Guild Wars 2

The AH now features a rather large and obnoxiously-located “GET MORE GOLD” button, which is of course, intended to lure people into buying more gems.

I don’t really have a problem with microtransactions in general however I do have a problem with a giant “PAY TO WIN” button eating up a large chunk of the most valuable screen real estate in the auction UI.

Moneygrabbing should not trump good UX design.

Could be worse. Could say ‘Get more gold, my lord.’

Actually, it takes you to the exchange section, where you can exchange your gems for gold, or your gold for gems. And “pay to win” doesn’t mean what you seem to think it means.

Giant button? You using an 8 foot monitor?

Its a tiny little strip below your gold. It’s not a webpage banner. It takes you to the place to trade in gems just like it used to. It’s the old gem exchange.

People will complain about anything.

I haven’t even noticed this button yet despite hearing about it, so it must not be that giant and that obnoxious as everyone makes it sound.

Does the same thing as moving your mouse left a bit and click on the Gem Exchange tab. Nothing more. Doesn’t even put you on the Gem to Gold side of the exchange. But like the Tuesday Evon blog posts that for a short time talked about exchanging gems for gold, it is a use for purchased gems that hadn’t been pushed by ANet until the price became “attractive”.

ANet would also like to get a slice of the cash for gold trading that happens in every MMO ever. Also if players use this then the gold for gem prices drops for the gem shop for “free” users.

There are people who don’t know that you can trade gems for gold. Gold seller prey on this ignorance. This button being there is a good thing.

Nokaru.7831:

There are people who don’t know that you can trade gems for gold. Gold seller prey on this ignorance. This button being there is a good thing.

Your basically doing the same thing, buying gold instead of earning it.

If we’re going to start making complaints like this then I"m just gonna throw out there that the new font on the launcher is obnoxious, giant, pay to win, click to play, and all sorts of other clearly derogatory things.

gryph.8734:

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Templar.3418:

Hard to make money in game by design…things are expensive.

Buy gold button.

Hmmmmm….

I understand a business needs to make money but how you go about your business is just as important. This method is BS and not worth it with the current state of the game.

It’s almost offensive that they don’t even try to be subtle about it.

kitten you whoever is making these decisions.

There is no ‘Buy Gold or Buy More Gold’ button. On the other hand, there is a shortcut to the Gold/Gem exchange page.

Trying to present the function inaccurately to make it appear more inflammatory and being rude to the Devs surely won’t further your case.

The button says “Get more gold.” And it takes you to the exact same gold/gem exchange that has existed since before I started playing. Man-alive, someone needs their Xanax!

I don’t think you read what Inculpatus wrote beyond the first line. Maybe you should get some glasses and stop assuming that everyone here wants to get into battles with you.

Kobi Beef.3895:

Nokaru.7831:

There are people who don’t know that you can trade gems for gold. Gold seller prey on this ignorance. This button being there is a good thing.

Your basically doing the same thing, buying gold instead of earning it.

…but the exchange fluctuates the cost either way so as to be less disruptive to the game’s economy. Having the option to do this is actually one of the things I like about GW2 even though I’ve only used it quite sparingly.

Kobi Beef.3895:

Nokaru.7831:

There are people who don’t know that you can trade gems for gold. Gold seller prey on this ignorance. This button being there is a good thing.

Your basically doing the same thing, buying gold instead of earning it.

Hopefully though ANet won’t hack your account, steal your stuff and use your account to advertise for their gem store after you buy from them.

A small difference true, but it’s the small things that can be important.

I also feel that it’s not very noticeable. In fact, I never notice it unless I want to check the exchange rate.

Hybrid.7059:

If we’re going to start making complaints like this then I"m just gonna throw out there that the new font on the launcher is obnoxious, giant, pay to win, click to play, and all sorts of other clearly derogatory things.

The new font stole my doritos and ate them. I think it had a mustache too and was twirling it. Dastardly thing.

Guhracie.3419:

Actually, it takes you to the exchange section, where you can exchange your gems for gold, or your gold for gems. And “pay to win” doesn’t mean what you seem to think it means.

Pay to win, is, and always meant: BUYING POWER.
It’s always meant that. It NEVER exclusively meant a single Weapon or Item that no one else could ever earn from playing the game normally and could only be gained with real money. That red herring argument was created by game marketers themselves as a defense for every other variation of BUYING POWER. Don’t recite it here. It’s a fabrication.

ilr.9675:

Guhracie.3419:

Actually, it takes you to the exchange section, where you can exchange your gems for gold, or your gold for gems. And “pay to win” doesn’t mean what you seem to think it means.

Pay to win, is, and always meant: BUYING POWER.
It’s always meant that. It NEVER exclusively meant a single Weapon or Item that no one else could ever earn from playing the game normally and could only be gained with real money. That red herring argument was created by game marketers themselves as a defense for every other variation of BUYING POWER. Don’t recite it here. It’s a fabrication.

I’ve played pay-to-win games, and I know what they are. You’re stating that any game with any sort of in-game cash shop is pay-to-win, and that is dishonest.

Who seriously cares? Some people would rather spend not even a day or two of pay rather than spend weeks of farming just to say they got something for free. Which in reality you just wasted weeks of your time.

And it’s not pay to win because there is nothing to win in this game. All the rewards are cosmetic.

Guhracie.3419:

ilr.9675:

Guhracie.3419:

Actually, it takes you to the exchange section, where you can exchange your gems for gold, or your gold for gems. And “pay to win” doesn’t mean what you seem to think it means.

Pay to win, is, and always meant: BUYING POWER.
It’s always meant that. It NEVER exclusively meant a single Weapon or Item that no one else could ever earn from playing the game normally and could only be gained with real money. That red herring argument was created by game marketers themselves as a defense for every other variation of BUYING POWER. Don’t recite it here. It’s a fabrication.

I’ve played pay-to-win games, and I know what they are. You’re stating that any game with any sort of in-game cash shop is pay-to-win, and that is dishonest.

No I’m not, and don’t put words in my mouth please. Want examples? Most of Valve’s official games for starters, esp the ones that end in a ‘2’

BlackGhostz.2483:

Who seriously cares? Some people would rather spend not even a day or two of pay rather than spend weeks of farming just to say they got something for free. Which in reality you just wasted weeks of your time.

And it’s not pay to win because there is nothing to win in this game. All the rewards are cosmetic.

I kind of have to zap you on that one, BG. Not entirely true, though it is for the most part. Some gem store items are quite functional, such as the permanent gathering tools, the copper- and silver-fed salvage-o-matics, and the items that allow you to change your character’s name and appearance. Anyhow, it can not be stressed enough, if you save up enough gems by purchasing them with in-game gold, you can theoretically get anything from the gem shop without spending a single penny of real money.

I don’t really find it that obnoxious. If anything it’s just redundant.

ilr.9675:

Guhracie.3419:

Actually, it takes you to the exchange section, where you can exchange your gems for gold, or your gold for gems. And “pay to win” doesn’t mean what you seem to think it means.

Pay to win, is, and always meant: BUYING POWER.
It’s always meant that. It NEVER exclusively meant a single Weapon or Item that no one else could ever earn from playing the game normally and could only be gained with real money. That red herring argument was created by game marketers themselves as a defense for every other variation of BUYING POWER. Don’t recite it here. It’s a fabrication.

Well not exclusively, no. In the conversations I’ve had with other gamers, Pay-to-Win is usually applied to a “thing” (an item, an unlock, etc.) that fills a couple of key criteria:
1) Can only be acquired with real money or is absurdly difficult to acquire without real money.
2) Is essential for some facet of gameplay and/or gives a significant advantage, such as a damage powerup of sorts.

To me, that’s what Pay-to-Win really is. In its simplest form, it is something that literally gives you a better chance of “winning” some form of gameplay if you pay.

Guhracie.3419:

Actually, it takes you to the exchange section, where you can exchange your gems for gold, or your gold for gems. And “pay to win” doesn’t mean what you seem to think it means.

So long as Sigils/Runes are bought with gold in an ever inflating AH, and gear doesn’t have the option to be elastic, yeah I’d say he has a point about the P2W. If they want this game to have an easy system of switching builds they’ll need to remove certain aspects from the gold market, like traits for example. They DO have another currency, it’s called Karma and many people have pointed out that there simply aren’t enough sinks for Karma. They could easily make Karma the key currency for progression 100% eliminating the need to buy gems for gold for the use of buying traits and seting up gear or changing gear because of a balance patch nerf.

tigirius.9014:

Guhracie.3419:

Actually, it takes you to the exchange section, where you can exchange your gems for gold, or your gold for gems. And “pay to win” doesn’t mean what you seem to think it means.

So long as Sigils/Runes are bought with gold in an ever inflating AH, and gear doesn’t have the option to be elastic, yeah I’d say he has a point about the P2W. If they want this game to have an easy system of switching builds they’ll need to remove certain aspects from the gold market, like traits for example. They DO have another currency, it’s called Karma and many people have pointed out that there simply aren’t enough sinks for Karma. They could easily make Karma the key currency for progression 100% eliminating the need to buy gems for gold for the use of buying traits and seting up gear or changing gear because of a balance patch nerf.

Sounds good, except for the fact that without a way to trade gems for gold and vice versa, you will almost certainly see a gigantic uptick in illicit gold selling and the account hacking/theft that goes along with it.

ilr.9675:

Guhracie.3419:

ilr.9675:

Guhracie.3419:

Actually, it takes you to the exchange section, where you can exchange your gems for gold, or your gold for gems. And “pay to win” doesn’t mean what you seem to think it means.

Pay to win, is, and always meant: BUYING POWER.
It’s always meant that. It NEVER exclusively meant a single Weapon or Item that no one else could ever earn from playing the game normally and could only be gained with real money. That red herring argument was created by game marketers themselves as a defense for every other variation of BUYING POWER. Don’t recite it here. It’s a fabrication.

I’ve played pay-to-win games, and I know what they are. You’re stating that any game with any sort of in-game cash shop is pay-to-win, and that is dishonest.

No I’m not, and don’t put words in my mouth please. Want examples? Most of Valve’s official games for starters, esp the ones that end in a ‘2’

Explain what you mean by “buying power” first, and then we’ll talk.

I have my issues with the new TP, but this is not one of them. While I would personally prefer it gone, I would also prefer to watch TV without commercials, but I understand that they fund the shows I like, so I tolerate them. Same thing here.

Now, as to those saying this game isn’t “pay to win,” that’s a bit silly, of course it is. Most of the high value objects in the game can be bought with gold, anything that can be bought with gold can be bought with US Dollars, and while you can’t do everything with money alone, someone faucetting cash into the exchange can get a massive leg up on those that don’t, which is pretty much the definition of “pay to win” in MMOs. Make peace with that, or not, but don’t make fools of yourselves by trying to deny it.

Ohoni.6057:

I have my issues with the new TP, but this is not one of them. While I would personally prefer it gone, I would also prefer to watch TV without commercials, but I understand that they fund the shows I like, so I tolerate them. Same thing here.

Now, as to those saying this game isn’t “pay to win,” that’s a bit silly, of course it is. Most of the high value objects in the game can be bought with gold, anything that can be bought with gold can be bought with US Dollars, and while you can’t do everything with money alone, someone faucetting cash into the exchange can get a massive leg up on those that don’t, which is pretty much the definition of “pay to win” in MMOs. Make peace with that, or not, but don’t make fools of yourselves by trying to deny it.

I would disagree because the opposite is true. Anything that can be bought with gems can also be bought with gold. This means that the playing field is level for everyone playing. The only difference is if players perceive their time or money being more valuable. Sure someone could convert $800 worth of gems into gold and get a lot of shinies instantly but that won’t make them better at pvp, wvw or pve. In my opinion, the most controversial item they could buy is a legendary and the only true advantage it has is being able to switch stats outside of combat.

Plus you have to understand where the items they are buying are coming from. Any weapon, armor, accessory or food buff that you buy off of the trading post was placed there by a player that used an in-game means of acquiring or creating it. Boiled down to its essence, anyone paying real money for these things are paying the player they bought them from and Anet just takes their cut, first from the money conversion and then from the trading post fees.

Skins don’t give an advantage either. The ones bought directly from the gem store fall into the same category as anything bought from the TP. As for the ones in black lion chests, that’s an RNG issue. Buying keys in bulk as opposed to farming them will not increase your chances of getting a ticket. In fact, I feel the chances of getting a ticket, ticket scrap or anything I personally want are so low that it’s foolish to spend real money on them. The TP value of black lion’s chest shows how much “value” the collective player base gives them and it certainly doesn’t match the value Anet assigns to keys.

Now if you want to rage about RNG, just tell me when and where. I’ll gladly join you.

Getting back on topic, the only “advantage” that’s limited almost exclusively to the gem store are boosters. I just went down the list of them and found that any that would give you a distinct (or really any) advantage over other players gets disabled if you enter pvp. In wvw, food buffs will do the same, if not better, than the boosters and they cost a lot less. Even the primers aren’t worth their costs because simply consuming the same food buffs to match the same duration, and even allowing a few minutes of overlap, is still cheaper in the long run. The only thing it truly gives is a “set it and forget it” convenience, which I feel is the perfect quality for a gemstore item to have.

All that being said, if you can actually name something in the gemstore that gives a distinct advantage over other players AND is more reasonable to buy with real money than gold farm for, I would love to hear it. I’m being completely honest. I prefer to lose an insightful debate than win a flame war.

I don’t like it but I wouldn’t make such a big deal about it to post here.

I see it as a reminder that I’m poor, and that ANet has a Randian view of players who don’t have much gold.

I don’t mind it, would never click it but I find it funny.

people complained about gold → gem price being too high, they add a giant button that encourages people to lower that price by the only way it can possibly be lowered (converting gems into gold), and people complain. This happens too often. Just think of it as Evon’s sidebar ads.
is this button also there on players that have no gems? seems like it shouldn’t, but then that would be a dissuasion to buying gems in the first place as it would sorta punish you. Maybe have “Get More Gems” that links to the buying gems with money page when the player doesn’t have any gems? I know this suggestion would get nothing but hate on this topic, but it seems better than the current: “You COULD be getting more gold if ONLY you had gems, which you don’t, so haha”

I like it.

It hopefully combats the high gem price, and it make the game more honest about the pay-to-win qualities of the game.

I’m in favor of anything that cuts into the demand for gold sellers (since lower demand means less gold sellers which means less gold seller spam which means less things I have to report).

I guess they could have used other wording, but short of GOLD EXCHANGE (that is not very descriptive of what it does) all other options seem just as “obnoxious”…..

Eh, I mostly just thought it was tasteless. There are bigger issues with the new TP UI than that.

I would disagree because the opposite is true. Anything that can be bought with gems can also be bought with gold. This means that the playing field is level for everyone playing.

No, that’s nonsense. Start the game from scratch, fresh account. Start with zero gems. How long would it take you to make a level 80 character with full exotics? It took me a couple months, maybe with my knowledge now I could manage it in half the time or less, but still. Now, put an infinite amount of gems in, and spend them freely. Buy enough mats to craft to 80, buy exotics off the TP, how long would it take you to fully outfit a level 80, an hour? Less? Even if we consider full ascended to be the endgoal, ascended weapons can be bought with gems, and the major portion of getting ascended armor is the gold needed to make them, the other components could be gathered in less than half the time it would take an “honest” account to level from 0-80.

Having to pay to win is not the definition of pay to win, being _able_to pay to win is the definition.

Now again, I’ve made peace with that, it’s still a fun game regardless, but let’s not sugar coat it.

Plus you have to understand where the items they are buying are coming from. Any weapon, armor, accessory or food buff that you buy off of the trading post was placed there by a player that used an in-game means of acquiring or creating it. Boiled down to its essence, anyone paying real money for these things are paying the player they bought them from and Anet just takes their cut, first from the money conversion and then from the trading post fees.

Sure, but that doesn’t do anything to change the fact that the player who’s buying those things with cash IS paying to win.

Skins don’t give an advantage either.

Sure they do. They make you have that skin, while people who do not have that skin do not have it. You are better than them. Sure, it’s in a way that is a bit subjective, but not that much more subjective than having marginally better stats. Yo cannot judge “winning” purely by whether the character is stronger, but by whether the player is getting what he wants out of the game. Maybe for some people that’s being at the top of the PvP ladder, maybe for others it’s having a cool sword that’s on fire.

Keep in mind that many players do not PvP at all, so PvP competitiveness is not the sole definition of “winning.” For most players, “winning” is simply performing as well or better than the other PvEers around them.

That line of text is a button? I thought it was encouragement. I’ve always used the TP to get more gold, I think it’s nice that the game is cheering me on.

“Get more gold” you say? Yes sirs, I believe I will!

If this is the price you pay for freeness elsewhere, it’s comparatively tasteful and small. I’m very happy with this button and I wish to express my gratitude to Anet for keeping it classy.

Let me give you a real example of Pay to win.
Because Guild Wars 2 is the furthest thing from pay to win on the market.

It’s a Little 11 year old MMO called Conquer Online.
I played it for about 5 years, and in that time, watched it grow into a complete money hoard, and the company in charge of it could give less than a kitten about their playerbase, as they were catering to people whom would open their wallets.

In this game, your gear has 5 quality levels, Normal, refined, unique, elite, and super. each piece, if you’re lucky enough, or have a large enough wallet, can have 2 gem sockets. You can add bonus stats to your gear in the form of plussing it. I.e Lucky bow +1. Super Saint Armor +5, and so on up to +12. Now, In order to get these bonuses, you need to be extremely lucky in mob hunting to get the quailities or their upgrade item, the Dragon Ball, or buy game currency. There is no official exchange, like there is in Guild Wars, the only way you can get your hands on Conquer Points, is to sell your drops for them, or to fork over $15 for 1,072 points. Which is equivalent to 5 Dragon Balls in their Cash Shop. You can also. for the low price of about $350, get a ‘bulk pack’ of 21,000-ish points, or 125 Dragon Balls.
I’m not going to mention any country names, but if you’ve had the unfortunate experience of playing CO, you’ll know who the bulkers were. They were the level 140 players in full super +12 double socketed, super gemed gears. And with the release of their newest money ploy, the epic weapons, you have thhe otion of questing for it for 6 months, or forking over 56,000 points to complete them immediately.
So for a casual gamer, the only way no to be completely oblitterated by one of these ‘godlike’ players is to quit, or pay out the nose.
They have a couple stat enhancement systems now as well, that you can use your points to max out.
And should you get hacked and report it to them, you’ll first have to have credited at least $350 in CP, for them to take any action at all.

I’m ashamed to admit, but i the time I was playing it, they suckered me in for a little over $5,000 over 3 years. Because I was always falling behind in gear, or stats, or looks and so I bought, and I bought, and then I got hacked and it all went for kittens. I did get to file a hack case, and after near 2 months of me asking weekly, ‘Is my case being handled?’ I got nothing but a bow that wasn’t mine, and a, what would be equivalent to town clothes, called a garment back.

So. Guild wars 2 is not, and never will be in the category of ‘Pay to Win’. Because there is absolutely NOTHING in Guild Wars 2, that can not be obtained by everyone. Some of the players will get it faster, Sure. And some take a little longer. But everyone maxes out in the same place, statistcally. Once you have ascended armor and weapons, the rest is just customizing your look.

Pay to win has always had the meaning, pay real money to win in PvP. To stretch it to mean win through cosmetic purchases is to take the Alice in Wonderland route.

‘I don’t know what you mean by “glory”,’ Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. ‘Of course you don’t — till I tell you. I meant “there’s a nice knock-down argument for you!”’
‘But “glory” doesn’t mean “a nice knock-down argument”,’ Alice objected.
‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’

You can’t take a word that has an accepted meaning and make it mean something different to support your argument.

ilr.9675:

Guhracie.3419:

Actually, it takes you to the exchange section, where you can exchange your gems for gold, or your gold for gems. And “pay to win” doesn’t mean what you seem to think it means.

Pay to win, is, and always meant: BUYING POWER.
It’s always meant that. It NEVER exclusively meant a single Weapon or Item that no one else could ever earn from playing the game normally and could only be gained with real money. That red herring argument was created by game marketers themselves as a defense for every other variation of BUYING POWER. Don’t recite it here. It’s a fabrication.

then i have to ask you, what power can you buy?
there is nothing in the store that gives you in any way an advantage you can’t get in-game over another player, pay-to-win means that you pay real money to get more powerful then any other player can ever be, the one thing you can’t do in GW2.

Noticed they muted the color and decreased the size of the text.

Pay to win has always had the meaning, pay real money to win in PvP. To stretch it to mean win through cosmetic purchases is to take the Alice in Wonderland route.

Nope.

I would agree that concerning this game, Pay-to-Win is just a meaningless buzzword and largely doesn’t apply.

However, there are facets of the game in which paying will give you something of an advantage. It’s just not the traditional P2W schema, so people shrug it off. For example, if you play the game mostly to obtain and utilize cosmetics – which is a possible overarching goal to have, considering how expansive the wardrobe/mini system is – then you will gain an advantage over other like-minded players by shelling out money (ex: to buy gem store skins).

It’s not a huge issue because, quite frankly, the game has a lot of gameplay modes to offer that have nothing to do with paying a dime. But it is something to think about.

Honestly, I doubt that it even occurred to Anet when they were putting together the gem store systems. In the current market, selling cosmetic items for money has become a staple “we’re not going to manipulate you” way to make money with the F2P model.

It’s just something that stands out awkwardly in this game because collecting/unlocking cosmetics is actually expansive enough to be considered its own end-game system. And that’s not something you can say about most games.

I noticed the button when the blog post appeared. When I actually get ingame, I’m too busy clicking through the TP to care about some text in the corner. :/

(Here I define glory to mean I used a fine knock down argument that you were unable to actually refute).

There was no need to refute anything, you were using the inherently faulty premise that PvP is the only way to “win” in a broad MMO. It was nonsense.

Ohoni.6057:

(Here I define glory to mean I used a fine knock down argument that you were unable to actually refute).

There was no need to refute anything, you were using the inherently faulty premise that PvP is the only way to “win” in a broad MMO. It was nonsense.

Bah. Managed to delete when trying to correct.

When a word has an accepted meaning, you just can’t go and single handedly change the meaning to suit yourself.

When a word has an accepted meaning, you just can’t go and single handedly change the meaning to suit yourself.

So we agree then. You can’t just go changing the meaning of “Pay to Win” to ONLY refer to PvP scenarios.

Ohoni.6057:

When a word has an accepted meaning, you just can’t go and single handedly change the meaning to suit yourself.

So we agree then. You can’t just go changing the meaning of “Pay to Win” to ONLY refer to PvP scenarios.

Can you find a definition where it means other then PvP? Every place I looked refers to buying an advantage in PvP. I’ve certainly never seen one where it means to buy cosmetics and strut around thinking you are styling.

Astral Projections.7320:

Ohoni.6057:

When a word has an accepted meaning, you just can’t go and single handedly change the meaning to suit yourself.

So we agree then. You can’t just go changing the meaning of “Pay to Win” to ONLY refer to PvP scenarios.

Can you find a definition where it means other then PvP? Every place I looked refers to buying an advantage in PvP. I’ve certainly never seen one where it means to buy cosmetics and strut around thinking you are styling.

I don’t agree with either of you in this, because I agree with both of you.

Pay to Win involves gaining a distinct advantage over other players, be it through bypassing a grind or outright becoming stronger than players who do not pay.

Typically this is used in PvP because in PvE, you’re not going to brag about being stronger than the guy next to you. I mean, you can’t really shove it into their faces (unless you’re going to oneshot lupi via reflects, but even that isn’t really brag-worthy).

However, there are games without PvP where Pay to Win exists (See: Maplestory) as a Paywall that can be bypassed through extreme dedication. In Maplestory, to get “godly” items is entirely possible for non-paying players, however by paying (hundreds of dollars) you can get lucky and get good rolls on your items. To get them without paying, you must loot them (think the chance of a precursor without being able to use Mystic Forge) or wait for an event and get certain scrolls from the event to roll the item. Usually it takes a few hundred scrolls to get lucky since you are rolling the odds (scrolls are similar to Mystic Forging for a Precursor), however there is a hardcap to how many scrolls you can get per event (as far as I can recall in the Global server).

So while a player may say that they became super strong (hitting max damage with every hit) without paying a single dollar to Nexon, the amount of those players is similar to the amount of players who have every Legendary without having ever gotten a Precursor off the TP, Mail, Guild Bank, and Mystic Forge.

Pay to Win simply implies that there is a Paywall that exists. In Guild Wars 2, there is no Paywall. You can be the strongest you possibly can without ever paying, and if you do pay, you don’t expedite the process unless you’re a new player. Heck, the Combat in GW2 entirely defeats the purpose of funding a character with real money because you still have to know the skills, combinations, enemy animations, enemy skills, and more. You can easily be a player who jumps into the game, spends real money to get a Commander tag, buys a Legendary or two and then has “beaten the game”. Sure, but can you roam solo/small groups in WvW? Can you tPvP? Can you speedrun or solo dungeon paths? Do you know your Profession Mechanics?

There is nothing you can buy in the Gemstore that will give you a distinct advantage over a player who has not bought things from the Gemstore. If you consider purchasing Gold a distinct advantage or Paywall, that is fine and you are correct in stating that GW2 has become a Pay to Win game.

But what can Gold get you that experience can’t? You can only buy up to Exotic gear (or Legendaries/Ascended materials) and the crafts to 500. However, rushing your craft to 500 and getting Ascended isn’t going to make a difference if you don’t know how to play your Profession. You can succeed in WvW with no gear, due to the average skill of players there. You can succeed in PvE with little to no gear (Zerker stats only give you armor and more damage, meaning you could theoretically run naked and you’d mostly only be fighting longer) or even wearing Greens. Greens are what the game was balanced around initially. Rares were nice, and Exotics were the BiS for the “hardcore” Players, even though it was/is so easy to get. Ascended is now the BiS for hardcore players, and Exotics are the norm, but nobody will be the wiser if you are running around in Green or Yellow gear.

The closest to Pay to Win that you can argue about in GW2 is the Watchwork Mining Pick giving you an advantage to other players, however Watchwork Sprockets are not necessary to surpass another player and therefore doesn’t push the game to the Pay to Win sector.

Don’t even talk about Boosters, please, they have negligible effects, as do Primers.

Can you find a definition where it means other then PvP? Every place I looked refers to buying an advantage in PvP. I’ve certainly never seen one where it means to buy cosmetics and strut around thinking you are styling.

There’s no dictionary definition for the term anywhere, it’s a vernacular term that means, as one might assume from the words used in the term, “paying to win.” If you’re talking a strictly PvP game, then it would mean paying for abilities that give you a PvP advantage. In a PvE context, however, it refers to anything that gives you an advantage in “winning” that PvE content. If we frame the standard PvE goal as being to hit level 80 and get geared up with a full set of Ascended, a Legendary of your choice, and the skins you’d like, spending cash-earned-gold towards those goals would certainly speed up your progress.

Sure, but can you roam solo/small groups in WvW? Can you tPvP? Can you speedrun or solo dungeon paths? Do you know your Profession Mechanics?

Yes, but in a game without a definitive endgoal (like "beating the last boss), players define their own win conditions, so while the conditions you list might matter to you, they might not matter to others.

But what can Gold get you that experience can’t?

It’s not necessarily about what play experience can’t get you, but more what gold can get you. Just as a simple example, bank tabs are on sale right now, $5 I think. That translated to about 40 gold. So I was thinking to myself, was that more worth it to me to spend $5, the price of a fast food meal, or 40 gold, which in terms of standard gameplay would take me days or more than a week to earn? Now I’m not super well-off, but if I had a six figure salary and money to burn, there are all sorts of competitive advantages I could buy in the game, bypassing thousands of hours of standard gameplay in order to get all the fanciest items.

I mean take a look at that new Spirit Weapons achievement, imagine the time involved in completing that achievement for three different groups, you have the RL rich guy, who thinks nothing of dropping cash to gold and buying all the items straight off the TP. How long would it take him? Minutes if he pays the sell price, hours to days if he goes for the marginally cheaper buy orders.

Then the TP-Tycoon who makes gold from gold, trading things back and forth. Even a good one would take likely weeks to months to work from scratch to accumulate the gold necessary to buy all those weapons at the minimum costs.

Then you have the standard player, who is just adventuring in the world, selling what he doesn’t need, farming for what materials he can, slowly building up the resources to get those weapons. It would take that sort of player likely years to accumulate what he needed for those weapons. So how is such a massive shortcut not pay-to-win? It’s certainly at least comparable to your Maple Story scenario.