What sets Guild Wars apart.

Guild Wars is an MMORPG unlike many that are out there and that is part of what makes it so very great.
The developers wanted to make a game that a person could play, enjoy, and be good at without having to devote their life to it (unfortunately I have anyways).
To do this a variety of aspects were changed from your standard MMORPG.

As mentioned not too long ago, there is a level cap of 20 and it does not take very long to reach this. (It can be done in a single day if you play too much or within a week if you are a somewhat casual player).

Traveling. Perhaps one of the most annoying and time-consuming parts of most MMORPG's is trying to get someplace. If you want to get across the world, be prepared to press your auto-run key and guide your character through zones for an hour or so. In Guild Wars, if you want to get to the far end of a distant continent, it takes about 30 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on how fast your internet connection is. Although the method of traveling doesn't make a whole lot of sense, the players really appreciate it. You open up your map, find your destination, and click on it. Loading screen -> you're there. Lovely. All you need to do to be able to travel back to some place instantly is travel there once by foot. But there are outposts and cities everywhere so finding a place to leave from is not at all difficult and there is a chance you can even find a person to run your character there!

Death Penalty. Ugh, I just lost a level and half a bubble of experience. I'm going to go kill myself now. Woah, woah, woah! Not in Guild Wars my friend! Put the sword down. In many MMORPG's, your death led to much anger and loss of time by stealing away experience equal to the last 3 hours of killing you did and placing you someplace perhaps far away. You might even lose your inventory! Don't settle for this! In Guild Wars, a death leads to a temporary reduction of maximum health and energy. When you die, you get a 15% death penalty, lowering your health and energy by 15%. If you keep dying, you will continue to get / raise your DP. Two deaths = 30%, 3 = 45%, and 4 =60%. And thankfully 60% is the highest DP you can get. Originally, the only ways to remove a death penalty were by killing things or finishing quests to gain experience. (I believe it is either 75 or 125 experience to remove 1% of death penalty). You could earn a morale boost by killing a boss or doing objectives, or you could simply rezone to an outpost and remove all your DP at once. If your entire party is wiped, you will be resurrected in about 10 seconds at the closest rez shrine. In Factions, Nightfall, and Eye of the North, there are several rez shrines in each outposts, while in the original Prophecies there tends to be one or two. (ANet kept making the game easier every week...)

Bosses- Killing a boss would grant you and your party a 2% morale boost (maximum being 10%), some nice exp, hopefully some phat loot, and if you brought a Signet of Capture, the ability to take a skill from their arsenal and put it in your skills list until time ends... or until you stop playing the game..whichever comes first. For me, it will be time ending.