I was initially pretty skeptical about Guild Wars: Factions. Specifically, I wasn't quite sold on the whole "standalone product" thing: while it would indeed be possible to play Factions game without having the original Guild Wars installed, I assumed that the result would be a compromised experience. It was hard to imagine players who didn't own the original game having as substantial an experience as those who did, let alone compete with those veterans in PvP. So it's pleasing to report that I was entirely wrong in that assumption, and it's clearer now more than ever exactly what ArenaNet is driving at with the extended expansion of the Guild Wars universe. That is, twice-yearly standalone installments brimming with content, providing gameplay experiences more polished and substantive than those that preceded them.