The game certainly appeals to the same target audience and is categorised as an MMO on most gaming sites though. But I think this only shows that there is not really as distinct and clear definition of what an MMORPG actually is.

It was probably a good move or ArenaNet to not label themselves as an MMORPG since they did things different than most MMOs and somewhat less perceived persistence – they would have received more criticism if they had called themselves that.

Yes, I KNOW Guild Wars calls itself a MMO, and YES I know that you can have huge arena battles. Okay? I was just making a point that it is a very good SOLO experience if you want it to be. Sheesh.

No, Guild Wars *NEVER* called itself an MMO. In fact, every single magazine/internet interview they did prior to launch — and also during beta to us players — they made a big deal that “this is not an MMO.” But when the interviews went to print, the headlines always read something along the lines of “New Fantasy…MMO…awesome graphics…no monthly fee” and only reading the actual article did anyone ever see that it was not intended to be thought of as a real MMORPG.

Also, “real” GW players do not consider ourselves + 7 AI to be “solo.” It’s a full group, it’s just not a full group of human players. “Solo” in GW means you’re the only character at all in the zone and are able to fight certain monsters solo.