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Nothing is closing, merely moving

Age old question, age old battle.

Isaiah Cartwright, Game Designer from ArenaNet helps answer this debate and how to relate the two.

This guy's artwork is amazing.

Still more Bonus Mission Pack info! Score.

Secret history lessons for everyone!

Colin Johanson, lead designer on the bonus mission packs for Guild Wars, discusses them in this recent feature article on the Guild Wars site.

He missed the most important question: Can we kill and eat snow bunnies?

2404 has a new Guild Wars: Eye of the North interview straight from PAX.

While attending the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) I got the chance to speak to Ben Miller lead designer of the Guild Wars about the new Eye of the North expansion. I want to thank Eric for taking the time from the busy day to answer my questions.

Go take a look at 2404.

That Soule guy has soul! (I'm sure no one's ever used that pun before)

The Guild Wars Vault discusses the music in Guild Wars and a bit about composing with Jeremy Soule in this recent interview.

Guild Wars: Eye of the North Q&A - Introduction to the First Guild Wars Expansion

Gamespot has posted this interview with ArenaNet game designer Ben Miller. Keep reading to seewhat they were able to learn about the upcoming Guild Wars expansion.

GS: What's the reasoning for making Eye of the North a true expansion rather than a stand-alone chapter? Was it to provide more high-level content for existing players?

BM: There are a couple reasons we chose to do an expansion rather than a stand-alone campaign. One is that with each new campaign, the game gets more and more complex and the tutorial areas become larger as we need to explain the new professions and the new mechanics. Instead of reinventing the "tutorial wheel" yet again, we are using that energy to develop more content for existing characters.

Get clicking to read more.

Ben Miller and Eric Flannum Interview

Eurogamer had a chance to sit down with Ben Miller and Eric Flannum and talk about Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2. Keep reading to see what they were able to learn.

Guild Wars began as three people's big idea, an MMORPG to break the mould, and one that would feature no monthly subscription fees - something many of us predicted would certainly lead to an early demise, especially against such fierce opposition.

The full interview is just a click away.

Community Relations Manager for ArenaNet Chats with FiringSquad

Gaile Gray sat down with the fine folks from FiringSquad recently. Find out what they were able to learn about the upcoming Nightfall expansion to Guild Wars.

ArenaNet has proven with the first two Guild Wars games that their formula of creating an MMO like game without a MMO monthly fee is very appealing. On the eve of the release of Guild Wars Nightfall on Friday, FiringSquad got a chance to do a last minute interview with Gaile Gray, the community relations manager for ArenaNet as she revealed more info on the third full game in their best selling multiplayer action-RPG series:

Keep reading to learn more. You can find more information at our Guild Wars Ten Ton Hammer Community site or share your thoughts on this and all your favorite MMOs in our new Ten Ton Hammer Forums.

MMO's In Pro-gaming World of E-sports

Computerandviedogames.com has posted this interview with Michael Gills, ArenaNet Tournament Coordinator. He talks about the steps Guild Wars Faction is taking to being MMOs into the competitive world of e-sports.

Guild Wars Factions has single-handedly created an entirely new e-sports genre, won over thousands of fans and provided a brand new way to earn a Ferrari. We recently caught up with Michael Gills, ArenaNet Tournament Coordinator, and asked him about Guild Wars's fledging steps into e-sports status, and what the future holds for the game.

What challenges have you faced when attempting to stay on top of keeping the game balanced, and how has the introduction of large cash prizes changed the way you run the league?

Find out how this question is answered as well as many more. Stop by Guild Wars Ten Ton Hammer to learn more.

Know the Factions!

Jeff Strain, ArenaNet co-founder and Guild Wars producer, speaks to AVault about some of the more interesting aspects of recent standalone Guild Wars expansion Factions.

We’re in over 35 different countries right now. So we want to make sure that each new campaign explores a different art style, a different mythology or fantasy tradition or cultural tradition. But most importantly, we want to make sure that each new one looks drastically different than the one that came before it. So as you point out, the first campaign was a more traditional Medieval European fantasy, Factions is very much an Asian theme, and campaign three is also going to be very visually distinct. It’s going to have more of a North African feel. So think of Tunisia, Morocco kind of look to it.

Check out the Jeff Strain Guild Wars interview at AVault.

And what better way to celebrate a half-year anniversary than with a gritty interview?
1-up.com walks through the many highs a few lows of Arena.net's subscription-free MMO, Guild Wars, with PR manager Gaile Gray. There's also a snazzy sidebar detailing some popular builds. My personal favorite build? Pizza / beer.

"Offering 450 skills is bound to cause a lot of concerns about balance and fair play. Players have seen the "überbuild" in enough games to be somewhat wary of elaborate progression systems. But balance has been our first and main focus from day one, and it continues to remain our primary objective even now. We've been able to stream modest changes, and we've held major events such as our PVP Extreme Weekend (PVPX) in late August to verify necessary changes. "

The Guild Wars: Post Mortem article at 1up.com.
Other links you might enjoy:

• The TTH Guild Wars Community Site - Maya delivers everything you need to know to make your Guild Wars guild "victories!"

Does "Sorrow's Furnace" have a loose fan belt?

Nope! Give Jeremy Soule- Arena.net's Composer for Guild Wars- some credit, that's the new music. If you're a fan of that big angry Wagnerian symphonic sound that makes besting "feeble muskrats" feel like fighting the demon overlord for the souls of mankind, this interview might be of interest to you!

Soule also talks of DirectPlay, a fee-based service that allows game music composers to deliver more music to games and expansions gone gold.

IGN: Since you also worked on the music for the initial Guild Wars game, how did you approach this project? How did you keep true to the original Guild Wars music while still creating your own unique sound for this update?

Jeremy Soule: Guild Wars is a purely symphonic experience. I rely heavily on past composers such as Wagner and Beethoven. For this expansion, I made the "colors" darker, but kept the framework of Guild Wars in place. The main theme makes an appearance, and there are some textural similarities to Guild Wars. Fans of my work know that I favor big sounds; this orchestra is even bigger than what we used for the original Guild Wars. In virtual terms, we would need over 400 players to duplicate our sound in an acoustic reality.

More of the Guild Wars: Sorrow's Furnace music interview here!

All PvP. All The Time.
IGN has posted a Guild Wars Extreme PvP Weekend interview featuring Isaiah Cartwright. Hoss and Little Joe Cartwright from the Ponderosa ranch rode up and shouted:

" With the multiplayer event coming up so quickly this Friday, ArenaNet
was good to take the time to answer some quick questions about the
update and what people can expect both from it and the future of Guild Wars. ArenaNet's Skill Balance Game Designer Isaiah Cartwright provides the answers to the future of skills in one of the most popular RPGs on the PC. "

You can read the entire Guild Wars Interview at IGN.
Related Links:

• GuildWars.TenTonHammer.com

Phinney's Fantabulous Foray into Fan Feedback!

James Phinney, lead designer for Guild Wars, posted his responses to a player roundtable hosted late Thursday based on Phinney's "State of the Game" letter. Guild Hall improvements, changes to PvP and ladder sessions, and general room for improvement were on the docket.

Despite the cries and tumult of numerous guilds warring in the hallway outside, Phinney managed to poset a few responses:

Question: What is the one area of GW *you* would like tweak?

James: "One" area? You must be kidding. As a game designer, you have to be incredibly foolish or incredibly egotistical to not see a ton of things to improve in any game you've worked on. The way I see it, every game you make is a learning experience. Usually, you just have to take the lessons with you and try to apply them to your next game, but with Guild Wars we have the opportunity to keep making the game better.

There's a lot of passion for Guild Wars on the team. We like to play the game. We experience a lot of the same things everyone else does. We know that at its best, Guild Wars offers experiences that are unique and insanely fun. We're going to keep working to make every part of the game live up to those moments. The user interface guys are always looking to make improvements where and when they can. The mission and quest design guys are really looking forward to taking the lessons we learned in Chapter 1 (oh so many lessons) and making Chapter 2 that much better. We're currently reviewing balance on all the Chapter 1 skills in preparation for the first official ladder season. The artists are doing amazing things for Sorrow's Furnace and for Chapter 2. And, of course, we're always looking at the economy and rate of character advancement.

Click here for answers to more of your Guild Wars questions!