Guild Wars?

[Zippyy]

What seems to be missing for me is the character building aspect of RPGs (or action RPGs), which is one of my favorite parts.

This could be simply because you were not allowed to gain levels in the E3 event. You started at level 15 and could not level at all. In fact, I don't have the slightest idea how the leveling system works in Guild Wars. In the October 29-31 event you will be allowed to level from 15-20.

Something does feel strange to me about "finding" your skills on the bodies of slain opponents in the form of gems, like you did in E3. ArenaNet has announced that you you will also be able to learn skills from enemies that use them. I don't know if the skill gems are still in the game, but I am assuming that they are. The skill system has been likened to Magic: The Gathering. To me, selecting your skill set before going into a mission did feel like building a Magic deck. However, fighting (thankfully) did not feel anything like playing Magic.

Character appearances will also be much more customizable than they were in the E3 event. ArenaNet hasn't announced what features will be tweakable, specifically, but more recent screenshots seem to suggest facial hair, hair color/style, many new faces, custom guild tabbards (Lurkers Guild anyone?:D), and possibly more dyes. Also, you may use dyes to color your armor, or mix dyes to create brand new colors. In the E3 event, silver and black dye were extremely valuable.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I am hoping that the feeling of character building will be more pronounced in the final release. The October event will give us a better glimpse. I have a feeling that in the final release the ability to start from level 1, customize your character much further, choose from a huge variety of skills, and actually gain levels will give us that character-building feeling.