Returning player, Asia-area play on NA servers

    This is my first post here, but hopefully not my last!

    I'm thinking about returning to this game, and playing with a good friend who is currently overseas (in Japan specifically).
    I was wondering if anyone knew how rough the connection would be to the American server? They'd be completely new to the game, and I wouldn't want their experience to be a lag-fest.

    I remember I tried to play a couple years ago when I was out there, and downloading the game took forever, and I struggled to really even leave a town.

    Is there anyway for this download time to be prevented? Can my friend front load it all over a week and then play on everything else smoothly?
    I'm excited to get back into the game with my friend, but I want to know if I should try now, or wait a year for them to return.

    Thank you in advance!

    I don't know how rough the connection would be for a Japanese player, but as a reference point, I'm a European player who can without issues play on the American district. Only when I'm doing hard stuff do I jump to European servers for the even quicker response.

    Downloading all the maps at once? : GuildWars (reddit.com)

    Here's a reddit post on how to force the client to download the whole game, instead of having to wait in loading screens in game.

    Good luck and welcome back :)

    Quote from Ravenshaw

    I don't know how rough the connection would be for a Japanese player, but as a reference point, I'm a European player who can without issues play on the American district. Only when I'm doing hard stuff do I jump to European servers for the even quicker response.

    Downloading all the maps at once? : GuildWars (reddit.com)

    Here's a reddit post on how to force the client to download the whole game, instead of having to wait in loading screens in game.

    Good luck and welcome back :)

    Wow, thanks for the link!

    Thanks guys, I really feel a lot more confident than I did about this whole endeavor. Hope to see you in game!