So, I'm contemplating getting this game because of how much I enjoyed the first. however, I'm moving to Japan for a year in a couple of weeks time, and so I was wondering if this game supported switching regions the same way the first game did. In GW1, if I remember correctly, you could switch 'region' 5 times. Is it the same in this? Could I start in the UK 'region' (or however they word it), move to the Japan one for a year, then switch back? Or would I always have to connect to the servers of the region I bought the game in? I don't fancy my chances of getting a decent ping if I have to connect to the UK servers on the other side of the world.

Even better would be if there's also an 'international' region like in GW1, so I could choose to play with my friends in the UK on days when I'm willing to deal with intense lag.

I think they said region only matters when you buy the game, as in the region the code is from has to match the region it is being registered in. After that I think they said you could log in from any region. I would double check just to make sure though.

To add on to what Shinboy said, the servers don't work the same way they did in the first game. This time you pick a home server when you first start playing. I think there are only EU and US servers at the moment, but I doubt you'll get that much latency depending on which one you choose.

Also, have fun in Japan duder.