Is the original Guild Wars still fully functional and worth playing?

I just bought PoF, but PoF or the Windows Creator Update has slowed things down to such a point that the game is basically unplayable on my PC. Looking for another game to play until the situation gets better or I can upgrade my PC. Guild Wars seems like a decent option. Is it still worth the investment (money & time)? If not, any other suggestions? (For reference, the last games I enjoyed before this were Pillars of Eternity and Tyranny).

I have an i3 and 6 gigs of RAM

Thanks for the help.

It's still up and running. IMO it's one of the best games of all time across any genres, but it will feel a bit dated. You can't jump or attack while moving.

As for money, you can probably find a bundle of all 4 campaigns for next to nothing, since it's a 12 year old game.

It's definitely still up and running, but it's doing so in "maintenance mode" (meaning there won't ever be new content added or any changes). There is also a limited population now, so playing with actual players doesn't happen often; however, there are henchmen and heroes to help you on your journey. My husband and I decided to re-play through all three campaigns and the expansion a couple of years ago, and we both had a great time doing it. I can't remember how much it was for the games (we got the Platinum Edition, which had all 3 campaigns, and then the EOTN expansion separate), but investing in a second copy of the game was worth it for me. Just keep in mind that this game is nothing like GW2 as far as gameplay goes.

Guild Wars 1 is still up in its entirety but most players have moved over to Guild Wars 2 and other games. For the storyline missions this does not even hinder you because when no fellow players are in your area, you can always take some computer controlled players with you (Henchmen and later fully-customizable Heroes)

You will still find many players at major locations like trading hub Kamadan and PvP starting point the Great Temple of Balthazar. But when you play the story-line missions and visit small outposts, you will find yourself often alone there. The time that you could shout LFP Mission+bonus in any outpost to quickly find a PUG (group) is long gone.

This has been somewhat mitigated by the central cooperative starting point Embark Beach, but does not change the fact that most of the once active player base moved on to games like Guild Wars 2.

Oh, and by the way: The majority of the still active players seem to have moved to the American territory servers, even the European players. So when you find out that everything is empty, check which territory you are in.

I still think Guild Wars is a beautiful game and certainly worth playing, but take in mind you will be very late in comparison to the original players so you will most likely never come up-to-par with old generation players with many titles and gold. Also, the skill system of GW1 is quite different, you can freely choose between hundreds of skills in the end, but you will be able to learn them slowly, one at a time.

When you want some inspiration of possible skill combinations, see the PvX Wiki For almost ALL the rest, see the official Guild Wars Wiki.

I've been thinking about playing through again. Trouble is, I have no idea what my login was. I'm sure there's a way of getting it reset etc. Just need to work out what my email address was back then.

Still up and running, lots of people playing. If you want real players don't go for the biggest guilds in the game, a lot of bots running in place for the faction battles.

I'm still slowly working on HoM achievements in the original GW, and I know I'm not the only one. Plenty of pretty things to explore, though as mentioned, it does have a bit of a dated feel. Give it a try, make sure to get Eye of the North and link your GW and GW2 accounts, and maybe when you can run GW2 more easily again, you'll have enough HoM points to get some neat skins or minis.

Finally over 3/4 of the way to Party Animal!

If I were to buy the old game, what would I need to purchase to get everything? There's a GOTY version, a platinum version, factions, nightfall, eye of the north, etc etc

@Vaper.1469 said:I've been thinking about playing through again. Trouble is, I have no idea what my login was. I'm sure there's a way of getting it reset etc. Just need to work out what my email address was back then.

If your accounts are linked, they should share login credentials.

Still worth playing in my opinion. But it is nothing like Guild Wars 2. You have to give it time to get used to the feel of how you move and battle. It's almost more like a single player game, because you're in your own instances most of the time. It's only in towns that you congregate with other people. You can team up with people and then go into the map instances together though. In my opinion, it's best to do the campaigns together with a friend/spouse. It's easier with another person.

@Tanner Blackfeather.6509 said:

@Vaper.1469 said:I've been thinking about playing through again. Trouble is, I have no idea what my login was. I'm sure there's a way of getting it reset etc. Just need to work out what my email address was back then.

They're not linked unfortunately.

I'll work it out.

The game is up and still running. Although most of the ppl now are those who want the HoM Achievements.