Likelihood of GW2 coming to Steam

[battledrone.8315]

@Trise.2865 said:The Old Republic is on Steam because EA has given up on it. Is that what you want? ANet to give up?

they gave up many years before it got on on steam though. when they went F2P.steam gave wildstar a few extra years. and without steam, champions online would prolly had died years ago toothere is a significantly higher chance, that i will try a new mmo , if its on steamPS 202 games on my steam account, how many before i get a pony?

[battledrone.8315]

@TracksOne.2548 said:I dont see the point. Valve takes a hefty chunk of the profits. Id rather arena net get all the money if i chose to buy a skin or something rather than valve taking it.

they are only getting profits from sales, that they are facilitating. if you dont buy through them, then there is no changea big part of coca colas success is due to the fact, that you can buy it EVERYWHERE. i wouldnt be surprised to see wow on steam someday

[maddoctor.2738]

@TracksOne.2548 said:

@Halandir.3609 said:

@TracksOne.2548 said:I dont see the point. Valve takes a hefty chunk of the profits. Id rather arena net get all the money if i chose to buy a skin or something rather than valve taking it.

The point is having an outlet that reaches potential buyers that would not notice or try the game otherwise. I doubt the 30% Valve "tax" is what's keeping Anet away - There are some other overhead and possibly restrictions involved that Anet feels the deal is not worth it.Thinking that people will just go to this site, create an account and download/buy an 8 year old game on a whim (without recommendations)? Not much profit in that illusion :-)Sure - It's not like there is a MMO-shortage on Steam and that might have been one of the factors that made Anet decide against it.(Oh - And for "Hefty chunks of profit": Do you really think Amazon etc. sold GW2 and gem-cards at cost?)

And my point is valave takes too much of the profit. This game doesnt need steam

Valve won't take any kind of profit from Guild Wars 2 though, I'm not sure how is this argument still thrown around. Those that will buy the expansions or gems through Steam are gonna be entirely new customers, so Valve is gonna take a cut out of money Anet doesn't and will never have (until the game is released on Steam). Even if Valve took 99% of sales, Guild Wars 2 would still earn new money that it wouldn't earn otherwise, it's not a cut out of profits, because those "profits" do not exist without the cut. Is taking a cut out of money that don't exist so bad?

As for @TracksOne.2548 argument that you failed to address, you can find here a list of authorized retailers:https://www.guildwars2.com/en/retailers/ that sell the game (expansions) and gem cards. Do you think they take a cut or not? Authorized retailers take a cut as well and somehow that's not a problem.

[Astyrah.4015]

@battledrone.8315 said:

@"Trise.2865" said:The Old Republic is on Steam because EA has given up on it. Is that what you want? ANet to give up?

they gave up many years before it got on on steam though. when they went F2P.steam gave wildstar a few extra years. and without steam, champions online would prolly had died years ago toothere is a significantly higher chance, that i will try a new mmo , if its on steamPS 202 games on my steam account, how many before i get a pony?

btw pso2 recently went to steam too! (initially launched a few months ago for NA via Windows Store) then moved to steam as well! and for anyone thinking if PSO2 is dying, it has a steady playerbase in NA (not dying as of this writing, bringing it to steam brings more players in potentially mostly because windows store sucks) and ofcourse, in it's home country (Japan) it's doing very well probably on par or just a bit below FFXIV

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1056640/Phantasy_Star_Online_2/

and again for arguments about patch/update deployment... FFXIV and SWTOR when launched from steam, launches their native patcher, so you patch/update with the rest of the playerbase like normal -- steam doesn't force games to use their update/package delivery system so games are free to launch another launcher from steam.

[Scyrenus.8512]

I totally agree about the idea of Guild Wars 2 coming to Steam. After all, this is the last game that I have as a non-Steam game after EA brought back everything back to Steam. (I purchased every single Origin game a second time only to have them on Steam,) I even started playing SWTOR because of it, feels far better to play a game through Steam than without it. EA even promised Steam Achievements for SWTOR which will bring in a ton of sales from Achievement hunters. ANet has nothing to loose, it is not like they have to go fully Steam exclusive, they can still sell their non-Steam version, right? Also if they do that, I will most likely spend a ton money on Gems as a thank you and get a ton of my friends invested in this game, same as I did with SWTOR.

[Korval.3751]

Another game doing very well on Steam is Warframe. Not so much in gameplay terms (since it is sci-fi) but in purchasing terms. It has a similar Free-2-Play model coupled with a Buy-To-Play with no subscription fees. Published by Digital Extremes (a smaller studio like Arenanet), it has built up a large following on Steam. It sits at a 91% Very Positive rating based on close to 370,000 Overall Reviews. Like GW2, Warframe offers cosmetic purchases.

[jokke.6239]

Would love or Guild Wars 2 to come on steam, but yes, it's usually not a good sign when MMO's come to steam. They have to give up 30% of their income to steam.But there is a argument to be made that a steam release could be profitable.Most of the failed MMO's coming to steam are not great games to begin with.Guild Wars 2 is pretty popular, and mostly a well received game. And I think it would have a chance to do very well.Being in the top free to play section would probably gain a lot of players.

[jokke.6239]

@Zoid.2568 said:They are working on gamepad support for GW2 and when it's finished they will probably release GW2 on Steam and also next gen consoles.

Oh really? That's nice : DI'm playing the game exclusively on gamepad already (steam controller)And to be honest I think that will be superior to their controller support made for normal controllers.I can't imagine normal controllers ever being good enough for a lot of stuff in the game. Like jumping puzzles, that are also an important part of fractals and so on. You need a lot of turning precision.Also turning camera in general won't feel to good.But I hope i'm wrong : DI'm also curios what they will do about targeted skills. That will be a pain on a normal gamepad.

[Astyrah.4015]

@jokke.6239 said:Would love or Guild Wars 2 to come on steam, but yes, it's usually not a good sign when MMO's come to steam. They have to give up 30% of their income to steam.

retailers like amazon, walmart and gamestop also take a cut at the sales (for gems and expansion sales). that 30% cut suddenly isn't going to apply to all players. it's only going to people who wish to pay via steam wallet for gems and those who purchase expansions from steam, you can very well avoid that by not going through steam's payment methods.. and besides that 30% isn't all going to valve's pockets.. they put effort into software and R&D of things like VR, Steam Link, Proton-Steam Play, and more.

@jokke.6239 said:I can't imagine normal controllers ever being good enough for a lot of stuff in the game. Like jumping puzzles, that are also an important part of fractals and so on. You need a lot of turning precision.Also turning camera in general won't feel to good.

if you ever played FF14, they have a setting called legacy movement, which if used replaces the backpedal bind with a "run to the opposite direction of camera facing"so if for example your camera is facing north and you press ↓ your character would run/walk towards the south instead of walking backwards while facing north like what the default movement scheme is. basically the ↑, →, ↓, ← keys all make you run towards the respective direction much like a console platformer game

if they can implement a movement scheme like that alongside controller support i can imagine it would eliminate or lessen the issues you mention since this type of movement scheme works more naturally with controllers where you don't have a mouse to make more precise camera movements

[PseudoNewb.5468]

@"Astyrah.4015" said:

if you ever played FF14, they have a setting called legacy movement, which if used replaces the backpedal bind with a "run to the opposite direction of camera facing"so if for example your camera is facing north and you press ↓ your character would run/walk towards the south instead of walking backwards while facing north like what the default movement scheme is. basically the ↑, →, ↓, ← keys all make you run towards the respective direction much like a console platformer game

if they can implement a movement scheme like that alongside controller support i can imagine it would eliminate or lessen the issues you mention since this type of movement scheme works more naturally with controllers where you don't have a mouse to make more precise camera movements

Action camera in GW2 allows the character run in all directions independent of the camera. It pretty much allows you to control the character in they way you would expect with a twin stick control style (including wasd + mouse).Some channeled attacks force the character to face whatever the camera is targeting, and this is still enforced in action camera.

But there is an issue with ground targeted pre-casts hindering action camera moment more than if using normal + free camera mode.Ground targeted pre-cast in action camera forces the character to face the camera forward direction even though there is no character facing requirement for ground targeted abilities in the normal camera. If (in action camera) you spin the camera quickly to align your movement and camera forward direction after targeting an ability you can mitigate this effect during the pre-cast.

[Astyrah.4015]

@PseudoNewb.5468 said:@"Astyrah.4015" said:

if you ever played FF14, they have a setting called legacy movement, which if used replaces the backpedal bind with a "run to the opposite direction of camera facing"so if for example your camera is facing north and you press ↓ your character would run/walk towards the south instead of walking backwards while facing north like what the default movement scheme is. basically the ↑, →, ↓, ← keys all make you run towards the respective direction much like a console platformer game

if they can implement a movement scheme like that alongside controller support i can imagine it would eliminate or lessen the issues you mention since this type of movement scheme works more naturally with controllers where you don't have a mouse to make more precise camera movements

Action camera in GW2 allows the character run in all directions independent of the camera. It pretty much allows you to control the character in they way you would expect with a twin stick control style (including wasd + mouse).Some channeled attacks force the character to face whatever the camera is targeting, and this is still enforced in action camera.

But there is an issue with ground targeted pre-casts hindering action camera moment more than if using normal + free camera mode.Ground targeted pre-cast in action camera forces the character to face the camera forward direction even though there is no character facing requirement for ground targeted abilities in the normal camera. If (in action camera) you spin the camera quickly to align your movement and camera forward direction after targeting an ability you can mitigate this effect during the pre-cast.

actually yeah, i forgot this type of movement already exists in gw2 (shows i don't use action camera lol)

[Korval.3751]

@"jokke.6239" said:Would love or Guild Wars 2 to come on Steam, but yes, it's usually not a good sign when MMO's come to Steam.

How is it not a good sign? Are you implying that an MMO that appears on Steam is in a financial struggle? You know that is not true.

They have to give up 30% of their income to Steam.

How does the math work out that Anet loses money from new customers? That's money they would not have otherwise made in the first place.

Adding GW2 to Steam increases its market presence beyond what GW2 has now. The argument I've read from some in this thread saying that there would be an increase in "freeloaders" is foolish. Yes, a Free-2-Play game would attract freebie players, but it would also see a percentage of those turn to purchasing the expansion pack and gems. Even now, the game is like that. Most players play without spending a dime, but a sizeable percentage buy gems. The same will happen with players from Steam.

Also, Steam is a much better platform today then it was in 2012 when GW2 launched. It benefits Arenanet to take advantage of Steam's powerful engine to find and retain new customers.

But there is a argument to be made that a steam release could beprofitable. Most of the failed MMO's coming to Steam are not greatgames to begin with.

A good game is a good game, and GW2 is a great game. It is a solid MMO. All it needs is exposure, and Steam has one of the best built-in marketing engines. It's like Google advertising, and gaming platform all rolled into one. GW2 benefits from constant promotion of its game through various tools like Discoveries, Curators, Intelligent Searches, Recommendations, and more, and Arenanet continues to take in residual income from people coming and going, in addition to their regulars. These make Steam a better platform to promote a game than Google and other marketing channels.

Guild Wars 2 is pretty popular, and mostly a well received game. And I think it would have a chance to do very well.Being in the top free to play section would probably gain a lot of players.

I agree.

[jokke.6239]

@Korval.3751 said:

@jokke.6239 said:Would love or Guild Wars 2 to come on Steam, but yes, it's usually not a good sign when MMO's come to Steam.

How is it not a good sign? Are you implying that an MMO that appears on Steam is in a financial struggle? You know that is not true.

They have to give up 30% of their income to Steam.

How does the math work out that Anet loses money from new customers? That's money they would not have otherwise made in the first place.

Because a pretty big % of the current playerbase would use steam instead. 90% of Guild Wars players are probably steam users as well as most PC players are.And with steam now awarding steam points for purchases made on steam, I don't think a lot of people would go out of their way to make the purchases through the standalone client to support arena net.If it was such a guarenteed success, then ask yourself why it haven't been on steam already since 2012. And why Blizzard and so many others release their games outside of steam.If games can attract a large enough playerbase outside steam, they will always do it, as yes, 30% is a large chunk to give up.

[jokke.6239]

They could ofc require you to make a new account though to play through steam, it would annoy the heck out of me, as I would really love the game on steam, but it would probably be the smartest solution for them.

[jokke.6239]

@Zoid.2568 said:They are working on gamepad support for GW2 and when it's finished they will probably release GW2 on Steam and also next gen consoles.

Do you have any source for this? I have been searching for confirmation, but nothing ..

[jokke.6239]

@Zoid.2568 said:

@Blude.6812 said:

@Zoid.2568 said:They are working on gamepad support for GW2 and when it's finished they will probably release GW2 on Steam and also next gen consoles.

Can you link to Anets Official statement on that please. I could find no evidence, just work-a-rounds by players and lots of 'I want' threads with personal speculation.

A few months ago they had a job application and looked for someone with experience on consoles.

I think I heard that they are working on another game for console somewhere? Think it was in a Wooden Potato video.I hope you're right, but sadly I don't think this is likely.If it will happen it will probably be at the launch of next expansion, and if we will ever see a steam release, it will be then.Crossplay with consoles would be amazing

[battledrone.8315]

@jokke.6239 said:

@Korval.3751 said:

@jokke.6239 said:Would love or Guild Wars 2 to come on Steam, but yes, it's usually not a good sign when MMO's come to Steam.

How is it not a good sign? Are you implying that an MMO that appears on Steam is in a financial struggle? You know that is not true.

They have to give up 30% of their income to Steam.

How does the math work out that Anet loses money from new customers? That's money they would not have otherwise made in the first place.

Because a pretty big % of the current playerbase would use steam instead. 90% of Guild Wars players are probably steam users as well as most PC players are.And with steam now awarding steam points for purchases made on steam, I don't think a lot of people would go out of their way to make the purchases through the standalone client to support arena net.If it was such a guarenteed success, then ask yourself why it haven't been on steam already since 2012. And why Blizzard and so many others release their games outside of steam.If games can attract a large enough playerbase outside steam, they will always do it, as yes, 30% is a large chunk to give up.

70 cents off a dollar is still more than 100% of nothing. and it certainly isnt ncsoft, they have MANY other games on steam.wildstar got a few $$ from me..secret world...warframe...swtor...aion..EVE..the list goes on and on

[Korval.3751]

@jokke.6239 said:

@Korval.3751 said:

@jokke.6239 said:They have to give up 30% of their income to Steam.

How does the math work out that Anet loses money from new customers? That's money they would not have otherwise made in the first place.

Because a pretty big % of the current playerbase would use steam instead. 90% of Guild Wars players are probably steam users as well as most PC players are.

That makes no sense and no cents. I purchase gems every time new LWS content comes out, but there's no guarantee that I'll keep doing it. Arenanet shouldn't take for granted that I'll continue to do so. GW2 is a F2P game that primarily operates on what I like to call "commercialized charity." So yes, right now, they make 100% from expansion and gem purchases. But that comes at the cost of not opening up the game to the booming Steam audience. If I were to transition to making purchases through Steam, Arenanet would still make 70% from me. However, given that Steam has an active monthly user base of over 100 million, even if they lose 30% from each of my transitions, Steam's sheer numbers would more than make up for it. Mathematically speaking Arenanet would simply make more money despite Valve taking a 30% cut.

[Korval.3751]

@jokke.6239 said:They could ofc require you to make a new account though to play through steam, it would annoy the heck out of me, as I would really love the game on steam, but it would probably be the smartest solution for them.

Why would they do that? Steam would launch the same GW2 launcher players use now. Everyone would log into the same game from the same launcher.

[Korval.3751]

@battledrone.8315 said:

@jokke.6239 said:

@Korval.3751 said:

@jokke.6239 said:Would love or Guild Wars 2 to come on Steam, but yes, it's usually not a good sign when MMO's come to Steam.

How is it not a good sign? Are you implying that an MMO that appears on Steam is in a financial struggle? You know that is not true.

They have to give up 30% of their income to Steam.

How does the math work out that Anet loses money from new customers? That's money they would not have otherwise made in the first place.

Because a pretty big % of the current playerbase would use steam instead. 90% of Guild Wars players are probably steam users as well as most PC players are.And with steam now awarding steam points for purchases made on steam, I don't think a lot of people would go out of their way to make the purchases through the standalone client to support arena net.If it was such a guarenteed success, then ask yourself why it haven't been on steam already since 2012. And why Blizzard and so many others release their games outside of steam.If games can attract a large enough playerbase outside steam, they will always do it, as yes, 30% is a large chunk to give up.

70 cents off a dollar is still more than 100% of nothing. and it certainly isnt ncsoft, they have MANY other games on steam.wildstar got a few $$ from me..secret world...warframe...swtor...aion..EVE..the list goes on and on

Precisely. The math behind Arenanet losing money from something they don't have is flawed reasoning. I don't subscribe to GW2 so there's no guarantee that I'll keep buying gems in the store when LWS content releases. The main point of putting the game on Steam is to take advantage of the platform's powerful marketing and social tools. Is it worth 30% per transaction? With an active monthly user base of over 100 million, absolutely. The numbers alone will more than make-up for it. And your right about the other games you mentioned. All of them have a thriving user base. A lot of thanks goes to Steam.

[jokke.6239]

@Korval.3751 said:

@jokke.6239 said:

@Korval.3751 said:

@jokke.6239 said:They have to give up 30% of their income to Steam.

How does the math work out that Anet loses money from new customers? That's money they would not have otherwise made in the first place.

Because a pretty big % of the current playerbase would use steam instead. 90% of Guild Wars players are probably steam users as well as most PC players are.

That makes no sense and no cents. I purchase gems every time new LWS content comes out, but there's no guarantee that I'll keep doing it. Arenanet shouldn't take for granted that I'll continue to do so. GW2 is a F2P game that primarily operates on what I like to call "commercialized charity." So yes, right now, they make 100% from expansion and gem purchases. But that comes at the cost of not opening up the game to the booming Steam audience. If I were to transition to making purchases through Steam, Arenanet would still make 70% from me. However, given that Steam has an active monthly user base of over 100 million, even if they lose 30% from each of my transitions, Steam's sheer numbers would more than make up for it. Mathematically speaking Arenanet would simply make more money despite Valve taking a 30% cut.

It makes perfect sense.I've even said myself earlier that it's a possibility that they will make more money by releasing on steam, but we don't know that for sure.If Anet was sure they would make more money on steam they would release it on steam instantly.

[jokke.6239]

@Korval.3751 said:

@"jokke.6239" said:They could ofc require you to make a new account though to play through steam, it would annoy the heck out of me, as I would really love the game on steam, but it would probably be the smartest solution for them.

Why would they do that? Steam would launch the same GW2 launcher players use now. Everyone would log into the same game from the same launcher.

Why would that happen? Money .. It's not uncommon to happen, since they make more money from old veterans having to stick to the standard client and make purchases there.FFXIV did the same to people who have purchased the game again on steam, then years later, boom. You suddenly can't login on steam with your standalone client account for "security reasons" after they already got your money from the game .. TWICE .. lolAnd after a google search, it's the same with Black Desert Online, you need to create a new account to play on steam.And that was just from googling the other two most popular MMO's on steam (you can use your excisting account in ESO)

[jokke.6239]

@Korval.3751 said:

@battledrone.8315 said:

@jokke.6239 said:

@Korval.3751 said:

@jokke.6239 said:Would love or Guild Wars 2 to come on Steam, but yes, it's usually not a good sign when MMO's come to Steam.

How is it not a good sign? Are you implying that an MMO that appears on Steam is in a financial struggle? You know that is not true.

They have to give up 30% of their income to Steam.

How does the math work out that Anet loses money from new customers? That's money they would not have otherwise made in the first place.

Because a pretty big % of the current playerbase would use steam instead. 90% of Guild Wars players are probably steam users as well as most PC players are.And with steam now awarding steam points for purchases made on steam, I don't think a lot of people would go out of their way to make the purchases through the standalone client to support arena net.If it was such a guarenteed success, then ask yourself why it haven't been on steam already since 2012. And why Blizzard and so many others release their games outside of steam.If games can attract a large enough playerbase outside steam, they will always do it, as yes, 30% is a large chunk to give up.

70 cents off a dollar is still more than 100% of nothing. and it certainly isnt ncsoft, they have MANY other games on steam.wildstar got a few $$ from me..secret world...warframe...swtor...aion..EVE..the list goes on and on

Precisely. The math behind Arenanet losing money from something they don't have is flawed reasoning. I don't subscribe to GW2 so there's no guarantee that I'll keep buying gems in the store when LWS content releases. The main point of putting the game on Steam is to take advantage of the platform's powerful marketing and social tools. Is it worth 30% per transaction? With an active monthly user base of over 100 million, absolutely. The numbers alone will more than make-up for it. And your right about the other games you mentioned. All of them have a thriving user base. A lot of thanks goes to Steam.

Most of the MMORPG market already know about Guild Wars 2. Is there still a potential for huge gains? Yes! But it's not a guarentee.Why are you completely ignoring the fact that they will lose a lot of money from people switcing to steam client? (If no restriction on old accounts)

[Astyrah.4015]

@jokke.6239 said:

@Korval.3751 said:

@jokke.6239 said:They could ofc require you to make a new account though to play through steam, it would annoy the heck out of me, as I would really love the game on steam, but it would probably be the smartest solution for them.

Why would they do that? Steam would launch the same GW2 launcher players use now. Everyone would log into the same game from the same launcher.

Why would that happen? Money .. It's not uncommon to happen, since they make more money from old veterans having to stick to the standard client and make purchases there.FFXIV did the same to people who have purchased the game again on steam, then years later, boom. You suddenly can't login on steam with your standalone client account for "security reasons" after they already got your money from the game .. TWICE .. lolAnd after a google search, it's the same with Black Desert Online, you need to create a new account to play on steam.And that was just from googling the other two most popular MMO's on steam (you can use your excisting account in ESO)

for SWTOR you can link your account (and in the future unlink it).

though not an MMORPG, Path of Exile allows you to link and unlink your steam account, and even use your steam account on the non-steam client if you register an email and password to it.

it's the same for warframe, you can use your non-steam account on the steam client. there's no real need to link the account, just simply login to Warframe Steam and you get all the steam goodies and perks even if you made your account from the website/playing from outside of steam before.

so it's always not the case, and those three are popular on steam as well right now

@jokke.6239 said:Most of the MMORPG market already know about Guild Wars 2. Is there still a potential for huge gains? Yes! But it's not a guarentee.Why are you completely ignoring the fact that they will lose a lot of money from people switcing to steam client? (If no restriction on old accounts)

there's still people (take note: i didnt say everyone, or majority, etc.) who are unaware of GW2 due to really bad marketing effort by Anet

just read this thread and it's comments: https://old.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/i305im/saw_this_game_om_summits_stream_yesterday_got/

and besides, while we do get new players here in gw2 who are first time MMORPG players - they probably found about gw2 via other sources (googling, friends, reddit or streamers). imagine how much more we could get if it was on steam (where mmorpgs only take a small chunk of the their million player userbase - people who don't play mmorpgs but might give a new game a try, even if it's an MMO... just because there's a new free game on their front page/store landing) -> this is what happened with SW:TOR and it's currently varying positions on par with/just a small bit below FF14's player count in steam's player count lists https://steamdb.info/graph/

also i'll repeat one more reason to go with steam: people who aren't from NA/EU who don't have access to credit cards or a reputable/reliable dealer for gems or expansions, would have to resort to third party sellers who may either overprice the expansions/gemcodes (when converted to their local currency) or may even sell illegal keys/codes (initially bought with stolen credit cards) that may get you banned.

with steam they will get a reliable payment method and storefront that they can easily access without owning a credit card or a paypal account. steam sells steam wallet code in a local currency format in a lot of countries, and also offers alternative payment options such as convenience store payment, prepaid card payment, etc. depending on your account's country. -> this will also enable current players who wish to spend money on the gemstore but couldn't right now because it was overpriced/unable to in their country.

[jokke.6239]

@Astyrah.4015 said:

@jokke.6239 said:

@Korval.3751 said:

@jokke.6239 said:They could ofc require you to make a new account though to play through steam, it would annoy the heck out of me, as I would really love the game on steam, but it would probably be the smartest solution for them.

Why would they do that? Steam would launch the same GW2 launcher players use now. Everyone would log into the same game from the same launcher.

Why would that happen? Money .. It's not uncommon to happen, since they make more money from old veterans having to stick to the standard client and make purchases there.FFXIV did the same to people who have purchased the game again on steam, then years later, boom. You suddenly can't login on steam with your standalone client account for "security reasons" after they already got your money from the game .. TWICE .. lolAnd after a google search, it's the same with Black Desert Online, you need to create a new account to play on steam.And that was just from googling the other two most popular MMO's on steam (you can use your excisting account in ESO)

for SWTOR you can link your account (and in the future unlink it).

though not an MMORPG, Path of Exile allows you to link and unlink your steam account, and even use your steam account on the non-steam client if you register an email and password to it.

it's the same for warframe, you can use your non-steam account on the steam client. there's no real need to link the account, just simply login to Warframe Steam and you get all the steam goodies and perks even if you made your account from the website/playing from outside of steam before.

so it's always not the case, and those three are popular on steam as well right now

@jokke.6239 said:Most of the MMORPG market already know about Guild Wars 2. Is there still a potential for huge gains? Yes! But it's not a guarentee.Why are you completely ignoring the fact that they will lose a lot of money from people switcing to steam client? (If no restriction on old accounts)

there's still people (take note: i didnt say everyone, or majority, etc.) who are unaware of GW2 due to really bad marketing effort by Anet

just read this thread and it's comments:

https://old.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/i305im/saw_this_game_om_summits_stream_yesterday_got/

and besides, while we do get new players here in gw2 who are first time MMORPG players - they probably found about gw2 via other sources (googling, friends, reddit or streamers). imagine how much more we could get if it was on steam (where mmorpgs only take a small chunk of the their million player userbase - people who don't play mmorpgs but might give a new game a try, even if it's an MMO... just because there's a new free game on their front page/store landing) -> this is what happened with SW:TOR and it's currently varying positions on par with/just a small bit below FF14's player count in steam's player count lists

https://steamdb.info/graph/

also i'll repeat one more reason to go with steam: people who aren't from NA/EU who don't have access to credit cards or a reputable/reliable dealer for gems or expansions, would have to resort to third party sellers who may either overprice the expansions/gemcodes (when converted to their local currency) or may even sell illegal keys/codes (initially bought with stolen credit cards) that may get you banned.

with steam they will get a reliable payment method and storefront that they can easily access without owning a credit card or a paypal account. steam sells steam wallet code in a local currency format in a lot of countries, and also offers alternative payment options such as convenience store payment, prepaid card payment, etc. depending on your account's country. -> this will also enable current players who wish to spend money on the gemstore but couldn't right now because it was overpriced/unable to in their country.

I never said that it always happens?I said that it does happen, and that it would probably make sense for Arena Net if they did do it, even though I would hate it if they did.Also Path of Exile have been on steam since release (except for beta). And by the looks of it, the excact same thing is true for Warframe. So not really a relevant comparison

I've never argued that steam release couldn't be a good decision, just that there's no guarentee, and that Arena Net are in a much better position to make that call than we are. Since they haven't released on steam yet after 8 years, and if they won't it probably means that it would most likely be a big blow to lose 30% from a lot of their whales.