Guild Wars 2

I’m curious if back slot items could be considered play to win items? Apparently some devs are making certain the best in slot ones remain very pricey. Most Quivers still cost over 100g, Light of Dwayna is over 250g, and the Tempered Spinal Blades material cost are running about 95g right now. Not counting all the blade shards one has to farm for them.

If Back Slot items were cosmetic only, it wouldn’t be an issue. But, with stats included, does this cross into pay to win territory? If something as insignificant as the Watchwork Mining Pick could raise such a stir, I thought about back slot items.

Any thought on the matter? Should it be so expensive to gear our characters beyond cosmetic?

So P2W means something that you can only buy with real life money to become stronger then players who do not spend real life money. Being that you can use in game gold to buy gems means GW2 can never be P2W.

Now if your talking on the lines of having gold buys you goods and they can buy you higher level goods say rare vs exotic then yes its that way but that not realty P2W that the stander mmorpgs progression. In a way you can say that repair bills are worth more as your higher in level / gear you must pay more to fix them there for your spending more gold to play and if others cant then you some what “win” but then a lot of things will be called P2W at that point to the point of every mmorpg and rpg would be seen as P2W.

The cost of the materials on the top to make these items was not set by Anet but by the players. Not to mention that you make gold in the game.

No they’re not. If this is a serious question then I’m pretty sad.

Also, keep in mind that in most P2W games, there is content tied to those pricey real-money-only items that you are prevented from doing unless you whip out that credit card. There is also no way to “earn” them in the games themselves; they are solely purchased through the cash shop.

In GW2, there is nothing that is locked out to you if you don’t have those items, not to mention that you can purchase them with in-game gold.

In summary, no. They are not P2W.

Hey! It’s another P2W thread!

Sorry OP, but I don’t think you understand what P2W really means. I was supposed to make a thread to explain the difference a while back, but got lazy.

Cush.4063:

The cost of the materials on the top to make these items was not set by Anet but by the players. Not to mention that you make gold in the game.

First off the cost was not set by the players. It is in essence set by anet based on what materials are needed and the amounts it takes to create the item(s) you are after. Sure, players buy and sell on the market until it reaches equilibrium with supply and demand, but that equilibrium is established based on the amount of mats needed which is set by anet.

Having said that, this still isn’t P2W. This is no different than any other game where you accumulate in game currency and use it to buy the items you want. It’s just a large gold sink created by anet. Nothing new here.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

I was supposed to make a thread to explain the difference a while back, but got lazy.

Don’t waste your time. No one will read it before posting another one of these threads anyway. What we will end up with is the same amount of threads, but every time you will just point them to the thread you created and, in the end, we will still have the same amount of threads.

People don’t even bother to read a 4 word lfg post. You think they will read a long P2W explanation?

cranked.3812:

Don’t waste your time. No one will read it before posting another one of these threads anyway. What we will end up with is the same amount of threads, but every time you will just point them to the thread you created and, in the end, we will still have the same amount of threads.

People don’t even bother to read a 4 word lfg post. You think they will read a long P2W explanation?

True, but it’s worth a shot… at some point.

I played a bunch of pay 2 win games which use similar system GW2 is using now.

Basically top tier gear is expensive, and you can bypass it by paying real money. The system is same in GW2 and other games.

But the major difference is those other games like to release new tier every few month. So you have to keep paying money every few month. Ascended gear is here to stay for a long while. So it isn’t as bad.

GW2 is a lot more lenient in that aspect.

Expensive? You can just buy it with gold, not even that much of it. The accessories and amulets are more of a drag… All those boring dailies and guild missions. yawn

One of the ascended backpacks (the fractal one) is practically free, but require a lot of work. Two others (spinal blade and books/quivers) require RNG components that simply cannot be bought. Come to think, since Dwayna/grenth backpacks require vision crystals, they also cannot be completely bought.

DeWolfe.2174:

I’m curious if back slot items could be considered play to win items?

play to win? Uh huh….

Apparently some devs are making certain the best in slot ones remain very pricey

uhm, yes. just like every other ascended piece of armor/weapon/back item. but i dont see why pricey ascended equipment is suddenly a case of pay to win. Or play to win? im still confused.

Not counting all the blade shards one has to farm for them.

They drop pretty often. You need what? ~2 stacks? I got a couple of them by now and havent farmed at all. just visited LA sometimes to rescue some citizens…

If Back Slot items were cosmetic only, it wouldn’t be an issue. But, with stats included, does this cross into pay to win territory? If something as insignificant as the Watchwork Mining Pick could raise such a stir, I thought about back slot items.

Any thought on the matter? Should it be so expensive to gear our characters beyond cosmetic?[/quote]

cranked.3812:

It’s just a large gold sink created by anet. Nothing new here.

I think you summed it up well. But Hey! I read everyone’s post. Reading isn’t completely dead yet

TY for everyone’s input. Please note that it is all Smooth Penguin’s fault that you read this thread. He has now admitted to have been too lazy to help the good people of Tyria to understand the world they live in (the game) better. Though found enough the time and energy to promote Evon over you!

I couldn’t help but add that in lulz

What? You don’t like Gear Wars 2?

cranked.3812:

Cush.4063:

The cost of the materials on the top to make these items was not set by Anet but by the players. Not to mention that you make gold in the game.

First off the cost was not set by the players. It is in essence set by anet based on what materials are needed and the amounts it takes to create the item(s) you are after. Sure, players buy and sell on the market until it reaches equilibrium with supply and demand, but that equilibrium is established based on the amount of mats needed which is set by anet.

Having said that, this still isn’t P2W. This is no different than any other game where you accumulate in game currency and use it to buy the items you want. It’s just a large gold sink created by anet. Nothing new here.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

I was supposed to make a thread to explain the difference a while back, but got lazy.

Don’t waste your time. No one will read it before posting another one of these threads anyway. What we will end up with is the same amount of threads, but every time you will just point them to the thread you created and, in the end, we will still have the same amount of threads.

People don’t even bother to read a 4 word lfg post. You think they will read a long P2W explanation?

Umm, you can also collect the items and make it for free. Its not pay to win. That’s laughable. Players are getting more and more strict on what pay to win is nowadays.

I think the game is pretty P2W. I mean you have to actually buy the game to win. Impossible to do something in the game without purchasing a copy.

Its not pay to win, its farm to win. There’s a huge difference, although F2W isn’t that much better because it just costs time instead of money.

Cush.4063:

cranked.3812:

Cush.4063:

The cost of the materials on the top to make these items was not set by Anet but by the players. Not to mention that you make gold in the game.

First off the cost was not set by the players. It is in essence set by anet based on what materials are needed and the amounts it takes to create the item(s) you are after. Sure, players buy and sell on the market until it reaches equilibrium with supply and demand, but that equilibrium is established based on the amount of mats needed which is set by anet.

Having said that, this still isn’t P2W. This is no different than any other game where you accumulate in game currency and use it to buy the items you want. It’s just a large gold sink created by anet. Nothing new here.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

I was supposed to make a thread to explain the difference a while back, but got lazy.

Don’t waste your time. No one will read it before posting another one of these threads anyway. What we will end up with is the same amount of threads, but every time you will just point them to the thread you created and, in the end, we will still have the same amount of threads.

People don’t even bother to read a 4 word lfg post. You think they will read a long P2W explanation?

Umm, you can also collect the items and make it for free. Its not pay to win. That’s laughable. Players are getting more and more strict on what pay to win is nowadays.

Something is only free if your time is worthless…

I love how people try to demonstrate that this game is P2W.

Go Perfectworld. That is P2W.

DeWolfe.2174:

I’m curious if back slot items could be considered play to win items? Apparently some devs are making certain the best in slot ones remain very pricey. Most Quivers still cost over 100g, Light of Dwayna is over 250g, and the Tempered Spinal Blades material cost are running about 95g right now. Not counting all the blade shards one has to farm for them.

If Back Slot items were cosmetic only, it wouldn’t be an issue. But, with stats included, does this cross into pay to win territory? If something as insignificant as the Watchwork Mining Pick could raise such a stir, I thought about back slot items.

Any thought on the matter? Should it be so expensive to gear our characters beyond cosmetic?

Only if you’re not willing to personally put in work for it. Notably, I mean the Damask/Leather/Deldrimor Steel and the crafting level. The ability to just buy these things should be considerably more expensive than actually making it over a longer period of time.

This, of course, assumes Ascended is the last tier of power which needs to be crafted. Or that the next tier they add is going to directly build off Ascended.

Hannelore.8153:

Its not pay to win, its farm to win. There’s a huge difference, although F2W isn’t that much better because it just costs time instead of money.

Cush.4063:

cranked.3812:

Cush.4063:

The cost of the materials on the top to make these items was not set by Anet but by the players. Not to mention that you make gold in the game.

First off the cost was not set by the players. It is in essence set by anet based on what materials are needed and the amounts it takes to create the item(s) you are after. Sure, players buy and sell on the market until it reaches equilibrium with supply and demand, but that equilibrium is established based on the amount of mats needed which is set by anet.

Having said that, this still isn’t P2W. This is no different than any other game where you accumulate in game currency and use it to buy the items you want. It’s just a large gold sink created by anet. Nothing new here.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

I was supposed to make a thread to explain the difference a while back, but got lazy.

Don’t waste your time. No one will read it before posting another one of these threads anyway. What we will end up with is the same amount of threads, but every time you will just point them to the thread you created and, in the end, we will still have the same amount of threads.

People don’t even bother to read a 4 word lfg post. You think they will read a long P2W explanation?

Umm, you can also collect the items and make it for free. Its not pay to win. That’s laughable. Players are getting more and more strict on what pay to win is nowadays.

Something is only free if your time is worthless…

Lol please tell me you’re not going that far because then every game and any game you will ever play in your lifetime is pay to win and you will never ever be satisfied and might as well not play games. Ya there’s no such thing as a free lunch blah blah blah but come on lawl

following OP’s logic – every single game with shop is p2w.

DeWolfe.2174:

I’m curious if back slot items could be considered play to win items?
-snip for less clutter-
Any thought on the matter? Should it be so expensive to gear our characters beyond cosmetic?

I’m afraid that you have the wrong idea of what P2W is.

These back items use in game gold, no-one is forced to pay to get them.

You may think them expensive, but they’re only a marginal upgrade over exotic back items, and it only takes a week or two of gameplay to save enough gold to make/bay the materials for the item (based on my gameplay as a WvW player)

Sure, some people choose to convert gems to gold, but that is their right, it doesn’t give them an unfair advantage. These items are supposed to be the final tier for gear, the top stats – something to work towards or spend money on to just buy if you can’t stand work.

Pay to win requires you to be spending real life money for items only available with said real life money. It also requires that said item gives significant advantages over others who do not purchase the item.

Since you can obtain back slot items without doing so. Pay to win does not exist.