the like. The artwork for the game is excellent as illustrated throughout this presentation. Special Features  Ability to join guilds and compete against other guilds  Full 3D environment with great scenery  Realistic characters  Ability to take any profession and a secondary profession (which can be changed)

Disappointing Aspects  Storyline becomes confusing and drawn out. The pieces stay disconnected for too long of periods and the player feels like he is just doing endless submissions.  Not enough variation of items for hero. For example, my staff at level 8 is the same one I use for level 20 because I haven’t found a better one yet (and I don’t think one exists!). Fun Parts of Game  Hero Customization  Online community of players  Cooperative Missions and Quests  Challenging Fighting style (you can’t just button mash)  Wide array of skills per profession  Graphics are top notch  Easy game play

Comparison to Other Games  When out on missions and quests, only team members you select can go with you.  All players exist on same “world” so no need to switch servers to see people.  Expansions that extend the game just like the rest  Online community that allows you to talk and trade with people in towns and outpost.  Audience is Teen just like many others What’s Better/Worse  Storyline not as interesting  Graphics are more realistic  Doesn’t require as much time commitment  Its FREE to play online!

Worth Purchasing? If you are willing to buy the expansions that add more features then yes. Otherwise, with just the original version it isn’t worth it. The fact that you don’t pay a subscription cost might be a reason to buy it though. Summary Strengths:  Graphics  Easy to play  FREE online play  Expansions & Updates Weaknesses:  Storyline Possible Improvements They are already working on a totally new version which includes a consistent environment. I’d have some work on the storyline throughout the game. They are also removing the level 20 max which will make the game more interesting in the long run.