[Sirus]

Ever heard of Guild Wars? It's a MMO RPG by some guys who used to work at Blizzard. From October 29 - 31 you can basically participate in a kind of beta test. This is the second time they've done it. I was there the first time, and it was pretty fun.

[TigerShard]

The game does really sound cool, but since I plan on playing World of Warcraft, I don't want to get attached to something else. I don't want two games that require a lot of on-line time to compete for my attention.

Is the game anything like Diablo II?

[Sirus]

Originally Posted by TigerShard

Is the game anything like Diablo II?

I've never played it Diablo 2. So I can't say. It does play something like a hack 'n slash MMORPG. But you have missions. For instance, last time I played, me and my group had to scout this area for enemy troops. We fought alot of monsters and then saw this whole big army. Then our objective changed. We had to run back to the captain of the guard and warn him about the enemy army within a set amount of time. I didn't play much more after that. So I can't say if the whole game is like that.

[bigjko]

It's sort of a breed between hack'n'slash RPG and an MMORPG, and with no monthly fee. It's also much more casual than an MMORPG, so you won't really have to dedicate your life to it, as happens a lot with MMORPGs..

[Phantom]

You can play WOW and GW together, they're completely different games. GW is more like classic multiplayer games and even has potential as a competition game. WOW is a real MMORPG. I for one am going to buy Guild Wars the day it comes out, because it kicks some serious ass.

[SoccerDude28]

Originally Posted by bigjko

It's sort of a breed between hack'n'slash RPG and an MMORPG, and with no monthly fee. It's also much more casual than an MMORPG, so you won't really have to dedicate your life to it, as happens a lot with MMORPGs..

No monthly fee? How can they support all the servers running this game?

[bigjko]

Originally Posted by SoccerDude28

No monthly fee? How can they support all the servers running this game?

It's really a whole lot different from MMORPGs. Missions, Exploration Grounds, Tournaments and whatnot are just instanced servers. So, basically, it's a server setup much like StarCraft multiplayer, only with an small interactive gateway to each mission and some big towns.

So, basically, if Battle.net could do it without a monthly fee, then Arena.net should be able to.

[Outasync]

Originally Posted by bigjko

It's really a whole lot different from MMORPGs. Missions, Exploration Grounds, Tournaments and whatnot are just instanced servers. So, basically, it's a server setup much like StarCraft multiplayer, only with an small interactive gateway to each mission and some big towns.

So, basically, if Battle.net could do it without a monthly fee, then Arena.net should be able to.

It really is like a cross between hack n slash fun of Diablo and MMO fun of WoW. Great for casual player who just want to have fun for an hour or 2.

The key difference between GW and Battle.net are that content creation. For GW to continue they will need to keep adding content. Battle.net never added content past what you got with Diablo 1/2 plus expansion packs. Content is expensive. My guess is that they will put out a continuous steam of expansions.

Don't get me wrong I think they are really on to something, there will likely be a major drop in Battle.net population when this game launches. It will be interesting to see if this model works out.