I was going to make a lengthier post, but w/e, I won't make effort to advertise anet's game. Point is, you can now play GW2 without buying the base game, though it comes with certain restrictions https://help.guildwars2.com/entries/95982157-Account-types-Free-Core-HoT
mostly gating certain content until a character hits a certain level, and item transfer restrictions (mail, 'auction house').
And the news to take away here is that this all makes this slightly, marginally easier for me to invite people to join me in my endless quest of chasing arbitrary goals.
Signing up happens here https://account.arena.net/register?alt=gw2
Don't expect any kawaiiness though, it's a mostly serious and simple (if not a bit old looking) artstyle. Don't expect any story either, try to ignore it, gw2 story is boring, not its strong point.