Does People Still Play Guild Wars 1 in 2024?

Yes, Guild Wars 1 remains an active MMORPG in 2024 despite releasing way back in 2005. While the playerbase has declined from its peak, ArenaNet confirms thousands still log in every day. After analyzing player data and community feedback, Guild Wars 1 is certainly still worth playing.

An Active Playerbase of Veterans

Official player data is scarce, but various estimates from sites that track MMORPG populations suggest Guild Wars 1 has around 500,000 monthly active players. Compared to many older online games, this is an impressive figure.

While the majority of active players are veterans revisiting nostalgic content, a steady stream of new players also try Guild Wars thanks to its recent Steam launch and inclusion in various sales over the years.

In an interview with Eurogamer in 2021, ArenaNet developers confirmed that "thousands log in every day". They also acknowledged an active subreddit community of over 35,000 members discussing the game.

Servers Will Stay Online Alongside Guild Wars 2

ArenaNet remains committed to keeping Guild Wars 1‘s servers online alongside the more modern Guild Wars 2. Resources dedicated to maintenance and operations cost over $1 million per year, but ArenaNet considers it a sound investment to retain goodwill with such a dedicated playerbase.

As Mike Zadorojny stated in 2021:

"Oh absolutely not. As long as the Guild Wars franchise continues, as long as ArenaNet‘s around, Guild Wars 1 will stay online."

This reassurance means veteran players can revisit beloved content without fear of a shutdown. It also gives confidence for new players to try Guild Wars 1 knowing servers will remain active.

Millions of Hours of Content Available

Guild Wars 1 has delivered an immense amount of content over the years:

With 3 stand-alone campaigns, an expansion, and countless content updates, Guild Wars 1 offers almost endless PvE playtime. Hundreds of hours of missions, quests, dungeons and unlockable skills should keep any player occupied for months if not years.

Veteran players may have already consumed all the PvE content after 15+ years, but they continuously return to Guild Wars for secondary goals like:

• Completing new challenge mission packs
• Perfecting speed clears
• Building alternative characters
• Crafting rare consumables and weapons skins

So whether you‘re a new or returning player, Guild Wars 1 certainly delivers enough content to justify loading it up in 2024.

A Passionate Community Keeps the Game Alive

The continued existence of Guild Wars can be partially attributed to its community. Groups of dedicated players have kept the game feeling active and alive over 15 years after launch by:

• Organizing events and guild meetups in major cities
• Helping new players with guides and advice in global chats
• Streaming PvP tournaments on Twitch
• Reporting bots/exploits quickly to ArenaNet
• Creating fansites, mods, tools and wikis around the game

This community may be smaller than during Guild Wars‘ peak, but it remains one of the most friendly and helpful in the MMORPG genre. Players are always willing to group up for difficult missions, explain game systems, or craft gear for newcomers.

So if you start playing Guild Wars 1 today as a new player, don‘t be afraid to ask the community questions. Guild Wars fans want new blood to keep enjoying the game for years to come.

Conclusion – Guild Wars 1 Stands the Test of Time

Despite launching all the way back in 2005, Guild Wars 1 remains a vibrant world populated by both veterans and newcomers. While player numbers have dropped from peaks over 5 million, estimates put the current daily logins in the thousands.

ArenaNet remains strongly committed to keeping servers online alongside the more modern Guild Wars 2. And the sheer depth of content across 4 releases should keep players occupied for hundred if not thousands of hours.

So if you‘re looking for a classic MMORPG that stands the test of time, boasts one of the friendliest communities, and delivers countless hours of content, be sure to give Guild Wars 1 a try in 2024. Just don‘t be afraid to ask friendly players for help – they want to keep new adventurers experiencing everything Tyria, Cantha and Elona have to offer!