Paragon and Renegade as well as stats do not transfer from game to game. SOME resources will transfer and if I remember correctly from ME to ME2 when I imported my character, it'll start you off at a slightly better level than from scratch. I think with my import I was around 3-5 with boosted resource pools from the previous games mining and gathering.
You do not, however, have to play any of the previous games just for ME3. Bioware was sure to make it so you can still make key decisions (from previous games) that will affect the store of ME3. Such as certain character deaths, and some paragon and renegade actions. New users to ME3 will have a different opening dialogue going into the game than those that are importing that will feature some of those 'key' decisions.
Had my pre order on the game since sometime last year. N7 CE for me! And I got my N7 Elite Bunnyhug in the mail yesterday, too. Perfect for the midnight launch that I'm working for Mass Effect on Tuesday.