I remember seeing reviews/previews about this game several years ago and I always found the concept interesting. Of course I didn't have the computer to run it back in the day and by the time that I did, it was no longer in stores. So is it worth picking up?

The Guild is a very unique blend of something along the lines of a survival-sim-rpg. There's a lot to do and see, and the game rewards you for being clever.
If I had to compare this unique gem to another game, it would have to be Sid Meier's: Pirates!
Obviously they're not the same, but there is much fun to be had with this game.

For me it was an OK game, but one that was not all that intuitive and once you knew what to do (i.e. how to kill people without anyone knowing) it was fairly straight forward. For the life of me though I can only remember part of what to do.
It will hold some fun, but it just was not long lasting in my particular case, but each person is different, and you may enjoy it for years to come.

I say go for it. This is a fairly unique mix of a tycoon title, an RPG and the Sims. While it's a bit buggy it's still loads of fun. Way better than the sequel that was basically a graphical upgrade with some needless features and bugs up the wazoo.
AFAIK this is the only game where you can do crazy and creative stuff like poisoning your rivals wife and then blaming him so he gets thrown in jail and you can easily take over his business.
EDIT: Also, there is a pretty good tutorial if I remember correctly. That's the place to start.

I remember this game fondly. I thought it was great fun, very addictive actually, and I can't wait for it to be available :)

In multiplayer, this was one of my favorites. We have three store-bought copies because of that. We used to all *try* to play it as a family.
I say *try* because the multiplayer was seriously buggy, and it never seemed to get fixed. Synchronization problems would occur and reloading saved multiplayer games almost never worked. Heck, just *starting* a multiplayer game was hit-and-miss.
If this version worked any better, I'd jump at it. I'll wait and see, though.

okay. that's good enough for me.
buying now.

Its a great game a nice mix of diffrent gamplays make it a keeper x3

Definitely agree it is a great game, but like already mentioned I also remember it being bugged to hell in multiplayer. Don't remember many singleplayer bugs though...

Definitely worth the price.
"Just one more turn" - type of game.
My main beef so far is the navigation and interface, which annoys me - but I can live with that and see past it.

I've been (trying) to play it multiplayer for years with my friends ... I have experience with every single patch released for this game. So MY experience is that with GOLD edition the multiplayer (at least on LAN) is VERY stable with just 2 players (although please save often and with different files, since there can be a disconnect WHILE saving). It gets progressively worse with more players and downright impossible when trying to play online (e.g. hamachi).
For the game experience I have to agree that it is a very unique "German" gaming experience. It is quite easy when you choose a life of crime to get to the top (although the game ironically crashes mostly when a crime is committed).
When you've played it a couple of times you get a hang of the economic part, which is not that hard, and you'll experience the game more as a "political simulator in medieval times" since you will spend most of your day doing stuff to advance to higher office.
This is also the major difference to The Guild 2, in which politics tend to be not as important as running your business empire, doing Sims-like stuff with your family or commanding your little army of bodyguards.

This is great fun so far. I'm 26 years old, a talented alchemist, etc. I don't make a fortune in money though, which I have to resolve so I can improve my house and work on my other skills, like stealth and rhetoric.
I've got a good position in the council informers because my wife runs it, apparently. Muahaha! Haven't gotten to try combat or thievery yet though... the game hasn't crashed or anything yet, which is also a good thing.
I was worried I picked a bad title to buy, but it's strangely addicting and great fun to see myself as a Bomb Merchant. Boom!