Will I have to buy the expansions again for Steam?

[NatoPotter.9135]

I have bought Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire expansions, is there a way to get a code to get them on steam as I intend to play with friends through there? Sorry I couldn't find anything related to this on the search.

[alteriel valie.4751]

If you gonna play through steam you have to buy them again on steam!
Steam store is different from website store!

Edited August 23, 2022 by alteriel valie.4751

[NatoPotter.9135]

It's the same game, they should provide people who bought it at least a code to play the expansion on Steam. If Arena Net thinks I'm going to hand them another 100 bucks for the same expansion I've already purchased they're are completely mistaken.

[alteriel valie.4751]

Its different store,steam and anet make money and steam has a fee from sales!They wont let them add content for free since the game is free!!
Both have to make money and Anets target isnt the old players but to get new!!

[Chaba.5410]

I don't understand what you are asking for.  There is no migration of existing accounts to Steam.  The expansions are tied to your account, not the software you download.  I assume if you have an UNUSED code for those expansions, you could apply them to a steam account, but most likely you applied those codes to your existing account.

I mean, you know you can still play with friends who have accounts through steam, right?

Edited August 24, 2022 by Chaba.5410

[dark.4657]

This is ridiculous! Why do I have to buy something I already own on the same account? The account is what controls the products we bought originally, our account knows that we own that addons. I'm not buy this crap again. They need to fix this!!!

[Healix.5819]

If you just want to play through Steam, simply install the free client and login using your non-Steam account. The only reason to start over on Steam is to be able to pay through Steam.

[Chaba.5410]

3 hours ago, dark.4657 said:

This is ridiculous! Why do I have to buy something I already own on the same account? The account is what controls the products we bought originally, our account knows that we own that addons. I'm not buy this crap again. They need to fix this!!!

Huh? What makes you think you have to buy everything again? Read the link Healix posted above.

Edited August 24, 2022 by Chaba.5410

[OCritter.9372]

The whole "can't use existing accounts for play on Steam" is ridiculous in the first place. I have stronger words, but I wanna be civil.

Quote

The only reason to start over on Steam is to be able to pay through Steam

That's completely false. Steam is easy game-management, too. I want my games all in the same place, I want developer notes and community stuff available with two quick clicks. I want my game integrated into the client and a "non-Steam" game like the original client does not have a lot of the functions I'd need it to have to be satisfied with it even if put into Steam the one could do before.

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

37 minutes ago, OCritter.9372 said:

The whole "can't use existing accounts for play on Steam" is ridiculous in the first place. I have stronger words, but I wanna be civil.

That's completely false. Steam is easy game-management, too. I want my games all in the same place, I want developer notes and community stuff available with two quick clicks. I want my game integrated into the client and a "non-Steam" game like the original client does not have a lot of the functions I'd need it to have to be satisfied with it even if put into Steam the one could do before.

Players have repeatedly tried to explain this. The Steam store isn't ArenaNet's store, they have nothing to do with each other and Steam takes a 30% cut from everything. The Steam release is for new players and not for veteran players who already own the game and all the expansions and so on.

 

You bought the game through ArenaNet, so by asking for it to be moved to Steam you're basically telling ArenaNet to commit fraud with Steam by depriving them of their cut of the profits.

 

Literally everyone would do this in the future to bypass the fees.

Edited August 24, 2022 by Mariyuuna.6508

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

1 hour ago, OCritter.9372 said:

The whole "can't use existing accounts for play on Steam" is ridiculous in the first place. I have stronger words, but I wanna be civil.

That's completely false. Steam is easy game-management, too. I want my games all in the same place, I want developer notes and community stuff available with two quick clicks. I want my game integrated into the client and a "non-Steam" game like the original client does not have a lot of the functions I'd need it to have to be satisfied with it even if put into Steam the one could do before.

If you want the Steam 'perks', you will have to pay for them...as well, as start over from scratch. 

[TheQuickFox.3826]

You can not transfer existing accounts to Steam.

If you want to play on Steam you need to make a new GW2 account on steam. And then either play the base game for free or buy the expansions / living world content.

[dark.4657]

I found a fix for Steam, anyone wanting to play on the Steam Client Add this to your Steam properties for the game alt launch.

 

-provider Portal

 

This will allow you to use Steam and have access to your account.

[Trise.2865]

On 8/24/2022 at 4:28 AM, OCritter.9372 said:

The whole "can't use existing accounts for play on Steam" is ridiculous in the first place. I have stronger words, but I wanna be civil.

That's completely false. Steam is easy game-management, too. I want my games all in the same place, I want developer notes and community stuff available with two quick clicks. I want my game integrated into the client and a "non-Steam" game like the original client does not have a lot of the functions I'd need it to have to be satisfied with it even if put into Steam the one could do before.

"Inventory management"
Steam--Library--Add a Game--Add Non-Steam Game--Guild Wars 2
Done.

"News and community with two clicks"
Why bother with two when you can get it in one? https://www.guildwars2.com/en/
You're welcome.

[Stoltverd.7251]

On 8/24/2022 at 4:02 AM, Mariyuuna.6508 said:

Players have repeatedly tried to explain this. The Steam store isn't ArenaNet's store, they have nothing to do with each other and Steam takes a 30% cut from everything. The Steam release is for new players and not for veteran players who already own the game and all the expansions and so on.

 

You bought the game through ArenaNet, so by asking for it to be moved to Steam you're basically telling ArenaNet to commit fraud with Steam by depriving them of their cut of the profits.

 

Literally everyone would do this in the future to bypass the fees.

False. 
Steam allows developers to sell their products outside of steam and provide a steam code. The only rule is that you can't sell your products at a lower price than steam.
Getting steam codes to sell yourself or just gift, costs nothing and is not against the ToS.
Literally it's just ANET being either greedy or lazy.
Source: I'm a dev and....
https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/keys
There you have the oficial documentation.
BY THE WAY!
Elder scrolls online has a similar issue. After buying the game again on steam, you can then log in through your old zenimax account and use the content you already paid for. the best part? You CAN buy new expansions and crowns through steam and they'll apply to your account if you link your steam account to your zenimax account. That's how they implemented it. Nice, honest and clean.

You would think ANET would do that, specially since the game is now free...
There are many reasons why it would be better for the consumer to buy through steam:
Regional prices.
Regional payment options.
A more stable price because you don't have to pay in USD.

I know most people here may think the USA is the center of the universe, but other countries exist. 
I have an ANET account, but haven't bought the latest expansion because of the high price the USD has right now. 
I'd buy it if I could buy it on steam and apply it to my ANET account. (Like linking them... Just like I did with my ESO account)
But apparently... You can't!!!! I found this thread while searching for that information, so sorry for the necro.

Edited November 25, 2022 by Stoltverd.7251

[Chaba.5410]

2 hours ago, Stoltverd.7251 said:

BY THE WAY!
Elder scrolls online has a similar issue. After buying the game again on steam, you can then log in through your old zenimax account and use the content you already paid for.

My understanding is that the GW1 to GW2 account link implementation can't be done through Steam so that's why it's kept separate.

Edited November 26, 2022 by Chaba.5410

[Stoltverd.7251]

On 11/25/2022 at 7:18 PM, Chaba.5410 said:

My understanding is that the GW1 to GW2 account link implementation can't be done through Steam so that's why it's kept separate.

That still doesn't make any sense.
They could code it so it just creates the account on their end. MANY mmos on steam does it that way.
Take into account that the Gw1 to GW2 implementation is manual even with ANET so...
ANET just half assed it.
EDIT:
Also... Implementing it like zenimax did, would still work for GW1. Does the player have an ANET account? ok, link them up. 
It just makes it so your steam "account" is the same zenimax account. 
Coding that link is not simple. But ANET has the manpower and money to do it. 
Saying that there are technical limitations is BS. Saying that it's against valve's ToS is BS too.
People really should stop defending corporations and be critical of the products they like.

Edited November 27, 2022 by Stoltverd.7251

[Chaba.5410]

2 hours ago, Stoltverd.7251 said:

That still doesn't make any sense.
They could code it so it just creates the account on their end.
 

It's unclear what you mean by this. Have you tried to play GW2 from Steam? I have. It creates an account in the GW2 database. The authentication though is done through Steam. That's why there is a "log into Steam" button on the accounts.arenanet.com website for Steam players.

Also, not trying to defend anyone, just being critical of every poster who claims to know something about a system they couldn't really know without having access to the actual code.

Edited November 27, 2022 by Chaba.5410

[Stoltverd.7251]

13 hours ago, Chaba.5410 said:

It's unclear what you mean by this. Have you tried to play GW2 from Steam? I have. It creates an account in the GW2 database. The authentication though is done through Steam. That's why there is a "log into Steam" button on the accounts.arenanet.com website for Steam players.

Also, not trying to defend anyone, just being critical of every poster who claims to know something about a system they couldn't really know without having access to the actual code.

That's exactly what happens when playing ESO through steam!
I have no idea how to be more clear...
There should be an option to link your steam account to an existing ANET account. 
What should happen after linking is that there shouldn't be any separated steam account if you do that.
Any content you had previously paid for through ANET should be available AND (here's the main difference with ANET implementation any why the link is needed), any content you buy THROUGH STEAM, should be applied to said existing account. (Because it's linked).

Let me exemplify this with a numbered storyline. Maybe then I can make myself be understood.

1. Timmy has had GW2 since it came out, and bought every expansion through ANET. Timmy lives outside of america, so all the payment options of steam have been a blessing.
2. Timmy notices that GW2 is now playable through steam. And he hasn't bought the newest expansion because he no longer has access to ANET payment options. He however, has access to steam's payment options.
3. Timmy wants to log in using steam and link the two accounts, so he's able to pay for the new expansion through steam and the purchase being applied to his old ANET account.

4. Timmy is sad, because ANET hasn't provided a way to do this. That means that any purchase of DLC he would make through steam would NOT apply to his old account.

Timmy's story would be different in other games, because other MMOs that are available on steam and that were previously available only outside of steam have implemented some kind of linking functionality.

I'm extremely sorry if I sound pedantic. I really don't know how to make myself understood anymore.
I want to use my old account and buy new stuff from steam because it's easier. I can't. Other games allow me to do it, like ESO. But not GW2.

Edit: Please, if anything I said was unclear, let me know.

Edited November 27, 2022 by Stoltverd.7251

[Cyninja.2954]

There is no need for examples. This conversation has been had and the pros and cons were discussed ad acta.

 

The company decided that they are not willing to share their revenue with Steam for existing non Steam accounts nor to address all the issues (GW1 and GW2 linking etc.) which would result from allowing players to transfer their existing account to Steam.

 

Some other MMORPGs have approached this issue the same way (Final Fantasy 14), others have gone with a revenue split for existing accounts and allowed those to get added to Steam (SWToR). There are benefits and detriments to both approaches.

 

Currently if you want to launch the game through Steam, you can do so, but that is basically it and non Steam and Steam versions are not compatible with each other.

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

This conversation keeps going around in circles. As has been repeatedly stated, Steam is for new players, it wasn't for veteran players. The whole point of it was to keep the game alive, not make it more convenient.

 

If you want to use all the features of Steam, then start a Steam account. You won't have all your account unlocks and achievements which means you're on the same exact footing as every other new player to the game. Expecting to be more special than them just because you've played before isn't realistic.

 

I'm not trying to be mean here, I just don't know whats with this forum lately and all the entitlement. Every time ArenaNet does something instead of saying "thank you" you say "that's not good enough, redo it".

Edited November 28, 2022 by Mariyuuna.6508

[Stoltverd.7251]

More special than them?
Oh like.. Having spent more money? more time?
That's not entitlement... 
Specially because they are the same servers.
If I were saying I expect an advantage on new servers because I supported the game first, that would be entitlement.
Edit: Instead, what I'm saying, is that they should have implemented this in a better way, like many other companies that did the same thing. End of edit.
And saying thank you? Talk about fanboyish mentality. This is a product I paid for and continue to pay for when I spend money on gems. Thank you? for what? Doing their job? Maintaining a game that gives them money? 
They could have done this implementation better. And people should tell them that.
They are not gods and people shouldn't fall on their knees thanking them for any scrap, they should be held to the standards of the industry and asked to do better. They receive enough positive feedback from the good things they do. Specially as money.

Edited November 29, 2022 by Stoltverd.7251
Tone

[Ashantara.8731]

On 8/23/2022 at 10:58 PM, NatoPotter.9135 said:

It's the same game, they should provide people who bought it at least a code to play the expansion on Steam. If Arena Net thinks I'm going to hand them another 100 bucks for the same expansion I've already purchased they're are completely mistaken.

Steam's GW2 account is not the same account as your original GW2 account. Two different accounts, two purchases - simple as that.

If you simply linked your already existent GW2 account on Steam, that's a different story. You will have full access to everything, but it's not a Steam GW2 account in that case - you are merely launching your existent account via Steam.
 

Edited November 29, 2022 by Ashantara.8731