Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? (Guild Wars)

[Broomstick]

Jesus, post-searing Ascalon. How anyone sticks with the game long enough to get out of the Blandest Quarry Since Doctor Who is almost as mysterious as why the developers thought trapping players in such a boring area for ages was a good idea. Just pay someone to run you to Lion's Arch and forget about it. Shit, I'll do it for you for free, so would anyone here.

Fucking Ascalon. Ugh.

You know, Stark, I'm gonna to ask you politely NOT to shit on my expressions of enjoying this, that, or the other thing just because you happen to have a bug up your ass. My real life is shitty enough, thank you very much, I play games to get away from Bad Shit and thus I don't care as much as you do about some game issues. If you don't like it, fine, you don't like it but obviously some other people do like it. So please don't threadshit, m'kay? This has largely been a thread by people who enjoy GW. If you don't, fuck off. I'm enjoying GW. If I want gloom and negativity I don't need you to supply it, I can just shut down the damn computer and go stare at the roof on my building which needs repairs or my truck that needs some maintenance work or my shoes which are wearing out that I need to replace but need to scrape together the money for or .... well, the world is shitty right now. Games are the one place I can be rich and powerful, because in real life I'm poor and mostly helpless. Please don't make one of my few escapes shitty as well.

Run me to Lion's Gate? Why the fuck would I buy a game just to skip the whole damn thing and jump to the end? Please don't make such an asinine suggestion again.

[Stark]

Grow the fuck up you simpering retard. Post-Searing is a bland quarry full of the same grey texture and the same three enemies; this is an objective fact you're just going to have to fucking deal with. It takes many, many hours to get out of Post-searing because Prophecy has a very slow levelling rate, so you'll be staring at bland greyness for ages, which most people consider 'bad'. Lion's Gate isn't the fucking end of the game; it's barely the third-point. It's just OUT OF BLAND TOWN and leaves you all the points behind you so you can knock it over no problem once you're level ten in areas that aren't boring as shit. You could just go to Yak's, but the mountains are too dangerous for an early-level character. Damn, facts again, hey? In the other campaigns this sort of problem doesn't occur because levelling is faster and the early game isn't lazy, boring, slow, linear and generally awful. The only thing you'd miss is the entertaining challenge of crossing the mountains at low level, but once you get to Yak's you can try that if you want. In my world, not having grey injected into your eyes as you do fedex missions for 100xp = good, but I guess suggestions from veterans are only good when POOR SUFFERING BROOMY agrees with them.

PS, I don't give even a single runny shit about your terrible life. Sorry.

[Broomstick]

Yes, Stark, it's obvious you don't give a fuck about anyone other than yourself and your hobby of shitting on other people. Tell me, why do you enter threads just to bitch about other people's hobbies? Is that how you get your jollies?

No, you don't have to give a shit about my terrible life. I do. So, when I'm trying to escape it for a few hours why the HELL do you feel compelled to show up and shit on one of my few amusements? Do you enjoy causing pain to other people? Because that's what you do. You don't hurt them physically, but you do piss them off and rain on their parades. You enjoy causing shit to people who already have problems. You are one sick, sadistic bastard.

No, I don't want you to run me to Lion's Gate. I want you to STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME while I'm playing the game. Is that clear? STAY THE FUCK AWAY. Completely. 'Cause I don't want to have anything to do with a sadistic piece of shit like yourself.

[Stark]

Stop lying about me you wet towel. I came into the thread to point out that early Prophecies is boring as shit and that it's easy to just avoid it, as there's no obstacle to bypassing as there is in later campaigns. That's not 'enter thread just to bitch about other people's hobbies'. That's actually 'helping' and 'sharing'. It's not like I'm alone in the world in thinking this, and believe me you'll never do it for more than one character. They tried to create a contrast with the whole 'oh noes Ascalon destroyed' and all they did was make a dozen hours of boring grind in a boring area right at the start so new players get the impression the whole game is uninteresting, when that's quite wrong.

I'm not your fucking support group, so stop acting like I'm supposed to care. Your personal attacks on me are frankly hilarious and hysterical.

[Broomstick]

I'm not your fucking support group, so stop acting like I'm supposed to care. Your personal attacks on me are frankly hilarious and hysterical.

Yeah, yeah - my continued breathing is using up your oxygen. Fuck off, Stark, you enjoy pissing on other people, admit it. You don't just show up and say "Hey, I though Ascalon was boring as fuck, if you find it like that here's how to get around it" you just show up and start puking venom, as usual. Lies? No - I call 'em like I see 'em. You're an asshole.

"Hysterical" is code for "does not kiss Stark's ass on command."

Seriously - do us both a favor and just stay the fuck away from me in GW. I have no interest in being anywhere near you. I want you to so not care that you just fucking ignore from now until the heat death of the universe. Currently I think you do care - you do care that I'm miserable and you care that that state continues. If you really didn't care you'd just ignore me - which I would much prefer.

[Stark]

What is with this totally irrelevant personal horseshit? If you like early Prophecies, then you don't need to be run out of it, so the point is moot. Your personal life is a complete red herring that I simply don't care about and have no interest in being drawn into a discussion about.

Sorry, you're a liar. You can say 'CALL IT LIKE I SEE IT LOLOLOLOLOLOL' but you said I showed up to 'piss on people' when that's completely false. Oops. Saying 'xyz is boring I'll help you skip it' = 'piss on people' if you're a hysterical gasbag, I guess. It's ironic to me that you claim I didn't just say ... what I did in fact say. I hear that around here, what you say is more important than how you say it?

I find your degree of appalling personal vitriol disgusting, but you don't see me whining about it. Oh no, I better stay away from you in a pretend game! Are you for real?

[Isil`Zha]

All the shit-flinging aside... while I spent a good deal of time my first time through Ascalon, I tried to get out of there as fast as possible with my subsequent characters. I think it had a good pace for someone new to GW, but once you were used to a level 20 character, it is rather dull.

That's something I really liked about Factions and Nightfall (even though I don't care for Faction's story) - that nearly the entire PvE world is level 20+, which really helps with replayability (how much fun can you really have going back to low-level areas and destroying absolutely everything?)

PS - from a spot between Yak's and Lion's you'll see a lot of people doing "Drok Runs" - Droknar's Forge is the first place you can get Max armor, most of the skills, and is pretty late-game - I've seen several people brand-new to the game doing that shit, then going back to continue the game... what's the point?

Mostly, people there are paying for runs to expedite their second+ characters.

[Stark]

The run to Drok is really hard though, unless you're a good ranger. It's worth it (I think) to just go straight to full-spec armour and then go back to do the rest of the game (I have no interest in the story) and not buying the slowly-released better armours. Again, Nightfall did it better with full armour and level 20 being very early on.

I think the big mistake with post-searing was the art style. The slow levelling is endemic to Prophecies, but the blandness of the art is a huge contrast from the quite flash noob zone and the rest of the game. Underwhelming new players right at the start is a silly idea. Once you're middling level it's worth doing the quests anyway for the skills, but being forced to troll through it as a level 7 is very, very tiresome. By the time I got out with my first char I was stunned by how not-shit the rest of the game looked.

[Broomstick]

I find your degree of appalling personal vitriol disgusting, but you don't see me whining about it. Oh no, I better stay away from you in a pretend game! Are you for real?

Yeah. An on-line game where you interact with real people via avatars. If you see one of mine just leave me the fuck alone. Is it really THAT hard to understand? I don't want you fucking up my gaming experience. GW has the advantage that the only place I'll ever encounter you is in a town, because sure as hell I won't be in a group that includes you.

Yes, you show up in threads to piss on people. You like to piss on people who don't fall on their knees and agree with you immediately. You especially enjoy pissing on me for some reason, probably because I nearly never agree with you. Apparently my continued existence annoys you. Get over it. I'm not going anywhere.

[Stark]

I'd like you to start substantiating these claims about me with facts. Y'know, so I know you've got a point and you're not just being a dickhead.

I'm glad you've dropped the obvious lies and your blind of this being about GW, though. It's just honest 'rar stark is bad' stuff now. Doesn't honesty feel good?

'My continued existence annoys you'? This is really crossing a line; you're baselessly claiming I want you to die BECAUSE YOU DISAGREE ABOUT A LEVEL IN A COMPUTER GAME. Get some fucking perspective.

[Broomstick]

All the shit-flinging aside... while I spent a good deal of time my first time through Ascalon, I tried to get out of there as fast as possible with my subsequent characters. I think it had a good pace for someone new to GW, but once you were used to a level 20 character, it is rather dull.

Well, that's the thing - I'm new to the game. And, while I know lore bores some people to tears it's one of the things I tend to enjoy in RPG's.

Hell, I liked the whole Myst-Riven-Etc. series which, aside from the artwork tends to bore a lot of people, runs at a very slow pace, has almost no action, and is generally all lore. It's not for everyone, true, but it's just as valid an approach as the people who do nothing but PvP.

(how much fun can you really have going back to low-level areas and destroying absolutely everything?)

>shrug< Sometimes, quite a bit. Depends on my mood. Doesn't thrill me as a daily thing, but I apparently have a higher tolerance for grind than a lot of people.

PS - from a spot between Yak's and Lion's you'll see a lot of people doing "Drok Runs" - Droknar's Forge is the first place you can get Max armor, most of the skills, and is pretty late-game - I've seen several people brand-new to the game doing that shit, then going back to continue the game... what's the point?

If there's lore in the early game, that might be an attraction for some people. Won't know till I get there - if I have any amazing revelations I'll let you know.

Mostly, people there are paying for runs to expedite their second+ characters.

OK, there's your motive - profit. At least in some cases.

[Broomstick]

I'd like you to start substantiating these claims about me with facts. Y'know, so I know you've got a point and you're not just being a dickhead.

I claim that I think you're an asshole. I'm not sure what sort of "proof" you're looking for.

'My continued existence annoys you'? This is really crossing a line; you're baselessly claiming I want you to die BECAUSE YOU DISAGREE ABOUT A LEVEL IN A COMPUTER GAME. Get some fucking perspective.

No, you don't want me dead - if I'm dead I'm no longer miserable. You're only happy when other people are unhappy. And this isn't about a game, this is about your past asshattery as well.

You're butthurt because I'm not a fan of Stark.

[Stark]

Wrong. You made specific claims such as 'you do care that I'm miserable and you care that that state continues' and 'you like to piss on people who don't fall on their knees and agree with you immediately'. Now, these are obviously childish lies, but this is SDN and you can either prove it or shut the fuck up. Your absurd delusions of persecution (based on five posts, since I don't believe I've ever interacted with you before) and frankly disgusting claim that I want you to live a life of suffering are absolutely hilarious, but pathetic.

It's ironic, because I believe that you have this level of rage because I don't care about your unfortunate life. This is quite an amusing piece of hypocrisy, because to me you're just another random internet person and I'd rather talk about actual things than... you. At least I let you hijack this into a discussion about I desire you to have a life of suffering (based on nothing) instead of Guild Wars, so I can't be all bad.

[Isil`Zha]

The run to Drok is really hard though, unless you're a good ranger. It's worth it (I think) to just go straight to full-spec armour and then go back to do the rest of the game (I have no interest in the story) and not buying the slowly-released better armours. Again, Nightfall did it better with full armour and level 20 being very early on.

I can do it with my Dervish in ~30 minutes - by far the easiest class to make that run with (literally constant speed-buff, an anti-KD enchant, and Vow of Silence to prevent the Ice Imps and Ice Golems from casting anything on you.)

I think the big mistake with post-searing was the art style. The slow levelling is endemic to Prophecies, but the blandness of the art is a huge contrast from the quite flash noob zone and the rest of the game. Underwhelming new players right at the start is a silly idea. Once you're middling level it's worth doing the quests anyway for the skills, but being forced to troll through it as a level 7 is very, very tiresome. By the time I got out with my first char I was stunned by how not-shit the rest of the game looked.

The slow leveling didn't bother me - I just figured it was par for the course of any RPG. It was a bit "WTF" to me when I saw how fast leveling in Factions was... but ended up liking the idea of quickly getting to max and playing an entire campaign at that level. I see what you're saying about the art style, like I said, it feels REALLY bland to me after Factions, Nightfall, and EoTN, which all had much more detailed landscapes. However, as a first-time through, I thought it was fine - oh and I actually liked the Prophecies story and the whole searing thing so I kind of got into it. And besides the primary missions, I solo'd a lot of post-searing as I got used to the game.

[Broomstick]

Wrong. You made specific claims such as 'you do care that I'm miserable and you care that that state continues' and 'you like to piss on people who don't fall on their knees and agree with you immediately'. Now, these are obviously childish lies, but this is SDN and you can either prove it or shut the fuck up

My opinion is my opinion - they are subjective and not something that can be proven. My opinion is based on how I perceive your conduct.

And yes, we have "interacted" in the past. Well, maybe you don't care enough to remember, but YOU I remember because I frequently find your posts to be mean-spirited and even cruel, not just to me but towards others.

[Stark]

I can do it with my Dervish in ~30 minutes - by far the easiest class to make that run with (literally constant speed-buff, an anti-KD enchant, and Vow of Silence to prevent the Ice Imps and Ice Golems from casting anything on you.)

Yeah, I've never tried since I gave up on Proph and got Nightfall so I haven't used any of the new classes there.

The slow leveling didn't bother me - I just figured it was par for the course of any RPG. It was a bit "WTF" to me when I saw how fast leveling in Factions was... but ended up liking the idea of quickly getting to max and playing an entire campaign at that level. I see what you're saying about the art style, like I said, it feels REALLY bland to me after Factions, Nightfall, and EoTN, which all had much more detailed landscapes. However, as a first-time through, I thought it was fine - oh and I actually liked the Prophecies story and the whole searing thing so I kind of got into it. And besides the primary missions, I solo'd a lot of post-searing as I got used to the game.

Well it doesn't even really need a group, because it's just scripted bloody scorpion spawns and shit like that. Proph's slow levellign didn't bother me either (although I prefer Nightfall) since it's pretty 'standard' RPG-wise, but being trapped in the Quarry of Greyness and Low-res Textures after the post-processed bloom-lit pre-searing was lame.

[Stark]

My opinion is my opinion - they are subjective and not something that can be proven. My opinion is based on how I perceive your conduct.

Oh god not this horseshit again. You don't like me and that's great an I don't care, but throwing out direct accusations of ritualised sadism is fucking disgusting and dishonest. If you can't defend something, don't fucking say it - rhetorical flourishes to demonstrate what a demon I am just make you look hysterical.

And yes, we have "interacted" in the past. Well, maybe you don't care enough to remember, but YOU I remember because I frequently find your posts to be mean-spirited and even cruel, not just to me but towards others.

So fucking what? I find all kinds of people on this board annoying and I don't accuse them of wanting to torture me, because that's outrageous and baseless. That concept of 'honesty' again!

[Isil`Zha]

All the shit-flinging aside... while I spent a good deal of time my first time through Ascalon, I tried to get out of there as fast as possible with my subsequent characters. I think it had a good pace for someone new to GW, but once you were used to a level 20 character, it is rather dull.

Well, that's the thing - I'm new to the game. And, while I know lore bores some people to tears it's one of the things I tend to enjoy in RPG's.

Ditto, which is why I made sure to mention it.

Hell, I liked the whole Myst-Riven-Etc. series which, aside from the artwork tends to bore a lot of people, runs at a very slow pace, has almost no action, and is generally all lore. It's not for everyone, true, but it's just as valid an approach as the people who do nothing but PvP.

I read pretty much all the lore and everything in GW, but eventually I turned to PvP after I had seen it all (I don't care for hours of grinding for trophies and such.)

(how much fun can you really have going back to low-level areas and destroying absolutely everything?)

>shrug< Sometimes, quite a bit. Depends on my mood. Doesn't thrill me as a daily thing, but I apparently have a higher tolerance for grind than a lot of people.

Well, I was talking about just slaughtering things just to slaughter them (which I've done,) grinding to me is where you have to wipe out some area repeatedly just for some rare item and you keep having to do it over and over and over...

PS - from a spot between Yak's and Lion's you'll see a lot of people doing "Drok Runs" - Droknar's Forge is the first place you can get Max armor, most of the skills, and is pretty late-game - I've seen several people brand-new to the game doing that shit, then going back to continue the game... what's the point?

If there's lore in the early game, that might be an attraction for some people. Won't know till I get there - if I have any amazing revelations I'll let you know.

The first-time people I've found wanted the Droks run just to "be powerful" more than anything. I'm with you on it though - I was in it for the lore and the intended experience, which I enjoyed.

Mostly, people there are paying for runs to expedite their second+ characters.

OK, there's your motive - profit. At least in some cases.

I did this myself, it was more along the lines of "I've done this story, I want to get all the goodies for this class that's new to me and then go back to blazing through til I get to the point where the enemies are up to par with me."

Really though, the way GW is designed, that doesn't make that huge of a difference - you need the levels for the attribute points to up your character's overall "power." Hell, half-way through factions it became all about the skills and the new builds I could make - powerful or not.



Anyway, like I said, I'll still go back to those beginning areas with my high-level characters to help people get through it (not run,) without doing it all for them too much.

[Broomstick]

I can do it with my Dervish in ~30 minutes - by far the easiest class to make that run with (literally constant speed-buff, an anti-KD enchant, and Vow of Silence to prevent the Ice Imps and Ice Golems from casting anything on you.)

What is this "dervish" profession? Since I only have a trial copy of Prophecies I don't really have any access to it. What's the idea behind it?

The slow leveling didn't bother me - I just figured it was par for the course of any RPG.

Some RPG's level faster, some slower. Actually, with WoW I'm now getting dissatisfied because it seems you level too fast these days and don't really have time to get into the story/background, or do some of the instances before you blow past the levels they're intended for.

One thing I've hated in WoW was people offering their high level characters to drag me through an instance as a "favor". It's invariably been a miserable experience with them doing all the killing, me getting little experience points, and being rushed through so fast that I have trouble keeping up and have no clue what the hell is going on. Do that too much in WoW and you wind up with a level 80 and no clue how to really use it. Yes, sometimes the grind really is pointless, but some grinding is what teaches you how to use your character, lets you try out different things so you learn what's most efficient when, and yeah, get a little lore.

GW definitely does have a different rhythm. It may be that after my first character I won't want to grind the immediate post-Searing stuff, but for my first one I probably should do it, if only to commiserate with everyone else who went through it.

Really, this reminds me of discussions in WoW with one group thinking the secondary professions are boring as shit and the other half enjoying the hell out of them and talking about how to make money off them. I expect to find similar differences of opinion in GW. Certainly there's a divide between the PvE crowd and the PvP only crowd, I can tell that just from the way the character creation is set up and reading a bit of history about the game.

[Isil`Zha]

I can do it with my Dervish in ~30 minutes - by far the easiest class to make that run with (literally constant speed-buff, an anti-KD enchant, and Vow of Silence to prevent the Ice Imps and Ice Golems from casting anything on you.)

Yeah, I've never tried since I gave up on Proph and got Nightfall so I haven't used any of the new classes there.

Dervish is Nightfall - All versions of GW have all the classes that Proph has.

The slow leveling didn't bother me - I just figured it was par for the course of any RPG. It was a bit "WTF" to me when I saw how fast leveling in Factions was... but ended up liking the idea of quickly getting to max and playing an entire campaign at that level. I see what you're saying about the art style, like I said, it feels REALLY bland to me after Factions, Nightfall, and EoTN, which all had much more detailed landscapes. However, as a first-time through, I thought it was fine - oh and I actually liked the Prophecies story and the whole searing thing so I kind of got into it. And besides the primary missions, I solo'd a lot of post-searing as I got used to the game.

Well it doesn't even really need a group, because it's just scripted bloody scorpion spawns and shit like that. Proph's slow levellign didn't bother me either (although I prefer Nightfall) since it's pretty 'standard' RPG-wise, but being trapped in the Quarry of Greyness and Low-res Textures after the post-processed bloom-lit pre-searing was lame.

I prefer Nightfall, too - gets you all the goodies faster, and allows a good majority of the game to still offer a challenge to your level 20. I never even really considered the dullness of Ascalon as a turn-off. *shrug*

[Isil`Zha]

I can do it with my Dervish in ~30 minutes - by far the easiest class to make that run with (literally constant speed-buff, an anti-KD enchant, and Vow of Silence to prevent the Ice Imps and Ice Golems from casting anything on you.)

What is this "dervish" profession? Since I only have a trial copy of Prophecies I don't really have any access to it. What's the idea behind it?

Oh sorry - Factions has 2 additional professions - Assassins and Ritualists, and Nightfall has Dervishes and Paragons - in addition to all the professions found in proph - as well as each of them having their own set of skills.

The Dervish is, for all intents and purposes, a "Mage Knight." They use Scythes that have a huge damage range, but also can hit the hardest (max is 9-41, where for example, a sword for a Warrior maxes out at 15-22.) Their armor is the same as a ranger, but they have higher energy regen to support their enchantment casting - Dervishes use a lot of self enchantments to protect themselves and do damage. Also, Dervishes gain health and energy whenever an enchantment ends on them. They also have skills to transform into Avatars of the various gods in GW lore (which grants various bonuses while the form lasts.)

You can only create the four classes I mentioned above in their respective versions of GW - however, all versions of GW provide quests to get your character to each of the other GW continents - which is why I would be able to help you out with my Dervish in Proph.

The slow leveling didn't bother me - I just figured it was par for the course of any RPG.

Some RPG's level faster, some slower. Actually, with WoW I'm now getting dissatisfied because it seems you level too fast these days and don't really have time to get into the story/background, or do some of the instances before you blow past the levels they're intended for.

Well that's the thing - the fast leveling is necessary in Factions and Nightfall, as the game quickly ramps up to requiring max characters.

One thing I've hated in WoW was people offering their high level characters to drag me through an instance as a "favor". It's invariably been a miserable experience with them doing all the killing, me getting little experience points, and being rushed through so fast that I have trouble keeping up and have no clue what the hell is going on. Do that too much in WoW and you wind up with a level 80 and no clue how to really use it. Yes, sometimes the grind really is pointless, but some grinding is what teaches you how to use your character, lets you try out different things so you learn what's most efficient when, and yeah, get a little lore.

Right, that's the equivalent of "running" in GW - people "run" you through missions or areas. I don't do that. As for the grind being necessary to know how to use your character, I don't have a problem with that. The grind I was talking about that I don't like was "post-story" stuff where you're just grinding for stuff that's pretty much nothing but bragging rights. And there's a lot of grinding for that in GW because money is always a bitch to build up (the highest gold drops you'll see by the toughest enemies will be on the order of 130-160 gold, that will be split 8 ways.)

GW definitely does have a different rhythm. It may be that after my first character I won't want to grind the immediate post-Searing stuff, but for my first one I probably should do it, if only to commiserate with everyone else who went through it.

That's what I did, and I definitely encourage a first-time player to do the same.

Really, this reminds me of discussions in WoW with one group thinking the secondary professions are boring as shit and the other half enjoying the hell out of them and talking about how to make money off them. I expect to find similar differences of opinion in GW. Certainly there's a divide between the PvE crowd and the PvP only crowd, I can tell that just from the way the character creation is set up and reading a bit of history about the game.

Oh definitely, there's a huge difference between the PvE and PvP crowd - so much so that about a year ago they started splitting skill updates - changing how certain skills work in PvE and PvP.

I do use my secondary class, but usually for specialized builds now - my Warrior had 2-3 skill slots dedicated to his secondary for more than half the game, but then my play-style changed. The way I was doing my warrior's secondary was inefficient anyway - putting way too many attribute points into the elementalist skills that I rarely used (like Meteor Shower - I had to stick runes on to get my Warrior's energy up to 26 so I could use the 25 energy cost Meteor Shower.) Hell, I have an awesome Necromancer build whose skill-bar is half Assassin skills.

[Broomstick]

I can do it with my Dervish in ~30 minutes - by far the easiest class to make that run with (literally constant speed-buff, an anti-KD enchant, and Vow of Silence to prevent the Ice Imps and Ice Golems from casting anything on you.)

What is this "dervish" profession? Since I only have a trial copy of Prophecies I don't really have any access to it. What's the idea behind it?

Oh sorry - Factions has 2 additional professions - Assassins and Ritualists, and Nightfall has Dervishes and Paragons - in addition to all the professions found in proph - as well as each of them having their own set of skills.

Could you possibly briefly run down the other 3 of those additional professions? The Prophecies ones are pretty straightforward (at least to me - they might confuse those new to this type of gaming). Assassins... well I assume that's pretty much what it sounds like, but what are the Ritualists? You've already got Elementalists, Mesmers, and Necromancer, and they threw in another magic user type? I sort of had an impression of "Paragons" as the GW equivalent of "Paladins", but I could be totally wrong on that.

You can only create the four classes I mentioned above in their respective versions of GW - however, all versions of GW provide quests to get your character to each of the other GW continents - which is why I would be able to help you out with my Dervish in Proph.

I'll keep that in mind.

Howver - my ranger currently needs to team up with someone to pull a level in pre-Searing... that would require a pre-Searing partner, yes?

The slow leveling didn't bother me - I just figured it was par for the course of any RPG.

Some RPG's level faster, some slower. Actually, with WoW I'm now getting dissatisfied because it seems you level too fast these days and don't really have time to get into the story/background, or do some of the instances before you blow past the levels they're intended for.

Well that's the thing - the fast leveling is necessary in Factions and Nightfall, as the game quickly ramps up to requiring max characters.

But weren't Factions and Nightfall designed to level up fast? WoW had a bunch of low-level quests that used to take time to get through but were interesting form a lore viewpoint. They also used to involve and insane amount of travel, but nevermind... While the current expansion's quests are grouped together better and don't involve scatter-shot back-and-forth across to two continents (usually) some (not all) of the other quest chains were interesting. It's just that no one has any time for them anymore. Or didn't - there are now people forming up to investigate those old quest lines and the old instances. It's good in that a lot more people are seeing the inside of Molten Core and An-Qiraj who couldn't get into a 40 man raid (it can be hard enough to organize 10 people, much less 40, never mind scheduling issues).

If Prophecies was designed for slower leveling then by running through it faster than intended you are likely to miss stuff. Won't know until I get there, of course, but that line of reasoning makes me inclined to gut it out at least the first time. And really, when you're just starting out a slower progression isn't a bad way to get into the game.

As for bragging rights - I think I'd go for some titles, but not all. The "Defender of Ascalon" one with the "death leveling", for example, is not something I'd be interested in.

And there's a lot of grinding for that in GW because money is always a bitch to build up (the highest gold drops you'll see by the toughest enemies will be on the order of 130-160 gold, that will be split 8 ways.)

And yet I hear about people maxing out their gold/platinum... that's a LOT of grinding! Either that, or they're wicked good traders. But there's no auction house, is there? It's all open-outcry trading in towns, right?

Also - could you have a character without a secondary?

[Thunderfire]

Paragon: Think 300. He/She is an order shouting spear thrower.
Ritualist: Some kind of priest he/she contacts his/her ancestors instead of his/her god.

[Isil`Zha]

I'll respond to your questions when I have time later broomstick, but FYI, I've added you and Chardok to my friend's list.

[Lagmonster]

The run to Drok is really hard though, unless you're a good ranger.

I enjoyed the Drok run; it's something of a fun challenge. I've done it solo - after much failure and death - as a Warrior, Ranger, Assassin, Dervish, and Elementalist. It's something like the marathon event of Guild Wars and one of the few personal challenges I enjoyed after squashing the main plot.