is it too late to start this game?

Hi - have always wanted to start playing this, but just never taken the leap.
been reading up heaps on GW2, and wanted to try it out before it comes out.

so - is GW still a viable game to play? population still 'OK'? 100, 200, 1000 players online at once?

which expansion is not going to be a ghost town?

Short answer: yes.
Long answer: yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssss.

Also, just play another MMORPG or game and invest in GW2 when it comes out.

http://www.guildwars.com/freetrial/

Go try it and see for yourself.

P.S It's not a dead game. People have just gotten bored of it after playing for a few years. There's still plenty to experience if you're a new player.

It's still viable, population is not astronomical but it's more than ok. The les populated campaign is prophecies and I find EotN to be the most frequented. But generally speaking there's not a lot of difference between the 4.
And, if you ask me, a such "old" and established game is a better one to play, as you already have guides built for everything.

But more important, as Neo said, try the game (for free) yourself to see and judge with your own eyes

If u dont have much time to play during the next few years, i say don't start playing GW.

After all these years alot catching up has to be done wich needs alot of time.

Ofc. join ull have fun.

Catching up to what?

Really you don't need own 1,000 ectos and have 1,000 minipets to enjoy playing the game.

OP just go for it.

Go for it. The population will likely take a steep dive when GW2 comes out, but there's still a decent number of people running around.

There's no catching up to do unless you want to unlock absolutely everything in your hall of monuments for GW2. XD

Population's fine. I've been leveling up a new ele (for teh lulz, I guess) and there were a surprising number of people doing the same. From some of the questions asked, most of them were new players, too, which I love seeing.

You will need to play with henchies (and heroes, if you get Nightfall) quite a bit, so if you can't stand the idea of doing something without someone else around, you might want to wait for GW2. If you don't mind playing by yourself and occasionally running into someone who wants to do the same mission as you (this will occur more often as you get to higher levels), it's really a fun game. Heck, you can get the 3 chapters and eotn for like $20 in some places, and even if it were a single-player RPG it'd be worth it at that price.

Oh yeah, there's no catching up to do. You'll hit max level in like 20 hours of playtime and max gear is easy to come by.

yes, start now honestly! ;D it's a great game, and mostly good people are left. since GW2 has been hyping around, seems like more players have appeared (e.g. eternal grove has been a ghost town for at least 2 years, but today i saw it full of people without a ZM). even if it was dead, its a fun game while it lasts. not as dead as some of the servers were in trial :O! all campaigns are equally active (kamadan, in nightfall, just happens to be the centre of GW commerce), though i'd recommend getting all campaigns/EPs at one point, so you can enjoy the entire game ;D

actually the only catching up needed is on XP, which all new players do. max armour/weapons is easy to find, the level is easy to max and the PvE/PvP meta changes pretty often nowadays. and GW is also one of those MMOs which doesn't require much time.

Yes its def still worth playing. There is masses of content and as someone says above, you really don't need vast amounts of in-game money to compete. GW is not an equipment based game.

Many large Guilds and Alliances are still going, and I would recommend joining one of these. Our Guild always has 100 members (max allowed) and there is always a waiting list to join.

The game is far from dead and anyone who tells you otherwise is looking in the wrong places.

You may have trouble finding people to play with, but yeah I agree with the other few, the game isn't dead, and it doesn't take that long to complete

I'm a new player as well. Installing now actually!
Wondering if there are any others wanting to play together perhaps? I'm thinking of starting an assassin.

hmm, with catching up i did not mean trying to get like 1000 ectos, etc.

I meant one that starts playing now is 5 years behind with playing since GW is 5 years old now.

And, playing all 4 parts of GW will take more then enough time.
Having something like only a few hours max a week to play does not seem enough to me to properly get into the game.
Or do most or all one can do in the game.

It merely seems a shame to me if u only have the time to do only a small percentage of what can be done in GW.

just my 3 cents...

But more players r always welcome, so dont let me stop u.

You have more than enough time to experience this game, it's world and lore before GW2 launches (likely first half of 2011). So it all depends on what you expect from the game. It's too late if you want to become a top PvP player or make an enormous fortune, but there's enough time to complete all the content of all campagins, including Hard Mode and filling your Hall of Monuments with lots of max titles and other stuff in 'preparation' for some veteran bonuses in GW2.

I was thinking of starting this back up again as something me and the gf can play together, you all seem to be acting as if the game will be done in a matter of months. Is the release date for GW2 even set yet?

I know that many people give the impression that GW1 will end when GW2 starts, but that isn't so. ANet has stated many times that GW1 will still continue to operate long after GW2 is released. And, when you think about it, they would have to, considering that they are still selling new accounts which have to have a reasonable time to play.
However, I would guess that when GW2 is released, the population of active GW1 players will drop, but there will still be lots of new-ish players and lots (and lots) to do.
Since GW1 is all "instanced" and there are Henchmen and Heroes available, you should have no problem enjoying the game with you GF, whether there are other players or not.