Much has been revealed over the last few months about Guild Wars 2 , ArenaNet's ambitious MMORPG . From the dynamic event system which aims to ensure that players never have the same experience twice, to the story mode that allows players to take different paths in their quest to save the world of Tyria. Every time we hear more about it, we anxiously rub our hands together, and eagerly await the day we get to put the game to the test. We recently spoke to the Guild Wars 2 team about a couple more features to be thrown into the broth, but this time the focus was not on story or combat, but on relaxation.

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Guild Wars 2 is set to contain activities. That is, things that players can do that have no bearing whatsoever on the game's storyline or the characters progression, and which are not altered by such either. They are there purely for fun and variety – to give players who are burnt out from monster slaying an opportunity to do something that feels different, while staying within the scope of the game world with the ability to set out with (or against!) your buddies.One of the more exciting examples of the activities ArenaNet has planned is the bar brawl, which removes the player's weapon and pits them in a battle royale where the environment is the only thing that can give them an edge. Picking up a beer stein and smashing it over the head of another patron, for example, is an acceptable – even encouraged – course of action. As is chugging a beer and spewing its toxic contents, or waiting until the last moment to get the killing blow on a worn-down enemy. It's an activity that is far-flung from the tight, organized combat we can expect from the main game. "The nice thing about working on activities is that, where we want to, we can take the core mechanics and just toss them out," says Game Designer John Stumme.There will also be activities that aren't as focused on combat, such as a set of instruments that players can use. A shooting gallery was also mentioned, although it was unclear how it would function. Will it use similar combat mechanics to the main game, or will it play more like a first-person-shooter? We posed this question to the team, but it went unanswered, so we may have to simply wait and find out. Also unclear was just how players can get in on these activities. We were told some could be hot-joined (joining the game while it is in progress) and some would require players to queue up, though which was which was never explained.Fun derived from these activities should be reward enough in and of itself, but for those of you who hate having fun and enjoyment, there will also be a reward system. "We will be giving both tangible and intangible rewards from doing well in activities," Stumme told us. This would include, he said, skins for items that you might not be able to obtain elsewhere. "We also want NPCS that are reacting to you. If you just clean the floor with everybody at the bar brawl, you'd want guys saying 'Just as soon as there stops being three of you, I'm gonna knock your lights out next time.'"It is extremely likely that these activities will also be linked to the Guild Wars 2 achievement system. Achievements will function much like they have in other games – completing or mastering something will unlock an achievement so you can have a record of it. Some may also unlock special titles for your character. Achievements are, however, bound to your account and not your character, meaning you can't gain an achievement on two different characters on a single account. The reason is due to the nature of some of the achievements (one requires you to master every weapon-type in the game, and no single character can do that), and due to the nature of the branching gameplay. There won't be any direct gameplay rewards from achievements, because if you've received an achievement, then you've mastered that aspect of the game, and won't need anything to be better at it.Feats are another feature we discussed. Feats are like little daily achievements that give the player more immediately achievable goals that reward the player with experience upon completion. The feats vary depending on what you do. "One of the feats is just a simple kill-count," said Game Designer Curtis Johnson, explaining that as the player killed ten, twenty, a hundred enemies, they would complete that feat. "As that goes on and players reach each threshold, they get harder and harder to achieve." There may also be feats for slaying a certain number of different types of enemies. The idea is to both make casual players advance more efficiently in the time they are playing (like rested experience in other games) and to encourage a variety of actions. Feats run in the background regardless of what you are doing, and will reset daily.Personality is another aspect being introduced. Previously known as diplomacy, in Guild Wars 2, it serves to establish the type of character you are playing. Over time, the way you respond to NPCs will categorize you as a certain personality archetype, and from there NPCs will act differently, and your actions towards them will change. The example we were given was the "badass" character who would use intimidation to obtain food or an experience buff from an NPC. A more honorable character might inspire the NPC to help, or talk them into it. The end result is the same, but the means are different. In that respect, personality is mostly cosmetic, but it aids players in getting into the spirit of their character. If role-playing is your thing, then personality is going to help you define and maintain your role.Finally, we discussed maps. Maps may not be the most thrilling thing ever (that honor goes to high-speed dinosaur shootouts in space), but in massive open-world MMOs, they're an integral part of an enjoyable experience. "While it's not groundbreaking," admits Game Designer Ben Miller, "it's certainly a solid, core part of the overall game." For Guild Wars 2, the team looked at a lot of the newer mapping technology that has sprung up throughout the internet, and have utilized many of the same techniques as sites like Yahoo and Google Maps to make it easy to use, including the ability to click-and-slide and zoom in. Getting from one side of the map to another in the game world will likely require the use of an Asura Gate, which can be found in the main cities.If we are to be honest, we were surprised by what we were told about the activities system. Until now, Guild Wars had been sounding extremely layered, dense, and for a lack of a better word, serious. Activities seem to provide an outlet for the developer's wackier side, and let players blow off a little steam without getting bogged down in a massive quest. We can't wait to try the game out for the first time at Gamescom this August.What do you think about what you've heard about Guild Wars 2 so far? Spill your brains in the comment section below.