No bonus for returning players?

[Luky.9578]

I returned to the game because engine update (finally after 9 years) but I feel like I am F2P player despite I bought the base game for a full price, I should get at least one expansion for free or a discount. I am thinking about buying the new incoming explansion, but I suppose I need all expansions plus the stories 200gems each to understand the story and all of it is really expansive.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Well, Heart of Thorns was $50 at release, Path of Fire was $30 at release, and End of Dragons is $30. You can get Heart of Thorns, Path of Fire and End of Dragons for $50.00, a savings of $60.00.  That's a pretty good deal for returning players. 

You can purchase Living World Season Bundles at a 20% discount, as well as get The Icebrood Saga (Living World Season 5) at no cost in the upcoming weeks.  Also, if you log in today, you can get the last Episode of Living World Season 4 at no cost.

You can, also, acquire all Living World Episodes at no cost by exchanging Gold to Gems in the Gem Store.

 

Welcome return. 

Edited October 16, 2021 by Inculpatus cedo.9234
grammar

[Rasimir.6239]

First of all, with a paid core account you are certainly not a f2p player. You have more character slots (5 instead of 2), more bag slots per character (5 instead of 3), unlimited chat access and more. Check the wiki's section on free accounts if you are interested in the full list of differences.

 

Secondly you don't "need" all of the expansions and living world seasons to understand the story. Some details will be obscure if you haven't played other parts, but I have seen plenty of latecomers playing the story out-of-order or not playing parts at all and still enjoying the story.

If playing the whole story "in order" is important to you, then you can also experience the season 2 story (pre Heart of Thorns) by joining another player that has access to it. That way while you won't get access to the rewards, you will be able to experience the story instances with them and get to know the npc involved.

 

This option isn't available for laters seasons (3+) since the story episodes are tied into maps that you can only access if you have unlocked the episode. Or to put it another way: living world episodes from season 3 onward consist of a package of story, map, and map rewards (including map currency, achievements, exclusive weapon or armor skins, and special mastery lines).

 

Unless you "only" want the bare-bones story and ignore the rest of the package (which incidentally also holds additional lore through the corresponding map), those are really good value for money. They also go on sale occasionally, so there's no reason to buy them up-front unless you absolutely plan to rush through the story (in which case I'd say this game isn't worth your time).

 

If you haven't played since before 2015, then there is a ton of content in this game waiting for you. There really is no need to buy everything up-front. Just go one step at a time and only buy the next episode or bundle you want to dive into. This way you will quickly get a feel for which part is worth buying and which isn't for you.

[The Greyhawk.9107]

58 minutes ago, Sherlock.1607 said:

I returned to the game because engine update (finally after 9 years) but I feel like I am F2P player despite I bought the base game for a full price, I should get at least one expansion for free or a discount. I am thinking about buying the new incoming explansion, but I suppose I need all expansions plus the stories 200gems each to understand the story and all of it is really expansive.

Why on Earth should you get an expansion for free or even a discount just because you're a returning player?  I stuck around since launch and have had to fork out the full price for each Xpack, along side gem purchases.  I've spent real money to support this game, but you came back after however long and expect the same for free?

[Danikat.8537]

You do get a discount, or a free expansion, depends how you want to look at it: you can buy all 3 together for slightly less than twice the price of EoD on it's own. So either you're getting a discount on each or you're buying 2 expansions and getting the 3rd for free. People who have been playing all along and bought each expansion as it came out didn't have that option.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

You know, it is really expansive, which is why it is such a good deal.

[Luky.9578]

I don't know how it works, AFAIK I need the living world story to understand the expansion story, all together is really expansive, the new player has the advantage that he doesnt need to buy a base game.

[Rasimir.6239]

2 minutes ago, Sherlock.1607 said:

AFAIK I need the living world story to understand the expansion story

You don't. You won't get all the details, and won't know all of the characters you meet, but the stories in themselves are pretty well-contained, so you can very well play and understand them on their own.

 

3 minutes ago, Sherlock.1607 said:

the new player has the advantage that he doesnt need to buy a base game.

You have the advantage that you don't need to buy HoT, the one expansion people used to pay $50 for, and that is bundled with PoF (for no extra charge) these days. On top of that, you can even get a discount on PoF if you buy it bundled with EoD.

 

This game is 9 years old, and has continuously released content during those 9 years. It should come as no surprise to anybody that buying up all (or most) of those 9 years of content isn't the same price as buying a small, no-dlc single player game during steam sale.

[Parasite.5389]

16 minutes ago, Sherlock.1607 said:

I don't know how it works, AFAIK I need the living world story to understand the expansion story, all together is really expansive, the new player has the advantage that he doesnt need to buy a base game.

and you get the advantage of not having to buy HoT, as it's bundled in with the other expansions.

some of us bought all of the content at full price, and all we got was a glider skin.

Edited October 16, 2021 by Parasite.5389

[Luky.9578]

Well games are getting cheaper and cheaper when getting older and older, thats completely normal, living world story was free and now it cost gems if I want to experience it, they contain some rewards, is it something interesting I want or need?

[Parasite.5389]

3 minutes ago, Sherlock.1607 said:

Well games are getting cheaper and cheaper when getting older and older, thats completely normal, living world story was free and now it cost gems if I want to experience it, they contain some rewards, is it something interesting I want or need?

it's a common misconception that Living world episodes are Free content

 

they're Paid content that is free at time of release.

[Rasimir.6239]

Just now, Sherlock.1607 said:

Well games are getting cheaper and cheaper when getting older and older, thats completely normal, living world story was free and now it cost gems if I want to experience it, they contain some rewards, is it something interesting I want or need?

Living world episodes are an odd one in the context of "getting cheaper and cheaper" in that ANet is giving them away as loyalty rewards when they are first released. They are never free though, either you buy them or you get them as reward for logging into the game at a specific time.

 

Aside from some very enjoyable maps and interesting events, most of the living world episodes give you access to ascended trinkets in exchange for map currency, which often is more convenient than other ways of getting similar trinkets. Season 4 especially also gives access to exclusive weapon and armor skins and even two mounts (roller beetle and skyscale). Weapon and armor skins are also available in the Icebrood Saga episodes. If minis are your thing, then you'll find plenty of exclusive ones across all episodes.

 

I don't know what rewards you might want, but you can figure that out by browsing the wiki that has a summary page for each episode. As far as need, there is nothing in this game that you absolutely need, since you can always get something comparable through other maps or different game modes. It all depends on your playstyle and what you actually enjoy.

[Luky.9578]

2 minutes ago, Parasite.5389 said:

it's a common misconception that Living world episodes are Free content

 

they're Paid content that is free at time of release.

So it's a free content that gets charged after some time. 😛

[Rasimir.6239]

45 minutes ago, Sherlock.1607 said:

So it's a free content that gets charged after some time. 😛

Now you're twisting words to support your point.

 

Living world episodes have never been free content. ANet made it clear from the start that those are unlockable dlc, and that there simply is an initial period with a separate, different unlock criteria (logging in as opposed .to purchasing on the gem store later on).

 

There is a clear difference between a loyalty reward that you gain by playing at a certain time, and free content that you can just access whenever. Wanting the reward without meeting the criteria is entitlement.

[Tukaram.8256]

Why should you get anything free for taking a long break? 

 

I have been playing since release, and happily paid full price for the expansions.  The only things I got for 'free' were the living world, as they were released - but that is because I was logging in.  

[Embered.5089]

The reason that you had to pay for the core game was that it was not free for anyone at that time. By paying for the core game, you were supporting gw2's growth and giving yourself access to the game way before others had even heard of the game.

Anet is already very generous for bundling the expansions together, effectively discounting or making free old expansions. If you had stuck with the game the whole time, you would've gotten all living world episodes free. You should not be rewarded for abandoning the game. Those who log in at least once a week are the ones who are rightfully rewarded, by events such as the living world giveaways. Expansions will never or rarely be given away for the same reason that core tyria was initially paid. They need money to continue developing the game, and they should get paid for the content that they've worked so hard to make.

GW2, unlike other games, is casual, friendly, and playable anytime. This means that if you need help for old content, you are almost always able to find help, either from new players in the same boat as you or helpful veterans. Your gear and progress will never become obsolete. You can return anytime, knowing that your account is still just the way that you left it. This is more than what other games offer. Other games can have completely dead content, focus on vertical progression, toxic community, and character or account deletions or partial deletions from inactivity. You're coming back to the right game here.

Sure, you paid for the core game. Like everyone else at that time did. But then you left, and you think that you should be rewarded for coming back after everyone else did the work of bettering the community for you. If you had stayed with us, you would've gotten the living world episodes for free and you would've had the opportunity to get exclusive items for buying new expansions early.

So, no. No, you are not getting any "bonuses" for "returning" to the game.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

If paying for Living World Episodes is disdainful to you, you can always exchange Gold for Gems and acquire them that way. 

Or, if Story is the only thing important to you, you can peruse the Wiki or watch any number of YouTube videos. (It is very expansive.)

 

Good luck. 

Edited October 16, 2021 by Inculpatus cedo.9234

[Sobx.1758]

omg, people deserve money for taking a break now? What is happening here?

[Random Wax Orc.7695]

Pretty sure returning players get spammed with years of birthday presents for all their characters.

[Khisanth.2948]

You neither deserved nor are entitled to free stuff just because you stopped interacting with a business for a while.

Do you also expect free food from a restaurant because you haven't been there for a while?

 

It is just about goals and business strategy. It makes sense not to be aggressively trying to get people to return. If someone has tried a game and decided they didn't like it enough to continue playing then what are the chances they've changed their mind? What are the chances they will stay unless the game has changed drastically?

[Luky.9578]

Yes I forgot about gold exchange, thanks for all replies, its more clear now and not so bad I thought before.

[Vayne.8563]

11 hours ago, Sherlock.1607 said:

I don't know how it works, AFAIK I need the living world story to understand the expansion story, all together is really expansive, the new player has the advantage that he doesnt need to buy a base game.

A new player doesn't have to buy the base game , but is starting from scratch. If you played the game at launch you have mats and progress and new players have far more catching up to do. I don't know about you but I paid full price for every expansion (even though HoT is free now) and feel like I got my money's worth from every expansion.

 

On top of that, one of the hardest things for an MMO to do is to get new players late in it's life cycle, because it's often hard for people to catch up. Removing barriers to entry for people just starting is one of the best things a company can FOR veteran players. Unless you don't want anyone to play with.

I've been here since the first day of the first beta, and I'm thrilled to get more people into the game, even though I paid more, because I played more. I even had experiences none of the new players will have in this game, since some content is no longer here.

It blows my mind for the pittance that this game costs at this point to get back into, some people still complain they're not getting anything for free. You're getting a healthy game with a bigger player base.  Pretty much what a veteran player needs.

Edited October 16, 2021 by Vayne.8563

[Ultramex.1506]

Consider the game is still alive is good enough for "return player"

[artcreator.4859]

Bro what.  U stopped playing and you want free stuff for playing again? 

[Game of Bones.8975]

What about those players who have stood by the game since GW1?

The ones who have kept the game alive? 

 

Just play the game you have access to and log in each day for your "free" reward.