My son played it this weekend. He enjoyed it. I liked the new models although they might have been in their from before, I just don't remember.

I would say if you enjoyed Guild Wars when it forst came out you will enjoy it.

Problem for me was that im an altoholic. You have 4 char slots in GW and my Slots are all full.
I didnt want to sacrifice one of my toons for another char just living for 72 hours.

From what i know its already decided. You will get 2 additional Charslots with Factions. 4 if you dont upgrade your account and play Factions standalone, but you wont have access to the new areas with your old toons and vice versa.

Lobster, I haven't had much trouble even soloing (+henchies) in practically _any_ area of the game, at least till the really late parts of the campaign. And even then, partying with a normal group would usually get you through any zone or mission. Getting enough money/resources usually comes during normal play - just save it up a bit.
Now, finding those "normal" people might pose a bit of a challenge

Hmm..sounds just like you weren't playing it correctly.

I played a Warrior/Mesmer and had a great time. Not sure what monster would take 10 mins. You should definitely bring a full group of henchmen if you dont have buddies.

I'm stuck around level 8-ish. Maybe I just need to put a little more heart into it or something. The quests just involve so much running around and the rewards are so lame... I don't want a Wand of Uselessless +1! I want more skills!

@Lobster: Ehm, sorry i cant bring a good explanation why i call them toons. I think its a common term for MMO chars.

And you being stuck with level 8: I bet its because you dont have henchies with you. Always use a full team unless you are farming for something. It has no drawback. Sure you get less money and XP, but you will be level 20 far before you finish the campaign and money is usually no issue for your normal needs. Money gets a factor later, if you plan to buy special armor and weapons. But thats optional.

Another advice is concentrating on only one set of skills. Dont shatter your points too much. Concentrate on fire and Energy Storage in this early stage of the game. Perhaps a third spec if you want.
Even though you are a monk in second class, dont try to be the healer AND damage dealer, your energy wont suffice for that. There will be areas later where healing is more needed than firepower, but you can completely adjust your skills in any outpost. Until now... Alesia, the monk henchman is all you need for healing.

Regarding gear: GW has a different approach than WoW, because of PvP balance. All weapons and armor have the same maximal stats, no matter if you buy them or get them via underworld raidgroup. For example, you as a elementalist will have 60 Armor in the end, no matter if you buy the normal armor for 6Platin+ a few common resources from a merchant or if you opt to get the prestige sets for 2000Platin, they will have the exact same stats, they just look better.
Weapons are slightly different, while they have the same basic stats, for example there is no elementalist staff doing more than 11-22 damage, there are random boni on them and depending on the combination of boni there may be better or worser weapons.
But you dont have to depend on drop luck. there are "Collectors" in almost any playfield where you can change typical loot into good items.
An example for your situation: There is a collector called "Fytch" in the eastern borderlands giving you a Flame-Artifact +6 Energy +45Life +7Armor in exchange for 3 Shells from the Scorpids in the Area.

Regarding crafting: Dont do it. You are always at a loss. Just sell everything.
Well, with 3 exceptions:
a) the item has a special property saying its good for crafting.
b) blue (magical) or better armor-pieces have a 100% chance of getting a rune out of them, but you need an advanced recovery kit.
c) You are working toward your next armor-set. As an elementalist you'll need cloth and so it may save you some money to create it instead of buying it. But you have to learn which loot deconstructs to cloth. As a guideline, if the armor is from magic using enemies its cloth, armor from scouts gives leather and those of fighters metal. But you may skip this and just buy the material since you wont have a shortage of money.

Seeing as I played WoW for about 2 hours total, I don't really need to re-train myself.

I like playing my Necro/Ranger more than my Ele/Monk. The Necro uses pets (a wolf and some zombies), then plinks away with bow skills. I'm thinking of switching to a shield and wand though, for the extra protection, since enemies almost always go after me instead of my pets.

I think I'll get Factions and give the game another shot. But I'll be damned if I get a third pack if I don't enjoy it more this time around!

Anyone know a good place to buy the expansion? Should I get the electronic version? I'm a cheapass.

Yeah, I like Gaming Steve.

Amazon.com has Factions for $45 (+$1 if you want the pre-order bonus disk).

I dont know if its music, but if it is, its worth it. I still hear the CD from the first part from time to time in my car stereo on the way to work.

@Lobster: If you're not through the first campaign, i would not suggest buying Factions, i would play that through and see if its enough fun to buy the addon. The Faction Content is mostly for level 20ies...in a guild. While you can play all the way from 1-20 in Factions, that part is very compressed in an tutorial, a large one, but clearly not the amount of content the first campaign has to offer.

and concerning your necro: Dont use a shield. When you are a bit further into the game, items start to have prerequisites and shields have "Tactic"-Skill as prerequisite, only warriors have that. Better try to push your defensive via skills... for example, you will have "Siphon Life" as one of your early skills. If you manage to keep that on 2-3 mobs you will have a good life regen. As a ranger, you will get "Throw Dirt" later in the game, which blinds all attackers around you for a good time.

Ah, and another thing to think of: Dont ever delete a char because you think you've choosen the wrong combination of classes. You will be able to change your second class via quests a good deal later in the game, as often as you wish.

There is one really good skill I've made work as a necromancer. It's a hex (I think) that does good damage to everything around the target whenever that target takes damage. So I cast it on an enemy in the middle of a group and it takes out the entire group.

I don't really mind hitting level 20 quick because I hate grinding.