Mysterious Present -> Princess Doll: Your experiences?

[Cyberman]

However, I don't think they ever explained stuff beyond the point of "you died"

I honestly can't say right now. Last "Shooter" of sorts I played was Bioshock, which didn't explain all that, I guess, but then it didn't really matter that much.
Alpha Protocol had cover and all - they explained it, even had a few tutorial missions to get you acquainted with the controls.
Which I'd really like to see in GW2 - block out parts of the interface perhaps, to simplify, and let the player "discover" how it works. Like what they might have tried with the skills.

Sequel by name and lore "only" in my opinion

No kidding.

I would suggest you mentally note stuff like confusion and then go check it on the web/wiki.

Yeah, the wiki is usually my first check-point. But as Raye said, the wiki isn't really well maintained.
(In answer to the probably asked "why not do something against it" - I'm trying. But interestingly, while a well-maintained wiki is easy to contribute to, a slumping wiki is almost impossible to contribute to. At least that's my experience. IOW: I know what I'd add, I just have no idea how/where.)

[nkuvu]

Which I'd really like to see in GW2 - block out parts of the interface perhaps, to simplify, and let the player "discover" how it works. Like what they might have tried with the skills.

I think an Isle of the Nameless would be a good approach. Have areas where you can get different conditons/boons to see how they work, in a fairly controlled environment so there's not too much going on.

The Heart of the Mists has some of the stuff, like golems that help you with dodging, but could still be expanded. And of course since it's a PvP staging area, not everyone goes there for basic information.

[Raye]

There's the profession npcs who also help out figuring that sort of thing out btw. Kind of like the masters of the Isle of the Nameless. Like the Master of Enchantments and so on... shawn claims they're a bit lacking, i.e. the gw1 ones were better, but they do help.