Guild Wars 2

Must I pay real cash on 4,000 gems or can I convert gold for 4,000 gems?

They never specified and I want to know in advance what they meant by purchasing gems just to be clear.

“In early January, you will receive your gift based on gems you purchase and gem codes you redeem between 12:01 AM December 1 and 11:59 PM December 31 PST.”

this means you have to buy the gems.

Yeah that’s what I figured but you can buy gems with gold too which is still purchasing since gold is money as well. Reason I wanted a for sure confirm.

when you are trading gold for gems you are exchanging gold for gems and therefore you are not buying them. THis means that trading gold -> gems will not reward you with the backpack and the mini.