ZAM gives a hands on preview of the new Guild Missions in Guild Wars 2

Guild Challenge

Off to the Iron Marches we went to take part in our first experience of a guild challenge. Hordes of Flame Legion Charr were attacking an outpost and it was our job to fend them off for a testing length of time. A plethora of barrels lay around the outpost and if all were destroyed by the invading army, we would fail.

And fail we did. Twice.

The assault is absolutely unrelenting, if you are doing this mission be absolutely sure to select Daily Kills among your achievements if it is available as you will be putting down whole crowds of Charr interlopers.

Again, teamwork is a must; you cannot rush from swarm to swarm like players are used to in standard events. Positions need to be taken and jobs need to be assigned to make sure you complete this mission which lives up to its name; challenging indeed.

I want to see the rest of the Challenges that are available as in some ways this content excited me most due to its focused marshalling of a guild’s forces

Guild Trek

I didn’t get to participate in a Guild Trek, which seems to be less exacting in its nature and more of a way to blow off some steam as a guild. With this in mind, Guild Treks do not supply the rewards of other bounty missions, with only Guild Merits distributed on successful completion.

Positive Outcomes

The Guild Mission system brings a lot more content into the game that takes care of a couple of holes that have been gaping in Guild Wars 2 for a while. Guilds will now have content that they will want to build toward due to the very obvious rewards held therein.

Just as importantly, guilds will now be necessary for something as the amount of coordination needed to complete the different missions will be exacting enough to make a close knit, well organized guild thrive.

There will also be a very good way to obtain powerful items in a manner that is different to any previously available; ascended items, for example, will be easier to reach for many players.

The content looks very solid and there’s enough reward in taking part to make it almost compulsory for many players, though not on an intensive regular basis; which would be antithetical to ArenaNet’s overall approach in Guild Wars 2.

Concerns, I Have a Few….

I’m unsure where this update leaves small guilds. If you want to experience this content and gain the rewards that are on offer, your small guild just got put on the back foot.

For example, how many small, social guilds have 50,000 Influence sloshing around in the coffers?

If you are a new guild, would you want to commit to grinding out that much influence over what could be months to unlock just the first type of mission which you will spend an initial hour or so doing each week at most? Of course, when the rest are unlocked, there will be plenty more to do. But that’s a lot of resources to commit and for small guilds that could take a huge, prolonged effort.

If you are a member of that guild, do you stick with it, or do you find yourself representing the 500 person guild with Influence falling out of its pockets? The one that will soon unlock each type of content and each tier a substantial time before your ragtag bunch of plucky friends.

Of course, once the system is out in the wild for all to pursue, things could be very different and I am pleased to see such an extensive move towards making guilds more important. Right now, it's difficult to see the full extent of how much Guild Missions will change guilds of all sizes.

One thing is for sure though, we won’t have to wait long to find out.

Scott "Jarimor" Hawkes, Editor in Chief