NCsoft and ArenaNet announced this week that they are in the process of creating a sequel to the popular MMORPG Guild Wars. Guild Wars 2 will build on the game mechanics from its predecessor and will carry on in the tradition of offering gameplay without monthly service fees. Betas are set to begin in the second half of 2008.

In the meantime, Guild Wars players will have plenty to keep them busy with the upcoming release of the first true expansion for the series: Guild Wars: Eye of the North. Eye of the North will require that players already possess one of the three previously-released campaigns.

"We felt it was extremely important to reward those people who have been playing Guild Wars since the game first launched in 2005," co-founder of ArenaNet, Jeff Strain, commented. "Those players have seen three very large campaigns created in a little under two years and so we think it's time to begin filling in the details of the existing world and to provide more content for current characters. We are thrilled to focus our time on something that our players have been asking for."

Eye of the North will set predominantly in Tyria, a previously-released area. It will include eighteen expansive dungeons, 150 skills spanning ten professions, ten new Heroes, forty armor sets, and, if that's not enough, there will also be new items, weapons, and titles. Additionally, Eye of the North includes a Hall of Monuments to record player accomplishments. This feature will eventually allow Guild Wars players to unlock special items and bonuses in Guild Wars 2.