For all of its ambition, the crowning achievement of Guild Wars 2 is its success in teaching us that a casual fantasy MMORPG need not be a bad thing. By ditching the tedium of by-the-numbers kill quests and self-serving mechanics like tagged enemies, it reminded us that MMOs should never lose sight of the fun inherent in playing cooperatively with other people. This simple philosophy saturates all levels of its gameplay. You'll see it in its agreeable buy once, play forever business model and in its wonderfully varied dynamic events, or in the way it nurtures a drop-in/drop-out design that doesn't punish you overmuch for not logging in every day. Few other MMORPGs have pushed the genre forward with so successfully.
Chief Criticisms: Needs more endgame; social features discourage socializing.