For the people who bought gems (not traded)....

Angier2758

What did you spend it on?

I bought crafting xp bonuses and a couple keys.

(I'm training for a marathon and this is my incentive system.. ie run 12 miles I get 10 dollars in gems; no I don't think its worth it, but I made myself a deal).

 

Gaia_Hunter

I bought 1600 gems during the beta.

I bought a char slot and bank storage.

I also bought another character slot with the leftovers + gems I've traded (I've also bought another bak slot with gems traded).

Not planning on buying gems monthly or anything like that - just every now and then to complement gems traded.

Valkyrior

if i buy a bank slot its for all chars in the account? same for bag slot?

ShakyMo

BANK SPACE

rojoArcueid

i expanded my bank capacity once, bought a couple of Lion keys, one mini pet pack, and unlocked one character slot.

Vesavius

Originally posted by Angier2758

What did you spend it on?

I bought crafting xp bonuses and a couple keys.

(I'm training for a marathon and this is my incentive system.. ie run 12 miles I get 10 dollars in gems; no I don't think its worth it, but I made myself a deal).

 

 

You think those keys were worth it in the end? I haven't actually seen anything much come out of a BL chest yet... Not worth real money anyhow

I bought 800, to be taken out of my self imposed stipend of £10/ month (the same as I would spend on a sub), with which I bought some extra bank space.

I haven't needed anything else really... though I think the game is trying to make me buy currency boosters on the quiet

Angier2758

They really need a "style" or appearance tab for each slot... then those skins would seem cooler.

 

PS- nah the keys weren't worth it... but those chests tend to have xp boosts (and the crafting ones are actually very very good).

Basically stack up mats then go crafting for an hour... you'll get 4 levels + out of it.

If I would have redone it... I'd have just bought in game currency.

Vesavius

Originally posted by Angier2758

They really need a "style" or appearance tab for each slot... then those skins would seem cooler.

 

PS- nah the keys weren't worth it... but those chests tend to have xp boosts (and the crafting ones are actually very very good).

Basically stack up mats then go crafting for an hour... you'll get 4 levels + out of it.

If I would have redone it... I'd have just bought in game currency.

 

Fair comments

lavosslayer

Originally posted by Valkyrior
if i buy a bank slot its for all chars in the account? same for bag slot?

bank slots yes bag slots no

strangepowers

Bagspace, bankslots, and a pirate costume.

Thorbrand

I am training for a marathon myself. Race is Oct 21st.

Gems I have purchased to get my crafting to 400 yes I spent to much on this.

lavosslayer

Originally posted by strangepower

Bagspace, bankslots, and a pirate costume.

bagspace does not expand for all characters just the one you buy it for...know for a fact...only one of my characters has an extra bag slot and I have all five character slots in use

Anubisan

I purchased extra bank slots and a little extra bag space on my main. That is all though... 

maddbomber83

Originally posted by lavosslayer

Originally posted by strangepower

Bagspace, bankslots, and a pirate costume.

bagspace does not expand for all characters just the one you buy it for...know for a fact...only one of my characters has an extra bag slot and I have all five character slots in use

There is a great crafting guide here that has a link to a bag space guide here.

Anyhow, the author breaks down the cost of slots for the various options in game.  In the Gem Store comparrision you end up spending 10 gems / slot for buying a new character vs the 20 gems / slot for buying a new bank tab.

 

Its actually more expensive (assuming 18 slot bags) to buy an additional bag slot vs an additional bank slot.  So if you are expanding inventory, go for a character slot or a bank slot depending on preference and leave the bag slot alone.

 

The Price of Bags

Type of Bag	Total New Slots (Four Bag Slots)	Cost of Four Bags*	Cost / Extra Slot
Starter Backpack	20 slots	Free	Free
8-slot packs	32 slots	2 silver	6 copper / slot
10-slot packs	8 slots	27.76 silver	3.47 silver / slot
12-slot packs	8 slots	61.04 silver	7.38 silver / slot
15-slot packs	12 slots	2.39 gold	17.60  silver / slot
18-slot packs	12 slots	9.61 gold	75 silver / slot
20-slot packs	8 slots	50.38 gold	6 gold / slot

*Assuming 8 slot packs are 50 copper and other packs sell for 1.5 times the cost of the rune

The Price of Gem Store Upgrades

Type of Upgrade	Total New Slots (Four Bag Slots)	Cost in Gems	Gems / Extra Slot
Extra Character Slot	80 slots (15 slot bags)	800 gems	10 gems / slot
Bank Tab Expansion	30 slots	600 gems	20 gems / slot
Extra Bag Slot	18 slots (18 slot bag)	400 gems	22.22  gems / slot

When should you buy gem store upgrades instead of 20-slot bags?

Type of Upgrade	Buy When Gems are Cheaper than This...
Extra Character Slot	100 gems = 57 gold
Bank Tab Expansion	100 gems = 30 gold
Extra Bag Slot	100 gems = 24 gold

maddbomber83

To answer the OP more directly, I spent $50 on 2 accounts for 4k gems each.  I purchased this in Beta and the intention was to buy 4 character slots for each account (3200 gems).

 

Due to the bug with character slots, I ended up getting an extra 3 slots on 1 account and 4 slots on the other.  On one account I purchased an additional bank slot and have not spent any other gems.

 

In a few months I intend to follow what a prior poster is doing and purchase $15ish / month on gems as if this were a subscription game.

 

I also intend to let the gems collect until we have 4k gems in each account, after that we'll most likely spend them on bank expansions and keys.  The thought process is we will keep a reserve of gems on hand to buy expansions / upgrades with.

 

Later in the game we may even sell some gems if our normal game play does not generate enough gold for our normal game play.

Hrimnir

Unfortunately, like most F2P games, GW2 is set up so that yes you can play it without using the cash shop, but there are things that you pretty much need to do to for quality of life reasons.

Things like severely limiting bank space is always a big one they do. 

GeezerGamer

I had a 50 dollar gift card I got 2 days before 8/25, so I created an account and then added 50 bucks. I didn't realize the AH would be down for a week so I didn't use it. I had decided to wait for the game to be running smooth, but my plan was to open all slots and buy bank space and use the rest to buy crafting mats. However, I regret doing this.

Iin the period of time since I added the gems, I have found no reason to spend them. Ive tried enough classes, I've found 1 or 2 that I'll focus on and I don't think I'll be leveling 8 alts. I've figured out how to use my current alts as extra storage so I don't really need more bank space. I've given up on crafting do to the fact that other people's crafted items are dirt cheap compared to what I can sell the unused mats for. So I'll just wait for a paid expansion at this point.  Or maybe I'll blow them all on XP buffs and get myself to 80 so I can fool myself into thinking I didn't waste 50 bucks.

 

DaezAster

Originally posted by Hrimnir

Unfortunately, like most F2P games, GW2 is set up so that yes you can play it without using the cash shop, but there are things that you pretty much need to do to for quality of life reasons.

Things like severely limiting bank space is always a big one they do. 

Not at all. It is extremely easy to convert silver not even gold to gems to acquire all things. In tsw another game I play you have to spend in game currency to expand your inventory and it is no different. I haven't spent a dime in the cash shop and have expanded my bank, got a pack of minipets, and am still sitting on over 700 gems. Some want to support and buy gems, thats cool but it is a fallacy to say they are forcing people to spend money in there cash shop. If anything they have undermind there own cash shop by making it extremely easy to acquire said cash shop items in game.

nastyjman

Bought 800 gems and bought a Chef's outfit. Bank slot will be next on my list once I get paid.

Hrimnir

Originally posted by DaezAster

Originally posted by Hrimnir

Unfortunately, like most F2P games, GW2 is set up so that yes you can play it without using the cash shop, but there are things that you pretty much need to do to for quality of life reasons.

Things like severely limiting bank space is always a big one they do. 

Not at all. It is extremely easy to convert silver not even gold to gems to acquire all things. In tsw another game I play you have to spend in game currency to expand your inventory and it is no different. I haven't spent a dime in the cash shop and have expanded my bank, got a pack of minipets, and am still sitting on over 700 gems. Some want to support and buy gems, thats cool but it is a fallacy to say they are forcing people to spend money in there cash shop. If anything they have undermind there own cash shop by making it extremely easy to acquire said cash shop items in game.

Reality is enough gems to expand your bank space 1 time is 600, thats roughly 1g at current market prices. You would be hard pressed to make 1g by the time your in your late 20's and then only if you dont craft or buy gear or do anything that might be a money sink.

So yes, you still pretty much have to do it unless you want to gimp yourself for half of the leveling process.

 

And in TSW (which my char has 56% wheel completion just FYI) the costs for expansion are DRASTICALLY lower.  Buying another 10 slots costs 10000, you make 10000 within your first 3 or 4 quests.  Before i even reached QL5/6 gear i had already expanded my normal inventory to over 90 slots and my bank to over 200

 

And nobody said anything about forcing.  Re read my post.  I said "pretty much have to for quality of life reasons"  That doesnt mean force, it just means its going to be extremely annoying without doing it

jondifool

Originally posted by Hrimnir

Unfortunately, like most F2P games, GW2 is set up so that yes you can play it without using the cash shop, but there are things that you pretty much need to do to for quality of life reasons.

Things like severely limiting bank space is always a big one they do. 

Fortunatly it doesn't take more than a session for a max lvl character to make gold enough for trading gems enough for another bank space atm. 

DaezAster

Originally posted by Hrimnir

Originally posted by DaezAster

Originally posted by Hrimnir

Unfortunately, like most F2P games, GW2 is set up so that yes you can play it without using the cash shop, but there are things that you pretty much need to do to for quality of life reasons.

Things like severely limiting bank space is always a big one they do. 

Not at all. It is extremely easy to convert silver not even gold to gems to acquire all things. In tsw another game I play you have to spend in game currency to expand your inventory and it is no different. I haven't spent a dime in the cash shop and have expanded my bank, got a pack of minipets, and am still sitting on over 700 gems. Some want to support and buy gems, thats cool but it is a fallacy to say they are forcing people to spend money in there cash shop. If anything they have undermind there own cash shop by making it extremely easy to acquire said cash shop items in game.

Reality is enough gems to expand your bank space 1 time is 600, thats roughly 1g at current market prices. You would be hard pressed to make 1g by the time your in your late 20's and then only if you dont craft or buy gear or do anything that might be a money sink.

So yes, you still pretty much have to do it unless you want to gimp yourself for half of the leveling process.

 

And in TSW (which my char has 56% wheel completion just FYI) the costs for expansion are DRASTICALLY lower.  Buying another 10 slots costs 10000, you make 10000 within your first 3 or 4 quests.  Before i even reached QL5/6 gear i had already expanded my normal inventory to over 90 slots and my bank to over 200

 

And nobody said anything about forcing.  Re read my post.  I said "pretty much have to for quality of life reasons"  That doesnt mean force, it just means its going to be extremely annoying without doing it

Once again "gimp yourself for half the leveling process" and 'need to, have to' makes it sound worse then it is. I'm not even half way through leveling any charcter and I have already earned enough gems to expand my bank twice over and then some. If folks are going to waste all there coin on early items they will outlevel quikly thats there choice but anyone who plays smart will go for bank imo. You started your statement by comparing it to f2p games which is another tactic to create a negative feelng towards the cash shop. How many ftp games allow you to earn there cash shop items easily in game?

Elikal

1 extra char slot

1 extra bag slot, alas it was only for 1 char

2 sunglasses ^^

2 x colours hoping it would contain black, but didn't

Creslin321

Bankspace, character slot, like everyone else lol .

Rokurgepta

Originally posted by Hrimnir

Originally posted by DaezAster

Originally posted by Hrimnir

Unfortunately, like most F2P games, GW2 is set up so that yes you can play it without using the cash shop, but there are things that you pretty much need to do to for quality of life reasons.

Things like severely limiting bank space is always a big one they do. 

Not at all. It is extremely easy to convert silver not even gold to gems to acquire all things. In tsw another game I play you have to spend in game currency to expand your inventory and it is no different. I haven't spent a dime in the cash shop and have expanded my bank, got a pack of minipets, and am still sitting on over 700 gems. Some want to support and buy gems, thats cool but it is a fallacy to say they are forcing people to spend money in there cash shop. If anything they have undermind there own cash shop by making it extremely easy to acquire said cash shop items in game.

Reality is enough gems to expand your bank space 1 time is 600, thats roughly 1g at current market prices. You would be hard pressed to make 1g by the time your in your late 20's and then only if you dont craft or buy gear or do anything that might be a money sink.

So yes, you still pretty much have to do it unless you want to gimp yourself for half of the leveling process.

 

And in TSW (which my char has 56% wheel completion just FYI) the costs for expansion are DRASTICALLY lower.  Buying another 10 slots costs 10000, you make 10000 within your first 3 or 4 quests.  Before i even reached QL5/6 gear i had already expanded my normal inventory to over 90 slots and my bank to over 200

 

And nobody said anything about forcing.  Re read my post.  I said "pretty much have to for quality of life reasons"  That doesnt mean force, it just means its going to be extremely annoying without doing it

 I have three characters between level 20 and 32 right now. Between them they have roughly 6 gold. I stopped crafting and started selling all my materials. But I buy gear all the time. I am a gear addict. I upgrade gear every couple of levels. So while I save on crafting I do buy gear on the AH pretty much every day.

Ice-Queen

Character slots, bag slots, bank slots, dyes(lots of dyes), keys, boosts, (trading gems for gold) ..... for 4 people, myself, hubby, son, and my mom. Spent hundreds of dollars so far, lol. I haven't spent any rl money this week though. Think we're done with buying stuff until there's something worth getting on the shop again.