Bound by blood

[Linken.6345]

So they were oddly specific saying it was only for people who own path of fire.Do that mean its not banked for people that dont own the expansion like normal living story episodes?

[whoeverxwins.1279]

I'm sure it's like the others. You need to own the expansion before you get the related Living Story for free.

[Donari.5237]

I think Linken is referring to the fact that you unlock an episode even if you are on a FTP account so long as you log in while the episode is active but cannot play it until you own the relevant expansion, and wondering if the phrasing on this announcement suggests that is changing.

[Linken.6345]

@Donari.5237 said:I think Linken is referring to the fact that you unlock an episode even if you are on a FTP account so long as you log in while the episode is active but cannot play it until you own the relevant expansion, and wondering if the phrasing on this announcement suggests that is changing.

Correct

[Trise.2865]

The phrasing is slightly odd, but nothing else shown indicates a change in current Living World release policy.As usual with ANet, if they didn't explicitly state it, it isn't happening.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

From the News Blog post:

If you own Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire, you can play the episodes right away. If you don’t own the expansion, your unlocked episodes will be available to play as soon as you upgrade your account by purchasing it.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/the-icebrood-saga-begins-september-17/

[Danikat.8537]

I wondered about that too, the way they worded it during the live stream made it sound like you had to own PoF to get the episode added to your account.

But I suspect that's down to some combination of even experienced public speakers changing their wording slightly when they actually do an announcement and the fact that you can only put so much clarification into a spoken announcement before people either switch off or you end up sounding like the guy doing the terms and conditions at the end of a credit card advert. So they focused on the important point: you need to own PoF to play the new season and left out the technicalities of two-stage unlocking.

I'll be able to confirm how it works on the 17th because my second account is Core game only (Heroic Edition) so I'll be able to check if that one gets the episode or not.

[Brandon Uzumaki.1524]

I believe this episode (the prologue) will be free forever, normally an episode is free until the next one is launched, this one will probably won't have a time window like that.

[Kaliwenda.3428]

We've seen lots of threads where people come to the game, buy the expansions, and then find out they also need to buy the Living World seasons.

This seems to be a reaction to that. Now if you own PoF you'll get the Living World episodes going forward for free no matter when you start.

That's how I interpret it at least. No more login windows to get the new episodes free from here on out as long as you own PoF.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

@"Kaliwenda.3428" said:We've seen lots of threads where people come to the game, buy the expansions, and then find out they also need to buy the Living World seasons.

This seems to be a reaction to that. Now if you own PoF you'll get the Living World episodes going forward for free no matter when you start.

That's how I interpret it at least. No more login windows to get the new episodes free from here on out as long as you own PoF.

From the News Blog:

"Episodes of The Icebrood Saga can be unlocked for free by logging in to Guild Wars 2 while they’re currently live (between an episode’s release date and the date of the next episode release)."

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/the-icebrood-saga-begins-september-17/

[Danikat.8537]

Considering they announced this at PAX, at any event where you didn't need a ticket so anyone who wanted to could come in and listen, and it was streamed online for anyone else to watch, it's possible all the emphasis on Season 5 being free for people who own PoF wasn't because they're doing something different and need to tell current players that. It could be a way of making sure new and potential players understand this isn't paid DLC like it would be in most games but a free addition to the expansion, so they don't need to worry about how much more it will cost if they want to play it, they can just buy PoF and get the update for free when it's released.

[Ashantara.8731]

As always, you will unlock the episode in any case as long as you log on to the game. You just won't be able to play it until you own PoF.

But I believe that was already answered by Inculpatus cedo, quoting the official information.

[Kaliwenda.3428]

@Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

@"Kaliwenda.3428" said:We've seen lots of threads where people come to the game, buy the expansions, and then find out they also need to buy the Living World seasons.

This seems to be a reaction to that. Now if you own PoF you'll get the Living World episodes going forward for free no matter when you start.

That's how I interpret it at least. No more login windows to get the new episodes free from here on out as long as you own PoF.

From the News Blog:

"Episodes of The Icebrood Saga can be unlocked for free by logging in to Guild Wars 2 while they’re currently live (between an episode’s release date and the date of the next episode release)."

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/the-icebrood-saga-begins-september-17/

Thanks for the official info! :)

[chris.6583]

i didnt read this back then, for some reason i hoped that sagas will be content for all players, instead of keep dividing the player base with expansions, call me freeloader idc

[perilisk.1874]

@chris.6583 said:i didnt read this back then, for some reason i hoped that sagas will be content for all players, instead of keep dividing the player base with expansions, call me freeloader idc

I think their map design is going to be a lot easier if they can guarantee that players at least have the base PoF and HoT masteries; in fact, that was one justification they gave for giving HoT for free to PoF players.