Guild Wars 2 goes free to play

[Worgen]

So it sounds like Guild Wars 2 will now be free to play.
https://help.guildwars2.com/entries/95982157?_ga=1.246942023.218273676.1428163291
you certainly have access to more features if you bought the game and there is still no monthly fee or anything like that.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Dammit, I just reedit my original leak post to announce the f2p http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.881614-Guild-Wars-2-become-free-to-play-today-and-also-getting-raids

Also yes they ARE going free to play!

 

[Muspelheim]

OH GOD DAMN IT.

I trusted you, ArenaNet! Was the game really doing that dreadfully? If the crisis was so damn dire, why didn't you say so? It's like hiding the unpaid bills until the sodding repo-men come and toss the whole family out on the street, this!

Yes, yes, there's talk about 'handling this the best possible way', but that's how it always sounds like. I don't believe for a second that it won't become a barrel of poison dropped into the coral community reef.

 

[Tayh]

Well, there goes another game down the drain and into micro-transaction hell.

 

[Worgen]

Well, there goes another game down the drain and into micro-transaction hell.

The micro-transactions that were in the game are still there, they aren't adding any new ones.

 

[Muspelheim]

Well, there goes another game down the drain and into micro-transaction hell.

The micro-transactions that were in the game are still there, they aren't adding any new ones.

They aren't adding new ones now, they're not. I just wish that I could trust them to not do it.

I mean, I rather like the current Gem-system. A few irl-baksovs for some ingame tokens you can spend as you like, decent prices, and above all, not vital to have a good time.

Gems being very much optional was financially sensible when everyone at least bought a copy of the game to get on. With the new F2P-model, I worry that they might try to make the Gem-system a bit more... Attractive. It's balancing pretty well on the edge of neccessity as it is, and I know other publishers wouldn't hesitate to give it a slight push.

I'm still not sure where ArenaNet stands on this, on maximum milking vs. careful consumer gardening, as it were. And that is why I'm worried, more worried than I'd admit in person.

 

[Worgen]

Well, there goes another game down the drain and into micro-transaction hell.

The micro-transactions that were in the game are still there, they aren't adding any new ones.

They aren't adding new ones now, they're not. I just wish that I could trust them to not do it.

I mean, I rather like the current Gem-system. A few irl-baksovs for some ingame tokens you can spend as you like, decent prices, and above all, not vital to have a good time.

Gems being very much optional was financially sensible when everyone at least bought a copy of the game to get on. With the new F2P-model, I worry that they might try to make the Gem-system a bit more... Attractive. It's balancing pretty well on the edge of neccessity as it is, and I know other publishers wouldn't hesitate to give it a slight push.

I'm still not sure where ArenaNet stands on this, on maximum milking vs. careful consumer gardening, as it were. And that is why I'm worried, more worried than I'd admit in person.

They don't need to change how it works. The goal is to make the free players decide to upgrade to the paid version of the game. If you look the the account types and the limitation of the free accounts, its pretty obvious. Free accounts can't trade gold for gems like paid ones can and they have limited character slots and bag slots along with not getting the daily log in bonus.

 

[Muspelheim]

They don't need to change how it works. The goal is to make the free players decide to upgrade to the paid version of the game. If you look the the account types and the limitation of the free accounts, its pretty obvious. Free accounts can't trade gold for gems like paid ones can and they have limited character slots and bag slots along with not getting the daily log in bonus.

I suppose. I'm just worried that not needing to won't be enough for them not to. Although on second thought, I agree, they seem to have done a rather watertight job in the free account restriction department. It's just if it'll stay that way that worries me, and what the F2P-influx will mean to the player base, even if the possibilities to smear dung around with a throwaway account are very limited.

It's as decent a deal as F2P gets, it's just a question of seeing if it will stick.

 

[Worgen]

They don't need to change how it works. The goal is to make the free players decide to upgrade to the paid version of the game. If you look the the account types and the limitation of the free accounts, its pretty obvious. Free accounts can't trade gold for gems like paid ones can and they have limited character slots and bag slots along with not getting the daily log in bonus.

I suppose. I'm just worried that not needing to won't be enough for them not to. Although on second thought, I agree, they seem to have done a rather watertight job in the free account restriction department. It's just if it'll stay that way that worries me, and what the F2P-influx will mean to the player base, even if the possibilities to smear dung around with a throwaway account are very limited.

It's as decent a deal as F2P gets, it's just a question of seeing if it will stick.

I seriously doubt they will do anything that will harm people who bought the game, they have actually shown they are willing to give players more when players think something is a bad deal. Ultimately I think the free to play thing is a good thing since its an mmo, you want as many people as possible playing it.

 

[Yuuki]

It's not F2P as much as it's a glorified trial version with unlimited time. There are a LOT of features completely sealed-off to F2P players.

https://help.guildwars2.com/entries/95982157-Account-types-Free-Core-HoT

- Character slots - 2.
- Bag slots - 3.
- Maps/Content - Starter maps until level 10, Lion's Arch unlocked at level 35
- Mail - NO sending gold or items, can only send mail to friends.
- Guild Bank access - NO.
- Whispers - Can only whisper in the same map, one new person every 30 secs.
- Map chat - NO.
- Squad chat - unlocked at level 30.
- PvP chat - NO map/say chat during matches. Team chat YES, lobby chat unlocked at PvP rank 20.
- Looking For Group - unlocked at level 30.
- WvW - Unlocked account-wide when one character reaches level 60.
- Daily Login Bonus - NO.
- Gem Store - YES, some limitations.
- Currency exchange - Gems > Gold YES, Gold > Gems NO.
- Trading Post - Can buy and sell items from a selected list.

This way people can very much experience the "feel" of GW2 for free, but if they want to get serious about anything then they will need to buy the game.
All those heavy restrictions on free accounts (especially chat/mail/TP) will make bots, spam-accounts and gold-farmers pointless. Overall very smart move from ANet.

 

[gorfias]

Well, there goes another game down the drain and into micro-transaction hell.

For me, it was already there. I bought this turkey and quickly realized you could not have fun with it unless you engaged in Micro Transactions.

Blah, never again.

 

[Guffe]

Well I liked the first one.
Never bought the second one (only gamed GW for about a year or so).
Now I will DL this, hope my laptop can handle it, and try it out
Most likely it will only be a short try-out and see what it's like, but I'll try it and see how it is.

 

[Treeberry]

Well, there goes another game down the drain and into micro-transaction hell.

For me, it was already there. I bought this turkey and quickly realized you could not have fun with it unless you engaged in Micro Transactions.

Blah, never again.

How so?

I play the game relatively casually and I have never felt as though I've had to buy from the store.

 

[Silvanus]

I was a bit reticent about it, but now that I see the restrictions, it makes sense. Like the move overall.

For me, it was already there. I bought this turkey and quickly realized you could not have fun with it unless you engaged in Micro Transactions.

Blah, never again.

What? The micro-transactions don't offer you anything gameplay-wise that you can't get without them. Everything on the store can be acquired through in-game currency.

 

[Something Amyss]

Cool. Maybe I'll actually try it now. The first left me pretty bored after a while, though.

 

[Barbas]

I was a bit reticent about it, but now that I see the restrictions, it makes sense. Like the move overall.

For me, it was already there. I bought this turkey and quickly realized you could not have fun with it unless you engaged in Micro Transactions.

Blah, never again.

What? The micro-transactions don't offer you anything gameplay-wise that you can't get without them. Everything on the store can be acquired through in-game currency.

Yeah, I don't get this either. The complaint I heard most was that there was "nothing to do" when you got into the late game. I loved my time with it, though; its questing system cut out a lot of hassle and left you to do more or less what you wanted, plus the store was just cosmetic stuff (a lot of which you could get in-game with some work anyway) and the game itself was a joy to explore. Great fun all around, to be honest. I hope this move attracts more players.

 

[Bombiz]

it honestly just seems like a glorified demo mode or like what WoW is doing with allowing people to lvl to 20 for free

It's not F2P as much as it's a glorified trial version with unlimited time. There are a LOT of features completely sealed-off to F2P players.

https://help.guildwars2.com/entries/95982157-Account-types-Free-Core-HoT

- Character slots - 2.
- Bag slots - 3.
- Maps/Content - Starter maps until level 10, Lion's Arch unlocked at level 35
- Mail - NO sending gold or items, can only send mail to friends.
- Guild Bank access - NO.
- Whispers - Can only whisper in the same map, one new person every 30 secs.
- Map chat - NO.
- Squad chat - unlocked at level 30.
- PvP chat - NO map/say chat during matches. Team chat YES, lobby chat unlocked at PvP rank 20.
- Looking For Group - unlocked at level 30.
- WvW - Unlocked account-wide when one character reaches level 60.
- Daily Login Bonus - NO.
- Gem Store - YES, some limitations.
- Currency exchange - Gems > Gold YES, Gold > Gems NO.
- Trading Post - Can buy and sell items from a selected list.

This way people can very much experience the "feel" of GW2 for free, but if they want to get serious about anything then they will need to buy the game.
All those heavy restrictions on free accounts (especially chat/mail/TP) will make bots, spam-accounts and gold-farmers pointless. Overall very smart move from ANet.

basically this.

 

[InfinityX]

It's not F2P as much as it's a glorified trial version with unlimited time. There are a LOT of features completely sealed-off to F2P players.
...

All those heavy restrictions on free accounts (especially chat/mail/TP) will make bots, spam-accounts and gold-farmers pointless. Overall very smart move from ANet.

Even still, I would call it more then a trial version, those restrictions on f2p players...

- Character slots - 2.
Not too big of a deal. fulling gearing 2 characters (as a casual player) will take about a month to 2 months. Less if your serious, but then again, if your really serious about GW2, you'd probably buy it.

- Bag slots - 3.
Again, not too big of a deal. even with 5 bags not at the largest size I'm rarely ever running out of room

- Maps/Content - Starter maps until level 10, Lion's Arch unlocked at level 35
Getting to level 10 takes what? a hour? starter maps also go to level 15 I believe too, so its not like you can really adventure past the starter areas below level 10 anyway. The Lion Arch restriction, though odd, is understandable to fight spammers.

- Mail - NO sending gold or items, can only send mail to friends.
Only a hindrance when playing with friends, 99% of the time you will be using the Trading Post

- Guild Bank access - NO.
Most well-built guilds won't give access to the bank unless your an officer or higher.

- Whispers - Can only whisper in the same map, one new person every 30 secs.
Keep in mind, you have unrestricted whispers to accounts on your friend list

- Map chat - NO.
Not necessary, can play the game without needing Map chat

- Squad chat - unlocked at level 30.
Who uses this outside of WvW and level 80 areas? Not a big deal unless your in WvW, and F2P can't use this until level 60 anyway

- PvP chat - NO map/say chat during matches. Team chat YES, lobby chat unlocked at PvP rank 20.
That fact that a F2P can jump right into PvP at level 1 is very unrestrictive. If you are doing random matches, hardly anyone talks anyway, and if your in team fights, your probably going to have Teamspeak or something anyway

- Looking For Group - unlocked at level 30.
Most people don't use LFG until level 30 anyway (first dungeon unlock), so not missing out on anything


- WvW - Unlocked account-wide when one character reaches level 60.
Again, not a huge deal. If you enter WvW under the max level (80), your going to have a harder time anyway


- Daily Login Bonus - NO.
The First real restriction, these can be pretty good

- Gem Store - YES, some limitations.
I don't think we got any info about this. It said you cant use gliders, but only those who buy the expansion can use gliders anyway

- Currency exchange - Gems > Gold YES, Gold > Gems NO.
Another restriction, though this is more towards if you plan on playing the game for a long time.

- Trading Post - Can buy and sell items from a selected list.
The biggest restriction, and if I heard correctly, you can only buy Common (white-tier) items on the TP. if that's true, then gearing up and making money will take much longer.


TLR
The only "real" restrictions for a F2P player is:
No Daily Login
Restricted Currency exchange
Restricted Trading Post (maybe)

Which, compared to most other F2P games out there, this is a pretty lenient one, not Heavily restrictive

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

I bought GW2 on the summer sale last year. I suppose of those restrictions the only ones that I would find annoying would be the bags, as I'm a massive hoarder and the character slots.
Although I'm probably never going to play enough to have more than 2 characters that I actually use, it's useful to have more slots so that you can try out the different classes to see which ones suit you best. It can take a bit of levelling up to see what each class can do and only having 2 slots means you're going to have to delete characters to try new ones. If the price of new slots is reasonable it's not a problem. Neverwinter cost about £5 for 2 extra slots, which is great. Tera costs about £25 for a single slot. Hopefully they do things closer to the former.

 

[Yuuki]

TLR
The only "real" restrictions for a F2P player is:
No Daily Login
Restricted Currency exchange
Restricted Trading Post (maybe)

Which, compared to most other F2P games out there, this is a pretty lenient one, not Heavily restrictive

I feel the chat restrictions are some of the heaviest. I spent my entire leveling experience using map chat, a lot of useful info gets passed around there especially regarding events/etc. Would suck not to be able to participate in any of that.