Guild Wars.

[Roland]

Try using ctrl-shift-space to call your target once you're close but not yet within aggro range. Stefan (the warrior) should charge ahead and gather most of the aggro first due to proximity. You could also try a different group of henchmen, the holy trinity isn't required in GW.

I'll have to try that, although usually I fire off an arrow and by the time it's launched Stefan is off and running like a rabbit, heading for the very same target I was going to hit. They generally make contact at about the same time. ;) My biggest problem is getting them to continue attacking something while I attack something else. They just can't seem to do this, AND it takes them WAY too long to switch targets (this is without using the above command, though; I'll try that and see if it works).

Most spawns are somewhat static in their location and somewhat predictable. If you see a long stretch with no enemies you should expect an ambush or patrol if you haven't been there before.

Yup, this I've come to expect. The problem arises when I'm faced with 6 different groups of mobs all packed tightly together, and on ledges so I can't get a clear shot at them. There's just no way for me to attack them without dragging in more than I can chew, or ending up dying slowly because out damage cannot outpace their healing. Take the end of Althea's Ashes, for example. By the time I even get there, I've always died 3+ times because of my henchmen screwing around too much, and me being unable to get off damage spells in time to save their hides (Alesia is almost USELESS when it comes to healing; too many times I've seen myself or the Warrior get below 20%, only to be healed 10 seconds later when the mobs we were fighting are finally dead :P), thus they crumple and I'm left to pick up the pieces. A R/E cannot do jack against three warriors who can knock me down and counter EVERY one of my spells at will. It's like stunlock in Diablo - it's just unavoidable sometimes.

Maybe I need to take two tanks and a healer, instead of a Mage? Might help some.

My early explorations of post-Searing Ascalon had me fall over in many places due to my lack of experience with my skills, the mobs, pathing, equipment and the Stupid Squad (henchmen). Remember that you're new to the game. Just like in Diablo you'll meet things you can't figure out how to beat the first time around ("Ahh! Fresh meat!") but once you get some more experience the solution will be clear.

I know I'm new to the game. I also know what I see. This game is simply not a good game. It's one of the most noob-unfriendly games I've ever seen, it has horrendous bugs and gameplay issues that cripple the overall enjoyment of the game, and just overall it feels unpolished and unfinished. Not much has changed since beta, and that was 8 months ago. That is just bad. The same BS problems that aggravated the hell out of me then are still in the game, and that is purely unacceptable.

Maybe I'm just setting my standards too high, but personally I think it's more that the industry's standards are too low. Oh, sure, everyone gets on their soap box and preaches "Speak with your wallet, not your mouth", but it's kinda hard to do that when you can't return opened merchandise! Classic case of the sellers helping the creaters. You just can't win. If you don't buy it, you'll never know what it's like, but if you DO buy it, you're screwed if it's terrible, because you can't return it. Money spent, damage done, so sorry, move along. :P

If you have a specific location or encounter that gives you problems then try to describe it. Asking for assistance on the guild channel may help too, unfortunately the 4 characters/account limit prevent some of us from teaming without completely overpowering the low end stuff.

See, that's just it. My gripes with the game aren't about specific encounters. They are about fundamental problems with the game that those still playing seem to either ignore or have completely forgotten about, and those that don't play the game all say "Yep, that's how it was in beta, that's how it was for the first 3 days I played out of retail. I haven't gone back since." Classic ostrich syndrome, if you ask me.

Yes, I am stuck at one point in the game right now (Althea's Ashes), but I'm sure I can do it without advice. Advice isn't gonna change how difficult the quest is, and besides, all the advice I've gotten thus far when asking has been useless or insulting. So I don't bother anymore.

My fears about this game have already been confirmed. I just wanted to see if I was the only one who felt this way, as everyone in the game that I talk to seems to think (it's just me, it's all in my head, right....). I was right, it's NOT just me, and the game does have serious issues. The only difference between everyone else here who says the game is dull or broken and myself is I actually WANT to do the PvP side of the game. I hate PvP in any RPG because it's always broken or just stupid, but in this game it's FUN. So I decided to dredge through the PvE aspect of the game, only to find that it's just so horrendous as to not even be worth it. Truth be told, I forced myself to play it for the first few days more because I just wasted my money on it when I shouldn't have bought it in the first place. That was my main driving force, with the PvP aspect being second. But I can see it was a wasted effort, as well as a wasted investment, so I'm shelfing it for awhile to see if ANY good comes from waiting a few months. I doubt any will. Meanwhile, I'll go back to playing on my Gamecube and Xbox, enjoying QUALITY games that aren't bug-ridden and laiden with enough frustration to give you an embolism.

BTW - no matter how much I play them, Super Smash Bros. Melee and Halo 2 just never get old in groups. SP-wise, they have minimal replay, but get together 4 (or 16) players in a single room, and you have some seriously fun gaming. The saving grace of console games is that mini-lan (and even the old NES had that same "idea", just that it was built into the system, with only 2 players) magic. Playing with 2, or 4, or 16 players all together in the same house / room just beats the pants off playing with a bunch of strangers across the globe. The atmosphere and social interaction are just so much better, and so much more fun. I've been a hardcore PC guy for a long time, ever since the death of the SNES, but consoles still have that one edge, and I'm glad to see it hasn't changed. :)