Is Guild Wars 2 really free to play? I am not quite sure why people call trial games free to play..

Andel_Skaar

 Guild Wars 2 on reddit is often described as prolonged trial, just with no level cap:

"Giving people something to do for free is fair. Expecting it to make them equal to people who support the game is a bit silly. Guild Wars 2 isn't a charity. The reason a free to play game is offered is to encourage people to upgrade to become paying customers. If you're not one of those people, it's unlikely things will be done to make your stay more comfortable."

So Guild Wars 2 isnt exactly F2P game, it doesnt have nearly the close model to be called as such, since it is trial based with most important locks pending on buying the actual game or expansion.

Free Guild Wars 2 content is about 80% of content of the entire game, with max lvl, and story content, you can explore more than half of the map, play pvp, and dungeons, fractals, but that 80% or so that you get ,you will not be able to talk with most of the players, nor interact with them.

What you are gimped tho is that:

1. You cant play most of the strongest classes, since they involve "Elite" skills available only to paying customers

2. You dont have any log-in rewards, like "Laurels"

3. You cant have strongest armors, since the resource needed for them are "Laurels" (Even tho strongest armors are only about 5-10% stronger than normal ones, so it is not "much" of a difference)

4.You can not play Raids, nor use Gliding skill

5. You can not use map Chat at all.

6. You can not use Auction /Trade Post at least , not for anything important.

7. You can not send most mail types as well.

8. Also you can not respond to wispers ,most of the time.

9. You might be somewhat limited by Character slots and Bank slots, but that is normal to be purchased via Cash Shop.

10.You are bordered from all content related to gems, with gems being the currency of unlocking most basic of things.

11. You have close to no ways of earning ,nor spending gold ,in any notable way at least.

12.You are blocked from access to almost every kind of future gameplay/map based content released except open world events.

That is from what i noticed, im not entirely sure that is all.

Lets just call GW2 B2p game with Trial option, dont call it F2p ,since it is wrong.

And only by Buying the game with all its perks as many say, makes it one of the best games on the market!

wyldmagik

gw2 f2p is f2p with limitations, it even shows you what the limitations are. So it is f2p with limitations. If anything it would be changed to f2pl, or f2pwl.

Leon1e

Because F2P is all the rage now. Get over it. In a conversation between nerds (typical gamers) F2P has more weight than a trial. 

Another point you miss, trials are limited in time. You are really not limited by time in Gw2, rather you have chopped off features. 

Also most of your bullet point list is unavailable to players with the core game (bought the game when it wasn't free but didnt buy the expack). They don't have access to most of what you listed either. With the exception of the login bonus. 

Distopia

Don't you get the entire original game? I already owned it so i don't really know if that's the case or not.

Dakeru

I wouldn't want the f2p limitations to be any less harsh - I already find enough bots on the maps and I don't want LA to become like the Fleet where you have to expect RMT spam.

Andel_Skaar

Distopia said:

Don't you get the entire original game? I already owned it so i don't really know if that's the case or not.

You get story and level content, but you are cut off from top gear, skills, auction and chat.
So its arguable.

Kopogero

OP F2P games like Path of Exile and Marvel Heroes Online over the years have proven to be far superior than Guild Wars 2 for me, despite all the hype GW2 had prior to its release around here.

It is exactly why until now Marvel Heroes and Path of Exile has succeeded of doing far more than what Guild Wars 2 will ever do which is downloading their clients and playing them on and off through last few years, something I'll never do with GW2

Guild Wars 1 was amazing product and I truly enjoyed it for what it cost, but then again that was in 2005. Arena Net was fortunate to have success with GW2 thanks to GW1, but don't be surprised if we never see Guild Wars 3.

Dakeru

Kopogero said:

OP F2P games like Path of Exile and Marvel Heroes Online over the years have proven to be far superior than Guild Wars 2 for me, despite all the hype GW2 had prior to its release around here.

It is exactly why until now Marvel Heroes and Path of Exile has succeeded of doing far more than what Guild Wars 2 has which is downloading their clients and playing them on and off through last few years.

Diablo type of games "have proven to be far superior" over MMOs.

Also apples have proven to be far superior over pears over the years.

wyldmagik

A13xand37 said:

Distopia said:

Don't you get the entire original game? I already owned it so i don't really know if that's the case or not.

You get story and level content, but you are cut off from top gear, skills, auction and chat.
So its arguable.

not correct. Maybe you bought the game after aug 2015 or something.

feroshus

It's Buy to play, always has been. If some Reddit dork is saying otherwise take it up with them lol I don't really get this thread, is it like a PSA or?

Nanfoodle

F2P is always a lie. You want a game to keep going, support it. F2P players are only good for one thing, when I need to level an alt, there is someone to team with. Beyond that, grow up and support the games worth playing.

Blackhound

A13xand37 said:

Distopia said:

Don't you get the entire original game? I already owned it so i don't really know if that's the case or not.

You get story and level content, but you are cut off from top gear, skills, auction and chat.
So its arguable.

Actually, you're not cut off from top gear or skills. High level gear is crafted by the player or earned through PvP and Fractals of the Mist ("f2p" accounts can do these by the way). The Base Game is free to play, if you want Expansion content like Gliding then you need to buy the Expansion (which was just released a few months ago). The other 3 years of game is pretty much open for a regular ("f2p") account to use.

All non-Expansion zones are available. All non-Expansion dungeons are available. All non-Expansion skills are available. All non-Expansion gear is available.

People who bought the original game and have full, completely unlocked accounts, still need to buy the Expansion for Expansion content like everyone else.

What's the point of this thread? It's misinformed and misleading.

Andel_Skaar

wyldmagik said:

gw2 f2p is f2p with limitations, it even shows you what the limitations are. So it is f2p with limitations. If anything it would be changed to f2pl, or f2pwl.

uuuuuuuuuuummmmm no. Simpy not correct.

"Game demos come in two variations: playable and non-playable (also called a "rolling demo"). Playable demos generally have exactly the same gameplay as the upcoming full game, although game advancement is usually limited to a certain point, and occasionally some advanced features might be disabled. A non-playable demo is essentially the gaming equivalent of a teaser trailer." Wikipedia

Since limitations exist in Guild Wars 2 gameplay related to gear not usable by free to play players, it is a playable demo, aka Trial, which even though is very much generous, content wise,

 cant be called Free to play, free to play marketing of Guild Wars 2 is there to offer you the opportunity to enjoy the game up to the point where you see the great benefits of buying the actual game or expansion.

There are things like Free to Play and B2P, and than there are Hybrids like GW2.

Since most limitations in GW2 you will never be able to unlock by normal gameplay,
it doesnt belong in Free to play category at all.

Still as single-player perspective GW2 offers you free content unparaleled by todays standards.

Andel_Skaar

wyldmagik said:

A13xand37 said:

Distopia said:

Don't you get the entire original game? I already owned it so i don't really know if that's the case or not.

You get story and level content, but you are cut off from top gear, skills, auction and chat.
So its arguable.

not correct. Maybe you bought the game after aug 2015 or something.

If you paid for the core game prior to that yes, you get all of its perks except the expansion (Raiding, new classes, maps, gliding and other).
But the thread is about F2P, not core game/expansion difference.

Rzep

You can download the game and play it for FREE. Playing does not mean completing, it does not mean getting everything. Why people expect to get whole games for completely no money I will never understand. People that work on the game need to be paid. That would be like someone coming to me and asking me to make them a website for free. Why the hell would I ever do that?

Scot

If you have not worked out if you want to pay something by the end of the "trial period" (news to me did not know it had one) you never will.

Blackhound

A13xand37 said:

If you paid for the core game prior to that yes, you get all of its perks except the expansion (Raiding, new classes, maps, gliding and other).
But the thread is about F2P, not core game/expansion difference.

Yeah, F2P accounts have the same access any regular account has to content. If you want to use the Trading Post join a Guild and have a friend who has full TP access do your trading for you. He can receive your items, your gold, whatever you want through the Guild Vault and then he has full ability to mail you proceeds or equipment you needed him to buy.

Anyway, you don't know what you're talking about, I suggest you go check this page before you scare anybody else with this terribly conceived thread.

ET3D

Looks like GW2 may be a good single player MMO for free, but limiting communication (no LFG up to level 30?) means F2P players aren't really part of the game. So I tend to agree that this is more of a trial than other F2P hybrids.

Andel_Skaar

Blackhound said:

A13xand37 said:

Distopia said:

Don't you get the entire original game? I already owned it so i don't really know if that's the case or not.

You get story and level content, but you are cut off from top gear, skills, auction and chat.
So its arguable.

Actually, you're not cut off from top gear or skills. High level gear is crafted by the player or earned through PvP and Fractals of the Mist ("f2p" accounts can do these by the way). The Base Game is free to play, if you want Expansion content like Gliding then you need to buy the Expansion (which was just released a few months ago). The other 3 years of game is pretty much open for a regular ("f2p") account to use.

All non-Expansion zones are available. All non-Expansion dungeons are available. All non-Expansion skills are available. All non-Expansion gear is available.

People who bought the original game and have full, completely unlocked accounts, still need to buy the Expansion for Expansion content like everyone else.

What's the point of this thread? It's misinformed and misleading.

Elite skills - not available to free to play players, so Meta- strongest builds not available as well, its written in the game itself.

The base game is not free to play ,it is cheap when discounts come ,but not free.

Top Ascended Gear requires Laurels, which are gained only by daily login.
Is Ascended Gear from expansion?

Nanfoodle

ET3D said:

Looks like GW2 may be a good single player MMO for free, but limiting communication (no LFG up to level 30?) means F2P players aren't really part of the game. So I tend to agree that this is more of a trial than other F2P hybrids.

Almost all F2P games are giving you just enough to get your lips wet. The restriction are there to get you to want to pay to play. This is nothing new and IMO a good thing. If you like a game and want to to keep going, players need to support it. You can play as much as you like with the restriction but there comes a point you need to grow up and start paying to join any community. 

Blackhound

A13xand37 said:

Is Ascended Gear from expansion?

Nope. There are some new ascended gear pieces in the expansion with unusual stat combinations, but the largest majority of ascended gear is from the rest of the game.

Also, my mistake, it seems free accounts can't add gear to Guild Vaults, so my thought to use a Guildie to do your trading wasn't correct*

The page however says nothing about Skills being locked.

Andel_Skaar

ET3D said:

Looks like GW2 may be a good single player MMO for free, but limiting communication (no LFG up to level 30?) means F2P players aren't really part of the game. So I tend to agree that this is more of a trial than other F2P hybrids.

What people wont understand is that i had more fun playing GW2 as single player than most other online games on the market that are trully F2p.

But at the same time, it is annoying that its marketed as entirely F2P which isnt the case since you must eventually pay ,buy it.

Andel_Skaar

Nanfoodle said:

ET3D said:

Looks like GW2 may be a good single player MMO for free, but limiting communication (no LFG up to level 30?) means F2P players aren't really part of the game. So I tend to agree that this is more of a trial than other F2P hybrids.

Almost all F2P games are giving you just enough to get your lips wet. The restriction are there to get you to want to pay to play. This is nothing new and IMO a good thing. If you like a game and want to to keep going, players need to support it. You can play as much as you like with the restriction but there comes a point you need to grow up and start paying to join any community. 

Gw2 is among top games of most balanced and non-p2w game types on the market.
With true F2P games of today being mostly P2W, exclusion to moba's and few other's.

sschrupp

Are you able to play in the game for 1 second or more for free? Yes? F2P. They don't say they're F2PACFTROYLAGAPAAOPP (free to play all content for the rest of your life and get all perks and advantages of paying players). Just like MMO, F2P is just a vague concept that clumps different types into one easily mentioned framework.

Andel_Skaar

Blackhound said:

A13xand37 said:

Is Ascended Gear from expansion?

Nope. There are some new ascended gear pieces in the expansion with unusual stat combinations, but the largest majority of ascended gear is from the rest of the game.

Also, my mistake, it seems free accounts can't add gear to Guild Vaults, so my thought to use a Guildie to do your trading wasn't correct*

The page however says nothing about Skills being locked.

Yeah ,it felt somewhat wrong for F2P players to be misguided all gear is available to them, and it shouldnt ,but nothing is being said on that matter, so i thought it would be good to mention it to clear things up.

Buy the game, you can have top gear, F2P ,you can have next best thing, and its fair ,but i didnt know that when i started as F2P xD

pingo

A13xand37 said:

Elite skills - not available to free to play players, so Meta- strongest builds not available as well, its written in the game itself.

The base game is not free to play ,it is cheap when discounts come ,but not free.

Top Ascended Gear requires Laurels, which are gained only by daily login.
Is Ascended Gear from expansion?

Elite skills are available to free players. I don't know where you got this from that they aren't. They unlock at lvl 31. You can see the restrictions on F2P here; https://help.guildwars2.com/entries/95982157-Account-types-Free-Core-HoT

Basically more than the entirety of the core GW2 game is available for F2P players. What isn't is related to the expansion (mastery, rev, elite specs)


Ascended gear can be accuired from WvW, crafting, guild missions, fractals, jumping puzzles, dragon chests. All of which is available to F2P players.



100% of the base game is available. every zone, every area, including the newer zones, southsun, drytop and silverwastes. Edge of the Mists too. PvP and regular WvW.
The restrictions to F2P players are related to things that allows exploits- map chat, trading post, character slots and so on. 
That is also why there is no login reward. people could make 30 accounts, get 30 login rewards and then sell the rewards to themselves.

the community would have crucified ArenaNet had they made a F2P structure that allowed spammers and gold sellers to ruin the game by making free accounts. Its a great F2P model GW2 has.