One of the interesting gameplay experiences added was that of Alliances. As Factions was named, factions it has. The Kurzick, who live in the petrified forest that sprung up from Shiro’s initial betrayal, respect art and social order. They are constantly at war with the Luxon, a sea faring nation that respects strength above all else. After freeing a spirit under attack by Shiro, players are allowed to choose a side in the war to help convince to put aside their differences long enough to defeat Shiro. However, after the campaign is over, players can join with their guilds into Alliances and fight for either the Kurzicks or the Luxons. Different towns, and the merchants and quests therein, are under the protection a given Faction. Alliances gain access to these towns by performing good deeds for their chosen faction through PvE quests, small team PvP, GvG battles, and smaller cooperative missions.

There were some graphical updates to the game between Factions and Prophecies, which weren’t necessary, but serve to show that ArenaNet is willing to give the best content they can. Which is to say: PRETTY. One of the minor crafting changes I really liked was the ability to buy all the art types of armor sets without sacrificing stats. In Prophecies, each armor art set is tied to stat set, but require all the same crafting materials. In Factions, there are several art sets but all the stats are available on each art type. Since so much of Guild Wars is focused on the pretty, I really like being able to make my character look the way I want while still being able to chose the best armor stats for my build.