Well said. There is so much history the new players are missing. Old LA, the marionette and Scarlett. The changes of DryTop, Silver Wates and South Sun. But still welcome to Tyria.
Like this thread! Guild Wars 2 will always be worth any penny ever spent on it. As we continue on and get to expand our playerbase (which guess what? That’s a great thing!) we will only have that many more hours and experiences to enjoy because of f2p.
It’s sad they missed out on a lot of things but there is sooo much more fun stuff coming up. There are plenty of things still to enjoy that even come with the base game. ^.^
Gotta agree. And yeah, I have probably paid well over 10 times the amount already in Gem purchases.
There is a lot over the years that I have experienced that new/free players won’t. And I have plenty of exclusive titles and items that they won’t get either. Not trying to brag, but just saying it to show that I have got my money’s worth and then some.
Just the other day I remember talking to my family about how I wish they were around for Living Story season 1, and how it was like the opening of Ahn’Qiraj. But it was still a ton of fun and that’s something they’ll never get to experience in all it’s glory. Or when we still had mix and match town clothes, before they were turned into tonics and outfits.
There is so much we got to see and do that the new players will never know, only hear about. And we have things to show off for it as well if you need that. I personally welcome all the new/free players. I am glad to see more people joining this game, regardless of whether they are a veteran or new player. I don’t need compensation because F2P members get a glorified trial account now.
A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.
Lady Bethany Of Noh – Chronomancer – Lords of Noh [LoN]
I was head start 3 years ago. Paid for the ultimate edition, or whatever it was for $99. I have loved every moment of playing this game. Since then, I have spent a ton (over $1k) on gems for bling and convenience, because, to me anyway, I don’t mind spending a buck a day for something that makes me happy. This is such a great game, and I truly applaud the way A-Net implemented F2P edition of this game. My son is 11, and I was able to create a free account for him the other day. We have already spend a couple of hours “together” online in Queensdale. He’s having fun, and I am so excited to be playing with him! If he takes a shine to the game, I’ll buy the full version for him.
They also won’t have that excitement of head start, trying to grab all the cool names before someone somewhere grabbed it first…where you waited with baited breath to press that play button…the tons of people in the opening tutorial zones… (oh, and the investigation they did on the very first player to reach level 80 in the game lol) the holy cow awe I got the very first time I saw someone with a legendary…seeing the very first spoiler video of the Zaihtan fight when you were still 30 levels away from the zone…and of course…the hundreds of naked humans with brown bears botting their way around orr. My $60 is still totally worth every penny.
I remember Tower of Nightmares and the groups that would try gathering to make the climb. First time you enter lots of people got lost and started dying from the toxin. All the new people can see is the climax of the event.
Same thing can be said for the attack on Lion’s Arch, watching the city some of us, then new, Guild Wars players, grew with over a year and a half just get blown into rubble and fire. Fighting through the crowded streets to reach survivors, finding the refugee camps in the neighboring regions filled with dying or displaced refugees and soldiers. Though I wasn’t fond of Scarlett I took the Alliances seriously because so many people died and their effect on the world.
No worries, everyone. The extreme limits that the free to play folks will have won’t affect you at all. It’s a lure to get them to purchase the full game.
Leader of Central Anime(CA)
Tifa Ran/Ranger with a Pet
Commander WvW – Henge of Denravi
Can’t do anything but agree with the OP. I’ve played since beta testing too, I’ve been here almost every evening to share the highs and lows.
I remember typing DRAGON!!! into guild chat the first time I saw one, I was amazed then thought kitten, I’ve got to fight this thing. I remember watching in angry silence as LA was invaded then running in to help. I remember the excitement of running onto the Four Winds ship. I remember standing dumbstruck as the gates of Claw Island closed behind my mentor and later, when I returned, wanting to kill every last one of the Risen in there. I remember lots and lots more.
I’ve also made good friends and had lots of laughs with them along the way. Some of our guild members just came back from a holiday together, people from three different countries sharing a holiday.
Sometimes I moan about stuff in game but I think I’ll be here for as long as it lasts. So, sharpen your weapons and polish your armour, we have a Pact armada to avenge and a another dragon to kill!
“Judge a person’s character by how they behave when given anonymity.”
Welcome to the Internet, exposing characters since the early 80’s.
Agreed, the past three years of fun has been worth it, and having some new players will renew some aspects of the game for me. It’ll also remind me how much fun I had at earlier stages; how I lucked out and found the way to the top of a jumping puzzle(Hidden Garden) the right way and without falling; how it took me forever to find the underwater poi in Kessex Hills (before the Tower of Nightmares); the epic diving board that was in LA(my first dive in early beta )
Some players won’t get to experience all of those places, I’m happy I was there for it! I’m looking forward to jumping from the highest place I can find and gliding my way down, though I still miss the death scream my asura let out while falling :p I’m looking forward to being able to craft precurors because RNG=bad for me, and I’m looking forward to adventures with new players!
And this hasn’t been merged into the main thread, I wonder why? I also bought the game 3 years ago and that granted lifetime ownership of my game key necessary to play GW2 and while I welcome all new players to the game I’m not happy my B2P game is F2P
Buy To Play Guild Wars 2 2012-2015 – RIP Unlucky since launch, RNG isn’t random PugLife SoloQ
And this hasn’t been merged into the main thread, I wonder why? I also bought the game 3 years ago and that granted lifetime ownership of my game key necessary to play GW2 and while I welcome all new players to the game I’m not happy my B2P game is F2P
well… do you use map chat? the TP? a guild bank?
if not, then yeah, you should have waited 3 years, forgoing everything you’ve done in game since then, on the offchance the game would one day have its main content go limited f2p just in time for the new, p2p expansion.
I bought the ultimate edition and was part of the three day head start. Tyria is my home away from home. Keep up the good work Anet. I have made several friends in this community, a friendly community. I have nothing negative to say about this game.
I’ve only been playing some 90 days but I also feel like Tyria is home. I’ve seen so much, done so much. And when people tell me about historic events like those described here, I yearn to have been a part of those.
Two more satisfied customers here. Several years of playing this game with long time friends and new ones. Tons of great memories. I still love to play this game and encourage people to play. I hope for many more years of entertainment and joy.
It’s been three years and I still love the game. I do not regret my purchase at all. I’ve met a ton of awesome people (who don’t play anymore, sadly) and we had a great time exploring Tyria together. My favorite memory would be the first Halloween event where everyone gathered by the mystic toilet in LA, waiting for the patch.
Anyone who thinks free players are getting a better deal needs to get over themselves…
Same here! I don’t regret buying GW2 3 years ago, and if anything I’m excited that more people will be able to play it now.
I main Ele and Necro, though I have an alt of each profession at level 80. How to Condi Reaper on a budget
Everything I say is only in reference to PvE and WvW.
Good for you, free-to-players – but you weren’t there when the Mad King burst out of the fountain in LA.
You didn’t get to play choir bell guitar hero at Wintersday.
You didn’t have a GM watch you glitch on top of the old mystic forge and whisper you to say ‘hey buddy, get down from there’
The thousands of hours I’ve played – I would’ve paid 10 times the £60 or so I was charged on release.
Well played, Anet
To be fairly honest, that can be said ever to recent paying players, even the ones who are going to join pre-purchasing HoT. The paywall wasn’t the only reason that kept some players away from the game, for others it could have been age, or the lack of a decent rig to run the game.
In a way, you seems to put it as ANet isn’t going to make update\live events anymore now that the game is free, if that’s the case the Free-to-Access mode isn’t really a good thing. In a way it makes the F2A model pointless, because Free players won’t be able to have fun with the game without paying, thus discouraging them from even trying.
On the other hand, it’s not that the newcomers won’t be able to make good memories out of the game, even if it’s free. (As long ANet won’t decide to move the social gathering spot away from Lion’s Arch and create a new one that only HoT owners can access.)
My favourite event, which was the precursor to a lot of these map wide meta events was the Karka attack on LA. Boy oh boy was that great. The culmination in the attack on South Sun cove was epic. A two hour back and forth battle with hordes of champions and veterans while legions of Karka babies swarmed your feet. Folllowed by a running battle to get to the hive to kill the queen. By Ogden’s hammer was that a mighty fight. I look back on that and feel Tequatl and the Triple Headed Wurm falls somewhat short of that epic fight.
The lag and culling was ferocious, spawn deaths were common but the players all knew that we had to hold that bridge to the waypoint or there would be hell to pay if the karkas swarmed the WP.
That was probably the only time I felt that there was truly a potential for failure in GW2.
I kinda of wish that A net would periodically announce these one off events. Say, a particularly powerful Dragon minion had arrived and we only had a weekend to complete the tasks that would put the players in position to defeat it. If we failed, one of the settlements somewhere would be permanently destroyed. Though I understand this is a lot of work and lots of players would complain about missing out but this would truly give you the sense of a living world
My favourite event, which was the precursor to a lot of these map wide meta events was the Karka attack on LA. Boy oh boy was that great. The culmination in the attack on South Sun cove was epic. A two hour back and forth battle with hordes of champions and veterans while legions of Karka babies swarmed your feet. Folllowed by a running battle to get to the hive to kill the queen. By Ogden’s hammer was that a mighty fight.
I bought the game some time ago, completed the entire story including season 2 and got so hyped with the ending that I ended up buying the ultimate edition.
But after some time I got kinda bored probably because I got burned out, so I bought Final Fantasy XIV for a month, and DC Universe online as a Legendary (monthly payed) until endgame.
The interesting thing is, that I just came back and decided to make a new toon and go fr the entire personal story + season 2, and the thrill of the story is still in there, and got caught up on it again.
I know a lot of people are stressed out about the f2p thing and the money they payed or not payed, but the truth is, that if you love the story as I do, after the battle against Zaithan, you simply can NOT let the season 2 story slip by because you end up saying… And now what? I wanna know what happens next!!
I’ve heard a lot of positive and negative things about the game, but in the end, I personally end up coming back thanks to the game lore.
pd: I couldn’t get the game in season 1, so I had to spend a lot of time reading the entire internet and watching videos of wth happend in there. -.-;
A new book from the perspective of Scarlet would be amazing though.
anyone remembers the Karka-Event?
and Scarlets invasion?
the labyrinth cliffs?
the first time the remaked Tequatl kill the whole zerg with its wave?
The moment our sunnyboy Faren tried to save Jennah – but it was just an illusion and he fell into the crown pavillion? → the moment we found him in there in the cauldron and had to kill the fire
all our wipes in Dungeons that are now done by smashing the face on the keyboard?
or the very first time we met our members of Destinys Edge 2.0 ?
Stuff like that & more is stuff the new players will never see … the last 3 years were a great time and i regret not a single cent i’ve spend for the game / or the gems i’ve bought and also with all the F2P restrictions if feel 0% betrayed or ripped off
Anet could offer me a full refund on the price I paid for this game when it came out and I still wouldn’t take it.
I don’t care if it’s partially f2p now. It was money well spent and would happily contribute to its success all over again.
This is how i feel too.
Thanks ANET for the years of playtime, the 4k+ hours ive enjoyed, the countless people ive met, and the some of the most memorable experiences of my video game time have all been in this game. I might have missed out on some in game events, but i dont even care about that anymore!
The pvp community reminds me of what Obi-kittenenobi describes Mos Eisley as from star wars.
And this hasn’t been merged into the main thread, I wonder why? I also bought the game 3 years ago and that granted lifetime ownership of my game key necessary to play GW2 and while I welcome all new players to the game I’m not happy my B2P game is F2P
Because it’s more of what the devs want to hear. Any complaints regarding Anet’s choices concerning F2P or HoT, rational or irrational, must be either made harder to find or removed entirely.
Personally I’m fine with new players having this access, but I can definitely see why veteran players are upset. Especially with HoT around the corner with the absolute lack of content worth 50 dollars.
Side note, if this comment’s still here or I’m not banned, I think I might actually be surprised.
This thread caused me to go through my earliest screenshots.
Oh man, the first time(s) I saw champ fights and world bosses, the amount of people trying to sell crappy low-level greens as we all played during head-start, the disappointment when the Shiverpeaks zones did not assault me constantly with groups of mandragors, taking screenshots just to show off how the game engine handles player characters standing on uneven ground by raising or extending legs...
Three years down the road it’s easy to sometimes put that all to the side and just want to get a cool item to drop or make some gold, but I do keep playing in part because I keep having fun slinging spells/skills and drinking in the visuals.
This thread caused me to go through my earliest screenshots.
Oh man, the first time(s) I saw champ fights and world bosses, the amount of people trying to sell crappy low-level greens as we all played during head-start, the disappointment when the Shiverpeaks zones did not assault me constantly with groups of mandragors, taking screenshots just to show off how the game engine handles player characters standing on uneven ground by raising or extending legs…
Three years down the road it’s easy to sometimes put that all to the side and just want to get a cool item to drop or make some gold, but I do keep playing in part because I keep having fun slinging spells/skills and drinking in the visuals.
Reminds me of my first screenshot. My charr warrior carrying his pew pew rifle standing with dozens of others in blue and green gear and trying to take down the Nageling giant. Everybody died at least twice trying to fight that thing
Dont forget, the art district in DR, that giant hole in the city that new players will never see.
I loved that in DR! I hope they’ll bring us a similar thing in the middle of Black Citadel
I remember the login screen of the beta event before launch too. That beautiful white login screen. I really miss it. I understand why they change it, but still this launcher solution is not my thing.
My favourite event, which was the precursor to a lot of these map wide meta events was the Karka attack on LA. Boy oh boy was that great. The culmination in the attack on South Sun cove was epic. A two hour back and forth battle with hordes of champions and veterans while legions of Karka babies swarmed your feet. Folllowed by a running battle to get to the hive to kill the queen. By Ogden’s hammer was that a mighty fight. I look back on that and feel Tequatl and the Triple Headed Wurm falls somewhat short of that epic fight.
The best part of this for me was that every single karka on my screen was invisible haha!
I only had a vague semblence of an idea of where to aim ground-targeted AoEs thanks to everyone else’s particle effects, and occasionally a forest of downed player symbols would appear (even though I couldn’t see the players themselves) signaling that some enemy had just done something huge (I’m guessing now that they rolled) and I had somehow been lucky enough to survive.
It was a lot of fun.
And this hasn’t been merged into the main thread, I wonder why? I also bought the game 3 years ago and that granted lifetime ownership of my game key necessary to play GW2 and while I welcome all new players to the game I’m not happy my B2P game is F2P
Gosh, if only those free accounts only had some restrictions that b2p doesn’t have.
And that doesnt even address the fact that veterans were able to play ls1, play ls2 for free, have 3 years more experience….
The other factor of course is the reality that ALL video games see their prices reduce and, eventually, go free (or die off). All those old bargain bins. All those once-pricey games on steam. Should all those customers who originally bought those games also be angry?
This is what all the complainers of the cheaper core game don’t get. Thats a part of life of a game! Over time they get cheaper. Period. SURPRISE!
Like World of Warcraft. Which is now free to play. Welcome to the real world.
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