I've got a couple of questions for those of you who already had the chance to check out the game. I tried some MMORPGs in the past, including SWG, WoW and TSW (I only played through the closed beta period of the latter, though) but I never really enjoyed playing them. I always had the feeling as if my actions had no real effect on the world and I thought that the combat system was lacking. Thus I stopped playing after investing ~20 hours each. Is GW2 better in these regards? I know about the "personal story-quests" but I have no idea if they are well realised. Also, does the combat require more precise and tactical button-pressing? If so, is there a rhythm to it? I don't expect GW2 to feature block or parry-moves that have to be triggered manually in a small time window (as in Arkham City, for example) but my interest in the game does depend on the the combat featuring a very active "exchange" of attacks and counter-attacks. Just hammering the number keys would not be something I could enjoy. I watched some videos but I didn't really get a feel of the combat, so I need you guys to help me out here.
Well, I think the main improvements of other MMOs is that GW2 gives you a much better desire to explore, a sense of wanderlust. I believe this is helped by the beauty of the world, secrets hidden away in nooks and crannies, and probably most importantly is that there are no real 'quest hubs'. Meaning that you dont go to some little town, pick up a ton of quests, do them and come back.
What GW2 does have is renowned hearts that are interspersed throught the map, that you do and when you complete you get the reward. The most exciting thing is is that "dynamic events' are also happening throughout the area, either randomly or triggered. basically, they are big events where players near the DE can come together to defeat the boss, defend the town, etc, and it scales based on how many players participate. You can succeed or fail, and your success or failure will have an impact on the world (at least for a while) either by another chain in the DE happening or you gaining access to something or being cut off, etc
There are also no Tank/dps/healer set up so if you want to run a dungeon, you wont be sitting there forever if you had the misfortune of picking a dps class. and players are encouraged to play together by zero group penalties and everyone geting rewards if you help bring a mob down, do aa quest etc.
For PvP there is two kinds. Structured and world v World. sPvP is all about skill since you are leveled to 80, get all the abilities and everyone has the same allocation of stats on their gear (you can customize the allocation of those stats). World v World is a huge battle between 3 servers where you defend and attack castles, keeps, and supply depots with siege weapons and well, youself
As for combat, I think its an improvement, but if you are looking for demon souls level, youll be dissapointed. Still, you need to pay attention, and actively dodge attacks. You dont just sit there and do your rotation. You need to dodge, blind, protect, heal, to avoid or mitigate incoming damage because mobs in this game can kill you, especially later on. You arent really going to face-roll this, especially since you are down-leveled (also another good thing because if you are level 20 and want to play with a level 2 friend, you can, and still get rewards and experience for your level). Oh, and there are block skills that have to be triggered manually to avoid the attack. Its simply not equiping a shield and getting some 'block' mitigation bonus
If you have a few hours (possibly joking) to kill and want to know everything about the game, you should read this crazy post by Jira
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1058358-Guild-Wars-2-Mass-info-for-the-uninitiated-READ-ME!