Yesterday we received an update to ArenaNet’s first structured PvP blog detailing some of the PvP additions coming to Guild Wars 2. In the update, Jonathan Sharp delves into some new information regarding the Qualifying Point system that will be used in paid tournaments, and also talks a bit about some of the new UI changes tournament players will be seeing. Here’s a snippet:

Qualifying points (QPs) are gained in paid tournaments – each person on a winning team in an 8-team paid tournament gets 1 qualifying point. QPs lead to rankings for larger tournaments, and allow you to measure yourself against other players.

Because you must have a full team in order to join a paid tournament and it takes tickets to enter, we know that the best teams will be playing paid tournaments. So while you do compete for better prizes than in free tournaments, the thing you’re really competing for are QPs. Think you’re actually good at competitive GW2? Hit the paid tournaments and prove it. We’ll be adding more features that build off QPs, so once that’s ready, I’ll give everyone another update!

Check out the full developer blog here.

Over this past weekend, Colin Johanson, Guild Wars 2′s Game Director had a few words to share on the philosophy behind PvP ranks and ArenaNet’s stance on the addition of competitive, instanced PvP such as the new paid tournaments coming to the game in Shadow of the Mad King, Guild Wars 2′s first major content update. He also hints on more PvP content in the future:

Originally posted by Colin Johanson (Source)

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Rank is intended to be a metric to show much how you’ve played of PvP, and how experienced you are over-all as a result. The various banners that come with rank is a bit of a prestige thing that says “I’ve played me a ton of PvP!”

The addition of our new paid tournaments, and the features that will follow after it will be how we answer that clear question of: “who is the best”. We think it’s important to have both. As we begin our new live releases, starting with Shadow of the Mad King (and the new pvp hero tab and paid tournaments) you’ll see pvp feature additions come very regularly going forward!

All the best and happy n00b stomping,

As a random note, I kind of like any game developer who’s comfortable saying a phrase like “n00b stomping”.

That’s right– Guild Wars 2 players will be getting a Halloween event! Not only that, but our first major content update as well:

Halloween has a long history in Tyria, and in times past was always marked by the spirit of Mad King Thorn cavorting among the people unleashing his own brand of insanity. However, it’s been over 250 years since he was last seen, and for most people he is merely a figure of folklore. Despite this, rumors persist among the populace that something wicked this way comes.

Shadow of the Mad King is the first major game release for Guild Wars 2 and will go live on October 22. This new game update will include a number of new features for all of our players to enjoy, new content to explore and see, and a week-long Halloween event.

The Halloween event will begin October 22nd and end October 31st, bringing with it festive decorations, mini-games, dynamic events, and new goodies available at the Black Lion Trading Company.

The content update will also be bringing paid PvP tournaments to the game, which are a more competitive option for PvP teams. Paid tournaments offer players better prizes and cost a ticket to enter, which are available at the Gem Store and through winning regular tournaments. Tyria will also be seeing a bit of an upgrade, and new jumping puzzles, events, bosses, achievements, and mini-dungeons will spring up on multiple maps.

Check out all the details for Shadow of the Mad King, including some very cool artwork images, on ArenaNet’s official announcement page.

Jonathan Sharp, Content Designer at ArenaNet, shared some interesting PvP news in a developer blog published yesterday. Guild Wars 2 is going to have a much larger structured PvP scene, and in the near future players will not only be able to take part in normal (free) PvP tournaments as they can now, but also more competitive, paid tournaments that will offer a different set of rewards:

As the name implies, paid automated tournaments have an entry fee. You’ll need tickets to enter a paid tournament, which you can purchase in the gem store, find in reward chests from free tournaments, and receive when you rank up!

These tournaments reward ALL teams that play in them, and offer better rewards on average than free tournaments. Successful teams can earn excellent rewards from paid tournaments, but you’ve got to be good to finish in the top prize slots. We expect that more experienced PvP players will start to migrate to paid tournaments because the risk/reward is much higher than in the free automated tournaments.

There is also no matchmaking in the paid tournaments. You have to come in with a premade team, which means the teams will ALL be organized teams – you won’t have premade groups fighting pick-up groups as you would in free paid tournaments.

Players will most likely need Tournament Tickets to take part in these tournaments, which are already available in the Black Lion Trading Company for gems.

ArenaNet is also working on a custom arena system, where players can set up a private, password-protected area for friends and guildmates, and use it to arrange custom challenges. The team also has additional PvP features in store for Guild Wars 2 players, but some of those plans are tight under wraps for the moment. Read the full developer blog for all the details.