After spending 2 (evenings) by 3 hours in ‘The Box’, I realized that having fun –which I did! Immensely, too- and collecting accolades –aka achievements- were two separate and in most aspects incompatible things. So I turned to my favorite source of guides and information to see what I’d been doing wrong. As it turned out, quite a few things. Here’s a step-by-step walkthrough of World 1 then, carefully compiled in a way that minimizes the time required to unlock all 17 achievements and get the treasured Title. Enjoy!

The storm that Tilion's recent weather forecast warned us about has eventually arrived. For the time being it appears to be a very light one, without any large scale manifestations. Soon however - specifically, in less than 24 hours - this is going to change dramatically with events which will cause large groups of Tyria's inhabitants to move in waves. A typhoon of high scale is expected to hit many areas, upsetting the local populace. Its name is Guild Missions.

When my first toon hit 80 I was struck with an epiphany: her personal story had been left behind, somewhere in the 60-something region. I discussed this with my guildies and I realized it was a very common phenomenon. After playing the game a while longer -with a couple of alt chars- I came to the following conclusion: one's first character is "the explorer", one's second is "the historian" and all the others to follow are and will be "the sprinters". The thing is, however, that most people wrongly think that after having raised a "historian" they can safely run through the 40+ steps-missions of their next characters' personal storylines. Obviously they are ignorant of the fact that the way one experiences one's personal story depends on many parameters - first and most fundamental of which is the race we select for our character.

But then I decided to look into it. I knew that there are lots of different themes playing throughout the game, varying depending on area/location or activity. I listen to them on my wife's speakers every day (don't ask why not on my own...). Besides, there's a 4 CD box set to prove this! But are these 78 tracks really being heard in the game? Apparently, no. And there are a number of things that can be blamed for this. I'll start with the obvious, then move to more 'bizarre' scenarios.

   Normally, I would feel this way for those unfortunate ones who have never set their foot on Tyria's enchanting world - either because they have never played the original Guild Wars, or because they were not lucky enough to participate in one of GW2's beta events. However, I've ended up regarding them as lucky, for they know not what they are missing and they shall experience all this magic at once and for good as soon as the game releases. What about me though? Me, who knows what he's missing and feels this absence so intensely? Who closes his eyes and his mind travels there instantly? My mind, which has already registered itself a permanent resident of Tyria and has packed up it luggage months ago... It is so hard for me to wait for all those XX:YY:ZZ 's to all become zero. And on the other hand, it is so much easy for me to write another article about it!

During its course we have received a plethora of truly amazing entries! On both accounts, text and photos, your participation was simply overwhelming: over 200 stories and almost 60 photos in all ! Picking out the best of the best was no simple task. Unfortunately, we only had a very limited number of rewards to give away, which only made our job even harder.  

Anyway, we probably should not keep you waiting any longer :)

   Thanks to ArenaNet and NCSoft, who once again have gone out to prove that they know how to reward their community for their love and dedication all these years, we are in the incredibly pleasant position to offer you 2 Collector's Editions (CE) and 4 Standard Editions (SE) of the game!

   A couple of days ago then, after the end of the game’s final (sob!) BWE, I sat down to write the article. I’d already posted an intro to it, presenting those levels which I considered as milestones as they unlocked important gameplay elements for our character’s development. So I began the way every respectful author does: by checking to see if there were any similar posts and articles around the web; the very last thing I wanted was to be accused of plagiarism! Much to my surprise, which quickly found itself torn between joy and disappointment, I discovered that I was perhaps the last person in the world to come up with this brilliant idea! A simple search with Goggle returns a MYRIAD of pages with tips and tricks about the game. What was there left for me to do? What more could I contribute?

The word "end" always causes negative and intense emotions to us humans. The moment we relate it however with the "beginning" of the next phase, these emotions are reversed instantly! So I let my sorrow about the end of the BWEs fly away with them (it is highly unlikely that I will participate in the last BWE, in 20/7, as the knowledge that my visit in Tyria will once again come with an expiration date is killing me...) and so I too bid this game's life cycle goodbye with a small travelogue: 24 hours (game-time) in Tyria, out of the sum of all three BWEs I took part in.

ENTIRELY differently (from other MMOs)"