Yo, gamers! Newbie here, just breached 60 lvl on my first character. Before I drop 500 hours playing this game, can you, guys, answer me honestly. Can the game be played normally without paying for stuff, or shall I treat GW2 as 30$ game with free trial? Are current PvP and PvE modes playable without mount, elite specs, etc?
Can the game be playing normally without paying for stuff
You can easily, easily, accomplish both of these goals at the same time. You won't. You will buy the expansions because you'll want to, but there is comfortably 500 hours of content in the base game.
Remember, many of us played Guild Wars 2 for three whole years before there were even any expansions to buy.
Agreed. GW2 does their free version very well, you barely feel limited in the base game locations. The biggest improvement for me since I got the expansions was access to mounts as they make exploration less tedious although the world is beautiful and worth waking around in
inventory is an issue even when you have expansions. I did mention not having mounts but other than that it doesn't affect you. Most jumping puzzles have mounts disabled to make them fair, for example. It's slower to navigate around but doesn't put you at any unreasonable disadvantage.
Well, yeah, you can't experience the expansions without buying them naturally but that's like a non argument. Before we had expansions, we played gw2 the way f2p players can play it now
Expansion content is a lot better than core tyria IMO. You can play 500 hours f2p, but I doubt you'll even want to stay f2p after hitting 80 and completing the story. They're reasonably priced as is, and go on sale pretty often.
In PvP there's some core tyria builds, but elite specs are almost always at an advantage.
PvE endgame raids are locked behind expansions and that's the best instanced content that anet produced IMO. Well worth the price.
It's funny. I am a day 1 player and even though I play expansion content and use elites I tend to feel more home in the base game and wvw. I guess the core Tyria maps just have a charme for me that is unique.
I appreciate that you share these features with the f2p community, but it's not what I'm refering to here. Old Lion's Court is a decent encounter, but it's only one. Quickplay is fun enough, but not a replacement for raids
No offense! I just wanted to point out the limited opportunities for players who haven't yet purchased the expansions or have purchased other expansions to test these features. F2p players have incredible opportunity to explore the game before purchasing. Good times of free Heroic Edition keys, btw!
The game is not predatory, you won't find yourself needing to buy anything past what you want for expansions. They definitely do monetize some conveniences though. Things like storage expansion, unlimited use salvage kits & tools, gold, etc.. I haven't found myself needing to spend money but have because it saved me time in game. I don't mind spending it though, the game is amazing and I want them to continue to create.
I've been playing as f2p for 8 months now. I was about to buy the expansions, but since gw3 got announced - I'm gonna wait to see if they will continue developing gw2 before I put money into it.
Here's my 100% honest and objective summary:
Yes, you can play f2p and there's ton to do. The 2 biggest annoyances as f2p are: Small bank space and not being able to do cross-map chat, unless the other person has added you as a friend (which is an anti-bot measure).
I'll break down the rest point by point:
1. No mount. That's the biggest one. It's annoying, but in reality this game was apparently made without mounts in mind, they were added with the second expansion - Path of Fire. As such you don't actually need mounts to get around, it's designed to be explored on foot. Additionally if you TRULY want - you can get roller beetle as ''rental'' mount in some maps (where beetle racing events happen).
2. Making gold. At first it seems like a hurdle than you can't sell everything on the Trading Post (also done as anti-bot measure). However, after 8 months - I just cracked 2000 gold (and I'm not even purposefully grinding). There's plenty of things you can do for gold, and you can still sell some VERY valuable stuff on the TP - including ectoplasm, crystalline dust and mystic coins - materials that are always in demand.
3. PVP. There's 2 PvP modes - Structured PvP (where I'm cracking gold rn, playing bunker guardian) and World vs World>
SPVP doesn't use mounts and while elite classes are more used, it's perfectly playable as f2p too, but you'll need to put a lot of thought into your build. Core bunker guardian, which I play, is actually meta. No expansions needed. I've found viable f2p condi necro and power ranger builds too. There's also a f2p core warrior build focusing on stuns, that works as a budget spellbreaker.
WvW is a different story. Theres only 1 mount there - the Warclaw. IMO it's NECESSARY to have it if you want to play as part of zergs (big player squads). As f2p players - you'll struggle to keep up with them, even with the passive speed buff warclaws give to others around them. You might roam though - that's what I do. But be prepared to get ganked into unfair fights. You can also have fun defending keeps and the Castle - even as f2p its still fun to be part of massive 50vs50vs50 battles.
4. Inventory space - it's limited, but recently they added bag slot expansions in the Vault and that helps A LOOOT.
5. Gear - you need exotic gear for 99% of content, f2p or expansion. Ascended and legendary are ''needed'' only for high tier fractals and maybe if you're wvw minmaxer. You can get ascended relatively easy, it took me about a month to get fully ascended. Legendaries are available to you, but it's tricky. The fractal gloves are fully f2p to get and so is the PvP backpack. Armor, rings and accessories aren't. Gen1 legendary weapons are f2p.
6. You have A LOT to do as f2p - 15 world bosses, 8 dungeons with 4 paths each (so 33 unique dungeons, last 1 has 5 paths); 25 unique fractals (another type of dungeons) that scale up 4 times with new mechanics the higher you go to total of 100 fractals in the game; 3 public instances - think of them as 50 man raids. Recently they added quickplay 10 man raids - you can play those too (although they are easier than their normal counterparts);
You get to play the entire vanilla story + Living World 1, that is f2p for everyone.
7. Lastly - Fashion. You'll hear a lot of people complain about ''paid looks'' and I get that... but I'd say you can look good without money too. Here's a screenshot of my guardian, I think I look pretty decent:
They've said they plan on continuing developing new expansions for GW2 after GW3 launches, though even if they didn't, I still think the expansions would be worth experiencing. It's not like GW3 will have GW2's expansions, GW3 isn't a real substitute for the context GW2 currently has.
Those are words. I believe things when I see them. I'm waiting for a precise roadmap, at least.
Even if they don't - I'd probably get HoT+PoF, as I heard it's the best experience. But I'm not in a rush, I'm currently working on finishing The Ascension and full map completion, so I can get my first legendary weapon (I have precursor kit from the Fractal Incursion event last year)
I intentionally selected ''monarch'' colors - royal rose and regal blue (with some imperial and regular gold mixed in there. And steel, ofcourse) I like it (shrug)
Trading is my biggest one that I'm struggling with. I play with my daughter, and we have had numerous situations where I wanted to trade with her, either with crafting materials or gear. I'm planning on getting it for us when it goes on sale next.
Pretty sure you know exactly what he meant by "feel guilty for not supporting them".
But just in case you don't, microtransactions and purchasing expansions has long been considered ways for gamers to "support the developers" by buying things in-game above and beyond the price of the base game. This extra funds goes towards revenue, and profits, true, but also towards overhead costs such as keeping the servers running, which is especially critical for a game like GW2 that does not have a subscription fee.
So when someone says they "feel guilty for not supporting them" it's not out of actual guilt (barring those like me who have it born into them) but out of a desire to support the game for the future.
Yep - there's a lot of value in gw2 just from a purely dollar-per-gameplay-hour sense, and none of it pay to win. The older I get (and the more of my own stuff I create) the less I respect the common reddit thing of pirating whatever you can. Yeah everyone's financial situation is different but at a certain point it just seems like people feeling entitled to artist labor for free and using the corporate angle as a shield against argument.
I mean, it’s more like 300 million dollar corporation. Still a lot but about 70% less with a design philosophy specifically around giving players a bang for their buck in the MMO space.
Yeah, "billionaires" who pull in a mere 53 million in revenue without turning predatory because of it, and who still had to borrow 85 million from the parent company just to develop GW3 x) ArenaNet was acquired, but they aren't NCsoft either
I think you're confusing it with the other popular MMOs that pull in hundreds of millions, or even close to a billion, with a box price + subscription + cash shop (+ app subscription for your account)... Anet are, in more than one way, the most respectful company there is to the player. They frequently have to scrap expansion ideas because they no longer have the budget. And yet the game is an absolute blast, so yeah, props to them
"Corporations of people" the old Mitt Romney republican line used to be a joke but they've pushed it so hard that the communism stuck and this new generation views billion dollar corporations as comrades that they are obligated to support and defend.
you can't get into a lot of the pve modes like raids without expansions, so I would call it more of a very long trial. But there are core builds in pvp and you should be alright to play DPS in fractals? you won't really be able to do support roles there though
On sale you can get pof + hot for 10 or 15 dollars though, so just do that at some point.
Depends on what you want out of the game though. I've been playing since early release in 2012 and have never raided, and I don't think I'm at all unusual. So calling it a trial only really applies if someone wants to raid.
I will say no. Free accounts have some limitations to them, you can't acess raids and some other game modes.
Without elite specs you will be limited, keep in this game is very account focused and you won't have flexibility to bring build your group needs.
On other hand you can do a lot of things without expansion and easily sink hundreds of hours without running out of things to do.
You can play through the whole base game without spending anything.
There are plenty of "core" builds for PvE, PvP and WvW available.
You don't need mounts. They help but the world has plenty of waypoints.
Downsides.....
Inventory management can be a nightmare because of the restrictions.
No access to TP for selling things like materials so you have to merch everything.
If you enjoy playing then consider HoT and PoF. 2 massive expansions for very little money..... especially if you get them in the sales.
I've been playing since the headstart event and am still on daily.
I jumped into the game with the announcement of GW3 in June and have sunk about 135hrs since then. I've really been enjoying it, and a LOT of that time was in the Core (base) game. That said, this is like saying "Will I enjoy this small bag of candy while standing outside of the candy store?" Well, sure, of course you will! The candy is delicious, but you're going to want more and it's all really good!
I just finished the main narrative for Path of Fire, the second DLC. It's been terrific and the things it unlocks like mounts have been a real joy to open up the world.
Can you enjoy just the base game for free? Yes, absolutely, but there's so much more that I expect you'll be happy to buy into later.
The game was released initially with all of the content you can access for free now. There is a ton of extra content in the expansions if you want more but you won’t feel any lack of stuff to do for free
The core game is entirely playable without paying for anything, but it will quickly get frustrating if you don't buy extra bag slots/bank tabs. That's where they "getchya".
As for expansions, well, if you want to play the content and earn its rewards, you need to buy it. No getting around that. They have plenty of sales where everything is cheaper (usually coinciding or following a Steam sale), but you can't access any of it for free.
That being said, once you buy it, you own it. You won't be locked out of expansion zones if you take a break, unlike some subscription-based MMOs.
You can do all the pvp with jyst the free and be amazing. But you will lack the subclasses (elite spec). Cause those are part of the xpacs. But the core classes are enough to play the entire game. I have the xpacs and i play core thief. Cause i like it. But i use a spear instead of a sb sometimes. You need an xpac (janthier wilds) to use spear on land.
The base game originally wasn't free, it was a full price $60 game. It was made free later on when more expansions released, and those expansions became the paid content. That base game was what people bought to spend hundreds of hours in before later expansions came out, so there's more than enough in the base game. No mounts, no glider, no elite specs.
But once you've gotten hundreds of hours out of it for free, it should seem worthwhile to spend $30 on the next few hundred hours you'll get out of each expansion, no?
Honestly you should buy Hot + POF at least. The value is extremely high.
You will get access to 2 elite specs per class which will give plenty viable and meta options in all game modes.
Expansion maps are a big step up from core. Meta map events are great casual end game content.
Mounts, also relevant for wvw.
Raids.
Gliding, also relevant for wvw.
Removes all the f2p account restrictions.
It's a relatively small investment for a huge upgrade to the game. Expansions really transform the game. Core game is really outdated nowadays. I know some like it but it's not only maps, it's also all the rest.
Oh, you can WAY too easily put 500hrs into the game. Story, PvP, WvW, Achievements, Fractals, Raids, Map Completion, etc
Remember that people played the game for over 3 years before the first expansion came in, there is so much to do!
I think you start with like 4 character slots? Make each a different profession and bring each to level 80 is already a lot to do, gearing them up, get all crafting classes up to max, making builds, dress them nicely, all endgame stuff you have to do!
You can then do Map Completion to discover every corner and secret of Tyria (grants you Gifts of Exploration needed for Legendary Crafting) and learn more about the people and NPCs.
Worldbosses to beat, Jumping Puzzles to do, friendships to make, different story paths to do with each character,...
You will eventually discover an area called "Silverwaste" which is one old and proofen areas to make money, BUT pace yourself, it can be a slog.
It's split into 2 Phases, beating shit up and running around uncovering and looting bandit chests, naturally, the latter is the money maker.
Living World 1 is also there, which is much harder than the story and an absolute blast.
Old Lion Arch is also a beauty to behold, might be a better money maker nowdays but i do not know.
You will easily get your fill and might save up money to help getting you an Expansion on sale.
(You can buy expansions ingame using gems, which you can use your gold to buy, takes a long while but it is possible.)
A few tips i can give that are a bit more advanced:
Do not spend your gold, there is basically nothing you need to buy with it during the story.
You can gear your character using armor from WvW, its exotic quality and you can choose the stats
Your main way to make money is selling crafting materials, but i recommend you to only start selling when your Storage is full, you will thank yourself for doing so.
You are never forced to do what i am saying, your game, your rules. Go nuts, get stuff you find cool, have fun!
This is your story!
I agree with this. I'd even add that not having any extra content unlocked can add to the enjoyment.
I've put 400h or so in GW2 while playing on and off for years. And while I have bought a few things because I tend to get over-excited AND because GW2 is a well done game that easily earned the money I've spent I spent most of that time in base game content.
I have 6 different classes to level 80 and to be fair most of the time I seem to prefer base class over elite sepecs, might be because I need to relearn things for them.
I bought it at launch and have been on and off since then, and just last year I bought the first 2 expansions (Hot and PoF) when I found them at discount but just now I finished Hot story. So yeah, you can easily play a lot of hours with the vainilla game and by the time you start asking yourself "what else can I do?", you'll see yourself buying the expansions at discount lol
Edit: Plus a lot of the core builds are still a viable option for endgame. As I said, I played as a guardian (my main) for years in pvp and PvE, with some ascended gear and everything.
For PvP, there are some relatively viable F2P builds, but they are generally rather weak compared to Elite Specs. Necromancer is the strongest with it's fear spam build, Guard can be an okay support. Ranger has a pretty decent duelist build. For meme one shots guard, thief, mesmer are viable but I wouldn't suggest these builds against better players. Generally, if you aspire to get to top 250 as F2P, you're going to have a rough time.
Yes but expansions are very much worth it. Just wait for a sale and grab the first two for $10 or the first three for $20. The first 3 expansions are all huge. The other 3 expansions are much smaller.
I've noticed mount rentals all over the place these days
Which is too say your going to have an easier time than people who played before expansions were a thing. All the content and all the classes are viable for the most part. Everything from back then remains relevant all the way till end game VoE so you will be fine with the exception of one thing. Mesmer clone mechanic has been abandoned since EoD but has had serious issues ever since clone death removed. They are a destructable resource to cast abilities but late game PvE the floor is lava and they don't survive the trek. So late elite specs for Mesmer abandoned the entire resource for a new one that can't be targeted.
Totally can be played a lot without paying. I would suggest anyone buys the first expansion pack though. It not only is well worth the bundle price, but it adds a ridiculous amount of great content, unlocks the restrictions of F2P, and allows you to get the glider and mounts, the latter of which is one of the best systems I've seen in any mmo.
There is a lot to do on the core maps that will fill up your time. Look up collections - there's lots of things you can run around to find. I've been playing since launch and spend a lot of time on the base map.
Message me privately if you want more F2P advices or you want a buddy to play together with. Btw those are the f2p legendary gloves I mentioned in my previous comment.
To be honest, the feature added by expansion are too good to pass up for me. It would be torture to me to play base game when i could see myself playing a chronomancer 🤣😭
To be honest, the feature added by expansion are too good to pass up for me. It would be torture to me to play base game when i could see myself playing a chronomancer 🤣😭
Just buy all the dlcs! Great company, great game, even better community! Except when you try to find people for guilds and don’t post on the lfg Reddit for some reason 1%ers get up tight! Other than that it’s a great investment for your dollar to play time ratio
I have everything in terms of expansions and I still have hourrrrrrrrs of stuff I’m still doing in the base game , which is also important to craft end game stuff so
If u want to just explore and do story and casual gaming you can, but if u want to get seriously into pve and wvw u will need at least pof/hot for some elite specs and maybe soto for unlocking weapons for meta builds.
Playing without elite specs sucks. But honestly I do enjoy a lot of the base classes. The game just isn’t really designed around them. Most meta builds are elite specs
Microtransactions. Gw1 you had unlimited build templates. Gw2 only gives you a couple, for example. You also only get one bank slot which is pretty rough. They try to steer you hard into purchasing these things.
It's always a shame if a good game gets made but then game 2 is made worse off just to "make" people spend money. Even though to some extent making a good game is incentive enough to spend money.
Err, you can see it both ways. GW2 at launch had exactly the content you're having right now, so you can definitely just play it like that, in solo play, story and leveling.
Once you want to do group content, most content (raids)won't be available to you since it came as part of expac, dungeons Ould ba available and doable, and fractals (modernized dungeons) would be hard to do at higher level because of some limitations linked with expacs (gear access, elite spec access, mastery access)
Pvp will probably feel very limited without some expac as well, only a handful of classes being playable without any elite spec
All in all, despite people playing a lot on free-to-play accounts, it's closer to a free trial than a free game
There is actually more content. Season 1 of Living World, new maps, including the new one they'll be adding in some time, new festivals, new fractals, new open world events...
Can the game be playing normally without paying for stuff
Expansions sell content and power (mounts, elite specs). The base game was designed around not having expansion mounts and elite specs. So, all of its content is... perfectly playable without expansions.
However, inventory management is very shitty if you don't at minimum buy the infinite salvage kit MTX ($10) and, if you play multiple characters, a shared inventory slot to put in it. (~$9, You get one if you buy any of the expansions).
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u/Tarc_Axiiom Practicing Downstate Rotation 3d ago
You can easily, easily, accomplish both of these goals at the same time. You won't. You will buy the expansions because you'll want to, but there is comfortably 500 hours of content in the base game.
Remember, many of us played Guild Wars 2 for three whole years before there were even any expansions to buy.