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

• If you listen to podcasts, you might want to subscribe to the Guildcast weekly podcast
• Reminder: the official Guild Wars 2 wiki is still growing, so it’s worth checking it out now and again for new information.

Part 2: Guild Wars news

• Reminder: If you’d like to keep track of the Guild Wars Beyond material, keep this page bookmarked.
• Reminder: Guild Wars official support forum. Here is the FAQ page for the forums.

Part 3: Guild Wars 2 news

• GW2 Addict. “The goal here is to consolidate quality Guild Wars 2 Blogs into one feed, so it’s easy to keep up, read articles you want, and learn about new blogs. All the articles link to the blogger’s site and give credit where credit is due.”
• GuildMag: Guild Wars 2 – Ruins of Rin video.
• Hunter’s Insight: Rytlock in plush form. “There have been some interesting home made crafts inspired by Guild Wars over the years, but nothing beats plushies. OMFG plushies! Arenanet staff went on an adventure with a plushie that they were gaving away during the recent conventions. You want to see some plushie!”
• Hunter’s Insight: Brainstorming mini-pets. “In Guild Wars miniatures are nothing more than collectible prestige possessions. Even when their worth doubled as the Hall of Monuments rewards were announced they were still just for show. What could you possibly do with mini-pets beyond collecting them?”
• Flameseeker Chronicles: The pros and cons of multiple guild membership. “ArenaNet may have increased the speed of Guild Wars 2 reveals in a big way, but we’ve still got a long-running question that’s not been answered: How will guilds work?”
• Guild Wars 2 – Human Territory Tour
• Guild Wars 2 – Asura Gameplay
• Inc Gamers: Isaiah Cartwright Talks PvP. “The Paradigm Shift managed to pin down Isaiah Cartwright who talks more about the recently revealed PvP.”
• Inc Gamers: Devs Demo GW2 at PAX – IncGamers Videos. “At PAX last week ArenaNet once again showed of the game to the press behind closed doors. Player72985 popped along to check out the game for us here at IncGamers and filmed the presentation. What’s interesting about these presentations is that each one is slightly different from the next so it’s well worth a watch.”
• Charr Territory Tour + Gameplay – Part 1
• Charr Territory Tour + Gameplay – Part 2
• Charr Territory Tour + Gameplay – Part 3
• Talk Tyria: One Guild Too Many. “I think GW1 guild leaders will have much to worry about. What we know is only from the recruit’s point of view, but I hope very much for guild leaders to have some kind of control over the matter. The idea is great and I actually don’t mind it that much, however that’s because I’m at the point in my life where I only have time to hang out with a tight group of friends on a voice chat server. I know these friends as if we went to school together everyday. I am totally cool with them joining another guild temporarily when their personal goals aren’t parallel with my guild at the time. If I rewind time by 6 years, then this would definitely not be an ideal feature. I need some kind of guarantee that members are loyal, so that I can feel safe investing my time to help others, and know that we are independently competitive. From what we’ve heard, though, it sounds like guilds have been reduced to being Steam Groups. In case you’re unfamiliar with Steam, users of the service can join (or be invited to) any number groups they wish to be associated with. There’s no sense of loyalty to a single community there. Again, in terms of GW2, players may join up with multiple groups and just reap the benefits from each one without committing much to any one guild themselves.”
• GuildMag: GamesCom Interview series. “While our camera team (Dutch and Johny) handled more professional interviews with a camera and microphone, I walked around with my notebook and interviewed various Arena Net devs. I spoke with employees from all the departments that flew over to Cologne, Germany, for GamesCom. In my interviews I tried to find out more about the game, the person I interviewed and the department they work in. The following series of articles are a compilation of the discussions I had. You won’t see many direct quotations, as the scribbling in my notebook tried to grasp the essence of the replies, but I will still provide you with the correct information as I uncovered it. I hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed gathering the information.”
• GuildMag: GamesCom Interview series – Part 2. “Today we continue where we left off yesterday. The following series of articles are a compilation of the discussions I had. You won’t see many direct quotations, as the scribbling in my notebook tried to grasp the essence of the replies, but I will still provide you with the correct information as I uncovered it. I hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed gathering the information.”
• Talk Tyria: My oh my.. the New, New Guild Wars 2. “As I was absorbing every bit of detail that Jon drops in the post (which is a lot considering the new demo is on a whole different level), it dawned on me how much reaction this was going to get from the fans. To be honest, I’m kind of on the fence a little. My reaction isn’t as aggressive/extreme as others – which really isn’t all that surprising if you’ve read my previous post – but there are still some parts that are slightly iffy for me.”
• Prepare Your Minds for Asura Week! “They may be small, but they think big. They’re the asura, a race of diminutive geniuses whose inventions, experiments, and research make them a force to be reckoned with in Tyria. Next week we’re examining the asura with five days of blog posts, videos, stories, and more. Get ready for Asura Week, which runs Sep 12-16!”
• Introducing the Guild Wars 2 Charr Plush! “The charr are known as ferocious, relentless conquerors who grind opponents under the wheels of their war machines. A real charr would probably make a mess of your home, terrorize your pets, and eat all your food, so we’re offering the next best thing – a huggable charr plush doll!”
• GamesCom Interview series – part 3. “Today I present you with the last couple of interviews with the ArenaNet staff. I hope you enjoyed them all! And keep in mind: You won’t see many direct quotatoins, as the scribbling in my notebook tried to grasp the essence of the replies, but I will still provide you with the correct information as I uncovered it. I hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed gathering the information.”