1. Amazing Graphics
While World of Warcraft boasts a vivid landscape, let’s face it: the graphics are blocky and past the starter levels, most of the regions look depressing and dark (save for Stranglethorn Vale and Feralas - which is simply gloomy really).
Alliance got most of the pretty characters but when I started out, I played Horde and could only fathom playing an Undead. For variety, I played a blue smurf for 5 minutes and went back to playing Undead (for the 5th time!). Finally I threw in the towel when hubby abandoned me for raids and joined the Alliance as a Night Elf and then Human.
But when I installed Guild Wars, the graphics totally blew me away.
First the characters are really stunning. They’re all human for now, but lots of care has been taken in the crafting of each character, from the facial features (multi-racial options) to hair. The options for customisation of your character’s look far exceeds that of WoW. See my Warrior on the left (and my Necro on the right bottom) and compare that with my Blood Elf on WoW.
The landscape in GW is simply beautiful, from leaves falling lazily to the ground to the minute details of trees, gravel, grass, are absolutely breathtaking to behold. I remember being awed the first time I flew over Durotar but even its most beautiful Eversong Woods cannot hold a candle to the lands of Ascalon.
2. Instant Travel
No more running forever to get from point A to B. No more zeppelins or boats. No more bats or griffins. Like Diablo II, once you reach a town (cf. waypoint), you can access it anytime (even better than Diablo II) by clicking your map. Think of it as a teleporter at your fingertips.
Also I noticed that the towns and outposts in GW are a lot smaller than those of WoW. Every game day I used to spend at least 15 minutes running from one location to another within a city to fix armor, auction items, train skills, etc. I breathe a sigh of relief I no longer need to do that.
3. Loading of Program and Updates
GW didn’t take a whole day and night to download like WoW does. I spent a whole day downloading Burning Crusade before I signed up for the trial. And then the updates… If you play WoW, you know the drill. Updates can take 5 minutes or 5 hours.
In GW, you download a new region when you access it, and it is fast! Maximum time I waited was 5 minutes and that was for the first area. When you’ve downloaded a region, it does not have to download again once you have it in your computer even if you use another character.
4. Free to Play Online Forever
GW was designed by the same people who brought you Diablo II and yes, they were from Blizzard. The first time I played GW, I thought, gosh they took all the complaints we had about WoW and made a better product in GW.
Hence, no monthly charges. When you buy an expansion, you get new content. No waiting time for downloading.
5. Content for Solo and Group Players
I spent a bit of time researching this one, because essentially, I am a solo player, by nature and by circumstance. I loved going on instances with hubby and friends but now I work 24/7 and have to run when my employer hollers so partying is not a possibility anymore.
In GW, I overcame this by being a Warrior/Ranger. I got my Rogue skills and fast DPS down and also have a pet to help out so it is kind of like a party of 2 questing together.
Sadly, past level 50, soloing becomes quite impossible. Most of my level 49 Rogue’s quests require a party and even the solo quests were rather difficult. I was very disappointed that Burning Crusade only had 4 new starter zones and the huge post-59 Outlands. Much more content is needed for the 30-55s. An alternative to Stranglethorn (and no, Duskwallow Marsh shouldn’t be it).
6. Quest and Map Assistance
In WoW, you can spend hours wandering and searching for a particular quest object or person. Of course, there is Thottbot, but it isn’t the same.
GW adopted the same strategy as Sacred. When you receive a quest, it describes who from where gave it to you, what you need to find, and on your map, it shows exactly where to find it.
You could argue this is hand-holding, but one of the most annoying things about any RPG is going around in circles trying to find something or someone. This way, you can spend more of your time killing monsters and examining your loot.
7. No More Spam and Rowdy Players
When I first started playing WoW way back when it first came out over 3 years ago, ganking and corpse camping were the most loathed things. Now in my last expedition in WoW, from the moment go, it was spam, asking me to buy WoW gold. There was no clear indication of where to report these annoying players, although I believe that has been fixed recently.
On the contrary, my time on GW has been harrassment-free.
8. Weapon Sets
It is almost 5am and I can’t recall if WoW has weapon sets.
GW, Sacred, and Diablo II all use weapon sets so you can switch weapons while fighting. Very important for a fun, flexible game play.
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