Seventh Year Memories
A collection of quotes from various ArenaNet developers about the development of the Guild Wars games and their memories of the community, published over Facebook and Twitter to commemorate the 7th anniversary of Guild Wars.
Mike O'Brien[edit]
“Seven years ago, with the creation of the first Guild Wars, ArenaNet began our story as a studio. From Prophecies to Eye of the North, our fans have been with us every step of the way. We hope that you'll join us as we open the next chapter in our studio's story - we couldn't have come this far without you! Seven years from now, who knows how much we'll have achieved together?
John Stumme on the game[edit]
“I don't think I will ever forget what it felt like the first time I played Guild Wars. There was nothing like it at that time, it was unheard of to have a game of this caliber come out without a subscription fee. The first time I played it was in 2004 at the E3 for Everyone event and the game has definitely evolved a long way since then. You'd go outside from a town in solo content. Was so excited to play that game that I told my friend 'you have to try this game and play it with me'. That enthusiams [sic] led me to the forums, taking part in conversations with other fans and I really found a place where I fit in there. With so much passion, I really found a second home there and it lead me to join ArenaNet. When I look back on things, Guild Wars is a memory of a transition in my life because it's what led me to where I am today. It's been such a defining part of who I've become during the last 7 years. It's been amazing and it is humbling to see how this game and the community have grown. The caliber of the work that our fans do and their passion is genuinely amazing, from contest art to gifts.
Colin Johanson[edit]
“One of my most fond memory of the Guild Wars community comes from the holiday festivals, especially for having been tied in to the Live Team for as long as I was. Everybody would pour back in the back whenever the holiday festival would roll around. There was just this feeling of joy and community between all the players. It was amazing how little content people played and how long they spent in the game, talking to each other, putting on costumes and having dance parties. We had no idea what the community would do, that they would strip downin [sic] their underwear and do conga lines everywhere, or dress up and put on plays. Every holiday festivals after the first would be created people working extra time to put this together. Seeing how the community came together was so special and that's really when we realized that we had a community that wasn't really like any other game community out there. There's such a bond between our players and 7 years later there's stil lthis [sic] bond and people still playing the game. It's fantastic.
Linsey Murdock[edit]
“My favorite memories working on GW all have one thing in common; the community. Thanks to all the fans for being awesome!
— Tweet
Joe Kimmes[edit]
“The day Nightfall was released, I remember waiting in Kamadan to see the stream of players completing the first mission.
— Tweet
Kristen Perry[edit]
“It was a lot of fun to do the Abaddon armor in Nightfall. When we were originally given the assignment, we knew that this was supposed to be a part of this realm, a nightmare surrounding you. So what are you going to do for this clothing? How do you make this reflect the environment? From that concept, I started thinking about what's the anti-clothing, the anti-design for each of the professions. The monk was a really fun one because you're taking something that's like a holy warrior and putting him in a hell armor. There's going to be an internal, epic war there and I started thinking that the body itself was rejecting this armor, as a self-defense.
John Stumme on the community[edit]
“Singling out one best memory of the Guild Wars community is a daunting task, because over 7 years you start gathering so many memories. We recently put out our April fools content, which is always fun for us because it's nice to release some tongue-in-cheek content. As we were putting the build out, all of a sudden, the servers are getting slow. I hop on into the game, start using my special text to roleplay to try to hype up the event that's coming. My team joins me in-game and they're playing along. We're building up this really big production, words get out and more players are watching it. It's moment like that that make the community for me, it's a growing, living and thriving thing. People jump in and become part of it. It becomes something greater because of it. That has been the story of Guild Wars for me. Players have made it something great.
Mike Zadorojny[edit]
“Logging into the game 6 years after having started and work on my Hall of Monuments with friends felt very special.
— Tweet
Zack Nickerson[edit]
“Meeting our players at conventions and trade shows is the best reward in the world! It makes all the hard work worthwhile.
— Tweet
Mike Zadorojny again[edit]
“Having my first 6th year anniversary present be a tonic of Zenmai, the hero I wrote my first quest about (Chasing Zenmai).
— Tweet
Gaile Gray[edit]
“7 years of wonderful memories: Holiday events, parties, trade shows, in-game gatherings, and more. Thank you, Guild Wars player!
— Tweet
Dave Beetlestone[edit]
“The "vacation-style" screen shots that players took makes me proud of all the hard work we've put into the environments.
— Tweet
Andrew Patrick[edit]
“Thanks for the great memories. From Inquisitor Bauer to The Annihilator, it was an honor to help keep your adventures going.
— Tweet
Matthew "Quizshow" Moore[edit]
“At PAX 2010, I quizzed the fans on GW trivia. Best part? Afterward, when they started quizzing me.
— Tweet
Robert Gee[edit]
“Cantha Courier Crisis was 1 of my favorite quests to design. It made my day that a tester described it as a Jackie Chan movie.
— Tweet
Final thoughts[edit]
“All time favorite memory of Guild Wars for me has to be the period between Prophecies release and Sorrow's Furnace. For three weeks, the whole studio played the game and fixed bugs. Everybody would play and enjoy our game, it was awesome! Then we wanted to say thank you to the fans and Sorrow's Furnace was born out of that. It was a small area with tons of resources dumped on it. We play-tested the whole area and all the quests as an entire company all together.
— Colin Johanson
“The Guild Wars community is awesome with parties, seriously. I really enjoyed the holiday festivals. It took a lot of time to develop the costumes, you know, the Halloween costume, the Lunatic Court (originally I was going to name this Mad King Courtly but this got a little tweaked :) and the Wintersday ones. Everybody is full-on festive and have the joy of character-building. Everyone would deck it out for the holiday, wearing the hats and costumes. It was so much fun seeing how much fun the players were having.
— Kristen Perry
“I remember waking up early on the weekend to go to the Mursaat Rally and listen to the speeches!
— Joe Kimmes
“One thing I like about GW is how many offbeat ways you can play it. I beat all of EtoN with a friend. It’s totally possible!
— Robert Gee
“Representing ArenaNet at Gamescom 2008 with Isaiah and running a GvG Championship from the show floor were great moments. Another great memory is Keiran Thackeray, I created him and watched him evolve under two different lead designers to become the man Gwen needed in her life
— Mike Zadorojny
“When the game first came out I spent all night running around the crystal dessert with a random player I met there. We had a really good time and chatted a lot. After awhile I found out they were going through treatment for cancer and they loved that there were games like GW that they could use to stay social. It made me really happy that I could work on something that can help people through tough times. I hadn't thought about it before that moment.
“I remember our first Halloween Event. The world was so special and all of us were very excited to share it with the players. What fun we had - Mad King Thorn with his corny jokes, spooky music, terrific decorations, delightful Halloween treats, and a warm gathering of players from around the world. I stood on a hill in Lion's Arch and just marveled [sic] at the whole experience. Every holiday since our first has been great, but that first one-nearly seven years ago-holds a special place in my heart.
— Gaile Gray
“Signing all the holiday cards makes me laugh. We joke with each other when a giant stack moves from person to person, but it's great to see that folks are always willing to take the extra time to sign a few more piles to show how much we appreciate the community.
— Dave Beetlestone
“My best memories of the Guild Wars community was probably the few occasions when I had the opportunity to interact with fans at tradeshows. [sic] It is, at least for me personnally, [sic] an extremely rewarding experience where you get to see this high level of energy and excitement around our project. It is refreshing and recharges our batteries as developers. It gives us a good reason to go back to work and continue perfecting our games.
“If I could say something to all the players, I wish I had something more grandiose to say that [sic] just 'thank you'. But these 2 words are a very heartfelt sentiment. I hope that these 2 words can really convey all the feeling that's behind it. We would not be where we are today if it weren't for everyone that's played and loved this game. It is my sincere hope that you'll continue to stick with us. I'm excited for the endless possibilities of new memories, new experiences that we'll all forge together moving forward."
— John Stumme
