I care about campaigns! I usually play campaigns over sandbox modes too. I actually didn't even realize the previous games had them - I thought a "campaign" in the others would be selecting maps / gametype like in Renaissance. I'd settle for just a tutorial at this point ;) as I just received Renaissance and am a bit lost. Starting to think 2 might have been a better "jumping off" point (even more so if you're saying that 2 has a series of campaigns) but I'm guessing once I iron out a bit more of what I'm meant to be doing I'll figure out sandbox mode

Still would LOVE it if the tutorial (and now that I know about them, campaigns!) of the previous games were "patched" back into Renaissance, if that's even possible at this point.

Let me correct my mention, ONLY Pirates of European seas(P.E.S.) has campaigns. The vanilla doesn't have a campaign mode.
I've found a video which shows Pirates of P.E.S.' campaign(kampagne) mode in German. According to this video, P.E.S. has 4 campaigns, A new beginning, the black death, god's friend and world's enemy, and intrigue of Hanseatic League.

I want to tell you for certain from my experience not from youtube videos, but I can't even start the 2 games on my computer!

The lack of a campaign is a bit of a shame. I can understand why it wasn't included with Guild 2: Renaissance as it was basically a team of half a dozen or so modders that were tweaking up the game with improvements and fixes that were offered a deal by JoWood, IIRC. A proper campaign requires a lot more time and content production in turn.

Guild 2: Renaissance is the best version available of the game, especially with the latest patches and mods, but some might feel it's worth getting the previous titles for the experience or the tutorials (which may be added to Guild 2: Renaissance via patching/mods soon though) and a campaign with a decent narrative and set goals to get you into the game itself.

I've played all the Guild games at one point or another. They've all been remarkably buggy/glitchy but very fun. I think a sandbox/campaign mix works well for the game as dumping a new player in at the deep end with no tutorial or campaign is a bit brutal. High learning curve for most. Even just to know what the options mean in the initial menus or for the characters and buildings.