Guild Wars 2 has been a long time coming. Years of previews, discussions, developer diaries, demos, betas and a head-start weekend have led to this point: Guild Wars 2 finally unlocks for everyone tonight.
You're all set to play the game. You have some energy drinks/green tea/yerba mate/coffe/other caffinated drink ready. You've called in sick to work. It's time to head into Tyria and see what's what.
Mike, Kate and I have been playing the game all weekend, and I personally have been enjoying the heck out of it. It's my first MMO, you guys! I'm in a guild and everything! You can see my Elementalist, Mallia Blaylock, up top. She's pausing for a moment to get a good look at Divinity's Reach, a.k.a. seriously the most impressive video game city I have ever seen.
You can expect to read a lot more about the game here on Kotaku over the weeks to come, up to and including our full review. But until then, here's a round up of everything we've posted about Guild Wars 2 in recent months.
The History Of Tyria Is Written Into Every Square Inch Of Guild Wars 2
I jumped into Guild Wars 2 on Saturday afternoon, re-creating for myself the Human thief I'd been missing since the first beta weekend back in May. But then I remembered my earlier promise to myself: More »
Somebody Has Already Hit Level 80 In Guild Wars 2
According to a report at MMO Culture, a French gamer named Surfeuze has already hit the Guild Wars 2 level cap of 80. (See the lower-left of the screenshot above.) Yep: More »
My Computer Sucks, Your Character Name is Stupid, and Other Lessons Learned From the Guild Wars 2 Head Start
Guild Wars 2 went live this weekend for the kajillionty people that managed to wrangle their way into the early start. I am among these people, and I've learned some important things about the game, its players, and my own technological shortcomings over the past 48 hours. More »
The Guild Wars 2 Economy as Seen By Its Dark and Mysterious Money Wizard
Guild Wars 2 doesn't launch until next week, but the exchanging of currency for goods and services heeds no human schedule. ArenaNet's resident economist has been analyzing beta data, twisting it with his arcane magics into an infographic that any self-respecting Charr would sooner set aflame than... More »
How Guild Wars 2 Connects Its Servers in Bloody Battle
For years massively-multiplayer online role-playing game server communities have competed against each other, waging war with world first achievements and statistics. More »
The Four Core Concepts That Guild Wars 2 is Built Upon
Yesterday's Q&A with Guild Wars 2 content designer Mike Zadorojny painted the development of next month's blockbuster MMO in broad strokes. Today ArenaNet releases a series of videos that break the game's design down to four core components: More »
Guild Wars 2's Art Just Won't Stop Pleasing Our Eyeballs
We've featured the concept art of Guild Wars 2 here twice before, showcasing the talents of concept artists Levi Hopkins and Kekai Kotaki. Today, then, let's do it a third and final time. More »
One Of The Designers Of Guild Wars 2 Is Answering Your Questions Right Now
Last weekend's Guild Wars 2 beta just concluded, and the folks at ArenaNet are getting the game touched up for its August 28 launch. You've seen the game at cons, you've read our coverage, and if you're lucky, you've even played for yourself. More »
The Colorful Character Creation of Guild Wars 2's Most Exotic Races
This past weekend's final Guild Wars 2 beta event gave players access to the plant-based Sylvari and the Muppet-based Asura for the first time. Thousands of new characters were made, and it looked something like this. More »
Guild Wars 2 Pays a Lasting Tribute to an Old Warrior
In whatever he chose to play, Roger Rall was a keystone member of his guild, the consummate teammate. As much as reveled in PvP in Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot or Rift, his voice was unmistakably calm, clear and authoritative above the din of the battle. More »
Here's the Gorgeous Intro (Well, Intros) to Guild Wars 2
It's testament to just how damn pretty Guild Wars 2 is that, despite me being someone who'd normally rather set my face on fire than play an MMO, I'm quietly excited about sitting down the game.
Until that time comes, though, I'm going to have to content myself with watching these intro videos... More »
A Completely Unbiased Look at the Races of Guild Wars 2
While pouring over Starfleet Dental's comprehensive guide to the races of Guild Wars 2, it helps to keep in mind that Humans were the only race available to play in the original game. More »
A Girl and Her Dog Walk Across America, End Up in Guild Wars 2
Every day millions of gamers log into online role-playing games and embark on continent-spanning adventure. Inspired by these virtual adventures, Guild Wars player Kelly Wells gathered her canine companion Anna and traveled across America, from Maine to California. More »
A Gorgeous, Living World Sets Guild Wars 2 Apart
We all have our personal gaming quirks. I, for example, have a habit of leaping into any new game as a thief, rogue, or assassin type whenever possible. More »
A Minute's Worth of Guild Wars Lore
With the first Guild Wars 2 beta weekend kicking off today and the seventh anniversary of the original game in full swing, The Game Station crew attempt to condense the lore of the first into an easy-to-digest one minute video. More »
Everything You Wanted to Know About Guild Wars 2
Last month I shared what I learned during the first Guild Wars 2 press beta weekend. Now the student becomes the master as I tackle the questions Kotaku posed had about the eagerly anticipated massively-multiplayer game after spending another beta weekend adventuring in the world of Tyria. More »
How Not to Do PVP in Guild Wars 2
After spending the weekend playing Guild Wars 2 with select members of the press, I felt I had gather enough knowledge to create a video guide to the game's standard player-versus-player combat. More »
What Makes Guild Wars 2 Sound So Good?
The answer to the question posed in the headline is a simple one: the Guild Wars 2 sound team. It's how they do it that's a little tricky.
I'm not going to say that creating the sounds for a regular game isn't a daunting task. More »
Ten Things I Learned From the Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend
Of the more than a dozen hours I spent playing in the Guild Wars 2 press beta event this past weekend, seven involved actively battling enemies, three and a half were spent exploring, and a half hour was dedicated to creating my four different characters. More »