I’ve been accumulating news snippets about the as-yet-to-be-formally-scheduled release of Guild Wars 2 for an email newsletter I send out to my friends and acquaintances in the Guild Wars community.

Part 1: Discussion of previous news

• This week’s anniversary sale item at the Guild Wars in-game store is the Bonus Mission Pack.

Part 2: Guild Wars news

• Reminder: If you’d like to keep track of the upcoming Winds of Change and other Guild Wars Beyond material, keep this page bookmarked — http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Guild_Wars_Beyond.
• Ascalon Royal Family Masquerade Ball 2011 on May 21st. “The Ascalon Royal Family Masquerade Ball is a long forgotten formal event, engraved into history years before the searing. The Kingdom of Ascalon was once prosperous, led by King Adelbern and the Royal Family. During such times the ball was the yearly celebration to celebrate the wealth and beauty that was Ascalon.”

Part 3: Guild Wars 2 news

• Interview at guild-hall.cz with Eric Flannum (Lead Designer), Jon Peters (Game Designer), Jeff Grubb (Game Designer), Colin Johanson (Lead Content Designer), Ree Soesbee (Game Designer). “Eric: My current favorite [dynamic event] starts with a norn named Gareth. He is looking after his son and his two daughters. These children are a bit of a handful (as most norn children are) and occupying all of his time so he’s asking generous adventurers who pass by to bring him dolyak meat so he can get his smoker going and make some much needed money. It’s a chain that involves his children wreaking havoc at the homestead and culminates in their attempt to use a “ritual” (which involves spreading honey all over the floor) to get the spirit of bear to send a bear play mate for them to wrestle. It turns out that their ritual is perhaps too good and much to their surprise an entire horde of bears descends upon the homestead. “
• Exclusive interview with ArenaNet’s Bobby Stein. “By rough estimates, Guild Wars 2 will have as much text as the entirety of the original Guild Wars series, including all three standalone campaigns and the Eye of the North expansion. It’s absolutely enormous in terms of written content. Because this is such a massive undertaking, we’ve segmented duties for the various content areas. Jeff Grubb heads up the dungeon story. Ree Soesbee is the primary writer for the personal story chapters, along with Scott McGough from my team. Lastly, the writing team is the driving force for event writing and VO, as well as ambient scenes. I give all the major dialogue a “script doctoring” edit pass, and try to make adjustments so that it sounds more natural.”
• Flameseeker Chronicles: Sharing the love. “It’s been a busy week in Guild Wars 2 news! Some might argue that point because of the lack of big reveals, but a large number of little details can be just as good as one or two huge unveilings. I think the real problem is that we’re at a point in the cycle right now when everyone’s feeling weary of the endless road toward launch. There’s no definitive end in sight; maybe this year, maybe next year, who knows. That feeling comes and goes — it’s been a regular part of the hype for a very long time now. Sometimes the fans just go into a lull because they’re tired of the whole mess and all they really want is a closed beta window.”
• Video of Lion’s Arch. “The most diverse and cosmopolitan city in Tyria, Lion’s Arch is a melting pot where all the races gather and trade. Lion’s Arch owes no allegiance to any race or nation, but stands on its own — and it does so by virtue of its active navy, its financial strength, and the intelligence and cunning of its leaders.”
• Walking (as opposed to running) will be included in Guild Wars 2.
• ArenaNet’s approach to Real World experience. “Some college internships are more about filing paperwork, fetching coffee and performing work that is only marginally related to the host company’s core service or product, all in the name of earning a few college credits and the ability to claim “I have experience.” But Guild Wars house ArenaNet says its new internship program, dubbed “Arena University,” aims to give participants real-world game development experience, as well as something to show for it in a commercial product. “
• Lion’s Arch: Building the heart of the city. “Attention-to-detail in games is important to me, not just as a designer, but also as a player. I’m the type who will explore every nook and cranny when I get to a new area, or I’ll run around talking to everyone to make sure I’m not missing even the smallest kernel of information. I will even put my quest or mission on the shelf briefly and just stand around watching characters go about their business. So that’s why, when Colin Johanson approached me about taking on the hefty job of designing the cities of Guild Wars 2, I jumped at the chance: it provides me the opportunity to fill our world’s cities with the details I crave.”