So I've been playing Guild Wars. Like, a lot. I'm sort of taking a break right now, but am eager to get back before too long. IMO, this is the best MMORPG ever made. It definitely takes some getting used to, and is really different from a lot of the other offerings out there, but it's pretty brilliant. It isn't about grinding, or even about gaining experience really, since the level cap is only 20 and that can be reached quite quickly. Instead, you've got a fairly compelling story (badly, badly acted, and not very well written, but it's good both *conceptually* and *contextually*, with lots of fun missions that put you into interesting situations), and a game that asks you to be a skillful player instead of just being really good at sitting on your ass for ridiculously long periods of time, thereby gaining an advantage over other players simply because you've put in the most hours. So that's pretty awesome, especially since the game is free. It makes going back to WoW (which I did enjoy when I first played it) feel very contrived and artificial in certain respects. Now that isn't to say you might not like WoW better, as there are things it does which may be superior to GW, but on the whole I definitely prefer the GW method. The game is more of a challenge, but it also offers greater rewards, and none of these are a giant time sink. There's also the PvP stuff which I next expected to get into at all, but I've found it's actually very fun and engaging. I don't spend a lot of time on it, but when I do indulge it's a nice aside to the regular PvE experience.
Anyway, it's still very well supported and populated, so if you've been wanting to try something different, give it a shot. I'm hooked.
