ArenaNet was originally formed by a few ex-Blizzard guys, who played an active role in the development of StarCraft, Diablo, and Warcraft III. So, basically, some of the minds that had a role in three of the best games in the last decade (certainly StarCraft and Diablo each have a special place in gaming history), along with a whole host of other talent, have combined to work on a single, original game: Guild Wars. And personally having extensively played two early builds of the game (the E3 for Everyone build, and the recent build) they have managed to completely redefine the way I think of MMORPGs; and this is from a game that isn't even due out until early 2005.