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Guild Wars 2 (2012) is the successor of my old favourite, Guild Wars (2005).  Here are some of the differences.  I compare GW2 at times to World of Warcraft (2004), which I usually refer to as WoW.

1. Physical and political geography has changed.
1. A great deal of time has gone by since GW1. There have been large scale geologic upheavals on the planet Tyria due to the elder dragons.
2. The vast continents of Cantha and Elona are separated from the northern continent of Tyria for one reason or another.  The action in GW2 is all in the continent of Tyria.
3. The region of Orr (with its multitudes of undead) has risen from beneath the sea.
4. Old Lion's Arch was covered by rising water.
5. Divinity's Reach grew and became the centre of Human activity.
6. The Charr actively run the areas formerly controlled by Ascalonian Humans.
7. New alliances have been forged to combat the evil elder dragons and the undead.
8. The Norn, the Sylvari, and the Asura found places to live in the continent of Tyria that were not used in GW1.


2. Game physics has changed in GW2 to include some further possibilities.
1. Characters can jump.
2. Gravity has consequences: one can fall off cliffs, and damage can occur, up to and including death.
3. Characters can swim. Surface swimming deactivates the skill bar, while underwater swimming activates skills particular to underwater weapons.
4. If one has the Heart of Thorns expansion, and has done a certain number of tasks, the characters in your account can glide.
5. Unlike WoW, there are no mounts yet, flying or otherwise.


3. There are five playable races instead of one:
1. Human
2. Norn
3. Charr
4. Sylvari
5. Asura


4. Each race has a designated capital city:
1. Human: Divinity's Reach
2. Norn: Hoelbrak
3. Charr: The Black Citadel
4. Sylvari: The Grove
5. Asura: Rata Sum


5. Exploration is shared instead of instanced, so monsters and resources routinely respawn.  The metal node that you mined yesterday you can mine again tomorrow, though the location might be slightly different.  The monster you killed 90 seconds ago might respawn (same or nearby location) and kill you while you are AFK getting coffee.


6. Shared towns and outposts were dropped except for the capital cities listed above, and a short list of hubs like Lion's Arch.  Most settlements are porous: enemies including swarms of enemies can pass through, killing NPCs and players alike.  In capital cities, enemies basically do not exist, and damage can (usually) not be inflicted.


7. In GW2, detailed, intertwined crafting exists.  One can build armour, weapons, buffs, potions, and food and skills that come with practice.  A particular character can usually only have two crafting skills active.


8. In GW2, each character has one primary 'profession,' but no secondary profession, as yet.


9. There is no analog to the Monk class.  All classes have healing abilities including self-healing.


10. The Black Lion Trading Company in GW2 serves much the same function as the Auction House in WoW.  One can sell (most of the time) items obtained from crafting, harvesting, drops, or rewards, and buy similar stuff from other players at auction prices.


11. GW1 did not have player crafting; in GW2, there are eight crafting specialties:
1. Weaponsmith
2. Armorsmith
3. Leatherworking
4. Tailoring
5. Jewelmaking
6. Huntsman
7. Artificer
8. Chef


12. To facilitate crafting, there are three types of harvesting, plus cloth grinding:
1. Mining (metal ores that usually need refinement)
2. Lumbering (various levels of wood)
3. Harvesting (herbs, fruit, vegetables, spices, meat)
4. Cloth is obtained from drops for the most part, and not by harvesting.


13. Metals, lumber, and cloth are ranked in terms of the level of crafting in which one uses them. For instance, copper < iron < steel < dark steel < mithril, and so on. Copper is only used in the lowest levels of crafting. Similarly, jute < wool < cotton and so on.


14. There are nine professions in GW2:
1. Light armour: Elementalist
2. Light armour: Necromancer
3. Light armour: Mesmer
4. Medium armour: Ranger
5. Medium armour: Thief
6. Medium armour: Engineer
7. Heavy armour: Warrior
8. Heavy armour: Guardian
9. Heavy armour: Revenant


15. These roughly correspond to the ten professions in GW1:
1. Light armour: Elementalist
2. Light armour: Mesmer
3. Light armour: Monk
4. Light armour: Ritualist
5. Medium armour: Ranger
6. Medium armour: Necromancer
7. Medium armour: Assassin
8. Heavy armour: Dervish
9. Heavy armour: Warrior
10. Heavy armour: Paragon


16. Ritualist, Monk, Assassin, Dervish, and Paragon from GW1 were dumped in favour of Thief, Engineer, Guardian, and Revenant in GW2.

Yuck. Odd choices. Dump the Thief. Dump the Engineer. Dump the Guardian.