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It was the final Guild Wars 2 closed beta last weekend before its highly anticipated release on the 28th. My brother, Lewis B, who left Tap a couple of months ago to write for MMOG site Ten Ton Hammer, invited me and fellow MMOG noob Steerpike to join him to see what all the fuss was about. Between the two of us, our combined MMOG experience before the beta weekend amounted to making a character in Ultima Online, killing a carrion spider in Dark Age of Camelot and spending eight minutes in Rift. We were surely destined for doom.

What better way to spend a sunny weekend than playing games indoors. If I had a portable generator I would have likely taken my desk outside, but then I’d have only had sun glare on my monitor. Instead, I packed off my family for three days and decided to stay indoors away from the sun’s rays, playing Guild Wars 2 for more than 42 hours (curse the need to sleep!)…

Technical difficulties, corrupted in-game audio and a bout of illness have all conspired to prevent me from putting up this video. As my first foray into recording in-game footage and editing it afterwards, it was hardly plain sailing. Despite all this, I’m reasonably pleased with the end result and I’ve taken the liberty of using the Guild Wars soundtrack as an accompaniment to the footage. What’s not to love about Jeremy Soule’s music? Hit the jump for the video, I hope you like it.

I wrote nothing on my notepad for the first five hours of playing Guild Wars 2. I always write something when taking part in any Beta event, which makes writing about those first five hours somewhat of a challenge. But then again, this was no ordinary Beta event. All my original intentions went out the window the moment I logged in.

I don’t think there could be a better email in the world on a rather grey Tuesday, than an invitation to take part in the Guild Wars 2 Beta.  Though I can tell you very little (other than it begins this weekend and I’ve already packed off my entire family) rest assured I will be providing some in-depth coverage come Monday the 20th, so be sure to check back here. If you have any suggestions on what …

I haven’t written anything about Guild Wars 2 in a while. Which makes a change.  But, its been relatively quiet on the news front.  Thankfully ArenaNet havn’t disapointed and today they have officially revealed the final class; the mesmer! Unfortunately for ArenaNet, Gamereactor.dk decided to jump the gun yesterday and release the mesmer skill videos before the big day (resulting in an instant withdrawal on their part) but sadly the damage was done and the mistakenly (or intentially) …

I’ve spoken to ArenaNet’s lead writer, Bobby Stein before, but after playing Guild Wars 2 at the Eurogamer Expo last month he was kind enough to  get in touch to see how I got on.  Despite my initial reservations most were unfounded, but there were still just a couple of things I wasn’t entirely happy with. With interview questions in hand, here is how we got on…

Lead Guild Wars 2 content designer, Colin Johanson, managed to find a little spare time in his very busy Eurogamer Expo schedule to sit down and chat with me about all things Guild Wars 2.  Here is how we got on…

I have been waiting a long time for Guild Wars 2.  Years in fact. To finally get my hands on one of the most anticipated games of recent times was a mix of fear and excitement.  I suddenly thought to myself as I approached the booth: “What if I don’t actually like it?”… 

In the first of my news round-ups, I thought I’d start with the mighty Guild Wars 2. It has been a busy couple of weeks in the world of massively multiplayer games after Gamescom and PAX,  so I wanted to link a good few news stories, videos and blog posts of Guild Wars 2 that might interest some of you who share my addiction, or for those that havn’t had your ear to the ground. In …

Sylvari week has ended and for those of you who haven’t yet delved into the delights offered by ArenaNet, I suggest you head on over to the blog for a five day feast of information covering the design and lore, plus  some delicious wallpapers. The redesign has been well received by both press and fans and it was unquestionably brave of ArenaNet to redesign an entire race so deep into the development cycle. And yet …

It has been a busy few hours over on the ArenaNet blog, as the first details of Guild Wars 2’s underwater combat have begun to surface (sorry), as well as some details of the game’s dungeons.  Unlike other MMOGs, it seems ArenaNet want the underwater elements of Guild Wars 2 be as prominent as that above, so have introduced specific weapons that can only be used underwater, such as spears, tridents and harpoon guns, with …

Joined by Jon Peters, Jonathan Sharp (with a little input from Chris Lye; someone’s got to control the situation!) sat down with Tap to chat about Guild Wars 2’s professions: their inception, strategy, and design choices; whilst also taking the time to answer a good handful of questions solicited from the Guild Wars 2 Guru community. Hit the jump to find out how we got on.

A great deal has been said about the final Guild Wars 2 class reveal.  Undoubtedly the Mesmer, it is a class synonymous with Guild Wars and one of the most original within an MMOG…

There has been some grumbling going on within the MMOG community at the reveal of Guild Wars 2’s Engineer. Protests from fans that it’s a joke or a wind-up, mixed with moans of “Grenades?! Turrets?! Ugh…” are seemingly common place at the moment, as the prospect of a technologically advanced class slips into a fantasy heavy setting…