When we first heard about Guild Wars, the idea of an MMO without a monthly fee sounded great -- and a little crazy. After all, bandwidth, data storage, staffing, none of that comes for free. But with some truly impressive streaming technology backing up a solid RPG experience and compelling PvP, the MMO that isn't has managed do pretty well thanks to popular and critical acclaim, and here we are with the first expansion pack that isn't. It's standalone, meaning you don't need the original GW to play Factions. This installment takes place in an entirely different section of the game world and takes heavy artistic cues from Chinese and Japanese architecture and cultural. Since the game is at least as popular as it is in the United States and Europe (with the top PvP in the world being based in Korea), this may seem calculated, and maybe it is. Even so, they obviously did more than check out some specials on the Discovery Channel, because the land of Cantha is crammed so full of pagodas and jade that it's almost like being there.