Up coming beta and later to come game release info

Today is Lunar New Year’s Day, and according to the Asian zodiac system,
the first day of the Year of the Dragon. It’s an auspicious omen for
all of us at ArenaNet, as we get ready to make this our own Year of the
Dragon.

According to tradition, the dragon embodies passion, independence, and
ambition. We think it’s a perfect analogy for what we’re trying to
accomplish with Guild Wars 2. We’re a company full of MMO and RPG fans,
and we’ve set out to fundamentally rethink how you deliver an RPG
experience online. So this year, the Year of the Dragon, let’s usher out
old thinking – the tired old quest model, stiff repetitive combat, and
monthly fees – and usher in the new.

Guild Wars 2 has captured the imagination of gamers and media all over
the world with its action-oriented combat, its living world full of
dynamic events, its highly personalized role-playing experience, and the
handcrafted artistry that suffuses every element of the game. Last
year, thousands of you joined us at shows and events all over the world
to try Guild Wars 2 for yourself. This year, you’ll finally be able to
immerse yourself in the vast, diverse world of Tyria.

We recently finished our first closed beta test, and we’re now ready to
hold progressively larger events. In February we’ll invite select press
to participate in beta testing, and in March and April we’ll
aggressively ramp up the size of our beta test events so that many of
you will have a chance to participate. And of course, this all leads to
the release of Guild Wars 2 later this year.

So stay tuned to our official Guild Wars 2 website, our Facebook page,
and this blog for more information about how to participate in an
upcoming beta event.

It’s been an incredible adventure over the past five years, working with
our community and our team of dedicated artists, designers, and
programmers to realize this vision. This year, the seeds of that work
come to fruition. We can’t wait to play the game with you.

So welcome to the Year of the Dragon – the year of Guild Wars 2.

-Mike O’Brien
ArenaNet Founder and President

Awesome cant wait to try the beta when i can, my dad is a big fan of Guild Wars and has been playing it(the original one) since it came out in 2005! And if the beta comes out i can finally probably get my dad to stop playing Star Wars the Old Republic so i can play it! LOL, it was supposed to be mine!

This is very good new Chiefwar.

@Colt......LOL Suppose to be your game. LOL. Got to love dad


I think that it might be time to roll this into the main forum as I am sure more information will start coming as we ramp up for something awesome. I will place it in later so it stays on our minds.