Guild Wars: Eye of the North Q&A

GameSpot had the opportunity to sit down with ArenaNet game designer Ben Miller for a two-page Q&A about their upcoming Guild Wars: Eye of the North expansion pack.

Q: We understand that the three new races that appear in the expansion will be playable in Guild Wars 2. Is their appearance now just a teaser of things to come? What can you tell us about the races?

A: What you see of them in Eye of the North is definitely just the tip of the tip of the enormous iceberg that is Guild Wars 2. The Asura and the Norn definitely get the most face time.

The Norn is an extremely boisterous, independent race that lives in the magical and dangerous Far Shiverpeaks. Everything about them is on an epic scale. They fight epic monsters, build epic buildings, and drink epic flagons of ale. You would see a typical Norn standing in front of a giant ice wyrm in a torrential snowstorm laughing because the wyrm doesn’t stand a chance.

The Asura are an extremely cute magical race that is being driven above ground by the menace below. Don’t let that fool you, though. They are among the smartest races in role-playing game history. Traditional gnomes, goblins, and so on, have nothing on these little guys. Instead of being mad inventors that build fanciful mechanical stuff that sometimes blows up, the Asura make powerful magical creations that work. Creations that would make a giant ice wyrm scared for its giant ice hide.

We definitely have a few surprises in store for players when it comes to everyone’s favorite enemy race, the Charr. Not only will players get to do what any red-blooded Ascalonian wants to do (and that’s kill more of them), you will also get to see the great depth that Charr society has and explore a part of their homeland.

The Sylvari are by far the biggest tease in Eye of the North. So much, in fact, that I am finishing this sentence with ellipsis…