Question about when to leave the first part of the game?

What all exactly should I have accomplished b4 I go to Sir Tydus (sp?), accept his quest, and leave the begining part of the game?
Also, theres a girl named Gwen I think who lost her flute, and I found it, but now she wants a new one and I'm not sure where to take her, because I tried taking her to where u can buy one, but that didn't seem to work.

You can buy a flute at the merchant, but sometimes Gwen won't ask for it.

I usually go through the academy at around level 7-8. That is, after I have done all the profession quests and such. Also staying around that long, I usually leave pre-searing with around 1.5k, which is always enough to craft my armor, etc, when I get to the "other side."

these may be of help especially the presear guide.

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/content...-10-id1195.php

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/content...lon-id1264.php

I tell all the noobs to leave Gwen alone, her quests are a waste or time, which could be spent gathering instead of dealing with her.

It's entirely up to you. Personally I prefer to have my toons do all quests in pre-searing and try to kill all Charr minibosses across the wall before going through the Searing.

I go after I learn all the primary profession skills. There are some that you have to buy later if you didn't do the quests in pre-searing and cant quest for them in post.

I did Gwen's quests the first time round, then realised you get basically nothing off her except that she will heal you a bit... but apart from that I agree with Amei, they are a waste of time =)

I also left pre-searing at lvl 7-8 with all my characters.

I think if you partner with someone who did those Gwen quests already, you automatically get the upgraded Gwen afterwards.

hehe upgraded gwen =P

hah, wicked pic of Gwen.

But I usually leave pre-searing depending on my boredom level, as I've completed every quest doable by a W/Mo and then ported to Post searing, and by doing so, I usually am level 9-10, with 2-3k, enough to craft new armor and dye it if I so choose.

But before leaving, make sure you grabbed rez sig from the healer outside asc. It'll come in handy if you don't have a monk to rez. Other then that, I'd do quests to net you skills and when thats all done, whatever your level, port over to post.

hope it helped
--The shim

Thanks for everybody's posts, was a lot of help.