Guild Wars or similar on Mac?

[Ryanm93]

I want to get a game something like World of Warcraft but i don't want to pay the monthly subscription. I found a game called Guild Wars which I like the look of and has no monthly subscription. I was just wondering if it was possible to get this game on Mac. Or even if there is a game very like Warcraft or guildwars on Mac with no monthly payments.

Thanks

 

[bmwman4life11]

either use bootcamp or crossover for guild wars

 

[cubist]

Using Bootcamp you could also try Dungeons & Dragons Online, which is free-to-play. Not sure if we're allowed to mention WoW on private servers here...

 

[Ryanm93]

Using Bootcamp you could also try Dungeons & Dragons Online, which is free-to-play. Not sure if we're allowed to mention WoW on private servers here...

Why is WoW not allowed to be mentioned? lol

Is crossover free/easy to use?

 

[Libertine Lush]

Guild Wars-like or not, I wish there were some incredible, free, modern (high end graphics) MMORPG for the Mac as well. The only free ones I've come across are really outdated, often with sprite graphics, and a community, I suspect, that's not as active as I'd like.

Closest I've come across to fulfilling both free and modern is WarHammer Online. They have a "free" experience wherein you can play the trial free forever, but with enough limitations that you won't be able to experience the proper game. I'll be trying it soon enough anyways.

There is DOFUS. Again, free with real limitations. Gorgeous art direction, but I think there may not be (installed, haven't played yet) a controllable 3D camera, so it may feel technically outmoded in that sense.

If you're willing to Boot Camp or virtualize (with free or paid apps) or Cider, obviously there's hundreds of free Windows MMORPGS at your beckoning. Here's, however, a great list I happened across last week: http://www.freemmostation.com/2010/02/top-10-free-to-play-mmorpg-games.html Several of them look very interesting, and even attractive. For now, I'm trying #1 on the list as the art direction appeals to me, on a Windows 7 system with an integrated graphics card. Makes me wonder why free-to-play MMORPG developers don't port their games to Mac. Seems the Mac demographic and modest GPU demands of virtually all free MMORPGs make them a fairly ideal fit for porting to OSX.

 

[Ryanm93]

Guild Wars-like or not, I wish there were some incredible free, modern (high end graphics) MMORPG for the Mac as well. The only free ones I've come across are really outdated, often with sprite graphics, and a community, I suspect, that's not as active as I'd like.

Closest I've come across to fulfilling both free and modern is WarHammer online. They have a "free" experience wherein you can play the trial free forever, but with enough limitations that you won't be able to experience the proper game. I'll be trying it soon enough anyways.

There is DOFUS. Again, free with real limitations. Gorgeous art direction, but I think there may not be (installed, haven't played yet) a controllable 3D camera, so it may feel technically outmoded in that sense.

If you're willing to Boot Camp or virtualize (with free or paid apps) or Cider, obviously there's hundreds of free Windows MMORPGS at your beckoning. Here's, however, a great list I happened across last week: http://www.freemmostation.com/2010/02/top-10-free-to-play-mmorpg-games.html Several of them look very interesting, and even attractive. For now, I'm trying #1 on the list as the art direction appeals to me, on a Windows 7 system with an integrated graphics card. Makes me wonder why free-to-play MMORPG developers don't port their games to Mac. Seems the Mac demographic and modest GPU demands of virtually all free MMORPGs make them a fairly ideal fit for porting to OSX.

Thanks for the info. It's a shame that there's so few games for Mac
Hopfully i can find a way to satisfy my need without resorting to Runescape

 

[aznguyen316]

crossover games works terrific with Guild Wars...

^he meant private servers for wow which are not legal.

there's also Torchlight which is a Diablo clone, good game though.

 

[Ryanm93]

crossover games works terrific with Guild Wars...

^he meant private servers for wow which are not legal.

there's also Torchlight which is a Diablo clone, good game though.

I've heard a bit about this crossover... So can anyone enlighten me as to how it works and what game titles are available and how the games are obtained i.e. are they downloaded or do you use a windows disk?

 

[aznguyen316]

Crossover games basically emulates a windows environment. I bought a license awhile back, but there may be a demo or something. You don't need a Windows license though which makes it better option than Parallels or VMWare or bootcamp. You play within OS X too since it's a native OSX app you run and then it runs Guild Wars for you. Try youtube to see how it kind of works.

basically it works with a few games, Guild Wars being one of the best supported games. CrossOver Games (CXG) has a built in installer for Guild Wars too, but you can install from your disc or download. It installs it on your mac os inside these "bottles" which are just packaged files of the windows files.

http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxgames/

I used it to play Half-Life 2, the orange box games but now those games are available for Mac natively. I played GW for awhile this way too on my 9400m.

 

[Ryanm93]

Crossover games basically emulates a windows environment. I bought a license awhile back, but there may be a demo or something. You don't need a Windows license though which makes it better option than Parallels or VMWare or bootcamp. You play within OS X too since it's a native OSX app you run and then it runs Guild Wars for you. Try youtube to see how it kind of works.

basically it works with a few games, Guild Wars being one of the best supported games. CrossOver Games (CXG) has a built in installer for Guild Wars too, but you can install from your disc or download. It installs it on your mac os inside these "bottles" which are just packaged files of the windows files.

http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxgames/

I used it to play Half-Life 2, the orange box games but now those games are available for Mac natively. I played GW for awhile this way too on my 9400m.

Ohh okay! I will definitely give that a go then
Thanks

 

[Libertine Lush]

A few alternatives came to mind, that I'm very excited about trying, but they're not quite MMORPGs--but free and certainly with modern graphics. They're a bit like playing only the PvP portion of an MMORPG, with persistent online elements.

Became freeware recently. 3rd person action melee view, 1st person with ranged weapons.
http://www.savage2.com/en/main.php

More excited over this game than any other in the near future, even if Bad Company 2 gets ported to OSX. Coming to Mac this summer.
http://www.leagueoflegends.com/

Just like the game above, but from what I've read, less accessible. Initial cost of $30, but no monthly fees.
http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/

 

[phoenixmog]

There is also a cider port of guildwars floating around. I found it a few months back on one of the guildwars threads. It works great for running Guild wars without the need to buy any other software.

I did a quick search, but couldn't find the thread. A little more investigation, and I'm sure you'll find it.

 

[Venkman90]

With Steam hitting OSX we may get a port of GW2, as it's still early days and their biggest competitor (WoW) runs native.

imho that's why most MMO's struggle to even dent WoW's user base, so many people play it on their mac as they never play other games so don't run Bootcamp. Mass market = Mac ports (that run well, I am looking at you NWN2).

 

[Libertine Lush]

as it's still early days and their biggest competitor (WoW) runs native.

That's very cool. I had assumed it was a port. Since it's native, does WOW run comparable to a Windows machine with the same specs? I'm guessing it comes close, but still not the same due to Apple's OpenGL driver's poor state.

 

[huck500]

That's very cool. I had assumed it was a port. Since it's native, does WOW run comparable to a Windows machine with the same specs? I'm guessing it comes close, but still not the same due to Apple's OpenGL driver's poor state.

It doesn't run anywhere near Windows speed on my 2.4 core 2 duo, 2GB ram, GeForce 8600M GT.

Under bootcamp I get up to 130 fps or so in some areas with pretty high settings, and ~40 fps in the same areas under OSX with low settings. Even the most demanding areas get a steady 30-40 fps under windows, while they're almost unplayable under OSX. I also get hitching in graphics-intensive areas under OSX, none under windows.

I've tried optimizing settings many times, because how can it be that bad... but I always go back to windows.

 

[Libertine Lush]

Under bootcamp I get up to 130 fps or so in some areas with pretty high settings, and ~40 fps in the same areas under OSX with low settings. Even the most demanding areas get a steady 30-40 fps under windows, while they're almost unplayable under OSX.

That's sounds nothing like I'd expect from a native version. Sounds even worse than a port. Thanks for the info.

 

[Venkman90]

Well thats the opposite of my experience.

On my 9400m I got better fps on OSX than Windows, and for some reason better ping as well.

 

[CylonGlitch]

Well thats the opposite of my experience.

On my 9400m I got better fps on OSX than Windows, and for some reason better ping as well.

When comparing apples to apples, IE running WoW under OSX and WoW under windows on the same machine, I found that they ran almost identical. But normally people would say that Windows runs about 10 to 20% faster; but that is because they are running full screen. For DirectX when you switch to full screen it removes much of the OS background tasks and does other things. Where as under OSX it is always running in a window, just maximized. Thus the true method of comparing is to run the windows in a maximized window (there is a setting for it in the WoW config), that will drop the frame rates on the window side by that extra 10 to 20%.

But I'm with you, it should run about the same regardless of system.

 

[Libertine Lush]

For DirectX when you switch to full screen it removes much of the OS background tasks and does other things. Where as under OSX it is always running in a window, just maximized.

I was aware of the Windows behavior, but that OSX info is new to me. Are there good reasons or advantages to OSX's approach? Otherwise it's just a waste of system resources resulting in lesser performance for the focused app, as you explained.

 

[Huntn]

Why is WoW not allowed to be mentioned? lol

The referenced was to WoW on private servers. That has been discussed here without any MacRumors moderation issues that I know of however it has been in general terms, not specifics. I don't know how specific you'd have to get before the conversation gets closed down by the authorities.

 

[CylonGlitch]

I was aware of the Windows behavior, but that OSX info is new to me. Are there good reasons or advantages to OSX's approach? Otherwise it's just a waste of system resources resulting in lesser performance for the focused app, as you explained.

FYI just to let you know why it is done like this in OSX is because you don't get system resources directly in OSX. Everything runs through the kernal. In Windows a poorly written game can take down the entire system via DirectX calls because when in full screen direct X mode the operating system turns over more resources to the application thus giving it more power. But if you run the same application in a window, those rights are revoked and you get the same system that OSX runs.

So basically, it comes down to performance vs stability. Apple chose stability over performance, whereas MS chose the opposite. I know I have had several games cause windows to lock up or do weird things. It has gotten better but it isn't perfect. I won't say that the windows approach is wrong, but neither is the Mac side. I would say that Apple chose to play conservative and let the hardware get fast enough where it doesn't matter; and Microsoft chose to give the developers more power at the risk of them screwing it up. Either way is acceptable. For me, now, I prefer stability, but then again, I no longer really play many games so it's a moot point.

But yes, the best way to compare the two OS' is OS-X full screen and Windows Maximized-Window mode. And, in at least WoW's case, they come out about the same. But native full screen (non-windowed) WoW is faster.

 

[Libertine Lush]

FYI just to let you know why it is done like this in OSX is because you don't get system resources directly in OSX... So basically, it comes down to performance vs stability. Apple chose stability over performance, whereas MS chose the opposite.

Thanks for the wonderful explanation. Love learning about this sorta stuff.