I know several MMO gamers – including some of our own writers! – who have been enticed to pick up Classic Guild Wars this week, thanks entirely to the fact that ArenaNet has bundled the game and all its campaigns and expansion bits into one single $7 package to celebrate the game’s 20th anniversary. As someone who played obsessively for years, I can’t blame them one bit for wanting to own it. It was a great game at its peak, and it still holds up remarkably well visually and mechanically even today. For $7, it’s a no-brainer.
And still, I find myself wanting to warn them that it can be pretty rough going alone, with no buddies backing you up, especially for a solo account with no unlocks. It’s a very unlock-centered game; each toon you develop dramatically improves future toons (and their heroes), so it’s not a cakewalk or the single-player RPG some people try to make it out to be, not on your first fresh character. It’s the kind of MMO where I’d like to take my kids through it together some day, one mission and map at a time, just so they’ve seen it all. But I’m not sure I want to live there any more. Still, it’s glorious to see multiple districts popping up simultaneously again!
Are you returning to Guild Wars 1 for the anniversary bash? Or have you picked it up to try for the first time?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
