Guild Wars Four Year Anniversary Interviews

The weekend brings us two more interviews with ArenaNet personnel concerning Guild Wars' upcoming four-year anniversary.

The first is at GamePro with designer Curtis Johnson:
Looking back over the progression of the game, do you consider the story complete, or is there more in store for Ascalon?

I'm very proud of the stories we put together. While I do think we've come full circle on a lot of the stories and characters, I think in a fantasy world there's always the question of "What happens next?" One of the fun things we were able to do in the Guild Wars: Eye of the North expansion was revisit existing areas with new dangers and open up dungeons and other adventures. There's always another story to tell and we're definitely going to pick up some of those stories in Guild Wars 2, as well as build on themes that were already there but never developed. We purposely left a gap and a lot to the imagination to give players room for adventures in between, because it is a fantasy game and it's as much a world in the players mind as it is in ours.

While the other is at RPGFan with designer Ben Miller:
Q: Composer Jeremy Soule (Morrowind, Oblivion, Icewind Dale) has remained a dedicated resource for the Guild Wars team. We have to ask: how were you able to hold on to this fantastic musician for each of the game's expansions?

A: We are very fortunate to have Jeremy for as long as we have. He is one of the few individuals that can match with music what we create visually.

Q: Our current understanding regarding Guild Wars 2 is that Eye of the North will function as a bridge from the first game to the second. What is the plan for rolling out Guild Wars 2? And most importantly, is it planned to be a full upgrade/replacement for the original game, or are there plans to have both exist simultaneously (example: EverQuest and EverQuest II)?

A: Guild Wars 2 will be its own standalone game set 250 years after the events that took place at the end of Eye of The North. We are planning on allowing you to carry over your achievements from Guild Wars to Guild Wars 2. We plan on keeping Guild Wars running as long as there are people actively playing it.