Guild Wars Events

ArenaNet, NCsoft and the Guild Wars team take part in various industry-related events over the course of every year. But aside from industry events such as E3 and various trade shows, the Guild Wars Team is also directly involved with the fans. This section will share news of some of our fan-related events, contests, and other activities.

• Character Birthday Presents
  Guild Wars characters who have reached the venerable age of one year have started to make the exciting discovery of a wrapped and beribboned package in their inventories. You may know that a simply double-click of the package reveals a special Guild Wars Birthday Miniature. But you'll probably find additional information of interest on our Birthday Present Page , so head there now.
  
• California Fan Meet & Greet
  NCsoft is hosting a "meet and greet" for fans of their games, and that, of course, includes Guild Wars ! You're invited to attend, but you need to sign up right away. Check out the Meet and Greet page for details.
  
• Faction Head Start Event: Day of the Tengu
  When is a Head Start more than a head start? When it's an event ! The Guild Wars Factions Head Start Event begins on April 27th, at 7:01 GMT (12:01 a.m. PDT). Want to find out what's in store during this 24-hour celebration? Click here for just some of what you can expect at this pre-release party!
  
• FPE Sneak Peek Posted
  You can read the particulars of your upcoming Factions Preview Event experience on a new page, published today in our Events Section. Get the heads up on missions, find out exciting info on alliance battles, and scope out a lot of other facts, too! Click through for all the latest info on the event.
  
• Party Wrap-Up
  You can read about last Thursday's Factions Preview Party in our Preview Party Wrap-up article. You'll find an event overview, a community report, and details of the news PvP gameplay option, the Guild Wars Sealed Deck. Check this link for all the news.
  The press has covered the event as well. Here are a few links:
  • IGN.com
  • Penny Arcade
  • Gamespot
  • Skewed
  
  
• New Guild Wars Factions Fan Contest
  Players have a new opportunity to take part in an exciting Guild Wars fan contest, the first for Guild Wars Factions . We're expanding the Guild Emblems catalogue, and this is your chance to make a permanent impact on the game! Simply create a new guild design, send it in, and wait to see if your emblem is chosen as an addition to the global catalogue. The deadline for mailing to ArenaNet or your local NCsoft office is April 7, 2006. Find out more on this page , and we hope to see your entry in the contest!
  
• The ArenaNet Backstage Pass Contest
  A dozen Guild Wars fans from the Seattle area, or those willing to cover their travel expenses, have an opportunity to attend a special pre-release Guild Wars Factions event. See this page for details.
  
• Global Free-For-All PvP Weekend Event
  The next chapter of Guild Wars is coming! Guild Wars Factions will be released in the 2nd Quarter of 2006. Gamers from around the world are invited to take part in an exciting three-day event, where they can test out the new Battles Isles, future home of Guild Wars PvP combat. Players can experience new forms of PvP, take a training challenge or two, and visit the new PvP Explorable Areas. Come one! Come all! Join us January 20th for the Guild Wars Factions Global Free-for-All PvP Weekend Event .
  
• Bring Out Your Builds!
  It's time to do a swap-out on some of the PvP Pre-builds. We're looking for effective new character templates to offer to players choosing a quick-start character for PvP play. In order to get the best and freshest builds, those guilds in the Top 20 of the Guild Wars ladder as of 11:59 PST on Sunday, December 4th, will be invited to send us a character build. Then, the player community will vote on their favorites and several templates will be incorporated into the game. We'll have more information on the Bring out Your Builds Challenge soon, but in the meantime, keep on with the GvG and start thinking about what your template will be!
  
• Design-a-Weapon Contest :
  During the months of November and December 2005, Guild Wars fans and players were invited to send in their design ideas for new weapons for Guild Wars Factions . More than a thousand players took advantage of the opportunity to let their imaginations run wild. The entries were exceptional, and nearly 30 were selected by the Guild Wars Team as winners or honorable mentions. Guild Wars Factions will see the weapon inclusions either upon release or over the months following the release of Factions . Check this page for details.
  
• Halloween 2005 :
  Guild Wars fans have been celebrating Halloween 2005 in a variety of ways, In addition to the Guild Wars Halloween Art Contest , we enjoyed Guild Wars Guild Emblem pumpkin carving , a Halloween-themed wallpaper , display of a custom-carved Necromancer Pumpkin and a whole variety of in-game activities .
  
• The Guild Wars Halloween Art Contest :
  Guild Wars fans are invited to enter the Guild Wars Halloween Art Contest . Share your ideas -- from carved pumpkins to desktops and from costume design to the edible side of "Trick or Treat!" Send art that celebrates Autumn or Halloween in a fantastical Guild Wars theme. Click here for more information.
  
• Brand the Bosses Contest :
  Fans from around the world were invited to name one of six Stone Summit Dwarf boss monsters featured in the Guild Wars Summer Update: Sorrow's Furnace . During the course of the contest, the number of name-able monsters was increased to 24, thus increasing each contestant's chance of winning by 400%. Entries were accepted through 29 July 2005, and the winners can be found on this page .
  
• E3 2005 : Aim for the Stars & Own the Devs Challenge Matches:
  A dozen special PvP battles took place during the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. A guild of Dev Team members and Korea's famous War Machine Guild challenged Guild Wars guilds directly from the show floor, and guilds from all over the globe accepted the call. Click through for details and a photo album .
  
• Guild Wars Guild Emblem Contest :
  The second fan contest invited players to design a Guild Wars guild emblem. The variety and excellence of the entries was impressive! Ten winners were chosen and their designs were immortalized directly into Guild Wars , where players from around the world may choose one of these terrific emblems for their own guild. The rules are shown on this page .
  
• Wedding i Tyria :
  The first wedding to take place in the Guild Wars world took place during our World Preview Event in October. Read the story and see a few screenshots of the event here .
  
• Battle Report Contest Winners :
  After our second Beta Weekend Event in November 2004, we invited people to submit their stories about Guild-versus-Guild battles on the Tombs of the Primeval Kings tournament ladder. We had hundreds of entries, and from those selected 10 winners and 15 honorable mention winners. Read more about it here .
  
• Guild Wars Community Day :
  Our hard-working fansites deserve special recognition, and we have started a series of Community Days where we invite leading fansite webmasters or staff members to visit ArenaNet. Our 1st Community Day was held in the Summer of 2004, and a report is filed here .
  
• Penny Arcade Expo 2004 :
  Guild Wars was one of the featured games at the 1st Penny Arcade Expo (August 2004) in Bellevue, Washington. Over two days, more than 2,000 gamers had a chance to try out the game and talk to various team members. Find the story here .
  
• E3 2004 E3 for Everyone Event :
  Players on the E3 floor joined a worldwide event audience to take part in the first public demonstration of Guild Wars in its alpha state. A photo album is here .