Originally Posted by beldeti

You can make a level 20 PVP-only character right away, it will have access to all the skills, runes and weapon modifications that you have unlocked in your account. It will be limited to PVP-only play, though.

PVE (or roleplaying) characters on the other hand can go PVE, and once properly equipped, can join PVP.

Following the storyline (recommended the first time you go through), characters created in the first and third campaigns (Prophecies and Nightfall, respectively) can reach max level from a day or two to a week, depending on how you play.

Meanwhile, characters created in the second campaign (Factions) can get to max level in as little as a day or two due to the nature of its early / training quests

Of course, you can "powerlevel" your characters to level 20 in a manner of hours, but that's only for succeeding characters, not recommended for newbies or those who'd like to follow the storyline.

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GW2 takes place a hundred years or so after GW1. It's still set in Tyria, but will be very different from the first game. GW2 will be a different game, you can play GW2 even if you've not tried GW1.

GW2 however will give bonuses (exact nature unknown yet) for GW1 players who have purchased the Eye of the North expansion and recorded their achievements at the Hall of Monuments, and who will link their GW1 and GW2 accounts together.

This is the developers' compromise of the players not being able to bring their GW1 stuff and wealth over to GW2, but having something else to show for what you did in GW1.