5 Reasons To Play Guild Wars 2 This Weekend

I've been playing Guild Wars since fall of 2005 not too long after it's initial launch.  I was a broken Necromacer Monk build that basically had an infinite eternal minion horde.  This was eventually nerfed but it didn't matter, I was hooked.  I convinced my now husband to pick up the game and he became addicted as well.  Skip forward almost 10 years and a second incarnation later we stand on the edge of a major announcement from Guild Wars's creators ArenaNet at Pax South this weekend.  Major GW2 youtube personalities and fans have been speculating a new expansion will be announced for the game.  My fingers are crossed as I join the hype train.

My human ranger Thorne Arroway and her moa Kevin.

Here are five reasons you should play Guild Wars 2 (GW2) this weekend whether you are new to the game or a returning playing.


1.  Pay Once, Play Forever. - The price this weekend will be 75% off.  That's about $9.99 instead of the usual $39.99.  Guild Wars 2, unlike many other MMORPGs, only charges you the cost of the game when you initially buy it.  That's it.  There are no other monthly upkeep fees, no pay to play, no end game armor that can only be achieved by shelling out extra dollars.  The game does have a cash shop but the items and armor are purely decorative skins.

2.  Double XP - This weekend everything is worth Double XP! This will allow new players to quickly level up a new character and become fully immersed into the game or allow return-ies to finally hit level 80 with one of your alts.

3.  Living Story - Another feature that makes Guild Wars 2 unique is it's living story.  In addition to the games main story, GW2 has what they call a living story, a series of events released in episodes and season that completely alter the game world permanently.  How cool is that!?  Season 1 was amazing unfortunately each episode was only available for a limited a amount of time which was unforgiving if you happened to be busy that particular week.  I missed half the story and had no way of playing it. ArenaNet remedied this issue in Season 2.  As long as you log in during the time the living story event is active you can play the episode at a later time.  The world still changes without you but it lets you have a chance to play through the story.  Past episode costs only 200 gems which can be bought with cash or in game gold if you did not log in during the time of the episode.

4.  Personal Story - Your character is a hero in the world of Tyria.  Guild Wars 2 has 5 Races (charr, human, norn, asura, sylvari), 8 Professions (elementalist, warrior, guardian, engineer, ranger, necromancer, thief, mesmer), and at least 27 personal story combos per race.  That means there are over a hundred unique personal story experiences one could have in the game.  Already played one?  Good!  Go make another character to experience another story.  Each game starts with five character slots with the ability to buy more (up to 65 per account).

5.  Play How You Want To Play - GW2 removed the idea that each character had to play a specific role of tank, support, or healer.  Each character has the ability to fulfill any of these party roles and be self sustaining.  So go ahead, tackle the world alone or play with your friends. Play PVE or PVP.  Just go play the game this weekend and enjoy!


Don't forget!  Saturday morning grab a cup of coffee and watch the live game changing announcement on Guild Wars 2's Twitch channel.

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