Back at the end of November, we talked about the ongoing security issues affecting Guild Wars players. ArenaNet has been assuring players that they are working hard on the problem, and Monday evening the community saw the first fruits of that labor. Players saw a message in their chat windows that most of them have never seen before: "The Guild Wars servers will be taken offline momentarily for required maintenance."

It was a quick change, but once it happened, players logging in saw a surprising addition to the login screen. Besides the usual username and password combination, you now have to correctly enter the name of any character on your account before you are able to log in.

ArenaNet posted a FAQ on their site along with the update and Community Manager Regina Buenaobra interacted heavily with the community immediately afterward, logging in to Guild Wars to discuss the change with players (and presumably be asked a few hundred questions about Guild Wars 2.) She also spent time on the main fan forum sites, addressing concerns, clarifying the reasoning behind some decisions, and passing some well-deserved thanks from players on to the ANet team.

While not everyone is satisfied -- and when are they ever? -- this first step is a very welcome one to most players, and we look forward to seeing more.