Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
[Column] Guild Wars 2: Is the Gem Store Ruining Guild Wars 2?
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Over the years the MMO genre has gone through some changes, but has mostly stuck to well established norms. ArenaNet wanted to go in a separate direction with Guild Wars 2, going against what we see in MMO game design. One little feature that has become very common in MMOs, did make its way into Guild Wars 2. I'm talking about micro-transactions, which happen in the Black Lion's Gem Store. Does this mean ArenaNet kicked the need of skill to the curb, and embraced pay to win?
Read more of David North's Guild Wars 2: Is the Gem Store Ruining Guild Wars 2?
)
I never understood how the swimming booster could be considered useful.
Comments
As someone who went from WoW to GW2 I can easily say the Gem Store in its current state is easily acceptable and fine. You have Wow which is a monthly fee AND they cut content from game and let you buy for ridiculous amounts. GW2 pumps FREE content out on such a fast pace you easily get your moneys worth.
Azurrel who says gold is hard to get is correct though, and that is intended. It lets gold keep value and not get to stupid amounts like WoW which is easily in the millions. The fact ANY player can get gold and buy items from the cash shop is a extra bonus. You don't NEED any items in there, they are a bonus if you decide you want it, whether that;s with real money or gold.
The stuff they sell in the gem store is not pay to win and that´s for sure.
You can play all you want,enjoy all content in the game & be as competitive as evereone else without expending a single coin BUT i really dislike how all the patches are somehow centered/structured the same way over achievements & gem store.
It doesn´t bother me that much anyway...since it doesn´t have subscription fees.
i agree 100% with that ,the lack of endgame and no trinity didnt help (for me ) , everything is warrior zerged nowadays ~~ , no fun playing some classes because of the perceived UP view of some classes....
At no point in the game did I feel the gem store was important for play so I'd say no, I disagree. They added a grind because everyone whined about having nothing to do, has nothing to do with steering people to the gem store. Just people reading nonsense into the actions of the devs as usual.
QFT.
I think sometimes people miss the obvious, B2P with a cash shop is just F2P with a box price, thats not to say that its wrong, but just a sign that avoiding going the P2P route is not that easy, continued revenue is a necessity for any MMO.
WoW cutting out game content and making you pay for it? Really? Pets and mounts that are few and no better than the hundreds found in game, equals game content to you? Getting that desperate, are we?
If you are that desperate to defend GW2's item shop by erroniously comparing it to WoW's, come back when WoW's item shop lets you pay for resources, perks, boosts, convient fast travel items, content area's etc like GW2's does lol.No. I'd say ANet's tunnel vision on SPvP is what's ruining the game, leading to balance and fun issues across the rest of the game. (Necros, for instance, having their Death Shroud be a mechanic to be avoided, since ANet is too scared to let them heal while in it thanks to how important that extra health pool is in SPvP--even though it's more or less useless in WvW/PvE.)
But any game that takes away rewards that should be earned in game (vanity options or whatever included,) and turns them into a 'How Deep Are Your Pockets?' game, is going to lack in that same drive for people to keep playing as much as other mmos that properly reward players for commitment.
Also, funneling so much development effort into the cash shop is a surefire way to lower the quality of other content. I mean, if ANet has 80% of their armor designers working on cash shop stuff (which, frankly, it seems like it does,) then you only get 1 piece/set of gear that's earnable through gameplay for every 4 pieces that Mr. Trump can come buy for 20 bucks a pop.
The gem store is fine. Their insistence on revolving the entire economy on legendary weapons and allowing players to actually purchase and sell them ruined it for me. Having a global auction house controlled by a select few in the legendary market didn't help things either.
Spending 6 months farming mine legitly while seeing players acquire 2 or 3 in the same time frame really bummed me out. Some were done honestly but i can guarantee most were not. While i understand they gave no advantage numbers wise at the time, legendaries were the only long term goal to work towards in the game.
WoW is more of a Pay to Win than GW2, now that you can buy your way to 90. It would take you years of spamming those gathering swiftness potions to save the same amount of time you save by buying yourself a level 90 in WoW.
To top it off with a bitter cherry -- WoW is a freaking subscription game, yet it has the gall to charge real money for -the best- Pet in the game, the best mounts in the game, and an instant boost to level 90.
I think sometimes people miss the obvious, B2P with a cash shop is just F2P with a box price, thats not to say that its wrong, but just a sign that avoiding going the P2P route is not that easy, continued revenue is a necessity for any MMO.
Well they shot themselves in the foot by not going for an expansion. There would be no big hurry on adding stuff to the cash shop if they just released a $30 expansion every year or so like most assumed they would be doing when they announced B2P.
I don't see it atm in WoW's either...
To be fair, GW2 does have a max level button. It costs even less than WoW, too. You just buy gems, sell them for gold, and buy crafting mats. Then craft your way up to max. It's probably most effective to level up to about 30 and then max two trade skills to get to 70, since you get the same % of level for crafting at higher levels as you do at lower levels.
It probably takes about an hour of following the appropriate crafting leveling guides, with the appropriate resources purchased ahead of time, to level two skills to max (for forty levels.)
You cannot buy the best pet or mount in the game. Try harder...
WoW is a 10 year old game, getting boosted to the latest xpac (90-100) is not "Pay to win" in an endgame based themepark.
The post I quoted stated "after going from WoW to GW2".......the instant 90 stuff isn't even in the game yet.....unless you have a delorian...
That's the part that many players forget, (or disbelieve), MMO's need to keep making money month after month, they are not console games where you pay once and forget about it. (and are those really like that these days with DLC?)
Someone has to pay, just a matter of who. In P2P models, everyone pays, at least some amount. In F2P models there are definite freeloaders and truth is, outside of them being potential paying customers and fodder for those who do, companies really don't want them in their game if they are not really going to be customers.
Back on topic, nothing I've observed in GW2 appears to be pay to win, (not sure there is anything to win in GW2, but that's a different discussion) though the short amount of time I did play (one character to level 15) I clearly was made aware of the cash shop. Not saying it's a bad thing, more of a necessary evil I'd say.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
well 60 dollars gives you a lvl 90 char.
No it doesn't.
I have played since beta weekend 1 and during all that time I bought gems for maby 30 dollars total and now I have "re earned" those money by just farming gold, I'm buying gems for gold now, getting gold nowdays are so easy.
If it's not broken, you are not innovating.
Gemstore is pretty much F2P BUT with a box price on top. Fortunately it isn't THAT bad, but it still has issues such as gambling and the fact the gold has more value in the game and you can buy it really tends to cause some strain.
Box + Cash Shop I feel is what pushes it a bit over the edge, granted then you can look at WoW and claim the same with it charging insane prices for services and mounts.
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
I don't hate much, but I hate Apple© with a passion. If Steve Jobs was alive, I would punch him in the face.