Guild Wars is a MMORPG with no monthly fee. There are three 'campaigns' and one 'expansion'. One needs at least one of the campaigns to play but there is nothing else one has to buy. Of course they make it attractive to buy all four boxes, and there are some extra goodies that one can buy -- like additional item storage and additional character slots -- but those don't do anything for game play. They just make it easier to manage one's account. The combo deals are attractive.There are two sides to the game: player-vs-environment ('PvE'; what we would recognize as a cRPG) and player-vs-player ('PvP'). One can choose to play either style exclusively, although the game tries to encourage crossover.
I won't attempt to explain the skill system. I think it works well and allows a player to adopt different playing styles with the same character. There are 9 different character classes -- melee, ranged and casters. (I know some people here who would love to play as necromancers an control huge minion armies.) The isn't too demanding on hardware, but it does need a broadband connection.
What really stands out for me is the obvious love that the designers put into the maps, characters and story lines. All the elements will be familiar to fantasy game players -- swords, magic, etc -- but the charm with which they've been assembled is similar to that of the M&M RPGs. And some of the NPC dialog is hilarious, so you know that the developers not only had a great time making these games but that they don't take themselves too seriously.
