Guild Wars 2 (GW2), ArenaNet’s upcoming MMO, is a game that promises fun, pretty, and most of all, exciting gameplay without a single panda to be found. And it will be launching August 25, 2012, a few hours from now, for those who have pre-purchased the game, while other players can jump in on August 28.
For those who are just about to start–or those who wonder if $60 is worth the one-time purchase–you can find everything you need to know on the GW2 site, thanks to ArenaNet, who has created a wealth of materials for players.
But then again, there are things about GW2 you don’t really need to know. But you should know it anyway. Things like:
Your wine pairing
Gamers can be oenophiles too, at least the person who created this recommended drinking guide, here. Every class gets a description as well as a wine pairing. So your mesmer needs to be drinking Petit Verdot because of its balance and complexity. Find out what your thief needs to be quaffing between cutting purses.
The history of the first game
GW2 is a sequel to Guild Wars (natch). You don’t need to know the background, but if you’d like, you can get a summary of the first game in this YouTube clip, below.
At 25 minutes, it suffers from a bit of tl;dr, but YouTuber WoodenPotatoes wrangled three artists to provide an illustrated backdrop for this history, which gives it an almost cinematic feel. He also has a series of videos to explain the lore of the world of Tyria.
Seeing–and hearing–the voice actors
Two words: Felicia Day. That’s all I need to be excited.
Instructional videos
GuildWarsInsider has been documenting GW2 for a year; as of the time of this writing, there are 94 videos on this channel, many of them short instruction videos designed to help you get the most of out the game. These videos, such as this one, below, have been extremely helpful to me.
Videos not enough for you? Visit the website, guildwarsinsider.com, for more.
Cover music
Only a few musicians have uploaded their GW2-based cover songs, but I expect that number to multiply as the game progresses. Still, there’s this piano cover of the Sylvari theme:
Here’s a gorgeous violin cover of the Norn theme:
There are several piano covers of the song, “Fear Not This Not.” But only this one has a puppy: