Some of you might have joined me or have heard me talking about a new game I was Beta testing. This game is called Aion. I have played a couple of closed Beta’s as well as played the open beta with many of you. I have enjoyed the game a lot and plan to start to play it more often when it goes live on the Sept. 22, 2009. This is in no way saying I am leaving you all behind in Guild Wars as I play Aion. I do plan to continue to play Guild Wars. I might not play GW as much as i start to play Aion. But I will still check in and join you all for events and other fun things.

I have heard that many of you would like to join us in Aion. I have also spoken to many of our Officers and they also might join us in Aion. With that said I am hoping to have us Grow as a Guild into Aion as well as our GW community. How I am hoping to do this is by keeping in contact with you all thru our Website as well as on Ventrilo. We will continue to use both of them to communicate and party with all of our members in both games. For those of you who don’t use Ventrilo or go on these Forums. I would encourage you to start to do that if at all possible.  We have used Ventrilo thru the open Beta of Aion and I have seen many members on there again. It is like the old days when we would have 20 to 40 members on at all times. We will open new channels if needed to support all people. But I am going to start by leaving just a few channels so that we will continue to join each other in a channel and enjoy the conversations.

For those of you who have never heard of the game Aion. It is another MMO. I would say it is the cross between Guild Wars and WoW. The game play is like WoW (open environment) but looks and feels like Guild Wars. If you are interested in maybe joining us. Feel free to post something in our forums or contact us on Ventrilo we will get you into the Legion (Guild) over there. We are planing to set up a Legion over there called Knights and Heros. Many of our current and former Officers will be helping set up our new Legion in Aion. There will be also many of our current and former members also joining us. This is something you all should be proud of. This shows that while grew in Guild Wars and went thru good and bad times. We all made a difference. This is why many people stay with and come back to us here in “Beer”.  In Aion there is much more to do and a lot more our members can do to help the Legion grow and be powerful.

With all that said I leave you with a couple final words. The first is I am not leaving you in Guild Wars. But might not be playing as much. I am also hoping that if you can and might be interested in playing Aion. That you would accept my personal invitation to join your brothers and sisters over in the new Legion.  I have been very lucky to have met so many new friends in the gaming world and I am looking forwards to the future of our Guild and our Community.

Thank you all

Carmon

Will there be a subscription fee for Guild Wars 2?

Nope. Like the original Guild Wars, there will be no subscription fee for Guild Wars 2. You just buy the game and play it online without paying a monthly fee.
Will Guild Wars 2 be an MMO?

Yes. Guild Wars 2 provides a massive, online persistent world.
How is Guild Wars 2 different from other MMOs?

While Guild Wars 2 adds a persistent world, it retains the unique nature of the original game including a strong narrative, extensive instanced gameplay, an anti-grind design philosophy, and strong support for competitive play.

Will Guild Wars 2 have non-human playable races?

Absolutely! In addition to humans, players will be able to create, customize, and play asura, charr, norn, and sylvari characters.
The conquerors of Ascalon, the charr are ferocious, warmongering creatures—the intractable foes of humanity. Now, as greater dangers threaten their conquests, the charr legions marshal their war machines to meet their enemies with deadly force.

The norn are half-giant brawlers from the frigid northern lands who can shapeshift into mighty bestial forms. They’ve been driven from their homeland by a force beyond reckon, and now regroup among the lost dwarven ruins of the Shiverpeaks.

The asura, who once ruled the caves and tunnels below Tyria, are an advanced race of small stature and large intellect. Having emerged from the depths, the asura aim to rule the surface world with their powerful golems and razor-sharp wit.

Not much is known of the sylvari, save that they are a race of sentient plant-beings, newly blossomed into the world. They are the youngest of the races, and are bound together by a common dream.
How will character progression work? Will you be raising the level cap?

Guild Wars 2 will have the kind of extensive character advancement appropriate to a persistent world RPG. It is our priority to avoid forcing players into the grind-based gameplay that too often accompanies a high level cap.

Also, to allow players the freedom to play together even if their friends are at a much higher (or lower) level, we are planning to implement a strong sidekicking system, similar to that used in City of Heroes.

We’re applying this same philosophy to competitive play. Players will be able to engage in organized, balanced PvP (similar to GvG in the original Guild Wars) without needing to first level up characters, find equipment, or unlock skills. While inside the organized PvP area, all characters will be the same power level and will have access to the same equipment.
Will Guild Wars 2 be solo-able?

Yes. You will be able to advance your character to the maximum level without ever joining a group if you so desire. Most content will be designed in a solo-friendly way, though often with mechanisms for scaling up in difficulty when more players are involved. This will give players the option to experience the game whichever way they prefer.

At the same time, it is important for an MMO community to join together to overcome challenges. There will also be some areas in the game that require a coordinated group effort.
Can I play my original Guild Wars character in Guild Wars 2?

Because Guild Wars 2 is a whole new game with different professions and races, new technology, and expanded gameplay, it would not be possible to directly use an original Guild Wars character.

However, your original Guild Wars character names will be reserved for your use in Guild Wars 2. In addition, Guild Wars 2 recognizes the accomplishments commemorated by your original Guild Wars characters in the Hall of Monuments and provides you with unique rewards to showcase those achievements.
What are the system requirements for Guild Wars 2?

The system requirements haven’t been finalized, but just as with the original Guild Wars series, we’re committed to creating a beautiful game that will play great on mid-range gaming PCs.
When is Guild Wars 2 going to be released?

When it’s finished. Seriously though, we haven’t announced a specific release date yet, but when we do you can get those details and more right here on the official website.
When will there be a beta?

Although we publically alpha- and beta-tested the original Guild Wars while it was still in early development, with Guild Wars 2 we will commence beta testing closer to the game’s release. With that in mind, we will not start beta testing in 2008 as we had originally planned. Guild Wars 2 is a very large and ambitious game, and Guild Wars players rightfully have very high expectations of its quality. We want players to be absolutely blown away by the game the first time they experience it.

To stay up-to-date with the latest information about Guild Wars 2 and the beta test, be sure to sign up for the Guild Wars newsletter

• Updated the Zaishen Chest drops to replace the Phantasmal Tonic with the Automatonic for the month of June. More information on Zaishen Rewards can be found here.

Automated Tournaments

• Updated Automated Tournament map rotations.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that allowed players to have multiple copies of the Heroes’ Ascent Zaishen Combat Quest.
• Fixed a bug that caused effects that are conditional upon critical hits to trigger even if critical hits were prevented with a skill.
• Fixed a bug that caused “We Shall Return!” to affect allies instead of party members.
• Fixed a bug that caused Res Orbs to resurrect dead NPCs in Alliance Battles.

Miscellaneous

• Budger Blackpowder will now wait a few seconds between dispensing Powder Kegs in Explorable Areas.
• The Merchants in the Great Temple of Balthazar now offer late-game items.
• Added a confirmation box for Name Changes.
• Removed festival decorations from Kaineng Center and Shing Jea Monastery.
• The Treasure Hunter and Wisdom title tracks now count toward Favor of the Gods.
• Reduced the Zaishen Coin reward for the Hero Battles Zaishen Combat quest.

Check out our guide to the new features here, and then head over to the Xunlai Tournament House and make your predictions for the May Tournament winners!