The Community Element

One thing I love about Guild Wars is the spontaneity with which a plan can come together. This morning was a great example. Any of you that play will know about the Zaishen missions and bounties that change each day. The rewards are great, and, if you can get the right team together, it's a lot of fun. The bounty this morning was Z'him Monns, probably the harder of the two Bogroots quests. Still, fairly easy with the right team.

We started at perhaps 9am GMT, not the most active time for our particular guild. However, we originally managed to pull together a team of 3 people and made up the rest with heroes. Just as we were discussing what we were missing, Hayley signed onto msn. Seizing the opportunity to make an even better team, and to spend some time with her, I asked her to meet us in the guild hall. Her boyfriend Ash joined us too and we were now left with a team of 5/8 real players.

When I logged on to Guild Wars at 8 I couldn't have foreseen this event, at best I thought I may be doing a mission with Sean alone. Instead, through spontaneous happenstance, we pushed our way through one of my personal favourite dungeons. The banter in the group kept it light-hearted, even when faced with the wipes and near wipes. In the team there was no blame, there was no anger, there was just the refreshing love of the game and enjoyment of the company. This, I would say, is the reason I play Guild Wars; because, no where else that I've ever been, can you make an elite team and not have people get annoyed when things don't go perfectly.

I loved the sudden formation of a team of guild-mates. AoM is like family in a lot of ways, and this morning I could see us moving like a family should, each person supporting the rest, working as a team instead of playing solo. This is what MMORPGs should be in my opinion; not grinding, not raging, not berating people, not trolling, but about working together for a common goal.

The War Begins!

It's been a long hiatus.  Or it's seemed so.  I've become so used to writing now, I guess.  Now, for today's installment! 
The War in Kryta has been an interesting new development in Guild Wars of late.  Initially, it started as a couple of small quests, but now that the ball has started rolling, Princess Salma has made her appearance and the Shining Blade are claiming back Kryta.  Which can mean only one thing:  presents!
A-Net make no confusion about how they treat their players.  Where there is a major game event, there are gifts.  Recently, there was the Dragon Festival, which makes a small profit as far as party points are concerned.  The War in Kryta has its own rewards system too, revolving around killing various members of the White Mantle in order to gain War Supplies and eventually attain  Royal Gifts.  One thing that bugs me above all else though is that the best presents are so difficult to achieve.  It seems virtually impossible to get hold of a miniature Salma or Evennia, and I would dearly like one of them to add to my growing collection of minis.  I guess I shall have to bounty-hunt a little harder. 
Another point about the reward system has to be the introduction of Medals of Honor, which appear to have no  purpose in the game, as of yet.  I am wondering perhaps if collecting enough of them warrants a unique weapon, or some kind of armour that would be beneficial to the story line.  Although this route could also be made into a financial exploitation by buying these products in real cash if you didn't want to waste the time collecting medals. 

Anyway, that's my input and speculation for now.  Speak to you all later!