Guild Wars 2 Launches At Midnight With Pre-Order Early Access

Well gamers, the moment is at hand. At midnight PST, the wait will be over for those of you who pre-ordered Guild Wars 2. The most anticipated MMORPG of 2012 will finally begin for all the lucky gamers who bought their copy in advance. The rest of the gaming public will have to wait until Tuesday, August 28, to enter the fray, and play Guild Wars 2.

Needless to say, the developers at ArenaNet are acting like expectant fathers pacing the delivery room. Mike O’Brien, president and co-founder of ArenaNet, talked about the effort that went into Guild Wars 2. He said, “Five years ago we set out to develop a game that finally fulfilled the promise of online worlds. We questioned everything that had previously been taken for granted and we never settled for ‘good enough.’ Now, we’re finally ready to introduce Guild Wars 2 to gamers who are looking for the next evolution in online gaming.”

After playing Guild Wars 2 in beta, this writer has to say that the folks at ArenaNet have achieved their goals. The game looks great, and plays great. If all the pieces continue to come together, there are going to be legions of dedicated players of Guild Wars 2. Best of all, its fully free to play.

Mike O’ Brien is well aware that gamers are looking for something new and different. He described his goals for the game, when he said, “Guild Wars 2 is launching at a time when players are looking for something different in an MMO: a game that offers them an innovative and unique experience without a monthly subscription. Guild Wars 2 is that game, and we believe it will fundamentally change the way people think about online RPGs.”

I should mention that ArenaNet hinted that they may be bringing the servers up three hours early, like they did for the final beta weekend. That gives me 5 minutes to say good bye for now, and get set to log in to Guild Wars 2. Be sure to check back often with Inquisitr.com for our in-depth coverage of the launch. And if you get into the game tonight, look for Ghodzilla on Sea Of Sorrows Server, and say hi.

Update 11:15 pm CST:

Servers came up at 9:00 pm PST. I am in the game and ready to rock. I will update again later. Good gaming everybody.

Update 6:00 am CST Saturday, August 25, 2012:

Guild Wars 2 is off to a solid start. My game is functioning well and I am having a blast. I haven’t crashed once and I am yet to encounter a bug. ArenaNet has done their job, and done it well. So, far this is one of the smoothest launches I have experienced.

As for the game itself, I am having fun, fun fun. I made a conscious decision not to rush like a lunatic to the level cap. This time, I am going to enjoy every moment of the journey. I plan to do every quest, harvest every resource, and explore every nook and cranny of Guild Wars 2.

With that in mind, I am about to put my Elementalist on hold for a bit, and give Ranger a go. All the classes are great and I just can’t make up my mind which I like best. It looks like I will be spending much of my time leveling an alt of every class..

I must emphasize that being in a guild is a great benefit. I have been with my guild, Lethality, in several other games, and being able to jump into a new game with a bunch of friends is a real plus. Even though you can enjoy the game without a guild, I highly recommend joining one to get the most from Guild Wars 2. A guild will be especially helpful in PVP, as it is always nice to know what to expect from your teammates, and to be familiar with their play style.

Well, that’s about it for this update. I am anxious to get back in the game, and test out the synergy between my Ranger and my bear companion, as we tear through our enemies. I will check in later and let you know how I like Ranger. I will also have an in-depth analysis of the first weekend of Guild Wars 2 for you on Sunday night.

Until later, see you in Guild Wars 2.

Update 7:15 am CST Saturday, August 25, 2012:

Maybe I jinxed Guild Wars 2 with my praise about the smooth launch. When I logged back in to the game after my last update, I received an “incorrect password” message, even though I was in the game. I was then disconnected, and subsequent attempts to log back in have met with failure. The game has been inaccessible for about an hour.

ArenaNet is aware of the problem. They gave the following update on Twitter: ” Guild Wars 2 ?@GuildWars2 We are aware of issues with server connectivity. We will keep you up to date with our progress. ^DO”

There also appears to be a bug relating to players of the original Guild Wars receiving rewards for their loyalty. ArenaNet posted the following tweet about the issue: “Guild Wars 2 ?@ GuildWars2We are also aware of the issues with getting the rewards from HoM. Thanks for your messages! ^DO”

Hopefully the problem will be fixed quickly, and we can all get back to leveling and exploring, I will let everyone know when the issue is fixed, and the game is once again accessible.