skidude
10-05-2005, 08:51 AM
This FAQ is the Official FAQ From the Official Guild Wars Site, blizzsector has nothing to do with this FAQ and has not been written by a blizzsector Staff member.
Where can I get specific details about the Guild Wars World Preview Event or the Guild Wars Pre-Order?
Please visit this link (http://www.guildwars.com/preview/default.html) for information about the World Preview Event, or for details of the Pre-Order. When will Guild Wars be released?
The beta begins in October. We will take as much time as necessary to balance and polish the game based on feedback received during the beta period, and anticipate that we will release Guild Wars by early 2005. Will you be having a traditional beta?
Monthly worldwide events will replace a traditional beta test. We have been conducting an alpha test for nearly three years and have received and incorporated excellent feedback from our testers. Now we are starting our beta period and are opening Guild Wars to the world. During the World Preview Event game players from around the world will be invited to play Guild Wars and enjoy exciting cooperative quests, challenging competitive play and robust guild support. Subsequent monthly beta events will allow players who purchased the pre-order product to return to join the Guild Wars beta, which will take place during the first weekend of each month. Will the alpha test continue after the beta begins?
Our core group of alpha testers has been invaluable to the development process since we implemented the alpha test three years ago. Our active testers will be invited to continue working with the team and providing feedback on Guild Wars during the beta period. Can players outside North America participate in the monthly beta events?
The October World Preview Event will be available to players from the around the world. We intend to include international players in monthly beta events, though specifics not been determined. International support will be announced when plans are finalized. What is the Guild Recommendation Program? Which fansites are involved?
The Guild Recommendation Program is a cooperative venture between ArenaNet and our Official and Elite Fansites that will invite a number of quality gaming guilds into the alpha or beta test of Guild Wars. The sites involved are:
GWOnline (http://www.gwonline.net/page.php?p=76)
Guild Wars OGaming (http://guildwars.ogaming.com/data/1729%7Ereferrals.php)
The Guild Hall (http://www.guild-hall.net/referral.php)
RPG Stars (http://www.rpgstars.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1537) Please visit those sites for more information about the individual site's requirements for participation in the program. Has Guild Wars been released yet? Is there a demo available?
Guild Wars has not been released yet. There has been one demo, which took place during the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May 2004 and ended on May 14th. There are no other demos available at this time. We will post on the news page of this site when there is more information on upcoming Guild Wars events. I obtained the game client, but cannot log in?
The game client in question was provided as part of our E3 for Everyone event, which took place from May 10 through May 14, 2004. That event is over. We may have other pre-release events in the future, at which time you can use the game client that you have, or obtain one at the time of the event. What kind of game is Guild Wars?
Guild Wars is a competitive online role-playing game. Players can engage in cooperative group combat, in single player adventures, or in large head-to-head guild battles. Guild Wars is a mission-based game set in a stunning 3D fantasy world that offers full, integrated support for guilds. Because the team that is developing Guild Wars has had experience creating successful online game series such as Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo, the members are familiar with the complex issues surrounding online games, and are creating a game that's both easy to learn and compelling to play long term, and yet doesn’t require players to spend hundreds of hours slogging through the preparation just to get to the fun bits. How can I find out more about testing Guild Wars? May I join the alpha test? Can I sign up now for the beta test? Do you have a waiting list? If I email will I have a greater chance of getting into the test?
We are currently in closed alpha testing, where all participants are involved by invitation only. We are not accepting applications for testing nor do we have a waiting list. However, Guild Wars will be offering a free World Preview Event in October, and weekend events during the beta stage for those who pre-order the game. News about possible beta testing opportunities or any other Guild Wars events will be posted on this website in the future. Where can I purchase Guild Wars?
Guild Wars will be available at your favourite retail location. You will be able to acquire subsequent chapters for Guild Wars via retail stores or direct download. Will there be a monthly fee for Guild Wars?
No, there will not be a monthly subscription fee of any kind, anywhere in the world. How much will Guild Wars cost? How much will additional chapters cost?
Guild Wars will be competitively priced, comparable to the cost of other titles of its quality. The subsequent chapters of Guild Wars will also be priced at a level comparable to other games. Do I have to pay for online updates, such as patches?
There are no hidden fees. You will not have to pay for the streaming updates that will take place on a regular basis, nor for additional content that we will provide between the chapters of Guild Wars. Am I required to buy the expansion packs to continue to play Guild Wars?
No. Every purchase you make in the continuation of the Guild Wars saga will be your choice. If you purchase expansion packs you will gain access to new regions of the world, new skills and abilities, new items, new professions, and much more. However, if you choose to not purchase a chapter, you will still be able to play the chapters of Guild Wars that you own, and you will have common areas in which you will be able to play with and against your friends who have purchased the other chapter(s). Will I remain competitive if I do not buy the expansion packs? Will I be able to compete with and against others if I have only some of the Guild Wars chapters?
Yes. Purchasing the newer chapters of Guild Wars will not make you strictly more powerful. You will have access to many more strategic options, due to the expanding nature of the skills, abilities, items and professions that you enjoy with each chapter. It would be similar to building a deck in Magic: The Gathering™: The more cards you own, the more different playing decks that you can choose from to use in the game. When you buy the chapters of Guild Wars, you will acquire a larger collection of skills and abilities from which to build your skill set, but you will not gain more power. So if you purchase a chapter and your friend does not, you will still be able to play competitively against and with one another. What are the system requirements for Guild Wars?
The final system requirements have not yet been determined, but currently we have set the following as minimum system specifications for those involved in our Guild Wars Alpha Test:
Windows XP/2000/ME/98
800 MHz Pentium III or equivalent
256 MB RAM
ATI Radeon 8500 or GeForce 3 or 4 MX with 32MB of video memory
500 MB hard drive space
Internet connection
DirectX 8.0 Recommended System Specs:
Windows XP/2000/ME/98
Pentium III 1GHz or equivalent
512 MB RAM
ATI Radeon 9000 or GeForce 4 Ti Series with 64MB of video memory
500 MB free hard drive space
Internet connection Who is ArenaNet?
ArenaNet is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCsoft Corporation, and was founded in March 2000 by key members of the creative teams behind Blizzard’s game series Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo, as well as the Battle.net gaming network. You can get a lot of good information about the company at our website: www.arena.net (http://www.arena.net/news/index.html). Is Guild Wars an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game)?
Guild Wars has some similarities to existing MMORPGs, but it also has some key differences. Like existing MMOs, Guild Wars is played entirely online in a secure hosted environment. Thousands of players inhabit the same virtual world. Players can meet new friends in gathering places like towns and outposts where they form parties and go questing with them. Unlike many MMOs, when players form a party and embark upon a quest in Guild Wars, they get their own private copy of the area where the quest takes place. This design eliminates some of the frustrating gameplay elements commonly associated with MMOs, such as spawn camping, kill stealing, and lines to complete a quest.
Guild Wars takes place in a large virtual world made up of many different zones, and players can walk from one end of the world to the other. But Guild Wars eliminates much of the tedium of traveling through the world. Players can instantly return to any safe area (town or outpost) that they've previously visited just by clicking on it in the world overview map.
Rather than labeling Guild Wars an MMORPG, we prefer to call it a CORPG (Competitive Online Role-Playing Game). Guild Wars was designed from the ground up to create the best possible competitive role-playing experience. Success in Guild Wars is always the result of player skill, not time spent playing or the size of one's guild. As characters progress, they acquire a diverse set of skills and items, enabling them to use new strategies in combat. Players can do battle in open arenas or compete in guild-on-guild warfare or the international tournament. But engaging in combat is always the player's choice; there is no player-killing in cooperative areas of the world.
Finally, unlike existing MMOs, all characters in Guild Wars inhabit the same virtual world -- they are not divided onto different servers or shards -- so players can always team up with or compete against any other player in the world.
Are characters persistent?
Yes, your character will continue from mission to mission, acquiring levels, items, skills and abilities. In addition, every character is stored on ArenaNet's servers, so no matter whether you play single player adventures, cooperative missions, or head-to-head battles, your character will be stored in a secure environment allowing you to log in to play from anywhere in the world. Are your in-game screenshots altered in any way? Do you rework them in an art program before adding them to the site?
No, our Screenshots Section includes only totally unaltered in-game images. We use a distinctive glow technology that gives a fantastical appearance to the game. All the in-game screenshots that are in our Gallery (http://www.gweurope.net/gallery/default.html) are completely unaltered, and come straight from the game to you. Can I customize my character's appearance?
Guild Wars will allow for a wide array of character customization, including gender, skin tones, hair color and height. In addition, you will be able to dye shields, armor and weapons, creating a large variety of item appearances. We'll continue to announce further details in future articles and interviews, and will provide information on this site as well. How many character classes are there?
The first chapter of Guild Wars will feature six character professions: The Elementalist, Mesmer, Monk, Necromancer, Ranger, and Warrior. You can learn more about each of the Guild Wars professions here (http://www.gweurope.net/professions/default.html). When you create a character, you are able to select a primary and secondary profession. This will provide an amazing array of choices and gameplay experiences. How many characters will I be able to have on my Guild Wars account?
The final number of characters per account has not been determined. At present, alpha accounts allow four characters and we estimate that characters per account will be approximately that number upon release. Can I be killed by other players?
While Guild Wars has player vs. player combat, you're in control: you can choose to join in competitive missions and receive acclaim for conquering other gamers, or you can reap the rewards of solo adventures or cooperative team missions with an entirely different set of challenges. Will the game have guild support? Will there be ladders and tournaments?
Guild Wars, as evidenced by its name, will have broad support for game guilds, including integrated support for worldwide tournaments and ladders, the ability for a guild to own and operate a guildhall, private guild forums, and more. Do you have to be in a guild to play Guild Wars?
Not at all. Although there will be many positive aspects of belonging to a guild, there will be so many single-player missions, team cooperative and competitive missions as well as individual player-versus-player missions that you can be assured of many of those gaming sessions that run into the wee hours, no matter your playing style. Missions will come in all sizes and difficulties and can be joined individually, as part of a one-time team or as a member of a full-fledged guild. Is Guild Wars always played online?
Yes. Guild Wars is designed from the ground up to be an online game. This allows maximum security to prevent cheating by other players, so your gaming experience won't be diminished by others. But perhaps more importantly, our online network allows us to stream content to your computer, so you will always have the most current version of the game, and will play in a world that can change on a continuous basis. Will the game be released on a different OS (Macintosh, Linux, etc.), or on other video game consoles?
Guild Wars is being developed on and will initially be released for the PC. We are aware that there is an interest in having the game available on other operating systems or other platforms, and we will continue to evaluate these possibilities as we get closer to release. Will I be able to play Guild Wars on a dial-up modem?
Yes you will. We are well aware that many users do not have broadband access, and we want the largest possible number of gamers to be able to join our game without being held back by technical issues like their Internet connection. We have designed Guild Wars to function excellently on a dial-up connection and our alpha testers and confirm they have no problems with their connection, even testing from other continents. In addition, during our E3 for Everyone Demo Event many thousands of players successfully played using a dial-up modem. Will Guild Wars be translated into other languages?
Guild Wars will be translated into several languages. The final list of languages is not yet finalized. Does ArenaNet plan to offer Official Guild Wars Forums?
At this time, we do not have plans for an official forum. We are pleased with the support of the many fansite forums that are currently in operation, and encourage fans who would like to participate in forum discussion to visit our Community Page (http://www.guildwars.com/community/default.html) for a list of fansites and forums. Do you provide fansite resources? Where can I learn about the rules and guidelines for use of your materials?
ArenaNet strongly believes in fansites and wants to support them. Our Community Section (http://www.guildwars.com/community/default.html) is full of information and resources for fansite webmasters and other interested parties, including a program outline, a fansite kit, a program Q&A, and a Fansite News page that is updated regularly. All fansite staff members and others who use Guild Wars materials are bound by our Terms of Use document (http://www.guildwars.com/termuse.html), which contains a good deal of useful information as far as copyrights, image usage and so forth. Where can I learn more about Guild Wars?
There are a number of articles, previews, and interviews on the 'Net, and Guild Wars has been featured in several print magazines as well and has been honored with several awards. Visit the Press Page (http://www.guildwars.com/press/default.html) for a list of reading resources. For current updates and other items of interest, please visit our many Guild Wars fansites, listed here (http://www.guildwars.com/community/default.html).
Where can I get specific details about the Guild Wars World Preview Event or the Guild Wars Pre-Order?
Please visit this link (http://www.guildwars.com/preview/default.html) for information about the World Preview Event, or for details of the Pre-Order. When will Guild Wars be released?
The beta begins in October. We will take as much time as necessary to balance and polish the game based on feedback received during the beta period, and anticipate that we will release Guild Wars by early 2005. Will you be having a traditional beta?
Monthly worldwide events will replace a traditional beta test. We have been conducting an alpha test for nearly three years and have received and incorporated excellent feedback from our testers. Now we are starting our beta period and are opening Guild Wars to the world. During the World Preview Event game players from around the world will be invited to play Guild Wars and enjoy exciting cooperative quests, challenging competitive play and robust guild support. Subsequent monthly beta events will allow players who purchased the pre-order product to return to join the Guild Wars beta, which will take place during the first weekend of each month. Will the alpha test continue after the beta begins?
Our core group of alpha testers has been invaluable to the development process since we implemented the alpha test three years ago. Our active testers will be invited to continue working with the team and providing feedback on Guild Wars during the beta period. Can players outside North America participate in the monthly beta events?
The October World Preview Event will be available to players from the around the world. We intend to include international players in monthly beta events, though specifics not been determined. International support will be announced when plans are finalized. What is the Guild Recommendation Program? Which fansites are involved?
The Guild Recommendation Program is a cooperative venture between ArenaNet and our Official and Elite Fansites that will invite a number of quality gaming guilds into the alpha or beta test of Guild Wars. The sites involved are:
GWOnline (http://www.gwonline.net/page.php?p=76)
Guild Wars OGaming (http://guildwars.ogaming.com/data/1729%7Ereferrals.php)
The Guild Hall (http://www.guild-hall.net/referral.php)
RPG Stars (http://www.rpgstars.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1537) Please visit those sites for more information about the individual site's requirements for participation in the program. Has Guild Wars been released yet? Is there a demo available?
Guild Wars has not been released yet. There has been one demo, which took place during the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May 2004 and ended on May 14th. There are no other demos available at this time. We will post on the news page of this site when there is more information on upcoming Guild Wars events. I obtained the game client, but cannot log in?
The game client in question was provided as part of our E3 for Everyone event, which took place from May 10 through May 14, 2004. That event is over. We may have other pre-release events in the future, at which time you can use the game client that you have, or obtain one at the time of the event. What kind of game is Guild Wars?
Guild Wars is a competitive online role-playing game. Players can engage in cooperative group combat, in single player adventures, or in large head-to-head guild battles. Guild Wars is a mission-based game set in a stunning 3D fantasy world that offers full, integrated support for guilds. Because the team that is developing Guild Wars has had experience creating successful online game series such as Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo, the members are familiar with the complex issues surrounding online games, and are creating a game that's both easy to learn and compelling to play long term, and yet doesn’t require players to spend hundreds of hours slogging through the preparation just to get to the fun bits. How can I find out more about testing Guild Wars? May I join the alpha test? Can I sign up now for the beta test? Do you have a waiting list? If I email will I have a greater chance of getting into the test?
We are currently in closed alpha testing, where all participants are involved by invitation only. We are not accepting applications for testing nor do we have a waiting list. However, Guild Wars will be offering a free World Preview Event in October, and weekend events during the beta stage for those who pre-order the game. News about possible beta testing opportunities or any other Guild Wars events will be posted on this website in the future. Where can I purchase Guild Wars?
Guild Wars will be available at your favourite retail location. You will be able to acquire subsequent chapters for Guild Wars via retail stores or direct download. Will there be a monthly fee for Guild Wars?
No, there will not be a monthly subscription fee of any kind, anywhere in the world. How much will Guild Wars cost? How much will additional chapters cost?
Guild Wars will be competitively priced, comparable to the cost of other titles of its quality. The subsequent chapters of Guild Wars will also be priced at a level comparable to other games. Do I have to pay for online updates, such as patches?
There are no hidden fees. You will not have to pay for the streaming updates that will take place on a regular basis, nor for additional content that we will provide between the chapters of Guild Wars. Am I required to buy the expansion packs to continue to play Guild Wars?
No. Every purchase you make in the continuation of the Guild Wars saga will be your choice. If you purchase expansion packs you will gain access to new regions of the world, new skills and abilities, new items, new professions, and much more. However, if you choose to not purchase a chapter, you will still be able to play the chapters of Guild Wars that you own, and you will have common areas in which you will be able to play with and against your friends who have purchased the other chapter(s). Will I remain competitive if I do not buy the expansion packs? Will I be able to compete with and against others if I have only some of the Guild Wars chapters?
Yes. Purchasing the newer chapters of Guild Wars will not make you strictly more powerful. You will have access to many more strategic options, due to the expanding nature of the skills, abilities, items and professions that you enjoy with each chapter. It would be similar to building a deck in Magic: The Gathering™: The more cards you own, the more different playing decks that you can choose from to use in the game. When you buy the chapters of Guild Wars, you will acquire a larger collection of skills and abilities from which to build your skill set, but you will not gain more power. So if you purchase a chapter and your friend does not, you will still be able to play competitively against and with one another. What are the system requirements for Guild Wars?
The final system requirements have not yet been determined, but currently we have set the following as minimum system specifications for those involved in our Guild Wars Alpha Test:
Windows XP/2000/ME/98
800 MHz Pentium III or equivalent
256 MB RAM
ATI Radeon 8500 or GeForce 3 or 4 MX with 32MB of video memory
500 MB hard drive space
Internet connection
DirectX 8.0 Recommended System Specs:
Windows XP/2000/ME/98
Pentium III 1GHz or equivalent
512 MB RAM
ATI Radeon 9000 or GeForce 4 Ti Series with 64MB of video memory
500 MB free hard drive space
Internet connection Who is ArenaNet?
ArenaNet is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCsoft Corporation, and was founded in March 2000 by key members of the creative teams behind Blizzard’s game series Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo, as well as the Battle.net gaming network. You can get a lot of good information about the company at our website: www.arena.net (http://www.arena.net/news/index.html). Is Guild Wars an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game)?
Guild Wars has some similarities to existing MMORPGs, but it also has some key differences. Like existing MMOs, Guild Wars is played entirely online in a secure hosted environment. Thousands of players inhabit the same virtual world. Players can meet new friends in gathering places like towns and outposts where they form parties and go questing with them. Unlike many MMOs, when players form a party and embark upon a quest in Guild Wars, they get their own private copy of the area where the quest takes place. This design eliminates some of the frustrating gameplay elements commonly associated with MMOs, such as spawn camping, kill stealing, and lines to complete a quest.
Guild Wars takes place in a large virtual world made up of many different zones, and players can walk from one end of the world to the other. But Guild Wars eliminates much of the tedium of traveling through the world. Players can instantly return to any safe area (town or outpost) that they've previously visited just by clicking on it in the world overview map.
Rather than labeling Guild Wars an MMORPG, we prefer to call it a CORPG (Competitive Online Role-Playing Game). Guild Wars was designed from the ground up to create the best possible competitive role-playing experience. Success in Guild Wars is always the result of player skill, not time spent playing or the size of one's guild. As characters progress, they acquire a diverse set of skills and items, enabling them to use new strategies in combat. Players can do battle in open arenas or compete in guild-on-guild warfare or the international tournament. But engaging in combat is always the player's choice; there is no player-killing in cooperative areas of the world.
Finally, unlike existing MMOs, all characters in Guild Wars inhabit the same virtual world -- they are not divided onto different servers or shards -- so players can always team up with or compete against any other player in the world.
Are characters persistent?
Yes, your character will continue from mission to mission, acquiring levels, items, skills and abilities. In addition, every character is stored on ArenaNet's servers, so no matter whether you play single player adventures, cooperative missions, or head-to-head battles, your character will be stored in a secure environment allowing you to log in to play from anywhere in the world. Are your in-game screenshots altered in any way? Do you rework them in an art program before adding them to the site?
No, our Screenshots Section includes only totally unaltered in-game images. We use a distinctive glow technology that gives a fantastical appearance to the game. All the in-game screenshots that are in our Gallery (http://www.gweurope.net/gallery/default.html) are completely unaltered, and come straight from the game to you. Can I customize my character's appearance?
Guild Wars will allow for a wide array of character customization, including gender, skin tones, hair color and height. In addition, you will be able to dye shields, armor and weapons, creating a large variety of item appearances. We'll continue to announce further details in future articles and interviews, and will provide information on this site as well. How many character classes are there?
The first chapter of Guild Wars will feature six character professions: The Elementalist, Mesmer, Monk, Necromancer, Ranger, and Warrior. You can learn more about each of the Guild Wars professions here (http://www.gweurope.net/professions/default.html). When you create a character, you are able to select a primary and secondary profession. This will provide an amazing array of choices and gameplay experiences. How many characters will I be able to have on my Guild Wars account?
The final number of characters per account has not been determined. At present, alpha accounts allow four characters and we estimate that characters per account will be approximately that number upon release. Can I be killed by other players?
While Guild Wars has player vs. player combat, you're in control: you can choose to join in competitive missions and receive acclaim for conquering other gamers, or you can reap the rewards of solo adventures or cooperative team missions with an entirely different set of challenges. Will the game have guild support? Will there be ladders and tournaments?
Guild Wars, as evidenced by its name, will have broad support for game guilds, including integrated support for worldwide tournaments and ladders, the ability for a guild to own and operate a guildhall, private guild forums, and more. Do you have to be in a guild to play Guild Wars?
Not at all. Although there will be many positive aspects of belonging to a guild, there will be so many single-player missions, team cooperative and competitive missions as well as individual player-versus-player missions that you can be assured of many of those gaming sessions that run into the wee hours, no matter your playing style. Missions will come in all sizes and difficulties and can be joined individually, as part of a one-time team or as a member of a full-fledged guild. Is Guild Wars always played online?
Yes. Guild Wars is designed from the ground up to be an online game. This allows maximum security to prevent cheating by other players, so your gaming experience won't be diminished by others. But perhaps more importantly, our online network allows us to stream content to your computer, so you will always have the most current version of the game, and will play in a world that can change on a continuous basis. Will the game be released on a different OS (Macintosh, Linux, etc.), or on other video game consoles?
Guild Wars is being developed on and will initially be released for the PC. We are aware that there is an interest in having the game available on other operating systems or other platforms, and we will continue to evaluate these possibilities as we get closer to release. Will I be able to play Guild Wars on a dial-up modem?
Yes you will. We are well aware that many users do not have broadband access, and we want the largest possible number of gamers to be able to join our game without being held back by technical issues like their Internet connection. We have designed Guild Wars to function excellently on a dial-up connection and our alpha testers and confirm they have no problems with their connection, even testing from other continents. In addition, during our E3 for Everyone Demo Event many thousands of players successfully played using a dial-up modem. Will Guild Wars be translated into other languages?
Guild Wars will be translated into several languages. The final list of languages is not yet finalized. Does ArenaNet plan to offer Official Guild Wars Forums?
At this time, we do not have plans for an official forum. We are pleased with the support of the many fansite forums that are currently in operation, and encourage fans who would like to participate in forum discussion to visit our Community Page (http://www.guildwars.com/community/default.html) for a list of fansites and forums. Do you provide fansite resources? Where can I learn about the rules and guidelines for use of your materials?
ArenaNet strongly believes in fansites and wants to support them. Our Community Section (http://www.guildwars.com/community/default.html) is full of information and resources for fansite webmasters and other interested parties, including a program outline, a fansite kit, a program Q&A, and a Fansite News page that is updated regularly. All fansite staff members and others who use Guild Wars materials are bound by our Terms of Use document (http://www.guildwars.com/termuse.html), which contains a good deal of useful information as far as copyrights, image usage and so forth. Where can I learn more about Guild Wars?
There are a number of articles, previews, and interviews on the 'Net, and Guild Wars has been featured in several print magazines as well and has been honored with several awards. Visit the Press Page (http://www.guildwars.com/press/default.html) for a list of reading resources. For current updates and other items of interest, please visit our many Guild Wars fansites, listed here (http://www.guildwars.com/community/default.html).