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Guild Wars

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Game Info

Windows
Developer: 
ArenaNet
Genre: 
Fantasy
Release Date: 
April 28, 2005
Monthly Fee: 
None
Official Website
T
Before the Western market was inundated with free-to-play Asian imports, Guild Wars was the only game that offered a free-to-play business model and constant PvP action. With over four million...Before the Western market was inundated with free-to-play Asian imports, Guild Wars was the only game that offered a free-to-play business model and constant PvP action. With over four million units of the original game (Guild Wars: Prophecies) sold in stores, there's no denying the popularity of this free-to-play game.

Set in a medieval fantasy world, Guild Wars allows players to choose from ten different total professions. In the original release of the game, players could choose from six of these professions, with the Nightfall and Factions expansions adding two more professions each. While there is a player versus environment (PvE) portion of the game, most players play Guild Wars to engage in player versus player combat (PvP). With a level cap of only 20 levels, players can quickly become a top-tiered character in PvE, yet the main drive to hit level 20 is to earn skills that can be used in the PvP arena.

Finally, the PvP competitions are separated into seven different areas of competition, each with its own nuances and goals. Players are urged to continually play Guild Wars because large cash payouts are available to the best players of the game. The money on top of the fun of PvP continues to keep Guild Wars an incredibly popular game.
  • Guild Wars Review at GamersInfo

    Guild Wars, rated G for Good.
    GamersInfo has posted a review of Guild Wars with predictable results. Britney Spears was too busy eating to talk, but amid the spitting of crumbs and the slurping of cola we heard this:

    "
    There have been many MMORPGs released into the market as of late. ArenaNet's entry into this market, Guild Wars, attempts to change many of the elements that have become the standard in MMOs today, while at the same time keeping many of the most basic principles of what an MMORPG is. One of the changes to the traditional MMORPG is the lack of a monthly fee. ArenaNet has decided to make money solely by releasing expansions. The gameplay in this game is fun and easy to get the feel for. It looks as well as sounds great, and it runs well on most computers. " 

    You can read the entire Guild Wars Review at GamersInfo.
    Related Links:

    Reviews
    Wed, Oct 05, 2005
    Boomjack
  • 1UP.com Helps Celebrate 6 mos. of Guild Wars

    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:

    Features, Interviews
    Tue, Oct 04, 2005
    Ethec
  • Guild Wars Review at ReWiredMind

    One million copies sold and one more review written.
    ReWiredMind has posted their review of Guild Wars. Martha Stewart asked to call her back at a more convenient time, but we prefer to pretend that she said this:

    "
    My quest for a free and quality MUD or MMORPG has been long and, so I
    thought, fruitless. A couple of years ago I was able to find Achaea, a text-based MUD populated by people that not only wanted to roleplay, but who were also more than happy to indulge in gratuitous (but relevant) PVP on continental scales. To become skilled in this game required a knowledge of programming for the various MUD programs used, plus there were no graphics which proved to be a big downer for me towards the end. " 

    You can read the entire Guild Wars Review at ReWiredMind.
    Related Links:

    Reviews
    Mon, Oct 03, 2005
    Boomjack
  • Guild Wars Previewed - Chapter 2

    Guild Wars Chapter 2, Coming To a PC Near You.
    GameSpot has posted a Guild Wars interview focusing on the as yet unnamed expansion, Chapter 2. Nostradamus predicted this expansion when he wrote:

    " Guild Wars has become one of the major successes of 2005, and it's easy to see why. This online role-playing game from ArenaNet offers countless hours of excellent gameplay, requires no monthly subscription fee, and features innovative streaming technology that allows the developers to update the game automatically every time you log on. Now the team at ArenaNet is preparing the first major update to Guild Wars, the so-called second chapter. This update will introduce a ton of content. But don't take our word for it. Gaile Gray, Guild War's community relations manager, was kind enough to answer our questions regarding chapter two. "

    You can read the entire Guild Wars Preview at GameSpot.
    Related Links:

    Features, Previews
    Thu, Sep 29, 2005
    Boomjack
  • GW World Championship Unveiled

    There can be only one.
    ArenaNet has unveiled the first ever Guild Wars World Championship. When asked if he would be competing, Vin Diesel had this to say about that:

    "We are pleased to announce that the qualifying season for the first Guild Wars World Championship will begin this week. In preparation, the Guild Wars Ladder will be reset at 12:00 am PDT (7:00 am GMT) on October 1 to start the first ladder season. This inaugural season will last three months and will culminate in regional playoffs among top-ranked guilds in each of America, Europe, and Korea, followed by the global Guild Wars World Championship, a live event to be held early next year. We'll be making a formal announcement on Thursday with further details. "

    You can read the entire Guild Wars World Championship Announcement at The Official Site.
    Related Links:

    Tue, Sep 27, 2005
    Boomjack
  • Guild Wars Review at Strategy Informer

    Late to the dance, but high on the list.
    Strategy Informer got around to reviewing Guild Wars and it comes as no surprise that they liked it. We asked Ray Romano of Everybody Loves Raymond if he would consider an Everyone Loves Guild Wars T.V. sitcom and he replied:

    " Lately we've seen allot of MMORPG-s hitting the market, in the franchise caused by World of Warcraft. Many of those games went completely unnoticed, or have even been shut down (as we've seen with The Matrix Online and Asheron's Call 2). Guild Wars is not one of them. What the crew at Arenanet has to offer was fresh, and not just "another game in the line", but something quite different... read on, you'll find out what. "

    You can read the entire Guild Wars Review at Strategy Informer.
    Related Links:

     

    Reviews
    Mon, Sep 26, 2005
    Boomjack
  • Guild Wars Game Update Notes

    Locked chests, the bane of MMOGs.
    ArenaNet has posted the latest Guild Wars Game Updates. When we approached Jennifer Love Hewitt about the changes, she ran, fast, the other direction screaming:

    " Improved distribution of rare items in locked chests so that most players will get more rare items. "

    You can read the Guild Wars Game Update Notes at the Official Site.
    Related Links:

     

    News
    Fri, Sep 23, 2005
    Boomjack
  • Guild Wars Sells 1,000,000

    That's a 1 with 6 zeros after it folks.
    NCSoft sent us a press release announcing that Guild Wars has sold over one million copies. Congratulations to the NCSoft and ArenaNet folks. The gang at Slashdot and the folks at BoingBoing both took looks at guilds in the past and wrote about them. Unfortunately for you, it looked nothing like this:

    " AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 22, 2005—NCsoft® (KSE: 036570.KS), the world’s leading developer and publisher of online computer games announces yet another milestone for its top-selling competitive roleplaying game, Guild Wars<®, from ArenaNet® studios. More than one million units have been purchased since the game launched on April 28th of this year, and the numbers are increasing."

    You can read all about Guilds Wars at our Community Site.
    Related Links:

     

    Fri, Sep 23, 2005
    Boomjack
  • Guild Wars Reviewed at The Junkyard

    More PvP, man on man, woman on woman review goodness.
    The Junkyard has reviewed Guild Wars. Gary Coleman requested polited that we interview him. We politely refused, get it, refuse...Junkyard... bah..Here's what Coleman said:

    " When someone says, "RPG", what do you think of? I would come back with either rocket propelled grenade or a story-driven game involving leveling and lots of monsters/bad guys. Add the prefix "online" and I get monthly fees and other people to romp around with. Guild Wars is something new. While it obeys some old RPG laws, it has also broken or bent others and introduced a few new ones. The end result is something unique and, if I may, something pretty frickin' awesome. "

    You can read the entire Guild Wars Review at The Junkyard. [Thanks Shacknews]
    Related Links

    Reviews
    Fri, Sep 16, 2005
    Boomjack
  • Guild Wars: New Guild of the Week

    I'll take the Pu Pu Platter build...

    Arena.net's Guild of the Week is a European guild called "Dynasty Warriors," which takes Chinese history seriously; requiring guildies to take names from the celestial lands. If you ever wanted to get a feel for a Guild Wars competitive match, take a look at this article; it features an interesting play-by-play commentary on a team arena "capture the flag" match:

    Members of the Dynasty Warriors guild believe that one of the keys to a successful battle is an understanding of the value of patience and knowing when to take risks, a lesson they learned from a war of attrition in one of their memorable guild battles. Set amid the foreboding backdrop of the Isle of the Dead guild hall, the battle started off fiercely as both teams struggled to control the flag stand. Though heavy losses were incurred on both sides, the DW team was finally able to hold the flag. The tenacity of their opponents was not to be underestimated, however, as they fought back to reclaim their flag...

    Did they hold the flag? Probably, since the article honors them! But see for yourself in the Guild Wars "Guild of the Week" article at the official site.

    News
    Wed, Sep 14, 2005
    Ethec
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