Guild Wars is an online game with no monthly fees. Yet, how long can the fun go on? Some of you might be wondering when the party is going to end. When will ArenaNet change their policies or ultimately shut the game down forever? When recently logging into Guild Wars, I was notified that the User Agreement was updated. I had to agree to new terms, or stop playing the game. I became suspicious!
When it’s late on a Friday night, I’m not in the mood for reading legalese. I decided to wait until the morning. I would wait until I was fully rested before reading the changes to the User Agreement. Even the next day, I was still not in the mood to peruse numerous paragraphs of rules and restrictions.
Now I know what many of you might be thinking. “Mike, stop being such a weirdo. Just click the accept button and get back into the game.” Ah, but don’t you want to know if you’re entering an agreement with an honorable organization? What if NCsoft and ArenaNet are finally caving to financial pressure? What if this is the beginning of the end for Guild Wars? What if something else is going on? What if ArenaNet is paving the road for new features or future content?
Don’t you want to know that?! 
I downloaded a program to compare the differences between the August 2007 user agreement and the January 2008 user agreement. Here’s a list of changes that I found…
- Line 2: Last Modified January 2008
- Line 6: (a) Terms of Agreement. NC Interactive, Inc. and ArenaNet Inc. (collectively, “NC Interactive”) offer to allow you to play its multi-player online computer games “Guild Wars”, Guild Wars Factions, Guild Wars Nightfall, Guild Wars: Eye of the North, and/or Guild Wars Bonus Mission Pack, as applicable (individually and collectively, the “Game(s)”) conditioned on your agreement to all of the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement and your compliance with the posted Rules of Conduct.
- Line 12: (b) Amendments. NC Interactive may amend this Agreement or modify the Rules of Conduct at any time in its sole discretion on our web site via (a) the amended Agreement, currently at http://www.guildwars.com/support/legal/users-agreement.php or (b) the modified Rules of Conduct, currently at http://www.guildwars.com/support/legal/rulesofconduct.php. Amendments to the Agreement and/or modifications to the Rules of Conduct will be effective immediately upon posting. When logging onto the Service (as defined below) you will be asked to confirm your acceptance to any such revised terms and conditions. You agree to check this Agreement and the Rules of Conduct periodically so you will be familiar with their content as amended or modified from time to time. If you do not agree to the revised terms and conditions, you should contact NC Interactive immediately to discuss closure of your Account (also defined below).
In line 2, the date was changed. In line 6, the Bonus Mission Pack was added. In line 12, the link to the User Agreement was updated. I’m not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. I’m just someone who’s curious about the actions of ArenaNet. These minor changes to the User Agreement don’t reveal anything at all. Out of 160+ lines, I only see three changes… THREE!
I logged back into the game, content with the status quo. 
lol
You scared me for a second!