Guild Wars: More Factions features

A new feature in GW: Factions will apparently be player titles. Via a GameSpot interview.

Another interesting tidbit:

Yes, we added guild scrimmages, which can be initiated by any member of a guild when they are in their guild hall. This gives guilds the ability to practice one-on-one, eight-on-eight, or even one-on-eight combat if they choose. This is also a pretty good example of the sort of upgrades that affect all chapters of the game. Anyone playing Guild Wars whose guild has a guild hall will be able to take advantage of guild scrimmages regardless of whether they buy Factions.

Apparently you'll be able to visit allied guild halls as well. This is fabulous stuff.

{infomercial-style}Now how much would you pay? But wait, there's more!{/infomercial-style}

Once Factions is out, you will be able to talk to the guild lord non-player character in your guild hall and hire various service NPCs for your hall. Hiring service NPCs is a one-time cost, and they carry over for your guild, even if you elect to change guild halls. To some degree, many of these NPCs are luxuries, since map travel allows you to reach a city that has a similar NPC with a few clicks of the mouse, but there are certain NPCs that we know people will be very anxious to hire.

Important services, such as a Xunlai storage agent and a priest of Balthazar, will be moderately priced, while other, more esoteric services will be priced as luxuries. Among the most anticipated, I'm sure, will be a vault keeper who maintains storage space for the whole guild. This is an entirely new feature that we're adding soon after the release of Factions.

...

Capturing an elite skill will give you around 5,000 experience points. We're improving the quality of all rare (gold) and uncommon (purple) items significantly. We've worked to make boss encounters more interesting. We've accelerated skill acquisition and given players more choice about skills from the beginning of the game. We've given players more choices about the appearance of their armor even if they want particular stats. And the list goes on!

Nice.

Tags: gaming, guild wars, guild wars: factions