Yesterday, Mike O’Brien, President of ArenaNet, had a few words to say about account security when it comes to Guild Wars 2 and other MMORPGs like it. He had more than a few words to say, in fact, and delved into some interesting topics, including the methods in which account thefts occur, how to successfully create passwords for games, the implication of gold sellers in a game with a cash shop, and the steps ArenaNet is taking to curb future instances of account theft.

O’Brien also mentioned this bit:

“We know customers also want a native implementation of two-factor authentication, and we want it too. This is an area where we should act faster as a company, and we’re going to. We had our own homegrown implementation of smartphone two-factor authenticator in testing, but we’re going to pull it back and instead integrate Guild Wars 2 with Google Authenticator, which already has robust authenticator implementations on most major smartphone platforms. We expect to roll this out in the next two weeks.”

First off, just let me say that the honesty here is refreshing. Secondly, great news on some type of authenticator heading our way in the weeks to come. In the announcement, O’Brien made a recommendation to all players, asking them to change their account passwords, and ensuring those passwords are used uniquely for Guild Wars 2.

Make sure and read the full news article.

Yesterday on the official Guild Wars 2 forums, one ArenaNet representative said some encouraging words about the type of future content releases they have planned for the game. In the thread in question, players wondered if the company will release most forms of new content in expansions that need to be purchased. Being B2P definitely comes with some interesting options, and most players responded positively, saying that they would be happy to purchase bundles of content, as long as the content is worth the price. Here is what Colin Johanson, the ArenaNet representative had to say:

Gw2 will feature consistent free content updates and in-game events going forward. Our goal is to make it so you get more from Gw2 for free than you get from a game you pay a subscription for.

On top of a large amount of free bonus content, we will be expanding on offerings in the Black Lion Trading Company going forward, as well as be doing large-scale expansion content down the road.

We’ll cover a lot of the details on the kind of support and plans we have in place over the next month or so on the Gw2 blog and with our press partners.

We do appreciate that you’d like to buy lots of new content, but we’d prefer to give a lot of it to you for free, cause that’s what we think a responsible MMO company does!

From the sounds of it, we’ll both be seeing free large content updates as well as expansion-type content updates that can be purchased through the Black Lion Trading Company, similar to the Digital Deluxe Upgrade that’s currently available.

Players are taking this bit of news pretty well, and are looking forward to finding out more information about the types of plans ArenaNet has in store for Guild Wars 2.

Today we get a fifth video discussing all the aspects of Guild Wars 2, and as promised, we get the the last concerning World vs. World vs. World.

Guild Wars 2 Game Designers Matt Witter and Mike Ferguson talk about World vs World (WvW), where three teams battle for control over objectives across four massive maps. Each team represents an entire server, so literally hundreds of players take part in wars that last for weeks. It’s PvP combat on an epic scale!

Hit us after the break for the video.

Today we were made aware of a financial report put out by KDB Daewood Securities in regards to their future outlook of NCSoft. According to their speculation, they have confirmed that Guild Wars 2 will be released in the US and Europe before the Thanksgiving holiday.

We reiterate our Buy call on NCsoft with a target price of W510,000. We were able to confirm the company’s plans to launch Blade & Soul domestically in 1H and GuildWars 2 in the Us and Europe in 2H. … And we anticipate that Guild Wars 2 will be rolled out in the US and Europe before the Thanksgiving holiday.

These dates are not confirmed by Arenanet or NCSoft and all we have are these financial documents of this Korean based financial firm. Take them with a grain of salt. You can find the original document here.

These speculations match up with most prognosticators; even though there are rumors of an internal ongoing Beta Test, Arenanet has only completed one BWE that has only showcased three out of the five playable races, level capped of 30 out of 80, and the storyline quests are stopped early. We do know, from Arenanet, that the game will be launched this year. It is often speculated that this game will launch this fall and these reports match up with that guess.

New screenshot from Arenanet for our long awaited 500k Like milemark. From GW2′s Facebook page:

Ding! We’ve reached 500,000 Facebook followers and have the long-promised epicness for you: Destiny’s Edge, together and taking on a foe that you’ll find familiar. This is an actual in-game screenshot embellished by Daniel Dociu.

For different image resolutions follow this link.

Arenanet’s Founder Mike O’Brien published a short blog on his comments on the continued Guild Wars 2 Beta.

At the same time, we’re also working on server capacity to make sure that we’re prepared for the even greater flood of players who will participate in the next Beta. To that end, we’ve announced a Stress Test on Monday May 14th to test some changes we’ve implemented. This 7-hour test event, which runs from 11 AM to 6 PM PDT (-7 GMT) is open to all players who have pre-purchased Guild Wars 2. The good news is that we’re not wiping characters for this test; we’re using the same build that we used in the first Beta Weekend Event, so you’ll be able to pick up right where you left off. For more information about the Stress Test, log in to the Beta Forums. Please join us on May 14 if you can.

Read the rest on Arenanet’s homepage and make sure you get in the game next Monday!

Source: Mike O’Brien on the Guild Wars 2 Beta

Today we get a short developer’s blog on how and why Arenanet uses social media to help promote their game. We’ve seen recently with their Facebook campaign for more likes as the PR campaign begins.

We’re days away from the first Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Event, and it’s no exaggeration to say that we’re as eager as all of you for the event to begin. While the developers are busy preparing the game, we here on the community team are keeping busy by keeping all of you, our Guild Wars family, informed, with help from a few popular social media outlets.

Hundreds of thousands of Guild Wars 2 fans have become followers on Facebook, and we’ve worked hard to make our fan page a reflection of the community we want in Guild Wars 2: a place where newcomers can learn the basics from longtime fans, where everyone can share their excitement over Guild Wars 2, and where we can share news, fansite projects, art, and more.

Source: Guild Wars 2 on the Social Media Front

Eurogamer’s Robert Purchese takes a tour of Arenanet and gets a chance to interview the team. Here’s a snippet from his time with Mike O’Brien. Make sure you read the rest of the article for more quotes from the team.

Mike O’Brien stressed at the very beginning of our visit that Guild Wars 2 doesn’t have a release date. The “when?” of this gigantic operation will depend on the beta. But it’s clear the end is in sight, and that every facet of ArenaNet wants the world to see what it’s poured five years of hard work into, because they genuinely believe they’ve made something great.

Having seen their knowledge and dedication first hand, the sentiment is infectious. But one day not long from now Guild Wars 2 will be judged, by its numbers and by its quality. Another chapter will open for Guild Wars 2 as this five-year chapter ends. And there’s something bittersweet about that for ArenaNet. This moment, this team, may never come again.

“At my age, I don’t feel like I have the luxury of wasting a development cycle, of putting five years of my life into something that’s less than relevant or game changing,” Daniel Dociu says. “Will it feel big enough, relevant enough, to where I can look back and say, ‘Hell, this was definitely worth putting five of my last years into?’ And I hope that’s going to be the case, but you can’t help but be nervous about it.”

Source: Guild Wars 2: The Inside Stories