Well, it's finally official the MMO we all have been waiting for, the answer to all our problems, the WoW killer and the new MMO king ArenaNet's Guild Wars 2, has launched. However can this game really live up to everyone’s expectations?

Let me start off by saying the game is certainly good. However I am not sure if GW2 will be the WoW killer we have all been waiting for.

What I like!

GW2 has certainly innovated the MMO genre. Allot of the things that make you mad about leveling in other MMOs are fixed in GW2. To really understand this you really have to play Guild Wars 2 but here are some of my favorite improvements.

Automatic quests are one of my favorite things in GW2. You no longer have to clear spiders to get to a quest giver just to find out that he wants you to kill 10 spiders. It’s all automatic, say you walk up to a farm that is spider infested, your quest will automatically appear saying kill spiders, and disappear when you leave the area so your quest list is never cluttered. Also when you finish the quest you get your experience immediately and the reward is mailed to you. You can also check your mail anywhere :)

Dynamic events are also great. Once a while you will get a notice saying there is dynamic event happening. It’s just a quest that happens at random times that requires a large group of people to complete. However it is fun as many people in that area will run to complete the event. So you will find yourself in a group of 20 people fighting centaurs or protecting a caravan etc. It’s actually allot of fun

No need to party. You do not need to be in a party to play with other people. If you help someone down an enemy you both get the reward. You can’t steal other people’s kills. You simply just find a group of people that seem to be on your quest and help each other down enemies. This really promotes group play and makes it even more fun to play.

Automatic down leveling. This is also a great idea. I have friends that play GW2 but I may behind them in questing. No problem if they join me in a level 10 area they will automatically down level to 10 making the fights challenging. However they will still get rewards equal to their level. You can also party with people on different servers which is an amazing feature that I think is long overdue.

What is also good?

I want go into too much detail on these areas but the graphics & combat are very good. The combat feels very much action packed although it’s still hot bar based. Graphics are excellent both from a style perspective and visual appeal. Also your gear color can be changed anytime.

World vs. World vs. World

This is also a very unique and potentially fun part of GW2. Players from 3 servers fighting to capture keeps and supplies using siege engines in a persistent battleground (resets every few weeks). I was really looking forward to this and I have to say I am both pleased and annoyed. I am pleased because when you actually get into a large fight over a keep it could be allot of fun. However I am annoyed because when you die you have to teleport to the nearest waypoint. And it’s far. You have to walk and walk and walk back and if you get unlucky you can die in 1 minute of fighting and teleport back and walk and walk and walk again. Also my server sucks so we are really getting our buts kicked in WvWvW.

I will reserve my judgment over WvWvW because I think I am still too low level to really enjoy it. Also as I learn the map and how to fight better I think it will be allot more fun than it is.

World of Warcaft Killer?

There is still allot of content that I have not experienced in this game that will take some time to discover. Is this game a WoW killer for me? I do not think so. GW2 is different it lacks things like Raids, mount collecting, custom add-ons like the recount DPS meter, tank & healer roles (which many people like) & item level which are ever so present in WoW. I think WoW can (and will) adopt many of the innovations that GW2 has introduced and be just as successful as it is now. At the end of the day I think GW2 will hit other free to play titles the most. GW2 is probably the best free-to-play title available today. There are many WoW players that will switch but I am just not sure if GW2 will ever hit the 10 million player mark.

I do want to add that Blizzard certainly paid attention to GW2 releasing WoW’s patch 5.0.4 on the same day as the GW2 release. I am not sure how well that worked out though as during WoW’s server outage I was playing Guild Wars 2 :)

Felicia Day who did the voice for Guild Wars 2 Zojja opens Guild Wars 2 Collector's Edition

In unrelated news, pre-orders for Guild Wars 2 increase by 20% overnight, (Just joking but the video probably did help attract some new players)

ArenaNet announced the release date of Guild Wars 2 as August 28th 2012 along with a new trailer

Source: http://www.arena.net/blog/announcing-the-guild-wars-2-launch-date

ArenaNet will be reserving all current Guild Wars names for the launch of GW2, and players attached to those names can then claim their reserved name in Guild Wars 2. You have to log into Guild Wars sometime in 2012, you have to claim your names in Guild Wars 2 by launch day, and you can't secure Guild Wars 2's single names (as Guild Wars forces you to make two-word names).

Source: http://www.arena.net/blog/reserving-your-character-name-for-guild-wars-2

GW2 will be conducting a stress test on Monday May 14 from 11 AM to 6:00 PM PDT (-7 GMT).

This beta event is open only to Pre-Purchase customers who have registered their accounts. This event will allow ArenaNet to tests and address some of the issues identified during the first Beta Weekend Event.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/GuildWars2/posts/10150848164094209

If you were planning to purchase Guild Wars 2 to gain access to this weekend beta event, you are out of luck. Both the standard and deluxe digital versions of Guild Wars 2 are currently sold out. This was done to ensure server capacity for the beta event and sales will resume once the beta event is underway.

We limit sales to ensure we have enough capacity for our customers. We're likely to have capacity available after the initial crunch at the start of the weekend. Players who purchase when we're able to resume digital sales at buy.guildwars2.com will still be able to play for the remainder of the weekend.

https://buy.guildwars2.com

Arena Net has announced that you will be able to buy in-game gold though the cash shop. You will be able to use real money to buy gems, which are used to purchase micro-transaction goods. Gems can then be d can be exchanged for gold — or vice versa. This move eliminates the possibility of gold farming in GW2. Is this a good move for Arena Net or will it alienate a large demographic of players; the gold farmers?

I think most pundits agree that this is a good move, one that we should have seen in other games for a long time. Gold farming is infamous for botting, account hacking and ruining MMO economies.

Source: http://www.arena.net/blog/mike-obrien-on-microtransactions-in-guild-wars-2

ArenaNet have released a brand-new video featuring exclusive footage to show their appreciation for the overwhelming interest in GW2.

If you want to try Guild Wars 2 before everyone else you may have a limited opportunity to sign up for GW2 beta testing. Visit https://beta.guildwars2.com/ before 1:00 p.m. EST Friday February 24th for a chance to enter GW2 beta testing.