Guild Wars: Year 3

As time slowly rolls by, Guild Wars currently celebrates 3 years of retail time. Since then, a lot has happened from the beginning of it all. There were new content. There were new items. There were new features. There were new lands. Yet despite the limiting capacity of the original game itself, it has fared quite well given the kind of things added to the game itself. Yet who would have thought the players would then receive news that an expansion to the game, not a new campaign, is in the works. It was unheard of at the time, since ArenaNet, the developers behind Guild Wars, was set on the notion of a new campaign every 6 months. Or at least that was what they originally envisioned. The business model was correct. But execution wasn't easy to make that model work.

So on the 3rd anniversary, another feature was added that was the finishing touch to all 3 campaigns plus the expansion. In Factions, the game featured a special item that was traded to one of several NPCs that carried items specific to a profession in the game. This idea continued on in Nightfall and again in Eye of the North. Yet despite the later games having this feature, nothing was done to add that kind of touch to the original game, dubbed Prophecies.

Deldrimor items became the main theme for the end-game items for Prophecies players. While it seem as though it is now a bit too late for adding more items to the game, it seems that the artists and designers for these items pulled off a nice surprise on all of us. After taking a sneak peek at these new items, I found that they are designed surprisingly well and add a very nice touch to almost every profession around. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I am unable to wield these items for my characters.

During the course of the weekend until Tuesday noon Pacific, a special area is open to those with appropriate access to the Factions campaign. They are able to participate in mini-games that help with the progression of a couple of titles. While it is one of the more expensive approach, it is also the most effortless. With enough game cash on hand, one is able to sit on a single spot and let the game mechanics do its work, if the server let you stay on for that long. Still, what little time that the celebration allows for is time anyone would take the most advantage of.

As it stands now, I am unable to participate more. I feel trapped. Hopefully by the time this all ends, it'll be well worth it. Who knows? Maybe the wait will reward my 1st generation of characters something unique and interesting. Then again, with my luck, I won't be able to get the ones I wanted.