According to the hints from Mike O'Brien

http://www.arena.net/blog/dragon

Welcome to the Year of the Dragon!

Today is Lunar New Year’s Day, and according to the Asian zodiac system, the first day of the Year of the Dragon. It’s an auspicious omen for all of us at ArenaNet, as we get ready to make this our own Year of the Dragon.

According to tradition, the dragon embodies passion, independence, and ambition. We think it’s a perfect analogy for what we’re trying to accomplish with Guild Wars 2. We’re a company full of MMO and RPG fans, and we’ve set out to fundamentally rethink how you deliver an RPG experience online. So this year, the Year of the Dragon, let’s usher out old thinking – the tired old quest model, stiff repetitive combat, and monthly fees – and usher in the new.

Guild Wars 2 has captured the imagination of gamers and media all over the world with its action-oriented combat, its living world full of dynamic events, its highly personalized role-playing experience, and the handcrafted artistry that suffuses every element of the game. Last year, thousands of you joined us at shows and events all over the world to try Guild Wars 2 for yourself. This year, you’ll finally be able to immerse yourself in the vast, diverse world of Tyria.

We recently finished our first closed beta test, and we’re now ready to hold progressively larger events. In February we’ll invite select press to participate in beta testing, and in March and April we’ll aggressively ramp up the size of our beta test events so that many of you will have a chance to participate. And of course, this all leads to the release of Guild Wars 2 later this year.

So stay tuned to our official Guild Wars 2 website, our Facebook page, and this blog for more information about how to participate in an upcoming beta event.

It’s been an incredible adventure over the past five years, working with our community and our team of dedicated artists, designers, and programmers to realize this vision. This year, the seeds of that work come to fruition. We can’t wait to play the game with you.

So welcome to the Year of the Dragon – the year of Guild Wars 2.

-Mike O’Brien
ArenaNet Founder and President


Pretty cool. Hope it goes well. Does anyone have a guess on when MOP would be released based on the past turnaround for WoW expansions?

 

-----signature-----

I don't think you can really go by any past expansion releases due to them moving up the date for this next one. I suppose the best answer would be sooner than you'd expect.

 

-----signature-----

If they follow the same pattern as past expansions there will possibly be two more patches. One 'filler' patch that attempts to lead up to the next expansion. Really just to satiate raiders just before MoP beta begins. Then the pre-release patch a month or so before the expansion release.

If they do a filler patch I'd guess beta testing in June. Release in October at the earliest. More likely November again.

If they don't do a filler patch then I'm going with beta in April and release in Aug/Sept.

I can give more accurate guesses when alpha testing begins.

 

-----signature-----

I have a feeling that Blizzard wants to try to get this one out ASAP, to MOP up Cata and try to steal the thunder that will be GW2. It all hinges upon that I think in many cases. I don't think TOR is much of a threat any more as I have already read people unsubbing already, the game will not be able to retain as many players as some have predicted and it is why I went with the low ball number of roughly 1-1.5 million subs a year after release. The patch in March will be a big determining factor when it comes to TOR and being able to retain players, espeicaly casuals figuring there is absolutely nothing worth a damn to for a casuals once you hit max, beside level another character along the same leveling path. Hell even I am taking a break from TOR already and am replaying through Final Fantasy 13 right now to get the second game eventually after playing the demo.

Anyway, I agree with Rill that I think you might actually see this one late summer roughly as far as MOP goes. I also think you will see GW 2 release in June or July time frame. Blizzard will need to have MOP ready in a couple months after that.

 

-----signature-----

They've already stated they won't be adding anymore raids this expansion. so not sure what they'd bother doing in terms of a "filler" patch.

my guess is the next patch will be the one that makes the world ready for the expansion with all the talent/spec changes.


as for TOR.. i like it.. i don't know that its a long term investment for me. that being said i already have 3-4 friends that love the game and are now saying they like it more than wow (after playing seince beta).

as for a launch of mop? thats too hard to say. people will be bored very soon with dragon soul if they aren't already. my guess though is that the expansion is still at a minimum 6 months out. but honestly.. i see a november release again.. they kind of like it.. and they have diablo 3 coming out within 3 months i'd say.


as for GW2? i liked GW.. for about 2 weeks maybe 3.... it wasn't that great of a game and got really boring.

 

-----signature-----

http://guildwars.com/events/press/awards/




Yeah, Guild Wars was such a bad game that it got all those awards...

 

-----signature-----

Opinions...

 

-----signature-----

Yep, he posted his opinion and I posted some facts. Funny how that works, eh?

 

-----signature-----

They're certainly always interesting.

 

-----signature-----

I liked GW, but I played WoW during the time it was out. I don't really have enough room in my life for multiple MMOs, except beta tests, hehe.

 

-----signature-----