GuildWars.com news/Archives/200508

The following lists the August 2005 news from the official GuildWars.com site.

August 31st, 2005

 * Wallpaper of the Week

This Wednesday's desktop presents an early concept for a Guild Hall design, dating from summer of 2004. You'll find your choice of wallpaper sizes and aspect ratios in the Gallery, or on this direct link.


 * Professions Section Updated

We've taken another pass at the Professions Section and now display the names and descriptions of each skill and the related skill icon, as well. Find this expanded content on this page.

August 30th, 2005

 * PvPX In-Game Movie

As you may be aware, we created a gameplay movie to kick off last weekend's PvP Extreme event. You can download a copy of the movie on this link.


 * Guild Nominations Open

Nominations for Guild of the Week are now being accepted. If you are a member of a guild, or know of a guild that you feel would be a good subject for an upcoming GotW feature, you can read the requirements and learn about the nomination process on this page.

August 29th, 2005

 * Sorrow's Furnace Date Announced

We issued a press release today on the subject of the Sorrow's Furnace Update. As many fans surmised from last night's coded in-game messaging, Grenth's Footprint and Sorrow's Furnace will open on September 7th. Find the press release here.

August 26th, 2005

 * Fansite Friday #56

Our weekly mini-interview takes place with GameAmp. The questions concern the Guild Wars loot system, runners and shortcut takers, community involvement, and a bonus on character slots. Find it all here.


 * PvP Extreme Begins!

At the midnight hour (PDT), the PvP Extreme Weekend Event kicked off with a roar. All players logging into Guild Wars through 11:59 PDT Sunday night will experience dozens of updated skills and significantly increased Faction rewards. Join us!

August 25th, 2005

 * Guild Wars Update

Guild Wars have been updated with a multitude of skill balances in preparation for the PvP Extreme Weekend, which begins in just a few hours. These skill balance changes, and a list of Faction increases for the weekend event, are posted on the Game Updates page.


 * Designer Interview

The lead designer for Guild Wars, James Phinney, answers questions about Guild Wars, and the soon-to-start PvP Extreme Weekend, over on IGN. Find the interview on this link.


 * Sorrow's Screenshots

Two new screenshots from Sorrow's Furnace have been added to the Guild Wars Gallery. Find a shot of intriguing subterranean structures and furious combat on this page.


 * IGN Coverage of PvPX

Check IGN for a lot of coverage on PvP Extreme Weekend:


 * Guild Wars Extreme Weekend News
 * Guild Wars Multiplayer Weekend Interview
 * Skill Balance Update

There's more to come, so be sure to check IGN later today as well as tomorrow!

August 24th, 2005

 * Wallpaper for Wednesday

The wallpaper of the week offers you a view of a spot that can be found within the recesses of Sorrow's Furnace. You may have seen this area in a recent screenshot. Now you can decorate your desktop with the concept art in wallpaper form by clicking here.

August 23rd, 2005

 * Guild of the Week #15

This week's Guild of the Week feature spotlights Awoken Myth and their sister guild known as Forgotten Myth. Read more about the guild on this page.

August 22nd, 2005

 * PvP Extreme!

Join Guild Wars this weekend for a special player event. We'll be rolling out a slew of skill balance changes, and will be giving PvP players extra faction points, too! Find more information on the PvP Extreme page.


 * Guild Wars at PAX

Guild Wars will be a featured game at this year's Penny Arcade Expo in Bellevue, Washington. If you're attending the event this coming weekend, look for the NCsoft booth in the Exhibition Hall and stop on by to say "Howdy!"

August 19th, 2005

 * Fansite Friday #55

This week's mini-interview is our first with a Chinese Fansite, Guild Wars Zhong Guo. Find out about high-level gameplay incentives, PvP teams and alliances, and a bit about the future of Guild Wars in Asia. The interview can be found here.

August 18th, 2005

 * Screenshot Duo

You'll find a pair of new screenshots in the Gallery today. The images display two areas within Sorrow's Furnace, and in the combat shot you'll spot one of our newly-named Stone Summit boss monsters. Click through for the new shots.

August 17th, 2005

 * Weekly Wallpaper

This week's desktop image is familiar to those who own the Guild Wars Collector's Edition, for it is the cover image from the Art of Guild Wars book. Find a selection of wallpaper images featuring this distinctive serpent here.

August 16th, 2005

 * New Guild Wars Lore

The latest chapter of Guild Wars lore is available for you today, set in Droknar's Forge and featuring Cynn, Aidan, Mhenlo and Devona. To read "Chasing a Legend" click this link.

August 12th, 2005

 * Contest Winners Announced

We're delighted to announce the winners of the Guild Wars Brand the Bosses Contest. Twenty-four contestants have been chosen, and the monsters names they submitted will be included in the Guild Wars Summer Update: Sorrow's Furnace. Click over to the Events Page for all the info on the winning entries!

August 11th, 2005

 * A Pair of Images

We have a new pair of screenshots for you and once again, the focus is on that explorable region called Sorrow's Furnace. Sorrow's Furnace, along with Grenth's Footprint, will be featured in the Guild Wars Summer Update, coming soon. Find the images here.


 * Guild Wars Updated

We did an update to the game today that will directly affect the game economy. Traders have been improved so that prices and item stocks will be more stable. Read about it on the Game Updates page.

August 10th, 2005

 * Wednesday Wallpaper

Our Guild Wars wallpaper for this week is a new concept image from Sorrow's Furnace called, simply, The Furnace. You can decorate your desktop with a choice of resolutions found in The Gallery, or from this link.


 * Brand the Bosses Contest Update

We have increased "naming rights" for the Summer Update: Sorrow's Furnace boss monsters by 400%, and will be announcing the names of 24 winning entries — 6 Grand Prize Winners and 18 Finalists! In order to allow time for this contest expansion, we will be making the winner announcements on Friday, August 12th. Check back then!

August 9th, 2005

 * Guild of the Week #14

This week's guild is Les Grosbilloux, a guild based in France whose members were winners of the recent French Guild Wars Tournament. Les Grosbilloux tells us a bit about themselves on this link.

August 8th, 2005

 * Summer Update Preview

Head over to our Gallery to download the latest Guild Wars Gameplay movie. This sneak-peak at the Summer Update: Sorrow's Furnace will give you a glimpse of some of the areas and the monsters that you will experience with the free live update, which is coming soon. Find the film on this page.

August 5th, 2005

 * Fansite Friday #54

In a twist on our usual Fansite Friday format, Lead Designer James Phinney fields a few questions from the fansites as a follow-up to his State of the Game letter posted yesterday. Find the Fansite Friday interview here.

August 4th, 2005

 * New Screenshots

We're expanding the Sorrow's Furnace Gallery Page with another pair of screenshots from the Summer Update. One image displays the external depths of Grenth's Footprint just outside the entry to the mines. The second shows combat within the green-hued interior of one area of Sorrow's Furnace. Find the shots here.


 * State of the Game

James Phinney, Lead Designer of Guild Wars, has written a letter to the Guild Wars community on the current state of game development. Head over to the Game Updates page for the State of the Game letter.


 * More Bots Banned

A significant number of accounts were permanently banned today for the use of bot programs. We will continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis, and we will take action on those accounts that are provably engaging in bot use.

August 3rd, 2005

 * Wednesday Wallpaper

The wallpaper image for this week offers one of several early concept images of the Hall of Heroes. Find a selection of image resolutions on this link.

August 2nd, 2005

 * Guild of the Week #13

The featured team for this week's Guild of the Week article is Clan Brotherhood, a guild with roots in two popular FPS games. Read about them in our GOTW#13.