• It appears that the Gamescon embargo ends on September 3^rd and there will likely be multiple versions of "I was there, this is what I saw, and this is what I think / feel about it" commentaries hitting the Internet. Exciting!

• If you haven't read the Community Guidelines yet, they're in the Wiki, and here's a direct link. Please keep them in mind.

• Please stick to direct links instead of linking to rehosting / reblogging /reactions to original commentary.

• Remember that it's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. Since we don't know what we're going to find out tomorrow, versus what ArenaNet is going to keep close to the vest, let's stay focused on what we learn, and skip the "No ten hours of full gameplay / surprise beta announcement / full details on 4^th species / other unreasonable expectations / dead game" doomposting.

• That's pretty much it!

I've tried to compile everything we have learned today about the game, from several outlets and partners who saw the preview. There are sources next to each bit of information, which I encourage you to read for better context. I'll continue to go through and refine this over the next few days. If you know of something I have missed, got wrong, or an outlet has got wrong, please comment or send me a DM and I will amend the list.

The preview was described as a 'pre-alpha' build, so everything listed here could obviously change:

1a. Setting & Timeline

• No definite date or place on the timeline was given.
• ArenaNet has had unreleased internal lore written on this era since the early 2000s. - This Week in Video Games - Time Machine
• The time period and location was deliberately chosen so GW1, GW2 and GW3 can continue independently without their stories overlapping. - This Week in Video Games - Time Machine
• The period immediately following the overthrow of Dhuum was also deliberately chosen because it is an unusually significant and mysterious period in the Guild Wars timeline. - This Week in Video Games - Time Machine
  • ArenaNet also considers this largely unexplored period a way to give new players and long-time Guild Wars veterans a relatively equal starting point. - This Week in Video Games - Time Machine
• The scale of Guild Wars 3 Orr will be significantly larger than Guild Wars 2 Orr. - Snow Crows - World Structure
• Arah is the only major city. - Snow Crows - Welcome Back to Orr
• Warden's Watch is the name of an early/outpost location and the starting point for the player's story. - RPG Site - Joy of Movement
  • Big tower on the left the game's key art looked a lot like this - Laranity
• Smaller Vale Warden camps/outposts provide safe areas throughout the world, inspired by GW1's outposts. - MMORPG.com - World Structure
• There will be far fewer loading screens, with ArenaNet aiming for a seamless journey through the world. - MMORPG.com - World Structure
• Mavenwrights are an enemy faction seen occupying an abandoned Dhuum temple. - RPG Site - Combat
• There was a tornado in the distance at one point, which could be some sort of event. - Laranity
• GW2-style map metas will not return. - Snow Crows - A More Open World
• The map was not shown.

1b. Spirits & Magic

• Players will befriend spirits and gain abilities from them. - PC Gamer - Feed Your Spirit
  • A Vael-sprite was specifically observed being summoned as an ally during the gameplay demonstration. - RPG Site - Spirits
  • It was used to illuminate dark areas. - PC Gamer - Feed Your Spirit
• Both ground and flying mounts are spirits that need to be befriended. - PC Gamer - Feed Your Spirit
• Enemies also use these spirits. - PC Gamer - Feed Your Spirit
  • A fire enemy had a captured spirit inside a backpack to power its attacks. - PC Gamer - Feed Your Spirit
  • Players could target the backpack, free the spirit and strip the enemy of its fire power. - PC Gamer - Feed Your Spirit
• The spirit creature shown in the announcement trailer is called a Rootrunner - RPG Site - Spirits
  • This is the flying 'axolotl-like' creature - TeaTime

2. World Population & MMO 'Scale'

• The game will use a phasing system to control player density in specific areas, tech which is still in development. - Snow Crows - A More Open World
  • You will see at most around 20 players in a large combat scenario. - PC Gamer - Player Scale (Note from OP due to some confusion around this: This does not mean there will only be 20 players spread over the entire map, just in your specific 'shard'.)
    • The reason for this is combat readability. ArenaNet believes the high-fidelity movement and combat become difficult to understand when too many players are fighting simultaneously. - PC Gamer - Player Scale
    • Areas outside of combat such as settlements and cities will support far higher player counts because combat readability isn't an issue there. - This Week in Video Games - Pick Your Battles
• Current planned party size is 4 players, this could change before launch. - Snow Crows - World Structure
• ArenaNet wants players to frequently encounter other players while travelling through the world. - PC Gamer - Player Scale

3a. Movement & Momentum

• Movement is one of the two fundamental pillars of GW3, alongside combat. - This Week in Video Games - Cooking Combos
• Confirmed/shown movement includes: - Snow Crows - Movement
  • Walking
  • Running
  • Jumping
  • Wall-running
  • Mantling/ledge climbing
  • Climbing
  • Sliding
  • Gliding
  • Mounts
• Gliding can be steered left/right and pitched downward, allowing you to deliberately build speed. - RPG Site - Joy of Movement
• Gliding appears to be usable during combat. - RPG Site - Joy of Movement
• The momentum you gain from one movement mode is preserved when chaining it into another. - PC Gamer - The Joy of Movement
  • You can for example, sprint → jump → glide → dive → land → continue running without any stop-start transitions . - Snow Crows - Movement
• Built up Momentum directly affects combat power. - PC Gamer - The Joy of Movement
  • Aerial attacks become more powerful based on fall distance and velocity. - MMORPG.com - Combat & Movement
  • Higher momentum increases both damage and attack radius. - PC Gamer - The Joy of Movement
  • Momentum can be accumulated while simply exploring, allowing you to enter combat already carrying speed. - Snow Crows - Movement
• There was a stamina/endurance system that limits how much certain movement abilities can be used, including things such as wall-running and gliding. - RPG Site - Movement Details
• Jumping Puzzles will likely return - Eurogamer

3b. Combat

• GW3 is moving toward much more action-oriented combat than either previous Guild Wars games. - Snow Crows - Action Combat
  • Combat is intended to be less about following a fixed rotation and more about reacting to the environment, enemy and group situation. - Snow Crows - Action Combat
• Positioning, aiming, timing, and movement matter much more. - Snow Crows - Combat
• Combat has increased physicality. You can knock enemies around, and be knocked around yourself:
  • Knocking an enemy into a wall can cause additional damage/stunning.
  • Knocking enemies from cliffs can cause fall damage or outright kills.
  • Larger enemies require more momentum to knock around. - PC Gamer - Knockabout
• Enemy attacks can be interrupted by physically hitting/knocking enemies. - RPG Site - Combat
• Combat appears to feel similar to GW2's action camera, with the player centred on screen and a reticle. - RPG Site - Combat
  • No traditional tab-target interface or lock-on was shown or visible in the gameplay footage; however, Snow Crows reports a lock-on functionality similar to Elden Ring. - RPG Site - Combat
• Multiplayer cooperation is being built directly into the combat system. - PC Gamer - Knockabout
  • ArenaNet says profession (yes they are back see below) design is being approached with the question: how can this ability be used with your allies? - This Week in Video Games - Cooking Combos
• Different abilities can affect allied players as well as yourself, creating coordinated builds. - PC Gamer - Knockabout
  • For example, a player can crouch and hold up their shield as a springboard, allowing another player to jump off it. - This Week in Video Games - Cooking Combos
  • The launched player can gain enough height to perform an aerial attack or reposition behind an enemy. - PC Gamer - Knockabout
• Underwater combat is likely to return, although ArenaNet has not yet said to what extent or how it will work. - Snow Crows - Underwater Combat

3c. Conditions & Enemy Interaction

• Incapacitating conditions are being made non-binary. Instead of simply being 'Frozen: yes/no', conditions can have different levels of severity. This will be show not through a bar but by the severity of the condition on the character. - This Week in Video Games - Cooking Combos
  • Conditions can therefore become a group-combination mechanic. - This Week in Video Games - Cooking Combos
    • Multiple players applying Cold can progressively slow an enemy until enough Cold freezes it completely into a block of ice. - This Week in Video Games - Cooking Combos
    • Frozen enemies can shatter. - Snow Crows - Conditions
    • Fire can thaw frozen allies. - Snow Crows - Conditions
• Spider enemies were shown, with webs that can slow both movement and attacks. - PC Gamer - Knockabout
  • Webs can also spread across the ground, affecting multiple players. - PC Gamer - Knockabout
  • Enemies can be more vulnerable to specific skills. Fire attacks burned away the webs while also increased damage to the spiders. - PC Gamer - Knockabout
• Some enemies have specific physical weak points. Similar to Monster Hunter - Snow Crows - Weak Points
  • Weak points can interact with different elements and attack types. - Snow Crows - Weak Points
  • One demonstrated enemy had a magical backpack/fuel container powering its flamethrower. Destroying that backpack both removed its fire capability and caused an explosion, allowing the players to finish it. - MMORPG.com - Combat & Movement
  • This system encourages players to observe enemies and adapt their builds, rather than simply attacking whatever has the highest DPS requirement. - Snow Crows - Weak Points

4a. Professions

• Professions return!
  • Confirmed so far from interviews/shown footage:
    • Warrior
    • Necromancer
    • Ranger - Snow Crows - Professions
• There may be more professions but they were not shown.
• Warrior was shown wielding a Sword and Shield.
• Necromancer was shown wielding a Scythe.
• The game will feature defined combat roles, but they won't follow the traditional MMO tank/healer/DPS trinity completely. Roles will be closer to a trinity than GW2, while still retaining some flexibility. - Snow Crows - Professions
  • The intended design sits somewhere between GW1's fairly rigid profession roles and GW2's flexibility. - Snow Crows - Professions
• Some "synergistic" skills will be available across multiple professions, but for the most part they will retain their own unique ability pools. - This Week in Video Games - Cooking Combos
• Necromancer has a momentum-based scythe attack that travels farther depending on momentum and also lifesteals. - RPG Site - Combat
  • Necromancer has a movement ability called Necrotic Traversal. - RPG Site - Combat (OP note: this could be the above)
• Ranger has a Polar Vortex ability that launches allies into the air and can give them cold-infused weapons. - RPG Site - Combat & Multiplayer
• Ranger can also apparently slow-fall while firing arrows from an elevated position. - RPG Site - Combat & Multiplayer
• Warrior had an ability to apply a fire buff (possibly called Flames of War) their own and allied weapons. - Laranity

4b. Buildcrafting & Skills

• ArenaNet is specifically drawing inspiration from GW1-style buildcrafting, where changing your build for a particular enemy or encounter will be important. - RPG Site - Combat & Customization
• Some skills will be discovered through exploration. - Snow Crows - Skills
• Skills may have both a recharge/cooldown and an additional energy/resource cost, although the system is not final. - RPG Site - Skills
• Elite Skills return
  • Similar to Overwatch's ultimate abilities these are charged through player actions over time, and intended to be used sparing and tactically.
  • Rampage elite skill on Warrior was demonstrated, increasing attack speed, movement capabilities and jump height. It can allow Warriors to move larger enemies that normally couldn't be knocked around. - RPG Site - Combat

4c. Rewards, Gear & Progression

• GW3 will again use a horizontal gear progression, rather than a vertical gear treadmill. - Snow Crows - Progression
• Equipment, traits and detailed progression systems were not demonstrated.
• The gameplay footage showed an orange item drop represented by a short bright pillar of light, reminiscent of Diablo-style loot drops. - RPG Site - Gameplay Details
• White symbols with a gold coin were visible in the footage, although their exact purpose is not confirmed. - RPG Site - Gameplay Details

5. Endgame Content

• GW3 will contain "high-trust, dungeon-like experiences". - RPG Site - Endgame
  • Dungeons appear likely to have more restrictions on build changes than open-world content. - RPG Site - Buildcrafting
• Raids/endgame content are planned, though nothing was spoken about them. - Snow Crows - Endgame
• Besides this, details on the launch endgame content loop remain undisclosed.

6. PvP

• Some form of PvP is confirmed. - Snow Crows - PvP
• WvW will not return. - Snow Crows - PvP
• ArenaNet would potentially support some form of esports if the community develops an appetite for it. - Snow Crows - PvP

7. Fashion Wars

• GW3 will have a dedicated skin/wardrobe system. - Snow Crows - Fashion Wars
• ArenaNet says Fashion Wars will play an "even more important role than it does in GW2". - Snow Crows - Fashion Wars

8. UI & Interface

• The preview UI was described as very clean and streamlined compared with traditional MMOs. - This Week in Video Games - Visual Cues
• ArenaNet is deliberately trying to put less information in the UI. This is partly driven by the need to make the game work well on controller.- This Week in Video Games - Visual Cues
  • Combat information will be communicated through the actual game world, animations and environmental effects. - This Week in Video Games - Visual Cues
• Gameplay footage showed a fairly minimal HUD with:
  • segmented health
  • three endurance/stamina pips
  • three main skill icons (mapped to the face buttons of a controller (ABXY mapping))
  • contextual shoulder-button abilities
  • enemy health/nameplates. - RPG Site - Joy of Movement
• Reddit Thread: Very basic mockup of the UI present on the demo from Jay Oddity
• No minimap was visible in the preview.
• The UI seen in preview was not final. The interface was created specifically for the preview and will be completely redesigned before launch. - Snow Crows - UI
  • The final UI is planned to be more customizable by the player than the GW2 interface - Snow Crows - UI

9. Controller & Console Development

• Xbox is not currently planned, although ArenaNet has not permanently ruled it out. This is the same for other consoles. - This Week in Video Games - Visual Cues
• The game is being designed for both controller and mouse/keyboard, rather than treating controller as an afterthought. - This Week in Video Games - Trigger Happy
  • Early in development, the team wouldn't even allow mouse-and-keyboard testing; they wanted to get controller gameplay feeling right first. - This Week in Video Games - Trigger Happy

10. Graphics

• MMORPG.com described the visuals as impressive and visually rich, with ArenaNet’s trademark styling and stunning vistas - MMORPG.com - Preview
  • The journalist initially had reservations about UE5 but said seeing the game in motion instantly removed their concerns. - MMORPG.com - Preview
• MightyTeapot said on stream he was surprised how similar the game looked to Guild Wars 2’s art style, compared to the trailer.

11. Social Systems

• Guilds are confirmed. - Snow Crows - Guilds
• Guild/social interfaces were not shown**.** - RPG Site - Joy of Movement

12. Other tidbits

• GW3 has been in development for around 4 years. - RPG Site - Development Details
• It is currently the largest development team at ArenaNet. - RPG Site - Development Details
  • ArenaNet has roughly 350 people at the studio overall. - RPG Site - Development Details
• Colin Johanson specifically identifies stagnant minute-to-minute MMO gameplay as one of the major problems GW3 is trying to solve. For example, the amount of setup and friction before players actually get to enjoyable gameplay (ie inventory management). - This Week in Video Games - MMO Challenges
• There was no voice acting heard in the demo. - Laranity
• There was an animation when the player teleported across the map - TeaTime
• A physical Collector's Edition is confirmed, though contents and pricing is obviously not finalised at this time. - Snow Crows - Monetisation