I did. I finished a couple of games so I felt like taking this one on. Pretty cool so far. Of course, the no monthly fee is enticing, but it's sort of like a PSO that has a specific execution of flow to feel more like a MMORPG. The reason I say that, is that all skills are combat-based, so there's no fishing, crafting, etc. Also, most areas are instanced, so it's only you and any party members you chose to bring along. The idea of going out with 8 skills at a time, from whatever your collection is, definitely harkens to stuff like Phantom Dust. There are quite a few unique things about this setup of game. Best thing is that you can play this casually and get just as much out of it. I can always find time for engaging games that I can get satisfaction of hacking with friends, but without the necessary commital needed from your typical online RPG. It's more brains compared to length of time used, in dealing with foes. Using smart combinations of skills, during a fight, kind of make it feel more like a Phantom Dust altered heavily into a Fantasy environment with lots of world real estate. NPC life is active, though, giving it a MMORPG feel even when travelling in instanced areas. Some may even come up to you and actively talk to you (in bubble text, so not to get in the way of you doing your regular thing). You'll see people running or walking back and forth kind of like players do, sometimes. (Nice environment filler). Also any major events that concern players are reported to you, realtime. Just a nice little touch that keeps you feeling like you are playing concurrently with loads of players, when you aren't in a town.
Travel in and out of towns is done with a short load, and I do mean short. It doesn't keep you waiting long. If the place has been updated with new content since your last visit, there will be a brief download of new information to patch up the new data, before it loads. The download/update process is what would take the most time, but since it's only handling that area, the downloads are generally small in size. Take note, if on 56k, this means you may wait 30 seconds or so before the area loads up, but only if new content is there. When you enter a town locale, you automatically will see other players in there, with you. Town areas that have a load of people automatically place players in other DISTRICTS of a town. When they are are different instances of that town, for which up to a certain amount of players, share the same instance. You can, within reason, select which District you want to be in, from a pulldown menu, in your interface while in towns. That is, if you plan to meet people specifically at some place. There are no separate gameplay servers, to deal with; only Town and district are necessary information to meet any people playing Guild Wars. Districts are akin to selecting Lobbies on a particular PSO server.
Everything else seems to work as advertised. Things are running rather well, and you're given the option to skip to any major map points you've encountered, drastically reducing time needed to travel around. There are other gates and such erected, but I haven't had time to really explore much yet. (Only had about an hour this morning, to try it out).
I'm currently playing an Elementalist/Necro named Minabi. I'm liking the combo, so far. A good mix between attack, drain, and health replenishment for just using magic.