Petra Schmitz: Dass ArenaNet stets etwas signifikant anders als andere Entwickler machen muss, ist ein alter Hut. Die Frage ist nur: Klappt das am Ende auch? Wie es am Ende in Guild Wars 2 aussieht, kann ich noch nicht sagen, aber der Auftakt hat mir schon ausnehmend gut gefallen. Für mich funktioniert die Mischung aus persönlicher Story, dynamischen Events und Vorbeilauf-Quests ausgezeichnet. So bin ich immer in Bewegung, sehe im Minutentakt etwas Neues, verharre nicht und langweile mich nicht.

Guild Wars 2 ist deutlich schneller als andere Online-Rollenspiele. Das muss man mögen, das gebe ich zu. Aber wenn man es mag, wenn man sich auf die Andersartigkeit und das Tempo von Guild Wars 2 einlässt, dann dürfte man sich nur ganz schwer davon loseisen können. Ich jedenfalls habe arge Bedenken, dass ich vom kommenden Sommer überhaupt etwas mitbekomme, denn dann soll Guild Wars 2 endlich mal erscheinen.

Florian Emmerich: Guild Wars 2 wird ein großartiges Gesamtpaket. Der erste Teil war vor allem für sein faires, schnelles und spannendes PvP berühmt – darauf verzichtet auch Teil 2 nicht. Doch er erweitert dies noch zusätzlich um ein gigantisches offenes PvP, das stark an den Klassiker Dark Age of Camelot erinnert – was von vielen Spieler heute noch als eins der besten PvP-Spiele überhaupt angesehen wird. Doch auch im PvE-Sektor geht Arenanet eifrig zu Werke. Vieles, was in anderen MMORPGs nervt, wird konsequent gestrichen. Das Konzept ohne klassische Quests und ohne Raids, und vor allem ohne Tank&Heiler-Zwang geht voll auf – man konzentriert sich aufs Spiel, nicht auf die Organisation davon. Ein paar Tränen müssen sich Reittier-Sammler wegwischen, denn Pferd und Co gibt es noch nicht in Tyria. Auch wer gerne instanzierte Raid-Abenteuer in Großgruppen bestreitet, wird nicht fündig – allenfalls die großen Events erinnern an Weltbosse.

Auch auf die Item-Spirale verzichtet man bei Arenanet – ab Stufe 80 “farmt” man nicht nach stärkerer Ausrüstung sondern nach schönerer. Die wenigen Stunden in Guild Wars 2 haben mich vollkommen begeistert, es ist ein modernes Online-Rollenspiel, dem man überall anmerkt, dass es von erfahrenen MMO-Spielern gemacht wurde. Und das Beste wie immer zum Schluss: Guild Wars 2 wird keine Monatsgebühr verlangen, Ihr zahlt einmal den Kaufpreis und könnt unbegrenzt zocken. Hoffentlich bald!

Andreas Philip: Und da sage noch einer, dass es keine Innovation mehr im MMO-Genre gibt. Nach zwei Tagen und drei langen Nächten können wir eins schon mal mit Sicherheit sagen: Guild Wars 2 sieht gut aus, spielt sich gut und hat einige verdammt gute Ideen im Aufgebot. Dabei löst sich das Spiel auf erfreuliche Art und Weise von vielen eingefleischten Konventionen und bringt eine Menge Frische, Dynamik und Innovation ins Genre, die es vorher nur selten gab. Man fühlt sich zuweilen, als ob die Entwickler sich die besten Aspekte bestehender MMORPGs schnappen und verbessern, langweilige Altlasten kompromisslos rauswerfen und neu gestalten und dazu so ziemlich jeden Wunsch der MMO-Community umsetzen, soweit es Sinn ergibt. Dazu kommt ein umfangreiches PvP-Paket, auf das sicherlich nicht wenige Spieler sehnlich warten, denn echtes World-PvP hat es schon lange nicht mehr in dem Umfang gegeben. Nach dem Beta-Wochenende bin ich jedenfalls sehr begeistert von dem Spiel und kann der MMO-Konkurrenz nur den Rat geben, sich Sauerstoffgeräte zu besorgen, denn wenn Guild Wars 2 auf den Markt kommt, wird die Luft im MMO-Thronsaal sehr, sehr dünn. Ich freue mich schon tierisch auf die nächste Beta-Sitzung und bin mir sicher, dass Guild Wars 2 ganz groß wird.

Shawn Schuster: So overall, I was beyond impressed with Guild Wars 2. I didn’t even scratch the surface of what’s available, but I’m very excited with how this game presents itself at this point. Come launch, I do believe Guild Wars 2 will rock the MMO world with a much-needed dose of what an MMO should be at this point in 2012. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the MMO you’ve all been waiting for.

Elisabeth Cardy: I had a wonderful weekend adventuring in the Guild Wars 2 closed press beta. It was tremendously rewarding to a fan of the game and the series to get to see so many of ArenaNet’s promises and plans holding up to playtesting.

IGN Preview: There’s so much to Guild Wars 2 – from huge-scale world versus world capture point contests that provide global bonuses to all on a server, even those not participating, to smaller PvP arenas to stylish main storyline quests complete with character interaction and voiced dialogue to structured dungeon encounters – that it’s difficult to be anything but giddy about the game’s potential. Guild Wars 2 doesn’t have a release date yet, but should be available some time in 2012, and could very easily wind up being one of the best games of the year.

Jonathan Ross: Guild Wars 2 seems to have kept many of the basic structures and tropes of the MMO genre (levels, five-man dungeons, distinct classes), but much of the core MMO gameplay has been tweaked or expanded to create a new experience. MMO fans looking for something new will, I think, enjoy how social this game is, and appreciate that ArenaNet has tried to make group questing and dungeon running smooth, painless, and natural. PvP fans, especially those looking for persistent and complex battles, should enjoy the World vs. World. vs. World gameplay. If you’ve never played an MMO before but are interested in the genre, the lack of a subscription fee and the accessibility of the game may make Guild Wars 2 worth checking out.

In a genre that’s filled with clones and rehashes, the beta of Guild Wars 2 was refreshing. While there’s not necessarily anything wrong with any previous MMOs, it’s nice to see that ArenaNet is taking Guild Wars 2 in a unique direction.

Mike Fahey: As much as I would love to be able to plunge right back into the world of Tyria, ArenaNet still has plenty of work ahead of them before Guild Wars 2 is ready for launch.

Specifically they need to iron out the game’s performance issues. I played on my powerful desktop PC and a capable gaming laptop, both of which struggled with the game on anything other than the lowest graphics settings. Cranking up the quality resulted in horrid frame rates, and massive world versus world battles between dozens of characters caused both systems to slow to a crawl. ArenaNet just needs to fine tune the game’s engine, finding the right balance between beauty and playability.

Once they get that taken care of and iron out the sort of tiny bugs and glitches that plague any MMO beta, they’ll be on the path to releasing what could be one of the greatest massively multiplayer online role-playing games the genre’s ever seen. It’s got the looks, it’s got the mechanics, and most importantly, it’s got the giant gaping hole in the ground I’ve learned to love.

Paul Younger: With only a couple of days to test out the beta, there really wasn’t enough time to get stuck into all of the eight professions, but with any luck, as the Beta progresses there will be ample opportunities. It’s been a while since a beta test session had me really engrossed and so far Guild Wars 2 is showing all the signs that it can live up to the hype.  It’s been a long time coming and we’ll be back with more on the game shortly.

William Murphy: Now the wait really begins.  We’ve had our taste, and we want more.  There is very little I feel I can complain about just yet when it comes to ArenaNet’s latest.  I’m sure as time wears on and I get closer to writing the review after launch, I’ll find something to nitpick on.  An early candidate is the crafting, for example.  But so much of what ArenaNet has been promising since we first got details on this sequel is falling into place.  All the hype we read from the devs is turning out to not be hype at all, but rather promises kept.  Those things they said they wanted to do: the axing of holy trinity, the massive PVP, the more dynamic questing… it’s all true.  It’s all here, in beta form, and it’s absolutely fun, fun, fun.  It’s been a very long time since an MMO surprised me.  More often than not, you know what you’re getting when you pick one up.  Guild Wars 2 is doing so many things different from the norm, and at the same time they’re creating a new norm.  We often talk about innovation in small steps, but that’s not ArenaNet’s style.  If all keeps going as planned, Guild Wars 2 will wind up every bit as revolutionary as has been promised and we’ll all have a new champion to herald.  This is just the beginning, just the first taste.  And I am drooling for more.

Tim Colwill: Guild Wars 2 is a tantalisingly mixed bag. It’s got so many elements in it to love, and it looks like it really could, maybe, be the revolution in MMO’s that it promises. But even once the engine’s optimisation is complete, those of us here in Australia will still struggle to get the ping necessary to enjoy a full half of the game’s smorgasbord of options, and just have to content ourselves with PVE.

Stephany Nunneley: I’ve played a lot of MMOs over the years, and I get really, really bored with most after I hit the 20-30 hours mark. I will be the first to admit it isn’t fair of me to judge an MMO based in such a short amount of playtime for a game that is intended to last for so long, but you wouldn’t continue reading a book if it failed to draw you in, and you would stop watching a television series if you kept falling asleep while watching. It’s the same for me with MMOs. If I’m not interested after dumping large chunks of my time into one, or I find it tedious and utterly repetitive, I’ll drop it like a bad boyfriend and never look back. This is one of the reasons I continue to play Lord of the Rings Online after four years. Yes, it can be repetitive, and yes, I get bored every once in a while when new content has been slow coming, but the story and the sheer beauty of the game – and the maturity of its community – always pull me back after a short break.

That being said, I could easily see myself playing Guild Wars 2. It’s gorgeous, it’s fluid, the UI doesn’t get in the way, it’s noob-friendly without holding your hand the entire time, it’s interesting, and it can be challenging. The character customization is impressive, and being able to have your own story instead of something canned is refreshing. While I will always feel the pull to venture forth into Middle-earth in order to taste sweet revenge upon the orcs and taint my blade with their blood most foul, I would also consider it a privilege to aid Tyria in its time of need, whenever she calls for it.

Jeremy Pencil: My first experience with the Guild Wars franchise was almost entirely positive – an impressive feat for a beta build. The network was rock solid, lag was minimal and there were hardly any issues. The bold direction they’re taking with the game mechanics looks like it’s going to pay off and the dynamic quests do a great job of reducing the grind-factor inherent in most MMOs. For this jaded WoW player, Guild Wars 2 is a real breath of fresh air. I can’t wait to see more of it.

Ravious: What I can say with finality is, if $60 is the price tag of Guild Wars 2 it is going to blow away the competition in terms of value.  It is incredibly polished, even in beta. There are tons of content. In my 6-8 hours of Queensdale, I went way too fast. I can easily see spending double the time while enjoying the sights, making sure to trade, gather, and craft, and soak in the magnificent, artistic beauty imbued everywhere in the game world. If I had spent a whole day in WvW, I would not have been surprised. I feel like I want to check on green and blue just to see what they are doing. I could always help shore up defenses. Guild Wars 2 feels like it would be like paying a flat fee for lifetime cable television with HBO.

Guild Wars 2 was a serious blast, and I am still digesting the feeling that the closed beta weekend is gone. I don’t know what my methadone is going to be after this. Guild Wars 2 cannot come quickly enough!

Lewis B: It is rare to encounter a game that so readily defies convention, but it is even rarer to find one which succeeds in doing so. ArenaNet have crafted a game of such splendour, originality and beauty that there are no words to describe how much I enjoyed playing it. Guild Wars 2 is such a vastly superior game to its predecessor that one could play the original and never know they were related. This may ostracise some of the original fan base, but for all the changes ArenaNet have made over Guild Wars (all for the better) it is a necessary trade off for not only attracting new players to the genre, but lifting the genre above the stagnant pool it currently resides in. With an unrivalled abundance of launch content, innovative and addictive combat, incredible PvE and what is unquestionably some of the finest PvP I’ve ever played, ArenaNet have created something quite remarkable and also something truly special.

Phil Kollar: There are a ton of other smaller things I want to praise in Guild Wars 2. I love the brief, simple cutscenes that usually just feature two characters standing in front of beautiful concept art, saving the action for when you’re in control. I love that the only time I made a decision in my main storyline, it was a decision that immediately and powerfully impacted the gameplay of the next quest. I especially love that Guild Wars 2 features a travel system, arguably making it the first MMO that genuinely respects your time.

But above all else, what sticks out to me is that Guild Wars 2 is so clearly in love with the idea of being a massively multiplayer game. For a while now, MMOs have been convincing me that all I want is a mostly single-player experience with chat room functionality. Guild Wars 2 reminds me of the joy that can come from having this huge world to explore full of other people to team up with, and it does so without sacrificing any of the approachability or care for storytelling that other games have focused on. This is the revolution that we deserve.

Pwyff:

There is work still to be done: we’ve only seen three of the five races and not progressed beyond level 30 content. Dungeons are still being finished and polished. Optimization needs to be completed and professions still need to be balanced. But the solid foundation built by the team in Washington has clearly shown that the core of Guild Wars 2 is ready.

ArenaNet has taken every known convention in the MMO rulebook and either improved upon it or thrown it away. In doing so it’s built a game that’s innovative, flowing and fun to play in all its forms. With a release planned for some time later this year only one question remains: will you be heading to Tyria too?

Sardu: Graphical representations of how awesome Guild Wars 2 is can be a handy means of spreading the word about why people need to drop what they’re doing and pay attention to this game, but I know that people are eager to learn why that’s the case.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, the handy chart to Everything You Need to Know About MMOs is easily worth ten times that amount. When it comes to GW2 I could write that much and more, but for now I’ll kick things off by giving you some of my initial impressions from the beta event.