1. A Comprehensive Game Evaluation By: Michael Alff
Guild Wars
A Comprehensive Game Evaluation
By: Michael Alff

2. Guild Wars Campaigns Developed By: ArenaNet MSRP: $49.99 USD
Two new campaigns released every year.
1st Campaign: Guild Wars – Prophecies (Released 4/28/05) – Focus of Evaluation
2nd Campaign: Guild Wars – Factions (Released 4/28/06)
3rd Campaign: Guild Wars – Nightfall (World Release 10/27/06)
Developed By: ArenaNet
Subsidiary Of / Published By: NCsoft
MSRP: $49.99 USD
ESRB Content Rating: Teen Violence
User Agreement: Children under the age of 13 are not permitted to play.
Classification
Competitive/Cooperative Online Role Playing Game (CORPG)
Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG)

3. Internet Connectivity
Game Requirements
System Requirements
Minimum
Recommended
Evaluation OS
Microsoft® Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
CPU
Intel Pentium® III 800Mhz or equivalent
Intel Pentium® III 1Ghz or equivalent
2Ghz Plus Processor
Memory
256 MB RAM
512 MB RAM
1 GB RAM Plus
Graphics
3D Graphics Card with 32 MB of VRAM
3D Graphics Card with 64 MB of VRAM
3D Graphics Card with 128 MB of VRAM Plus
Sound
16-bit Sound Card
HDD Space
2 GB Available Space
Internet Connectivity √
Broadband or Higher
Keyboard / Mouse

4. Getting The Game Retail Purchase Purchased Online
Packaging with Fancy Artwork
Access Key
Installation CD
Game Manual
Game Story
Profession Overviews
Hero Overviews (Major NPC)
Enemy Overviews
Poor Job on “How to Play”
Quick Reference Guide
Keyboard / Mouse Layout
Attribute Point Allocation Guide
Skill Type Descriptions
Purchased Online
Downloadable Software
Available At:
Online Manuals Available

5. Installation 1. Download Software / Insert CD
2. Run Installation Wizard
3. Provide Installation Location
4. Accept User Agreement
5. Enter Access Key
6. Play Game

6. Game Story Setting Starts in peace time (Pre-Sear)
Ancient Content of Tyria
Kingdoms and Magic rule the land
Strongly associated to many mythical gods
Starts in peace time (Pre-Sear)
Introductory Training Area
Using Skills
Setting Attributes
How to advance in the game
Choosing Secondary Profession
Major Game Event Searing
Meteor shower like event reaps havoc across Ascolon, a kingdom of Tyria.
Starts main part of game.

7. Game Story Continued Main Game (Post-Sear)
Start off defending Ascolon against a group of invading beast like enemies, the Char.
Travel to nearby land Kryta and liberate inhabitants from the White Mantle, a cruel group of elite knights in power.
Advance to a jungle-like area where player learns of an evil race known as the Mursaat, set on conquering Tyria, by releasing an ancient evil army.
Travel to the Desert to “ascend” and become worthy of defending Tyria against its greatest threat.
Head off to Hell, a volcanic wasteland, to destroy the Mursaat, and ultimately save all of Tyria fulfilling the Flame Seeker Prophecies.

8. Game Modes All Gaming Exist on ArenaNet Server
Player vs. Environment (PvE)
Story Driven
Start at level 1 and advance to level 20 (Max).
Cooperative Missions
Advance game story
Main objective of PvE is to complete all
Standard Mission & Bonus Mission
No Team Re-spawn
NPC Quest
Between Coop Missions
Can be a prerequisite to a Coop Mission
Team Re-spawn
Buy / Earn Skills, Weapons, Armor
Player vs. Player (PvP)
Start out at level 20
Multiple types of competition: Survival, Capture and Hold, Points Based, Etc.
Up to 16 players (8 vs. 8)
Guild Ladder Ranking (PvP Scoring)
Items / Skills available for use earned in PvE

9. Character Professions
Each Guild Wars Character is comprised of 6 base classes where a primary and secondary profession are chosen:
Elementalist – spell casting class using air, water, earth, and fire magic for both damage and defense.
Ranger – Ranged attacker, master of pets and traps and sprits that effect surrounding players and enemies.
Warrior – Short ranged melee attacker, heavily armored.
Monk – Heals and restores players in party, also smites enemies with holy damage.
Necromancer – Utilizes corpses of fallen enemies / party members, curse caster.
Mesmer – spell casting class, master of illusion, manipulates targets actions against them.
Entire set of primary professions skills and attributes.
Limited subset of secondary professions skills and attributes.

10. Game Play Goal Oriented Game Team play is a must for this game.
Goals Become more difficult as player progresses.
Focus on one mission / quest at a time.
Completing missions /quests opens new goals.
Team play is a must for this game.
Group with other players to achieve common goals.
Group with computer controlled henchmen.
Create or join a guild.
Mix of different character types on a team.
Gain Experience
Completing Quest and Co-op Missions
Triggers Leveling (20 Max)
PvE Scoring (doesn’t really matter)

11. Game Play Continued Items Collect items dropped from fallen foes.
Exchange items for gold or keep for use.
5 Classes of Items
Plain - Abundant, Low Value
Blue – Frequent, Medium Value
Purple – Less Frequent, Medium Value
Gold – Semi-Rare, High Value  Standard for a good weapon.
Green – Extra Rare, Enormous Value  Obtained from bosses only.
Buy / Sell / Trade with NPC or Human Player
Armor
Use materials and gold to craft customizable armor.
Different Modifications (ex. 20% resist cold damage)
Upgradeable using Runes. (1 upgrade per armor piece)
Enormous Selection.
Weapons
All professions can use all weapons
Some more effective dependant on profession attributes.
Various Upgrades (usually 2 per weapon allowed)

12. Game Play Continued Interactive NPCs Provide Quest Buy / Sell Items
Join you in battle
Missions / Quest
Battle to an area
Obtain an Item
Kill a boss
Defend and area under attack
Death Penalty
Each time you die you incur -15% max hp and energy. (-60% Max)
Regain by killing foes.
DP removed when you enter a town or outpost.
Additional Goals Are Titles.
Several tiers to titles.
Display titles under character.

13. Skills Allowed to carry up to 8 skills at once.
Skill Effectiveness increase with attribute points.
75 Skills per Profession that are unlocked through gameplay.
Skills adjustable at a town / outpost, locked otherwise.
Variety of skills allows for near limitless character builds / strategy .
Skills have energy cost, casting time, and recharge time associated with them.

14. Map of Tyria

15. Game Fun Fun Game Play Not Fun Game Play
Create multiple characters adds new dimension to the game.
Personalize Your Character
Custom Look
Guild trademark is customizable cape.
Holiday Events exist in dynamic world.
Special Quest
Special Rewards
Variety
Many choices of play lead to low repetition.
Every item / character has multiple choices.
Not Fun Game Play
Internet disconnection in middle of quest or mission.
High death penalty makes quest near impossible.
Some goal must be completed at once and take a very long time (hours).
It may be difficult to locate specific elements key to game play.

16. Special Features Team Coordination Compass
All players in party can see.
Ping a location.
Draw paths through maze like areas.
Automatic Drop Allocation
Gold evenly dispersed throughout party.
Item drops assigned in a round robin fashion.
Holiday Events
Christmas party with unique rewards.
Enemy Targeting Feature
Call out targets allowing party members to attack targets called.
Competition Among Location
Guild Wars locations: US, Europe, Japan, Australia, etc.
Successive PvP wins = Favor of the Gods
Better Drops
Access to Elite Areas
Self Adjusting (Price) Economy  Price of items (buy and sell) adjust to supply and demand.

17. User Interface Controls Are Easy To Use
Can access everything with keyboard
Can point click all functionality also.
Many different ways to do the same thing.
Hot keys for advanced users
Uniform Information Presentation
Consistency across all visual representations.
Descriptions shown on mouse hover.
Fully Customizable Interface
All elements / windows are sizable & movable.
Each show a different aspect of the character
Location, Quest, Attributes, Guild Members.
Layout does not interfere with game play.
View / Hide all controls as you like.

18. User Interface

19. Graphics and Sound Graphics and Artwork Sound
In depth 3D environment with full camera control.
Very detailed artwork with excellent color choices.
Beautiful and realistic looking terrain.
All cut-scenes include all players (characters) and are done with graphics that are the same as in the game itself.
Can become choppy with a less powerful graphics card, low memory, or slow internet connections.
Sound
Standard annoying background music.
Particular sounds to particular enemies.
Sound is part of game play as particular sounds indicate particular actions / events.
Player speech only during cut-scenes.

20. Game Advantages Great Team Communication Balanced Game
Navigate on compass to all players in real time.
Different channels for communication.
Local, Guild, Team, Trade, Whisper
Balanced Game
No one strategy dominates.
All strategies have counter strategies.
Never Ending Game
If you were to ever complete everything, a new campaign is probably being released.
PvP encourages continuing game play.
Replay Value is high.
Highest tier of titles difficult to achieve and take a very long time to complete.
Everything Is Available For A Price
Online trading system gets you items.
Services available from players
Power leveling
Complete quest / missions
Get player to a location.

21. Game Disadvantages Human Player Availability
Some Missions / Quest become much harder without human players.
Can be difficult to find specific character for a mission.
If players quit or disconnect during a quest / mission, goal becomes near impossible.
Updates
Updates are frequent (almost every time I log on).
Sometimes takes upwards of 10 minutes on broadband..
Some updates lag the game play for a few days.
Usually have no noticeable effect.
Internet Dependence
Disconnections aren't frequent, but do occur.
No Internet = No game play.
System Requirements
Quite a large demand on computer resources.
Usually requires additional and expensive graphics cards and memory.
Any connection under broadband will limit game play.

22. Compared to Similar Games
Game depends on combination of choices (skills, attributes, etc) not, how long you have been playing.
Level cap puts all player on an even battlefield.
You can warp between towns outpost, unlike similar games where you must battle to a location.
No Subscription Fees!!!
Shared Storage lets you transfer items / gold from one character to another.
No Cheat Codes, enough said!

23. Evaluation Design Mistakes Audience Bugs
Designed as if it corrects all mistakes of previous games in similar genre.
However, no indication of completed quest.
Scoring System for PvE has little impact on game play and does not necessarily reflect anything about a player.
Audience
Majority are 18 – 40.
User Agreement says under 13 is not allowed.
Surprisingly large female population.
Aimed for frequent gamer.
Bugs
Some locations allow you to walk inside a wall.
Frequent updates correct before most notice.

24. Evaluation Improvement Purchase
The tutorial in the beginning of the game.
Disconnection recovery.
Offline Accessibility
Practice Areas
Training Areas
Purchase
Yes: If you’re a serious gamer looking for a long term commitment game.
No: If your just looking for a once in a while game.

25. Demo
On to the Demo
Followed by questions and comments???