Given how well their Guild Wars MMORPG is holding even when compared to the likes of Blizzard's World Warcraft, game developer ArenaNet challenges fellow MMO developers to blaze their own innovation trails.

"We kind of hope that we won't continue to see a bunch of World of Warcraft clones or Ultima Online clones year after year," said ArenaNet founder Jeff Strain in light of his studio's take on other developers, and of his studio's own stance on keeping themselves unique.

"Hopefully, the success of Guild Wars, both in terms of its design and its business model, will inspire other companies to go take some chances and do some different things," Strain further said. It will be remembered that in a similar interview conducted by Eurogamer, Arena Net's Ben Miller was quizzed on the possibility of the Guild Wars franchise hitting the console scene any time soon.

"The foremost goal of Guild Wars 2 is to make it the ultimate Guild Wars for Guild Wars fans." That's how ArenaNet founder Jeff Strain describes the sequel to the popular instance-based subscription-free MMORPG Guild Wars.

In a recent interview with CVG, Strain and Guild Wars lead designer Ben Miller revealed a few things about the new features that'll make Guild Wars 2 the ultimate game for fans. Of course, we've taken the liberty of getting a few snippets off the interview. Check 'em out below.

What's different this time around? According to Strain, Guild Wars 2 will be employing more of a sandbox mentality. Players will be more able to direct their own play and pace to a much greater degree than they could in the original Guild Wars.

"In Guild Wars 2 we're building a world and all the mechanics that go along with that world and then we will tell stories within that world," said Strain. "In the original Guild Wars it was more that we were telling this big story and developing the world to fit that story."

PvP combat. The eSport-like structure of PvP in Guild Wars will still be in the sequel, but the unlocking mechanisms in the original will be removed. Those who want to go for the structured PvP arenas will immediately have access to all of the skills, weapons, and items in the game without the need to unlock them.

World vs. World combat. According to Strain, this style of combat is a more casual form of PvP. "There's no restriction on the number of people who are fighting on your side or on the other people's side. It takes place in what we call The Mists, which is areas between worlds so everybody in your world is fighting on the same side. And you'll be matched up with a few other worlds and we'll rotate those matches around every couple of weeks. "

Ben Miller also adds that World vs. World PvP will feature a "sidekick system" that allows a low-level character's play experience to be more on par with a higher-level character's power level.

"So instead of me going out there and getting absolutely owned and trying to keep up with higher level characters, the side-kicking system will kind of equalise my character to yours," said Miller. "So we'll both have a fun, competitive time without a lot of the necessary grinding that I would have to do to get high level armour and stuff."

For the full interview, click on the link below.

In a recent interview with CVG ArenaNet emphasized that Guild Wars 2 is not an attempt to chase after Blizzard's World of Warcraft, or any other games in the genre, for that matter. ArenaNet is the developer behind the popular PvP-centric MMORPG franchise Guild Wars. Guild Wars 2 is expected to go into beta sometime in the second half of next year.

"We're pursuing a design mechanic that's unique to the Guild Wars franchise," said ArenaNet founder Jeff Strain. "We think that those players that enjoy those kinds of games are probably going to enjoy World of Warcraft and we think that Guild Wars will continue to be a unique experience."

Guild Wars 2 is currently slated to see the addition of a persistent world - something that World of Warcraft has garnered accolades for - apart from the instance dynamic found in the original Guild Wars. However, it can also be argued that World of Warcraft's new Arena system and the subsequent move onto the eSports arena is a nod to the successful PvP tournament system in Guild Wars.

 

In a previous article, NCSoft and ArenaNet it was said that Guild Wars 2 is already being made. It will not have a subscription fee like its predecessors so you can expect long hours of gaming for minimal cost.

Guild Wars: Eye of the North is, according to the developers from ArenaNet, the first true expansion of the game. It should be something to look out for. To play the game, you will need any of the previous Guild Wars campaigns such as Prophecies, Factions, or Nightfall.

Jeff Strain, the co-founder of Arena Net, had this to say about their second release: "We felt it was extremely important to reward those people who have been playing Guild Wars since the game first launched in 2005." He added that they felt it was time for them to "begin filling in the details of the existing world" and that they are thrilled to add certain things that players have been asking for. So what have players been asking for?

The expansion will be set in the lands of Tyria, which was introduced in Prophesies. Guild Wars: Eye of the North will have 18 large, multi-level dungeons, 150 new skills, 10 new Heroes, 40 new armor sets, and new items, weapons and titles.

Guild Wars 2 is expected to go into beta sometime in the second half of 2008. If you can't wait that long, Guild Wars: Eye of the North is expected to be out by the holidays this year.

Guild Wars Guru has got some rather useful tip for you, if you want to learn more about some more leaked info on NCSoft's Guild Wars 2: grab yourselves a copy of the magazine PC Gamer's May 2007 Issue #161.

Why? That's because stashed in those glossy pages are about eleven pages of pictures, concept art, tips and tricks from a game and lead designer, descriptions on the new playable races for GW2, as well as a Q&A with ArenaNet founder">Jeff Strain to grant us some sneak peek into the game's new technology.

But of course, we'll allow you some sneak peek of our own by posting here some of the leaked tidbits on Guild Wars 2. For example, on the new Playable races, there are actually four of them: Sylvari, Asuras, Charr, and Norn. And then, you unfortunately will not have the option to migrate characters from Guild Wars 1 to Guild Wars 2. What you may do, instead, is to carry achievements forward via all of Monuments.

As for the level cap: "Events will also offer a way for players of different levels to keep interacting in the persistent world - which is crucial, since right now, ArenaNet is planning a very high [100-plus], or possibly no level cap."

Oh, and we're pretty sure you'd like to know about how much you'll have to shell out every month. The answer is: none. At least for now, that is. There will also be none of them 'campaigns' for GW2, while mini-expansions and expansions are more probable than not to happen.

To check out what else has been 'leaked' - at least the summaries of it - click on our Via link.

Guild Wars came out last year to almost instant acclaim - but it was no big deal for Arena.net founders Mike O'Brien, Patrick Wyatt and Jeff Strain. The three were seasoned veterans, having created other popular MMO's: Warcraft III, Diablo and StarCraft. All three games - like GW - can be played free over Battle.net.

Unlike most MMO's, the only fees associated with Guild Wars were for extra content, which Arena.net planned to release on a bi-yearly basis. Six months later, Guild Wars Factions has arrived. Jeff Strain doesn't call it an expansion, though... just a "resounding success."

Acoording to industry analyst Anita Frazier, the popularity of MMO's is on the rise. "From 2004 to 2005, usage of MMOGs grew nearly 29 percent, and that combined with the significant increase of sales at retail for these products illustrates the growing importance of this genre," she says.

The new content for GW, as well as the continent of Cantha, has a strong Asian look to it. This seems to be a hit all around - Western players love the exotic setting, while players in Korea and Japan (rabid MMO gamers) find it comfortably familiar.

Will Guild Wars come to  PS3 and Xbox 360? Probably not right away, Strain says: "[There are] technical concerns, especially with the 360 because the HDD is optional, needed for content...there's a huge a difference between the way a PC and consoles are controlled... controllers compared to mouse/keyboard is very different."

Strain acknowledges that a PS3 and/or an XBox 360 version may be a future possibility. In the meantime, he's confident about the PC version: "We have a solid engine, and we'll see where we can take it. News about Guild Wars Campaign 3 will be coming out this summer, so stay tuned!"

See the full version for more on this topic.