Guild Wars 2

I’ve never had a subscription service and I never will. I’ve bought my wife a couple gem cards the last year or so but none for myself. Nothing in the gem store that I can’t earn enough gold to exchange for.

No. This game is not terribly engaging for me and is just something to do once and a while. I did upgrade my bank storage from the pathetic amount we get at start and I tried the gem store for a few odds and ends for a while but I won’t spend another dime on this game, at least as the game stands now.

I consider the gem store responsible for the various loot nerfs and runaway inflation (In part) in the tp. Because of this I refuse to spend a penny more in the gem store. I bought some gems in the early days, back when $50 would actually get you a lot of gems, used them to give myself a bit of starting gold, for bank slots and harvesting tools and still have 1300 left. Had I realized what I was doing with the gem to gold conversion, I probably would have opted to not do it, but hindsight is 20/20 I guess.

I spend about $5-$10 a month on gems, so it is less than a sub game. Not only is it cheaper, but I can pay when I want.

I pay more for gems. Simple reason: I can get “up to speed” much faster than a sub based game. You can basically buy a full gear set.

Soon with the ability to buy levels for gold, I can just pay my way to alts because I find PvE utterly boring outside my first character.

Buying gold thru gems is extremely casual friendly.

Bombsaway.7198:

I pay more for gems. Simple reason: I can get “up to speed” much faster than a sub based game. You can basically buy a full gear set.

Soon with the ability to buy levels for gold, I can just pay my way to alts because I find PvE utterly boring outside my first character.

Buying gold thru gems is extremely casual friendly.

You already can buy levels – you buy crafting materials and level crafting professions – each one gets you 10 levels. It’s not instant but it’s pretty quick 1-80 in about 3 hours I think.

No OP I don’t, as I’m not daft enough to buy gems with real money or play a game that requires rent money.

Chullster.3608:

No OP I don’t, as I’m not daft enough to buy gems with real money or play a game that requires rent money.

Daft for spending real money on the gemstore of a game that costs nothing to play besides the initial box purchase? Let’s say someone spends $20/mo on the gemstore. Alright, now let’s assume someone buys a cup of coffee every morning on the way to work (let’s assume everyone here has a job). Let’s say the coffee costs them $3.00. A typical work-week we’re looking at $15/week —>$60/month. Hmmm, which is a bigger waste of money…..

If you buy coffee from a coffee shop or buy fast food regularly you are much more daft than if you spend some money every month on a game you enjoy. Retail is for suckers.

No. I only buy gems when ArenaNet releases a skin I truly want, or when I need transmutation crystals.

So far this has been 4 times. I’ve been playing since launch too.

Nope. I’ve been playing since early-launch and I’ve probably spent about $60 on gems, mostly for more character slots. I love no sub fee, since some months I don’t get to clock nearly the hours I’d like to in-game and I didn’t play at all for 3 months at the beginning of the year.

Seras.5702:

I love no sub fee, since some months I don’t get to clock nearly the hours I’d like to in-game and I didn’t play at all for 3 months at the beginning of the year.

This is why I don’t like sub frees. If I don’t play as much as I’d like, I would still have to pay a fee. With the current system, if I don’t play as much as I’d like, I’ll probably also miss a lot of sales on the gemstore, so I won’t buy the gems either to spend there.

As many people would say, it really depends. Some months I find myself tossing 20 euro or more (constant subscription would be 15 euro in the Europe regions) on different kind of stuff. Sometimes i just make gifts. And there are those months that I don’t give a dime. But I’m generally trying to pay at least 10 euro every 2 months. Regardless if I need the gems or not. I just love ANet’s pricing policy and this is my way of showing support. It’s my opinion and I’m not entitling anyone with it.

Play the way you enjoy the game!

No, just 800 gems a month, because you never know when a good armor skin is going to pop up.

Draknar.5748:

Chullster.3608:

No OP I don’t, as I’m not daft enough to buy gems with real money or play a game that requires rent money.

Daft for spending real money on the gemstore of a game that costs nothing to play besides the initial box purchase? Let’s say someone spends $20/mo on the gemstore. Alright, now let’s assume someone buys a cup of coffee every morning on the way to work (let’s assume everyone here has a job). Let’s say the coffee costs them $3.00. A typical work-week we’re looking at $15/week —>$60/month. Hmmm, which is a bigger waste of money…..

If you buy coffee from a coffee shop or buy fast food regularly you are much more daft than if you spend some money every month on a game you enjoy. Retail is for suckers.

I agree, both examples are daft, so I don’t do either.

Yes, about 5 times the amount of a year of WoW time.

Last time I checked my paypal, I had spent over 700$ in gems, and have since bought at least another 6000 gems.

I used to, when I was still supporting ArenaNet. Now that they’ve changed, I try to buy with gold first and if it’s not enough I’ll buy gems.

No. I can spend gold to convert to gems. The only other game I can think of that lets you use in game currency to actually pay for a sub is in EvE.

Whitey.6185:

Yes, about 5 times the amount of a year of WoW time.

Last time I checked my paypal, I had spent over 700$ in gems, and have since bought at least another 6000 gems.

And you are even proud of it. I feel for you.

Chullster.3608:

Draknar.5748:

Chullster.3608:

No OP I don’t, as I’m not daft enough to buy gems with real money or play a game that requires rent money.

Daft for spending real money on the gemstore of a game that costs nothing to play besides the initial box purchase? Let’s say someone spends $20/mo on the gemstore. Alright, now let’s assume someone buys a cup of coffee every morning on the way to work (let’s assume everyone here has a job). Let’s say the coffee costs them $3.00. A typical work-week we’re looking at $15/week —>$60/month. Hmmm, which is a bigger waste of money…..

If you buy coffee from a coffee shop or buy fast food regularly you are much more daft than if you spend some money every month on a game you enjoy. Retail is for suckers.

I agree, both examples are daft, so I don’t do either.

Touche….
Well, I suppose you are the one person that doesn’t spend any money frivolously. I do not envy you. I love frivolity.

Just checked my statements and I’ve spent $1315 since release on gems. I wish my golf habit was that cheap.

Definitely spent more gems than I would on a monthly sub. Probably spent about $300 ..more or less ( certainly hope less) since I started playing.

i spent way to much on gem already… i wont tell the numbers

fadeaway.2807:

Simple question.

Do you spend more in gemstore than you would have done on a monthly subscription? Less? The same?

No. I don’t spend any on gems. The next money I spend for GW2 will be for an expansion.

Yes, I would have paid a monthly subscription as I do for several services to afford this or that I like in my spare time. Nothing wrong with that.

I don’t care for minis, I don’t care for trading NPC items in a game, where you always are a mere loading screen from everything in the game (which I like), I don’t care for all of the buff stuff (with the exception of the birthday buff, which is great), I don’t care for flaming outfits, for anything with RNG. Well I don’t really care for nearly all they offer in their shop with the exception of lasting things like places for chars, bags or bank slots. But than I collected nearly all my money during the first months and paid for gems, when they have been cheap.

I would have paid a sub for the release version of the game and content updates like 2-4 a year of similar quality. For the LS I would not pay a sub. It is not worth paying for.

Devata.6589:

Whitey.6185:

Yes, about 5 times the amount of a year of WoW time.

Last time I checked my paypal, I had spent over 700$ in gems, and have since bought at least another 6000 gems.

And you are even proud of it. I feel for you.

Definitely not proud.. was pretty shocked when I looked and actually added it all up.

It’s easy to get carried away, especially when they add something new to the gem store every single week :/

Whitey.6185:

Devata.6589:

Whitey.6185:

Yes, about 5 times the amount of a year of WoW time.

Last time I checked my paypal, I had spent over 700$ in gems, and have since bought at least another 6000 gems.

And you are even proud of it. I feel for you.

Definitely not proud.. was pretty shocked when I looked and actually added it all up.

It’s easy to get carried away, especially when they add something new to the gem store every single week :/

Oh I’m sure you’re not alone on that.

All I ever paid for with real money was the game itself (normal version, deluxe just wasn’t worth it for me). I did buy some stuff with gems (char slots, bank tabs, MK outfit and infinite continue coin), but I really don’t need most of the items there and if I do I just get my gems for them with gold as I’ve always done so far.
I wouldn’t have bought the game if it was sub-based or if the gem store was real money only or OP. I like games where you pay for them once and are then able to fully enjoy it. But if others want to use real money for ingame stuff that’s not OP I’m perfectly fine with it

Been playing since launch and I have not bought a single gem. Still havin fun.

In my City of Heroes days, I paid $15 a month for the subscription, and budgeted around $10 a month for anything else in the Store that wasn’t included in my subscription (I rarely used more than $2-3 of it… those subscriptions were really meaty, and all the best stuff from the store was automatically included).

In GW2, for the first six months or so I budgeted $20/month for gems. That eventually trailed off, and I haven’t given them a cent since June. I don’t expect to ever pay them for anything again, mostly because the Living Story style of content delivery doesn’t seem to be going towards anything I’d want to buy. All new content is delivered for a brief time, then flushed down the toilet of history, and I don’t have enough time to grow attached to any of it to want to buy souvenirs.

It’s probably about the same as a subscription or less for me.

I spent a bit at the beginning on character slots and stuff – but then I didn’t play for a few months and paid nothing. Then I spent $10/mo – but only if there was something I actually wanted to but, so some months I didn’t.

I have been feeling a bit disappointed with the gem store lately, but only time will tell if it will smooth itself out or not. I understand making mistakes, we’ll just see what happens now.

Nope. There are not many things on the gem store that catch my interest. Sometimes I use gold to buy gems so I can buy a weapon skin or a special mini pack, but I mostly spend gems on transmutation stones. I bought a makeover kit once, too. Nothing that I really needed real money for.

I;ve played since the game came out yet I haven’t spent a cent in the store because I don’t really care for “fluff” or armor that can be purchased with no effort in game. However, I may buy a few gems at some point for some conveniece items but I haven’t been playing much lately so still on the fence about that.

It’s gotten to the point where I’d almost be willing to pay a subscription fee for actual meaty content instead of the LS yawnfest especiallys since Anet isn’t even considering expansions at this point. And I’m very much against subscription fees and would only consider it in extreme cases.

Short answer: yes.

There have been moments where I spent a sum similar to what a monthly subscription would require in a year. On the other hand, it can take months until I use the gem store again. Also, I didn’t play for a year due to the introduction of ascended gear, but I could still come back from where I left off.

I still consider this system better than a monthly subscription. On the other hand, it would be best for Anet not to overdo and add (or let add) more shenanigans similar to lion chest keys, the mystic toilet, or pay to win skins which would give reason for players to prefer the stability of MMOs with subscription fees.

Yes, found out very early on that Anet has a month spending cap on saved credit cards.

$200ish in gems since headstart. I would have spent more, but it’s very rare that the gemstore offers something other than lame boosters/lottery boxes. Most of that money has been spent on slots, bank/inventory tabs and really awesome skins like the grenth hood.

Since launch, I’ve spent around $50 in gems.

When I first started playing, I had wanted to spend much more on gems. I had considered spending at least $15 a month on gems to support ANET, as if this game was sub-based. However, I have not received any updates or content that are geared for me and my style of play. I really enjoy dungeons and fractals and we have never, in my opinion, received any positive updates in either category. Instead, we have gotten that terrible TA aetherblades path, and FOTM got royally screwed over by what I imagine to be a team with no dungeon experience.

Hence, I have been forced to no longer support ANET and their Living Story updates. I, like everybody else, vote with my wallet and until I get well designed dungeon and fractals content, I will not be buying any gems.

Telis.4189:

Yes, found out very early on that Anet has a month spending cap on saved credit cards.

Could you elaborate on this? I’m not familiar with what you are referring to.

Answer: yes, way more.