Don't get hung up on a single character. You have 8 slots (and you can buy more). That gives you space to try most primary professions. In fact many people advice you should start a char in each chapter and work your way up the stories in parallel.
Avoid deleting characters. You can change everything about them other than primary profession. I've seen lots of people regreting they deleted a character on a whim. Even if you completely hate them, let them be as long as you're not badly in need of an extra slot. Many times players have a change of heart down the road and then they wish they still had that old char.
Don't miss out of the RPG part of MMORPG. The game lore and details are extremely rich. Treasure every little corner of the world you reach, talk to NPCs, listen to them talk to each other (sometimes quests pop up this way), take secondary quests in all outposts you reach. They are designed to give you a deeper understanding of the setting, to get you emotionally involved in the story (not to mention benefits in items, gold, experience, skills and getting to see new parts of the world).
Befriend other people in the game. Join them for random quests or missions, join in (or initiate) local outpost chat, dabble in trade. In other words don't miss out on the MMO part of MMORPG.
Play the game together, it's 10 times the fun when you do it with a friend. Try not to let one of you advance too much in the same chapter, if the difference becomes too great it's too easy for one of you or the other feels like just being there for the ride instead of pulling their weight.
Do whatever feels like maximum fun at the time for YOU. Yes, even completely brain-dead stupid stuff. The fun way >>> the "smart" way. GW is all about your own way, don't let anybody tell you different, not players, not the game itself. You don't "have" to do anything in particular or in any particular order, just have fun.
Don't be afraid of failure, it's your best teacher. You get knocked down, you get up, try again, try a different approach. It's part of the game, there's a learning curve, don't expect to "win" overnight (what would be the fun in that).
In this spirit, avoid being gifted large sums of gold, max armor or weapons for free; try to earn them yourself. There's nothing like the satisfaction you get from putting together all the gold you scraped up bit by bit just to buy one piece of that fancy armor you're craving for, and knowing you earned every penny. (And by earned I don't mean mindless boring grind, I mean doing actually challenging and interesting stuff.)
The best buds you can hope to find in the game are those that understand the personal aspect of the game. They will be there for you, offer advice if you ask for it, but let you play the game your own way, let you advance at your own pace, NOT shower you with outrageous gifts, not hung up on "achievements" or on proving anything.
Don't let rude or obnoxious players bring you down.
Enough advice, go play the game.
Welcome!
