Returning player who hasn't played since heart of thorns

Hey I haven't played GW2 in years and I'm looking to return to the game and I have a few questions before I jump back into the game

1. I know GW2 uses a mega server but which world is good for world vs world?
2. Between Warrior, Guardian, Theif, and Ranger which one is good for both PvE and PVP/wvw
3. How long will it take me to catch up in terms of end game content?
4. how important is crafting?

@"Prinny.8763" said:

1. I know GW2 uses a mega server but which world is good for world vs world?

US or EU? I have no idea about the quality of the several US servers.

2. Between Warrior, Guardian, Theif, and Ranger which one is good for both PvE and PVP/wvw

PvE: all fourWvW: Warrior and Guardian for squad play, Ranger and Thief for roamingPvP: I have not played this terribly toxic and unbalanced game mode in 3+ years, but Thief was always especially outstanding

3. How long will it take me to catch up in terms of end game content?

No idea where you left off...

Here is an overview: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Release

4. how important is crafting?

You can do without, but will miss out on the comfort and convenience of being able to craft things yourself, as well as on being able to access all items in the game as some can only be obtained through crafting.

Try to find a good guild on the forums, and go to their server. Relinking and server hopping means that anything other than full servers is anyone's guess how "good" it is or can be...

Guardians are popular support, thieves are roamers, warriors great boonstrip and idk about rangers.

depends on what you want to do, but since GW2 has no gear progression past ascended, if you're already geared up - you're good to go wherever you want

very, have it, you never know what you'll need. you need it for ascended, legendary, for stones/oils/crystals (if you have that crafting discipline), food... you can get a lot of ascended stuff without crafting though, but if you plan on getting a legendary at any point, you'll need it maxed. And it's just handy to have.

@"Prinny.8763" said:

2. Between Warrior, Guardian, Theif, and Ranger which one is good for both PvE and PVP/wvw

At (group) PvE side I run mostly with Warrior, Guard and Ranger. Especially Guard is very versatile for PvE content, you can run power or condi DPS and variety of support builds (HFB, QFB). Others can correct me if I'm wrong, but at WvW side ranger and thief have had nice roaming builds like forever, and guard (as FB) has been solid support class for zergs for like eternity. The situation may have changed, of couse, I havent followed that front that closely.

3. How long will it take me to catch up in terms of end game content?

If you have already suitable exo/asc gears, it is just about learning(*). For example, warrior, guard and ranger still use Berserker pieces for group PvE power DPS. For WvW purposes many replace Berserker with Marauder for larger HP pool.

EDIT: (*) Learning what the the post-HoT specs do, mainly - ranger Soulbeast, guard Firebrand, thief Deadeye and warrior Spellbreaker.

4. how important is crafting?

It is not mandatory, but nice to have, it is another source for different sorts of pieces. True, you get all sorts of currency from content to buy what you want, but like said, crafting gives you yet another source to gear up your toons.