From a January 11 GameSpy Preview by Allen Rausch:
"Guild Wars: Factions will take place on the same world as Tyria, the location of the first game, but on the continent of Cantha, a mysterious land far to the south. Cantha is a land forever divided between three nations -- two of which, (the titular factions) -- have sworn eternal enmity toward one another. The first nation, also called Cantha, is a cosmopolitan land of merchants and traders led by a hereditary emperor. 200 years ago, the Emperor of Cantha was slain by his bodyguard, Shiro Tagatchi. When Shiro was brought to justice, his death wail was so powerful that it petrified the forest and turned the sea to jade."

Well, I'm a huge Guild Wars fan. Back in August of 2005, I want to say, I was looking into trying out one of these MMOs that I'd heard so much about. Better late than never, I guess. So, I was standing in a game store with Guild Wars in one hand and World of Warcraft in the other. The deciding factor was Guild Wars' lack of a subscription fee. Now, you can talk all you want about whether or not GW is a true MMO (instances!), and I wouldn't argue with you, because it's the only one I've ever played and so maybe I don't know any better. But ultimately I really don't care, because it's a lot of fun.

That being said I still haven't even touched the guild battles portion of the game. I've been wandering around killing monsters for the past 6 months. And I want more... Eventually, I'll get into the player-vs-player aspect of Guild Wars and I'll probably like the game even more. So Factions is one that I'm definitely going to pick up. I don't know if I'll ever buy another MMO, WoW or otherwise, but I do know that I'll be playing Guild Wars until NCSoft and ArenaNet stop hosting it.

Oh, and that highlighted line up there is brilliant. I don't know if it's from the author of the article or from one of the game's developers, but that's just good writing. I guess that makes me a pretty big nerd. Ah, well. I think I'll get a little more time in on the Factions weekend preview.