What's so great about Guild Wars?

Now for the flipside: a very traditional fantasy MMO that I like quite a bit.

Let's start with this: there's no monthly fee. Right there that makes it great for me since I have this tendency to drop something I'm doing for a while and do something else. Sure, we had to sink a bunch of money into the actual games, but that's a one-time purchase.

Guild Wars has the traditional roles and you generally do need them and a full party. But... you can put together a 'full' party with 2 players (excepting certain areas) by filling in with AI-controlled members, either henchmen (fixed skills, but available anywhere to anyone) or heroes (changeable skills, equippable, requires a specific game or the expansion, and need to be unlocked). If you play in a duo as we do, you can go through almost the entire game with heroes, reasonably effectively. The exceptions are PvP (the game has a lot of this but it's all optional of course) and a few challenge areas (also optional). Soloers can do heroes plus henchmen and have a full party, or take a smaller party and go a bit slower. Some people even really solo, no AI help at all... but it's very hard to do. Still, possible if you like a challenge.

Guild Wars also has something neat that a lot of games don't: a skill bar made of skills you pick from a list of known skills. You can only have 8 'active' skills at once, though you can change them at any time in a non-combat area (town/city). Skills are acquired over time via money and skill points, as quest rewards, or by capturing them from enemies, the latter way being the main way to get "elite" skills... higher-powered skills that you can only have one of equipped at a time. Once you learn or capture a skill, it's "unlocked" for all your characters and heroes. An unlocked skill can be purchased on another character earlier, or learned on a new character via special books that can be found as loot, or assigned to any hero on your account freely. It also can be used on PvP-only characters.

Arranging your skills is almost a mini-game. Figuring out which skills work with one another well, with your playstyle, with your teammates, etc. is actually one of the fun parts of the game. You also get attribute points which allow you to increase the effectiveness of skills... which means figuring out how many points to put in various attributes as well. And in addition to your main class, you can pick a secondary class and have access to its skills as well, although you don't get to put points in its main attribute.

Heroes, though AI controlled and therefore not as efficient in some ways as players, can be equipped and their skills chosen just like players. And in some ways heroes are more efficient, as their reaction time is that of a computer, rather than a player, even if their choices are not always as smart. You can manually control them to some extent (fully if you really want, tho I don't recommend it), and it's a good way to fill out those roles players aren't available to take, even in larger groups.

The storyline in all the games, as far as I've experienced it, is quite good. The original game's story is bleak but interesting. The second game's story is less robust but still intriguing. The third game's story is furkin awesome and dark. And the EP's story is a nice continuation for the original game and also the lead-in for the upcoming sequel (possibly out next year). It is not very flexible, though there are a number of side quests, but it's definitely interesting enough to go through more than once. You can also take one character through all the storylines, starting from different places.

Guild Wars has a decent amount of character customization, though once you pick the way they look in general (hair style and color, face, skin color, height) you're stuck with it. Armor comes in various styles and is partially dyeable, which lets you have some variance, though as with most fantasy MMOs the precise styles are determined by your class. However, all armor is functionally equivalent, so the style is really up to you rather than being tied to how good the armor is. There's also 'elite' armor, which has the same values as regular armor but is much more expensive (and also usually more dyeable). I've yet to get any.

One of the side things you can do is acquire titles. Some of these come along with doing content, some are total side things (like spending a certain amount of time 'drunk'). Some titles have usually-small benefits, including some additional skills (which can only be used in PvE, not PvP) and, frex, the ability to use lockpicks better. Some titles have no benefit at all except the fun of getting them, if you're into that, which I am.

If you're not into PvP, but you still find it interesting, there's a way to watch, and also sort of bet on the outcome. It's not a bet really, more "here's who I think will win the monthly tournament", and the more right you are, the more points you get... and the points can be exchanged for useful things, which I rather like.

If you are into PvP, well, Guild Wars is definitely a good place for you. There's small-group PvP, full-group PvP, random-group PvP, PvP where it's you and 3 heroes you direct, guild PvP, and faction-based PvP. The hero and guild PvP have monthly tournaments in which you can win those same tournament points you get for 'betting', but in much larger quantity. You can even buy PvP-only access or make characters that start at the highest level so you can go straight to PvP.

In short (too late) I like Guild Wars for its customization, story, and the fact that they balance PvE and PvP separately while making both fun for people.