Little teeny tiny suggestions:

Pathing:
I can handle not being able to run down a cliff, but when that invisible snare line hits me in the wilds of Maguuma, on an ice flow in the south Shiverpeaks, or inside a mursaat stronghold, we have problems.

Generally speaking, many skilled players use a "pull" technique, where they will attempt to retrieve a single or small group of foes from a much larger group.
I can understand where an invisible pathing obstacle might provide some merriment and fun for observers, but since the zones are instanced, this is a waste of time. Is this something we could report with specific locations to get resolved?

Zone spam:
please tell us you are working on this.
I have not enabled chat or trade in weeks - its simply an invitation to be disgusted, revolted, and angry all at once. Apparently every sexual deviant that has been banned from other games now resides in yours. Simply enable "chat" for an overwhelming mountain of proof.

Kick function:
Give groups an option to remove unruly players at ANY TIME.
The ones wailing about how it will be abused are the same ones who are typically doing the violating. Go figure...!

Enhanced NPC controls:
How about a deadly "Alesia, plant your arse right here." control? Or the AI to direct Stefan or Little thorn to target and not have them change immediately the moment you select and engage another?
Another that would be popular is called DISENGAGE: You ran into a angry anthill of foes, and fleeing is now the only recourse (other than dying) You run, and voila~! half the NPC team stays behind to valiantly perish in what is already an obviously hopeless battle.
Example? How about some of the little sorties wandering between the South and North Shiverpeaks?

Compass controls:
Make PUG's fun again - by limiting the amount of abuse the "socially challenged" can inflict on the unwary and trusting group members. Give us some sort of compass control that allows for either one person to make the notations, or colors so each player can be noted.

Player policing tools:
You have lots of really bad players in your game. I don't mean "They are not of the uber skill school," but rather, these are active violators of your EULA and many who should be banned on the spot are still active, exploiting, scamming, griefing, etc.
If you don't want to actively police your game from within it, give us townsfolk a sheriff or at least a six shooter to run off the varmints that currently infest town!

There has been a suggestion to put signs on violators with their violations evident for all to see within the game. This is a great idea - you are not preventing them from "enjoying" the game, and at the same time allowing everyone else easy verification of a EULA violator - group at your own risk.

Characters slots:
Consider expanding this to at least allow us to have one character of each primary class is possible. Especially for PvP, we want to experiment with team builds. The whole unlocking/revising process gets boggled up when you have to delete an existing character and begin over in order to try something new.

Paying for it all:
Programming, implementing, and designing all these issues takes time and money. You have stated "Guild Wars will never institute a monthly fee."
Fine.
Offer "optional content" online for a modest fee, put these enhancements in an expansion, or offer smaller "adventure packs" for a fee that can be streamed into the existing game.

Your game is still free online, and you now have the venture and operating capital to accomplish greater things. Have at it.

Talesin

I completely agree with every thing you say in this message. Although, I am skeptical about how the paying for it all idea would work.

Totally agreeed.

In terms of the payment, also agreed. I'd rather pay cash for a good game. The thing with [as an example] WoW (and paying) is at least those "corperate SOB's" can deliver you a full, good game.

Not saying GW sucks (definently not), but it's having trouble getting it's results. They've spent too much time making PvE totally useless (so you're down to PvP - half the game) and not working on the mechanics of the game. Invisible walls, getting stuck, exploits, lag issues, matchup sytems (yeah, what system? my point.), total skill balance, intra-comunications (a friend's list less advanced then Bnet's .. with the creator of Bnet making this game), GUILD SUPPORT (it's called GUILD Wars). There's a ton of basic mechanics of this game that don't seem to be adressed.

In all honestly, I don't give anything about "The Furnace" or any of that jazz. I want a perfect PvP game, since that's what this game is. You can't nerf Pve to hell then only add PvE elements.

Having optional online content that you could pay for... I wouldn't be too pleased with that.

Since it is a game about skill, any optional content would in no way be able to make a character any better than another so what would this extra content do? It wouldn't be fair for those who don't want to pay an extra fee to lag behind the rest. Thus this bonus content would be lacking and making those who pay for it go "what this is it?". Sorrow's Furnace and Grenth's Footsteps should be good enough, just wait a few weeks.

Also, as everything online, I can assume it would require a credit card to pay for this extra content. I do not have a credit card, nor do my parents. My financially situation/decisions shouldn't come into question for a few extra perks in a video game.

I have no problem buying an expansion from a store, but not having to pay online in any way, shape or form is among the reasons I purchased this game.

Optional content would be new dungeons and lands to explore. New PvE storylines, and of course new equipment and possibly races.
Anyone not purchasing the "optional" content would not be at any disadvantage regarding combat, but would not have available to them the new armors, weapon models, etc.

And for those who cannot purchase online, the optional content could always be made available in a forthcoming expansion.
having the ability to purchase it online would simply make it available sooner for those inclined.

You think nobody would want to do this? Think again.
This game (and all others) are about having a unique look that no one else has. Players would purchase online content if it was nothing more than new faces, armor or weapon textures.

I totally agree in that people like to look Unique. Purchasing online content would be cool because for those who like PvE or "liked it" would have areas to look foreward to rather then seeing PvP changes that have to affect on them what so ever. On the other hand I also see how people without a creditcard would have trouble paying for online stuff unless GW allowed people to use Paypal to buy things which can be directly connected to a bank.

Everyone would have to have access to these new items whether they paid for them or not. IF you group with someone who is of a new race, what exactly are you going to see, just a block?

Not at all Kuku, in EQ they did this, and you simply saw the default human "skin" if you didn't have the optional content available. It worked fine.

Secondly, I am not proposing in any way new equipment that is "superior" to anything currently existing; merely new "looks."
Variety is the spice of life as they say.

NPC control thing is a great idea. They have it in so many other games but they are much less uselful. In GW though it would work great.

I'm pretty sure ANet would avoid any pay service at all costs, because isn't that the reason why they made GW in the first place? They splintered off from Blizzard because of the WoW payments...or is this just a rumor?

Instead of making unique looking items purchasable, have them winable through tournaments or something fun like that.

IMO, Anet is the true Blizzard. That's why I followed them to GW. That's why I expect better results. I can tell you know GW won't be played for 7 years (SC) or have people still addicted enough to play it hardcore even when it's done (D2). I know a multitude of people, myself included, who are already growing tired of the game.

As it stands right now, GW is a great secondary game. It just doesn't have the meat to keep a primary player occupied. When I play GW primarily I feel like I'm always missing out on something. Everyone I talk to has that feeling in some degree. Also, everyone I talk to LOVES Anet. The only problem is our favourate company is having trouble delivering the true game we want.

I might be wrong, but aren't those who created Anet are the ones who created Battlenet. There's a difference between this and the design and creation of an entire game. I still agree with all the points in the OP, but don't blame the entire team because of the reputation of some of the employees. I think they are doing a great job so far, and more features and content is coming. All that stuff will probably be solved, but you can't expect it right away. Just be patient.

Let me clearify:

Basically all the people who made Blizzard great are working at Anet now, so it's not abnormal to expect that same trend. Guild Wars is losing out on those simple things (past the couple basic flaws), all those little extras the bigger companies are able to through in.

Now, if they allowed mods to the game (WoW is the prime example, check out how jacked up the UI can get) that'd compensate for the tactical details. They don't though, and that's a big problem.

EDIT :: I have the patience to type up that Guild Support posting, with major factors explaining why there's unrest, then watch it get pushed to the bottum of the forum from all the "omfg hax !! nerf nerf!!1one!" posts. I'm also still here trying to post things that will remedy the situations, like clearifying a misinterpitation of the overhead post.

OP apparently never played WoW... Guild Wars is a blessing after playing that game...

please, if you got money to spend on online games, doesnt mean that we do too. I bought the game because of the lack of a monthly fee, and I would feel left out if they charged a monthly fee for more content. I'm sure a lot of other people couldn't spend the extra money on a monthly fee either.

I like your suggestions, OP. As in a Bonus pack or expansion pack to pay for the server and development costs, I would like to see Enhanced Skins and Armors for those that wish to pay for it so those with higher end computers can enjoy the game to its graphical potential. I don't care what other people see my character as, but I would like the game to be as highly detailed as possible for my end.

They could possibly release a Sub-collector's edition with the artbook and an "Aura Key" which many Newbs would pay for just to have the aura. They already have the game but maybe they want that aura and don't want to drop another $80 for the aura on a different account. Say $20-25 just to cover the costs of the book and the packaging.

New areas would be nice. I don't care if it includes new towns or what not, but if it were to include a new town, the easiest way to do this would be to add an altar out in the wilderness where each person with the Expansion donates X amount of gold to be taken to the new town that is not connected to any of the previous areas. This way only if you have the expansion and the gold, 1k-2k, can you get to this new place. The whole party is not transported and it would be a per person, "are you sure you want to leave the group?", thing.

They could even bestow GMs to fansite mods or extremely dedicated, screened players. Make them be watched by ANet for awhile, selected, and then notified about being selected to be a GM. This way, the players true nature is shown before confronted about possible GM advancement status. "Character is when no one is watching."

Excellent EXCELLENT post. Please note these suggestions, ANet!

Finally somebody sums all the great suggestions up in one post.
I agree with all of the improvements.

One thing added:
We have 4 weapon sets.
Why not have skill sets?
Depending on the terrain, mission etc. or depending on PvP or PvE you need different skills.
It usually takes a long time to skim through the skill-list to get the skills you want.

I agree with all but the last, like i stated before a thousand times, no game, and i mean NO game is worth a monthly fee plain and simple... yes i understand you say its optional if you want to pay more to get more, but i think they already have that, Deluxe pack and soon to come expansion pack, Anet already said it is a non-fee game, and if they went back on their word their gamers would not be too happy, if you really feel like giving aways money i hear there are starving kids in Africa, you should look into donations

as for the ones i agree with, the pathing, Compass, and NPC stand out the most, i become rather frustrated when i take a path that i find out is blocked by a 2 foot slope my all powerful dragon slaying, wordsaving hero is too afraid to go down...

and ive heard that NPCs have been boosted in the IQ department, yet im still not seeing anything, well the healing is a little better, and they never get stuck, but i mean battle wise, it may take the mythbusters to find out if this is actualy true...

and the compass, it doesnt take bill nye the science guy to tell you that the chemical reaction for 13 year old kid and Compass = lame drawings on map

so aside from the payments i agree with everything said

Hey, having skillsets are a good idea. It would be easy to save them client side. It would be beyond great if we could save our own titles/descriptions on skillsets, be able to save them and send them...mm...I can dream can't I?

What about removing the whole Favor of the Gods nonsense, so that the players in Europe can actually experience the content that is already in the game?