Way point unlock packages.

[Rikkagin.9472]

On the old forums there were frequent requests for veteran players to able to unlock maps on new characters, or at least Way Points.This feature has been added. But for Gems. I wonder how players feel about this, those that wanted it, and those that did not.

[Just a flesh wound.3589]

My opinion.

Mounts have changed the game enough that if you have them it’s now trivial to unlock waypoints. Even a low level char can unlock the wps on high level maps with the mount’s speed boost, leaps, teleports, ability to skim over water. If a low level char can unlock the wps in Orr using mounts then it no longer matters if someone buys the wps.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

My take on it? I think the Devs try to offer oft-requested features/items/content. Even though they are often accused of never listening.

Thus, as my esteemed colleague above will soon (hopefully) have as a signature: 'Be careful what you ask for...'

[Danikat.8537]

A lot of people asking for it on the old forum said they'd be willing to pay for it - either real money or large amounts of gold. Now they have that option.

It's not something I ever wanted or would ever use, so to me the price seems absurd, but I assume people who wanted it might feel differently.

[Mazreal Blackknight.1564]

I think its another leans towards pay to win, I also feel it should have to require at least 1 full map comp of core tyria before it can be bought. I wont use it but I feel with their lean on the pay to win/or the give me what I want without working for it (ie auto 80/ and now wp unlocks). I can maybe hope next month I can for the low price of a few thousand gems get my achievements for legendary armor. Since they are hard and require some effort, I just need to wait a bit longer.

[Omar Aschi Popp.7496]

Well considering the first thread about this was deleted...

[Charrbeque.8729]

Is it a per character purchase, or an account wide unlock? If per character I won't bother with it since my main has 100% map complete for Tyria and most other maps. I'm pretty sure all waypoints are unlocked for my main.

Does it include HoT and PoF maps, or just Central Tyria?

Edit: Like mounts, it's one of those things I wasn't interested in but wasn't against. And since it's here I'm interested.

[JustTrogdor.7892]

@Charrbeque.8729 said:Is it a per character purchase, or an account wide unlock? If per character I won't bother with it since my main has 100% map complete for Tyria and most other maps. I'm pretty sure all waypoints are unlocked for my main.

Does it include HoT and PoF maps, or just Central Tyria?

Edit: Like mounts, it's one of those things I wasn't interested in but wasn't against. And since it's here I'm interested.

Per character, Central Tyria maps only.

[Omar Aschi Popp.7496]

Two players buy Guild wars 2 today. Create Charr character and finish intro story.

Player one buys 80 boost and WP unlockPlayer two does not.

Oh my, Silvereastes is on underground bosses followed by VW.

Guess who will make It to those events(The player who paid money)

So someone explain how this is not p2w.

[Tanner Blackfeather.6509]

@Charrbeque.8729 said:Is it a per character purchase, or an account wide unlock? If per character I won't bother with it since my main has 100% map complete for Tyria and most other maps. I'm pretty sure all waypoints are unlocked for my main.

Does it include HoT and PoF maps, or just Central Tyria?

Edit: Like mounts, it's one of those things I wasn't interested in but wasn't against. And since it's here I'm interested.

Per character, and no expansion zones.

[Just a flesh wound.3589]

@Omar Aschi Popp.7496 said:Two players buy Guild wars 2 today. Create Charr character and finish intro story.

Player one buys 80 boost and WP unlockPlayer two does not.

Oh my, Silvereastes is on underground bosses followed by VW.

Guess who will make It to those events(The player who paid money)

So someone explain how this is not p2w.

Then the expansions with their mounts are p2w because if you have 2 players without wps, the player with the mount is going to beat the guy on foot by a large margin. Buying this expansion is buying a huge speed boost and ability to get on top of things, and removing any need for traits, runes, weapon, utility skills that give a speed boost, which means they can use these skills, traits weapons, etc instead and still have super speed.

[Charrbeque.8729]

@JustTrogdor.7892 said:

@Charrbeque.8729 said:Is it a per character purchase, or an account wide unlock? If per character I won't bother with it since my main has 100% map complete for Tyria and most other maps. I'm pretty sure all waypoints are unlocked for my main.

Does it include HoT and PoF maps, or just Central Tyria?

Edit: Like mounts, it's one of those things I wasn't interested in but wasn't against. And since it's here I'm interested.

Per character, Central Tyria maps only.

Welp. Guess I'll spend my gems on something else. If it were an account wide unlock I would consider it anyway. Oh well. Thanks for answering.

[Theocraft.6053]

good thing for somebody that has small amount of time and bigger amount of cash

[Palador.2170]

@"Omar Aschi Popp.7496" said:Two players buy Guild wars 2 today. Create Charr character and finish intro story.

Player one buys 80 boost and WP unlockPlayer two does not.

Oh my, Silvereastes is on underground bosses followed by VW.

Guess who will make It to those events(The player who paid money)

So someone explain how this is not p2w.

Well, if they're both equal, then the person that paid will make it to those events. But, they wouldn't even know to go to those events if not for some foreknowledge of the game. And both being equal, that means that the other person ALSO knows such things about the game.

The non-spender will therefore know enough to quickly catch up in levels, and gear. They'll be on par with the power of the other player fairly quickly. However, because they took a slightly slower route, they'll also have more practice playing their character when they get to the Silverwastes. Guess which one is less likely to get the reputation of "that lack-wit that kittens up everything".

This isn't "Pay to Win", it's more like paying to get your first book published. That won't save you from your book being crap, and you'll miss out on the writing skills gained by doing it the hard way. And in the long run, it gives you no advantage, just a faster jump into the thick of things.

[Danikat.8537]

@Omar Aschi Popp.7496 said:Two players buy Guild wars 2 today. Create Charr character and finish intro story.

Player one buys 80 boost and WP unlockPlayer two does not.

Oh my, Silvereastes is on underground bosses followed by VW.

Guess who will make It to those events(The player who paid money)

So someone explain how this is not p2w.

Because they don't win anything?

Silverwastes is not a one-time event, it's not even that rare. Same with Tequatl, Shatterer and all the other events I've seen used in that example. Yes it's true that the very first time they go there the person who buys this item would get there faster. But what does that really achieve? They get to do it right away and the person running there has to do it the next time the event repeats, which is likely to be about 30 minutes later at most. Big deal. Even if the guy who bought the waypoints spends all of his time from then on farming big events in the core maps that first time he got to each of them slightly faster is going to be negligible.

(Also genuine new players who have never played GW2 before are highly unlikely to even know what Silverwastes is or if it's worth doing.)

I understand the concern, it is still selling completion of one part of the game, even if it is an absolutely trivial part. There is potential for it to be part of a worrying trend (especially if new players do somehow get the idea that they need things like this and the level 80 boost). But acting like the ability to buy waypoints is a problem on it's own is just making the entire argument look silly.

[mXz.4512]

I'm very disappointed they allowed unlockable wps. If someone's that lazy to run around in any map with a friend or group/zerg then why bother playing? May as well let the game play itself in that case. SMH. This game is not that hard.

[Danikat.8537]

@mXz.4512 said:I'm very disappointed they allowed unlockable wps. If someone's that lazy to run around in any map with a friend or group/zerg then why bother playing? May as well let the game play itself in that case. SMH. This game is not that hard.

I'm waiting for a game to come out with a paid version of the "There can be only one" cheat from Warcraft 2. If you activated it you jumped straight to the victory cinematic for your campaign. It'd be the ultimate pay to win item - pay your money and you've instantly won the game, with no need to play at all. You don't get any items and can't keep playing once you've used it - you've finished and can move on to buying a new game. :D

(Yes I'm being sarcastic, even as a cheat code I thought that was pointless. But on the other hand it wouldn't surprise me if someone did it sooner or later.)

[killermanjaro.5670]

@Omar Aschi Popp.7496 said:Two players buy Guild wars 2 today. Create Charr character and finish intro story.

Player one buys 80 boost and WP unlockPlayer two does not.

Oh my, Silvereastes is on underground bosses followed by VW.

Guess who will make It to those events(The player who paid money)

So someone explain how this is not p2w.

Because a new player buying those isn't actually winning anything, they won't be gaining any gameplay advantage, no competitive stat advantage, and nothing that can't be achieved through normal gameplay in a week.

Yes it means they could go to lvl80 areas straight away, but how is that pay to win? They could walk to the silverwastes (if they even knew about it, being new to the game), so yay they could do VW straight away, so what. It's not like its a limited time event, the other player who manually levels to 80 will still be able to do the same event as many times as they like when they hit 80.

Also for the level side of things, if both players planned on doing the story there's no gain anyway, as the player who didn't buy the boost would be 80 by the end of the story anyway. OK if one has the waypoints then they'd complete it quicker, but what does that matter to anyone?

If anything I would say it's the opposite of p2w, because the new player that doesn't buy either will get to learn their class properly by levelling it manually. They will also actually get the experience of properly exploring maps rather than just using all the WPs and skipping loads. And they will have saved the cost of both items.

Really the lvl80 boost and wp unlock are just designed as convenience items for existing players. But most vets with lots of alts probably have stacks of tomes and/or exp scrolls to level an alt straight away. And would know where to quickly then run to unlock the specific way points they need (even quicker with mounts). So these items really don't give any p2w aspects to players new or old. At most they probably save vets about 1-2 hours of running to unlock WPs which they've done many times before.

[xDjust.3129]

Imo unlocking all waypoints should only be available for those who have 100% map completion on 1 character. Make it a part of an achievement. If you get 100% on a map, all waypoints will be unlocked for you alts. It shouldn't be something you can buy as a new player.

[Zaraki.5784]

That's one of the most overpriced items I've ever seen on tp. 2000 gems for a small bunch of wps are too much even if that'd have been acc bound (which isn't).If anyone pays me 2000 gems, I'd gladly escort him to EVERY wp in Tyria. xD

[Hevoskuuri.3891]

I honestly doubt anyone who starts a brand new MMO has the mentality that everything needs to be achieved as fast as possible. Most players will likely prefer to level the good old way, getting themselves used to the game mechanics and professions, before even dreaming about max-level content. ESPECIALLY when they realize how flexible Guild Wars 2 is; there's no rush, you can always catch up and getting to the max level is doable in a few hours, as well as getting decent gear.

If a brand new player buys the WP unlock and lvl 80 boost, they will teleport around the map for a while, overwhelmed by everything and shut down the game having no idea what to do next. No one wants to get that feeling.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

As others have said: I'm not in favor of it, but my opposition is lukewarm since mounts already make it possible to unlock each map within about a minute, after you finish loading. If there are people willing to spend US$25 or 500 gold to save themselves 30 minutes of tedium per character, I don't see how that affects my gaming at all.

[jbrother.1340]

@Rikkagin.9472 said:On the old forums there were frequent requests for veteran players to able to unlock maps on new characters, or at least Way Points.This feature has been added. But for Gems. I wonder how players feel about this, those that wanted it, and those that did not.

Respectfully and this is not directed at the quoted OP above.

I read through almost all the posts here and I just don't see it. There is no P2W element here. It is pay to convenience nothing more.

I without spending anything other than the original purchase of the game in presale when it launched, just the basic version then. I bought both expansions presale, HOT just standard version, and in POF I bought this time the more expensive one because I felt it a good deal to get some gems I wanted overall to expand my account a little. I also liked the bonuses for whatever non-specific personal reason that doesn't matter here anyway...

So with all that I have multiple 80's a bunch of stuff random and specific. Sets of armor for characters I am still imaging that may one day become. I have a bunch of character slots that I did not pay extra for outside the expansions and two 80 level boosts that came with them that I have not even used because I had no reason to at the time. I have many level scrolls for like 20 level , 30, 40, 50. I have a bunch. I have enough experience tomes and leveling gags to level characters I will never have and a mount that cost me nothing basically that anyone can get for expanding the game as they expand it. I also have crap tons of random ore and dumb stuff filling tons of toons.

Should I have to give this all back for never paying anything extra? How did I pay to win any of that? I could spend a nominal amount and just roll 80's out like a little workshop if I wanted for a couple days. I didn't pay anything over what every other player did that has bought up to POF expansion. I have gold for doing nothing just dailies and lame stuff that amused me like cutting down tree after tree for a week straight once. Seriously I did nothing but cut down trees for about 25 hours one week when I played more weekly. This new expansion has got me playing and starting a new toon that I was going to use a scroll on that I am now thinking I want to level a while first because I am enjoying the development of class I have never played before; In this case an elemental human. Also my first human. I did all this and entertained myself with nothing but what it took all of you if you expanded to get here?

I am not a top player but I have had countless hours of amusement in this game in a NOT pay to win fashion ever and no matter what was being sold in the gem store I never felt like anything gave advantage in anyway other than the... top hat :) This game simply is not designed to really be pay to win in the way most people traditionally feel about it. You can pay for a ton of stuff if you want to. I spent a pile of gems on the account expansion that gets you bank tabs and bag stuff and keys and dye. It was amusing as ever. The fun I have had over the last few years coming and going from this game has been worth the really small daily cost of any of this overall.

People beg at most corners in my town with signs. They all say weird stuff. They could easily afford to play this game and have fun if they are not really homeless, which in this city they are not. It is all a big scam. This game however is not. I really want all players to have it all but you get what you pay for and what you play for. I was handed a bunch of stuff for free more or less in this game, or at least at no additional cost. The playing hours since I was here for the long haul got me a bunch of stuff who can fault me for being a consistent customer?

[Elden Arnaas.4870]

I think that the character-bound aspect, and the high cost are to prevent players from over using this. You can bet that if this sells well, there will be a Heart of Thorns version, and (eventually) a Path of Fire version.

re: Imo unlocking all waypoints should only be available for those who have 100% map completion on 1 character. Make it a part of an achievement. If you get 100% on a map, all waypoints will be unlocked for you alts. - This would have been nice, but now that it's a gem store item, nothing like that will ever happen.

[mXz.4512]

@Danikat.8537 said:

@mXz.4512 said:I'm very disappointed they allowed unlockable wps. If someone's that lazy to run around in any map with a friend or group/zerg then why bother playing? May as well let the game play itself in that case. SMH. This game is not

that

hard.

I'm waiting for a game to come out with a paid version of the "There can be only one" cheat from Warcraft 2. If you activated it you jumped straight to the victory cinematic for your campaign. It'd be the ultimate pay to win item - pay your money and you've instantly won the game, with no need to play at all. You don't get any items and can't keep playing once you've used it - you've finished and can move on to buying a new game. :D

(Yes I'm being sarcastic, even as a cheat code I thought that was pointless. But on the other hand it wouldn't surprise me if someone did it sooner or later.)

I wouldn't be surprised lol, it'd be a massive facepalm if anyone were to do it. Could also include on the bottom with company sponsors "P2W" ...the new way to game.