Guild Wars 2

Hello, first of all, sorry for my bad english.

I was playing GW2 like 2 years ago, got some maxed characters, legendary etc.
Now I’m thinking about coming back to the game and I have some questions.

First, is it players base still large?

Second, I mostly played WvW and Spvp, they improved them in some way? Maybe new maps for wvw and pvp? Also, do I have to play that skyhammer map or do they remove it from ranked pvp?

Next I wanna ask about gear. If I wanna play pve dungs or some new content (i dont count story in that) do I have to grind for ascendend gear or exotics will do the trick?

What about Gandara server? Is it lively and still has strong wvw base?

Lastly I would like to hear some personal thoughts about current state of the game. Your honest opinion or feelings.

Thx all, in advance!

Exotics are more than fine for everything except high level fractals. Some WvW guilds require it but that is purely player based not game. WvW or sPvP forums would be a good place to look at individual server info.
Just jump in and try it, personal opinions vary so yours is the only one that counts for you.

Raids will also require ascended trinkets and weapons at least. In WvW servers were linked up (merged without merging) which has inflated numbers of players in WvW. Not sure how your server is doing though.