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New interview of the upcoming patch with Guild Missions and a new SPvP map details included, from MMMORPG.com

MMORPG: Let’s talk about the Guild Missions now, as I know my own guild is going to be stoked about them. Can you give us some examples of how they’ll work, and what they’ll be about?

COLIN: The guild mission system is a really exciting advancement of our event system, and for guilds worldwide. The system allows people in a guild to work together to unlock guild upgrades that allow them to go on missions together. These missions can be kicked off by the specific guild that has researched that mission, but once they are activated, anyone can jump in and participate to help the guild finish the mission if they wish. The missions are designed such that some components of the mission can only be completed by the guild themselves, but each of them has aspects other players can assist with as well, so everyone has something they can do during the mission.

Effectively, this system allows guilds to literally create content across the world for everyone to experience. When one of these missions is created, often times you’ll see a banner with the guilds name and emblem that created the content. This serves two purposes. It’s a great recruiting tool for guilds to find players by having them join them on missions and if they stand out, inviting them to the guild. It also means guilds will really gain notoriety on their world; you’ll get to know the guilds creating this content and those guilds will become more famous and important in the community.

There are multiple categories of guild missions that a guild can kick off, and within each category there are numerous different challenges to overcome worldwide.

To give an example, one category is the guild rush. When a guild creates a guild rush in the world at one of the rush locations, a timer begins and the rush has to be completed X number of times within the allotted time in order for the guild to succeed. If the required number (or more) of players complete the mission before the timer runs out, the guild gets a reward which can be traded for guild-wide bonuses. Anyone can help the guild get their reward by joining in the guild rush and trying to complete it, but the rush doesn’t end until the timer runs out, so everyone can get a chance to complete it even if the minimum requirement for success is surpassed.

For personal motivation, anyone who completes the rush at least once will receive a personal reward regardless of if they are in the sponsoring guild or not. Also, anyone who was in the guild that kicked off the mission receives an extra different type of reward, which can be traded in for a new category of personal guild rewards that can only be earned through the guild mission system.

MMORPG: Will there be guild missions for PVP, WvW, dungeons, or will they all be in the open world?

COLIN:On the initial release of this system, guild missions will be PvE only, and will occur entirely in the open world. The goals of this system are to help make guilds more well known on their world, provide larger motivation to join a guild, to help drive players to every corner of our open world where they will run into other players and build stronger social experiences, to create a much larger diversity of content in our open world, and to allow players to specifically create content in our world for everyone to experience.

We’ll continue to expand this system in the future and add additional guild missions within the categories provided, as well as look at options for new categories of guild missions as well. We haven’t ruled out the possibility these could expand beyond PvE, or beyond the open world, but for now our major focus is on strengthening our open world experience as much as possible and making the living world of GW2 truly shine.

MMORPG: What sort of rewards can guilds obtain by completing them?

COLIN: There are a number of new rewards available from this system, from items specifically for players who complete the missions to rewards and upgrades for the guild itself. Guilds have a lot of new unlocks and really great bonuses they can purchase as a result of completing these missions. For example, you can purchase cheaper waypoint costs for your entire guild while the bonus is active.

Personal reward options vary from luxury goods and new types of items, to fun guild related stuff. One example of a personal reward you can buy I think is especially fun is a transform that turns you into your guild’s banner. It’s perfect for taunting enemies from the walls of a keep in WvW and reminding them who just stomped their face!