Parents' Guide to

Guild Wars

By Dwight Odelius, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Free-to-play online fantasy role-playing game.

Game Windows 2005
Guild Wars Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

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age 13+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Ideas
Ideas Adult
December 30, 2010
age 13+

13 guild wars mmo mmorpg

Super Great MMOrpg kids 13 can play this game, my only warning is like any mmo is the ingame chat that takes place, some times it can get down low. little to no sexuality.

This title has:

Too much swearing
jfbrown42
jfbrown42 Parent of 12-year-old
July 3, 2009
age 13+

lots to do in the game and opportunity to interact online

Guild Wars is a very flexible game. There are a lot of ways to have fun in it, some of which don't involve fighting. Guild Wars is built to make a lot of the "griefing" (for example,loot stealing) that can happen in older games like Diablo II less likely. It's possible to play the whole game using computer-controlled henchmen, but it's more fun to play with others that you know, and the game supports "Guilds" to let you stay in touch with your friends and help you play together. The online chat is configurable so you can shut off various aspects of it (for example, you can set it up to only show the player "guild chat"). If a parent were to link the child's guild wars account to the parent's email account and got the child into a family friendly guild, the game would be pretty safe as far as Massively Multiplayer Online games go. Having no monthly fee is a bonus if you think your child may lose interest in the game.
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What’s It About?

GUILD WARS, also known as Guild Wars: Prophecies, is the first in a trio of games that allow the player to explore and quest in an online mythical fantasy world. The story, which is surprisingly engaging, concerns an ancient prophecy on the fictitious continent of Tyria and puts the player in the role of champion. Tyria is part of a vast fantasy world that includes other regions and continents. Those areas are also available for play in other Guild Wars games: Factions and Nightfall.

Players take on the role of a heroic character and battle against monsters and other players. They can design their own character using a mix-and-match system of skin colors, hair styles, magical abilities, and fighting skills. By questing and defeating computer-controlled monsters, the player's character gains experience, new abilities, and improved clothing and weapons. The quests are fairly easy, even if completed without the aid of other players. By the end of the main story, the character will reach level 20, the highest level in the game.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (1 ):

Outside the main storyline, players can fight against each other in player-versus-player (PvP) combat. Unlike many MMOGs, successful PvP play does not depend on players having better equipment or higher skills. In PvP mode, characters are outfitted with the highest level of equipment and skills, so that success in combat is largely dependent on the players' strategy and teamwork, and not just on the quality of their gear.

Guild Wars is a MMOG in a very loose sense of the term; the only thing that's "massively-multiplayer" about it are the large towns where players can meet to go on quests or PvP. The actual game areas are "instanced," meaning that teams get their own copy of the world to quest in. The upside of this is that it keeps costs down; the downside is that random encounters with fellow adventurers happen only in the city areas, providing less opportunity to form casual pick-up groups. That said, the benefit of playing such a game online is that players can team up with other players to tackle more challenging obstacles.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about online safety with their teenage children. Why shouldn't you give out personal details online? Is everyone always who they claim to be? What does effect does online anonymity have on people's behavior? Families can also discuss Guild Wars' unusual business model. How can a company make money if no one pays a subscription fee?

Game Details

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