(Disclaimer: I'm a bit biased, I've been playing since a few days after this game launched, and am thoroughly addicted to the fact that it's not copying and pasting the WoW/Everquest formula)
So! Back in August, during the anniversary event for the game, a third expansion was announced! But first, some general overview
Guild Wars 2 takes place a couple hundred years after Guild Wars 1, the Elder Dragons have woken or are starting to wake, and are slowly consuming the magic in the world. Humanity is on the decline compared to other races, as they're last major settlement is located in the walled city of Divinity's Reach, in Kryta.
Gameplay wise, there are nine classes, one of them is an expac class. Each class has two elite specs, one from each expac that add a different aspect to the class.
Different classes use different weapons, and those weapons determine which skills a certain class will use for basic attacks 1-5. Attacks 6-10 are slot skills, that you can choose which ones you want at any given time.
The holy trinity is, for the most part, non existent. It is still entirely possible to play a tank or healer, should you wish to do a gear and talent-tree build around that. Most people tend to just maximize DPS, however, which is unfortunate as the theory-crafting in the game has a lot of potential.
The game has events that pop up in the world, some have different effects on whether you complete them or not, and typically these cycle every so often. You can gain experience through almost anything in the game. Crafting gives you pve experience, gathering, exploration, story quests, the heart activities (which are honestly the most mundane way to level, don't do this unless you are wanting map completion for legendary crafting. At least in the base game),
The base game (pre-expacs) is entirely free to play with a few restrictions. And I believe both expacs are bundled together at $30 base cost.
Now, forewarning. The game has something called living story. Every 2-3 months between expacs a new story update is released. This typically comes with a new map or location each time, a new series of story quests and new activities or masteries. The living story episode is free for the 2-3 months that it is active. If you have missed it, it costs gems (the cash-shop currency) to be able to get. I believe they are 200 gems each ($2.50)
However, there is currency conversion system, so you can turn gold you earn in game into gems and just buy them like that if you want to. (The game is not pay 2 win, legendary and ascended have the same stats, and structured pvp is completely scaled without gear mattering. World vs World, gear and level does matter though I believe. But you won't need legendaries for that, ascended will do just fine as they have the same stat levels as legendaries)
Anyhow! if you want to check it out, here's the latest expac teaser!
Also, here's a picture of my main character, an RP character on the unofficial RP server of Tarnished Coast! She's a necromancer.
