LOOKING FORWARD TO THE RELEASE OF GW2!

GW2 Demo Updated

The newly updated Guild Wars 2 playable demo is bursting at the seams with new content. For the first time, all five GW2 races are playable, with the Sylvari and Asura gameplay taking place in the high-level area, Sparkfly Fen.

Adding to the Human and Norn starting areas, the previously unseen Charr starting area on the Plains of Ashby will make its debut. For the first time players will be able to pick a legion to join then either man a gigantic cannon to battle ghosts, or lead an elite squad of charr warriors in a hunt for traitors through the alleys of the Black Citadel.

Throw in some oversized bosses, giant high-level dynamic events, a load of skill and weapon updates, along with PvP being ready to roll for the very first time, and GW2 fans have lots to look forward to. Play GW2 at gamescom 2011.

In a nutshell here's some of the changes that have been made it into the new build, so that even if you've already played the GW2 demo before, there'll still be plenty of new experiences in store.

SKILLS :

ENERGY : Skills no longer cost energy, and as a result there will now be NO energy potions. Energy regenerates over time and there's a new energy replenishment mechanic.
DODGING : Now also evades attacks. Limited by energy levels. A new Dodge button which players can bind to a single keystroke.
SKILL AQUISITION : Weapon skills are learned as players gain experience from actually using a particular weapon. Non-weapon skills will be aquired in a similar fashion to Guild Wars.
TRAITS, SKILL TIERS, ATTRIBUTE POINT SPENDING : All updated though not adjustable in this demo.

PROFESSIONS : Almost every weapon for every profession has changed in some way or another.

ELEMENTALIST : Earth attunement - The heavy-duty elementalist attunement with Earthquake, Sandstorm, and a host of good defensive abilities.
WARRIOR : Hammer - Heavy hitting foe smasher.
GUARDIAN : Hammer - Different to the Warrior's hammer. Instead a hybrid damage-and-support weapon that helps to control an area.
Greatsword - Massive 2-handed blade capable of melee and magic damage.
RANGER : Greatsword - An AoE melee weapon utilizing chopping, leaping, kicking, evading and bashing.
Pets have been undergoing improvements but will NOT be on show in this demo.
THIEVES : Initiative and energy regeneration mechanics re-worked... again. Underwater stealing implemented.

PvP : The first structured playable PvP opportunity for players on a map called "Battle of Kyhlo". You'll need to be quick and early for this one. Visit the Alienware booth and sign up for your chance to play in the four-team 5v5 PvP tournament. The winners go on to do battle against the Guild Wars 2 game developers with some cool loot up for grabs :

1ST PLACE TEAM : Five Death Adder Mice
GRAND PRIZE (beat the development team) : Five NVidia EVGA GTX 560 Graphics Cards
ALL PARTICIPATING TEAMS : Five Guild Wars 2 Dragon T-shirts

If that's not enough new stuff you can also try out the Guild Wars 2 character customization process where you'll be able to choose from a large variety of faces and hairstyles, adjust body types to create stocky, skinny, and muscular characters, and customize facial features. There's also a unique set of options for each race, such as asura ears, charr horns, human noses and norn tattoos.