You Won’t Believe the Secret Behind Guild Wars’ 20 Years of Nonstop Success!

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Among numerous online games that emerged during the early 2000s, the original MMO game Guild Wars, distinctly sets itself apart from the rest. Even though it has been overshadowed by its sequel Guild Wars 2 since its release in 2012, it continues to be accessible today. Titans like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy 14 presented stiff competition, but both Guild Wars and its successor managed to find unique places, enduring for the past two decades in areas where many others have faltered.

Recently, Game Rant had a chat with Stephen Clarke-Wilson, an experienced ArenaNet member and director of the original Guild Wars game, to celebrate its 20-year anniversary. The ongoing success of Guild Wars 2 can be attributed to the strong foundations laid by the initial game, which continues to see updates even now. In this discussion, Clarke-Wilson shared his experiences guiding Guild Wars throughout the years and unveiled the secret that keeps both of ArenaNet’s Tyrian MMOs eternally relevant.

Game Rant interviewed Stephen Clarke-Wilson, a seasoned ArenaNet professional who served as game director for the original Guild Wars, marking its 20th anniversary. The longevity of Guild Wars 2 is due to the robust structure of the initial game, which remains current with regular updates. During this conversation, Clarke-Wilson shared insights into his years working on Guild Wars and disclosed a secret that makes both of ArenaNet’s Tyrian MMOs enduring classics.

The Incredible Flexibility of Guild Wars and ArenaNet

Server Stability – The ‘Secret Sauce’ of Guild Wars

Upon the release of “Guild Wars 2”, the original “Guild Wars” needed some tweaks. However, according to Clarke-Wilson, this process was surprisingly straightforward: “[Guild Wars] is so meticulously designed that it could practically run itself.” A small team of around 10 developers continued working on “Guild Wars” post-“Eye of the North”, producing additional content. Yet, over time, most of them transitioned to the sequel. Essentially, “Guild Wars 1” became almost self-sufficient, with Clarke-Wilson noting this further.

We acquired high-quality equipment for our data center, which generally functioned smoothly. Regular maintenance was necessary to ensure backups were up-to-date, but once set up, it essentially operated autonomously for a couple of years.

A significant factor behind this game’s success lies in ArenaNet’s commitment: “No recurring fees, purchase once and play whenever you desire, with friends at any time convenient.” Unlike many other MMORPGs that experience periodic unavailability due to maintenance or updates (for example, up to 24 hours for games like Final Fantasy 14), Guild Wars and its sequel boast zero server downtime, even during expansion releases. Clarke-Wilson emphasized, “The freedom it offers is remarkable, not just the absence of downtime, but the ability to play whenever I want. This flexibility allows us to coordinate playtimes despite different time zones.” Remarkably, the Guild Wars servers have been operational around the clock for almost two decades.

Guild Wars Builds Success From Setbacks

Absolutely, ArenaNet isn’t perfect either; Clarke-Wilson shared some tales about hurdles that Guild Wars faced. In one situation, a server operated by NCSoft in Japan abruptly went down – and it had been running for such an extended period that ArenaNet didn’t know who to reach out to to fix the problem. “We were like, ‘Who do we contact? We don’t even know them!’ Since its establishment, no one had communicated with them once,” Clarke-Wilson recounted.

In 2018, a significant incident occurred at a data center in Frankfurt when it unexpectedly exploded, causing numerous problems for the game “Guild Wars”. After addressing this initial issue, another problem emerged: European players were encountering excessive lag. Interestingly, even when Clarke-Wilson tried to simulate the lag using a VPN, he couldn’t replicate it. He expressed his astonishment, saying, “They were getting three-second pings, and I was like, how is that even feasible?” Clarke-Wilson questioned, “Is it due to my relocation of servers? I’m not sure, but I have a puzzle to solve.

Initially, the developer took to Reddit to address player concerns, eventually pinpointing an unusual occurrence – a statistical anomaly he had previously dealt with in Guild Wars 2. Clark-Wilson admitted that “it fixed the three-second delays with the significant lag spikes, and I wouldn’t have addressed it unless I had interacted on Reddit with fans.”

Originating from an emergency debugging session, this interaction not only enhanced the game but sparked a series of subsequent optimizations, visual upgrades, and fine-tuning that continue even today. This ongoing progression was driven by both developer dedication and enthusiastic fan participation.

The enthusiasm for the game in the community was so contagious, it rubbed off on me! What once seemed like a commitment to maintain something, turned into an eagerness to actively support and boost its progress.

Through his extensive work on Guild Wars spanning most of its existence, Clarke-Wilson earned the role of its unofficial caretaker. Initially joining ArenaNet to help Jeremy Soule format music for Skyrim, his knack for fixing issues kept him there. As he put it, he was often tasked with solving problems that others couldn’t, leading him to learn and tackle new challenges. Despite other seasoned developers at ArenaNet, Clarke-Wilson has solidified his position as the go-to “problem solver” for Guild Wars.

In essence, Clarke-Wilson attributes the longevity and success of “Guild Wars” to more than just robust server support. He suggests that what keeps him at a company for so long is not only the diversity, size, and interpersonal relationships, but also being part of a company with staying power. With his past experiences of layoffs and closures in the gaming industry, he acknowledges the good fortune and smart leadership of ArenaNet’s founders as key factors to his successful career there, contributing significantly to the lasting impact of both “Guild Wars” and its sequel.

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2025-04-15 21:19