While I actually also would love to see a different artstyle (I actually prefer the one from WOW for example), I honestly also like the GW2 one.
It's not overly realistic, but just the right amount.
Also that argument about a pay wall because people need to get better PCs is total BS.
The fact that the DX12 beta gives you like 50% extra fps which you hadn't before should compromise pretty well.
Furthermore GW2 is nowhere gpu limited but actually just engine limited.
The game will literally run well on a total potato, and will always run bad when 50+ players are doing an event or so (even on the most kitten PC in the world).
And even then. There are graphic settings for a reason.
I can run the game good enough on my i5 laptop if I wanted...