GuildWars.com news/Archives/201301

The following lists the January 2013 news from the official GuildWars.com site.

January 31st, 2013

Upcoming Guild versus Guild changes

With the annual battle between Grenth and Dwayna fading into the past, it seems not even Balthazar’s domain is untouched by spring cleaning. Prepare for a batch of updates to Guild Battles through February and March. These changes will offer more people a chance to participate and achieve while giving the best guilds new options for customization.

Most immediately, Balthazar is retiring the engravers and hiring tailors. February is the last chance to get your guild name on a trophy. Winners of future MATs will still show up in Tolkano's reports, but the 2013 trophy will be moved to the display dais in March, and Tolkano will step to the center of the Great Temple of Balthazar. While battling for this chance at inscribed glory, more guilds will be able to work on their Champion title, as we’re easing the rating requirement from 1200 to 1050.

Also starting in February, we’re adding new ways for guilds to acquire cape trims through tournament participation. Instead of earning temporary bronze or silver trims through the MAT, guild leaders with enough Tournament Reward Points can speak with Tolkano to trade those points for the permanent trim of their choice from a variety of new and stylish colors. Permanent gold trim will still be awarded exclusively to the winner of each month’s tournament; it will overwrite any previously purchased trim color.

The Monthly Automated Tournaments are shifting to the third weekend of the month. This will naturally avoid most major holidays and allow players to determine the date of the MAT without waiting for Tolkano to announce it. Though we’re keeping the current Daily AT rotation for now, we’re working toward implementing a 21-hour rotation, ensuring a few things: times will vary more on adjacent days, a tournament will fall on each hour of the day once per week, and times will naturally be static from one week to the next.

Finally, we’ve seen the market has been hard on those seeking Celestial Sigils. If you’re not having luck with the local trader or The Hall of Heroes, you can now get the occasional drop from a Zaishen Strongbox. Alternately, Jessie Llam will trade them for Gold Zaishen Coins. You can always count on the Zaishen to fill a need, particularly if it gets more people in the battle.

January 24th, 2013

Canthan New Year is almost here!

Check out the Canthan New Year Festival and explore all of the fun activities we have planned. This year, the festival will be extended to a full week, beginning on Thursday, January 31 at noon Pacific (GMT -8) and ending on Thursday, February 7 at noon Pacific (GMT -8). The event will culminate on Wednesday, February 6 with the traditional festivities in Shing Jea Monastery.

The adjustments to Canthan New Year mark the beginning of a few time and schedule changes to Guild Wars in-game events. Specifically, all major events will be extended to run for a week or longer, and they will be put on a fixed schedule. In some cases this will shift when event finales happen, but highly anticipated events like Halloween and Wintersday already fall on the same date annually and therefore won’t change. Looking to the future, you will be able to enjoy events for longer and can plan to attend without wondering when the events will occur.

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