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Guild Wars hits 13-year player peak after 20th anniversary eventApr 21, 2025 - PCGamesNThe original Guild Wars has hit its highest player count in thirteen years, thanks in part to a host of 20th anniversary celebrations. This fantasy MMORPG has been around for two decades and, going by the response to the anniversary, still holds a special place in many players' hearts. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Legendary, 20-year-old MMORPG Guild Wars just got an unexpected update 15 Years of Guild Wars: "It was built for the long haul" Guild Wars' starting area was built in "just a few weeks" after a last-minute request Legendary, 20-year-old MMORPG Guild Wars just got an unexpected updateApr 15, 2025 - PCGamesNIn the MMO boom of the 2000s, Guild Wars stood proudly alongside the likes of World of Warcraft and Runescape as one of the top dogs. While its sequel is the main focus for developer ArenaNet these days, the original Guild Wars is back in the spotlight today to celebrate its 20th birthday. A brand new edition of Guild Wars has just launched, collating all of the game's content together in one bundle. The best part is that, if you're swift, it's an absolute bargain as well. As an added bonus, a new update has just hit the game, adding in long-lost items that were previously time-limited or region-locked and introducing all-new weapon upgrades. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: 15 Years of Guild Wars: "It was built for the long haul" Guild Wars' starting area was built in "just a few weeks" after a last-minute request Guild Wars is 20 years old now, and that means it's time for a content update and 'the biggest discount in Guild Wars' history'Apr 15, 2025 - PC GamerSomehow, the fantasy MMO Guild Wars is 20 years old: It launched in 2005 and it's still ticking over today. That's an impressive accomplishment by any measure, and ArenaNet isn't letting the anniversary pass unnoticed. The studio has rolled out a new content update that makes a range of previously-inaccessible promotional items from the early days of Guild Wars available to everyone, and there's also a new edition of the game that includes, well, everything, that's on sale until the end of April... Read more.Celebrating 20 Years of Guild WarsApr 15, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsTwenty years ago this month, ArenaNet launched the first Guild Wars® campaign, which would eventually be called Prophecies™. Since then, it's been our real joy to welcome many millions of players from all over the world to Tyria—first in the original Guild Wars, and more recently here in Guild Wars 2®. We're excited to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Guild Wars universe this month. Guild Wars retrospective items are back in the Guild Wars 2 Gem Store, the Anniversary Celebration festival kicks off in the original Guild Wars today with new and newly available items, and there's a sale on Guild Wars game editions. //d3b4yo2b5lbfy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/3e849GardenOfSeborhin02-590x369.jpg Guild Wars Homage Items Return in Guild Wars 2 Select Guild Wars retrospective items are returning to the Guild Wars 2 Gem Store at a 20% discount! Pick up classic looks like Gwen's Attire or the Primeval Dervish Outfit and weapon skins like the Storm Bow Skin, Bone Dragon Staff Skin, and Peacock Scepter Skin. These items will be available until April 29. In addition to the cosmetics available from the Black Lion Trading Company, remember that a number of craftable and earnable weapons based on the original Guild Wars are always available, like the Destroyer and Tengu weapon sets, unique weapons like Fellblade and Razorstone, and of course the iconic Sunspear (as both a staff and a spear)—just to name a few! //d3b4yo2b5lbfy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/b6e86gw630-590x248.jpg Updated Rewards in Guild Wars An update today makes rewards newly available in the original Guild Wars. Specifically, many items that were previously available only as promotional exclusives have been reissued. Promotional weapons—including those from preorders, like the iconic Sunspear, and regional launches—have been made into rare-quality drops from high-level enemies in the world. A selection of previously limited-release minis can also now be acquired in nontradeable form by completing quests for Merrise, Sworn to Seas in Embark Beach. We're also excited to announce that new weapon upgrades for main-hand weapons have been added to the game as rare drops. These "of the " modifiers will boost the level of the named profession's primary attribute to as much as 5 (unless you already have a higher value), even if you wouldn't normally have access to that attribute. The modifiers will also display glowing particle effects in their profession's associated color on any weapon they're applied to. While the ancient anniversary weaponsmith is visiting Embark Beach for the anniversary celebration, you can find unique weapons featuring the reissued weapon skins and the new suffix upgrades. You can read more details about today's game update on the Guild Wars wiki. //d3b4yo2b5lbfy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/909b1gw01-590x369.jpg Speaking with Guild Wars 2 developer ArenaNet for the first time since the lay-offsApr 17, 2019 - EurogamerIt's been a torrid time for Guild Wars 2 maker ArenaNet. At the end of February, the studio cut a third of its workforce and people who had worked there for more than a decade walked away. NCSoft-on-high reportedly said revenues were falling and the business was not sustainable, and for the first time, Guild Wars 2 - and ArenaNet - looked vulnerable. In one fell stroke, two unannounced projects and 143 staff were gone. A cloud of concern lingered. Was Guild Wars 2 in decline? And if two unannounced projects had been cancelled, what would follow it? Read more ArenaNet lays off 'a number' of employees ahead of NCSoft West mergerFeb 25, 2019 - PC GamerGuild Wars developer ArenaNet has laid off "a number" of employees as part of a process that will see the company merge with NCSoft West. A company rep confirmed with GameDaily.biz that the cuts too place "as part of NCSoft’s ongoing restructuring of its development and publishing business in the west," although specific numbers were not revealed. The layoffs were reported, and then confirmed, late last week, when ArenaNet said that "staff reductions" would occur as a result of the cancellation of unannounced projects. A company rep said at the time that the layoffs are "part of a larger organizational restructuring within NCSoft in the west," but added that there would be no impact on the Guild Wars games, or any upcoming content. Lead game designer Jennifer Scheurle, who remains with ArenaNet, said on Twitter that the company handled the cuts well. "Many of the most talented, driven and skilled people, friends and colleagues, didn’t get to keep their job. It’s been one of the most agonizing things I’ve ever experienced," she wrote. "This is true despite feeling that ArenaNet handled the awful situation as well as you can handle a situation where everybody loses. It’s credit to a compassionate and skilled HR department that we are given as much information and time as we were." Slightly contradicting its announcement last week, ArenaNet also said today that the release of the Warclaw, a new Guild Wars 2 world vs world mount, has been delayed until March 5. "In light of current events at the studio, we are taking this time to focus on our friends and colleagues," the studio wrote. "We hope you understand and we apologize for this delay." Guild Wars studio ArenaNet confirms layoffsFeb 21, 2019 - PC GamerUpdate: In response to our inquiry, ArenaNet issued the following statement: "We can confirm that due to the cancellation of unannounced projects, ArenaNet will make staff reductions. This is part of a larger organizational restructuring within NCSOFT in the west, but the Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 game services will not be affected, nor is any upcoming game content canceled." The studio declined to comment on the number of employees affected by the cuts. Original story: A report out of Kotaku indicates that ArenaNet, the developer of the Guild Wars MMOs, will undergo layoffs that will see a "significant" number of employees let go. An internal email reportedly sent by the CEO of ArenaNet parent NCSoft said that the company aims to "cut costs across the organization," a process that will include a merger of ArenaNet and NCSoft's publishing divisions. "Our live game business revenue is declining as our franchises age, delays in development on PC and mobile have created further drains against our revenue projects, while our operating costs in the west have increased," the email said. "Where we are is not sustainable, and is not going to set us up for future success." Guild Wars 2 was released in 2012 and while there have been content updates and four "Living World" seasons since then, only two full expansion have been released, Heart of Thorns in 2015 and Path of Fire in 2017. ArenaNet hasn't developed any new games since Guild Wars 2 either. The report is unconfirmed for now, but comes just a few months after NCSoft pulled the plug on the Wildstar MMO and shuttered its developer, Carbine. It's not known how many people will be impacted by the cuts, but a 2018 "ArenaNet Culture" video said the company employed almost 400 people. I've reached out to ArenaNet for more information and will update if I receive a reply. How a German datacenter blowing up led to a surprise graphics update for 13-year-old MMO Guild WarsMay 12, 2018 - EurogamerGuild Wars - the first Guild Wars, which came out in 2005 - is all of a sudden back in business - and it's down to the after hours work of just a couple of developers. This week an update was pushed out to the 13-year-old massively multiplayer online role-playing game that added an impressive suite of new graphics options - much to the surprise and delight of the game's small but loyal community. Graphics improvements included windowed fullscreen support, a new 8X MSAA anti-aliasing option, 16x Anisotropic filtering support for the existing "use best texture filtering" option, and, most impressive of all, a new "advanced" option checkbox, which was added to the graphics options panel. Read more… You told us your best MMO raiding war storiesOct 3, 2016 - PC GamerMMO players have war stories. That bloody battle that finally dropped the rare loot you needed for your rogue. The 18 hour raid against a Final Fantasy XI boss that left you physically ill. We recently asked PC Gamer readers to tell us their best raiding stories, and we've collected some of our favorite memories on the following pages. There are stories of triumph, stories of griefing, and stories of failure. One player raided with his mom. Another became a server-wide legend... for being sat on. MMOs get pretty weird, sometimes. How many of these raids do you have your own stories about, too? By Anya Moore My most memorable was in City of Heroes saving a Rikti Mother Ship. For the uninitiated, RMS was an open-world Raid against a crashed mothership, but it required a certain coordination and traversing through the entire zone to take out a number of shield generators before the mothership could be attacked directly, a bunch of bombs placed, and then everybody meeting in the center of the mothership to fight hordes and hordes of Rikti, and eventually the Rikti commander. Well, during one of our runs, it was a somewhat slow night, and the raid group wasn't anywhere close to being full. Nevertheless, we were still grinding things down until the last phase where we were fighting a losing battle in the central part of the mothership. I was playing a Dark/Dark/Psi healer, and the raid group was at less than 50% - a couple dozen folks were KO'ed at my feet, with a number of others that were frantically trying to make their ways back to us, having gotten separated for one reason or another. Now Dark Defenders have the most powerful group AOE heals, and the only group AoE Resurrect in the game. The only problem, is that the abilities don't fire off 100% as they require you to drain a fraction of an enemy's life force. Well, the raid was about to fall apart, but my team was still fighting. I managed to get myself located so I could hit as many people as possible and still have an enemy within range to suck the life out of for my rez. The rez went off, and I rez'ed a huge chunk of the raid (15 people I think, the absolute maximum the spell could affect). A few seconds after that, other healers that were rez'ed by me immediately started rez'ing the people I missed and getting our defenses shored back up. After that, we were back in fighting force, and we were able to complete the run successfully. -- Virtue server By Manuel Duran This post makes me feel old - my most memorable raiding story is beating The Rathe Council in Everquest for the first time. For those who don't know this encounter, let me break down the madness: there 12 council members standing in a circle in the middle of a small, wooded clearing which you have to kill in order to spawn the final member who you then kill to beat the encounter. Sounds easy, right? Hmm, except that you have to kill all 12 within a minute of each other or the encounter resets. Each one the members hit like a ...The RPG Scrollbars: The Best Punishments For CheatersSep 7, 2015 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunOver in Everquest II, they’re trying an experiment at the moment – what’s that? Yes, Everquest II. People are still playing it. The original as well. I know, I’m surprised too, but never mind. Specifically, they’ve created a prison server called Drunder. The idea is that instead of banning trolls, griefers and cheaters (presumably up to a certain point), they can simply throw all the troublemakers in server jail and let them play together with no possibility of escape. Nothing can possibly go wrong! If you want to indulge in the anarchy then you can request to be sent there, but again, it’s a one way trip for your account. Has Daybreak finally discovered the ultimate fix for bad online behaviour, though? Let’s ask our special ethics correspondent, a snowball in Hell. … Well, while we wait, I thought it’d be fun to take a look at how a few other RPGs have decided to have a little fun with their dodgier elements, both online and off. … First Look: Guild Wars 2 Heart of ThornsMar 3, 2015 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunGuild Wars 2 launched with a promise to fix MMOs. Strident, attention-grabbing, patently doomed schtick that was nevertheless suffused with just enough gosh-shucks-darn-it-I-want-to-see-them-try zest to make it a journey worth tracking. That was two years ago. The mission met with mixed results, as lead designer Isaiah Cartwright admitted to me when we spoke in Brighton during a hands-on with the game’s first expansion, Heart of Thorns. We were among the first to play the expansion and all of the details are below. … Gigantic Is A Gorgeous Not-MOBA From StarCraft s LeadJul 16, 2014 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunGuild Wars 1 Development To Be Halted, AutomatedMay 21, 2013 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunRare is the MMO that continues to thrive alongside its direct successor – or, for that matter, get a direct successor at all. By all accounts, the original Guild Wars lived a good, long life. It loved, it lost, it learned violin, it saw the ocean one last time. Also, I don’t know why I’m talking about it in the past tense, because it’s not dead yet. True, ArenaNet’s already itsy bitsy GW1 live team is moving on to bigger, less eight-year-old things, but unlike NCsoft stablemate City of Heroes, these guilds will war on. How? Robots. Find out more about your imminent ice-cold oppression after the break. (more…) Concept Art That Goes From Halo 4 To Guild Wars 2 And Back AgainFeb 28, 2013 - Kotaku Dave Bolton is a concept artist who has worked for 343 Studios, ArenaNet and Hourglass Studios. So we're about to get a look at some fantastic art from, among other things, Halo 4 and Guild Wars. If you like what you see, you can check out loads more at Dave's personal site and CGHub page (thanks Concept Root!) To see the larger pics in all their glory (or, if they're big enough, so you can save them as wallpaper), right-click on them below and select "open in new tab". Fine Art is a celebration of the work of video game artists, showcasing the best of both their professional and personal portfolios. If you're in the business and have some concept, environment, promotional or character art you'd like to share, drop us a line! What Happens When You Accuse Someone Of Attempting Date Rape In Guild Wars 2Feb 18, 2013 - Kotaku Just because it's a video game doesn't mean scenes won't play out like they do in real life. In a post over at Keep It Up, a curious role-playing scenario from Guild Wars 2 is detailed: one where a character named Sylvia saw a human male giving a single drink to a female character—only to have the female character pass out. Outside the game, the person controlling Sylvia knew what had happened: the 'unconscious woman' was really just a player that had to excuse herself from the RP (role-play) because of something in real-life. In-game, however, the woman chose to use the "sleep" command at a tavern—which makes it look like the player falls in the floor in a heap. Which is to say, in-game, the 'dubious scene' presented a weird but interesting opportunity for role-play. She wrote: I saw it as a great opportunity to pursue some roleplay. My character, who was already standing near the exit, questioned him on his way out about the woman over his shoulder. She wasn't even aggressive about it then, it was casual. Mild. His mutterings were nervous and dubious at best. He spoke about how he had "papers" to allow for such a thing, and he just had to get her back to his place. Needless to say, things took a turn for the uncomfortable: they were playing out a scene involving a guy attempting date rape! Things escalated from there. Sylvia tried to get the man to leave the woman alone or to at least get the woman to some healers; the woman needed help. She tried to call the local guards. No dice, nobody cared. The man became more agitated at all the 'libelous' and insulting implications of what he was doing. Even worse than having most people not care was that Sylvia then came under fire for being a loudmouthed nuisance that was "making a fuss" about "nothing." People were more concerned over the reputation of the guy than they were of the well-being of the woman, basically. I had initiated RP with the other player for the sake of fun, but I had increasingly become more and more unnerved by the turn. It's only a game and it's fantasy and roleplay and silliness, of course. The other players undoubtedly took cues from the out of character nature of things. It's not, after all, as if anyone could force another player to RP out something they don't wish. However through the time spent playing this scene out, the manner in which it mirrored real life behaviour that I've either seen or read about in such detail was unpleasant, to say the least. Not only in the casual disregard for the unconscious woman's well-being from an IC perspective, but OOC the things that were said were so jarringly similar to the sexist and harmful things you hear in real life. You can read the full post here, which has more details in regards to what happened—but still, pretty crazy, right? Nobody forced folks to play along, much less in this specific way that mirrored real-life rape culture—doubting the veracity of the tale, protecting the guy, failing to help th...Please, Help, I'm Relapsing And Posting More Guild Wars 2 ArtFeb 7, 2013 - Kotaku You'd think that the game being out, and out for a while now, would have stopped me lusting after the concept art behind Guild Wars 2, but nope. Not gonna happen. Not when creative director Daniel Dociu is posting fresh pieces. The artist, who you may recognise as the face of Father Grigory in Half-Life 2, has shared four new images on his portfolio, and while four is an unusually small number to run here on Fine Art, I'm sure you'll agree this is a case of quality over quantity. You can check out a feature on Daniel's Guild Wars 2 art we ran last year here, and see more of his work at his personal site and CGHub page (thanks Super Punch!). To see the larger pics in all their glory (or, if they're big enough, so you can save them as wallpaper), right-click on them below and select "open in new tab". Fine Art is a celebration of the work of video game artists, showcasing the best of both their professional and personal portfolios. If you're in the business and have some concept, environment, promotional or character art you'd like to share, drop us a line! Portal's "Still Alive" Sounds Quite Nice in Guild Wars 2Jan 16, 2013 - KotakuYouTube user Marflus1 has created this musical gem, which is described as follows: An Arrangement of "Still Alive" from Portal, produced using the Wintersday Bell and Pipe Organ in Guild Wars 2, a little bit of pitch editing in Audacity, and an awful lot of time in Adobe Premiere Pro. Whatever it takes! Marflus1 previously figured out how to wring "Billie Jean" out of Guild Wars 2. Portal's "Still Alive" in Guild Wars 2 Gorgeous Games of 2012: Guild Wars 2Dec 21, 2012 - Kotaku When we started putting together a list of the best-looking games of 2012, Guild Wars 2 was an easy choice. The massive world of Tyria contains all manner of visual wonder, and every hilltop invites a pause for wide-eyed gazing. It's a very good game, too. Chris put together this cinemagraph of my primary elementalist character, looking up at the windmill outside Divinity's Reach. Yeah, man. I'll be exploring this world well into 2013. Get A Peek At The Wintersday Festivities That Await In Guild Wars 2Dec 10, 2012 - KotakuThe folks at ArenaNet keep on adding new content to Guild Wars 2, from seasonal updates to new instances, group events and other tweaks that will live on past any holiday. The latest season is upon us as Wintersday arrives in Tyria. The video above gives a taste of what's in store, and has a distinctly Harry Potter vibe to it. The whole thing will center around the character Tixx the Toymaker, who arrives this Wednesday, December 14. The game will also see some updates to World vs. World. Okay, Fall rush is over. Time for me to get back into Guild Wars 2. The Lead Designer Of Guild Wars 2 Is Answering Your Questions Right Now (Q&A Closed)Nov 15, 2012 - Kotaku ArenaNet's massively multiplayer Guild Wars 2 has been out for a few months now, and many of us here at Kotaku really like the game. Like any MMO, it's already changed quite a bit since launch, and ArenaNet has begun regularly adding new content, quests, and gear to extend the game's life well into the future. There's so much to talk about, so much to play and see, that you just may have some questions. And hey, what do you know, Guild Wars 2 Lead Designer Isaiah Cartwright has volunteered to come by for an hour and answer anything you care to ask. So, have at it: Ask him anything you like down in the comments. Cartwright will begin answering at 6PM Eastern time, and he'll keep going for about an hour.
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