Guild Wars Factions - Part Two

Published Friday, May 19, 2006 by gamegirlrobot | E-mail this post

Why do girls like Guild Wars Factions?

Now I've played the PvP scenarios of Guild Wars Factions. I realized that I do enjoy the game quite a bit. I probably share the same reasons why most people like it. However there are things that I feel are specially appealing to girls.

Level of violence - frankly, no girls like to brutally kill or be killed. The level of violence in Guild Wars Factions is quite low, even though the rating said "violence" on the box. Of course, this is relative. I'm comparing it with Doom 3 and Call of Duty. One of the wonderful things is that you can pick a completely peaceful profession, like "Monk", who provide healing and protection to other players in the team.

Level of difficulty - I don't think a girl will stay up until 4 am to attempt a level she couldn't pass for 10 trials. Maybe there are exceptions. This also holds true to everyone to a certain level. You will just give up when you are frustrated enough. And girls are not "in to" games overall. Level of difficulty in Guild Wars Factions is reasonable. It neither assumes that the player is stupid nor a natural born killer. If you not so sure about the major missions in the game, you get the option of picking minor missions to gain more "experience" points before entering the "level advancing" ones.

Costumes - even though this game is about strategy and combats, the costumes of each profession are nicely designed. The graphic quality also aided to create a good visual impression of the characters. Faces are attractive. The figures of the characters are proportionate, instead of exaggerated (you know what I mean). PvP scenarios enable you to be equipped with advanced armors and weapons, which provide even more customization options.

Music - well, the background music is not comparable to Mozart's Symphony No.41 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._41_(Mozart)), but it's quite soothing. It's not creepy, scary, funny, or hyper. It's a good choice.

Not all about winning - the nature of Guild Wars game play is not just about killing the most enemies. It's about how to build an effective team, how to utilize your skills, how to coorperate with each other and how to develop a balanced strategy for each battle. It's more than killing and winning. It encourages creativity and lateral thinking. You also get to know more of your friends' and your weaknesses and strength. I think these are the major things which appeal to girls.

I can't speak for all girls. But I do know that the idea of going on an adventure, exploring new area, meeting new people, solving problems, defeating a monster *together*, wearing nice costumes, earning gold coins, exchanging items, and talking to friends online are the elements that a female gamer would enjoy.