Guild Wars

Our worst fears have been realized: Skynet is real and robots are taking over society, beginning with the game that put ArenaNet on the map, the original Guild Wars. 

New quests made available to Guild Wars players as part of the Wayfarer's Reverie

With so many players interested in the Guild Wars 2 closed beta test, it's no big surprise that not everyone can participate. As a sad consolation prize, ArenaNet has released an exclusive "Thank You" video on Facebook with some in-game footage of the game many of you won't be playing for a while. A round of emails also went out to players thanking them for signing up, which has lead to a lot of misinterpretation and general sadness that they were not, in fact, the beta invites themselves.

If you don't have access to Facebook, a Reddit user has kindly uploaded the video to Youtube for your viewing pleasure.

It's a new race spotlight from the folks over at Guild Wars 2, and today's species to come under the microscope is... the Jotun! These fiercely proud giants were once a race of powerful beings, possessing powerful magic and strength. Unfortunately, after beating back all other hostile forces, the Jotun ultimately turned on themselves, waging civil wars based on lineage and blood purity.

These days, the Jotun are (cliche incoming) a shadow of their former selves, as they still possess their strength and massive size, they have all but lost their magical prowess. The Jotun were a race in the original Guild Wars, but they possessed a more savage and unintelligent look. Now, with their transition to Guild Wars 2, the Jotun have taken on a new past that serves to inform their more intelligent and proud nature. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle!

I'll be honest, I don't think I played enough of Guild Wars to really understand the details of these changes. All I really know is that Elementalists are getting some pretty significant revamps in Guild Wars, all in the name of improving their viability in PvE while providing new playstyle options for PvP.

Perhaps the most important change would be the addition of "Doublecast" skills. These skills are exactly as they sound, with the Elementalist being able to cast a spell on both himself and his target. To add these skills in, many old skills were reworked, including Double Dragon, Energy Boon, Gust, Mirror of Ice, and Stone Sheath. As to how top-tier Elementalists will utilize these skills in PvP remains to be seen.

All in all, it's great to see Guild Wars still getting major balance changes, even with GW2 gobbling up most of ArenaNet's attention and resources. Hopefully GW Elementalists will also be pleased by this update.