One of the biggest features of a game like Guild Wars is that it’s free-to-play with no strings attached. You can always put it down and come back to it at a later point as long as the servers are up, just like a console game with free online play. Not only are the servers still up, but they’re brimming with activity and many maps still have multiple districts to hold all of the people playing.  If you aren’t one of them then lend me your ear and let me tell you why you should be reinstalling the Guild Wars client, assuming that you’re not already currently playing.

First of all it’s okay if you’ve quit actively playing the game. We all get bored of playing games, tight-knit guilds do collapse, and there are only so many times we can listen to Prince Rurik before he runs off against an entire army of Charr. It’s perfectly normal to feel this way, but it shouldn’t seclude you from revisiting the game again. Especially with all of the new content that has arrived since the release of the original Prophecies campaign.

Nightfall is an excellent example of one of the reasons you should look into hitting up that client download. The entire Nightfall campaign is rather lengthy giving over 35 to 40 hours of solid gameplay from start to finish. The hero system, which allows you to collect customizable henchmen, will enable you to breeze through PvE without a hitch. By breeze through, I mean, make it less frustrating. The later missions still are quite challenging, but with the simple addition of tools to control the tactical positioning of your heroes and henchmen on the battlefield, attempting to solo missions is no longer the exercise in frustration that it once was.

Nightfall’s campaign has one of the best MMOG stories I’ve ever experienced and it is beyond a doubt one of the most epic adventures I have ever undertaken. You start off as a simple Sunspear warrior with nothing impressive about you. You then find the story growing over time, from your small village under attack by pirates to this massive plot involving characters from previous campaigns and the entire world, not just Elona. It’s a stark contrast to Prophecies (where there are many different storylines) and Factions (where you follow Master Togo around like a lost puppy for a lengthy period of time). Not that they were bad, but Nightfall’s quality storytelling shines brightly.

Polymock was added in Eye of the North and many other mini-games to give you something fresh and new to do.

It shines so brightly I almost forgot I was playing an MMOG and found myself thinking I was engrossed in a console RPG. That, of course, may not be your prerogative, but that’s okay too. Guild Wars has a lot to offer, including the Guild Wars: Eye of the North expansion which adds in a ton of new content, including many different dungeons to explore and lots of amazing loot to collect.

The other reason to return is that GW will always have something for you to do in it. You can always pick it up and play it as much as you want. It’s up to you what you want to do. Replay through a campaign, explore a dungeon, farm skill unlocks, or play through the PvP options (which allow you to play even without a team). The active playerbase only serves to help these goals along with almost every mission and every map full of players.

The game also still receives regular updates. Guild Wars: Beyond is an ongoing set of updates that expands on foundational storylines that will help bridge the gap from Guild Wars to Guild Wars 2. Right now we’re exploring the War in Kryta storyline where you can unlock various dialogues with different NPCs and explore the follow-up story with the White Mantle. The updates come about once a week. This week, for instance, bounties were placed on the various White Mantle patrols roaming about outside of Lion’s Arch. It’s something fun, quick, and exciting to explore.

It’s important to note that “quickness”  is a key term when it comes to Guild Wars. You can have 20 minutes of time to waste and the game will not punish you for it. There are missions and quests or even PvP modes where 20 minutes can be packed full of excitement and fun. It’s only continued to remain true with all of the additional content that’s in the game now.

If you’ve got an active Guild Wars account then consider visiting this page and downloading the client. Give Prince Rurik another chance to save Ascalon or meet Gwen in The Eye of the North and help find the missing Ebon Vanguard members. Whatever you do, plan on having as much fun as you want, and then when you’re finished you can tuck the game away and pick it up again whenever you want.

If you don’t have an active account then what are you waiting for? The game is inexpensive and you don’t need a lot of time to be “good” at it. You can even buy the skill unlocks and rival the best players’ resource wise from the first day you’re starting out. There is a free trial that I encourage you to look into; I promise you won’t regret it.

In summary, remember that it’s alright to put a game like Guild Wars down for awhile. It’s a great game, but it’s not necessarily something that many would want to play for five years straight. Yet, don’t forget about it. Revisit it at times when you’re bored and you’ll be surprised at how much has changed and how much there is to do again.