Doing Things Differently

MMOs get old. What might have been cutting edge at the time of release gets quite dated as time goes by. Every MMO gets periodic updates to keep the game interesting and engaging and while some games update the look to keep graphics updated together with the story there comes a point when this is no longer possible. If the game is successful this generally leads to a sequel. In many cases, at least as far as I am aware from the cases I know, the new game will be treated as  a completely separate game. Once released, people can join the new game and/or continue playing the old game if they so desire however both games are kept at arms length from each other. They may share the same universe but that's just it.

As one comes to expect from ArenaNet they deviate from the usual establish procedure even on this. Apart from releasing several news updates after Guild Wars 2 was announced, ArenaNet started working on moving the flow of the Guild Wars game towards Guild Wars 2. It all started with the release of Eye of the North, an expansion for Guild Wars. This Expansion not only moves the story in a direction that ties it with Guild Wars 2 (that is based 250 years after Guild Wars) but also introduced the Hall Of Monuments. 

Hall of Monuments is a really good original Idea by ArenaNet. It provides points based on Titles and other Achievements. These points are not easy to get but once one achieves a point when Guild Wars 2 is released these points can be used to get some really good looking unique Equipment. This makes the whole experience even more engaging. It gives more purpose to the game and more importantly provides a worth while goal to achieve. To get all the possible rewards will take a new player months if not years to achieve, it is not easy but that in turn makes the whole achievement more satisfying as it feels that every piece of equipment earned is really and thoroughly deserved.  ArenaNet have already stated that they intend to keep Guild Wars running after the release of Guild Wars 2 so long as people still play. Further more the Hall of Monuments and its rewards will still be achievable even after Guild Wars 2 is released. Existant players can make use of the Hall of Monuments Calculator to see how many points they have earned, what rewards they get in Guild Wars 2 as well as what other achievements they need to get more rewards.

ArenaNet did not stop here either, together with some acclaimed authors, three books are planned to explain what happened in the 250 years that separates Guild Wars from Guild Wars 2. Two of these have been published at the time of this blog entry.

Work on Guild Wars did not stop either, updates are constantly being made with new missions and a continuation of the Guild Wars story. ArenaNet also update Guild Wars to change with the theme of the season. As I am writing this now Guild Wars is currently running a Halloween theme. The changes for Halloween where not minor either, with main cities being changed to fit the necessary ambient as seen in the screenshots below.

Tying the two games like ArenaNet is doing makes the whole transition more believable and keeps the story flowing. Guild Wars 2 feels like a natural extension to Guild Wars rather then a completely new game and that is a very good thing.