Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2 release date: August 28th, 2012

Up to date info on Guild Wars 2!

Official Website: Guild Wars 2

August 20, 2009
Guild Wars 2 Trailer World Premiere!

We're thrilled to announce the premiere of the official Guild Wars 2 preview video! The trailer, which made its debut at gamescom Cologne, offers an exciting glimpse of the visual splendor that awaits in Guild Wars 2. Check it out right here!

Guild Wars 2 Design Manifesto

Guild Wars 2 Design Manifesto - Video
Guild Wars 2 Design Manifesto - Blog Post

FAQ FAQ | Guild Wars 2

News and Info

Dynamic Events Overview
Personal Story Overview
William Fairfield on Designing the Dungeons
Players Can Join Multiple Guilds in Guild Wars 2

Previews

Hands-On Guild Wars 2 Preview

Player vs Player Overview

Guild Wars has a rich tradition of both pickup and competitive PvP, featuring formats played with varying degrees of organization. It has a variety of places for players to scratch their PvP itch: from Heroes' Ascent and Random Arena to Alliance Battles and GvG. I know it has taken us a while to reveal it, but rest assured, that heritage lives on in Guild Wars 2 where our goal is to create the best MMO PvP experience.

For Guild Wars 2, we wanted to organize the PvP formats more clearly and simply. For pickup play, we've created a single place where all pickup players can play. It's a server browser where "hot join" games are constantly running. We've also created a single, central place for competitive play in the form of automatic tournaments. These two play styles—pickup and competitive—share a lot of gameplay similarities, which allows players to easily transition from casual to more organized play. This is important, because both pickup and tournament play are independent of "world" choice. In other words, all Guild Wars 2 PvP players are in the same PvP games and are not segregated.

Let's take a closer look at the two PvP styles. Read More

Guild Wars 2 Combat

Part One: Skills
Part Two: Weapons, Professions and Races
Traits Overview
Healing and Death

Videos

Guild Wars 2 Sound Design
Behind the Scenes - Giving Tyria a Voice
Creating Guild Wars 2 Cinematics
Ascalonian Catacombs Cinematic
The City of Lion's Arch
ArenaNet Retrospective Video

Guild Wars 2: PAX
PAX Prime 2011 Guild Wars 2 Panel
PAX East 2011 Teaser HD
PAX East 2011 - Discussion Panel Part 1 of 2
PAX East 2011 - Discussion Panel Part 2 of 2

Guild Wars 2: GDC
GDC 2010 - YouTube Edition - Part 1
GDC 2010 - YouTube Edition - Part 2
GDC 2010 - YouTube Edition - Part 3
GDC 2010 - YouTube Edition - Part 4
China GDC 2010 - Concept Sequence

Playable Races

The Races of Tyria



Sylvari

Long ago, a weary soldier planted a strange seed in the depths of the Maguuma Jungle. For centuries, the Pale Tree grew, branches arching over the forest, until at last--twenty five years ago--it bloomed, and the Firstborn stepped into the world. They were followed by their brethren, season after season of sylvari, wide-eyed with wonder and searching for purpose in this strange land. Shaped first by the Dream that nurtured them before they awakened, the sylvari now travel Tyria seeking adventure and their place in the world.

The Home Soil of the Sylvari
Growing the Sylvari



Norn

The norn are a race of valiant, shape-changing barbarians. Boisterous, strong-willed, and passionate, the norn are an independent people that swear fealty to no single being. They thrive in their mountain stronghold by the sharpness of their senses, the quickness of their wits, and the strength of their massive forearms. They are guided in this world by their Spirits of the Wild, who embody the virtues of the mightiest beasts. As a people, they are quick to anger, even quicker to smile, and treat each new day as a personal challenge. They drink and feast and hunt with equal gusto, and fear few things. They are steadfast allies and implacable foes.

The Shiverpeaks, Hunting



Charr

The feline charr of Tyria are a victorious race challenged by their own success. They have survived defeat, oppression, and civil war. They have returned, reconquered, and rebuilt their original homes. Their mighty fortress, the Black Citadel, dominates the surrounding ruins of the human city of Rin, and their non-magical technology is the mightiest in the land. Yet despite their success, they are challenged by divisions among their people, the power of the Elder Dragons, and the ghosts of their own victories.

The Domain of the Charr



Asura

They may be short in stature, but this subterranean race of magical inventors are intellectual giants. These incredibly intelligent beings use their knowledge and skill with magic and crafting to assert their natural dominance. In the world of the asura, it is not the strong who survive, but the clever. Other races believe they should rule by virtue of their power and strength, but they delude themselves. All will serve the asura – in due time...

Matt Barrett on Asura Design
Drawing an Asura with Matthew Barrett
Asura Animation Sample



Human

The humans of Tyria are an embattled race. Over the past three hundred years, they have lost much of their territory. Old enemies and new races threaten traditional human lands on all sides. Yet the human race survives, defending their remaining lands and maintaining the human spirit as they have for centuries. Their greatest city, Divinity's Reach, shines as a beacon of hope for the people of Kryta and beyond – even those dwelling deep within charr territory. The human legends are indelibly imprinted on the souls of all the races of Tyria, be they friend or foe.

Kryta, the Last Human Homeland



Professions

Engineer

Masters of mechanical mayhem, engineers tinker with explosives, gadgets, elixirs, and all manner of deployable devices. They can take control of an area by placing turrets, support their allies with alchemic weaponry, or lay waste to foes with a wide array of mines, bombs, and grenades.

Engineer Skills



Thief

A master of stealth and surprise, the thief is deadly in single combat—particularly when catching enemies off guard. Thieves compensate for their relatively low armor and health by being quick and evasive. They can move through the shadows, vanish into thin air, or steal items from their opponents and use them as weapons. Enemies should watch their backs, or the thief will watch it for them.

Thief Skills



Guardian

The guardian is a devoted fighter who calls upon powerful virtues to smite enemies and protect allies. As dangerous with a staff as he is with a mighty two-handed hammer, a true guardian is a master tactician who knows when to sacrifice his own defenses to empower his allies to achieve victory.

Guardian Skills



Necromancer

A necromancer is a practitioner of the dark arts who summons the dead, wields the power of lost souls, and literally sucks the lifeblood of the enemy. A necromancer feeds on life force, which he can use to bring allies back from the brink or cheat death itself.

Necromancer Skills



Ranger

The ranger is a jack-of-all-trades and a master of them all as well, relying on his keen eye, steady hand, or the power of nature itself. A master of ranged combat, the ranger is capable of striking unwitting foes from a distance with his bow. With a stable of pets at his command, a ranger can adapt to his opponents' strengths and weaknesses.

Ranger Skills



Warrior

The warrior is a master of weapons who relies on speed, strength, toughness, and heavy armor to survive in battle. A warrior can shrug off blow after blow to stay in the fight, all the while building up adrenaline to fuel his offense.

Warrior Skills



Elementalist

The elementalist channels natural forces of destruction, making fire, air, earth, and water do her bidding. What the elementalist lacks in physical toughness, she makes up for in her ability to inflict massive damage in a single attack, dropping foes from a distance before they can become a threat. Yet, despite her incredible offensive potential, versatility is what makes the elementalist truly formidable.

Elementalist Skills

 

Me too! It's good to finally see NcSoft finally talking about it again, it's been quite a while since the last announcement about the game

 

It takes place 250 years after and in the same world of the original GW but I'm not sure if it's a continuation.

 

Well in the original GW everyone was human and on the same side so I'd guess the PvP will be guild/party based... but I did hear something about a big PvP area so maybe they will have two sides to be part of or something.

 

NcSoft has announced 2011 as the release date of GW2, beta testing could start in 2010.

 

The game will not be a bunch of Instances like the first game.

 

6 new videos:

GameOgre.com Free MMORPG Forums - Guild Wars 2 - The Races of Tyria
GameOgre.com Free MMORPG Forums - Guild Wars 2: Behind the Scenes - Giving Tyria a Voice

Guild Wars 2: GDC 2010
GameOgre.com Free MMORPG Forums - Guild Wars 2: GDC 2010 - YouTube Edition - Part 1
GameOgre.com Free MMORPG Forums - Guild Wars 2: GDC 2010 - YouTube Edition - Part 2
GameOgre.com Free MMORPG Forums - Guild Wars 2: GDC 2010 - YouTube Edition - Part 3
GameOgre.com Free MMORPG Forums - Guild Wars 2: GDC 2010 - YouTube Edition - Part 4

 

Ghosts of Ascalon

We're proud to announce Ghosts of Ascalon, the first original Guild Wars novel! Written by acclaimed fantasy authors Matt Forbeck and Jeff Grubb, Ghosts of Ascalon sets the stage for the release of the highly anticipated Guild Wars 2 MMO.

Two hundred fifty years ago, Ascalon burned.

Desperate to defend his land from advancing hordes of bestial charr, King Adelbern summoned the all-powerful Foefire to repel the invaders. But magic can be a double-edged sword—the Foefire burned both charr and human alike. While the charr corpses smoldered, the slain Ascalonians rose again, transformed by their king's rage into ghostly protectors and charged with guarding the realm—forever. The once mighty kingdom became a haunted shadow of its former glory.

Centuries later, the descendants of Ascalon, exiled to the nation of Kryta, are besieged on all sides. To save humankind, Queen Jennah seeks to negotiate a treaty with the hated charr. One obstacle remains. The charr legions won't sign the truce until their most prized possession, the Claw of the Khan-Ur, is returned from the ruins of fallen Ascalon.

Now, a mismatched band of adventurers, each plagued by ghosts of their own, sets forth into a haunted, war-torn land to retrieve the Claw. Without the artifact, there is no hope for peace between humans and charr--but the undead king who rules Ascalon won't give it up easily, and not everyone wants peace!

Ghosts of Ascalon is scheduled for release in North America and Europe in the summer of 2010.

For more details, check out the Ghosts of Ascalon FAQ.

 

I think it's been confirmed for a 2011 release, no specific time frame yet.

 

News and Info:

Dynamic Events Overview | Guild Wars 2
Personal Story Overview | Guild Wars 2

Combat Overview:

Part One: Skills | Guild Wars 2
Part Two: Weapons, Professions and Races | Guild Wars 2