Tbh the GW2 community is lovely as they come, might be worth just trying to scope out a guild that has similar interests to you and making friends that way. I didn't have friends that played guild wars 2 when I started but I met plenty through the game and it's been super fun

Oh man, please hit me up if you'd like to jump into GW2. One of my favourite things in any game is just adventuring across the land, doing quests, uncovering and discussing characters and lore, slowly improving out items together without worrying about "trading efficiently", taking on little challenges like Dungeons or bosses, etc.

I've also gotten into Raiding lately with other first timers. We literally just go in without reading any guides, no roles assigned, and just try to work out how to get past each encounter/boss together.