PC Gamer May 2007 Information - "Guild Wars Reborn"

Hey guys, SHUT THE HECK UP ABOUT WOW.

You people act like wow invented rpgs, mmorpgs, pvp, ect. Wow ripped off their ideas from Everquest, everquest 2, Pso, Ultima online, Dark age of camelot, ect. Stop and get your facts straight before continuing to cry like a puberty stricken girl in need of a cranberry juice. Everyone ripped off everyone else.

I swear, the people complaining about gw2 need to give Fleet a call and get those corn cobs washed away from their anal cavities. The game is still 2 years away and your already complaining about it. Not to mention all the folks crying about a monthly fee. They already said no monthly fee. What the heck do you want? Need em to come to your house and engrave it on your forehead? They have also said that gw would continue to be supported and yet here are folks crying about their characters ending as soon as gw2 comes out!?! Gw will continue to go on, fear not.

Oh, and instance zones are still on the companies servers and thus still require bandwith to access them. Just because they are instance zones dosent mean the ISP fairy comes down and makes them totally bandwith interdependant.



Grow up.

Didn't feel like sifting through 21 pages...I'm in class right now, so if this question was already answered, sorry. Silly question, as well.

Does the UAX mean you get to carry all skills into PvP? Because that would be pretty sad. But if it's like now except you don't need to unlock to use skills, then that's great.

In truth, the statement in the article was quoted in one of the reports, and it was "Arena is planning a very high (100-plus) or perhaps no level cap." But the decision on that is, I believe, still very much part of design discussions, and neither "100-plus" or the possibility of no ceiling should be taken as fact at this time.

We love the global nature of our game, too. The "play with anyone, anywhere" message and the experience itself drove many to Guild Wars at the beginning, and brings them to the game today. Readers of PC Gamer have already confirmed that there will be easy transfer of characters between worlds.


Again, to those of you trying to appraise this announcement, I do beg of you to read the article in whole, and personally. It is not possible for any single individual to give a full and meaningful synopsis of all that is contained in those 13 pages, and it's really essential, I think, for you to read it for yourself.

i just hope ANET does not forget all the things that worked great for GW1 which we all appricate and have voiced our opinion about in many forums, and hopefuly they belive this things are great too and continue them in GW2. The only thing that frightens me is that with all these new changes that will come with GW2 who knows if the current 8 skills only will be enough when levels are unlimited and who knows if levels even effect attribute points or if there is such a thing now, who knows levels may just be a replacment for attribute poitns or skill points.

One question, I haven't actuly seen this mentioned anywhere yet I don't think , umm will all the current proffession be carried over to GW2 so no matter what kind of race you are you can creat which ever character?

Hi Folks,

"Eye of the north is a HOLIDAY 2007 RELEASE "

I was reading that and was wondering, exactly which holiday... Summer Holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas??? Anyone feel they can clear that up? I was kind of hoping for October at the latest, but with things being what they are, I'd lay money on very late december.

Why can't anybody post partial scans of just the screenshots from that article? Not full pages, no text but just screenshots. I remember that such scanned screenshots from Factions or Nightfall previews in magazines were posted here and on other big gw forums and weren't removed as illegal.

When i first saw this post, my stomach started to turn, then when i read that you cant transfer over your characters, i started to feel sad, and angry. I have spent ALL THIS TIME playing my characters, buying other expansions, buying character slots, getting titles, building a name for myself and uch (like many others) and now its all going to get thrown away. I mean.. I dont want to start another game fresh. I want to play Guild Wars... Enough Complaining, i think everyone catches my drift and agrees with me. Now for Productive Thinking.

I really think (even though the devs prolly wont read this, and/or, dont care.) they shold alloy Character Transfer, in the sence that you can keep your name and appearance, but with the new physics. I think its just purely stupid that you need to start fresh, but can transfer your infinite wealth fro the other version, like whats the point. Either do the transfer all the way, or dont do it at all, why do it half assed. If your going to let us bring all of our posessions and titles and such, why not just let us bring the Character themself. Even if it means that they cant go back to the other campaign (Or create a duplicate which cannot go back, and what you do on this character does not affect GW1).

Now for some Questions...

1) Will this Link to our other account. Like will we have a GW1 tab and GW2 Tab and we can log into either game fro our login screen, with a Char from that game?

2)Same question as everyone... will a person with no life and plays all day (AKA lvl 7929832089213021394[no lvl cap] be better than a person who has school and work and cannot play all day.(AKA Lvl 20).

3) WHY ANET WHY!

Overall i think the idea is a good change for Guild Wars, and i would be very VERY happy if they would allow for character exchange over to the other campaigns (even if it means you start in a further out city like in Proph, Factions, and NF [Lions Arch, Kamadan, Kaineng]. I really think it is a very bad move to not allow us to bring over our characters. But the new Physics are pretty cool... I just cant get over teh fact that i have to ditch my characters... I dont even want to log back in to guild wars, i feel like im wasting time trying to level up or get money. I wish i didnt even read this.

Bye Guild Wars, it was fun. Im gonna miss you........

R.I.P... "The BEST game I ever played, to bad the developers had to sell out and turn to "Just that other MMO. u know, like WoW"..FFS"

Hi, everyone. I haven't posted here in quite awhile, because honestly, I haven't played in quite a while. I started browsing the forum again when I first heard rumors of GW 2, and now that there's some concrete info, I'd like to comment.


Totally agree with all this. The main draw to GW was the no monthly fee. That and it's a beautiful game. Still love pre-searing the most, and I'm really excited about Eye of the North.

Things that really excite me about Guild Wars 2:

• Playable Races
• Bigger Battles
• Persistant Worlds?

I want to see an effect for my actions on the world, and it sounds like GW 2 may provide that.

I'm curious how PvP and a higher level cap (cosmetic only?) will work, but oddly enough, not too concerned.

Good night to all, and remember, this is not the end of Guild Wars, just a new beginning.

Peace.

The contents of the article is copyright. That means it is illegal for GWG to house scans of any part of the article.

We will release shots soon enough, but it would be inappropriate to, essentially, "steal" PC Gamer's exclusive content by posting it on a fansite forum. Please don't do that.

I pretty sure they were removed given time because it violated copyright / rules on guru.

NOW I GET TO LAUGH,



Remeber the pre sear bunny told you all before it came out.

lol

haha

Well, to be honest, I'm not that dedicated. I can get as many level 20s as I want, but level 100? I think not. I'm worried ArenaNet. I know that you usually do things right, and I have faith in you, but I'm worried.

I really, strongly don't want to loose a character that I have over 1000 hours of game time on (me=nerd core) and even with this hall of monuments, which I think is lovely, It still isn't my character. EotN seems cool, and the storyline behind GW2 seems awesome, but I just feel that GW2 may leave the casual players in the dust of the dedicated players.

I like GW because its fun and easy to be great, In fact, my guild just bought a new hall and are planning major rennovations on the guild itself, but to what end? I know that we can just as easily make a guild in GW2, but...but...We have a guild.

Also, You (Anet) announced the 1 campaign every 6 months with 2 new classes, then you kinda let us down by only doing that -really- once. I appreciate the fact that the gears of ArenaNet are always trying to crank out new and better ideas, but I think Guild Wars was just right.

I don't want to see Guild Wars turn into WoW, I don't play WoW because I like Guild Wars better. This massive battle thing looks cool, and the instancing will keep the cheapshot-ers off the streets (PK-Boss Camping-Kill stealing-Loot Stealing)

I know that GW2 will still have no monthly fee and that is the amazing-awesome-and-cool-ness of ArenaNet, but it seems that you are catering to the people that, today, dominate HoH and GvG. I think I'm a decent player, but I by no means even compare to them, and they're the ones that will dominate GW2 and with their dedication, the level 100s will be the only way to be the best. Premonition: "aww you nOOb lv. 99, go home and farm". I loved the level playing field that Guild Wars offers, and I don't want to see that taken away. I don't want a level-based game.

Im definately gonna buy EotN and GW2, but I just hope...hope beyond hope that ArenaNet can pull off a game as brilliant as the first one. And you said that the GW1 servers will stay open, wich is great. But...It doesn't seem logical-the only way Anet makes money from GW is through the consistent campaign releases, which, with no new gampaigns for GW1 it would seem that GW1 would be in danger of being abandoned entirely. I see the impending downfall of the game I love and that, above all else, scares me.

But, ArenaNet knows what they're doing, so that glimmer of hope still exists.

Untill the beta in 2008, I'll be holding my breath with a looming sense of dread.

??? When was that? And what happened?

@ GAILE: Thank you for taking your time, to answer all these questions. I was wondering, if this information is out already I do not think I have seen it yet, but will GW2 have the same world, world of Tyria as its landscape, meaning we would see Tyrian, Canthan, and Elonian continents in GW2?

From what I hear, I'm not too impressed because I'm sure many people have established some sort of attachment to Guild Wars and for them to have to leave it to venture into something similar to a MMORPG which is in constant rivalry with Guild Wars is difficult.

However, I am much more interested that ArenaNet is willing to release this news, knowing that the news will upset many of the loyal Guild Wars fans. I have to say it is quite a brave decision because a few fans may have already called it quits for Guild Wars just from these news.

THIS is good to note.
The raised level cap is still YET TO BE DETERMINED on how high and such!

Again, I want to see how this plays out before I officially say yea or nay on GW2..but I am damn excited about it!
Thank You Inde for posting this info! Thank you Gaile for answering questions!

AND WHERE DO WE SIGN UP FOR THE GW2 BETA?!

I bet it gets tiring reading all of these posts, but I sure hope you all continue to do it!

Having settled into my "I really don't care anymore" mode, I can calmly say that one thing I've posted still remains 100% true; GW2 was announced too darned early.

Look at the poor voices in the wind trying desperately to discuss the upcoming GW expansion. Watch, as they're drowned in a sea of vitriolic discussion of GW2.

Love it or hate it, thinking about GW2 means thinking about leaving GW1, whether out of disgust, or to greener pastures, and that just sucks.

To practice what I preach, I think GW:EN sounds fun, and I'm looking forward to it!

When I play sports games, I work through a few seasons with my team, develop new players, make trades, etc. When the next version of the game comes out, there isn't an option (at least in most sports games Ive played) to transfer your team to the next version of the game. That's just how games work.

sounds pretty awesome. can't wait for some more info.

meh content doesnt matter its subscription free...ppl will buy it. Whats scary is that there after the "WoW kids". I play Vangaurd SoH atm as well and theres a whole subterranean race of mmo players that GW players havnt been exposed to. Pray! they dont come here..the gw community is 10 years older maturity wise compared to the subscription games The ship sailed on GW being a serious pve game years ago. They wanted a pvp centristic game and thats what we've been fed over the years so why shift gears now in favor of a *gag* grind. If theres any benefit what so ever to being lv 100 or w/e, even if its simply a title, believe me it will be a grind ever after. I really wish they hadnt even disclosed the fact characters wont continue on..1000's of hours and 100's of ecto invested...how bout we recieve credit for fow armours in GW2 =). Hate'n and Wait'n

Only one thing I can say to that...


Beta TEST!

I am very excited for GW:EN, Expecially the return of Gwen (who looks like a mesmer )

I have went from being outrageously upset about GW2 to being excited about GW:EN in the past few hours. I still am not looking forward to GW2, and I don't know that I will play it - But GW:EN sounds awesome

*grabs preserved red iris flower, broken flute and tapestry*

QFT. The success of GW2 will also help fuel the upkeep for GW1 franchise.

The only problem that may exist now is that GW2 is not well recieved and majority of the playbase still remain in GW1 (more so a problem since they dont add more economically) it will strain the franchise and cause GW2 to fail as what happened to AC2 developed by Turbine.

The incentive for players to move on to GW2 from GW1 must be large and great for Anet for it to be successful just as in GW1, the incentive for you to buy the new chapter must be great in order for the franchise to survive.

Players who enjoyed themselves in GW1 may well still continue to play and do so, but it will be a disaster if all GW1 fans stay and play it forever without buying a new product. Hence GW2 (as with any new chapter) must have greater incentives/fun for players to move on to it. As mentioned a smaller playerbase for GW (becoming a single player game with Nighfall anyways) makes it more affortable to keep it going for much longer than would a large unpaying one. But of course you are free to support GW by having all products of the franchise and they will likely incentives for doing so as well.

So before more QQers spread doomsday messages about GW1 dying and you leaving or whatever, the fact is that by doing so, you are benefitting those who would choose to continue to enjoy and support the product. Much worse is if you would play GW1 forever without ever buying another product or GW2.

Anet isnt afriad if players left GW1 for GW2 or if they leave the franchise altogether, 2 years is a long time and many things can happen, Hype mostly will help generate a healthy supply of new gamers ready to take over the place(in dollars sense) of any one who choose to leave. This has been how things have been happening and this will be how things will continue even with GW2 regardless if you like it or not.

I am not here to please anyone, i take stands and if you dont like it. WHO CARES.

I have played GW since E3 for Everyone and consider myself a fan of the work of Arena.Net's work. It is not perfect by any means but it is very enjoyable and the company is more honest with its players than most I have dealt with. (Looking at you SOE).

My feelings on GW:EN are pure excitement, I have no problems with an expansion vs a full stand-alone and agree with the choice especially without adding another 2 professions, it'd just be overkill in my view.

On GW2, look time will tell period. For all those people saying WOW-clone, you need to take a step back and look at what info has been presented. Yes there are some similarities to WoW in it, but that does not make it a clone. A higher level cap makes it a clone? Bigger GvG battles?

Well Blizzard hardly invented this gameplay as Bigger GvG (faction wars) were present in Star Wars Galaxies since its launch, although not as successful and I know they're probably not the first to do it either. Most of WoW takes alot of aspects from games like UO and EQ, classics that started the MMO craze, and made them more main-stream. Blizzard hardly created something original if nothing else what they did was dumb things down for people. I am not a fan of WoW, played it to 60 on a PvE and PvP server, but the game works for its fan-base so kudos to Blizzard. Now the industry is in a fad-frenzy of WoW cloning, SWG which used to be a rather original MMO, has become a sci-fi WoW/EQ Clone of sorts and was dumbed down immensly for people. Games like Archlord scream bad WoW clone.

Is GW2 heading in this direction? It is possible, WoW is a hot product and a company has to make money. Is it possible that GW2 will be a true evolution of the original GW, possible but this seems a bit unlikely from things we've read. I think it may be something new entirely.

GW2 could very well be something that takes standard MMO practices and makes them into something that a different audience will like, this is something that GW1 accomplished. Maybe it'll hit a broader base but in my honest opinon GW2 will further divide the PvE and PvP worlds within the game, though If I play it, I'll be into both. The higher level cap is disappointing to me, don't get me wrong. I love that I have an account full of level 20s and none of them took me ages to get there, but they did take many hours of playing the game, really playing it, to understand how they really ticked. That is something I have loved about GW.

I am open to see what GW2 will be like, I will probably beta test it and make my views more defined there, with actually trying the game, even in a beta form. I will not base my views of it based on one magazine article or what others think and really I think any true GW player should at least give it a try in beta form if given the chance.

It reminds of people who swear they hate Mexican food just because they don't like Tacos, but have never tried anything else. GW2 may not be the game for you, but if that is the case then stick around GW1, or don't. It is your choice as a consumer. Personally my plan is to test GW2 and decide from there.

I'm sorry but that "short little blip" gave us tons of information that was pretty important. Few instances, new PvP, races, nontransferable characters, level cap, etc. All that stuff is very important, especially when considering if you want to continue buying new Guild Wars games and expansions.

I know alot of people are considering quitting just because you can't transfer over your characters. While it may not seem like a big deal to you, others have poured countless hours out on a particular character, maxing out things such as Kind of a Big Deal or getting there FoW set. And after doing that for 2-3 years they find out that Anet is giving them the joy of starting from scratch. Say good-bye to your old characters. Oh, and some random nub might take your name before you have a chance to get it. (I wonder if Gaile gets to create a character a day early so her name doesn't get stolen...).

Anyways, nontransferrable characters and the level cap are the main reasons of why most people are considering abandoning Guild Wars. Anet said they rewarded skill over time, however with a level cap of 100+ they might be contradicting themselves (however we have yet to see how the levels will ACTUALLY effect gameplay so this could just be speculation).

On the other hand, I completely understand WHY Anet is going in a new direction and starting completely fresh. To anyone who payed attention, it was obvious that adding new professions and new expansions made the work load increase exponentially (i.e. Had to add even more bosses and skills every chapter to accomadate the new professions that came in along with the old ones). Eventually the workload would be to much for a small team such as Anet to handle. However, I am afraid that Anet is going the wrong direction with GW2.

The thing about Guild Wars was that it was new and unexpected. Instances proved to be a pretty big success (as opposed to noninstanced games) and the level cap at 20 worked out well. It was different for a MMO (in fact being called a CORPG [Cooperative Online Role Playing Game] instead of a MMORPG). Now though, it seems like Guild Wars 2 is just rehashing old grounds with races (Anet said they would never have elves, well, Asuras are like mutated elves x_x), high level grinding (grinding is speculation again), noninstanced worlds, etc (and for all we know.... mounts). Sounds pretty much like a free WoW only with different graphics and a smaller skill bar, but I guess I'll have to wait til '08 to find out if I'm right or not

*Note that this is my personal opinion*

Welcome to the brave new world of RPGs, where people actually care about their characters. ^_^

I hope so to as I don't want others to use my char names and I hope as well they continue support of GW1 with additional content for time to time as players want it in all 3 Continents.I like the sounds of Eye of the North as the tie in with the Catacombs.I am still not at the understanding of why raise the lvl cap even past 100 although there have been threads on this on this in Sardalac.I guess they were listening or want to compete more head on with other mass high lvl games.I can see a lot more players coming to GW2 right now as it is sounding a little like WoW.They could even throw in mounts


I won't say it will be WoW with no monthly fees and they better keep GW1 running for sometime to come.I will decide after beta like GW1 if I will get GW2 .There better be more content for GW1 even after GW2 is out.I would even keep the ladders separated for Guilds in GW1 and 2.

I found lvling to 20 to be dreadfull I can't imagine past it although if you took my XP and skill points or skill points alone it would be past 30 or way up there.That is one way to look at it.

Hmm... Honestly I cant say that I am thrilled to see the transition from campaigns to a new, unattached stand alone game. Part of what drew me to GW in the first place is that the time I invested in my charecters would benifit me in future installments. All my saving and striving for good weapons and armor and capping all the skills now seems like a big waste of time. If Anet cant think of a way to grandfather in at least some of what I have worked so hard for, I dont think I will continue to support the franchise.

Hi, there,

No details on the beta test, for we are quite a bit out from wanting or needing to make those decisions. There are several ways we can go, and although I did try to wheedle info out of the co-founders, Mike and Jeff, about the beta... well, not exactly wheedle, but maybe wrangle? they said that it was too soon to make or announce a decision on that matter.

We'll let you know when we know more!

I have two questions that I hope will be answered:

1. Will higher level caps result in party discrimination? For example, I am level 40 but a close friend is level 30. Does that restrict what me and my friend can do in this new enviroment?

2. How will the skill system evolve from that in Guild Wars 1? Is it the same 8 skills only? or will it be something different?

Oh yeah. Well spoken.

---

As for the "grind" that every one is fearing, it may very well end up being having the option of pajamas, hats or hairstyles every 5 levels. I think having faith in ANET is the way to go.

I have read so much in this post and others, I am confused and disgruntled.

I'm sorry but how can an expansion pack hold us over for two years????

What keeps me in this game is knowing that I have new characters and missions to work on within the next 6 months of a release.

People aren't finishing chapters before others are coming out??

I have beat all three campaigns with 9 almost 10 characters.

So we are looking into making GW more like WoW?

OMG ... I can't beleive this. I thought that we were a unique game to WoW.

Uncapping the levels?

How many nights have I been in a channel where Gaile has told us that GW will never have levels over 20??? This made me excited to know the game will always be balanced.

Answer this ... What is the difference in a LvL 20 vs a LvL 20, and LvL 100 vs LvL 100?

Balance out tha window!!!! (What is wrong with these people??)

Has someone from WoW headed up ANET????

This has something to with Vista??

Please tell me GW will not be cross Gen as in PC to Console!

OMG there goes any kinda quality we could expect.

I have 11 sets of 15k armor across all of my characters, so now I should spend two years just farming some moldy dungeon for more armor and a few green weapons.

GW2 ... I'm all for that, how can you expect an expansion pack to hold us over? We need at least one more chapter.

I hope this doesn't seem like a Flame, this is a concernd kinda angry post from a very dedicated GW player. (5,000 + hours)

I feel like I am going to be getting a free/month version of WoW. Why then would I just not go buy WoW and start logging my hours there?

I sure hope I am misreading this article as I haven't actually picked up a PC Gamer myself. I am expecting the devs to give Gaile some info for us kinda quick because I have a really bad taste in my mouth and it kinda tastes like WoW.

What I hear about 11 characters I have poured my heart into will be just retired why should I bother with 2 years of an expansion pack developing characters for no reason.

I just hope that the immature flamers about the unique things about GW have misled our devs into making a BIG mistake.

BLah *frustrated*

@The Phantom
/age counts your hours quite nicely, and I've put in to many myself. Not as many as others I'm sure but it isn't going to be easy for me to say good bye to my characters. My point is if I miss my characters, GW1 will still be live for me to go play. I would have KoaBD on either my warrior or ranger, but I spend too much time playing my necro/monk/paragon to finish up any other titles to get it. I also know that most of the guru community doesn't want GW to be like WoW, but WoW can't be all that bad if it is able to keep 8 million people paying a monthly fee (not that I want it to be like WoW either, I'm just saying).
What I am saying is that don't rush to judgment on a game that isn't even close to beta and if you want to be a drama queen like most of the people in the first 10 pages, don't let the door hit you on the way out.
EDIT: The drama queen remark wasn't aimed at you, just the /ragequite people in previous posts, unless of course you were one of them.

I didn't say it didn't take a lot of work. I inferred that you didn't care enough to be bothered by ditching them and starting over.

Since that was the whole point of your post, you can't really argue that point.

OBVIOUSLY, people who play this genre (which, if you didn't notice, isn't a sports game), do care about starting over.

In the case of games like GW, wich you don´t have a save file in your computer for that favorite char of yours, i was more in favor of major graphic and mechanics upgrades instead of a total remake new game to keep up the evolution.

With these news i can´t be but sad to know that a game being called MMORPG thats suposed to be UPGRADED from time to time has a less life time than general offline D&D games.

Wtf Anet??? me and my guildies are having that feeling, wtf am i doing here now playing GW if its suposed to end for a new better version?

Hall of monuments??? LMAO, will my char be dead in a coffin wtf??? looking at titles??? i can´t care less about them now. Im more sad than ever .

The general ideas for a better GW are a must yes, but the game should carry on and being upgraded imo.

GW servers may continue but a void will fill us all you can bet on that...

These news just taught me and i hope all of you a great lesson, video games are cool but lets not make a life out of it.

I don´t even care about the new expansion, what for? so i get a new cool armor and think.. oh right ill see it the hall of monuments in a year or so

Races are cool, fresh air blah blah, lvl cap is crap wtf lvl 100?? yeah right ill get there in 2 years when GW3 is out, you guys are leaving beind the casual players and promote those kids that sit in front of the computers and don´t even grab something to eat .

HIGHER LEVEL CAP, YES!!!! They so need that in GW1!

For those who gripe about the higher level cap in GW2, stick with GW1. We won't miss you in GW2.

A lot of this sounds really cool! But I have some questions...

• Will PvP be separate from PvE finally?
• For classes, we still have Humans I hope. :P
• For the skill bar, still 8 slots or will it be expanded?
• Also, can I sign up for the beta now? If so, where? PM me details!

The only reason I can see for Anet to allow such a premature announcement for GW2 is for the input the communities provide. Perhaps it'll end up like the "Coke Classic" vs. "New Coke"; But Anet certainly hasn't disappointed me in GW. I have had as grand a time as I have chosen. I would rather they'd focused on expansions from the beginning, instead of new campaigns; but they've done what they have, and it's still fun. However, I'd still like to see more depth and development in RPG (PvE) style interaction. I'd like the immersion factor (captivation and engrossment) to be greater.--Not for the grind, but for the new discoveries lurking in exploration. Perhaps greater and more expansive puzzles. Not like Myst, necessarily--just issues that take thought to really understand or solve. Perhaps even complex issues that span continents and great amounts of time to finally conclude (like Gwen, for instance.)--Issues of richness and depth. I really like the idea of character's(') ability to impact the environment through decisions, successes, and failures. Anet could really go somewhere with this idea/opportunity if it puts work into it. If the past is any sign of what the future may hold, I seriously doubt I'll be disappointed.

I also understand that there are to be limited-to-no carry-overs from GW, but I think it would be cool to be allowed an "heirloom" of some kind from one's original GW characters that could be used by a GW2 character as a potentially interesting token of previous GW play.

The impending "death" of something that has proven faithful and helpful to me, is truly saddening; but the anxiety of future possibilities is torturously exhilarating!

Personally it all looks pretty cool to me, with the exception of the lvl 100+ cap. I mean having a CAP would be sweet, but I hope this isnt like a 3 month grind for those that spend like 10-15 hours a week playing. Im one of the people that dont get the opportunity to play all the time as I might wish, just as our current game caters to quite well. It would toooootally suck if this turned into a 'whoever has less of a life is better' game.

1. There's a sidekick system that allows you to sidekick a friend which temporarily ups that friend to your level. (ala City of Heroes)

2. I'd like to know as well.

The more I think about GW2 the main factor (besides being free) is being a "casual" player can I still enjoy myself.

If GW2 allows me to feel like I'm advancing / moving along while only playing 30 min to 1 hour at one time and not require 2-4 hour blocks, I can see me picking this up.

I am looking forward to EON and you do have me sold on it. Is there going to be a "CE" version of it I hope