Edit: Wait, you have to buy the game, don't you? No sub, sure, but you still have to pay money for the game, yes?
Yes, GW2 is "buy once, play for free" business model.
However, if you wait and keep an eye out, they do have "free account" promos from time to time where you can start with a slightly gimped free account that will still allow you to do and experience nearly everything about the game (and most of the restrictions, like limited chat and no WvW until level 60, will be gone after you've played for awhile).
I think you can still get free accounts at the current time (click the "Play for Free" to the top right), but if not, just keep an eye out and Anet will run another one probably sometime after the HoT expansion releases within a month:
www.guildwars2.com/en/news/play-for-free-today/Also, Mordecai's friend is right that gear is mostly distinguished by cosmetic appearance (though "Ascended" armor and weapons are marginally better than Exotic items). The item store, by and large, is all about selling cosmetic costume packs. Finally, you can trade gold for gems (the exchange rate fluctuates), so with enough time and playing, it is possible to earn the stuff for sale in the gem store through playing alone (no lie though, it would take considerable time, especially for a beginner starting with shit gear).
There are cases where buying gems (which allow for buying items off the store and also transferring between servers) could be argued to make the game P2W, but having played the game *A LOT* since launch, gold is not that important in the long term. Currently, I have 111gold in game (which is not a lot compared to other long term players) and have a fully decked out character (some ppl have multiple characters at level 80 and spend their time decking them out in the best gear for their class/build, but more importantly, picking outfits and glowy weapons/etc for them). That's not to say that having lots of gold will allow you to more easily focus on
buying/selling stuff on the Trading Post to make gold, or that having gold makes a big difference for certain aspects of the game like World vs World (where you spend gold to upgrade structures, which inevitably get flipped by enemies and then require new upgrades all over again), but once you have a good exotic set of gear and reach level 80, you're pretty much set for equipment as long as you have picked your stats wisely (there many different builds people can make depending on class, or what you are focusing on in game).
To simplify to the main 3 armor stats that people tend to use: 1) Beserker stat build is for max DPS (but is very glass) = this is necessary in most "hardcore" PvE dungeons and *can* make world completion easier (it might be challenging to go for these stats when still learning the game, however). 2) "Soldier" build (+Power, +Toughness, +Vitality) is excellent for starting in WvW and maybe when learning the ropes of PvE, but is shitty DPS and hardcore dungeon groups will rage at you if you are running PTV build as certain classes. 3) Finally, "Condition" build is suitable for certain DoT-heavy classes (Thief, Necro, sometimes Ranger and Mesmer). I don't use this one, so not totally sure about the three stats is relies on, but I think it's +Condi, +Power, +Ferocity.
There are also sets of runes you can fix to your armor (and weapons) that can give a variety of stats and buffs/debuffs, often times made more powerful if you use a full Rune set. It is true that the higher end Superior Runes (which you would use on your Exotic gear) can get very pricey, so full disclosure, gear does matter in this game (but not totally... it's hard to explain). With that said, once you hit a certain level (normally 30), you can normally grind dungeons like "Ascalonian Catacombs" for gold and "Tears" (another form of currency which can be exchanged with an NPC for an exotic set of armor with the stats to your liking). The dungeons in the game are kinda underwhelming (at least to me), but with a group that knows what they are doing, you can complete them quickly and accumulate gold quickly (and earn an exotic set of armor easily from them).
There is a lot more to it, and what I'm posting is already too long, but just bear in mind... a big part of your experience (in WvW!) depends on the server you join. You can play with friends across servers in any of the PVE content, but World vs World content is server-bound (so if you guys are planning on playing that aspect of the game together, you need to pick the same server). Generally, the servers toward the "top" in rankings are where you'll find more people and more fights, but it all depends on timezones, and I cannot vouch for any of their communities:
mos.millenium.org/na/matchups/ ... WvW as a gamemode has been largely neglected by the devs since launch (i.e., few updates and changes, at least when compared to PvE side of things), so there has been a lot of attrition of WvW-centric players (still plenty of bitter clingers like me who play the ded gaemode anyway).
Oh, and there is an interesting take on "PvP" in GW2 called structure PvP (sPvP) where builds are largely balanced by the fact that you can swap out runes and weapons, as long as you have certain types in your inventory, and stats are "normalized". It's hard to explain here how it works, but pretty much, there are a few different maps where you fight in 5v5 matches for control of certain points (kind of like capture the flag), and a new game mode called "Stronghold" that is a bit like DOTA 2 or LoL in how it works. There are plenty of YT videos covering how it works (and all of the other stuff above).
If you have any questions, or need any help, you can send an in-game mail or whisper to Sproxz. However, bear in mind, if you are playing on a "free" account, it might not allow you to do that (and I guess you can always PM me here, though I only check in sproradically and don't always log in when I do glance and what's going on over here).
GW2 certainly has it's problems and is pretty casual in design and community, but for me anyway, it has a refreshing take on addressing many of the headaches of MMO's and really is a fair business model that I wish Shroud had adopted (I expressed this view privately to the devs many time). Just the banking system and "material storage" system in GW2 shows how ridiculously antiquated and greedy Port's bank slot bullshit is (and Starr's rationale for doing so -- i.e., "it's the industry norm"). It made me sick when I saw Envy point to GW2 as a game that locks bank slot upgrades to buying gems (which as I said, can be bought via gold)... especially considering GW2's starting bank offers ample space for players, and the material storage system is AMAZING compared to other games (though you will need to get some bags in your starter inventory and ultimately upgrade those to better bags over time). Let me just say, I love the "Deposit all materials" option in the inventory screen. Click the little gear on the top right, press "deposit all materials", and anything in your inventory automatically gets stored in your material vault (up to stacks of 250, which can be upped to 750 via gems). Also, another trick for expanding space is to create a guild for banking (free) when you first start the game. As you complete stuff in the world, you will earn "Influence Points" and can pop a bank upgrade that will unlock a lot more storage for you. The game allows you to be a member of up to 5 guilds, so you can always have your starter guild(s) (with bank) and then ultimately join a real guild when you meet people you want to play with (i.e., the SU people here). Any of you here are welcome to join our guild, but we are just a small group of casual people and most from all over the world, rarely use voice comms, and I play in the middle of the night NA time normally, so I'm not so sure how useful it might be to join.
Oh, and one last thing... if you want to level fast, you can try to go to WvW tab and then go to "Edge of the Mists" and hopefully find a good zerg that is capping stuff well and not getting farmed by enemy zergs. EoTM is one of the fastest ways to level in the game, but if you don't have a good commander to follow, it isn't that great. Another good alternative (but requires some gold) is to get to level 20 or 30 and then max cooking skill (can be done for relatively little gold, if done correctly). There are various guides for doing some (several are out of date tho and I wouldn't advise doing it for a totally new player with limited funds). A good source of info for various subjects like this and more:
dulfy.net/category/gw2/ <-- hover over the GW2 menu tab and you will see many useful topics like 'class guides' and shit like that.
P.S. Bow before the Asura master race!
P.P.S. WvW is best played listening to the following (provided you know what you are doing and are fighting in larger zerg fights/etc):