Ancestral Weapons contains rules for scaling heirloom weapons and quick-building magic weapons. A noble blade wielded in the blood wars, an axe used to protect the great city of Mirabar from orc invasions, or a powerf. Download Now; Bound By Blood. Experience a new Living World story. Log in today. New Guild Wars 2 Gear from Insert Coin. No transmutation charge required. The ArenaNet Streaming Schedule for the Week of September 30. Keep track of your favorite streams. Get Heart of Thorns FREE When You Purchase Path. Guild Wars 2 is one of the greatest MMORPGs with a great many dynamic players the diversion turns into each update a gem. In spite of being a B2P diversion, Guild Wars 2 brings a great deal of free substance to new players. You can ascend to the most elevated amount while never having spent. This is a free fan made project. It is no way associated officially with ArenaNet. Please support the official releases. A fan project that asks the question, 'what if Guild Wars was a 2D single player rpg?' Download and Play Guild Wars! Join the millions of players worldwide who have become enraptured by Guild Wars, the award-winning online roleplaying game with no subscription fee required. New Guild Wars Players. In order to play Guild Wars, you will first need to purchase one of the following products from the Guild Wars store to receive an.
Guild Wars 2 | |
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Developer(s) | ArenaNet |
Publisher(s) | NCSOFT |
Director(s) | Mike O'Brien |
Designer(s) | Colin Johanson Eric Flannum |
Programmer(s) | James Boer |
Artist(s) | Daniel Dociu Kekai Kotaki |
Writer(s) | Ree Soesbee Jeff Grubb Bobby Stein |
Composer(s) | Jeremy Soule |
Series | Guild Wars |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, OS X |
Release | August 28, 2012[1] |
Genre(s) | MMORPG |
Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Guild Wars 2 is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSOFT. Set in the fantasy world of Tyria, the game follows the re-emergence of Destiny's Edge, a disbanded guild dedicated to fighting the Elder Dragons, a Lovecraftian species that has seized control of Tyria in the time since the original Guild Wars. The game takes place in a persistent world with a story that progresses in instanced environments.[2]
Guild Wars 2 claims to be unique in the genre[3] by featuring a storyline that is responsive to player actions,[4] something which is common in single player role-playing games but rarely seen in multiplayer ones. A dynamic event system replaces traditional questing,[5] utilising the ripple effect to allow players to approach quests in different ways as part of a persistent world. Also of note is the combat system, which aims to be more dynamic than its predecessor by promoting synergy between professions and using the environment as a weapon,[6][7] as well as reducing the complexity of the Magic-style skill system of the original game.
As a sequel to Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2 features the same lack of subscription fees that distinguished its predecessor from other commercially developed online games of the time, though until August 2015 a purchase was still required to install the game.[8] As reported by NCsoft and ArenaNet, by September 13 (about 2 weeks after launch), despite temporarily halting first-party sales, the game has sold over 2 million copies.[9][10] By August 2013, the peak player concurrency had reached 460,000.[11] By August 2015, over 5 million copies had been sold, at which point the base game became free-to-play.[12]
- 2Plot
- 3Development
Gameplay
Guild Wars 2 uses a heavily modified version of the proprietary game engine developed for Guild Wars by ArenaNet. The modifications to the engine include real-time 3D environments,[2] enhanced graphics and animations[13] and the use of the Havok physics system.[2] The developers say the engine now does justice to the game's critically acclaimed concept art, and that concept art will be integrated into the way the story is told to the player.[14]
Guild Wars 2 allows a player to create a character from a combination of five races and eight professions, the five races being the humans and charr, introduced in Prophecies, the asura and norn, introduced in Eye of the North, and the sylvari, a race exclusive to Guild Wars 2. The professions, three of which do not appear in Guild Wars, are divided into armor classes: 'scholars' with light armor, 'adventurers' with medium armor, and 'soldiers' with heavy armor. There is no dedicated healing class[15] as the developers felt that making it necessary for every party to have a healer was restrictive.
The race and profession of the player determines the skills they can access. Guild Wars 2, like Guild Wars, uses a skill-based combat system, whereby players must select only 10 skills from a much larger pool, introducing an element of strategy. However, unlike Guild Wars, skill slots have predefined roles: the first five are determined by player's weapon and profession, the sixth is for healing, the seventh through ninth will be skills with no defined roles that are unlocked as the game progresses, and the tenth slot will be for an 'elite' skill, which is also initially locked. In a departure from the high number of skills present in Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2 will focus on quality of skills over quantity[13] and will also reduce the overall number of game modes to reduce balancing complexity — one of the most common issues present in MMORPGs.[16]
The low level cap of Guild Wars (20) has been replaced with one at 80, which the developers state strikes the correct balance between allowing for character development and avoiding forcing players into the grind-based gameplay that too often accompanies a high level cap,[17] the elimination of which was a core design principle of the original Guild Wars. Player versus environment features a scaling system that lowers the players level and stats to reflect the levels of monsters, thereby maintaining a global level of difficulty. In player versus player, a player will have access to almost all skills and items, and compete at the fixed level 80,[18] so that all players will be on a level playing field.
In addition to the small-scale, tactical combat described above, the game features 'World versus World', large scale combat taking place in a persistent world independent of the main world. Players are able to drop in and out 'on the fly' and possess the ability to construct siege weapons, with rewards commensurate with their success. Guild Wars 2 offers eight crafting disciplines, allowing the player to practice two at a time, with a fee for switching. While there are basic recipes to follow, the player can experiment with different combinations of ingredients to discover new recipes.[19] As the game is set 250 years after its predecessor, players are unable to carry over their characters. However, the achievements and honors accumulated by all the characters on players' Guild Wars accounts.[clarification needed] Each achievement earns points which confer certain bonuses in Guild Wars 2. The accounts of both games must be linked in order to acquire these bonuses.[20]
Plot
Setting
Although humans begin Guild Wars 2 at a disadvantage, significant technological advances have taken place in the years since Guild Wars
Guild Wars 2 takes place in the high fantasy world of Tyria, 250 years after the players' defeat of the Great Destroyer in the Eye of the North expansion. Five so-called Elder Dragons sleeping beneath the continent have awoken in the time since Guild Wars, causing widespread destruction to Tyria and corrupting its inhabitants. The once dominant humans of Tyria are in decline, supplanted from most of their land by natural disasters and war with the Charr,[21] who have finally reclaimed the last vestiges of their ancestral homeland of Ascalon from the humans. To the north, the Norn, a proud race of Nordic hunters, have been forced south by the rise of Jormag, the elder dragon of ice. In the west, the technologically advanced Asura have been forced to establish permanent homes above-ground after the minions of the first dragon to awaken, Primordus, took control of the Depths of Tyria. Near the forests where the Asura make their home are the Sylvari, a new race who have appeared in Tyria in the last 25 years, unaffected by the difficulties that plague the other races but with some as yet unexplained connection to the Elder Dragons.
To the south, the continent of Cantha has been cut off by an isolationist and xenophobic political climate, which is reinforced by Zhaitan's undead navy. The continent of Elona, too, has been cut off; the only hint of its continued prosperity being the ongoing battle between the lich Palawa Joko's Mordant Crescent and Kralkatorrik, the crystal dragon in the Crystal Desert, as well as occasional reports from Order of Whispers (a secretive organization) spies. The Battle Isles have been wiped off the map entirely by the tidal wave caused by the re-emergence of the fallen kingdom of Orr, which came with the awakening of Zhaitan.
The advancement of time from Guild Wars is reflected in the changes in culture, including armor and clothing, as well as in the advancement of in-game technology and a unified common language.[22][23]
Story
The player is tasked with reuniting the members of the disbanded Destiny's Edge, a multi-racial adventuring guild whose members' struggles and eventual reunion serve as a microcosmic metaphor for the larger-scale unification of the playable races, whose combined strength is needed to effectively combat Zhaitan, the undead Elder Dragon.[24]
After the defeat of the Elder Dragon Zhaitan in the game's 'Personal Story', Season 1 of the 'Living World' began. This story followed the player character joining a new group of characters to battle the enigmatic and insane Sylvari, Scarlet Briar, as she created strange enemy groups such as the Molten Alliance (a team-up between evil Charr and mole-like Dredge), the Toxic Alliance (a combination of lizard-like Krait and a spliter group from the Nightmare Court, a group of evil Sylvari), and the Aetherblades, steampunk sky pirates. As the player and their new group of heroes, made up of characters from each race, battle Scarlet, they also learn about her past and investigate what she could be searching for. The season culminated with Scarlet attacking the city of Lion's Arch, landing a giant drill known as The Breachmaker in the center of the City. The player and their fellow heroes fought back, and killed Scarlet, but not before Lion's Arch was left in ruins and the Breachmaker pierces a Ley Line, awakening a previously unknown jungle Elder Dragon, Mordremoth.
Season 2 of the 'Living World' picked up where Season 1 left off, sending the player towards the Maguuma Wastes to battle Mordremoth with the help of their fellow heroes and Destiny's Edge. The season began with the crashing of the Zephyrite Sanctum, a group of airships populated by followers of the now-dead dragon, Glint, who had escaped from the control of the Elder Dragons and had tried to help Destiny's Edge kill one of the Elder Dragons before the events of the game. The player and their allies followed Scarlet Briar's path into Dry Top, a region to the west, and learned about the Elder Dragons. The player also learned of an egg laid by Glint before her death and went in search of it. Later, all of the races united against Mordemoth, and the Pact prepare once again to battle an Elder Dragon. However, while the player hunted down Glint's Egg and learned many secrets from the past, the Pact fleet was destroyed over the jungle by a devastating attack by Mordremoth.
Heart Of Thorns brings the player's attention to the shattered Pact fleet. The player has chased after Glint's egg, stolen by the Sylvari member of Destiny's Edge. Finding the remaining Pact Soldiers, the player commands the Pact to regroup and begin holding the point within the Verdant Brink, using the fallen fleet as an opportunity to begin an assault on the jungle. Mordremoth schemes to take the egg, and crush the Pact once and for all. Advancing further towards the jungle on the trail of the lost Sylvari, the player faces the loss of a member of Destiny's Edge, but in a twist of fate, is reunited with the egg. Making way through the jungle with the Pact, the player encounters the mysterious Exalted. Followers of the forgotten, and protectors of Glint's offspring, teach the player the importance of the egg, and have the player leave the egg in their golden city, so the player may advance towards the dragon. Within the jungle, an ancient Asuran city is discovered, revealing large quantities of information regarding the powers of the dragons, and vicious predators, with the Pact taking the point to break into the dragon's territory, and end the fight once and for all. After an all out assault and rescue, the player must face the dragon Mordremoth, and defeats him within the mind of the Pact Marshal, but at the cost of the Marshal's life. As Mordremoth fades, the continent of Tyria feels a massive shock as magic flows once more.
Development
The decision to start creating Guild Wars 2 began in a design meeting for Guild Wars Utopia, back when the company was releasing campaigns on a sixth-month development cycle. The team realised that they would not be able to do everything they wanted within the constraints of the scope that they had previously defined for campaigns and the limited amount of time available to them, and at the behest of Jeff Strain, found themselves discussing how the continued addition of features and content in stand-alone campaigns was leading to more bloated tutorials and difficulty in balancing the ever-increasing number of skills. Eventually, the discussion evolved into a blueprint for an entirely new game.[13][24][25][26]
Work on Guild Wars 2 began in 2007.[27] It was announced March 27, 2007[28] to coincide with the announcement of the final Guild Wars expansion, which was designed to act as a bridge, in both gameplay and story terms, to Guild Wars 2.[25] The development team abandoned the early open alpha and beta testing which they had used for the Guild Wars game. ArenaNet considered that player expectations for open beta tests of MMORPG had changed, and the beta was no longer used to test the game but to trial a nearly finished game prior to purchase. Beta tests scheduled for 2008[29] were cancelled to ensure Guild Wars 2 had maximum impact and appeal to these players.[17]
In August 2009, two years after the game was first announced, ArenaNet decided the game had reached a state where they were happy to show it to the public.[30] A trailer which mixed animated concept art and in-game footage was released at Gamescom, followed by interviews expanding on the lore of the game world and information about the player races.
In November 2009, NCsoft CEO Jaeho Lee stated the game would most likely not release until 2011, but a closed beta would be made available in 2010.[31] The Q4 2009 shareholders notes further supported this when the CEO stated that 'the current development target was the end of 2010 but, Guild Wars 2 likely won't be released until 2011.'[32] A playable demo of the game was made available at Gamescom (19–22 August 2010),[33]Penny Arcade Expo (3–5 September 2010)[33] and Paris Games Week (27 October-1 November 2010).[34] The game was developed for Microsoft Windows with a 'very small team' investigating the possibility of a console version.[35]
ArenaNet conducted small closed alpha and beta tests in 2011.[36] On 23 January 2012 it was announced that Guild Wars 2 will ship this year. In February, select press were invited to participate in beta testing. In March and April, the size of beta tests was increased significantly as the beta was made available to anyone who pre-purchased the game.[37] On June 28, 2012, ArenaNet announced the game would be released on August 28, 2012 and those who prepurchased the game would be able to play on August 25.[38] On September 18, 2012, a Mac OS X client for Guild Wars 2 was released; it is currently in beta testing.[39]
Post-launch development
Promotion at San Diego Comic-Con International 2011
Guild Wars 2 received content updates every two weeks,[40] but now plans large releases for every few months, with smaller patches and bug fixes between these.[41] Content updates regularly contain new items available for purchase in the gem store, as well as offering unique events for players to engage in. Some content updates introduce new mechanics to the game, such as the addition of new dungeons or the introduction of new combat options.
In the Lost Shores content updates released on November 16, 2012, a new dungeon was added to the game. Called Fractals of the Mists, the new dungeon differs from other dungeons in the game by consisting of many smaller 'mini-dungeons' called Fractals. Each fractal contains its own story and environment, and must be completed in order to move on to the next randomly chosen fractal. Once three fractals are completed, a new set of fractals is unlocked that offer a greater challenge than the last. This update also introduced a new rarity level for equipment called Ascended which can be acquired through various sources, though most easily through the Fractals of the Mists dungeon.[42][43][44]
The Flame and Frost: Prelude update released on January 28, 2013 introduced several new features to Guild Wars 2, including achievement laurels, guesting and new 'living story' content. Achievement laurels are rewarded for earning daily and monthly achievements, and may be used by players to purchase items from certain vendors such as Ascended equipment and infusions for that equipment. Guesting was introduced to allow players to temporarily play on the same server as their friends, without having to transfer their home to a new server. In conjunction with this new feature, a gem fee was added for players wishing to transfer their home to another server. The final new features added during this update was the introduction of Living Story content.[45] The living story in Guild Wars 2 consists of a series of events and other content that players must progress through within a certain amount of time. Once this time has passed, the story progresses and new content is unlocked while the previous content becomes unavailable, though the story's effect on the world remains. Living World content is intended to provide a continuing story thread for players to follow.[46]
The two following content updates, Flame and Frost: The Gathering Storm and Flame and Frost: The Razing, released in February and March 2013 respectively added guild missions, introduced a new progression system for Guild Wars 2's WvW game mode, progressed the Flame and Frost living story narrative and introduced content that set up story elements for future living story narratives. Guild missions introduced the ability for guilds to earn guild merits by engaging in bounties and group puzzles Guild leaders can use merits to unlock rewards for their guild. The new WvW progressions system introduced World XP and new WvW ranks, which can be used to unlock new titles and abilities exclusive to WvW. New WvW achievements were also introduced.[47][48]
The Flame and Frost: Retribution update released in April 2013 introduced a new limited availability dungeon, new guild missions, added new WvW abilities and added new purchasable siege weapons and guild banners for WvW play. The new dungeon, Molten Weapons Facility, coincided with the final portion of the Flame and Frost living story narrative and was only available for thirteen days.[49] The new WvW abilities allow players to become more proficient in using the arrow cart in WvW play and allows players to progress through five new levels of the Guild Killer ability line.[50]
Introduced in May 2013, the next content update for Guild Wars 2 began a new living story narrative called The Secret of Southsun, which would continue later in the month with a smaller update titled Last Stand at Southsun. In addition to the new living story content, the update introduced another large set of changes to WvW, including the ability for players to set traps in WvW battlegrounds, improvements to the World XP system, improved rewards and new abilities, improvements to the matchup system and the ability for players to use special Ascended and infused equipment in WvW play.[51][52]
Introduction of the Living Story
In June 2013, two new content updates titled Dragon Bash and Sky Pirates of Tyria introduced a new living story narrative as well as several new features. These features included improvements to the PvP leaderboards, the introduction of the Authorized Shoutcaster Program, the ability for players to purchase items from the gem store as gifts for other players, a large balance update to the game's skills and traits, custom arenas for structure PvP, a new spectator mode and a new ability for players to master in WvW play.[53][54]
The next update was released on July 9, 2013, titled Bazaar of the Four Winds. The largest new feature added in the update was an account-wide achievement system that allows players to unlock rewards based on how many achievement points have been earned. In addition, the update overhauled the achievement interface, introduced a new structured PvP map, and introduced a new WvW mastery.[55]
Guild Wars 2 Free
Over the rest of 2013, the updates Cutthroat Politics, Queen's Jubilee, Clockwork Chaos, Super Adventure Box: Back to School. Tequatl Rising, Twilight Assault, Blood and Madness, Tower of Nightmares, The Nightmares Within, Fractured, and A Very Merry Wintersday were released, updating and changing many areas and game mechanics throughout the world. Many of these changes were permanent, leaving a mark on the world to show an event had occurred. Updates included redesigning a boss, adding new paths to Dungeons, and rebalancing playable classes over time.
2014 brought the end of 'Season 1' of the Living Story content updates, The Origins of Madness, The Edge of the Mists, Escape from Lion's Arch, Battle for Lion's Arch, and the finale Battle for Lion's Arch: Aftermath . These updates released a new WvW map, and destroyed the core city of the game's world, Lion's Arch, while setting up the story for the eventual Season 2 of the Living Story.
During the down time between Seasons 1 and 2, the April 2014 Feature Pack was released, overhauling the Trait system, the Dyes system, the Cosmetic Wardrobe system, PvP equipment, and the way server load was handled via a system called Megaservers. This created world instances for all players, regardless of their home 'world', to allow the game to feel more populated. The feature pack also fixed numerous bugs and offered balance tweaks to many races and classes.
On May 20, 2014, around the time of the Chinese servers release, the update Festival of the Four Winds was released, allowing players to access content from two prior patches, Queen's Jubilee and Bazaar of the Four Winds, alongside new activities.
Living World Season 2
On July 1, 2014, Season 2 of the Living World began with the Gates of Maguuma release, which added a portion of a new explorable area, Dry Top, and changed the way Living World releases worked, no longer making them time-gated to complete. This was followed by Entanglement on July 15, 2014, which added more explorable sections to Dry Top, and added more achievements, new weaponry for players, and a new story segment.
On July 29, 2014, The Dragon's Reach: Part 1 was released. This was the first in a two-part set of releases. This updated added a few more rewards to the Dry Top zone, added a few new items and achievements, and added some new events to various zones across the game's world. On August 12, 2014, the second part, The Dragon's Reach: Part 2 was released, concluding part one of the second season of the Living Story and starting a several month hiatus on Living Story content. This update added the final new section to the Dry Top map, new rewards and events, new achievements, and game balances.
On September 9, 2014, the second Feature Pack was released, significantly changing and improving the Combat Log, the Black Lion Trading Post, and the New Player Experience, while adding a new type of Achievement called collections, adding a number of changes to the World Versus World gametype, improving the Wardrobe and miniature pets displays, and making a number of rebalances and changes to the game's professions.
On October 15, 2014, the previous year's Halloween event, Blood and Madness was re-released with a few new events and rewards.
The Living World's second season continued on November 4 with the release Echoes of the Past, which included a lengthy new story segment focusing on the story of Glint and her Dragon Egg among other things, an entire brand new map called The Silverwastes which added WvW mechanics in a PvE environment and including a number of new rewards and collections included an earnable Luminescent Shoulderguard armor piece. This was followed by Tangled Paths released on November 18, 2014, which added a new story segment, a few new rewards including another Luminscent armor piece, and an underground section to the Silverwastes map.
On December 2, 2014, the seventh release in Season Two was released, called Seeds of Truth, which contained a new story instance, a large underground addition to the Silverwastes map which nearly doubled the map's size, a number of improvements to PvP and associated matchmaking, and two new Luminescent armor pieces for players to earn. This was followed on January 13, 2015 by Point of No Return, the final eighth and final episode in Season 2. This update included several new story instances, a brand new large group boss, two new Luminescent armor pieces for players to earn, and a number of new achievements, among other things. This episode serves to lead directly into the first expansion, Heart of Thorns.
Heart of Thorns expansion
On January 24, 2015, at PAX South held in San Antonio, ArenaNet announced the first expansion for the game titled Heart of Thorns.[56][57][58] The expansion introduced new group challenges, new profession specializations, a new profession, and an account-based 'mastery' system for character progression through the new territories featured in it, as well as changes to current player versus player content.[56][57][58] It was released on October 23, 2015 to positive reviews.[59][60]
With the second of the Living World seasons over, and an expansion on the way, releases were smaller as teasers for the expansion were released. On January 27, 2015, a number of bug fixes and balance improvements were released. Following that, a small scale Festival was released on February 10, 2015 called the Lunar New Year. This update included a relaunch of an older activity called Dragon Ball, featuring reworked gameplay, as well as new Daily Lunar New Year achievements, and new rewards.
On August 29, 2015, the base game was made free to download. The free version of the game includes some restrictions over the core game, such as fewer character slots and some chat limitations.[12]
Living World Season 3
The first episode of the 3rd season of the Living World was announced on 12 July 2016. Entitled Out of the Shadows, it was released on July 26, 2016,[41] containing a new story instance and map with related achievements, a new PvP map with related achievements, a new fractal, some tweaks to the PvP and WvW game modes, and a number of balance changes.
Path of Fire expansion
Guild Wars 2: Path of fire is the second expansion pack for Guild Wars 2. It was made available for pre-purchase on August 1, 2017 and released on September 22, 2017.[61] The expansion introduces new features such as mounts, additional elite specializations for each profession, a bounty system for defeating certain enemies, and access to the areas of the Crystal Desert and Elona (first seen in the first game's Guild Wars Nightfall expansion).[62] It will also introduce new raids and season four of the living world storyline.
Living World Season 4
Living World Season 4 refers to a schedule of content updates, beginning on the 28th of November, 2017[41].It continues the story of Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire, picking up immediately where the story instance Small Victory (Epilogue) left off.This article assumes knowledge of the storyline up to and including Path of Fire.The energy released upon the death of Balthazar has been absorbed by both Kralkatorrik and Aurene. The Commander and his or her allies must contend with an empowered Elder Dragon threatening Elona, which remains under the thrall of Palawa Joko's Awakened army.
Reception
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Guild Wars 2 was released to universal acclaim. It received a score of 90/100 on Metacritic.[63]
PC Gamer's Chris Thursten gave the game a 94% rating, calling it 'an accomplished and rewarding online RPG that does a great deal to reclaim the promise of its genre.'[70]IGN's Charles Onyett rated the game a 9/10, commenting that the game is 'one of the most exhaustively detailed and rewarding MMOs in existence, one that never unfairly penalizes and fosters an incredible urge to explore through a generous reward system and achingly pretty environment design'.[69]GameSpot's Kevin VanOrd opened his review with 'Guild Wars 2 is a paradise for explorers and thrill-seekers alike, and the best online role-playing game in years' and gave the game a 9.0/10.[66]Computer and Video Games Games Editor Andy Kelly gave a verdict of 8.9/10 closing with 'An entertaining MMO that combats the dreaded grind with smart design. The lack of a monthly subscription fee only sweetens the deal.'[64]GamesRadar's Hollander Cooper wrote in his review, 'Everything a massively-multiplayer online RPG should be. It's original, massive in scope, and wonderfully social, removing many of the gates that held back the genre in the past. Being able to play with friends regardless of level or class is a gigantic leap forward, and one that, when mixed in with all of the other innovations in the genre, make Guild Wars 2 one of the best MMOs currently available.' and giving it 4.5/5[68] and GameSpy's Leif Johnson wrote, 'To Guild Wars 2's credit, its issues do little to detract from the immensely rewarding experience of the whole. It doesn't overthrow the conventions of the MMORPG, but it presents them in fresher and livelier packaging than its competitors.'[67]
Time listed Guild Wars 2 as the top video game of 2012. Editor Matt Peckham noted that 'Guild Wars 2 is one of those rare games that unexpectedly knocks your life off-kilter, like a meteoroid banging into a satellite'... [It has] the feel of a living world, and the sort of compulsive anywhere-you-go playability other MMOs only dream of.'[71]
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- ^'FAQ Beta Announcement'. February 2011. Archived from the original on May 2, 2011.
- ^'Welcome to the Year of the Dragon'. Arena.net. 2012-01-23. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
- ^'Announcing the Guild Wars 2 Launch Date'. Archived from the original on July 1, 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- ^'Announcing Guild Wars 2 for Mac'. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
- ^'ArenaNet aims for new Guild Wars content every two weeks'. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^ abc'Guild Wars 2's Living World Returns on July 26'. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
- ^'The Lost Shores - November 2012'. GuildWars2.com. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^'Fractals of the Mists - Guild Wars 2 Wiki'. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^'Ascended equipment'. Guild Wars 2 Wiki. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^'Flame and Frost: Prelude - January 2013'. GuildWars2.com. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^'The Living Story in Guild Wars 2'. Guild Wars 2.com. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^'Flame and Frost: The Gather Storm - February 2013'. GuildWars2.com. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^'Flame and Frost: The Razing - March 2013'. GuildWars2.com. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^'Dungeon'. Guild Wars 2 Wiki. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^'Flame and Frost: Retribution'. GuildWars2.com. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^'The Secret of Southsun'. GuildWars2.com. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^'Last Stand at Southsun'. GuildWars2.com. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^'Dragon Bash'. GuildWars2.com. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^'Sky Pirates of Tyria'. GuildWars2.com. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^'Bazaar of the Four Winds'. GuildWars2.com. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
- ^ abMaiberg, Emanuel (January 24, 2015). 'Guild Wars 2's First Expansion Heart of Thorns Announced'. GameSpot. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
- ^ abKarmali, Luke (January 24, 2015). 'PAX South 2015: Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns Expansion Announced'. IGN. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
- ^ abFahey, Mike (January 24, 2015). 'ArenaNet Reveals Heart Of Thorns, The First Expansion For Guild Wars 2'. Kotaku. Retrieved January 24, 2015.Italic or bold markup not allowed in:
|publisher=
(help) - ^Makuch, Eddie (August 28, 2015). 'Guild Wars 2's First Expansion Gets Release Date'. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
- ^'Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns for PC Reviews - Metacritic'. Metacritic. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
- ^'Prepurchase Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire – GuildWars2.com'. GuildWars2.com. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
- ^'Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire'. guildwars2.com. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
- ^ ab'Guild Wars 2 for PC Reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
- ^ abAndy Kelly (September 6, 2012). 'Guild Wars 2 review: The final verdict'. computer and video games. Retrieved 2012-09-13.
- ^Deesing, Jonathan (2012-09-06). 'Guild Wars 2 Review for PC'. G4. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
- ^ abKevin VanOrd (September 11, 2012). 'Guild Wars 2 review'. GameSpot. Retrieved 2012-09-13.
- ^ abJohnson, Leif (2012-09-08). 'One evolutionary step for MMORPGs, a great leap for gamer kind'. GameSpy. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
- ^ abCooper, Hollander (2012-09-11). 'Guild Wars 2 review'. GamesRadar. Retrieved 2012-09-12.
- ^ abCharles Onyett (September 11, 2012). 'Guild Wars 2 Review - IGN'. IGN. Retrieved 2012-09-13.
- ^ abChris Thursten (September 6, 2012). 'Guild Wars 2 review'. PC Gamer. Retrieved 2012-09-13.
- ^Matt Peckham (Dec 4, 2012). 'Guild Wars 2 (PC)'. Time. Time Inc. Archived from the original on 2012-12-07. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
External links
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guild_Wars_2&oldid=916691808'
Guild Wars | |
---|---|
Genre(s) | MMORPG |
Developer(s) | ArenaNet |
Publisher(s) | NCSOFT |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, OS X |
First release | Guild Wars Prophecies April 26, 2005 |
Latest release | Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire September 22, 2017 |
Guild Wars is an online role-playing game series developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSOFT. The games were critically well received[1][2][3][4] and won many editor's choice awards, as well as awards such as Best Value, Best Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), and Best Game.[5]Guild Wars was noted for being the 'first major MMO to adopt a business model not based on monthly subscription fees',[6] its instanced approach to gameplay,[7] and the quality of the graphics and play for computers with low specifications.[8] In April 2009, NCSoft announced that 6 million units of games in the Guild Wars series had been sold.[9] The sequel, Guild Wars 2, was announced in March 2007 and released on August 28 2012. It features updated graphics and gameplay mechanics, and continues the original Guild Wars tradition of no subscription fees.[10] The Guild Wars series had sold 11.5 million copies by August 2015.[11][12]
- 1Publications
- 2Guild Wars subseries (2005-2007)
- 3Guild Wars 2 (2012)
Publications[edit]
Title | Year | Note |
---|---|---|
Guild Wars Prophecies | 2005 | Standalone game |
Guild Wars Factions | 2006 | Standalone game |
Guild Wars Nightfall | 2006 | Standalone game |
Guild Wars: Eye of the North | 2007 | Expansion pack |
Guild Wars: Ghosts of Ascalon | 2009 | Novel by Matt Forbeck and Jeff Grubb |
Guild Wars: Edge of Destiny | 2010 | Novel by J. Robert King |
Guild Wars 2 | 2012 | Standalone game |
Rytlock's Critter Rampage | 2013 | Free browser game |
Guild Wars: Sea of Sorrows | 2013 | Novel by Ree Soesbee |
Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns | 2015 | Expansion pack |
Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire | 2017 | Expansion pack |
Related works[edit]
The NCSoft crossover game Master X Master featured Rytlock from Guild Wars 2 as a playable character.
Guild Wars subseries (2005-2007)[edit]
The original subseries consisting of the Guild Wars Prophecies, Guild Wars Factions, Guild Wars Nightfall, and Guild Wars: Eye of the North games coexist within a unified game world. The games provide two main modes of gameplay—a cooperative role-playing component that is specific to each campaign, and a competitive PvP component that is shared across all campaigns. Three stand-alone campaigns, one major expansion pack, and several 'mini'-expansions were released in the series from April 2005 to April 2013. The games depict the fictional fantasy world of Tyria; each campaign focuses on events in disjointed sections of the world at roughly the same time. A player creates an avatar to play through the cooperative storyline of a campaign, taking on the role of a hero who must save Tyria from its antagonists. Players can group with other players and non-player characters, known as henchmen and heroes, to perform missions and quests found throughout the game-world. PvP combat is consensual, team based, and limited to areas designed for such combat. Players are allowed to create characters at maximum level and with the best equipment specifically for PvP play, which is unusual for MMORPGs.[13] Historically, ArenaNet hosted official Guild Wars tournaments where the most successful players and guilds competed for the chance to play live at gaming conventions and win prizes up to US$100,000.[14][15]
Gameplay[edit]
Players use a 3D avatar to interact with the world around them. The game predominantly features a third-person perspective but also has the option of first-person. These characters are able to walk/run and interact with other characters through chat. They can also perform actions such as fighting and picking up objects, as well as interacting with special objects.
Character creation[edit]
Players can choose from a range of up to ten different professions. When creating a character, players can select their hair style, face, skin tone, height and avatar name—the selection depending upon that profession chosen. As the player progresses through the game, they can unlock different armor and weapons to alter the visual appearance of that avatar. They can also decide whether they want their avatar to start in a Player vs. Environment world (the RPG aspect of the game), or get right into the competitive Player vs. Player and fight live against other players in the game.
The maximum level for character development is capped at 20—by this point, the character will also have reached 170 attribute points. Players may also choose to do certain quests to gain another 30 attribute points, making the maximum points available 200. Experience can still be gained and is used to learn more skills or buy consumable items throughout the game.
Professions[edit]
A profession is a type of class commonly found in most RPGs and is central to the gameplay in Guild Wars. Each profession has an array of attributes and skills that help narrow a class's proficiency in order to perform a customized role that is determined by the player. The Warrior profession, for example, has access to the primary Strength attribute that increases their armor penetration with martial weapons, and is able to wear heavy armor providing the highest protection against physical damage of all professions. Elementalists, on the other hand, wear less protective armor, but can use their primary Energy Storage attribute to give them a much greater pool of energy than other professions.
Guild Wars also introduces the ability to choose a secondary profession, expanding the selection of attributes and skills. A character does not, however, have access to the primary attribute of its secondary profession. Many, but not all, skills become more powerful with more points in a class’s primary attribute. A Warrior/Elementalist, therefore, is a warrior who may use spells in combat, although the Elementalist spells used will generally not have as much power as those of a primary Elementalist. This is increased by the fact that runes, which among other things increase attribute levels, can only increase the attribute levels associated with a player's primary profession.
There are over a thousand skills in the game that can be acquired by the character over time, but players may only use and equip up to 8 of them at any one time. This introduces levels of strategy, in which one must have a careful selection of skills that work well with one another and with teammates in order to survive.
The core professions are Warrior, Monk, Elementalist, Ranger, Necromancer and Mesmer. The Assassin and Ritualist professions are exclusive to Guild Wars: Factions, which can be played along with the aforementioned core professions. The Paragon and Dervish professions are exclusive to Guild Wars: Nightfall, and can also be played with the core professions. Unlike the campaigns, Guild Wars: Eye of the North (the only expansion pack of the Guild Wars franchise) does not offer any new playable professions.
Environment[edit]
The Guild Wars universe consists of persistent staging zones known as towns and outposts. These areas normally contain non-player characters that provide services such as merchandising or storage. Other NPC's provide quests and present rewards to adventurers. These areas are also used when forming groups of people to go out into the world and play cooperatively. Players that venture out from the staging area and into an instanced explorable area are then able to use their weapons and skills to defeat monsters and interact with other objects in the game. As players progress through the game, they gain access to additional staging zones. Players can then transport their characters instantly from one staging area to another using a process commonly referred to as 'map traveling'.
Combat[edit]
Apart from fighting with weapons, skills make up the majority of combat interaction. Each skill has a different effect when used, and fall under many different categories. They can range from offensive skills such as setting foes on fire and defensive skills which include resurrection and healing allies. Enchantments that include giving players extra health points or Hexes that drain the enemy's life and add it to your own make up part of the skill selection in Guild Wars. Attack skills are used in conjunction with weapons to augment the damage that they can deal and cause different side effects (such as knocking people to the ground with a hammer, causing bleeding wounds that deal additional damage over time with a sword, or striking multiple foes with an axe).
Most skills have a governing attribute that determines its power and effect. These attributes are assigned using a number of attribute points similar to the point buy ability score generation system in Dungeons & Dragons.
Guild Wars skill system is often compared to collectible card games such as Magic: The Gathering because of the way the different skills interact.[16] While in a town or staging area, a character's skill and attribute selection can be freely modified to construct a 'build'. Once in a combat zone (such as an explorable area or a PvP arena), the build becomes immutable until the character exits the combat zone and returns to a staging area. Players generally either choose a specific build for a given area or role, or use builds that synergize with the builds of other characters in the party.
A player’s ability to help the party is based on the way a player’s 'build' works. If the skills combine well, such as a hex spell that makes an enemy attack faster and then another one that makes him miss 75% of the time and take damage for each miss, then the build will work effectively.
In PvE, monsters that are slain will generate gold and loot which can be traded or sold to players or NPCs. Unique or rare weapon designs are often found from defeating powerful monsters, or by opening treasure chests.
Guild Wars 2 Play For Free
In PvP, reputation in the form of 'faction' is gained based on how well a player performs. 'Balthazar faction' is gained by the number of wins that you and your team achieve, and for each unique kill. Most PvP in Guild Wars is fast-paced, while the transition period between games may take longer.
Co-operative gameplay[edit]
Player versus Environment (PvE) missions of Guild Wars use several standard tropes of the MMORPG genre. Players explore the game-world, kill monsters, perform quests and complete missions to earn rewards and advance the story. Rewards include experience points, skill points, skills, gold, faction, reputation and items for the player character. Some of these rewards not only advance the particular character being played at the time, but also unlock features of the game account-wide.
In each campaign the player is involved in a linear story with which they interact by performing a series of primary quests and replayable missions. Quests are given to a player by NPCs via text dialog. As quests and missions are completed, new areas, new quests, and new missions are unlocked for the player's character to access. Missions allow the player character to participate in the major events of the storyline, such as significant battles against the main antagonist. Both quests and missions can feature in-game cut scenes which advance the story and provide context to the actions which follow. Cut scenes are in the third-person, often featuring the party leader's character and revealing elements of the game that the character would not normally be aware of, such as the actions of an antagonist. Players are given the option of skipping the cut scenes if all party members agree upon it.
There are different types of PvE in Guild Wars, and it is advisable to prepare a build to meet the challenges of each type:
- Cooperative Mission
- Missions that move the game story. These form the backbone of the storyline in each campaign. Each requires a party of 4–8 players (and sometimes NPCs) to complete certain objectives. The party fails the mission if every member dies.
- Explorable Area
- Unlike cooperative missions, your party can die in explorable areas without grave consequences, and you will be respawned at a 'resurrection shrine', but there are exceptions. Explorable areas are where quests are accepted and played out. Unlike a cooperative mission, players can work on several quests at the same time.
- Elite Mission
- Especially difficult missions, with an 8–12 player party size, that require a high amount of preparation, skill, knowledge and time commitment. Having the correct team build is a must, and players must coordinate with other team members more than normal.
- Dungeon
- Subterranean explorable areas in the Eye of the North expansion. A quest is given to guide the party through the dungeon, culminating in a boss fight, after which rewards are distributed.
- Minigame
- Minigames are either competitive or cooperative 'mini missions' or battles that have no bearing on the plot of the Guild Wars campaigns. Some are present in the game only during special events, such as the Dragon Arena for the Canthan New Year and Dragon Festival. Rewards offered for competing in these games include tokens which can be traded for prizes
- Challenge Mission
- A special form of mission that is not part of the main story, in which parties aim to reach a high score. Unlike other forms of PvE play, Challenge Missions can theoretically go on forever, with the difficulty increasing the longer the player or party manages to stay alive.
Competitive gameplay[edit]
Player versus Player (PvP) combat in Guild Wars is consensual and team-based. Such combat is restricted to special PvP areas, the majority of which are located on the core area known as The Battle Isles. Individual campaigns also have certain campaign-specific PvP arenas. Players may participate in PvP combat with either their role-playing characters or with characters created specifically for PvP. Characters are rewarded with experience points for victories in competitive battle and the player account also acquires faction points redeemable for in-game rewards.[17] In addition to this victory may also award points which contribute towards completion of character or account based titles.
The following are the competitive modes in Guild Wars:
- Random Arena
- Four-on-four matches with teams randomly composed from those waiting to enter combat. There are many different arenas with different victory conditions: deathmatch and kill-count.
- Team Arena
- The Team Arenas were PvP arenas where two groups of four organized players battle each other. Groups were formed in the eponymous outpost and Random Arenas teams with 10 consecutive wins automatically enter the Team Arenas. Both Balthazar faction and Gladiator points could be obtained from Team Arenas. Team Arenas was replaced with Codex Arena in 2009.
- Codex Arena
- Four-on-four matches with player-managed teams. These matches are played in the same areas as the Random Arena with a few exceptions. Each class has a pool of limited amounts of skills to choose from and this pool changes every 6 hours.
- Heroes' Ascent
- A continuous tournament where players form teams of eight to battle in a sequence of arenas, culminating in the Hall of Heroes whose results are broadcast to all online players in addition to rewarding the victors with high-end loot. Arenas in the Heroes' Ascent tournament include deathmatch, altar-control, and capture-the-relic victory conditions. Victories in the Heroes' Ascent award players with fame points that can be used to determine the rank of the player.
- Guild Battles
- Two guilds meet in guild halls and stage a tactical battle with the aim of killing the opposing Guild Lord, a well-protected NPC. Victory in guild battles affects the rank of the guild in the global Guild versus Guild (GvG) ladder. GvG is considered the most supported of competitive formats in Guild Wars. In 2005, ArenaNet hosted a Guild Wars World Championship, and in 2006, the Guild Wars Factions Championship was hosted as well. Since then, the Automated Tournament system has become the norm, but smaller 3rd-party tournaments have been hosted, including the Rawr Cup and the Guild Wars Guru cup. The GWWC, GWFC, RawrCup, and GWG Tournament all had real life prizes; the former tournaments had cash prizes, the RawrCup and Guru Tournament had laptops and MP3 players to give away.
- Alliance Battles
- Guild Wars Factions introduced an arena where twelve players aligned with one of the opposing Kurzick and Luxon factions team up to fight an opposing team to gain new territory for their faction. The twelve player team is composed of three teams with four human players each. The three teams are selected randomly from the teams waiting on each side when the match begins. Alliance Battles grant alliance faction and affect the border between the two factions in the Factions-specific continent of Cantha. The location of the border affects the map in which the battles take place by adding a bias to favor the faction losing the war. Additionally, alliance faction can be contributed to a player's guild (if it is allied with the respective faction), allowing that guild to 'control' a town in their faction's territory.
- Competitive Missions
- Factions also introduced a pair of competitive arenas, named Fort Aspenwood and The Jade Quarry, where randomly assembled teams of 8 players from the opposing factions enact particular events in the Kurzick/Luxon war. Victories in these missions have no global effect, but do grant the players with alliance faction.
- Minigame
- Minigames are either competitive or cooperative 'mini missions' or battles that have no bearing on the plot and do not advance the story line of the Guild Wars campaigns. Most are added to the game during festivals and events.
- Hero Battles
- Hero Battles was the name given to the mode of PvP known as Hero versus Hero (HvH). In this contest, players would enter the battle with 3 heroes (fully customizable NPC allies), and fight another player and his/her team of 3 heroes. A player must have had a named account to participate in Hero Battles. This type of PvP was removed in the October 22nd, 2009 update.
Guild Wars has a continuously running automated tournament system.[18] Players or guilds elect to participate in the tournament by buying in-game tokens using their PvP faction points. The participants are divided randomly into groups of 32 that participate daily in up to six Swiss rounds held on a fixed schedule, and the top eight guilds continue on to a single-elimination tournament. Participants who are unable to field a full team automatically forfeit their round. Success in daily automated tournaments qualifies that particular guild for play in the monthly automated tournament, and the final victors of this tournament earn a number of real and in-game rewards. Players who do not participate in the automated tournament were allowed to place bets on the results of these tournaments for a number of in-game rewards prior to February 2010.
Many competitive matches may be observed by players by means of an observer mode.[17] Important PvP matches such as matches in the Hall of Heroes or between highly rated guilds may be observed (after a delay of fifteen minutes) by others in order to see the tactics used by successful teams and attempt to learn or counter them. Guilds may additionally observe their own Guild Battles for a fixed period of time.[19]
Guilds[edit]
As the name suggests, guilds are a core element of Guild Wars, manifesting not only as social units but also being closely linked with the game mechanics. Although a player is not required to join a guild, it adds value to the gaming time and increases camaraderie. Often, joining a guild is a good way to get help from more experienced players as the in-game guild interface allows communication between guild members.
A guild leader creates the guild by registering a guild name and a tag (between two and four characters long) with a Guild Registrar, found in some major towns. The guild tag is displayed in brackets after the names of guild members. The leader also designs the guild's cape (from a large palette of shapes, patterns and emblems), and purchases a guild hall that serves as the guild headquarters and may be furnished with merchants, traders, and storage NPCs. Each guild hall is an individual instanced outpost located at the same spot on the Battle Isles, but they are not physically accessible to non-allied members as the only way to enter a guild hall is by 'map travel'. The guild leader recruits new players to the guild and can promote a number of them to guild officers, who can then help with the recruitment and further promotion of officers. All player characters on the same Guild Wars account belong to the same guild. Players may leave their guild whenever they please, but only the leader and officers can dismiss non-officer players from the guild; the leader has the additional power to dismiss officers and disband the guild. Guilds have a membership limit of 100 members; player communities with more than that many members generally create allied sister guilds, often named similarly and using the same tag and cape.
Up to ten individual guilds may ally together to form an alliance. Members of an alliance may communicate over a shared chat channel, and visit the guild halls of the other guilds of the alliance.[20] Each alliance has a leader guild that initiates the alliance, the leader of which is also the alliance leader, who may admit or dismiss guilds from the alliance. Each alliance must be devoted to either the Kurzicks or the Luxons, the two Canthan factions (from Guild Wars Factions) locked in perpetual conflict. Players can accumulate faction (reputation) with either the Kurzicks or the Luxons, which can either be 'donated' to the alliance or redeemed for certain in-game rewards. The alliances with the highest total amount of donated faction are given control of certain in-game outposts on the Canthan continent; controlling an outpost gives the alliance members access to restricted areas of the outposts, containing, among other things, merchants who sell at a discount.
In addition to membership in guilds, a player may be a guest of any number of other guilds. Guest privileges are limited to visiting the guild hall and participating in guild or alliance battles. An accepted invitation expires after 24 hours.[21]
Campaigns[edit]
Full games in the original Guild Wars sequence were released in episodes known as campaigns. Players must purchase an individual campaign in order to access the game elements specific to that campaign; however, all campaigns are linked in one game world. Each campaign is independent of the others, with its own co-operative storyline, campaign-specific skills, and competitive arenas. Players owning different campaigns may still interact in shared areas, including trading for items specific to the campaigns they have not purchased. Players who own two or more campaigns may transport their characters freely from one campaign to the other, integrating into the storyline as a foreign hero.
The first campaign, Guild Wars Prophecies (originally named Guild Wars), was released on April 28, 2005. The Prophecies storyline is situated on the continent of Tyria and revolves around the Flameseeker Prophecy, a prophecy made by an ancient dragon named Glint.
Prophecies was followed by Guild Wars Factions on April 28, 2006, released exactly a year after Prophecies. Factions is situated on the small southern continent of Cantha that is separated from Tyria by a vast ocean. The events of the Factions campaign concern the return from death of a corrupted bodyguard named Shiro Tagachi. Factions features a global persistent war between the rival vassal nations of Cantha; the Luxons and the Kurzicks, and the notion of guild alliances (see guilds above). The continent of Cantha is heavily based upon and influenced by eastern Asia.[22]
The third campaign, Guild Wars Nightfall, was released on October 27, 2006. Nightfall features the arid continent of Elona, joined to southern Tyria across a vast desert. Nightfall introduced heroes, advanced computer-controlled units that can be micro-managed by players, including the ability to customize their skill layout and equipment. The continent of Elona is heavily based on and influenced by North Africa.[23]
Expansions[edit]
Scrapping their initial plans for a fourth campaign, ArenaNet has released an expansion pack, Guild Wars: Eye of the North, to the previous three campaigns on August 31, 2007.[24][25] Not being a full campaign, this expansion requires one of the other released campaigns, and is only accessible by player characters at level 10 and above. Eye of the North therefore does not feature new professions, but contains new content for existing characters: dungeons, a number of new skills, armor, and heroes. Eye of the North is set in previously inaccessible territory from the first Guild Wars campaign, Prophecies. It is intended to be a bridge to the sequel to the Guild Wars series, Guild Wars 2. As a promotion for their online store and Eye of the North, ArenaNet released a Bonus Mission Pack[26] for purchase online. It contains playable recreations of four incidents in the history of Tyria, Cantha, and Elona, and each mission expands the backstory for one of four major NPCs.[citation needed]
In an effort to resolve plot threads, ArenaNet has released a series of 'mini-expansion' updates, collectively known as Guild Wars Beyond. This series of storylines and events in Guild Wars helps set the stage for Guild Wars 2, which takes place 250 years in the future. Guild Wars Beyond begins with War in Kryta, then Hearts of the North, and continues with Winds of Change.[citation needed] After the Guild Wars 2 release, ArenaNet formally announced that they 'will no longer release any new content, but will continue to update the game. We would like to thank all Guild Wars players who participated in our active poll, choosing what rewards you would like to see when linking your Guild Wars accounts'.[27] Some of these scrapped Beyond-updates included: the Ebon Vanguards' withdrawal and establishment of Ebonhawke; the Lunatic Court and their attempts to free Mad King Thorn; expanding on the story of Palawa Joko and continuing that plot thread, which was left dangling in Nightfall; and the disappearance of Evennia, last seen in Old Ascalon during the Krytan civil war.[28][29][30][31][32]
Guild Wars 2 (2012)[edit]
Guild Wars 2 is the sequel to the original Guild Wars. It was released on August 28, 2012. The game's campaign centers on the awakening of the elder dragon Zhaitan and the cataclysm that this brings to Tyria. This threat unites the game's major factions to form a Pact. From 2012 to 2014 the game was actively updated with temporary content releases that came to be known as Living World Season 1. From 2014 to 2015 updates were shifted to a permanent content model that integrated with the characters' story progression. These updates, comprising Living World Season 2, featured a plot to awaken Mordremoth, leading to the game's first expansion pack.
Heart of Thorns (2015)[edit]
Heart of Thorns is the first expansion pack for GW2 and was released on October 23, 2015. The campaign follows the struggle of the Pact forces against the elder dragon Mordremoth. Major new features were introduced, including a new Revenant profession, elite specializations for existing professions, gliding, and guild halls. This was followed by two years of content updates, encompassing Living World Season 3. This season dealt with the aftermath of battling Mordremoth and initial forays against the remaining dragons, as well as the return of the god Balthazar, who seeks to kill the elder dragon Kralkatorrik at any cost. It also introduced raid content, a feature that was promised in the marketing of HoT.
Path of Fire (2017)[edit]
Path of Fire is the second expansion pack for GW2 and was released on September 22, 2017. In this campaign, the Pact heroes pursue Balthazar and the elder dragon Kralkatorrik to Elona, the continent originally featured in Nightfall. This expansion introduced mounts to the game. Content updates will be divided into both Season 4, which deals primarily with fighting Palawa Joko, and Season 5 of the Living World.
References[edit]
- ^'Guild Wars (pc: 2005): Reviews'.
- ^'Guild Wars Factions (pc: 2006): Reviews'.
- ^'Guild Wars Nightfall (pc: 2006): Reviews'.
- ^'Game Rankings — Search — Guild Wars'. Archived from the original on 2007-10-26.
- ^'Press: Awards'.
- ^Cavalli, Earnest (February 26, 2008). 'Guild Wars Hits 5 Million units Sold'. Wired. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
- ^Gillen, Kieron (2005-05-16). 'Guild Wars'. Eurogamer. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
- ^Dave Kosak and Miguel Lopez (2005-04-26). 'Guild Wars'. GameSpy. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
- ^'Guildwars.com Press Release, Guild Wars Surpasses Six Million Units Sold'.. Note that units sold does not equate to number of players, and, because Guild Wars accounts never expire, there is no notion of 'active account' as used by other MMORPG companies.
- ^Purchese, Rob (April 6, 2007). 'The best things in life are free'. Eurogamer. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
- ^[1] GW1: 6.5M
- ^[2] GW2: 5M
- ^PC Zone Staff (2005-06-10). 'Guild Wars'. Computer and Video Games. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
- ^ArenaNet. 'Guild Wars World Championship rules'. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
- ^ArenaNet. 'Guild Wars Factions Championship rules'. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
- ^Butts, Steve (May 1, 2005). 'Guild Wars Interview'. IGN. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
- ^ abArenaNet, ed. (2006). Guild Wars Nightfall Manuscripts. NCSoft. pp. 126–134.
- ^'Automated Tournaments FAQ'. ArenaNet. Archived from the original on 2007-10-30. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
- ^'Observer Mode'. ArenaNet. Archived from the original on 2007-11-01. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
- ^ArenaNet, ed. (2006). The Guild Wars Factions Manuscripts. NCSoft. p. 109.
- ^'Guild guest - Guild Wars Wiki (GWW)'. Wiki.guildwars.com. 2011-12-17. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
- ^'Guild Wars Factions FAQ'. eu.guildwars.com. eu.guildwars.com. Archived from the original on 2008-12-26. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
Guild Wars Factions takes place in Cantha, an Asian-inspired three-nation continent far to the south of the lands of Tyria, the setting for the original Guild Wars campaign.
- ^'PC Interview: Jeff Strain talks Guild Wars Nightfall'. Computer and Video Games. Computer and Video Games. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
Why did you choose a more African theme?
Strain: It's not really an African theme — one of the things we try to do is take mythologies, cultural elements and different fantasy traditions from different parts of the world and explore them with a fantasy twist. So what you'll find in Nightfall, in terms of the architecture, creatures, the colour palettes we chose and the feel of the story itself, all have a North African flavour. It's not a representation of North Africa, it's a fantastical rendition. - ^Valich, Theo (March 5, 2007). 'Fresh Guild Wars announced'. The Inquirer. Archived from the original on March 7, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
- ^'Guild Wars Reborn'. PC Gamer. 2007-05-01.
- ^ArenaNet (July 5, 2007). 'Guild Wars Bonus Mission Pack Promotion'. Press release. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
- ^Guild Wars Development and AutomationArchived 2013-06-14 at the Wayback Machine, GuildWars.com
- ^NCsoft and ArenaNet Celebrate Guild Wars 5th Anniversary with Guild Wars Beyond and the War in Kryta, NCsoft
- ^Costume design and hints of what's to come: Massively's interview with the Guild Wars team, Massively
- ^Passing the Torch: Designer John Stumme joins the Live TeamArchived 2012-08-08 at the Wayback Machine, ArenaNet Blog
- ^Relics of Orr Minisode 10.5, Lead Designer of “Guild Wars Awesome”, Relics of Orr
- ^Guild Wars Live Team Interview, Kill Ten Rats
External links[edit]
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