Updated in May 2014

Tyria, the dragons have always been here, sleeping deep beneath the earth, beneath the sea. Waiting for the time to rise. 100 years ago the drowned empire of Orr rose from the sea at a dragon's command. A dragon whose name was written in the legends of the dwarfs. A dragon known as Zhaitan. His armies surge from the waters, hungry for destruction...
– Guild Wars 2 Teaser Trailer

Set 250 years after the happenings of the original Guild Wars MMORPG¹, Guild Wars 2 takes the players back to Tyria - but a Tyria they have not seen before. Instead of producing another addon for Guild Wars, ArenaNet created a whole new game with completely new opportunities.

Unlike the first parts of Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2 is not heavily instanced² but has a persistent world . In its first year since the release in August 2012, Guild Wars 2 was the fastest selling MMO ever, with over 3.5 million copies sold. At peak times hundreds of thousands of players are online at the same time.

Just like in the original Guild Wars series, there are no monthly fees for playing Guild Wars 2. The game is financed through sales of in game items for real money, but no player has to buy anything to progress in the game and all items are also purchaseable by trading in-game money. Even if a player never buys anything from the shop there are no disadvantages in the game.

Story

Many things have happened during the last 250 years and the continent of Tyria is not the same any more. Not only have the civilisations of Tyria progressed in technology, but the shape of the world itself is different.

As already hinted in Eye of the North, an ancient evil has awoken in Tyria: the Elder Dragons. The first dragon to awake from his sleep was Primordus, master of the Great Destroyer and doom of the dwarfs³. Other Elder Dragons and their minions followed and brought terror to all parts of Tyria. Because the ice dragon Jormag rose from his frozen lake, the Norn had to flee from their home in the northern Shiverpeak Mountains and settle in the lands that once belonged to the dwarfs. Part of the continent of Kryta has been flooded, destroying the human settlements; the city of Lion's Arch was flooded and the ancient kingdom of Orr has risen from the seas together with its undead inhabitants. The ways to the human lands of Elona and Cantha are blocked and no news is coming from there. The Charr still occupy Ascalon, fighting not only against the minions of the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik, who rose in the Charr Homelands, but also against the human Ascalonians. Now all ghosts, these have been cursed by their own king to fight an eternal battle against the Charr because he could not accept defeat.

In an effort to fight the Elder Dragons, the races of Tyria try to stand together to save their world.

Playable Races

All things have a right to grow. The blossom is brother to the weed.
– the Ventari Tablet

While only humans have been playable in Guild Wars 1 and are still the most popular race, the players of Guild Wars 2 are able to choose between five different races for their characters. Every race has its own starting area and story. Additionally, they have different options for character customisation - not only visually, but also in defining their personalities.

Humans had long been the superior race in Tyria, but after the Charr attack on Ascalon and the coming of the dragons they lost their importance. Because of the flooding of Lion's Arch, they built themselves a new capital city further to the north: Divinity's Reach, a truly beautiful city of high towers and picturesque alleys. Humans are defined by their belief in their gods and the loyalty to their queen. Their land is threatened by invading centaurs and roamed by bandits.

The Charr on the other hand fought their gods and their shamans, ridding themselves from oppression - but the fight against the formerly leading Flame Legion is not yet over. They are a feline species, monstrous, furry, and born into a society that is defined by its military. The legion they belong to is a major factor in every Charr's life and their warband acts as their family. They live in an industrialised society, building powerful war machines and vehicles of a strange steampunk charm. The Charr's major base, the Black Citadel, has been built from steel on the ruins of an old human city, its chimneys releasing clouds of smoke into the sky.

Although the Asura are small and goblin-like people, their size does not lessen their pride - or even arrogance - and intelligence. They are scientists and inventors, building the most advanced technology in Tyria. It is their belief that everything in the world is part of what they call the Eternal Alchemy - a system in which all parts work together like clockwork. Asura define themselves through their scientific work and insights; each tries to make more important breakthroughs than the others. After they were driven away from their underground home by the minions of the fiery dragon Primordus a long time ago, their new capital city is Rata Sum. It is full of the wonders of magical technology and has more resemblance to a Mayan spaceship than an ordinary settlement.

From the icy regions of the Northern Shiverpeaks come the Norn, a tall and strong people who enjoy a good hunt just as much as a jug of strong ale. They have been driven away from their former homes in the north by the ice dragon Jormag. For the Norn, it is most important to become a legend one day and be remembered forever in the songs of their bards. They live in tune with the spirits of the wild and can even shapeshift into the animal form of one of the spirits. Their lodges are scattered all over the mountains and their so-called capital Hoelbrak is not a real town but a trading post as well as home of the most important shrines of the spirits.

Where the wise centaur Ventari guarded a strange sapling over 250 years ago, there is now a tree, high as a mountain. Her unusual fruits are sentient beings: the Sylvari. Their first-born dropped off the Pale Tree only 25 years ago and since then they have been gradually discovering the world. Sylvari are not made of flesh and bone, but have grown from plant fibres and leaves of all colours, albeit with a human shape. Still, they are certainly the most alien of all the races. Sylvari are not born as children but fall off the tree fully grown and with some knowledge about the world, which they get through the collective consciousness known as the Dream. The Sylvari live in a completely grown environment. No buildings, tools or even clothes are made artificially, but they are all grown naturally.

Unlike in some other games different races do not have different attributes, like different strength. Also, although the difference in the sizes of all races can look quite significant, to the computer they are all the same. This means that smaller characters are hit just as easily as large ones. What is different between the races are a number of race specific skills. Sylvari for instance can grow roots from the ground which grab their opponent, while Asura can fight with a shiny robot-like golem.

Professions and Skills

In Guild Wars 2, the player will be able to choose from eight professions. None of these is bound to a specific race and there are no dedicated tank, healer and damage dealer professions⁴ as there are in most other games. Every profession is able to take on any of these roles to make team play easier and reduce waiting times for more team members. Keeping the attention of a monster on oneself is almost impossible in Guild Wars 2, so everyone has to be prepared to be hit. Additionally, there are no pure melee (close combat) or ranged (long-distance combat) professions any more. Every profession has access to both types of weapons and all characters can switch between two weapon sets during combat. Each profession has unique combat mechanics.

• Warriors have access to the widest selection of weapons for instance swords, bows, rifles and hammers. During battle, they build up adrenaline which is then spent on a powerful skill that depends on the currently used weapon. Warriors wear heavy armour and have much health. In addition to powerful fighting skills they can also give various boons to their allies, for instance by placing banners on the ground.

• The Elementalist is one of the spell-casting professions in Guild Wars 2. Just like in Guild Wars 1, they can attune to one of the four elements to get different kinds of skills, but now this attunement can be changed during combat which gives the elementalist access to more skills than any other profession. This means that the Elementalist has access to four skillsets at any time, but is not able to switch weapons during combat, unless they conjure a magical weapon for themselves.

• Necromancers steal the life force of their opponents and also collect the life force of the dead to put themselves into a Death Shroud, which gives access to powerful skills. Necromancers weaken their enemies and can use fear to make their enemies run away. If they want they can also fight alongside a number of undead minions which all have different abilities.

• The most special feature of Rangers is their animal companions. Only one pet can be active at a time, but they can be switched to make use of the different skills of the different animals which are dependent on their species; there are also separate pets for underwater combat. Additionally, Rangers can lay traps and summon spirits.

• Thieves can sneak up on their targets and steal items from them. These items replace the weapons they are equipped with and can then be used against their enemies. Thieves rely on stealth and the right timing of their skills. They can teleport between different locations to quickly get to their opponent and away again before the enemy gets a chance to strike back. To use their skills they rely on the unique resource 'initiative', which runs out quickly and can leave them powerless if it is not managed correctly.

• Mesmers are masters of illusions. Their magic creates doppelgangers of themselves which attack and distract their opponents. Furthermore, Mesmers have the ability to confuse their enemies, causing damage whenever the target uses a skill.

• The Guardian can use three virtues that provide a passive benefit for themselves or alternatively a smaller passive benefit for their whole team. These virtues provide a blocking effect, enable attacks to cause a burning condition, or improve health regeneration. Guardians use wards to protect themselves and their allies and can summon spirit weapons. They wear heavy armour and can wield swords and maces as well as magic scepters.

• Engineer technology has been mainly developed by the Charr, but this does not mean that other races don't use it. The Engineer deploys turrets to defend areas and has access to potions, grenades, mines and many other special weapons. Using these weapons replaces the Engineer's usual skills with special abilities related to these weapons. This makes the Engineer a very versatile profession, although they have only access to very few normal weapons and are not able to switch them during combat.

Just like in Guild Wars 1, every player is equipped with only a limited number of skills at any time. The first five skills can't even be chosen freely but are determined by the type of weapon that is used at that moment and the profession of the character (for example, the axe skills of a Warrior differ from the axe skills of a Necromancer). Every profession has a few different weapons to choose from. The other five skills can be chosen freely from the profession's utility skills, but the character must always be equipped with one healing skill and one powerful elite skill. Unlike in Guild Wars 1, there are no secondary professions in Guild Wars 2. Players get access to their utility skills by levelling up their character and by completing skill challenges, which are often fighting against an NPC⁵. Weapon skills are unlocked by using the weapon in question, which doesn't take much time.

For further customisation of the character, every profession has access to five different trait lines. Traits enhance different attributes of the character, like strength or precision, but also give profession specific bonuses. For progressing in the game the player gets trait points which they can then spend on traits depending on where they want to set the priorities in their playing style.

In addition to the normal profession every character can also learn up to two crafting professions during the game. This can for instance be Weaponsmith or Tailor, and enables the player to produce weapons and armour of different kinds for himself and others. Crafting professions are improved by actually crafting items. To do that the player needs resources like ore and wood which can be found all over the world and can be gathered by all players alike. There are no special professions for gathering resources like there are in other games. There also is no competition about gathering a certain resource because for instance one tree can be chopped down by many people but one single character can only gather wood from it once in a few hours.

Combat

Some must fight, so that all may be free.
– motto of the Vigil

In Guild Wars 2 combat is different from other MMORPGs, where you can basically stand rooted in one position and press your buttons. Guild Wars 2 demands that the players are really aware of their surroundings and move around a lot. Actively dodging incoming attacks is often the only way to stay alive and moving around the enemy during the fight is usually beneficial. Many skills also require not only pressing a button but actively moving a marker on the piece of ground where they should take effect. This may be anything from a firestorm which damages enemies in the specific area to a healing circle which gives life to allies. These allies on the other hand have to be aware of it and move into the circle if they need health. As there are no dedicated healers, everyone is responsible for their own and their team mates' health and for reviving dead allies. This also means that no team can be wiped out just because a player of a certain profession is not available. A team made up solely of members of the same profession is not a problem.

When people work together, they can use cross-profession combos, which means that for instance someone shooting arrows through an Elementalist's wall of fire will have burning arrows which set their target on fire. There is also access to environmental weapons; these include siege weapons as well as ordinary stones and wooden planks.

When a player dies, they first enter 'downed mode' which gives them a last chance to kill their opponent and this way regain health or alternatively be rescued by an ally. In downed mode, every profession has a special set of four downed skills, for instance to throw dirt at the enemy. Downed players gain experience like everyone else. After the fight, loot and experience points are automatically distributed to players according to their contributions to the fight. There is no stealing of loot and therefore no quarrel over the distribution of items. Experience Points (XP) are also be gained for healing and other support, not just for doing damage.

In Guild Wars 2, combat not only takes place on solid ground but players can also dive into water to experience a new kind of combat. While under water, every profession has their own underwater weapons – like for instance a trident or a harpoon gun. Every lake and stream in the game can this way be accessed and becomes a real part of the world. Seamless passage from dry land to water makes this feel very natural, although unfortunately this feature is not used as often as one may hope.

Player versus Environment

The dragons are not stars in the sky. They can be counted. They can be fought. One day, we will kill the last of them. Only then will Tyria be safe.
– Marshal Trahearne

Player vs Environment (PvE) in Guild Wars 2 does not consist of the usual quests that can be found in every other Massively Multiplayer Online game. Instead, the players are meant to explore the world on their own, see things happen and react accordingly. This could for instance be a village under attack. If no player comes to interfere, other things may happen as a result, like the same enemies invading the whole area. They would then keep this place occupied until players do something about it. ArenaNet calls this a Dynamic Event System and they happen at all times everywhere in Tyria, on high mountains just like deep in the sea. The number of enemies in every fight is automatically adjusted based on the number of players participating in the event, in order to make the fight a reasonable challenge. Events can consist for instance of defending or attacking an area, collecting things or protecting an NPC.

What comes closest to ordinary MMO quests in Guild Wars 2 are 'Renown Hearts', which are scattered all over Tyria. On the map a golden heart indicates the places where people need the help of players. There are always many ways to help, so the players can choose what they feel like doing. Also no NPC has to be talked to to start the quest but all activities in the area automatically fill a counter which indicates how much help is still needed. Once the counter is full the player gets experience points, gold and karma. Karma can be traded in for weapons, armour and other items.

The maximum level in Guild Wars 2 is 80 and there are areas in the game for all different levels. There they find enemies, Renown Hearts and Dynamic Events fitting to their level. If players go to areas with enemies of a too high level, they will soon not get on any more because the enemies are too strong. On the other hand it is never the case that areas are of a too low level for the players and enemies are dead with a single hit - which is true for many games. Players of a higher level are scaled down to the level of the area they play in, meaning their health and other stats are reduced, while armour and weapons stay the same. This means these players still have an advantage but are not too powerful. This system manages to keep all areas interesting for players even if they have reached the maximum level of the game already.

Part of the world of Guild Wars 2 are eight dungeons which groups of five players can visit together. To enter a dungeon the characters have to have reached a minimum level. There are at least four different ways which the players can take to get through the dungeon. Every dungeon tells a story of its own which is in some way connected to the wider world around it. The so called 'Story Mode' of a dungeon is an introduction for the dungeon. There are also 3 or more 'Explorable Modes', which lead the players through the dungeon on different ways of their choice. Each way has a different level of difficulty. At the end of each of them there is a boss monster with a treasure chest and along the way all players get token rewards which can be traded in for weapons and armour of a dungeon-specific design. There are also achievements to be earned for completing all paths through the dungeons.

In addition to the normal dungeons there are also the Fractals of the Mists. The Mists are the proto-reality where gods and spirits live and scientists have found a way to enter them and replay parts of Tyria's past. Players have access to multiple scenarios which are all played like a dungeon. Four different random Fractals are played in a sequence and reward points are gained. These can again be traded in for various items. The more often a character enters the Fractals, the more difficult they get.

Unlike other MMORPGs Guild Wars 2 does not have any instanced raids which are completed by dozens of people together in a separate zone. What serves this purpose are large events with breathtakingly huge bosses. Especially the dragon champions are larger than anything usually seen in MMOs. These boss events take place in the same open world as any normal event chains but are more complex and difficult. Each of these events takes place every few hours and many people gather before the event is expected to start and then fight together.

Even more than Guild Wars 1, Guild Wars 2 is full of hidden treasures and other secrets. It really pays off to just run around and explore the world, especially as exploration gives a considerable amount of experience points. To make it even more interesting and to use the newly gained feature of jumping⁶ there is also a kind of jump and run element in the game. The so-called Jumping Puzzles lead the player through deep caves or over high peaks, always requiring characters to jump from one place to another. Jumping Puzzles of higher difficulty may contain vanishing holographic platforms, gaping abysses, sudden strong winds which blow you off the ground and unexpected enemy encounters. They all require the player to be able to perfectly control the movements of their character.

For everything players do in the world they earn achievement points. These are added to various counters, like achievements for slaying certain enemies, completing jumping puzzles, participating in Living World content and also a few weirder things. By completing achievements players in some cases earn titles which they can display under their character name. All achievements are also counted together and earn the player rewards of gold and items.

Living World

It could have been just another dreary night in the same ol' smoky bar, with that siren song lulling drunks and lonely hearts deeper into their sorrows...
– Marjory Delaqua, private investigator

Unlike any other MMO so far Guild Wars 2 and the story of Tyria keep constantly evolving and expanding. Every month new content is added to the game. A new update can usually be expected every two weeks, so the story of one month may be revealed in two stages. These stories can either extend the main story of the world and span a wider arch which continues for several months or be something completely different. The first long Living World story took about a year to be completed and told about the fight against the mad Sylvari scientist Scarlet Briar who in the end succeeded in her goal to awaken the Elder Dragon Mordremoth. Part of the Living World are also various holiday celebrations like Christmas or Halloween. For completing this new content the player gets rewards of many different kinds like titles and unique pieces of armour. Much of the Living World content is targeted at players with characters of higher levels. Additionally the existing content of the game is constantly improved.

After the month is over some content is removed from the world again while other changes are permanent. The changes may go as far as adding whole new zones, new bosses, turning green meadows into wastelands or busy cities to ashes. This keeps the players interested in the game because they want to see what comes next. Casual gamers keep coming back to see what is new while it always gives more dedicated players new challenges. Everywhere in the world there are hints to new stories and unexplained mysteries which may some day be unveiled.

Personal Story

I'm Two-Tibs A'whisker, and this is Bloodcovered Backstabbin' Blackjack the Blade. Yarr. Raise the crow's foot and rope down the jib-jabber-gabber...thingy...
– Tybalt Leftpaw in pirate disguise

Every character of a player experiences the world from their own personal perspective. On creating the character the player already has to make choices in defining the background and history of their character. These decisions then influence what will happen to the character later in the game. Further choices while playing the game continually alter the experience. The Personal Story content is played in missions which happen in separate instances⁷ next to the wider game world. It is not possible to play the whole Personal Story in one go, but players have to level up their characters by other means in between story steps.

The first part of the Personal Story tells about the background of the character: their history, their race and role within the society. This is followed by connecting with the wider world through helping others and learning about the struggle to fight against the Elder Dragons. In the end - when the character has reached the maximum level of 80 - the story leads to Orr and fighting Zhaitan himself.

Although the Personal Story is a good idea, has some really good characters and definitely tells a few interesting stories, it is slightly tiresome in other places, especially as a few of the main steps are not executed as well as they could have been. In a game focussed on cooperative playing the Personal Story is the only part which feels almost like a single player game. Playing the story together with others does not always work as well as you would wish for and even allied NPCs are often not much help and don't behave really intelligently. New Personal Story content will hopefully take care of these problems.

At the start of the Personal Story every character gets a Home Instance. This is a part of the capital city of the character's race where this character 'lives'. It is an instanced area so every character has his own personal Home Instance. Here some parts of the Personal Story take place and the Home Instance changes slightly depending on choices the player makes in the Personal Story. Additionally players can improve their home instance by participating in the Living World content.

Player versus Player

All you have to do is step through the portal, and you're there, in a magical land of glory, victory and triumph - most days.
– Mist Warrior

Players who prefer competitive play against other players instead of computer controlled enemies can do almost exclusively this in Guild Wars 2, while on the other hand nobody is forced to do it. After creating a character and playing a short tutorial the players have basically two options to play against others: Structured PvP and World versus World.

Structured PvP is the common type of PvP known from almost any game. In Guild Wars 2, two teams of five players fight against each other in short rounds. Players can either join it in a group of friends or are assigned to a random team if they are alone. All players are automatically set to maximum level and have access to all skills of their profession as well as weapons with maximum stats. This keeps chances even and lets players of all levels participate. There are a few different playfields with different designs and obstacles. It is the goal of the game to capture and defend certain areas on the playfield. In addition to the players' usual weapons the playfields offer various stationary weapons like catapults or laser cannons to shoot at each other and even demolish some buildings. For participating in Structured PvP players get PvP rewards and titles.

The second type of PvP in the game is World versus World. Every 'World' is one game server on which people are playing. There are servers for different languages as well as servers stationed in the US and Europe. Every player chooses their server when creating a character; they can switch later, but only for a price. In World versus World players of three servers fight against each other in huge battles. It is in fact a game all on its own, but players earn enhancements for their own server, which also take effect in PvE. One match of World versus World takes one week after which every server gets two new opponents. One season takes 7 weeks.

The area where World versus World is played is not part of Tyria but part of the Mists, the realm of the Gods. It has a completely separate map which consists of different playfields; on each of them a few hundred players can fight simultaneously. Every server has one home zone with a large castle and there are many more castles and other buildings scattered over the place. All castles can be captured, enhanced and damaged. Players of one server fight together against both other servers for control over the playfields. Apart from other players there are also NPC guards and supply caravans which have to be protected or fought against.

Players can join World versus World at any level; their level is raised to 80, but skills and equipment stay the same, so chances are not even. People can also raise their actual character level in World versus World, find loot, resources and anything else they also can get in PvE. In theory players can play the whole game by only participating in World versus World.

In addition to Structured PvP and World versus World there are also competitive activities. These are small games which various numbers of players play against each other. Very often it is played every player against everyone else, sometimes also in teams or one against one. They can be anything from a race over difficult terrain to surviving longest in a hostile environment. Everyone is of course invited to make each others' life as difficult as possible. Some activities are added as part of the Living World content.

Guilds

Players can organise themselves in Guilds, which are groups of people who often do things together. Every player can be part of not only one but multiple Guilds, but can only 'represent' one Guild at a time. Representing a Guild gives the player access to this Guild's chat channel and earns the Guild reward points if players participate in activities together. These reward points can be spent on benefits for all people who represent the Guild. Special rewards can be earned for a Guild claiming a building in World versus World.

Every Guild can choose a customised Guild Emblem⁸ and has a shared Guild vault where items and gold can be stored. It is up to the players to also create an internal hierarchy of Guild leaders, officers and other members.

Together the members of a Guild can participate in Guild Missions. These require cooperative and coordinated gameplay to defeat enemies or complete various puzzles and difficult tasks. The missions include finding and killing outlaws, racing on a course with various obstacles and completing a tricky mini-dungeon.

Atmosphere

You're dumb. You'll die, and you'll leave a dumb corpse.
– Asura player character entering combat

Design

ArenaNet employs some of the best concept artists in the gaming industry. These award-winning artists, many of whom already worked on the original Guild Wars series, have again managed to give the game a very special atmosphere. They did not attempt to create a realistic look but wanted the game to look 'hand-crafted'. To honour this fantastic work, a few major cut scenes⁹ in Guild Wars 2 are not completely 3d-rendered like in the older games but tell a lot of the story in animations made from concept art.

Stylistically Guild Wars 2 picks up ideas from many genres and cannot be regarded as a pure fantasy game. There are many influences for instance from science fiction and steampunk which make it possible to create a world in which the majority of people can find things that appeal to them. It is a world not only of magic but of laser cannons, air ships, helicopters and steam robots. In some cases this is criticised by the fans of pure fantasy, although it certainly enriches the game and none of these things seem out of place.

It is obvious that the designers take care even of very minor details and some of the landscapes are simply breathtaking. Every river and every house seems to fit perfectly into its environment. The world is populated by a wide range of different people who live in very different kinds of environments and therefore have built very different homes for themselves, their children and domestic animals. This makes Tyria a world which seems very authentic.

Music and Sound

The music of Guild Wars 2 - as in Guild Wars 1 - was composed by Jeremy Soule. It is very much like the music of the first games and even picks up some of the old themes again. The main theme of Guild Wars 2 is a variation of the old Norn theme, which is more dynamic than the main theme of the original game.

In addition to the music, the whole world is filled with chatter. Many hours of voice acting have been recorded to give towns and outposts the feel of lively places where people are just talking to each other without any relation to what the players are doing. Many funny and thoughtful conversations take place all around Tyria and it pays off to stop and listen. This really pays off as Tyria feels much more real than many other MMO worlds - although the dialogues of course repeat after a while. It seems like the lives of the people in Tyria go on without you.

There is of course also voice acting related to dynamic events and other content, so people do not have to read the chat to know what's going on, which is very useful. NPCs may run up to players and call for help or tell them where something interesting happens in the vicinity. Additionally in large events NPCs may give commands to the players or shout out loudly what is happening so the players can react accordingly.

Player characters also speak at all kinds of situations. Their exclamations depend on race and profession. They often give important information to the player about what happens around them without the player having to look at chat or symbols popping up on their screen. Allies may for instance call for help when they are down or your own character tells you that he got a buff¹⁰. All of them definitely add much to the atmosphere of the game.

There is of course also the sound of your armour jingling as you move and the sound of your shoes on different kinds of grounds. Crickets are chirping and the waves gently slosh on the beach or an icy wind blows around the house and wolves are howling in the distance while a warm fire crackles in the fireplace.

This is Your Story

Guild Wars 2 brings the players back to the world of Tyria. What was reality in Guild Wars 1 is now part of a rich history and new story threads are everywhere, waiting to be discovered. The game is accessible for people who never played the original Guild Wars series while offering many hints and memories for long-time fans. The whole world of Tyria seems to promise many more interesting things to come and is full of riddles and mysteries.

While Guild Wars 2 is certainly not without flaws there is the obvious aim to improve, and while many concepts are not completely new in the MMO genre they are certainly executed and combined very well in this game. The combat is interesting and definitely more challenging than in many other MMOs and even if you do not feel like fighting all the time there are plenty of things to do.

In design the game definitely sets itself apart from the many so-called Asia Grinders as well as other MMOs. The look is simply 'different' and consistent and although this may not appeal to all players it makes Guild Wars 2 unique. It gives the impression that no tree or rock ended up in its place by chance and every little detail of the environment is the result of careful thought.

For ArenaNet Guild Wars 2 was the chance to do all the things they though up for a new addon of Guild Wars 1 but could not realise in the old game. They created an ever changing 'living' world, which is something no other MMO has managed to date. Guild Wars 2 is certainly one of the best MMOs that have ever been made.

The artwork for this Guide Entry has been provided by ArenaNet. © 2011 ArenaNet, Inc. All rights reserved. NCsoft, the interlocking NC logo, ArenaNet, Arena.net, Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions, Factions, Guild Wars Nightfall, Nightfall, Guild Wars: Eye of the North, Eye of the North, Guild Wars 2, and all associated logos and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.