Expansion vs. Campaign, account confusion.

Hi there, I'm hoping this is the right forum. You see, I'm kind of in a pickle.

My friend introduced me to GuildWars last summer, and I'd usually play whenever I was at her house. So, while knowing a bit about the game and loving it a lot, I don't have my own account, simply because at the time I didn't have the money.

So, now I have a source of income, and when I saw the GW:EN boxes at my nearest game store, I squealed and ran to reserve my copy. But, then I looked a little bit more into it. The Official Website's FAQ for GW:EN said it was not a new campaign, but an expansion pack for the original game, Prophesies.

My question is this. When GW:EN comes out, and I go to pick up my copy, will I have to buy a GuildWars account/campaign (Prophesies/Nightfall/Factions) on top of it to play? I know the client is downloadable and the accounts can be bought online, but I don't want to pay twice for what is mostly the same thing.

Thanks in advance for your help. Sorry if this isn't the right forum.

Yes, you will need to own either Prophecies, Factions, or Nightfall in order to use the content for Eye of the North.

On that note, the game is made entirely for level 20 characters from start to finish.

That's what I figured, but I wanted some verification.

Getting to level 20 isn't really a concern XD
Thanks. I suppose I'll have to pick up Prophesies too, then.
(Though I was hoping to be done with the depressive abyss that is Post-Searing Ascalon XD)

If your going to do that; I say wait for the Platinum Edition (which is Proph+GWEN) and buy that.

I might suggest getting Factions instead. IMHO It's a better campaign but you will also level up faster and so be able to join GWEN faster

You can play Eye of the North as long as you have one of the campaigns (Prophecies, Factions, Nightfall) tied to your account (and you buy Eye of the North itself, of course), so you could pick up any of the three and still be able to play.

Prophecies is the longest by far, and most argue that it's the best. However, it's almost dead since players have moved on to the more recent campaigns. Factions is the shortest and fairly-populated. Nightfall is the most recent, most say it rivals Prophecies in quality, has decent length, and is the most populated. However, because it's the most recent, it's also the most expensive.

The Platinum edition is definetely the way you should go. Eye of the North is essentially a continuation of Prophecies, so finishing that first would make the most sense. Though if you're desperate to play Eye of the North, you do level up the slowest in that campaign, and either Factions or Nightfall would be a better idea.

But there's no rush. If you really enjoy playing through Prophecies and Eye of the North, then Factions and Nightfall add a large amount of a new content that's really worth getting.

Yeah, I was looking into either Factions or Nightfall, anyway.
I was wondering, though, they introduced the Assassin class in Factions, so does it only appear in Factions? Kind of a stupid question, but is it exclusive only to that campaign or both Factions and Nightfall?

You will need Factions to get the assassin. But you don't want to play it there. Someone once wrote that the "assassin is a paper tiger in an environment where 99% of all monsters explode." Armor level isn't that good for a melee class in a world where everything blows up for 100+ damage. This was bad design.
Sins have faired better in NF (nightfall), but you will still need Factions to get em.
Really, to get everything out of this game you need all the campaigns -- mainly for skills, heroes, pvp, inscriptions, modifications. All campaigns do something different and GWEN will be no exception.

...anyone knows how much will cost platinum edition?....

From the Platinum Ed FAQ:

In Europe the Guild Wars Platinum Edition will be available for an estimated retail price of £34.99/€49.99. In North America it will be available for an estimated retail price of $59.99.

Screw the assassin. I highly recommend that you get Factions for the ritualist. The Ritualist class is a terrific one, and can only be played if you own Factions. However, you can move your rit to the other games when you buy them.

Get factions, get your rit to level 20. Then move him over to GWEN or Prophecies or Nightfall.