Guild Wars 2 Officially Goes Free-to-Play Today Ahead of New Expansion

[devilmore]

The expansion-selling model was really more GW1 (and it worked well). GW2 was really more F2P from the beginning. Sure, you had to buy the game, but there was no monthly cost and they made money via ingame shop, like all F2P games do. They didn't release any expansions of the magnitude of GW1, where each expansion (except the last) was also a base game.
This, for me at least, was also the reason I quit. It wasn't the same as GW1.
So as far as I am concerned, this changes nothing. While GW2 wasn't technically F2P, it was close enough to be equivalent for me.

 

[Micah Weil]

Wait.. I'm confused. Hasn't GW2 always been F2P? I mean, most F2P games you have to buy the physical media (or download it, whatever) but still don't pay a thing to play it.

Kind of a misnomer, IMO

No...GW2 had an initial purchase price, but you never had to pay a monthly fee. Think of it as a "price of admission".

Right. F2P. Free to Play. There is no cost to play the game, save the initial purchase.

Take ESO, for instance. They went F2P. Still had to buy the game, but no longer had to have a subscription to play.

**

And in doing research, I find this is called "Buy to Play". WTF does that even mean?? You have to buy to play pretty much any game these days.

...weird...

Don't forget how much the dynamic's shifted these days. There are plenty of "Free to Play" RPGs on mobile and coming out of Korea that require no initial cost. The basics are there for you.

Hell, I want to site Maple Story as a prime example of F2P, as it costs you nothing to get, you get 90% of the content, and any costs are cosmetic only.

 

[Metalrocks]

damn, and i still havent finished this massive game. not sure if i ever will finish it. i think i have to skip out on the expansion since i will be busy with other games.

 

[uncanny474]

On the one hand, everything ANet has done so far feels like they're punishing early adopters to get new people invested. On the other hand, I friggin love Guild Wars, so if it's necessary to do this to keep the servers running, I guess I have to be ok with it.

 

[Chessrook44]

On the one hand, everything ANet has done so far feels like they're punishing early adopters to get new people invested. On the other hand, I friggin love Guild Wars, so if it's necessary to do this to keep the servers running, I guess I have to be ok with it.

Oh don't worry. People who already paid for the game get a free outfit!

.....yeah....

 

[InfinityX]

On the one hand, everything ANet has done so far feels like they're punishing early adopters to get new people invested. On the other hand, I friggin love Guild Wars, so if it's necessary to do this to keep the servers running, I guess I have to be ok with it.

ANet (as well as NCsoft, I'm sure they've had a hand in it) has not very kind to the veteran player base since...release of GW2?, and focuses a lot on "new players". Its still a good game, but there is so much that could be done better.

That being said, the F2P program is actually pretty good. As I said in the other GW2 post:

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

 

[Scow2]

On the one hand, everything ANet has done so far feels like they're punishing early adopters to get new people invested. On the other hand, I friggin love Guild Wars, so if it's necessary to do this to keep the servers running, I guess I have to be ok with it.

Oh don't worry. People who already paid for the game get a free outfit!

.....yeah....

and have had the pleasure/privilege of playing before now, and eperiencing a lot of the novelty of the game, and the Living Story (as mediocre as it was), and opportunities to get in on all sorts of stuff that's part of the MMO experience.

The big problem is stores are still selling the base game. People who bought the game digitally recently got a free upgrade to HoT as a "This is what you should have bought instead".

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Hm... Thought there was a lower level cap that would be instituted for everyone with a free account...

I'm actually gonna be one of those people and say there should be a lower level cap. Why? Because this is pretty much a trial version of the game. I think it should go all the way.

 

[Durai]

Love that it's going a F2P route (more players = more fun), but I feel that some things should be clarified as well:

This move is almost directly a result of the whole "free core game w/ purchase of Heart of Thorns" fiasco that occurred not too long ago.

A vocal minority expressed dissatisfaction that new players would get essentially two games for $50 (core game + expansion). At the time the core game had been on sale numerous times for $20(basic digital edition; deluxe digital was around 30 I think). As a result, many believed ANet would have a reduced price for current players (If the two together was $50, and the core had been sold recently for $20, then they believed the expansion would be around $30 for those who had already owned it); this was not the case. Veteran players would have to pay the full $50, and the free core game that new players would get with the purchase of the expansion didn't apply to them -essentially veterans would get the expansion and nothing else (which if new players were getting the core game you'd think you'd get an extra copy to give to a friend). Tensions ran high, and ANet eventually gave Vets a free character slot if they had been supporting the game before January 23, 2015.

Now that the core game is F2P, ANet can release future expansions for $50 without drawing the ire of veteran players. New and veteran players will both pay the same amount, and all that happens is new players get their restrictions removed if they were using the F2P version of the core game.

 

[Sarge034]

Eh, I'll stick with SWtOR for my F2PMMO experience. I'm a sucker for the Star Wars universe. As for GW2... I think it's funny they did what they said they'd never do. I know someone who is really into it so i'll have to wait a bit and see what the actual repercussions of this move are.

 

[Travis Fischer]

I liked the art style and story of the game for what little I played it, but at the end of the day I just can't take the level grind of an MMO, free or not.

 

[CoffeeOfDoom]

If you enter WvW under the max level (80), your going to have a harder time anyway

I always use WvW to level up my low level characters! If you stick with the zerg you hardly ever die, and you level up very quickly.

 

[AVATAR_RAGE]

Eh, I'll stick with SWtOR for my F2PMMO experience. I'm a sucker for the Star Wars universe. As for GW2... I think it's funny they did what they said they'd never do. I know someone who is really into it so i'll have to wait a bit and see what the actual repercussions of this move are.

I would recommend giving it a go. Their F2P model is much fairer than SWOTOR, even on paper. This is coming from someone who has and does play both games.

 

[Sarge034]

I would recommend giving it a go. Their F2P model is much fairer than SWOTOR, even on paper. This is coming from someone who has and does play both games.

Acknowledged and disregarded. Like I said, I'm a sucker for the Star Wars universe. SWtOR is playable and fair enough when you play with a group, but the universe and the story have me hooked. Can't give up my sith ways.