In a move that can only lead to a Skynet-style machine takeover of the world of Tyria, development and manned support for the original Guild Wars has (largely) come to an end. Bug fixes and regular tournaments will continue, but these will be scheduled and maintained through automation, possibly by a single blinking LED light in the heart of ArenaNet's server room. If you're worried that this might mean an imminent end for the eight-year-old game, fear not, as the team hope that this self-sustaining move will "keep Guild Wars running in the years to come."
As the blog post reveals, this move probably won't affect your experience too much, aside from the fact that weekend events have now been expanded into weeklong affairs. Tournaments will continue, now overseen by the cold unflinching eyes of computer algorithms, and we'll still get birthday presents every year. Yaaaaay. "We want the game to be in a place where it's able to take care of itself," the post reveals. "While we will not be producing new content, the Live Team will still be around to perform critical fixes for crashes or other serious issues. We want to support the players who made us successful by ensuring the game provides the best service possible without constant supervision and attention. Reducing the need for manual intervention makes it easier for us to keep Guild Wars running in the years to come."
Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.
