For those, like me, who have been actively anticipating the release of Guild Wars 2 and have been hanging onto every detail Arenanet has released, this is the ultimate tease. We now have beta details.

“Welcome to the Year of the Dragon!”

That’s the headline for the Arenanet article, announcing the upcoming beta. A-Net has already started closed beta testing, and looks to expand upon it in the upcoming months. In February, select members of the press will be invited to test the game. In March-April, A-Net will “aggressively ramp up the size” of their beta events. They go on to say the game will release this year.

Mike O’Brien, president of A-Net, said this of the work put into the project, “It’s been an incredible adventure over the past five years, working with our community and our team of dedicated artists, designers, and programmers to realize this vision. This year, the seeds of that work come to fruition. We can’t wait to play the game with you.”

As someone who’s been playing Guild Wars since the alpha test back in 2004, the release of Guild Wars 2 is definitely on the top of the most wanted in 2012 list.

Also, Happy Chinese New Year to everyone! 2012 is the year of the dragon, which I think we can all agree is the best.