Although this probably won't be news to any Guild Wars faithful, it still needs to be said that Guild Wars: Eye of the North (no relation to me, of course), the first expansion to the popular online RPG, is now live and ready to rock.

Guild Wars: Eye of the North continues the story started in the original title and adds the nifty new Hall of Monuments, as well as 18 multi-level dungeons, 150 new skills, new Heroes, 40 new armor sets, and plenty of new items, weapons, and titles.

"We think fans will find a lot to love in Guild Wars: Eye of the North," said Mike O'Brien, co-founder of ArenaNet. "Not only do we go back to the original Guild Wars lands and stories to wrap up plots and themes fans have clamored to learn more about, but we've also built a bridge to the future through the Hall of Monuments. This will give loyal players a way to preserve what they've accomplished in Guild Wars over the past two years, and reclaim the legacy of their favorite characters in Guild Wars 2."

This expansion is now ready for the grabbing at the PlayNC Store, as well as in many North American and European retailers, and is priced at $39.99.

In an attempt to be somewhat festive, I'm wearing a nifty Guild Wars: Eye of the North tee nabbed from the hip shindig ArenaNet threw at PAX. It doesn't look great on me, but yay for Guild Wars anyway.

Full release after the jump. 

NCsoft® and ArenaNet® have launched Guild Wars: Eye of the North™ , the first expansion to the Guild Wars® franchise of subscription-free, online roleplaying games. Guild Wars players who purchase the expansion can access Eye of the North content through any of the multi-million-selling Guild Wars campaigns-Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions™, or Guild Wars Nightfall ™. The expansion also includes an innovative feature that allows players to take achievements they have earned over the years with them into the forthcoming Guild Wars 2™.

Guild Wars: Eye of the North, continues the subscription-free business model pioneered by ArenaNet. The expansion is now available at the Official Guild Wars In-game Store and at Plaync.com, as w

ell as from retailers in North America and Europe, for an expected suggested retail price of $39.99. Eye of the North advances the story told in the original Guild Wars campaign, and is set in unexplored areas of the continent of Tyria. One of the highlights of the expansion is the Hall of Monuments, which allows players to preserve armor sets, pets, Heroes, and titles earned while playing Guild Wars, Factions, Nightfall, and Eye of the North, and take those accomplishments with them into Guild Wars 2.

The expansion also contains a host of new features that will appeal directly to veteran Guild Wars players, including 18 multi-level dungeons, 150 new skills across all 10 Guild Wars professions, 10 new Heroes to aid them in their adventures, 40 new armor sets, and more items, weapons, and titles.

"We think fans will find a lot to love in Guild Wars: Eye of the North," said Mike O'Brien, co-founder of ArenaNet. "Not only do we go back to the original Guild Wars lands and stories to wrap up plots and themes fans have clamored to learn more about, but we've also built a bridge to the future through the Hall of Monuments. This will give loyal players a way to preserve what they've accomplished in Guild Wars over the past two years, and reclaim the legacy of their favorite characters in Guild Wars 2."

The Guild Wars franchise recently surpassed four million units sold and is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed online roleplaying game series of all time. Guild Wars 2 is expected to go into public beta in the second half of 2008. For more information, visit the Guild Wars website at www.guildwars.com. The award-winning Guild Wars series of games, including Guild Wars: Eye of the North, can be purchased from retailers or downloaded from the PlayNC store at https:// secure.plaync.com/cgi-bin/Store.pl.