First Guild Wars trilogy novel titled and given unofficial release date
by Shawn Schuster 
Jul 1st 2009 at 10:00AM
Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, New titles, Guild Wars 2, Rumors
Guild Wars: Fall of Ascalon by Matt Forbeck is set to release on or around February 23, 2010. What's even more interesting is some speculation from a GW fan concerning what may be the second book, possibly being penned by J. Robert King, also for release in 2010. Of course this begs the question of timeline. Are these three books all being written at the same time, to be released around the same time, or will they be written and released well into 2011? As far as we know, Guild Wars 2 won't come out until these books have all been released, so with the first book coming out in February of next year, we probably won't hear anything new about Guild Wars 2 until then, at least.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Arnie said on 10:30AM 7-01-2009
Wow I am excited for these books but at the same time frustrated by the timelines they mentioned. Jeez, its taking a crazy long time for GW2 related news or stuff.
I really think they should have managed their time lines properly.
It will be hard to justify 'hype' for GW 2 if it releases late 2010 or god forbid 2011. Also, if they launch in Christmas or holiday season of 2010 they will get butchered by the big budget titles (& there are a lot of them). They need to launch it during the slow seasons cause their fans will still buy it, Its just the other 2million they have to convince.
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pogger said on 11:15AM 7-01-2009
I've also been frustrated over the lack of info about GW2. However, I've heard some of the delay is because of NC Soft and their other diversions...
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to checking out this trilogy. I just couldn't get into the Warcraft books at all (even while I was a WoW subscriber). Maybe I could have gotten into them if I was younger and still in school.
Guild Wars seems to have taken its lore a little more seriously. I'm having a blast going through the content (cutscene by cutscene) and feel that a book trilogy is a highly logical and needed step to go from GW1 and GW2.
Look forward to you reporting on this more as it develops, Shawn. Thanks.
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CindyL said on 11:49AM 7-01-2009
NCsoft only publishes this title, I doubt they have anything to do with the delay as their decisions and rearranging NCwest would have no impact on Arena Net. Remember that this title is more ambitious then what they did with GW1.
:)
MCRaider said on 1:35PM 7-01-2009
2011 seems like a more resonabile release to me for GW2. The end of this year and next year we will see a huge influx of MMOs to the market.
If Arena Net wants to make a solid game they should wait for the huge wave to hit. Area Net then can grab the people who tried the new MMOs out but quit after 6-months of play.
2011 seems like a very far ways away but we have a few solid titles coming out that should keep some interest in playing an MMO.
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Mr Rodgers said on 2:25PM 7-01-2009
I'll definitely be checking these out.
A 2010/2011 release date wouldn't surprise me. Considering the founders of Arenanet are all ex-Blizzard employees, the "we'll release it when it's ready" philosophy should be expected.
And to be honest, wouldn't we all rather wait a year or two longer and get a solid game we'll play for years than a crappy one we'll abandon after six months? Heck...as long as this game is as fun as the first was AND INCLUDES AN AUCTION HOUSE, I'll be its most devoted fan.
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Tom said on 3:23PM 7-01-2009
I, too, am looking forward to seeing/playing GW2.
However, seeing as how long it has taken them to do anything, I really wish ArenaNet had opted to do another GW1 chapter or mini-campaign prior to the release of GW2.
Another Eye of the North-type expansion would have made big bucks for ArenaNet and kept a lot of GW players happy during this long, dull ... "intermission" period.
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Cithrax said on 3:44PM 7-01-2009
The funny thing is, if they had made another campaign, then they would have had to delay work on GW 2, so you'd have to wait just as long, but starting a little later.
Tom said on 4:14PM 7-01-2009
The thing is, that's a bit like saying the next expansion of WoW is being "delayed" because Blizzard's production and resources are being spent on developing Diablo and Starcraft.
I just don't buy that argument. If a game is as popular as Guild Wars, then it should be worthwhile for a given developer to work on more than one product at a time.
GW2 is, in effect, a new game. But the old game, GW1, still has a lot of life left in it -- or would have, if ArenaNet invested in it. At the very least they should have subcontracted with another developer to work on expansion to GW1 while they focused on GW2. I think there was definitely more money to be made that way.
Cray said on 5:18AM 7-02-2009
Interesting perspective Tom, but considering ArenaNet has only one game under their belt and Guild Wars being it's first baby. I highly doubt they be comfortable leasing out another developer to add another expansion to GW1.
Part of me wouldn't mind another expansion, particularly one for Factions and another for Nightfall. Eye of the North was really a sequel to Prophecies.
Also I'm not concerned at all about the release dates, because these things take years to create, including the books. A good novel takes at least 3-5 years to write, lets not rush them.