Thursday 26 April 2012

Guild Wars 2 - Day 23 of A - Z

   In celebration of the upcoming title of Guild Wars 2, today's post is represented by the 'W' within the game title; a highly anticipated MMORPG with no recurring monthly fees. Buy once, play forever.

A successor to the highly popular Guild Wars with was released seven years ago and celebrates its 7th birthday all this week with in-game celebrations, events and competitions, Guild Wars 2 pushes the boundaries of the MMORPG genre with redefined dynamic event systems that continually affect the ebb and flow of the game world within which your characters roam and live. Unlike previous Guild Wars, here you can elect to aid other players to overcome massive odds, turn the tide in a battle or join in massive player versus player conflicts... or just pass them by and continue with whatever it is you have planned.

The developers ANet have said, in regards to the terrain, that if you can see it, you can go there. Again, this is a great improvement on the first Guild Wars game, which had clear physical limitations regarding your character's travel within the world of Tyria. Within this world you can walk, run, jump and swim. Flying and riding have yet to be confirmed. The character customisation is a far improved aspect of the game, allowing for a greater breadth of variety of character appearance.

The story takes place roughly 200+ years after the original setting of Guild Wars. New races have come to the fore and new alliances forged. There are now five races for players to choose from:
  1. Sylvari - humanoid in form, plant-like in nature, they are recent arrivals in Tyria and have roamed the world for only twenty-five years.
  2. Norn - the Norn are a race of valiant, shape-changing barbarians. Boisterous, strong-willed and passionate, the Norn are an independent people who swear fealty to no single being.
  3. Charr - the feline Charr of Tyria are a victorious race challenged by their own success. They have survived defeat, oppression and civil war.
  4. Asura - the diminutive Asura are the smartest race in Tyria. Just ask them--they will tell you.
  5. Humans - the humans of Tyria are an embattled race. Over the past three hundred years they have lost much of their territory; old enemies and new races threaten human traditional human lands on all sides.
Having been a player of Guild Wars since its first open beta testing weekends seven years ago, I now am excited and pleased to be once more engaging in an open beta testing of the new Guild Wars 2, starting on this Friday 27th April - Sunday 29th April 2012. I'll be re-establishing connections with old guild mates and friends from all across the world. It will be a time of little sleep, much talk and masses of exploration, laughter and wonder.

If you're a gamer of MMO's, I urge you to look further into the Guild Wars 2 website and discover for yourself what you could well be missing out on. Hope to see you in game, maybe?

1 comment:

Elizabeth Twist said...

Looks like a lot of fun. I could certainly blow away a lot of time there. Let us know how the beta test goes.

A-Z @ Elizabeth Twist