Guild Wars 2 Announced

Filed in archive MMORPG on March 28, 2007

NCsoft and ArenaNet today announced their intentions for the future of the one nMMORPG to find popularity in recent years that isnt named World of Warcraft, guild wars. The companies revealed that development is currently underway on Guild Wars 2, a sequel to the hugely successful MMORPG. There was no launch date announced, but ArenaNet is expecting that the beta would be ready sometime in mid-2008.

The only information given on Guild Wars 2 was that it will make use of the same game mechanics as the first game, while adding a fully persistent world to the mix. Like its predecessors, Guild Wars 2 will not require a monthly subscription fee from users, definitely one of its main attractions.

However, this wasn't the only Guild Wars-related announcement today. ArenaNet also announced that it was working on an expansion for the game, titled Guild Wars: Eye of the North. Eye of the North will require one of the previous Guild Wars campaigns to play and is set to hit store shelves Q3 2007.

"We felt it was extremely important to reward those people who have been playing Guild Wars since the game first launched in 2005," said Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet. "Those players have seen three very large campaigns created in a little under two years and so we think it's time to begin filling in the details of the existing world and to provide more content for current characters. We are thrilled to focus our time on something that our players have been asking for."

Guild Wars: Eye of the North will have 18 multi-level dungeons, 150 new skills, 10 new heroes, 40 new armor sets, and an abundant supply of new items, weapons, and titles. Players into Guild Wars for the long haul will be happy to see the inclusion of a Hall of Monuments, a memorial celebrating your player's achievements. The monuments will exist into Guild Wars 2, and will be inherited by Guild Wars 2 characters as a means of unlocking exclusive items and bonuses.

"It's the payoff we hope players will appreciate as we continue to build on the Guild Wars franchise," said Strain. "We're excited to announce these two new products and we want players to know that Guild Wars has an extremely exciting future in the months and years ahead."