Developer: ArenaNet
Publisher: NCSoft
Genre: MMORPG
Official Website: www.guildwars.com

Mimimum System Requirements
CPU: Pentium III 800MHz or equivalent
RAM: 256 MB
Video Memory: 32 MB
Hard Drive Space: 2000 MB
Other: 16-bit Sound card, Internet connection, keyboard and mouse

Recommended System Requirements
CPU: Pentium III 1GHz or equivalent
RAM: 512 MB
Video Memory: 64 MB
Hard Drive Space: 2000 MB
Other: 16-bit Sound card, Internet connection, keyboard and mouse

Test System
2.0 GHz AMD Athlon X2 64 3800+ (Dual Core)
256 MB PCI-E GeForce 7800 GTX
1 GB of Dual Channel RAM


Introduction

As the rest of the world revels in its addiction to World of Warcraft (see the latest trends here: www.mmogchart.com) many people have migrated to the Guild Wars world of gaming. Even the VP at my day job once said, "You ought to join us on Guild Wars sometime". I was shocked, mainly because he travels so much that I could hardly imagine that he'd have the time.

After playing Guild Wars for a while, I can now understand how even busy people can have time to play. Guild Wars represents a paradigm change from the standard model of "pay to play" gaming world. That's right, there is no monthly fee! A lot of people might wonder how such a model for a could be profitable, but if you read Jason Baker's preview on Factions (www.exegamers.com/portal/story/32316), you'll know that the developers have a different way of looking at things. They believe that gamers want to play a variety of games, so they've structured their model to allow it.

Factions is a new Guild Wars campaign. Per the FAQ: "Guild Wars Factions takes place in Cantha, an Asian-inspired three-nation continent far to the south of the lands of Tyria, the setting for the original Guild Wars campaign."

Being brand new to the Guild Wars saga, I'm first going to focus on elements of the game from the perspective of a first-time gamer, then discuss the new and exciting elements that make this something you may or may not want to purchase for your collection.