Should Elite Specialization be Free for the PvP crowd?

[blade eyes.2034]

This is something that I have been wondering about, since GW2 first came out the PvP scene was made in way that your level and armor doesn't matter. Where everything else is accessible and equal for everyone. However, with HoT and the introduction of elitist specialization as something that has to be acquired through expansions has changed that for PvP. Personally, I have no problem fighting elitist specialization with core classes, in fact when HoT came out I managed to reach Platinum 2 in PvP season 1 and 2 without a problem on core Guardian. I have to say that it doesn't help new players to feel like this is not pay to win when the PvP community is toxic toward those who don't play meta, which is often the newest Elite specialization. Thus, what if Elite specialization was unlocked for PvP players without having to pay for that part of the game. They would still have to pay for the Elite specialization if they want to use it in pve, it could be thought of as free trial I guess. Anyway, this is what was on my mind and I wanted to see what everyone else thought about it.

[blade eyes.2034]

Just to be transparent, I already have both expansions so this doesn't really benefit me. It's something that I just thought about it.

[Allarius.5670]

GW2 is an mmo and elite specializations are their alternative to new classes. Gaining new classes, or in this case new elite specializations, with expansion purchase is a genre staple. GW2 is an mmo that has PvP, not a PvP game that happens to have an mmo experience. Now, just because it follows the expected trend does not make it the best solution for this or any game, but I do not see a problem with requiring expansion purchase.

[norbes.3620]

U are still able to Play PvP (even if u may get some toxic People raging at u) without HoT or PoFedit: and to be honest u still get toxic hate towards u even if u have the expansions ...so what?

u do not Need to buy them and u can still have seccess.those who want to be the best or want to have Access to all aspects will indeed Need to buy the expansions but i do not think of that as a bad Point otherwise the "PvP- only" Players would not buy any Expansion at all

ist a fair equivalent to the guys who wanna Play the new Story will still buy it

[czerwoni.9563]

if its free it could be a sample of "buy expansion for this in pve" kinda like advertising. give a kid some frosting then tell them they have to do more chores before they get the cake.

[derd.6413]

but then they would need to find a new way to have pvpers buy xpacs

[blade eyes.2034]

I don't know, personally I'm PVX player I play all the game modes, so I'll be buying it anyway. Also, doesn't stronghold have champions that require the expansions to unlock them? Anyway, I believe that Arenanet have tried to create a competitive esport similar to League of Legend or Smite I don't play either one, so I don't know much about them. By making Elite specialization free for PvP and making a reasonable balance between classes and Elite specialization that doesn't constantly change it might work, just thought. Lastly, this could encourage more Play for Free players to try the PVP part of the game and from there perhaps even buying the expansions. Similar to how Fortnight does it with it's free PVP Battle Royale, awhile still requiring to buy the PVE content portion of the game.

[megilandil.7506]

The real question is: ¿should F2P players/acounts have acces to the competitive modes of pvp?

[lLobo.7960]

@megilandil.7506 said:The real question is: ¿should F2P players/acounts have acces to the competitive modes of pvp?

This.

F2P should be able to get into hotjoins and unranked, but not ranked season or tourneys.

[Majirah.5089]

Absolutely not. If players want to have access to elite specs, then they should be required to buy the expansions no matter what game mode they want to use them in. The new pvp “content” of the expansions is the elite specs. There would be no reason for pvp only players to spend a penny on this game if that were the case. I don’t think it would encourage people to buy expansions. It would do the opposite in my opinion.

And if people want to claim that is p2w (not saying OP is claiming that, but many have) I’d sooner make it so you can only queue ranked if you have all expansions. Most other mmo’s end game pvp is locked behind having expansions and related level caps so it wouldn’t be unheard of.

[blade eyes.2034]

@lLobo.7960 said:

@megilandil.7506 said:The real question is: ¿should F2P players/acounts have acces to the competitive modes of pvp?

This.

F2P should be able to get into hotjoins and unranked, but not ranked season or tourneys.

The PvP population is already low as far as I know, and having that kind of restriction could damage it further.

[mortrialus.3062]

I feel like the cool thing about GW2's PvP initially was the fact that you could immediately be competitive. You didn't have to worry about leveling, or gear, and you didn't have to worry about a guy with a legendary weapon you can't compete with showing up. Everything you needed was available to you. It was just a matter of skill and how smart your build was. I think paywalling the elite specs diminish this a bit.

[BeLZedaR.4790]

They need to make money somehow so I don’t really see this happening.What I do think might be nice and a possibility is an elite-spec only package for a lowered price.

[Khaliel.3918]

Nope.

1- the game is cheap2- anet needs to make money so people that paid for it have content3- free elite specs = even more alt accounts for wintrading

[Noz.4650]

Almost all core specs have perfectly viable builds at least up until plat 1/2 if you're a good enough player (I'd argue core necro is probably the only one not really viable). Sure there are a bunch of balance and questionable game design issues with PoF, but build diversity/viability is at its absolute highest right now. So no, elite specs don't need to be free.

[megilandil.7506]

@blade eyes.2034 said:

@lLobo.7960 said:

@megilandil.7506 said:The real question is: ¿should F2P players/acounts have acces to the competitive modes of pvp?

This.

F2P should be able to get into hotjoins and unranked, but not ranked season or tourneys.

The PvP population is already low as far as I know, and having that kind of restriction could damage it further.

the problems of pvp is few enforcement of rules, and allowing f2p to play it agravates the problem, if casually an acount get banned/bloked for any reason, 1 minute after the infractor is back with a brand new acount, few ocasions the infractors get punished and in this rare ocasions the infractor gets 0 penalty because they lost nothing

[Namless.4028]

maybe put an item into the game that unlocks elite specs for pvp only

[Lunalight.8120]

F2P players should be thankful they can enter PvP at all, seeing as how the base game is basically just a demo and you're expected to buy the full game for the full experience.

[MarshallLaw.9260]

@blade eyes.2034 said:

@lLobo.7960 said:

@megilandil.7506 said:The real question is: ¿should F2P players/acounts have acces to the competitive modes of pvp?

This.

F2P should be able to get into hotjoins and unranked, but not ranked season or tourneys.

The PvP population is already low as far as I know, and having that kind of restriction could damage it further.

At present I'm undecided if I agree with no F2P in ranked, however I think people overestimate the % of F2P players in GW2 in general. It's really fairly low, the vast majority have either core(pre-F2P), one or both expansions..On the topic of free elite specs, I would disagree that those without expacs should get the experience for free as I don't see it as being that big a marketing tool to encourage F2P players to invest in an expac.The current system works well because those without HoT/PoF are still in the same pool as everyone else - they experience every spec they play against and that's what can persuade them to buy an expansion..I know I keep plugging this idea, but what I feel would help is keeping access to ranked as it is (for any account) but raise the entry level per class so that players who wish to use a specific profession(let's say necro), have to accumulate a minimum number of wins (25 for example) in unranked arena before being allowed access on that class in ranked.

[Trevor Boyer.6524]

I wouldn't care if f2p had access to hot/pof in unranked/hotjoin but they should not have access to expansion material in ranked play or ATs. And on a side note, f2p accounts should be required to be rank 40 before being allowed to join ranked games. It would help reduce such easy match manipulation and casual smurfing.