Some questions from a GW newb...

Sorry for loooong post, but I'd really like some things cleared up.

Ok, so I bought the collectors edition; playing through prophecies at the moment, having fun as an E/Me.
Q1) I'm not really bothering to do other quests - just sticking to the missions at the moment. Should I be doing quests? Will they significantly improve my character?
Q2) I've saved up gold and crafted new armour from that guy in Ascalon... is this the correct way to upgrade armour, buying it all from NPCs? Or am I missing something?
Q3) What am I aspiring to exactly? In WoW it was getting the great gear, raiding endgame etc, but what do you go on to do when you reach the level cap of GW? What am I aiming to get?
Q4) When should I move onto factions? Is there a point where the game says - ok, you've done everything, time to move on? WHEN is the point I've completed prophecies enough to move on?
Q5) For each campaign, do I have to create a whole new character, or do I transfer the one I already have to the next campaign? ...And, if I transfer, will they appear in the new world fully leveled - and so I won't be able to experience all the PvE content... and even if I COULD, there wouldn't really be any point... would there?
Q5a) Does armour/skills etc improve with each campaign? So if I CAN move characters through campaigns, should I not really spend a long time getting the BEST gear I can, until the last campaign, cause I'd be replacing it in the next one anyway?
Q6) I understand that Prophecies/Factions/Nightfall all bring a new world/campaign/storyline, but what exactly does EoTN bring?
Q7) When can I start PvPing? At the moment I've been doing missions merely with henchmen, as no one really seems to be around who is at the same stage as me, I want to actually experience the MMOness of GWs.

Thank you for reading. ^_-

1: in prophecies you might want to do quests, because they help you level up (leveling in prophecies is slow); and more importantly, many prophecies quests reward you with free skills!

2: yes the main way to get armor is to buy it from armor crafters. There is also collector armor if you're short on money (but you cannot upgrade max collector armor with insignia).

3: when you reach level 20, the 'real' game begins. GW is about builds and team synergy, not about level. First you should be aiming to finish the campaigns. You can aspire to get a certain elite armor for looks (although elite armors function the same as 'normal' max armor). After that, you can experience hard mode which increases the game difficulty. Don't worry about getting bored soon, there is a ton of stuff to do in guild wars.

4: you can travel to factions when you reach the port city of prophecies, Lion's Arch. You don't need to complete prophecies to travel to factions. In fact, when you reach Lion's Arch you probably won't be level 20 yet. Quests in Factions offer much much higher experience rewards than prophecies quests, helping you get to level 20 sooner. You will know when you have complete prophecies when you do. Just follow the primary quests and missions and you will get to the end .

5: you can travel to any campaign on every character. The only restricted stuff is beginner quests (and pre-searing for prophecies characters), but you won't miss anything by traveling to another campaign. You can always start a character in the other campaign to see how the beginning of those campaigns function. And yes, there is a point of moving to another campaign. Most of the content is designed for level 20 characters, so prophecies characters can do the same as factions characters after they move to factions. Only the beginner areas will be easier, but you won't have to do those after you travel.

5a: no. max armor is max armor. The only difference between armors (once you have max armor) is looks. You won't have to replace max armor between campaigns.

6: eotn really is a 'small' campaign. So there are also new areas and storylines. You just can't start a character in eotn, because all of eotn is geared towards level 20 characters.

7: you can PvP whenever you want by creating a PvP character, which spawns as a level 20 character automatically, but can only do the PvP content of gw. However, you would be best served by doing PvE for a while, because you will unlock skills in PvE which you can then use in PvP. The reason you aren't seeing many people is because you are playing in the beginner areas of Prophecies. Not many people play there (most are older player and use somebody else to rush them through to later areas). More people play in nightfall and eotn for example.

Hope this helps. If you have more questions, just ask .

Damn, Dzjudz beat me to it.

6. Eye of the North has a small campaign but makes up for it with many dungeons and exotic items. Don't be put off because it's an expansion.

Quest are mostly useful for levelling the char, so, unless you find that your char lvl is too low for the area you are in there is no need to do any not primary quests. An exception are quests that give skills as part of the reward: in case you don't have a certain skill but think it might improve your build or that of your heroes and you meet a quest that has it listed as reward it might be wise to do it.
Yes, to upgrade your armor you need to buy it from NPCs. There is no special need to upgrade your armor every time you find a better version untill you can get max armor (although ofc, if you can afford it, it certantly helps).
After completing the game (which happens way after you get to lvl20), you are given access to hard mode. You can also, if you wish, work on titles.
Factions is a parallel campaign, i.e. you don't have to do anything in proph (cept getting to lion's arch) to move to factions and you can travel freely between campaigns. However, traveling to factions will bring it to a point of storyline that requires to be lvl 20 or slightly below, so it might be a bit harder on a low lvl char. Just getting to factions (without doing any missions/quests there) gives however an opportunity to get max armor faster (after completing a quest that brings you to factions - which requires no combat- you end up in kaineng center, an outpost which has max armor crafter npcs).
by gettin to lion's arch (proph), kaineng center (factions) or consulate docks (nf), you can get the quest to travel to other campaigns. The char will be moved from one campaign to another "as it is" and will gain the abilities to travel between campaigns at will. It will be placed at a certain point of storyline of that campaign and the starting quests might be a little different that those of a local char (not the missions however). You won't also be able to redo the quests before that point of the storyline (but you will be able to do the missions).
the campaigns are not in order (from this points of view, they are, however, in a chronological order), you can start and end in whatever order you wish. So, max armor in a campaign is exactly the same as in another one (same for runes, etc). some skills are core (i.e. they can be acquired in every campaign) and some belong only to one of the campaigns. There are better skills and worse ones, but it doesn't depend in any way on what campaign they belong too.
Pretty much the same, though shorter (it doesn't however has new elite skills or professions aviable)
Now just go create a pvp char. Ofc alsmot surely you won't have unlocked enough skills to have a good build (check pvx for some cookie builds )nor runes, etc... so don't expect to do good immidiatly.

EDIT: lol, took long to type

good comprehensive answers

but did anyone say.... find a guild, a good one will help you understand the game and get through to level 20, skill collection and thats when the fun REALLY starts

i'll only answer the questions where my answer differs from that already posted:

1) only skill quests (quests that gives skills as rewards) imo... most other quests have worthless rewards.

3) gw is very e-peen based. weapons, armours, titles (most anyways) do not improve your character, they are just for show. but generally those are the main three people try to get these days.

4) imo, one storyline arch at a time. i don't like juggling storylines, not in movies, not in books, not in games. you'll know when you've beaten the last mission; the last cutscene you'll watch will clearly be indicated as the end, similar to a single-player rpg.

5a) max armour is the same across all 3 campaigns. however, what has not been mentioned is that some campaigns give access to max armour earlier than other campaigns. prophecies, the one your playing right now, gives max armour latest in the game compared to the other two (although you can get a run to that location sooner than normal). factions is the fastest campaign if playing by normal means, nightfall is the fastest if getting a ferry (really its kind of an exploit).

7) the amount of people you see will depend on what time of day you play in and what district you are currently in. try jumping around to different districts, i.e. american, european, etc.

When you do get ready to start out in PvP I would recommend that you go to Fort Aspenwood or Jade Quarry first. Mainly Fort Aspenwood.

Also, never go to Heroes Ascent. The elitists there prefer to block out new blood so it's best to just leave them to gradually die out.

Thank you SO much guys, really comprehensive answers, love you all!

This depends a lot upon what your main objective in playing the game is. To me the quests are a large part of what GW (or any RPG) is about. But there may also be side quests that have skills as a reward.
There are also collectors who can provide some armor pieces, but basically, yes, armor crafters are the usual way to go.
That's a good question, but only you know the answer. From your 1st question about quests, it seems that questing is not what you want, so .....
There is no point at which the game says "it's time to move on". You can move to another campaign and/or EotN once you get to Lion's Arch (in Prophecies).
You can create a new character if you wish. Some characters can only be started in a particular campaign - Ritualist and Assassin in Factions - Dervish and Paragon in Nightfall. Or you can take an established character to other campaigns. It essentially acts like one big world.
Armor and skills don't "improve" with each campaign, they are just different. You can get the "best" armor and weapons quite early on. After that it's just cosmetics - what you like the look of the best.
Another storyline. Dungeons. More Heroes and PvE skills.
Unlike WoW, there is no PvP during PvE. PvP is basically a separate game. You have already experienced the MMOness of GW.

i would agree. this game is old so to speak so many of the players are now maxed out and but if you haven't found a guild i would recommend joining one. I have one that would welcome your new character and we would help you out. Be warned though most players won't have a new character, others will have various characters in different stages of development like I do. Glad you are enjoying the game though.
IGN: Neith Bow Mistress

One more thing about improving your chars:

You will eventually reach level 20 (and have done the 2 relevant attribute quests) and have max armor and weapons.

After this, improving a char means improving builds and being able to change builds according to different areas / situations. Guild Wars = Build Wars. With all the skills available in the game, making many different builds is fun and helps you understand game mechanics to find out what works where and when and what doesn't.

Different builds often require (or desire) different armors. All of my chars have more than 1 armor set, for different builds/situations. Saving for and buying different elite armors is a fun way to acquire these different armor sets, and you get something new and shiny when you buy it . The same goes for weapons.