This past weekend was the MMORPG.com’s second such event with the Guild Wars 2 beta, and as such we felt it necessary to dive into the more minute aspects of the game.  Perhaps things some folks wouldn’t really talk about at sites that aren’t so acutely focused on the genre as we are.  To that end, in the video preview below, you’ll see just about everything when it comes to the User Interface of GW2. The only things we couldn’t show just yet are the Commerce menu (item shop) and the Trading Post (the auction house). Those bits and pieces are still under NDA as they’re far from final.  Still, if you want to get an up close look at the map system, the Hero Journal (your personal character’s repository) and the achievements, this is the video for you.

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David North has you covered when it comes to traits, so I’ll stay focused on the basic functionality of the system.  As I write this, I’m trying to think up some likes and dislikes, but to be perfectly honest… I think the former might just outweigh the latter – as is the case with ArenaNet’s game in general.  Be sure to watch the video below, but for those who are at work, here’s some fancy bullet points to cover the pluses and minuses of Guild Wars 2’s User Interface.

THE LIKES

• Love the map. Want to have its babies. So very detailed, easy to navigate, and a great way to figure out what nooks and crannies you’ve not yet explored.
• A sort button in my inventory? Yes please! It compacts everything for you to put the spaces you have open at the bottom, and keep the junk at the top.
• Super detailed Hero Page that tracks all of your character’s achievements, stats, skills, traits, weapons, personal story, and so on.  It’s like an encyclopedia of you.
• Love being able to enter the Mists, and thereby WvW or competitive PVP right from the PvP portion of your Hero Page.
• Did I mention I want to let the map impregnate me?

THE DISLIKES

• The sort button in the inventory would be even better if you could make it sort by quality or item type as well.
• I wish the Hero Page would allow you to view your traits and skills before you “unlock” them.  I’d like to plot out my progression as I level.
• The friends list functions are pretty basic, and the LFG tool doesn’t seem too functional, yet.