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The Savage Pride of the Jotun
The jotun (pronounced JŌ-tun) are the last remnants of an ancient society of giants. Once powerful, advanced, and arrogant, they proclaimed themselves rulers of the Shiverpeak Mountains and raised great monuments to themselves on the highest peaks. Their leaders, known as giant-kings, were tremendously powerful beings, as skilled in feats of strength as they were in magic and lore. Read More…
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Welcome to the Year of the Dragon
Welcome to the Year of the Dragon!
Today is Lunar New Year’s Day, and according to the Asian zodiac system, the first day of the Year of the Dragon. It’s an auspicious omen for all of us at ArenaNet, as we get ready to make this our own Year of the Dragon.According to tradition, the dragon embodies passion, independence, and ambition. We think it’s a perfect analogy for what we’re trying to accomplish with Guild Wars 2. We’re a company full of MMO and RPG fans, and we’ve set out to fundamentally rethink how you deliver an RPG experience online. So this year, the Year of the Dragon, let’s usher out old thinking – the tired old quest model, stiff repetitive combat, and monthly fees – and usher in the new.
Guild Wars 2 has captured the imagination of gamers and media all over the world with its action-oriented combat, its living world full of dynamic events, its highly personalized role-playing experience, and the handcrafted artistry that suffuses every element of the game. Last year, thousands of you joined us at shows and events all over the world to try Guild Wars 2 for yourself. This year, you’ll finally be able to immerse yourself in the vast, diverse world of Tyria.
We recently finished our first closed beta test, and we’re now ready to hold progressively larger events. In February we’ll invite select press to participate in beta testing, and in March and April we’ll aggressively ramp up the size of our beta test events so that many of you will have a chance to participate. And of course, this all leads to the release of Guild Wars 2 later this year.
So stay tuned to our official Guild Wars 2 website, our Facebook page, and this blog for more information about how to participate in an upcoming beta event.
It’s been an incredible adventure over the past five years, working with our community and our team of dedicated artists, designers, and programmers to realize this vision. This year, the seeds of that work come to fruition. We can’t wait to play the game with you.
So welcome to the Year of the Dragon – the year of Guild Wars 2.
-Mike O’Brien
ArenaNet Founder and President
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Link Round-Up: Year End Awards Edition
It’s that time of year again: when fans reflect on the past year of gaming and look forward to the year ahead. That’s right: time for end of year awards! Let’s look at how Guild Wars 2 did.
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Guild Wars 2 Year End Development Update
Hey, there! It’s time for another update on some of the new things we’ve been working on. Jon and I… Read More »
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Link Roundup: The Mesmer
After months of anticipation, this week we unveiled our eighth and final (for now) Guild Wars 2 profession, the mystifying,… Read More »
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Guild Wars 2 Devs Answer Your Questions Today
This is a big day for Guild Wars 2 fans and for our studio. We officially revealed the eighth Guild… Read More »
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Jim Boer on the Evolution of Cinematic Conversations
One of the things we game developers always have to struggle with is reconciling our ambition with the reality of… Read More »
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Guild Wars 2 Goes G-Star
As you may have heard, Guild Wars 2 had a tremendous showing at G-Star, Korea’s #1 game tradeshow last week.
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Chuck Jackman on Updated Cinematic Conversations
Hello, my name is Chuck Jackman. I direct the motion capture and animation of the cinematic conversations in Guild Wars… Read More »