Fansite Friday/Fifty

Title: 50th Anniversary Edition

Date: 8 July 2005

Number: 50

url: http://www.guildwars.com/events/press/interviews/fansite-friday50.php

This week's Fansite Friday, our 50th Anniversary Edition, has a variation on a theme. Instead of the fansites interviewing us, we are interviewing several Guild Wars fansites. We asked three questions of the webmasters, and they or their nominated fansite staff member came back with some intriguing and thoughtful answers.

Participants include:

• Proteus – France Guild Wars
• THX – Guild Wars Guru
• SirPreme – Guild Wars Info
• Fix B. – Guild Wars MMORPGs (Site no longer operating)
• Cypher – Guild Wars-Mondes Persistants
• Tarrant Rahl – GWOnline.net
• Photics – Photics.com
• Meatman – The Guild Hall
• AmunRa - Wartower.de

Q&A

Question: What inspired you to work on a Guild Wars fansite?

Answers:

Proteus: When we created France Guild Wars, none of us had already played Guild Wars, but we were very enthusiastic about the philosophy of the game, more based on the players' skill than on the amount of time played.

THX: Guild Wars attracted me with its spectacular graphics, interesting gameplay concept and an all-star development team. I wanted to be involved with such a progressive community, but how does one contribute? Three options become apparent: morph into an avid forum poster, contribute content, or create a fansite. I chose all of the above.

SirPreme: We first played Guild Wars at the E3 for Everyone Event and were truly amazed by the concept of the game. Since there were not many German Fansites at that time, we created our fansite to give more German players an understanding of this truly great new game.

Fix B: I first visited mmorpgs.info portal via another section. I found the atmosphere lively, so when I learned that they were looking for someone for the Guild Wars section, I jumped in. I already was interested by the promises of GW, and have not been disappointed since – nor by mmorpgs.info. ;)

Cypher: We wanted to share our enthusiasm for the guild war project, part of that was bringing to the French-speaking community a maximum of information, assistances, create a community of players. But to be honest, the fact that there are so many girls playing Guild Wars must have something to do with the inspiration. That, and the free Dwarven Ales that come with the job of course.

Tarrant Rahl: After joining the community I searched for a way I could become more involved in the development of the game and community. A desire to help provide the community with the resources players need and/or want to enjoy their time playing was a primary motivator.

Photics: I'm in it for the money! Seriously, I love what Guild Wars stands for, too. The industry needs more companies who don't just make "Rat Hunter 2." The integrity and creativity of ArenaNet was clear through the Fansite Program. I knew right away that I had a new online home.

Meatman: Playing the game! Back in May 2003 I was invited to join the Guild Wars Alpha. Shortly thereafter, a friend who had also just joined the Alpha (Alex Weekes a.k.a GhostRaptor) and I decided to make The Guild Hall. The two main reasons were (1) ArenaNet's vision for the game and (2) how down-to-earth and accessible the devs were.

AmunRa: I love to work with people and help them. Working on a Fansite also gives me the opportunity to help a whole Community and supply them with information. Sure, sometimes it can be very annoying, but I haven't regretted it yet ;)

Question: What has surprised or pleased you most since the release of Guild Wars?

Answers:

Proteus: What strikes us as one of the most significant achievement is the continued effort of the devs that make sure as many bugs as possible are being fixed quickly, as well as providing us with regular in-game adjustments.

THX: I'm very glad to see the game receive such acclaim and popularity. I knew it had great potential, however gamers and particularly reviewers are rather fickle; the best of games do not always receive the attention they deserve. Fortunately, Guild Wars is receiving its due amount.

SirPreme: We were mostly pleased by the fact that you are constantly adding new features and improvements to the game. It is something we have never seen before and we are convinced that you will keep up the great work!

Fix B: Nearly everything in the game ;) The pure beauty of the landscapes, the huge number of tactics available in PvE and PvP. But mostly, the upgrades that constantly add content and ameliorations to the game - even if it gives us a lot of work to keep up to date!

Cypher: In two words: game balance! At last – a game with a game balance that is close to perfect. It basically means you put a great system in place unlike most other MMOs that get nerfed and nerfed again depending of where the wind blows. What's nice with GW is that every profession is spot on: no gimp! But greatly different gameplay.

Tarrant Rahl: The growth of the community and the level of support it offers for Guild Wars. The community has expanded leaps and bounds since the release of the game, and there's no shortage of community members ready and willing to dedicate time to bettering the community.

Photics: Gwen was the biggest surprise to me. Here is a character that personifies the simpler times of Old Ascalon. This one character brings the Guild Wars lore to life. I trust we have not seen the last of her. I carry the tapestry shred with me at all times, just in case.

Meatman: How quick ArenaNet updates Guild Wars in response to the concerns of its customers. A lot of people were justifiably disappointed/upset/spitting-fire by the PvE-only skill-unlocking system at release. It took ArenaNet less than two months to design, implement, test, tweak, and release the PvP Rewards System.

AmunRa: Puh, difficulty. I like the new PvP-Rewards, the Merchants and the SoC improvement, but one update really surprised me: The language-districts. Until now I can´t cotton on to them, but except of this I have to say, that you did really great work!

Question: Name your favorite suggestion for Chapter 2?

Answers:

Proteus: More Guild interactions is one of our preferred concept, including alliances that have a real meaning, such as 2vs2 GvGs, special quests or missions...

THX: I hope the developers continue to think outside the box, revolutionary and not evolutionary. Frog mounts and beaver-dam player owned housing. In all seriousness, I would love to see a new character type with a radically different gameplay style than anything seen to date. A playable two-legged creature able to grow fleshy-upgrades directly onto his body. Essentially an advanced and on-going character creation. Crazy? Perhaps, but the possibilities would be endless.

SirPreme: A less-linear mission design. Riverside Province is one of our favourite missions because there are so many paths that lead you to the end. We want more missions like this! :-)

Fix B: Why new PvE quests, mobs, areas, storylines and ... professions! I would also love an ingame vocal chat. And why not huge battles with many groups of eight players: cooperative battles in PvE, but also massive two-sided PvP struggles with as many players as possible? One must aim high ;)

Cypher: More beers? You know more of this, more of that, I'm sure your heard it all before… That said, some kind of marketplace where you could have your own player shop or an NPC broker that sells or auctions your items while you are offline would be sweet.

Tarrant Rahl: Probably any one of the nearly hundreds of profession ideas floating around the community. The creativity that the community has put behind some of those suggestions, not to mention the time and thought, is really cool to see.

Photics: Everyone should know that I have been a crusader for chess tables, but I think the next expansion needs to enforce the game's title - Guild Wars. The battles should be larger and more chaotic. That means larger numbers, alliances and players joining in progress.

Meatman: 3 words - More. Guild. Features. It would definitely be in ArenaNet's best interest to implement many more guild options and features. For a game that has such a good guild PvP experience, there currently aren't nearly enough features for guilds. Knowing ArenaNet as I do, I'm confident they'll do what is right.

AmunRa: I´m sure it´ll great, but there is one thing which needs to be changed. Everywhere in the world you find invisible walls. This must be solved in a different way. If you can´t go down an “cliff” of 20cm because you run against an invisible wall there is something wrong ;)

We would like to thank the webmasters for taking part in our Fansite Friday Interview. We look forward to having another special edition when we reach the 100th Anniversary of the series!