They're very ambitious. I'm not sure how it will turn out, but if it does turn out the way as intended, it will be everything that current MMO's lack.
Personally, I'm contemplating either ignoring it or closing the curtains and abandoning life for a few months. Dunno what will happen.

I've been participating in the betas for a long time and this game is so impressive. I can hardly believe it's a MMORPG. It's already a success with upward of a million players having pre-purchased the game before its official release, designated for August 28th. This is one of the best games I've played, hands down.

Well pre-purchase stats don't impress me... look at diablo 3... but what can you say about the gameplay itself? What makes it so über-1337?

Everything, honestly. I'll tell you about two things in particular. There are two PVP modes, Structured PVP and World PVP.

In structured PVP, you can play automated tournaments or hot-join. Automated tournaments are always 5v5 and hot-join can be up to 10v10. Structured PVP is amazing and has me addicted like Quake 3 did long ago. It revolves around conquest mode, where you capture and hold territories for points. It's really fast-paced, considering it's a MMORPG, and it relies on skill. That's probably the most appealing part about GW2 PVP, the high skill ceiling. A newb will never get lucky and beat someone more adept in a 1v1 encounter, but the focus centers around team play. It creates great depth for competitive gaming and it's simple enough that anyone can jump into the fray and feel like they're contributing.

In world PVP, you are fighting against two other servers. Essentially, it's world versus world versus world (WvWvW). You can have massive fights, build siege weaponry, take over camps, keeps, and castles, and so much more. There is a lot of strategy involved, more on the scale of actual war, if you're entering as a guild. Keeps and castles are guarded by NPCs you have to kill to claim it. Those NPCs respawn as your troops to defend your territory against enemy invaders. Supply camps provide material to build siege weapons, upgrade structures, give buffs, etc. Even entering alone or in a small group, you have smaller objectives like destroying the supply transport or gathering supply for your team, or you can find a larger group to merge into. There is a lot of communication going on for your team, so you'll undoubtedly learn of several locations where you can join a bigger group. WvWvW is massive. It contains so much content that no amount of reading could really do it justice. You'll have to experience it firsthand. Oh, you can also level and get all your armor in WvWvW.

It's fantastic news that you should mention that because, on one hand the conquest mode sounds similar to Arathi Basin in WoW, something which was fucking awesome for me.

And secondly, the world PVP sounds like Alterac Valley in WoW, something which was even more fucking awesome (before they nerfed it). How long do these battles last?

I think you just convinced me!

SPVP lasts ten minutes maximum, I think. It may be fifteen minutes. These matches go quickly because a team will usually hit the 500 point cap before the time limit. I've never played in a match that was longer than ten minutes, personally.

WvWvW lasts two weeks. Each server is ranked based on performance and matched up against two servers with similar ranks for the next two-week period.

Check out the wiki for more specific details. It has everything you want to know about.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Main_Page