New Guild Wars 2 Video Previews Races and Asks, “What is YOUR story?” - with video

It’s one of the most important decisions a player makes: choosing a race.

In the upcoming MMO Guild Wars 2, choosing which of the five distinctive races to play is just the first step down the road to your ultimate destiny. Starting with this crucial decision, your character’s epic tale begins. With their new preview video, NCsoft and ArenaNet pull back the curtain to reveal more details of the five diverse player races in Guild Wars 2. Which will you choose?

Guild Wars 2 video game Exclusive GamesCom teaser trailer

NCsoft and ArenaNet thrilled fans today with the premiere of the first Guild Wars 2 teaser trailer at gamescom in Cologne, Germany. Show attendees were treated to a glimpse of whats to come in the much anticipated sequel, set 250 years after the original Guild Wars.



The teaser trailer reveals some of the world-shaking events that set up the story of Guild Wars 2 and also showcases the games fantastic graphics and environments.

Guild Wars 2 is a visually stunning MMO that will offer players the epic grandeur of a massive role playing environment combined with the challenge of world-class player vs. player competition. Building on the success and lessons of Guild Wars, ArenaNet is creating an MMO that lets gamers play the way they want, while at the same time retaining the no-subscription-fee business model that has made the original Guild Wars so popular.

Guild Wars video game sells over six million units

Guild Wars, announce that on the cusp of its fourth anniversary, the Guild Wars franchise has exceeded six million units sold. Guild Wars is the award-winning and genre-defining series that is one of the most popular and successful online role-playing games in the industry.

To commemorate these milestones, ArenaNet has just released a major content update, including new quest content and extra storage options. Additional in-game birthday festivities will be available starting on April 28th, the official anniversary of the game. For more information on the fourth anniversary updates, go to http://eu.guildwars.com/community/community-news/.

“We are humbled by how gamers have responded to Guild Wars over the past four years, and we are proud that the game and its community have helped to continually shape, define, and expand the genre,” said ArenaNet studio head Mike O’Brien. “Our subscription-free business model has proven to be a big hit with gamers, bringing an enormous and diverse online community to the game.”

Guild Wars is one of the most successful PC gaming franchises of all time. Since its release in 2005, it has received numerous awards for its innovative design, world-class art direction and robust content streaming engine. ArenaNet continues to support the game’s thriving community with regular in-game events, updates, and community activities.

The Guild Wars universe contains three campaigns and an expansion pack: Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions, Guild Wars Nightfall, and Guild Wars - Eye of the North.

NCsoft steps up battle in the fight against illegal game servers

NCsoft, the world-leading, publisher of massively multiplayer online games such as Guild Wars, Lineage II and City of Heroes, today announced that it was stepping up its fight against the growing menace of intellectual property theft. This action comes as a direct response to the rise of illegal online game servers throughout Eastern Europe, particularly in Greece and Russia where NCsoft’s fantasy-based online role playing game, Lineage II, is extremely popular.

The fraudulent servers in question are being used by players playing at home and in internet cafes, but such unauthorised servers often feature – or require users to download – illegally modified and potentially harmful game data, thereby changing the intended online experience.

NCsoft’s European office has identified several prominent illegal servers across Europe and is in the process of taking action against individuals and corporations deemed to be in breach of international copyright laws. In a lawsuit that was commenced last year in Greece, NCsoft successfully obtained a court order against Internet Cafe business, ‘e-GLOBAL’ following which four of its cafes were raided and illegal software was seized. This led to the shutting down of illegal servers on which pirate copies of Lineage II software was loaded. Georgios Katostaris – Chairman of the Board and Managing Director, Constantinos Zygouras – Vice-Chairman of the Board and Managing Director, Athanassios Dobros – Deputy Managing Director and Dimitrios Koutsoukos – Administrator of the company under the name ‘INTERNET DYNAMICS LLC’ have all been made personal defendants to the proceedings that are continuing in the Greek Courts in which NCsoft is seeking damages as well as criminal remedies.

“Illegal game servers, such as those operating from e-GLOBAL, have a hugely negative impact on both NCsoft Europe and its customers,” commented Max Brown, NCsoft Europe’s Sales & Operations Director. “They seriously affect the player’s experience of our products and rob the company of potential revenue that is used to further enhance the player experience on official servers. NCsoft’s loss in revenue from e-GLOBAL’s operation is estimated in excess of six million Euros. We are defiant in our resolve to stamp out theft of NCsoft’s intellectual properties and are prepared to take the strongest measures to do so.”

NCsoft has a proven track record in combating illegal servers, having worked with the FBI in November 2006 to shut down a substantial unofficial Lineage II server run by US-based website, L2Extreme.com. Following multiple raids across cities throughout the US, L2Extreme’s fraudulent servers – which claimed to support 50,000 active users – were taken offline, as was the L2Extreme.com website.

New websites to introduce new players to Lineage II and Guild Wars PC games

NCsoft Europe announces the launch of two new websites specifically created to introduce players new to massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) the opportunity to discover two of NCsoft Europe’s most cherished and endearing games: Guild Wars and Lineage II.

From the battle-ravaged ruins of Tyria (Guild Wars), through the ancient kingdom of Cantha (Guild Wars Factions), and on across the treacherous plains of Elona (Guild Wars Nightfall), www.discoverguildwars.com introduces newcomers to the full Guild Wars experience, including the official expansion pack, Guild Wars: Eye of the North. Try mixing and matching combinations of games on this stunning, user-friendly website to discover how to gain access to new skills, missions, and geographical locations.

Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne, by contrast, offers a slightly different, if no less epic, playing experience. The world of Lineage II is divided into three kingdoms: Aden, Elmore and Gracia who share a delicate balance of power. Solo fighters, entire clans and immense alliances engage in combat so brutal the very ground shakes! By visiting www.discoverlineage2.com player can discover the historical background and rich heritage of one of the most enduring MMORPGs currently available using a sumptuously presented page-turning presentation guide.

Guild Wars and Lineage II website launched

NCsoft Europe unveils two new websites designed to introduce new players to Lineage II and Guild Wars.

NCsoft Europe today announces the launch of two new websites specifically created to introduce players new to massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) the opportunity to discover two of NCsoft Europe’s most cherished and endearing games: Guild Wars® and Lineage II.

From the battle-ravaged ruins of Tyria (Guild Wars), through the ancient kingdom of Cantha (Guild Wars Factions™), and on across the treacherous plains of Elona (Guild Wars Nightfall), www.discoverguildwars.com introduces newcomers to the full Guild Wars experience, including the official expansion pack, Guild Wars: Eye of the North. Try mixing and matching combinations of games on this stunning, user-friendly website to discover how to gain access to new skills, missions, and geographical locations.

Lineage® II: The Chaotic Throne, by contrast, offers a slightly different, if no less epic, playing experience. The world of Lineage II is divided into three kingdoms: Aden, Elmore and Gracia who share a delicate balance of power. Solo fighters, entire clans and immense alliances engage in combat so brutal the very ground shakes! By visiting www.discoverlineage2.com player can discover the historical background and rich heritage of one of the most enduring MMORPGs currently available using a sumptuously presented page-turning presentation guide.

Free Guild Wars mini-pet

Free Guild Wars mini-pet drives readers wild for free digital magazine for MMORPG gamers

MMOZine, the fifth regular, free videogames magazine from GamerZines, has achieved a record number of downloads in under two weeks. GamerZines launched its latest free magazine for gamers only a fortnight ago and already it has proved a huge success. Dedicated to all things MMO, the magazine brings news, previews, reviews and tutorials on all the popular MMORPG games.

As an amazing launch issue giveaway, MMOzine teamed up with NCsoft ® Europe and ArenaNet™ to offer the first 40,000 readers an exclusive pet for Guild Wars® players. It was the first time that a Guild Wars mini-pet has been given away online and the pet is a unique breed especially for MMOZine readers. It was only available via an interactive form within the magazine itself and formed the world’s first “e-covermount” for a digital magazine.

“Originally, we planned to try and attract 30,000 readers over the magazine’s 8 week cycle,” says Publishing Director, Dave Taylor. “It quickly became apparent that we had massively underestimated the demand for the magazine and we had to triple our server capacity in the first 24 hours, which proved something of a challenge.”

“The Guild Wars minipet acted as fantastic catalyst for the magazine, with word spreading across the Guild Wars community like wild fire and then out into the wider MMO community via forums and blogs. What was truly inspiring was the response and emails of support from gamers during the first day as we battled to bring enough servers online to cope with demand. Everyone was really positive, which goes to show just how sociable MMO gamers are.”

MMOZine is a GamerZine, from the publishers of established digital magazines 360Zine, P3Zine and others. Gamers simply require Adobe Reader 8 on Windows to read it. There is no charge and no registration is required. Best of all, the magazine is written entirely by professional journalists and the pages are enhanced with video and interactive screens that bring the pages to life.

“The gaming world is moving online and gamers love spending their time in our digital worlds,” says NCsoft’s PR Manager, David Blundell. “This is the ideal time for a magazine dedicated to MMOs, and clearly a digital format is perfect for gamers who are always online. We really pleased that Guild Wars gamers enjoyed the first issue of MMOZine and look forward to future issues pushing the boundaries of what a magazine can do.”

Given the success of issue 1, Cranberry Publishing Ltd has now raised its expected settle down readership figure for issue 2 to 50,000.

Issue 1 of MMOZine is still available for download from http://www.gamerzines.com/