Guild Wars 2

I’m simply very confused with this game, and i’ve never played it much because of it. People say that you can play the game in anyway you want but that’s a lie. I decided to just do the things that was closest to me, and i ended up being killed by high level enemies (Wasn’t a part of a quest) so i decided to change my playing style. No matter what i pick i always feel like i’m playing the game wrong. Any help?

Does that mean that we must pay to change the name on our character,