The pseudo-MMORPG, Guild Wars: Factions, is now shipping. Factions does not require the original Guild Wars, will cost $49.99 and will be going live on April 28th, at exactly 12:01 a.m. PDT/7:01 GMT. Here’s some more info from the press release:

“New features in Guild Wars Factions such as guild scrimmages, alliance battles, ranked character titles, and some surprises still to come all resulted from our drive to create a truly unique gaming experience for existing and new fans of the Guild Wars universe,” says Mike O’Brien, co-founder of ArenaNet. “With a full year of development and a passionate design team, we think what we’ve created delivers on that and much, much more. Either played as a stand-alone game, or linked with your original Guild Wars account, Guild Wars Factions is a game we are thoroughly proud of—and still carries no subscription fee.”