i think what alot of players who are trying Guild Wars are finding out is that this is a preview of things to come, not a full game.
you start level 15 (you would think to most this was a good indication that this isn't the full thing, but ho hum) and your put through a very brief tutorial. unlike the E3 version, there is more depth to this version.
in the E3 version basically you have 4 missions, no leveling up, a handful (3 iirc) weapons for your characters main attribute, static magic abilities, etc...
in this version they've expanded to preview what you can expect come Q2 2005. there is a full trade system implimented now, with over 20 different types of crafting material used to create new clothes, and weaponry.
the original tutorial although brief will guide players from the start of the mission sections to the end.
so far i've played upto mission 5 where i keep getting killed, and they get quite noticeably harder as you go.
on the point of customisation, currently just for the one character i have, there are 18 pieces of clothing (mask, glove, boots, pants, garnments) as well as 5 basic weapons, considering I can only have a wand style weapon this actually limits greatly the weapon i can wield. From that however you can find rare items and salvage them for parts which you can then take to the crafter to upgrade your weapon. (these are ROCK SOLID to get your hands on)
further more for the clothes your capable of dying them a number of colours, what i have seen so far is; Black, Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, Orange, Silver, Gold, Purple and Brown.
when you add to the fact when you join a guild you get a tabbard that displays a uniquely designed guild flag (about 4million combinations currently) this all adds alot of diversity.
items are a fickle thing too... because you can get alot from defeating monsters, but some monsters drop rune/chakra/artifacts/ankhs, some drop salvage items, others drop weapons/shields, and some drop craft materials.
almost every item cept the craft materials can have a salvage/expert salvage kit used on it to create craft materials.
you would think it would end there, but you also have quite a substancial world in which to go out and explore on your own with henchmen or in groups.
I went exploring for almost 8hrs without realising it, and i've only covered a fraction of the map. There are some special goals to be completed within the fields too.
This brings me to another point about the game, each mission has a Main objective, and a Bonus Objective. The bonus' are damn hard to complete, but if you do the rewards are HUGE.
On the first mission for example if you save all the villagers, you get a 10% moral boost (ups all stats by that) plus if you talk to Benji you get given an offering. Now if your given this offering you can go north and open up a brand new area (if you don't save all the villagers he doesn't allow you past). In that area are damn hard, especially at level 15 skeleton warriors, one of which apparently doesn't have a walk or attack animation yet heh.
That path gives you alot of new weapons, items, cash and experience.
Now if you survive the ordeal at the temple, head north but before you go into the town where the guy Dais is; there is a slip off to the right with Ettins. They are also pretty hard and MORE of them after getting the Offering, but wage through them. You'll hit some tougher enemies past them, but try to follow the path around.
You do the bonus and you get 1,000 Experience (1/4 for level 15) which added with everything you do in the rest of the level, you end up effectively leveling up in that first level.
there are even better bonus missions, like trying to keep people alive (while your being attacked) and timed ones later where you have to reach a certain point before someone else, otherwise the mission becomes impossible.
This is obviously still lacking alot of content, and the player-vs-player aspect does have alot to be desired for. (it need more modes to be interesting)
However as far as a FREE preview goes, it is without a doubt a hugely populated game which quite frankly i would buy right now if i had the chance, but i guess will have to settle for pre-ordering.
If you want to know anything about the game, then ask me. Last day i've been collecting information on certain things, even been keeping a tally of the Stockmarket (Hides and Cloth are currently worth 21gp market price, 20gp trade price, but rising every hour!)
I've come to learn alot about how to do alot of things and such, but I wish there was a manual.
Probably should've covered the magic/charms but, all i need to say is there are atleast 20 additional spells to learn per profession, and the full game will give you the ability to learn upto 150 (that is just for the character not total for the game) and you can switch between these in a town/mission area prior to entering battle areas.
let me know if you would like more screenshots and any particular things you would like to see.
