Yesterday we received an update to ArenaNet’s first structured PvP blog detailing some of the PvP additions coming to Guild Wars 2. In the update, Jonathan Sharp delves into some new information regarding the Qualifying Point system that will be used in paid tournaments, and also talks a bit about some of the new UI changes tournament players will be seeing. Here’s a snippet:

Qualifying points (QPs) are gained in paid tournaments – each person on a winning team in an 8-team paid tournament gets 1 qualifying point. QPs lead to rankings for larger tournaments, and allow you to measure yourself against other players.

Because you must have a full team in order to join a paid tournament and it takes tickets to enter, we know that the best teams will be playing paid tournaments. So while you do compete for better prizes than in free tournaments, the thing you’re really competing for are QPs. Think you’re actually good at competitive GW2? Hit the paid tournaments and prove it. We’ll be adding more features that build off QPs, so once that’s ready, I’ll give everyone another update!

Check out the full developer blog here.

Jonathan Sharp, Content Designer at ArenaNet, shared some interesting PvP news in a developer blog published yesterday. Guild Wars 2 is going to have a much larger structured PvP scene, and in the near future players will not only be able to take part in normal (free) PvP tournaments as they can now, but also more competitive, paid tournaments that will offer a different set of rewards:

As the name implies, paid automated tournaments have an entry fee. You’ll need tickets to enter a paid tournament, which you can purchase in the gem store, find in reward chests from free tournaments, and receive when you rank up!

These tournaments reward ALL teams that play in them, and offer better rewards on average than free tournaments. Successful teams can earn excellent rewards from paid tournaments, but you’ve got to be good to finish in the top prize slots. We expect that more experienced PvP players will start to migrate to paid tournaments because the risk/reward is much higher than in the free automated tournaments.

There is also no matchmaking in the paid tournaments. You have to come in with a premade team, which means the teams will ALL be organized teams – you won’t have premade groups fighting pick-up groups as you would in free paid tournaments.

Players will most likely need Tournament Tickets to take part in these tournaments, which are already available in the Black Lion Trading Company for gems.

ArenaNet is also working on a custom arena system, where players can set up a private, password-protected area for friends and guildmates, and use it to arrange custom challenges. The team also has additional PvP features in store for Guild Wars 2 players, but some of those plans are tight under wraps for the moment. Read the full developer blog for all the details.

Game Informer brings us a 30 minute preview today that was assisted by Anet’s own Jonathan Sharp. You’ll find the video in the link provided below.

ArenaNet designer Jonathan Sharp walks us through Guild Wars 2′s innovative dynamic questing system and shows off a never-before-seen PvP map.

The video below touches on a few of Guild Wars 2′s most important elements. Curious about how the game eschews traditional MMO leveling content, or how the combat system works, or what the scoop on the massive “world vs. world” open-world PvP battles is? Sharp narrates all those answers and more over raw gameplay footage recorded at the Game Informer offices.

Source: Guild Wars 2 – 30-Minute Video Preview