Is GW2 P2W?

[Splat.7981]

Greetings everyone.

I just started playing a couple of days ago because a friend of mine that also loves MMORPG's started playing here.

I just had this question cross my mind because of the in game store and so much stuff in it that i had no time yet to see it all but i was wondering if this game is P2W in any way?

[AliamRationem.5172]

Not at all.  Nearly everything you can purchase in the gemshop are QoL upgrades or cosmetics.  Be aware that purchasing the expansions does not unlock the DLC (Living Story) and there are some significant perks rolled into that (e.g. skyscale and roller beetle mounts, easy access to ascended trinkets, legendary accessory collections, etc.).  Also be aware that you can exchange gold for gems which will allow you to purchase anything in the cash shop, including the DLC.  Only the expansions themselves must be purchased with cash.

[ShionKreth.1542]

One of, if not THE, least offensive cash shops in a modern MMORPG. 🙂

[ASP.8093]

You can get every single class ability, mastery skill (that includes mounts), and stat bonus without buying any items from the gem shop. (You may need to pay to unlock some story chapters, depending on when you joined and how often you log in.) In fact, any items in the gem store that seem like they'd help you level up faster are usually pretty bad for that purpose — the free boosts you get from login rewards and birthday presents tend to be far better.

 

Alongside all the outfits and mount skins, there are a few convenience items in the gem store that make the game a little more pleasant to play — infinite salvage kits and gathering tools so you never have to buy new ones, extra character templates for people who want to quickly swap between a lot of builds, et cetera. Most people end up buying a few extra bag slots and character slots, I think. You can, however, buy all that stuff with gold, too, using gold-to-gems exchange. (The way stuff is priced, stuff like the infinite gathering tools really aren't more efficient economically on any kind of casual-play timescale. If I was a money-conscious player I probably wouldn't have bought them. I just think they're nice so I did.)

[mythical.6315]

Whether the game is P2W depends on how much one wants to twist everything that way and quite often when they haven't actually experienced a P2W game firsthand before.  But to answer your question more directly; no, the game is not P2W.

[Roads.5130]

Personally, I don't feel the game is pay to win, but I have seen people make the argument that this game is pay to win because someone could have a full set of legendary gen 1 weapons, and as much gold as they needed since day 1 of their journey on Tyria, if they were willing to buy gems and convert them to gold. I can understand how someone could feel that they have won the game in that situation.

[Dawdler.8521]

Fact 1) There is nothing in the gemstore that make you more competetive in WvW or sPvP when it comes to PvP interaction. You wont win by continously spending real cash like in real P2W games.

Fact 2) There is "time savers" in the gemstore that can shorten the time to your endgame goals, XP, crafting, etc. 

Fact 3) You can spend time to save time, sort of speak. You can convert ingame gold->gems and get the above mentioned boosters, although you get from awards too.

Fact 4) There is "quality of life" account upgrades in the gemstore that are very desirable. Character slots, bank expansion, bag slots, etc.

Fact 5) You can spend time to get QoL items due to being able to convert the gold. 

This is how Anet pulls people in. 

There is no P2W.

But yes you will want to spend gems anyway.

Edited October 16, 2021 by Dawdler.8521

[vanfrano.1325]

Coming from XIV which is very notable for double (triple?) dipping and having an extremely expensive cash shop, I thought that there were not that many things on the cash shop here and was quite surprised, for a game without sub.

Let's also consider the fact that you can exchange gold for gem and buy pretty much anything you want in the shop with some patience and simply playing the game.

GW2 seems quite fair compared to most other MMOs.

[Splat.7981]

7 hours ago, AliamRationem.5172 said:

Not at all.  Nearly everything you can purchase in the gemshop are QoL upgrades or cosmetics.  Be aware that purchasing the expansions does not unlock the DLC (Living Story) and there are some significant perks rolled into that (e.g. skyscale and roller beetle mounts, easy access to ascended trinkets, legendary accessory collections, etc.).  Also be aware that you can exchange gold for gems which will allow you to purchase anything in the cash shop, including the DLC.  Only the expansions themselves must be purchased with cash.

 

Greetings. I don't have access to the living story? So what do the expansions bring to the table? How can get access to the living story?

[costepj.5120]

Living stories were free if you logged in when they came out. They were made free again over the last few months. From Tuesday, season 5 episode unlocks will be made free over the coming weeks.

If you can't wait for the next promotion then you can buy individual episodes direct from the story journal, or (cheaper) bundles from the gem store. You must own Heart of Thorns to play season3; Path of Fire to play seasons 4/5. Note season 1 was true living world content and can no longer be played.

The main selling points of the expansions were gliders in HoT and mounts in PoF. But each also came with new elite specs, new maps, new skins etc.

Masteries (allowing sideways progression after level 80) need to be unlocked in one of the expansions.

[Splat.7981]

20 minutes ago, costepj.5120 said:

Living stories were free if you logged in when they came out. They were made free again over the last few months. From Tuesday, season 5 episode unlocks will be made free over the coming weeks.

If you can't wait for the next promotion then you can buy individual episodes direct from the story journal, or (cheaper) bundles from the gem store. You must own Heart of Thorns to play season3; Path of Fire to play seasons 4/5. Note season 1 was true living world content and can no longer be played.

The main selling points of the expansions were gliders in HoT and mounts in PoF. But each also came with new elite specs, new maps, new skins etc.

Masteries (allowing sideways progression after level 80) need to be unlocked in one of the expansions.

So i can still get the expansion content like the gliders and mounts right?

About the living story is there a correct order than i can follow if i wish to go through all the lore or stories?

[costepj.5120]

For sure, all expansion content is still available.

Story sequence is indicated in your story journal. Personal Story -> (LS1 summary only available in LA) -> LS2 -> Heart of Thorns -> LS3 -> Path of Fire -> LS4 -> LS5.

[Splat.7981]

1 hour ago, costepj.5120 said:

For sure, all expansion content is still available.

Story sequence is indicated in your story journal. Personal Story -> (LS1 summary only available in LA) -> LS2 -> Heart of Thorns -> LS3 -> Path of Fire -> LS4 -> LS5.

 

But this something i don't understand, i need to buy the story parts or they will be available at level 80?

Also, there's a few of them that aren't possible to buy at all, why is that? Is it considered kind of a legacy content? 

[frareanselm.1925]

When a new expansion is released, the new e-specs use to be overpowered over core specs, anet does this to make more people buy the expansion. When the expansion gets old, maybe 1-2 years later anets decide to "balance" the especs and nerf them.

So yes, when a  new expansion is out, the players who buy it have a significant advantage, I consider this pay to win.

Edited October 16, 2021 by frareanselm.1925

[Splat.7981]

12 minutes ago, frareanselm.1925 said:

When a new expansion is released, the new e-specs use to be overpowered over core specs, anet does this to make more people buy the expansion. When the expansion gets old, maybe 1-2 years later anets decide to "balance" the especs and nerf them.

So yes, when a  new expansion is out, the players who buy it have a significant advantage, I consider this pay to win.

 

I know that i have made this post but honestly i don't see that as pay to win, people that buy the expansions and support the game and wish to have access to new features etc should be able to distinguish themselves from players that stay on F2P accounts no?

[frareanselm.1925]

18 minutes ago, Splat.7981 said:

 

I know that i have made this post but honestly i don't see that as pay to win, people that buy the expansions and support the game and wish to have access to new features etc should be able to distinguish themselves from players that stay on F2P accounts no?

distinguish like first class and second class players, sorry but this is pay to win.

[Danikat.8537]

The gem store is definitely not pay to win. I can see how it might look like it at first, either just because there's a lot of stuff in there or because at first glance it looks like it includes equipment (which you'd expect to be at least as good as top tier items in the game), but it's all just skins. Even the mounts and gliders they sell are only usable if you've already unlocked that mount or gliding in the game and don't add any functionality.

Then there's boosters and things which again look useful but in practice don't make much difference, and you can often get them for free in the game. (I keep having to remind myself to use boosters just to get them out the bank, and I've never bought any.)

Some of the upgrades are things you can't get another way, like extra bank space but they're not actually required for anything, and you can buy them with gold if you don't want to spend money.

[costepj.5120]

When people talk about P2W that universally ignores buying the game and/or expansions. Otherwise every game ever is P2W - you have to buy the game to win it.

[costepj.5120]

2 hours ago, Splat.7981 said:

But this something i don't understand, i need to buy the story parts or they will be available at level 80?

I covered that in my first answer. They have all been given away for free twice, but currently you have to pay gems to unlock them.

 

2 hours ago, Splat.7981 said:

Also, there's a few of them that aren't possible to buy at all, why is that? Is it considered kind of a legacy content? 

The first season of LS was truly living world content. It changed the core game for ever. Lion's Arch was destroyed and had to be rebuilt. There was a tower built in Kessex Hills which we destroyed and you can see the remnants. Only players who were around at the time could experience the events. A few have been resurrected as instances, for example the Marionette fight you can access from Eye of the North. After LS1, ANet changed the model so that episodes could be replayed or enjoyed by future players. That's why subsequent LS episodes are set on their own maps, frozen in a particular time.

[AliamRationem.5172]

2 hours ago, frareanselm.1925 said:

distinguish like first class and second class players, sorry but this is pay to win.

No.  That's buy-to-play.  By your definition any game that isn't 100% free for full features is "pay to win".

[Cuks.8241]

There is nothing in the cash shop that will make you more powerful. Even more, you can reach maximum power lvl in GW2 very easily, everything else is purely cosmetics and ease of life. You don't need to be afraid that someone will be more powerful than you because he spends cash on the game. GW2 is the most skill based only mmorpg I played BY FAR.

There are parts of the story you need to buy on top of expansions, commonly known as DLCs. These are "living story" or "living world" chapters. Up until now we have 4 such segments: LS2, LS3, LS4 and LS5 or also called Icebrood Saga. If you buy the game now you will get the last chapter of LS4 and in the following weeks LS5 for free (ongoing event). LS3, LS4, LS5 also include maps. LS2 is just story.

Without those you will have holes in the story. If you are big on the story I recommend you buy them. If you're more into other stuff like pvp, raids, dungeons or just general mmorpg exploration wait and later your decision will be easier. 

There are a few very minor details in this whole story: 

- Some maps that are part of DLCs are good for farming gold and getting certain high lvl gear easier (ascended trinkets). But if you buy the game now and get final chapter of LS4 and LS5 for free you will actually get access to many of those.

- You need to have LS4 to get 2 very cool mounts. Roller beetle which is super fun. Skyscale which is the most versatile mount out there and makes it a lot easier to follow groups in open world. For this reason I would highly recommend getting LS4 at some point. The maps and story that comes with it is also very good. Mounts are not a factor in competitive modes though.  

[mercury ranique.2170]

This debate is difficult as it depends on the definition of winning.

In general this game is a lot less pay to win then most other games. Specially cause you do not need to pay monthly fees or buy anything to play or be successfull in the game. You'll never be not welcome in a group cause you haven't pulled your creditcard to buy a certain item.

 Having said that, there are a good amount of QoL items in the shop that are helpful in being more effective in managing e.g. you inventory or buying and trading stuff. 

further, some people see fashion as the ultimate goal in the game and then it would be pay to win.

but, in the end, everything in the cashshop can be bought with in-game gold that you can farm.

so the answer must be No, it is not pay to win 

[Morwath.9817]

It's certainly not "pay2win", more like "buy2win" (expansions, not gem store things), and buying games is rather normal thing, especially when they got no monthly sub.

Edited October 16, 2021 by Morwath.9817

[voltaicbore.8012]

Direct answer: no, not P2W. This game is probably the least P2W game I've seen. It really is possible to have quite a full game experience without paying for a single thing in the cash shop.

 

Longer answer: While not directly P2W, the game nonetheless still depends on whales to function. Also, without a sub fee, it's reasonable to be worried that ANet will be tempted to lean too hard into the cash shop for certain things, just to keep the lights on. I believe the over-monetization of build/gear loadouts is an example of that worry being justified, and the community was rightly offended by it.

[Wintermute.5408]

A little bit, I guess? There are many, MANY farms that can be solved just by buying and throwing gold at them, including the endgame gear.

However, the power peak is relatively easy to achieve just by playing, so it's not worth spending money on. And after that you're pretty much paying for cosmetics.

Edited October 16, 2021 by Wintermute.5408