Have a look at this quote:
6. Ample character development The original Guild Wars only had 20 character levels - not enough for many players. Because of this, the level cap will be raised drastically; according to Jeff Strain, they are even thinking about completely leaving out a level cap. It is certain that you will be leveling your character over hundreds of hours. Whether or not classic attributes like strength, mobility, and vitality will be used? "We don't know yet", replies Strain. |
Another bit of worrying info:
However, he can confirm that Guild Wars 2 will feature a "robust" crafting system. In addition, equipment like weapons and armor will play a more important role than before |
Nevertheless, the closest thing to normal GW is the PvP system, which sounds like it will be very similar to GW1...
5. Player vs. player (PvP) Player versus player battles (PvP) are an important element of Guild Wars 2. Pure PvP characters won't exist any more - you will only play with roleplaying characters. Brand new: PvP battles between the various worlds (read more about worlds in fact 2)! There will be special, open PvP areas in which the players from different worlds will fight against each other and battle for specific strategic positions. The emerging battles will be colossal, as any player will be able to participate without commitment. |
Due to their love of e-sport and as an alternative to the relaxed World PvP, guild battles (GvG) will be present in Guild Wars 2 as well. To keep GvG fair, all participating players will have their characters temporarily modified to a set level, so all abilities, skills and equipment items will be the same as anyone else participating in the battle. |
I wonder how Anet will keep this system from getting confusing? Think about it - when the character enters PvP, they either get an upgrade or downgrade in power depending on their level. Weaker characters get an temporary boost only to find themselves frustrated when they return to normal PvE, but the top, godlike mega-ursan Norn players at level 500 with one-hit-KOs in PvE get that taken from them, leading to possible frustration and division of the 2 types of play.
Either way, the hardcore PvPers have no reason to worry (except balance?) but the rest of the playerbase has to wait and see just how similar GW2's PvE is to the conventional MMO.