Guild Wars
Guild Wars is one of the less popular MMORPG’s or Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games. The game was created in the United States by ArenaNet a Seattle game development company. The design team behind ArenaNet includes individuals responsible for the creation of various successful games under the auspices of Blizzard Entertainment. These games include Warcraft, Starcraft and various editions of the Diablo series.
Guild Wars exists under different title and campaigns starting with the first of these titles– Guild Wars Prophecies. Guild Wars Prophecies was the first of the series and a successful attempt to combine traditional aspects of role playing games with the newer aspects of MMORPG’s. In Guild Wars Prophecies there are different environments under which players operate. Players can compete in player vs. player scenarios or they can compete in a player vs. environment format depending on the circumstances that occur during the game. These sort of characteristics are what the developers of Guild Wars call the CORPG which is substantially different from the traditional concept guiding MMORPG’s and other role playing games. CORPG stands for Competitive Online Role Play Game and what it stands for in essence is a system of game playing that is based on the reduction of certain features present in other MMORPG’s.
Such features include “grind”. Grind is a feature whereby players seek to rack up experience points which are needed to unlock certain features by performing repetitive tasks. These tasks include task such as battling the same monsters over and again or fighting the same battles. These forms of repetition often make game play less entertaining and much more easy for players with a higher level of experience. By eliminating such features Guild Wars ensures the game is much more interesting and that the players engage in much more competitive activities.
Guild Wars also reduces a lot of other effects which are responsible for grind. These effects include: maximum level requirements, game zone types and player managed NPC henchmen presence. NPC henchmen are non player characters managed by players themselves often to reduce the advantages of other players and to boost their own advantages as well.
Guild Wars Prophecies was followed by Guild Wars Factions which was released almost a year later in April 2006. Guild Wars Factions was situated on an entirely different continent from the original Guild Wars Prophecies edition . In Guild Wars Factions, the evil assassin Shiro Tagachi returns from the dead and the events of his return form the basis of the new Guild Wars edition.
Guild Wars Factions was followed by Guild Wars Nightfall released only months later in October 2006. Again Guild Wars Nightfall takes place of a different continent form Guild Wars Prophecies and Guild Wars Factions – the continent of Elona. In Guild Wars Nightfall we see the emergence of a new creation in COPRG’s – the hero. Unlike other heroes which are essentially player characters with increased abilities. Heroes are by definition : advanced computer control units that can be manipulated and directed by the player.
Guild Wars Nightfall is set to be followed by Guild Wars Eye of the North. Unlike previous new releases this set of Guild Wars will bring no new professions into play but will bring a number of benefits such as new skills for each character, armor capabilities as well as previously unavailable heroes.
