Buy Guild Wars or Wait For Guild Wars 2

I haven't played Guild Wars 1 so should I buy it and its expansions or should I wait for Guild Wars 2?

You could try buying GW1 and wait for GW2 at the same time GW1 can be acquired quite cheaply nowadays.

GW1 is an enjoyable game all by itself. It can be completed pretty much solo, but the game is best played with some friends or a guild because most player concentrate on trading and 'endgame content'. There are also perks to be gotten for GW2 via the Hall of Monuments if you are interested in that.

Do note that GW1 and GW2 will offer different kinds of gameplay, so playing GW1 won't necessarily tell you something about GW2 on that aspect. You can get acquainted with the lore of Tyria, though, which does lead up to GW2.

Here is some more info for you if you do decide to buy GW1 and need a quick rundown of the different campaigns and such.

Btw, there is trial over here as well. Play for 10 hrs or 14th days, whatever comes first.

Try out the demo first.
You can get it at guildwars.com
With the demo, you will already have an account, so if you like the game all you have to do is buy the game.
There's a lot of lore in gw1 that leads up to gw2, along with special reward items for gw2 that you could miss out on if you don't play.
Plus its just a fun game.

The two games will be so different. You could easily stick to Guild Wars without Guild Wars 2 if it suited you better.

Hmm good question. I say your best bet would be to just read about the GW1 lore from the lore forums. Obviously playing the game would give you better appreciation of the storyline leading up to GW2 but I think you'd be better off saving your money for GW2. Yes GW1 is a good game but seeing that you won't have too much longer to play the game before GW2, I don't think it'll be worth your money. Maybe consider reading the books leading up to GW2, Ghosts of Ascalon and Edge of Destiny. As for rewards, yes you can get items unlocked for playing GW1 but it'll take quite some time for a beginner to get many items. Plus Arenanet stated that these items will not give players any advantage in gameplay so they don't really matter that much.

It's totally two different games so if both appeal you then buy both, it's not like gw1 will explode when gw2 is out, so you'll have two games anyway. If you don't like both, only buy the one you like. There's nothing forcing you to buy one or not.

Guild Wars Complete Collection (Prophecies, Factions, Nightfall and EoTN) is only 30$ at gamestop.

If you are only getting Guild Wars only for the lore, storyline, and HoM rewards in GW2, I would say wait for GW2. You can look all the lore up on wikis and if you put yourself on a time limit trying to get your HoM up, it simply won't be enjoyable.

But, if you are prepared to take your time, accept you will be a noob for a few months, and play the games through, then by all means do it.

Do it.

GW1 and GW2 isn't anything alike at all. But you should still try GW1 And earn some rewards for GW2