Prophecies or Factions?

I'm interested in buying one of the Guild Wars games but I'm not sure which one to buy. Any opinions on which one I should get or which is more popular?

I recommend starting with Prophecies, the original GW. The content will take you longer to go through and eases you into the game better.

Both are good though.

Do a lot of people still play Prophecies or for the most part do they play on Factions?

same as above.

i have both and still spend more time in Prophecies which will give you a much better start

It depends on the person you are.

Guild wars max lvl is 20 so if you are a lot into leveling and thats like your object in the game rather then the story then get prophecies.

If you prefer getting right into the action and doing missions to find out the story and have good pvp, then get factions.

But beware, it doesnt matter wich one you get first, in the end you will want both anyway .

Prophacies:
- offer better PvP because it have more useful skills
- nicer people (because all the so called "pros" have moved on to Factions)

Factions:
- is better with PvE because it's missions are designed with more creativity
- offers you 2 more professions to play with
- have lots of "pros" calling you "noobs"

I'd correct that into 'are designed with unnessescary difficulty'.

I only have Factions, and many times I feel that the lack of prophecies skills really hurts. Many critical skills for the core professions seem to be prophecies only. Of course, it may just be that the grass is always greener on the other side.

However, I like the fact that there's not really a level grind. The game is set up to be about what you do at level 20, not getting there. It's nice to see that kind of focus, since most MMOs have very different gameplay for max level characters and those on the way there.