“According to tradition, the dragon embodies passion, independence, and ambition. We think it’s a perfect analogy for what we’re trying to accomplish with Guild Wars 2.”

ArenaNet have just updated their blog with an article that is somewhere between a promise and a call to arms, a mission statement and a battlecry.

“Welcome to the Year of the Dragon,” they say, and proceed to lay out a general plan for what fans can expect in the next couple months of preparation for release.

There is no live date even hinted at, but ArenaNet have committed to ship this year.  This isn’t surprising – even the most level-headed of fans would likely have been taken aback had the team held off til 2013 – but it is tremendously pleasant.  There’s mention of increasingly-large beta testing in the coming months, all culminating in the hugely-anticipated release sometime later this year. 

It’s a fantastically direct article that falls in line with some of the earliest statements we heard about the game – this is not a team of people to speak shyly about the work that they are so evidently proud of.

So, welcome to the year of the Dragon.  It seems we shall all be in for quite a treat.

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