One-ups Guild Wars 1 in nearly every way
Guild Wars 1 did a lot of great things and was a wonderful alternative to other MMO's on the market, especially since it had no subscription fee. As far as non-subscription MMO's, it was probably the best out there. Now, Guild Wars 2 has improved upon a lot of the first games downfalls. One of my big gripes with the original game was the lack of content. Both forms of multiplayer, both co-op and deathmatch style battles were fun, but there wasn't enough. The game felt limited. Likewise, all co-op missions were instanced and it made the game feel short lived. GW 2 fixes this.
In GW2, everything is open, with the exception of a few missions. The world is yours to wander. Quests are instant, so there's rarely an NPC you have to go talk to to complete get and complete a quest. This is one of the best questing systems I have ever seen because it's open for everyone and everyone fights together. There's no necessity to make a party and you never truly feel like you are soloing or are alone. It reinstates what a lot of MMO's lack: the feel of an MMO. You very much feel like you are part of a greater whole. That said, these quests, also known as events, do feel a bit cliche, such as fetching items or killing a certain amount of enemies. But the fun of fighting alongside a dozen or so other players to complete the same event makes what would otherwise be boring, fun.
The skill system, a staple of the series, has also been revamped. As opposed to having strictly class based skills, they are now class, weapon, and species based. This allows you to intricately customize your character and their skills. For example, my Tyrian Ranger has a very unique set of skills and will be quite different from an Asyri Engineer or even a Norn Ranger. Gone, however, are the healing classes. All characters have the ability to heal, while some have greater healing abilities that can extend into group healing. Instead, the game focuses on the players creating characters that specialize in a form of combat, whether it's AOE attacking, tanking, or even debuffing. The skill set isn't quite as huge for each player, but it is very diverse and unique, and you will have at your disposal plenty of varied options and tiers to progress in.
GW2 is also chock full of things to do. In addition to story questing and map questing, there is the traditional PVP from the original GW and a new mode: wvwvw, or world versus world versus world. This pits your server against two others on a massive map where you and your fellow server members vie for control of the other serves points. This grants you greater amounts of points in a running tally. As well as providing and interesting mass battle for the GW world, you can also earn some very valuable rewards for playing in this mode, including gear and resources. Guilding in GW2 has also been expanded. Building a guild is more intricate and greater resources can be garnered for simply playing the game and continuing to build up your guild. Suffice to say, there is very little downtime.
That isn't to say GW2 is a perfect MMO. Far from it, at the moment, the game suffers from numerous bugs and a map instancing system that, while making sense and seeming logical, is a bit of a frustration when trying to party play. However, these are minor qualms for such a well done game. I don't normally stick with an MMO for an extended period of time, but GW2 is well worth sticking with as it is an incredible amount of fun.