When you think about Guild Wars 2 and the work ArenaNet does on it, one word comes to mind in particular – innovation. Even if not everything works out, even if at times the game seems lacking and way too finite for an MMO, innovation is undoubtedly what the guys at the studio have in mind. With the recently amassing criticism about the game lacking content, one would think that the best solution is to release a fully-fledged expansion pack, thus giving the players another few months of exploration and fun. But no, this is not the way Team A.R.E.N.A. is headed. As Mike Zadorojny told Eurogamer during the London part of his European trip:

"It's [the expansion] something that's on the table but it's not something we're focused on, because what we want to do is - our idea here is that with Living World, we can do what expansions would have done but do it on a more regular basis."

Both as a journalist following Guild Wars 2 and as a player, I must admit such a thought never crossed my mind. An MMO without expansion packs to wait for?! But now that I think about it, it is starting to make sense. In their MMO Manifesto one year ago, ArenaNet stated that Guild Wars 2 was their "opportunity to question everything, to make a game that defies existing conventions". There were some successful attempts (the Karka event, Halloween) and some not-so-successful (the recent Southsun event), but it all shows one thing – they are still trying! And with the recently announced dropping the monthly Big Event schedule in favour of a two-week one may just be the thing they need.

As someone once told me, "The existence of an achievement for seeing and doing everything brilliantly sums this game up". By casting the expansions model aside, ArenaNet risks much. The development teams will need to work hard and get better and better to satisfy the playerbase. But if they can succeed, this will be yet another example that if you have lots of ambition, skill and faith, you can create something completely new in a seemingly defined genre!