Need some questions answered.

I used to play GW a long time ago, before there were any expansions. I'm going to start playing again and I was wondering if some people could enlighten my on GW. Do you need the original GW for factions and nightfall? Are they stand-alone games. Whats the difference between them? Are they both fun? Should I buy both of them? Is there an item store that gives an unfair advantage to people who buy stuff?

The original Guild Wars, Prophecies is not needed to play Factions and Nightfall, but you are able to take Prophecies characters into either expansion. When people rate the three Guild Wars games, Factions is generally the lowest, but is still a very fun game. Nightfall gives a huge advantage in that you get heros which are essentially henchmen with customizable weapons, armor, and skills.

My advice? Buy Nightfall first and enjoy. If you are still having fun with Guild Wars, buy Factions as well.

Yes and no... You do not need any chapter to play any other chapter. When you buy a new chapter, you can add the key to your existing account (allowing all your characters to access the new content) or create a new account with it (giving you two extra character slots but not much else).

Nightfall's PvE content is quite a bit more robust; there's a significantly larger number of missions, quests, and explorable areas in it. Factions has several unique PvP modes, most notably Fort Aspenwood and Alliance Battles. Nightfall has heroes (essentially super-henchmen that you can customize the skillbars and equipment for), uses the inscription system for equipment, and being a later game is a bit more polished than Prophecies or Factions.

I thoroughly enjoyed all three chapters, and would recommend all of them. It comes down to a matter of personal opinion, though.

There were a few bonus items in the Game of the Year edition of Prophecies that are now available from the in-game store. They are no more powerful than max equipment available in-game though, and do not give an unfair advantage.

Moved to QA because it's a question.