Guild Wars: Eye of the North

Things are about to change for Guild Wars fans as the August 31 release date for the series' first true expansion, Guild Wars: Eye of the North draws closer. Developer, ArenaNet is breaking ties with the formula they've followed for delivering new content in the past. Sure, there'll be more dungeons, quests, and heroes to collect. But don't expect to start off by leveling up two new professions.

ArenaNet feels that they've got enough professions for players to choose from right now. "Part of the drive behind making an expansion is the fact that we can focus on creating the content that existing players want. And basically what that means is with the expansion we can devote all our time and energy and creativity into other more interesting things aside from making a brand new tutorial experience, which takes a lot of our time and a lot of our focus to reinvent the wheel..." explained  lead designer, Ben Miller in a recent interview.

Above: The Hall of Monuments will preserve your characters' achievements from the original campaigns and will provide rewards to your Guild Wars 2 character

So what do players want? Well, ArenaNet thinks we'll want to see the legacy of our original Guild Wars avatars survive the aftermath of our inevitable exodus to greener pastures in Guild Wars 2. It's been known for quite some time that Eye of the North's Hall of Monuments will preserve your characters' achievements from the original campaigns while nudging you towards the upcoming sequel. But details on how the Hall of Monuments will work and what kind of achievements they'll provide has been shrouded in mystery until now.

This personalized instance area will feature five monuments. The Monument of Fellowship features flaming statues of every hero that has joined your cause. The Monument of Honor proudly displays all the titles you've received. The Monument of Valor and Resilience will showcase the high level weapons and armor you've collected. And the Monument of Devotion will show off all the mini-pets you've taken under your wing.