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Living World Access To New Players


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Hi there,

I've just purchased GW:2 and both expansions, I'm a GW1 player and it just seemed like the right time to get back into the franchise, i've also bought a few friends from other MMO's with me, and we're all loving the world & the combat.

Considering i'd just bought what i considered the 'whole game' (main game is free & then the two expansions) I don't think it's unreasonable for somebody buying both expansions to assume they can play the story line of the game chronologically in its entirety. I went to start with the living world, I couldn't play season 1; fair enough I thought - it was exclusive and owing to the type of content produced for it retrospective playing of it is impossible. I like the fact there was a cinematic of it, though this could be expanded on. Luckily the content creators on Youtube for this game are fantastic.

I went to start the story - at the accessible start - in Season 2 of the living world and then I realised that i'd need to purchase 17 episodes individually to play the story properly to give the expansions i'd paid for the proper context. So 3400 gems required, i'd need to buy 4000 to get that so around £40 on gems. I really would not have minded buying the gems upfront when I purchased the game if I was given clarity of the fact I needed these to progress through the story naturally, though the price of them is rather penalizing considering a single currency for both content and vanity objects seems a bit jarring.

Really looking forward to playing the story, the world is stunning and i'm loving my experience so far. I just found this experience awful. Perhaps there were ways I could have found out this information and avoided this upset but they were not as clear. I'm aware this is likely PEBCAK but it seems like a quick win for you guys to sell more content and new players not to feel hard done by just by letting new players know.

Thank you for your time,CharliePS. Why can't I use abilities while jumping? It would be fun.

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'You can buy the gems with gold'

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:You can buy the gems with gold.

What you might consider doing is buying one episode with gold (or cash if you’re in a hurry and don’t want to wait while you’re farming gold), play through it while saving up gold then when you’re done with it buy the next episode with gold. Rinse and repeat.

  • This is unlikely to be attainable for most new players, myself included, I don't have the gold for that so I couldn't even start at season 1 if I wanted to. What I do have is the willingness to pay for the content if it was clearly laid out as an option when i bought the full game.
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@Cisaro.3169 said:What I do have is the willingness to pay for the content if it was clearly laid out as an option when i bought the full game.

Absolutely: ANet could (and probably should) make it clearer during purchase on their website. And even offer a discount if you buy the LW unlock packs when you purchase the corresponding expac.

So that's an issue with presentation; it's not a problem with accessibility.

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Just have to say: I agree. There should at least more clarification to new/returning players that there's quite a money investment beyond getting vanilla and expanions to get to all the content. Even better, there should be a 'full package' on permanent sale, IMO. But -hey- I hate it when (potential) customers, like me, use the word "should". ANet calls the shots and we can either buy the shots or not. But this hidden cost thing is a drag.

In any case: welcome! Episodic content or not, GW2 is an excellent MMO, well worth the money. Don't rush, take your time.

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One other point that hasn't been posted - DON'T BUY THE INDIVIDUAL EPISODES! You can buy the ENTIRE season 2 for 1280 gems. That's a lot less than 3400. And Season 3 is 960 gems. Season 4, Episode 2 was in the gemstore for 0 gems yesterday (not sure if it is today or not). And as soon as Season 4 Episode 6 drops, you can expect a Season 4 Complete Pack go on sale in the gem store - probably around 1000 gems, like season 3 would be my guess - and note that Anet prorates the complete season packs for any episodes you have already unlocked. So, assuming you grab Season 4, Episode 2 for free, you already have episode 5 unlocked, and assuming you login while episode 6 is live, that means the complete season 4 will cost you about half price after pro-rating.

I do agree, it would be nice to have an option to buy the previous seasons with the expansions.

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@Cisaro.3169 said:'You can buy the gems with gold'

@"Just a flesh wound.3589" said:You can buy the gems with gold.

What you might consider doing is buying one episode with gold (or cash if you’re in a hurry and don’t want to wait while you’re farming gold), play through it while saving up gold then when you’re done with it buy the next episode with gold. Rinse and repeat.
  • This is unlikely to be attainable for most new players, myself included, I don't have the gold for that so I couldn't even start at season 1 if I wanted to. What I do have is the willingness to pay for the content if it was clearly laid out as an option when i bought the full game.

There was the option to buy Living world season 2 pack before the checkout when you buy the game from the website. You probably just missed it:

https://imgur.com/FFFF9Lt

With this you have the full continuous story up until the end of HoT. Then you can buy the rest using gold.

And it is actually pretty attainable: currently the exchange is like 37 gold for 100 gems. Thats about two days of gold farming (if you know what to do) per episode. And if you buy the pack its a bit less. By the time you finish HoT you should pretty much know everything you need to farm gold efficiently.

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@"Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.2946" said:One other point that hasn't been posted - DON'T BUY THE INDIVIDUAL EPISODES! You can buy the ENTIRE season 2 for 1280 gems. That's a lot less than 3400. And Season 3 is 960 gems. Season 4, Episode 2 was in the gemstore for 0 gems yesterday (not sure if it is today or not). And as soon as Season 4 Episode 6 drops, you can expect a Season 4 Complete Pack go on sale in the gem store - probably around 1000 gems, like season 3 would be my guess - and note that Anet prorates the complete season packs for any episodes you have already unlocked. So, assuming you grab Season 4, Episode 2 for free, you already have episode 5 unlocked, and assuming you login while episode 6 is live, that means the complete season 4 will cost you about half price after pro-rating.

I do agree, it would be nice to have an option to buy the previous seasons with the expansions.

They are giving out a season 4 episode a week (last week episode 1, this week episode 2 and next week will be episode 3, etc), its available to purchase for 0 gems in item shop.

Personally I never had any issue purchasing the living worlds (I started play a week before pof came out or so). All it needs is some patience to get the gold together. I just took my time playing core really.

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@"Onox.4287" said:Yeah, having a full package like "Full story and content - HoT, PoF and all Living World Seasons" would be really good.

It is odd to me that they don't do this. I have zero problem with how they implemented access to the episodes but we do see an awful lot of these posts from new players feeling like they've been had. Not really a great first impression :/

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Perhaps it could be explained better or expanded upon but the Ultimate edition of the expansion essentially covers this by offering 4000 gems for half the usual price. It would be difficult to bundle the living world seasons along with the expansions because many players already have chapters unlocked. This would mean the price would have to decrease for each one or more likely, you'd be reimbursed gems for each. Giving 4000 gems upfront instead offers the new player flexibility at the cost of clarity - perhaps you don't want LS2 just yet so you play through it with a friend for the story and instead use those gems to buy a fancy glider or outfit or unbreakable gathering tool. Perhaps you are a veteran with a second account and cherry pick the chapters you will find useful, or you wait for a sale and get more out of your gems. The downside of course being that you may spend them frivolously before realizing you need gems (or gold) to buy LS2, 3 and 4 to get the full story flow.

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@Ayrilana.1396 said:In most games, DLC’s are typically not included unless explicitly stated.

Agreed.

On the other hand the main story of the game is largely dependent on the LS to make any kind of sense. I think that the current system would be more palatable if the LS DLC were side stories and the like rather than gates to the main story in a story driven medium.

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@Turin.6921 said:

@Cisaro.3169 said:'You can buy the gems with gold'

@"Just a flesh wound.3589" said:You can buy the gems with gold.

What you might consider doing is buying one episode with gold (or cash if you’re in a hurry and don’t want to wait while you’re farming gold), play through it while saving up gold then when you’re done with it buy the next episode with gold. Rinse and repeat.
  • This is unlikely to be attainable for most new players, myself included, I don't have the gold for that so I couldn't even start at season 1 if I wanted to. What I do have is the willingness to pay for the content if it was clearly laid out as an option when i bought the full game.

There was the option to buy Living world season 2 pack before the checkout when you buy the game from the website. You probably just missed it:

With this you have the full continuous story up until the end of HoT. Then you can buy the rest using gold.

And it is actually pretty attainable: currently the exchange is like 37 gold for 100 gems. Thats about two days of gold farming (if you know what to do) per episode. And if you buy the pack its a bit less. By the time you finish HoT you should pretty much know everything you need to farm gold efficiently.

2 days for an episode sounds kinda unrealistic unless u dont mean 48 hours of total farming.

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@"Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.2946" said:One other point that hasn't been posted - DON'T BUY THE INDIVIDUAL EPISODES! You can buy the ENTIRE season 2 for 1280 gems. That's a lot less than 3400. And Season 3 is 960 gems.

Yes! Please do not skip this message OP.

You can buy the season bundle packs for much less than individual sales.

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@Genuinetheo.6591 said:

@"Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.2946" said:One other point that hasn't been posted - DON'T BUY THE INDIVIDUAL EPISODES! You can buy the ENTIRE season 2 for 1280 gems. That's a lot less than 3400. And Season 3 is 960 gems.

Yes! Please do not skip this message OP.

You can buy the season bundle packs for much less than individual sales.

Hi there,

This doesn't address the core issue, a lot of people seem to be confused my complaint isn't about the price or having to pay for the content, it's about not having the clarity up front when I bought the game. I expected to be able to play through the game chronologically - a lot of people here have posted around ways of buying/waiting for items to go on sale ect ect

(Also i got the number 3400 form all the 17 episodes I need across the playable 3 seasons at 200 gems each)

This is not knowledge a new player has, or should have to have in order to play the story. I've just bought what i perceive to be the game yet when I start the heart of thorns expansion i have 0 context given to me as I don't have season 2 included. I don't view the living world as DLC as it's not an expansion after the main story its content that gives the expansions I've bought relevance.

I just wanted to the clarity of the Living World content and what it was so that I could have bought it all neatly up front.

My purchase journey went like this:

-Free Game - Both Expansions -

It would make more sense if I was informed to go like this:

Free Game - Living World Season 2- HoT- LWS3 - PoF

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And it is actually pretty attainable: currently the exchange is like 37 gold for 100 gems. Thats about two days of gold farming (if you know what to do) per episode. And if you buy the pack its a bit less. By the time you finish HoT you should pretty much know everything you need to farm gold efficiently.

Expecting new players to gold farm after playing content so they can go back and play content to give the content they've just played context is a ludicrously inelegant solution

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I think most confusion is cause originally it is given for free to existing players as a thank you for the loyalty. I have played from launch and have an investment that is considerably higher then someone who starts now with the gameThe original game: 60 euro/USDHeart of Thorns: 50 euro/USDPath of Fire: 30 euro/USDTotal: 140 euro/USD

Currently, when buying all this you pay:The original game: free to playHeart of Thorns: 20 euro/USD (when bundled with Path of Fire) Path of Fire: 30 euro/USD Living world season 2: 19 euro/USDLiving world season 3: 12,50 euro/USDLiving world season 4: 600 gems = 7,50 euro/USD **+***Total: 89 euro/USD or 50 euro and a some farming in game.

Often these go for a 50% sale, so if you wait a bit, it is extra cheapcan be bought with gold in game, it can be farmed bit by bit there are 5 episodes so far. The last one is for free for new and existing players. The second is currently also for free. This price is aimed for that you missed last week give-away for episode one and IF they do not continue in the next two weeks to give away episode 3 and 4 for free as well

My point is that you get things allready a lot more cheaper.However! and this is a big however. I think your point should not be that you should get it for free, but that you should be told about it more clearly. This is a puzzle with many MMO's. I once looked into buying WoW and it is also very unclear what you need to buy. I think marketing could and should solve this by selling bundled packages instead of stackable packages.

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Totally agree with the OP - i dont think people appreciate how off-putting this is to new players. You hit 80 really, really quickly so find yourself spending cash on top of both expansions very quickly.

I was the same, i played the base game for a week- and decided to support the game by buying the expansions and within another week or two had to shell out for LWS2.Then a few weeks after that, had to shell out for LWS3...and for a new player 'gold farming' isnt really viable. It means within a month or so you have spent more than if you were playing wow.

I was just as annoyed as the OP, and ive seen this complaint time after time on reddit etc...

I know there is no sub, and they need to make money- but i believe nickle and diming people for content AFTER they buy both expansions costs them a fair few new players.

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@mercury ranique.2170 said:I think most confusion is cause originally it is given for free to existing players as a thank you for the loyalty. I have played from launch and have an investment that is considerably higher then someone who starts now with the gameThe original game: 60 euro/USDHeart of Thorns: 50 euro/USDPath of Fire: 30 euro/USDTotal: 140 euro/USD

Currently, when buying all this you pay:The original game: free to playHeart of Thorns: 20 euro/USD (when bundled with Path of Fire) Path of Fire: 30 euro/USD Living world season 2: 19 euro/USDLiving world season 3: 12,50 euro/USDLiving world season 4: 600 gems = 7,50 euro/USD **+***Total: 89 euro/USD or 50 euro and a some farming in game.

Often these go for a 50% sale, so if you wait a bit, it is extra cheapcan be bought with gold in game, it can be farmed bit by bit there are 5 episodes so far. The last one is for free for new and existing players. The second is currently also for free. This price is aimed for that you missed last week give-away for episode one and IF they do not continue in the next two weeks to give away episode 3 and 4 for free as well

My point is that you get things allready a lot more cheaper.However! and this is a big however. I think your point should not be that you should get it for free, but that you should be told about it more clearly. This is a puzzle with many MMO's. I once looked into buying WoW and it is also very unclear what you need to buy. I think marketing could and should solve this by selling bundled packages instead of stackable packages.

For me it is two issues, firstly that it wasn't made clear that buying both expansions doesnt get you all the content by a long wayAnd secondly that the cost is very much front loaded if your trying to follow the story (which i am sure many will do)

At this point i have spent about £60.00 after about 6 weeks game time...not a huge amount admittedly but it is more than i anticipated when i first started playing

For comparison, if i had gone back to wow- the latest xpac was £26.00 when i checked (and that gives access to all content) , the sub is £10.00 so id have spent £46.00 at this point.

I know some are going to say 'spread out what you do' but i cant imagine i am the only person by any means who wants to keep following the story and not artificially 'gate' themselves.

Ive paid now - and only have LWS4 to buy so will focus on enjoying the game! :) but i totally get frustration from new players.

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@trev.1045 said:

Ive paid now - and only have LWS4 to buy so will focus on enjoying the game! :) but i totally get frustration from new players.

Just to make sure. You do know LWS4 episode 5 is for free as it is the current episode (and you should have it unlocked) and episode 2 is free as part of a promo (just check the buy option in the story journal, it says 0 gems at the price). Last week episode 1 was free, and I somewhat expect the same for episode 3 and 4 over the next 2 weeks to happen (but please do not haunt me if it doesnt)

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@mercury ranique.2170 said:

Ive paid now - and only have LWS4 to buy so will focus on enjoying the game! :) but i totally get frustration from new players.

Just to make sure. You do know LWS4 episode 5 is for free as it is the current episode (and you should have it unlocked) and episode 2 is free as part of a promo (just check the buy option in the story journal, it says 0 gems at the price). Last week episode 1 was free, and I somewhat expect the same for episode 3 and 4 over the next 2 weeks to happen (but please do not haunt me if it doesnt)

I am still on living world 3 right now but ill definitely check that out, thanks!

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@zealex.9410 said:

@Cisaro.3169 said:'You can buy the gems with gold'

@"Just a flesh wound.3589" said:You can buy the gems with gold.

What you might consider doing is buying one episode with gold (or cash if you’re in a hurry and don’t want to wait while you’re farming gold), play through it while saving up gold then when you’re done with it buy the next episode with gold. Rinse and repeat.
  • This is unlikely to be attainable for most new players, myself included, I don't have the gold for that so I couldn't even start at season 1 if I wanted to. What I do have is the willingness to pay for the content if it was clearly laid out as an option when i bought the full game.

There was the option to buy Living world season 2 pack before the checkout when you buy the game from the website. You probably just missed it:

With this you have the full continuous story up until the end of HoT. Then you can buy the rest using gold.

And it is actually pretty attainable: currently the exchange is like 37 gold for 100 gems. Thats about two days of gold farming (if you know what to do) per episode. And if you buy the pack its a bit less. By the time you finish HoT you should pretty much know everything you need to farm gold efficiently.

2 days for an episode sounds kinda unrealistic unless u dont mean 48 hours of total farming.

Can be done if you know what do to. You can easily do 15 gold an hour just with silverwastes farming. And if you find your way to an actual organized map its much greater. Plus the 2g daily from dailies. Going completely conservatively and just doing SW farming , which is easy to do, its sth like 4 hours a day. And this reduces a lot if you are skillful in the game and know how to do fast t4 runs and dungeons runs or raid full clears. And you can mix by adding istan and HoT metas for some variety.

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@Cisaro.3169 said:

And it is actually pretty attainable: currently the exchange is like 37 gold for 100 gems. Thats about two days of gold farming (if you know what to do) per episode. And if you buy the pack its a bit less. By the time you finish HoT you should pretty much know everything you need to farm gold efficiently.

Expecting new players to gold farm after playing content so they can go back and play content to give the content they've just played context is a ludicrously inelegant solution

Not really if gold farming includes actually playing the content you already have access to.

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