Early Morning Thoughts...

It’s the wee hours of the morning and I am unable to fall back asleep. The wife has gone off to work, and my daughter is still in dream land. I, on the other hand, lie here in bed staring at the ceiling. Why? Guild Wars 2. Yes, I once again have Guild Wars 2 on the brain and I can’t stop thinking about all the many great aspects of the game. Curse you ArenaNet, curse you for being so innovative!

The first thing that came to mind that thwarted my ability to doze off was the character creation. Like the original, Guild Wars 2 looks amazing, but on top of that the game adds that pinch of customization to really drive it home. Obviously not only do you have 4 new races to go along with the Human, each one getting a great variety of personal options to play with, but just about each option has a sub option for even greater detail!

Charr customization screen.

I’m sure you all, like myself, will be glued to the character creation screen for quite a few hours just captivated with the near endless decisions. From your body type, skin tones, and hair colors to your minor tweaks to nose length, eye shape, and jaw line. The detail is anything but lacking. You may think you have it figured out from watching a few youtube videos, but once those choices are in front of you, I bet you can’t help but adventure and explore.

As if that wasn’t enough to keep me awake, I began to think about all the race and profession combos. The noble Human, the hulking Norn, the fierce Charr, the knowledgeable Asura, and the curious Sylvari. Do I choose the classic Warrior, the cunning Ranger, the honorable Guardian, the unique Engineer? What about the crafty Thief, the versatile Elementalist, the intriguing Necromancer, or the mysterious 8^th profession? So many different combinations, all with their own creatively special play styles to bring to the virtual table.

The 7 revealed professions.

My mind then wanders ahead, thinking now of the personal relationship you’ll have with your character. No more is your toon just a toon. This is your character, you created it, it has meaning, depth, and background. Guild Wars 2 gives your meaning an outlet. The biography questions help flesh out your character, give them an identity. It helps them establish who they are in this massive online world. No small feat my friends. These same questions then set you on your personal path, so personal that even if you made the same race and profession combination and just chose one different answer to the bio questions, you’d see a completely new personal story designed just for you.

Cinematic Still

Finally, I feel my eyes getting heavy… well, until that damn (but incredibly beautiful) opening cinematic begins to play behind my eye lids. The amazing painterly feel that each one has, it’s animation fluid and dynamic. Not only is it great eye candy, but mid way though the cinematic actually conforms to your newly created character, taking in consideration some of the biography choices that you yourself made. Then you realize, it’s not just any opening cinematic, this is your character's opening cinematic! Each one, based on some of your answers to the biography questions, are tailor made for your toons. Finally in an online world, I feel like my character is important.

…All this before even getting into the game!