Well thanks to Seggal I got the GW2 bug again. Pre ordered the expansion and because of 3 year veteran status got myself an extra character slot one week later. Now I got 6 slots to play with ;)

It looks like they announced the core game being free on Aug 31st. I might make a few extra accounts myself.

I am playing a hunter type with a pet.   The combat system is okay though only having 4 or 5 skills can be different for a lot of people but not that vastly different from the Hunter in Lotro.   Truthfully, I haven't figured out all the stuff I could possible do with specialization and stuff.   I have just been running around and doing the events and such.   You level fast, probably too fast really.   I am level 72 in about 10 days.

I like the auto-level part because you can go play content that you would have ordinarily outleveled.   Since I always liked grinding the deeds in LOTRO, I do pretty well in GW2 where you spend a lot of time trying to complete all the tasks in each given area for extra bonuses.   I would like to see some of the auto leveling stuff in LOTRO.   In GW2, if you are L70 and go to a level 10 area, you are scaled down to L10 but the loot you get is for L70  (this is both good and bad, sometimes you want low level gear to break down for crafting supplies).

The events are the best part of the game to me.   Its hard to run 2 minutes without running into some type of event going on.   Far better than LOTROs stupid war bands, closer to Rift's system.    I really haven't explored the nuts and bolts of the game but I am sure I will find plenty to gripe about at some point.

And for clarification, the CORE game is free.   It is not inclusive with the expansion as was mentioned.  If you have previously purchased the game, nothing to see here.   But if you haven't and want to take a peek, its no cost.

As I am want to do, I already have several free accounts that I play.   Oh, that reminds me of a gripe!  You cannot trade stuff between characters.   That is a real pain in the butt.

Tried playing GW2, had 1 class to level 23 but hated the combat system on it. Also not a big fan of the way you level, you go back to an area you already covered and it auto levels you back down and you repeat again and again.

Waste of $60 for me. But each to their own.

Haslor

Spoiled :D love it.

Ha, yeah, the story is by far the biggest missing piece in Guild Wars.   I am sure the GW story is good, but its not ingrained in your soul like LOTR.   

The biggest reason I never played Guild Wars in the past was because I thought it was PVP driven.  Turns out it is a pretty good PVE experience, haven't heard a word about PVP so far ingame.   Though it doesn't seem to be all the guild driven either but I have only played about 10 days.   Unfortunately, Rare Breed has made me very spoiled and my expectations of a guild are probably unreasonable.

Tolkien didn't write about Guild Wars! Although that would be so much fun, if we could ransack another kin's mansion and they had to defend it.

The core game was not free when I bought it. I paid 60 dollars plus tax for it.

Now the expansion is being marketed as all inclusive. Which is fine for new purchases, but for me it is just an expansion. As I said I am not paying another 60 bucks for it. Yes 60 is correct, Canadian remember ;)

Edit: I am going to wait for a sale to purchase this. Since I am playing LOTRO, SWTOR, and Everquest currently. GW2 can wait

Hey Abilio,

I am not sure what you are referring too.

If you do not have the base game, you can download it for free.   If you want the expansion, you have to pay $50 for it.  

You do not need the expansion to play the core game.

This offer is really a great deal for people like me who had never played Guild Wars.   For people like yourself, that had already bought the game, eh, not a deal at all.

Cheers

Having already paid 60 bucks for the core game, I don't feel like paying another 60. There is no way to buy the expansion by itself. So I will pass on it.

Guild Wars 2 is now offering the Core game to everyone for Free. 

You lose out on a few minor items that you would have gotten had you bought the game.   If you buy the upcoming expansion, you get all the missing goodies.

I been playing around in it for the last couple of weeks and its really a pretty good game.  Many of the thoughts and visions I had for LOTRO are incorporated in Guild Wars 2.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/