Up until today I would have said that Guild wars 2 was a good game. I can no longer support that. With the addition of the new expac secrets of obscura it does not fill that position for me. If you start the game you will be extremely limited for an extended period of time in game. I have played for a year and I am quite sure I would need to double or triple that time to get to the same position if I were to start today without having to spend several hundred dollars to purchase what I needed through gems.
You no longer earn gold each day. You now earn various items you can not sell to get gold or have no use for. Gold will be very difficult for a new player until such time as you have gold to buy your equipment to earn gold catch 22. With the new expac any starting player can expect to be broke for a year or two and unable to compete IMHO. I believe that will make any new player regret playing long before those years are over. You have been warned.