Guild Wars is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) that offers a solid alternative to that other well-known game of this kind called World of Warcraft. The Guild Wars games may be more understandable and easier to play for people that want to get started with their first online PC experience. They may appeal to women gamers both young and old for several reasons. The sword and sorcery fantasy backdrop, the epic story line, the realistic graphics, which are gorgeous and are at the top of the industry's efforts.

For 2006, Guild Wars gets my "Top MMORPG" mark for the second time. Arena Net has taken great pains to help keep their games from having a "slimy" community. Guild Wars still gets my highest marks for a "safer" environment from verbal abuse than several of the other games that I play for reviews. Although that isn't saying much anymore.

Guild Wars has released two more "chapters" or expansions to the territories of its "world" since it came out in 2005. (You can see reviews of both of those two games right here at WomenGamers.) The original game is now known as Guild Wars: Prophecies. If I were new to the series I would start there. However I might skip the second volume which is called Guild Wars: Factions.

Like the second day of a new job where a little knowledge can be dangerous, the second installment of the Guild Wars MMORPG saga called Factions suffered from some awkwardness. This is not so with the latest expansion pack in the series called Guild Wars: Nightfall. Three times makes the charm for the Guild Wars franchise. The latest offering can once again be bought separately and enjoyed as a stand alone game, or be used as it is intended as an expansion pack to enlarge the already vast world of Guild Wars.

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