Hi guys, I am an older player who wants to re-enter the mix. What my question is, I have my eye on GW2 and would like to know if I started playing GW would that get me up to speed for the start of GW2?
I will appreciate any and all advice, and safe travels and good hunting to all.
To answer your question:
Let me start by saying that playing Guild Wars is not a prerequisite for playing/enjoying Guild Wars 2. You will be able to understand and enjoy GW2 very well even if you've never played GW1. The only thing you may miss (though you probably won't even notice the difference) is a couple of lore references to the GW1 era.
Also, the games are very different mechanics-wise, and even if Guild Wars 2 appeals to you very much, it is definitely not certain that you will like Guild Wars at all. For example, while GW2 is a fully persistent MMO, GW1 is mostly instanced, meaning that while you're out adventuring, it will be just you (and the members of your party). You will only run into other people while you're in towns and outposts. Ofcourse, that also has a plus side... no one will ever steal your kills or loot. There are many more differences between the two games.
That said, there are definitely a few reasons why playing GW1 may appeal to you:
1. You can learn a lot about the lore and the history of the world leading up to the start of Guild Wars 2, and give you more things to recognize while playing GW2.
2. GW1 has a 'Hall of Monuments' in which you can unlock some unique items in Guild Wars 2, based on your achievements in GW1. These items are in no way required, and are only cosmetically different from items you can find in the game (so you won't miss having some really powerful items if you don't have them), tbut if you're into that kind of thing, this may still give you another reason to play through GW1.
3. You still have (at least) several months before GW2 will be released... personally, I don't expect the game until late Q1/early Q2 2012.
4. Guild Wars is (imho) an overall great game, it's fun to play, has a really cool community, and - just like GW2 - it has no monthly fees. You should be able to find the Trilogy - which is the 3 major campaigns Prophecies (the original "Guild Wars"), Factions and Nightfall - for around US $30, and the expansion Eye of the North for another $10... which is really good value considering the amount of playtime it gives you.
With regard to the campaigns and the expansion: to play the game, any 1 campaign is already enough, but the more campaigns you have, the more content you can play through, and the more classes you can choose from. The expansion contains higher level content and requires at least 1 of the campaigns.
Lore-wise for Guild Wars 2, you'll probably want to buy at least Prophecies (the world of Tyria, 250 years before the events in GW2) and Eye of the North (which is kind of a cross-over between GW1 and GW2, and it introduces the Asura and Norn races). Also, Eye of the North is where the before-mentioned Hall of Monuments is located.
If you're not sure whether or not GW1 would be your cup of tea, why not sign up for a free trial and try it out for yourself? You can download the client for free from the official website:
And if you have any other questions or would like clarification on anything I said (I know this much information can be overwhelming), feel free to ask.
Centaur covered it pretty well. You definetly don't need to play GW1 to play/understand GW2. There is a lot of lore, but the *vast* majority of it doesn't matter. If you play GW1 there will be a few things that will have a special meaning to you, such as the meeting the decendants of certain NPCs (I won't spoil anything), as well as knowing the history behind some locations such as Lion's Arch and Ascalon City. From what I've seen, the GW2 cutscenes cover all you need to know, though. You'll just get that extra nostalgia factor if you played GW1, that's all.
As a GW1 fan, I would buy GW1 in your position. I have 1,300+ hours of gameplay, for a grand total of about $60-70 (it costs less now). There are very few games which will give you a ratio of hours:cost that good. But it's worth noting that GW1 plays COMPLETELY differently to GW2. If you were to compare the two, GW1 would be almost like a game of chess. Less fast paced and fancy, a large learning curve and almost infinite possibilities for strategies (dual classes + ~1,300 usable unique skills = a lot of combinations). You're probably already aware GW2 is a lot more fast paced, action oriented, visceral, etc.
Do note that there is a timed trial available, and you don't have to download the entire game to play it since GW1 downloads on a per-area basis (you can download everything at once if you wish using "-image" on a shortcut, though).
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