Why all flashy things are in the gem store !? (Smells like P2W?)

[smashgodlight.6584]

Been playing the game since 2012 and it's the first time am feeling that Anet is trying to steal money out our pockets ! First of all I know that you can turn gems to gold and personally I haven't spend any money on gems but what worries me the most is that I've seen more content being added in the gem store rather than the actual game it's self.

The game features a lot of game modes from PVE/PVP/WVW and then you can find your self in dungeons (dead feature) Fractals Raids WB's Metas and so on. The main reason why am mentioning all this game modes it's to realize that there are a lot of ways to implement more rewards in the game.

On the other hand all the flashy good looking armor sets or weapons sets are found as skins/oufits in the gem store and in the game the amount of actually good looking armors are really small compared to the outfits of gem store ! Now what I hate the most is that there are actually some armors without using any gems but you have to either sit down and grind for hours just to get 1 piece of the armor ! Also most of the times if you want a good looking armor you have to follow this way because there are no good looking drops for armors .

Going to the other point, the amount of times I've seen a precursor or at least a drop was only 1 time after all those years is like a 0.0% to get it ! Am mentioning the precursors because if you want a good looking weapon in the game you have to go either legendary or skin ...or an actually good exotic that has a rare effect on it !Many people end up buying a skin from the gem store. And as for the precursors you just buy them too from the store.

Also one thing that I really hate is that the game starts to minimize the ways to get gold it almost feels like Anet is forcing people to put money for gold ! Now I know there are a lot of people who know a lot of ways some of them though they are sitting in front of trading post and just flipping up prices ! I am not that type I tried it I got my gold but it wasn't as enjoyable as actually playing the game and getting gold ! I would prefer to have the broken Domain of Istan farm where you could get up to 100g the run but actually play the game ! Now that is a reward !

Last point not that I really care about a mount skin but since PoF came out all of the skins are found in the Gem store ! I would prefer to have all this different looking mounts be part of the game and have a collection ! Not a huge one like the skyscale but a fairly easy collection ! But then again going back to the top it start to feel like the devs are trying to make the game a low key pay to win ! Strong words there but we don't have to hide behind our fingers !

[Daishi.6027]

You don't need any skins to "win" so the notion of P2W is wrong. You can have 0 payed skins and get any of the season 2 legendaries and legendary armor. Beat Raids/frac, run WvW, and Dunk Pvp.

Yes some skins require a large grind or some effort, but that is how the business model is. It's up to you to decide how you are going to use it.

You don't just AFK in towns and get cool stuff.

As for them fixing how money in game is made, they have to control the economy somewhat otherwise a-net can't make a profit and the game dies. You can still make gold pretty easily regardless of their changes.

By the by "what actually looks good" is subjective. I have yet to find anything gemstore or legendary that is better than light male priory pants.

[Janthir.2703]

So, can you explain how this scenario smells like P2W? I wonder if one of the master chefs have some smell enhancing culture left.

There is no "winning" in fashion wars. People have different tastes and won't be able to agree on a single setup being the best. It's just a moot point. Arenanet selling cosmetics is how the game is funded, yet you don't see the guy with the shiny outfit dealing more damage or getting better drops than you just because he bought the outfit.

Comparing precursor drop rates to a gem store weapon skin seems a bit strange as well. Legendaries aren't meant to be easy or quick to acquire, so it makes sense precursors don't drop from every 7th enemy you kill. Some gem store weapons get effects close to a legendary, yes, but they do not come with sigil nor infusion slots, let alone stat selection. That would be P2W, what you're arguing isn't.

[Rasimir.6239]

My suggestion to you is to use the forum's search function to find the seventyfivethousand previous threads where people complained the gemstore is pay to win, ANet puts all the nice skins in there, and no worthwhile rewards are available in the game.

You can read all about people's different definitions of "good looking" armor (hint: a lot of people actually prefer the styles available in game and don't like most of the flashy stuff in the store), find a variety of links and comparisons on the actual number of skins hitting the store vs. being available in game, get a ton of background information of the origin of the phrase "pay to win" and how it does or doesn't apply to a store filled with cosmetics and convenience items, background on farming and ANet's stance on it, and much more.

If you feel the game is trying to get you to pay, then take stock on your expectations and wants in this game and determine whether you really only enjoy playing if you get all of the shiny you see. There's nothing pay to win about getting stuff for your own enjoyment, but if rare or expensive stuff is the only thing you enjoy in this game, then maybe it is time to reconsider why you are playing at all.

[XatraZaytrax.2601]

There are some really awesome weapons and armor available for just a little gold or a little effort. The cultural armor doesn't cost that much, especially the teir one and two, and, in my opinion, are sometimes nicer than tier three. There is also the dungeon armor and weapons, which came be mixed and matched to awesome effect. It doesn't take long to get enough Dungeness cash to buy and you make good gold doing dungeons. Also, the profession armor and weapons are really nice and no that costly. If you was free armor for just playing, go to wvw and pick a reward track, which offers unique armor as well as dungeon armor if yi don't like dungeons. True you may have to do a couple to get the pieces you want, but you are earning by playing, and you can get some nice stuff. Like I got some of the stuff from the Bound by Blood release, just by playing wvw -- the emote and the tee and a weapon, plus I earning lots of those pepper things.

On a second note, could you tell me how getting a special skin from the gem store makes you win more? If so, I got gipped on the outfits I bought.

[Offair.2563]

Anet also has bills to pay. And as you mention it yourself, you can always get some gold to convert to gems and basicly nothing is p2w, just showboaty stuff.

[perilisk.1874]

Fashion wars is P2W. Such is life.

[DoRi Silvia.4159]

Have a real good think about it. ANET is still a businessGW2 does not ask for subscription, where and how will they get their money from???If they started to 'give' things away then how will they sustain this game we love to play

Also GW2 is far from P2W, SKINS are not P2WIf GW2 was vertical progression and the TP existed, allowing us to buy the best gears in game with money then it will be P2W

[Ashen.2907]

All of the best looking armor and weapo sets are found in game with the least attractive released in the gem store.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

"And as for the precursors you just buy them too from the store."

There's Precursors in the Gem Store? Who knew??

[Paradoxoglanis.1904]

Most of the new item skins these days are just gem store purchases. Its not really p2w but its definitely a sign of a cash cow mmo.

[AlexxxDelta.1806]

@"Daishi.6027" said:You don't need any skins to "win" so the notion of P2W is wrong. You can have 0 payed skins and get any of the season 2 legendaries and legendary armor. Beat Raids/frac, run WvW, and Dunk Pvp.

Yes some skins require a large grind or some effort, but that is how the business model is. It's up to you to decide how you are going to use it.

You don't just AFK in towns and get cool stuff.

As for them fixing how money in game is made, they have to control the economy somewhat otherwise a-net can't make a profit and the game dies. You can still make gold pretty easily regardless of their changes.

By the by "what actually looks good" is subjective. I have yet to find anything gemstore or legendary that is better than light male priory pants.

Liking a weapon's design or not is subjective. But there are also objective criteria you can judge an item with. Texture and mesh detail, polys, animation quality aren't a matter of taste.

For example, large part of in-game weapons and armor come from the core bundle. But since then, Anet has updated visuals which is why HoT and PoF have higher requirements. That means that any BL set in recent years has some objective qualities that are better than a big chunk of in-game rewards. For many that also means they look better. Others may fall in love with an older set despite not being as sharp, having low poly count etc. That's where subjectivity comes in.

[Voltekka.2375]

You dont actually know what "p2w" is, do you?

[Crab Fear.1624]

It would be pay to win if you could objectively win "fashion wars", but you can't.

[starlinvf.1358]

(looks at post....looks at OP.....looks at room......)

https://i.imgur.com/W0hHe3v.jpg

[Danikat.8537]

I guess I got lucky here, there's very few gem store armour and weapon skins I like enough to actually buy them, so I don't spend much on them. Often even when I'm considering one I find an in-game alternative I like even more. For example I was very tempted to get Caithe's Crystal Bloom Sword when it was released, but I thought it might be a bit weird for my character to have Caithe's sword. That lead to me discovering the Scion's Claw and getting that instead because I actually think it's even more perfect for my character.

A lot of the gem store armour pieces are too 'messy' or too specific to a certain theme for me. I wouldn't rule out using them, but I'd have to have the right character and be sure I was going to use them enough to justify the price. (For example the raven mantle and helm they sold would definitely suit my raven themed norn necromancer, but I don't play that character much so I'm not going to spend 800 gems on skins for him.)

[Infusion.7149]

Apparently cosmetics is "winning" now. Convenience items and cosmetics were the idea of the gemstore in addition to content you didn't log in for (Living Story). If not, they'd be selling expansions again.

[Shadowmoon.7986]

When your endgame is cometics only horizontal progression, then yes the current situation is p2w.

[avey.4201]

Waypoint unlocks, unlimited harvesting tools, unlimited salvage kits, unlimited teleport to friend, gem->gold for legendary are pay to win, but they are a nice convenience, and keep the game running.

[Erasculio.2914]

@AlexxxDelta.1806 said:For example, large part of in-game weapons and armor come from the core bundle. But since then, Anet has updated visuals which is why HoT and PoF have higher requirements. That means that any BL set in recent years has some objective qualities that are better than a big chunk of in-game rewards.

Not to mention how in-game sets are reskins far more often than Gem Store weapons.

For example, during the Living World season 4, as far as full weapon sets are concerned, we got as in-game rewards:

• Astral weapons
• Stellar weapons
• Dragonsblood weapons
• Heroic Dragonsblood weapons
• Weapons of the Scion
• Mist Lord's weapons

But of those, Stellar weapons are just Astral weapons with a bit of particle effects, Heroic Dragonsblood weapons are just Dragonsblood weapons with a few changes, and the Weapons of the Scion are basically the old crafted ascended weapons in a new color and with a subtle particle effect.

Meanwhile, during the same time, we got the following weapon sets through the Gem Store:

• Glacial weapon skins
• Alchemist weapon skins
• Inquest Mark II weapon skins
• Desert King weapon skins
• Equinox weapon skins
• Mad Realm weapon skins
• Orchestral weapon skins
• Defiant Glass weapon skins
• Branded weapon skins
• Bioluminescent weapon skins
• Endless Ocean weapon skins

Guess how many of those were reskins?

[Danikat.8537]

I do find it kind of amusing that it sometimes seems like this forum is split into people who complain that there's too many particle effects, bright lights/colours and other visual noise in this game and they want to be able to tone it down or disable it completely, and people who complain that it's too hard to get enough flashy effects onto their character without spending a lot of money.

It happens in-game too. On the 7th anniversary when a bunch of people were lined up in Lion's Arch using the rock emote 'chair' someone complained that hardly any of them were using any infusions and the ones that were only had 1 each. Apparently if it wasn't for the rocks he'd think they were all new players. I actually thought the variety of styles and themes was interesting, especially knowing these were all people who (ignoring the possiblity of very long breaks) had more than enough time to get their character looking the way they wanted.

[sevenDEADLY.5281]

@Danikat.8537 said:I do find it kind of amusing that it sometimes seems like this forum is split into people who complain that there's too many particle effects, bright lights/colours and other >visual noise in this game and they want to be able to tone it down or disable it completely

This is an extremely small but vocal minority. It's the same group of people trying to make it seem like the whole world has epilepsy when true epilepsy only affects a minute percentage of the population.

[ugrakarma.9416]

Anyone whos want look a radiant sun pays for it, its fair.

[casualkenny.9817]

Know what p2w skins are?

It's when the skin adds stats/dmg/leet effects, such as effectively doubling ur stats or having some uberleet multipliers, and such skins can only be gotten effectively via cash. Its when pvp always factors in eqp stats, so if you didn't use cash (continuously) , you can uninstall the game.

That's the majority of games out there. Now take that term out of your thread title.

[Yamazuki.6073]

I would imagine them selling mostly skins in the gem store is better than what other games sell when they aren't selling skins.This is before taking into account you can just earn gold and then convert them to gems without relying on direct trading with other players like you would in other games.

It's not as if we get rewards based on the appearance of our characters like some Asian games have done, or spending money on different particles provides clear advantages like some skins do for LoL.