ArenaNet finally announced the date of the first Beta Test Weekend – April 27-29! It had been known for some time that it would be some time during “end of April”, but many had speculated this weekend since the next one is also Guild Wars 1′s 7th birthday celebrations. Looks like next weekend will be a busy one! The Sylvari or Asura races will still not be available for play, but will get to visit Lion’s Arch for the very first time, which should be a real treat. For those eager to know more of the Sylvari, it might be interesting to know that the latest issue of Gameinformer does have an article about the Sylvari starting area and story (no online version atm, sorry). Meanwhile, ArenaNet is preparing the beta forums, and while they are very much a work-in-progress they are coming along.

In Guild Wars 1 there was the MS Toga party on Saturday April 21. A great initiative by GW-EN and Gamers Giving Back, among others, raising over $3,000! The event was also a blast to attend, and really shows what a great community we have.

In other news, we at GWOnline are busy preparing for the beta. We are also looking for more people to join the team! By the way, did you know that you can share all your favourite Guild Wars 2 videos at GWOnline TV? We got categories for pretty much everything, including Machinima, Professions, Press coverage and PvP. And you can make your own Guild Wars 2 blog right here at the site. Something to think about after next weekend

Oh, and we made friends with Black Star Radio and Italian fan site Ebohawke!

Official

• The Beta Weekend Event is Coming! ArenaNet announced the date for the first Beta Weekend Event for pre-purchasers (and others with promotional beta access), and made this blog post for the details. Telling us that among other things, we will get to visit Lion’s Arch for the very first time! (Forum discussion)
• Guild Wars 2 Facebook: ArenaNet kicked off a new likes campaign, promising a new piece of art for every 10,000 likes, with a big one when/if they reach 500,000 likes. They started out with about 460,000 and already released one image – of Eir exploring underwater. (Forum discussion)

Community Interviews

• Guild Wars 2 Journal: Guild spotlight – Ripple effect oz.

Videos and Podcasts

• BuffeeArts: BuffeeArts continued his series with this Engineer Speedart video.
• Eternal Alchemy: This Week in Tyria Episode 1. Eternal Alchemy kicks off their very first vidcast episode. Hopefully more to come!
• Gamebreaker: Naked Man, YouTube… This Is Great For SEO, Top of the charts, Game on!
• GuildCast: Episode 19 – Believe the hype!
• KirbyzaGamer: Mesmer, Ranger and Warrior skill breakdowns.
• MattVisual: Dose – Scaling up cancelled and community works. Another part of the Guild Wars 2 vs Other MMOs – Subscription fee (get a Mac parody) and also a Beta Key giveaway!
• SagelikeOne: Q&A #20 (US/EU crossovers, overflow progress, dungeons with split parties) 
  and #21 (trading, LoL PvP, xp from structured PvP)
• Snebzor: PAX East 2012 thoughts. Snebzor went to PAX East, and got lots of input. Among other things a bunch of Guild Wars 2 beta keys, which he is giving away. Also, Endgame thoughts.
• Tales of Lumin: Vlog- Beta weekends.
• Tales of Tyria: Episode 27 -I’m so stressed. Tales of Tyria are also doing a beta key and PAX swag contest!
• ThePrimeCronus: Cinematic | PostHaste Music – Covenant. Another very nice fan-made Guild Wars 2 trailer.
• Tubeelephant: What makes an MMORPG great?
• TWIMMO: Episode 92 – Preparing to launch.
• WoodenTomatoes: Magic finding loading slots, Mursaat special, Nicolas casting rewarding AoEs, Jotun breeding with gods, Redemption of dragons, Raptors switching minions.

Articles and blog posts

• 321spike: How to create an effective team build (part 3/5). 321 is finally back with the continuation of their ongoing build guide series.
• Attached to Keyboard: EU Fanday – Other questions. Tasha posted this wrap-up of a variety of other questions that were answered during EU Fanday. A very interesting read and lots of good info!
• Boons & Conditions: The mindset of roles. Another nice article by MintyMint, this time about roles.
• Capacitor Flux: The Guild Wars 2 effect – ‘It’s Elementalist my dear Watson. A very nice piece about what makes Guild Wars 2 special.
• Condottieri: Structured PvP ranking is based on glory, here’s why that’s an issue…
• Demajen: Beta weekend #1 announcement, and some other betas too.
• DistilledWill: Finding a game/life balance.
• Flameseeker Chronicles: Simplicity itself.
• Games.on.net: Same old same old – TERA’s shallow revolution proves that MMOs need to change, and now. James Pinnes has interesting things to say about MMO evolution. And while he things that Guild Wars 2 is going in the right direction, he is not sure if it goes far enough.
• Greibach’s Normal Form: Priming your mind for beta.
• GuildMag: Age of deceit - Prologue & a tragic hunting by Thalandor Doomspeaker.
• Guild Wars 2 Hub: Ranger companions overview and video.
• Guild Wars 2 Journal: General guides. GW2J updated all of their general Guild Wars 2 guides.
• Guild Wars 2 Junkies: Counting Skills: Weapon swapping and hotbars. Jason Dodge takes a real close look at skill counts, possible key bindings and how to make it all work.
• GuildWars2Live: This week on GuildWars2Live. Lots of new exciting things happening over at GW2L, make sure to stay tuned!
• Guild Wars Insider: Tackling a few BWE concerns. Kekai Kotaki hosting illustration workshop, Something stupid: Guild Doors.
• Hunter’s Insight: The case for megaphones. Hunter sees the positive aspects of the oft-criticized cash shop megaphones visible in some leaked beta images.
• Just One MMOre: A problem with Guild Wars 2 might be the fact players want grind.
• Kill Ten Rats: 10 helpful tips for the Guild Wars 2 beta. A great red by Ravious about how to prepare for the beta. Also, Time consumption and A stable bass.
• Maloki: Survival checklist for the Guild Wars 2 beta weekend event.
• MMORPG: It is a sequel. David North takes a closer look at how Guild Wars 2 improves on the Guild Wars 1 formula.
• NZXT: A Matter of life and death. What to play, Diablo 3, Torchlight 2, or Guild Wars 2?
• PC Gamer: Guild Wars 2 preview. Chris Thursten gives his hands-on experience as a warrior during the press beta weekend.
• Raging Monkeys: Is ArenaNet suffering from Blizzard angst? About the timing of release.
• Redeye Chicago: Looking for the future of MMOs. Sean Emes gives this rundown of where MMOs are heading.
• The Feral Engineer: Questing. Another in-depth article from Feral.
• Under the Pale Tree: And the winner is… Verene announced the Guild Wars 2 beta key winner. Also, Beta next weekend.
• Yoshi’s Guild Wars 2 hub: Plans for beta, Revised beta plans, Preparing yourself for beta – What to keep in mind (A really nice read for anyone who will play the beta!).
• ZAM: The Top 5 arguments against Guild Wars 2. A very nice run-down of the most common problems have with Guild Wars 2, and how they might not all be the problems they are first perceived as.

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