This past weekend, ArenaNet hosted the December beta session for Guild Wars, its mission-based online RPG, which is drawing ever greater amounts of interest as development moves forward toward release next year. The title is massively multiplayer, but not in the standard sense. Player characters are persistent. However, the advancement process only goes to level 20, which should be attainable within roughly the same number of hours, meaning there's little or no treadmill to endure. At that point, you'll still be able to gain additional spells and abilities, giving you additional options when choosing the eight to use at any given time. The gameplay includes a story element that will play out through a linear series of 20 or more cooperative missions created on demand for you and your team. Other locations like towns and PvP areas are also instanced.