Guild Wars: 20 Years of Almost Uninterrupted Service, A Promise Kept

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2005 saw the arrival of another gem into the era of outstanding Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) of the 2000s, namely “Guild Wars.” Titles such as “EVE Online” and “World of Warcraft” continue to thrive with active development, whereas others like “Star Wars Galaxies” and “City of Heroes” are no longer officially supported but can still be played on fan-run private servers. Interestingly, “Guild Wars” falls in the middle ground; it may not receive updates anymore due to focus on its sequel, but it remains vibrant and active.

What makes Guild Wars unique compared to other games in its genre is the fact that it, along with its sequel, have been virtually uninterrupted for over two decades. Unlike many MMOs that occasionally need maintenance, ArenaNet’s pair of Tyrian titles manage to remain operational, even during significant updates or expansion pack releases. This commitment to continuous availability for 20 years has been a significant milestone and a contributing factor to its enduring popularity.

Guild Wars Server Infrastructure is its Secret Weapon

In the world of live-service games, regular server maintenance is a common occurrence. Performing software upgrades or even enhancing the physical hardware can’t usually be done while players are connected to servers. Over time, the challenge of maintaining a game and making updates has led to scheduled server maintenance becoming routine.

As an enthusiast, I’d like to share a common approach MMORPGs take to manage updates, ensuring a smooth gaming experience. For instance, games such as EVE Online schedule daily downtime for 15 minutes at a consistent hour, allowing them to carry out minor updates in a predictable manner. On the other hand, games like World of Warcraft have occasional brief pauses during weekly resets, along with longer outages leading up to significant updates or new releases. In fact, updates for MMOs like Final Fantasy 14 can occasionally stretch maintenance periods to as long as 24 hours.

Prior to his tenure at ArenaNet, Patrick Wyatt served as a programmer for Blizzard Entertainment, contributing to the development of games such as Warcraft 1, 2, and 3, Diablo 1 and 2, and StarCraft. Following his departure from ArenaNet in 2008, he contributed to the release of Aion and TERA.

Instead, you could say that Guild Wars practically eliminates downtime. It achieves this mainly by designing its servers to function in a sharded “microserver” manner. Essentially, each map from every expansion of Guild Wars operates independently as its own server. This means that updates, shutdowns, or isolated issues on an individual instance won’t affect the rest of the game.

Indeed, while this method isn’t flawless, it’s important to note that over time, Guild Wars has encountered occasional periods of downtime, often due to unforeseen events such as power cuts, adverse weather conditions, and equipment damage – such as the unexpected explosion of an ArenaNet server in Frankfurt, Germany. However, Guild Wars takes great pride in its minimal downtime, having confirmed six years of continuous service on February 15, 2024, a record that has been consistently upheld since the announcement, making it a reliable choice for gamers.

As a dedicated gamer, let me tell you that not many Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOs) have managed to rival the server structure of Guild Wars, and here’s why: A significant part of the game’s technological foundation was patented by the founders, Patrick Wyatt, Mike O’Brien, and William Strain. This unique infrastructure required a tremendous amount of work, technology, and resources to develop, which most other MMOs either couldn’t or didn’t want to invest in. As a result, Guild Wars stands head and shoulders above its competition due to the unparalleled server stability it offers.

Over time, several games have nearly matched the quality of Guild Wars. Notably, maintenance for major updates and expansions in Warframe seldom lasts more than a few minutes. Similarly, both Diablo 3 and its upcoming version Diablo 4 have incorporated technology derived from Wyatt’s work to reduce server outages. However, it is worth mentioning that Guild Wars has been leading the way in this regard for a longer period.

In the same fashion as its predecessor, Guild Wars 2 has maintained a robust server stability, and if there’s ever an official announcement for Guild Wars 3, it likely would too. Regardless, with ArenaNet still in existence, fans of the original Guild Wars can feel confident that the game will always be accessible to play.

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2025-04-28 14:04