Will the different playable races be at war?

Like how WoW has the Horde and the Alliance with both there respectable races on each team, and they can't have any communication with each other in-game.

Or will everyone get along and I can have a friend on each race, & be allowed to talk, fight, trade, etc?

No, all the different races can play with each other. As soon as you start the game and finish the tutorial you can travel straight to another of the race's areas and play there.

Alright, I was just making sure, I read about how the Charr hated the Humans and wanted to destroy them so I thought that there was going to be some sort of conflict.

But I guess it’s all about the Elder Dragons now, and everyone teamed up?

I'm pretty sure that the Charr hating the Humans and the Charr warring against the Humans was the first game's storyline.

@Gantrathor: Yes they were at war, but now the premise of the story is that all the races are coming together to fight against the dragons.

@Dragon_Fire: I'm sure you'll meet some NPCs who won't be too happy about Humans and Charr being so friendly, but it won't have any affect on gameplay. Like you said, everyone's too busy focusing on the dragons to be hostile towards each other.

@Maystack: Yeah, there's a zone ArenaNet was showing off recently that was focused on the charr/human alliance being threatened by certain human and charr factions, with players taking action against these groups.

@Gantrathor: Oh, sadly I never got to play the first Guild Wars.

Okay I thought that they were teaming up.

That zone seems like a pretty cool idea.

@Dragon_Fire: If you care enough, Edge of Destiny is a pretty okay read that really helps to establish the tone of the world moving into the events of Guild Wars 2 (and also does a pretty great job setting up some background on Destiny's Edge--the band of hero characters that will be key to the Guild Wars 2 narrative). It isn't spectacular, but it's a fluffy, fun, easy read with a solid pacing to it. TL;DR - the formation of Destiny's Edge really breaks down some racial barriers and helps in uniting the races of Tyria against the Elder Dragons.

It's peacetime in Tyria. All the races are allies.

Despite committing genocide against the humans in Ascalon back in GW1 and then taking their land, the charr and humans are somehow allies now. I'm really not fond of the storyline in this game (from what I've read so far). GW1 was much more gritty. Pretty much every faction you met was at war. There weren't many alliances.

@UssjTrunks: To be fair, the massacre was mutual. And I'm hoping Cantha is where the really dark lore will make its return, since that's where ArenaNet has written most of the racism and other "real-world problems."

@UssjTrunks said:

It's peacetime in Tyria. All the races are allies.

Despite committing genocide against the humans in Ascalon back in GW1 and then taking their land, the charr and humans are somehow allies now. I'm really not fond of the storyline in this game (from what I've read so far). GW1 was much more gritty. Pretty much every faction you met was at war. There weren't many alliances.

If you aren't that big of a fan on GW2's story direction, you haven't read enough of it. The humans are pittied by other races now. The Charr, Asurua, Norn and even the Sylvari see them as going the way of the dwarves (I.e. being the dominant race for the longest of times then getting wiped out pretty much immediately.) Their numbers are dwindling compared to what they once were and now the only real home they've got is Divinities Reach. The Queen Jennah realised this so she helped the Charr in order to form a (tentative) peace treaty. This was opposed by serveral high ranking humans however, most notable of which is Caudecus, who would do anything to take the power from the Queen and renew the war with the Charr.

That's just scratching the surface, there's a ton of really interesting story on how each faction see each other.

@Dark_Lord_Spam: Yeah, and Elona isn't looking like a land of sunshine and rainbows, what with Palawa Joko ruling the land with an army of undead.

@SamStrife: Absolutely. I spent a whole day reading through the GW2 and GW1 wikis.

Some crazy shit happens over all the GW1 campaigns. If I had read about it all way earlier I'd have happily shelled out the 20/30 bucks to play through it.

@TheHT: I've read so much in the Guild Wars 2 wiki but haven't really delved into the GW1 wiki that much. I did play through the first game but I'm sure my memory is a little hazy, may be worth a refresher course.

People should definitely read the lore though, it's fantastic. I'm fascinated by the Sylvari and their complete naivety of all the other race's feelings and beliefs. Oh and the Charr seeking out their own gods and then eventually renouncing them is a great piece of lore that nothing else has ever really come close to touching upon. And whilst we're talking about gods, the Human's gods have all but abandoned their followers....damn there's so much lore and it's all soooooo good.

Alright that is good to hear that they all allied to take down the Elder Dragons.

@SamStrife: Oh wow, I didn't know the other races actually pitied the humans. And that is pretty cool that there is other people who want war among the humans and Charr.

@SamStrife: Yes I have been reading some of the Guild Wars 2 Lore also, and there is a lot.

@project343: That seems pretty interesting I might give it a read.

@Dragon_Fire: The description I've heard devs throw around is that the humans aren't headed toward a golden age of man like at the end of The Lord of the Rings, they've leaving it. They've already had theirs and as a society are on the decline, while other races are coming to the forefront. The Sylvari, having existed only for somewhere around 30 years, are essentially the opposite of humans in that sense. They've only just begun making tracks on Tyria.

@SamStrife: Dude, I know! Not to mention that Zhaitan, the biggest and baddest of the Elder Dragons, has taken over the holy city of Arah in Orr where those same human gods lived before they all up and left. And we're totally gonna go there.