I’ve wanted to write this article for some time but never found the time to do it. Perhaps there comes a point where you take stock of your life and with the arrival of my sons second birthday, my daughter's fifth having been and gone and my anniversary around the corner, I have a lot to be thankful for. My thanks isn’t just because I’m fortunate enough to write about videogames for a living but because my journey to where I find myself is all thanks to Guild Wars 2.

When I left University in my second year, despondent about a course that only offered three hours of lectures a week, I remember talking to my editor at the local newspaper. When I first met him, he laughed at the thought that people studied Journalism: it just wasn’t something that was done in his era. “Go get a pen and paper and find a story" he regularly used to say.

Returning home I started to write in the evenings for website called tap-repeatedly.com. During the day I worked for a government department coordinating ministerial correspondence between members of parliament and their constituents. It wasn’t quite the career I envisaged - certainly not when anticipating several more years at University - and yet both felt like a good combination. One offered a secure future, even if it was 9 to 5, while the other being an outlet for creative writing.

One of my my characters in Guild Wars 2.

It was during my time at Tap (as it’s affectionately known) that Guild Wars 2 was announced and having adored Guild Wars for many years, I decided to concentrate all my efforts on covering the game. Considering the small audience of Tap and the fact it mostly catered to editorials and features, coverage of what would become a commercial MMO was slightly against the grain.

I decided sometime in 2011 to contact Daniel Dociu for an interview. I happened to find his email address on his website and thought little of sending him a message. As the Creative Director for Guild Wars 2, I honestly never imagined he’d reply and when he did - merrily agreeing to chat (with no time limit) I immediately felt out of my depth. I’ve never interviewed anyone before and to me, it felt like a big deal.

My interview with him turned out to be pretty popular. Not only was he a brilliant man to chat to, but he was sincere and honest. He provided fantastic insight into ArenaNet’s artistic process and the end result, I think, is still the best interview I’ve ever done. Quite a few people seemed to like it, with Guild Wars 2 fans crashing Tap repeatedly (no pun intended) over the course of a week. Media outlets such as Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Eurogamer and Kotaku promoted it, with several quotes picked up by an Australian publisher as part of a book covering Daniel Dociu’s body of work.

That one interview, arranged on a whim, was the catalyst for my entire career in video games. It gave me the ability to not only request future interviews, but also - much later down the line - to apply for other writing jobs I would have never thought I’d secure. I don’t profess to be the best writer, in fact I’m downright terrible at times. My grammar is often poor and my spelling not much better. Despite that, I’ve a passion for video games and made an effort to try my hand at a career I thought I’d never have.

To eventually find myself in a position where I not only secured a paid job (everything up to then had been entirely voluntary) but to eventually take the plunge and leave my career in government behind is a step I thought I’d never take. Self-employment, working from home and never meeting your employer (the wonders of Skype!) takes some getting used to. Leaving behind a job that’s secured for the future is risky, but undoubtedly worth it. I have a lot to thank ArenaNet for, for not only opening doors but also to Ten Ton Hammer for giving me the opportunity. Without ArenaNet and Guild Wars 2 I’d have never gotten this far.

Despite the above, it hasn’t always been plain sailing: I once jumped an embargo (a genuine mistake), had an article pulled by my editor (it was deemed “unfair” internally) and had some interviews rejected (too attack dog) and yet I wouldn’t change anything I’ve done. I’ve had the opportunity to interview a huge array of the ArenaNet team, from Mike O’Brien to Bobby Stein, Jon Peters, Jonathan Sharp, Colin Johanson and many more. There’s little left for me to pursue when it comes to unearthing ArenaNet’s processes or their approach to Guild Wars 2 and unsurprisingly, they’re also much harder to get exclusive information out of.

Although I don’t play Guild Wars 2 as much as I used to, it still remains my favorite MMO of all time. Even if I’m known for being overly critical, it’s only because I care and that passion for the game is as a direct result of not only the enjoyment I’ve had from it, but from the years of covering it. Five years is a long time to dedicate yourself to a single title and I’m enjoying my break, but with Season 3 around the corner the itch is already returning. Its been some time since I produced any Guild Wars 2 content and I’m very much looking forward to getting back in the saddle.

I guess this article is a thanks to ArenaNet for giving me the first stepping stone I needed in an industry that’s unique and fascinating. Even if I do regularly panic about traffic to my content, or whether people will think what I’ve written is terrible (this job certainly gives you a thick skin) it’s a pretty good gig. I rarely saw my children before I became a writer and if it wasn’t for Guild Wars 2, I’d likely still be stuck behind a desk in an office far from home seeing them only at the weekend. Walking my kids to school every day is a pretty good perk of the job, even if my Christmas party involves a table for one (my colleagues overseas will understand).