Guild Wars 2

This makes me sad…F2p playes don’t give a kitten about the game nor its community.Weve been playing for 3 years now and i’d have to say it’s the best community ive experienced besides some trolls here and there.F2p players will make it a toxic place,botters will have free gain,there will be Much more hacking going because f2p players dont give a kitten if they’re banned..they’l create a new ip on a new account and keep on going.Besides having more goldsellers aswell…This is the worst thing for gw2 .But atleast more gemstore income right…

I know, I don’t want more gold seller spam. There needs to be extreme restrictions of these accounts.

its the beginning of the end….

GW2 is at a point where it needs new players. Not just returning vets, but brand new players that haven’t tried GW2 yet. Going F2P will do just that. It’ll fill the servers up again, and get more people into WvW/PvP.

3 years into a game’s launch, they either do this or continue downward spiral…slow but still downward spiral. I think they’re making the right choice to make sure more people join this fine game. I’m ok with it.

You have to take the good with the bad. The game needs more players and company seeking more revenue from a game that should by all means garner more popularity. If I look at GW2 it has smooth combat controls, smooth animations, fast action combat, and a pretty world. It also have PvE, PvP, and WvW modes to cater to everybody. If more people and increased revenue is what it’ll take for Anet to spend more dev resources on GW2, then so be it.

There are 3 most probable scenarios of what happened:

• 1: It is just a joke Anet and IGN are working on together (or maybe just Anet, IGN maybe don’t know it’s not true), while the truth will be announced on Saturday. Anet is currently watching how are people reacting to information gw2 is going to be f2p and raids will appear.
• 2: It is true and IGN somehow learned it and released it to the world. People at Anet are probably very angry now.
• 3: It is not true and IGN is just trolling, while Anet has nothing to do with that.

Avador.8934:

• 2: It is true and IGN somehow learned it and released it to the world. People at Anet are probably very angry now.

I think IGN either leaked by accident, or they leaked on purpose to gain traffic/click revenue. A leaked story like this will likely increase their traffic by thousands in just an hour or two.

Another probability is Anet ok’ed the leak, because these things usually aren’t done without coordination. A leaked story gives people something to chew on, and it won’t hurt Anet one bit. Now people will be talking about it for the next two days before official reveal.

Avador.8934:

There are 3 most probable scenarios of what happened:

• 1: It is just a joke Anet and IGN are working on together (or maybe just Anet, IGN maybe don’t know it’s not true), while the truth will be announced on Saturday. Anet is currently watching how are people reacting to information gw2 is going to be f2p and raids will appear.
• 2: It is true and IGN somehow learned it and released it to the world. People at Anet are probably very angry now.
• 3: It is not true and IGN is just trolling, while Anet has nothing to do with that.

*4: Anet had IGN leak it early to see how bad the backlash would be and maybe make a slight adjustment to what they had planned.

We’ve gone from “Ahhh!!! The world is going to end, they’re going to make us pay a subscription!!!” to “Ahhh!!! The world is going to end, they’re going free-to-play!!!” in just 2 days. Amazing!

gavyne.6847:

GW2 is at a point where it needs new players. Not just returning vets, but brand new players that haven’t tried GW2 yet. Going F2P will do just that. It’ll fill the servers up again, and get more people into WvW/PvP.

3 years into a game’s launch, they either do this or continue downward spiral…slow but still downward spiral. I think they’re making the right choice to make sure more people join this fine game. I’m ok with it.

You have to take the good with the bad. The game needs more players and company seeking more revenue from a game that should by all means garner more popularity. If I look at GW2 it has smooth combat controls, smooth animations, fast action combat, and a pretty world. It also have PvE, PvP, and WvW modes to cater to everybody. If more people and increased revenue is what it’ll take for Anet to spend more dev resources on GW2, then so be it.

This is a very true post.

My guess is that we’re going to see a model where the core game is free going forward, and then ArenaNet sells expansions separately. This would let them do something like they did with the first Guild Wars, where each campaign (except Eye of the North) was standalone and didn’t require any of the others to play. In this case, each expansion would be effectively standalone, because the base game that they require would be free.

It’s not a terrible model. If they take the necessary steps to prevent botters and gold sellers from aggressively abusing free accounts—limitations on who you can communicate with, how you can trade items, etc.—then I think this will end up being a net gain.

Could it be botched horribly? Yes, obviously. Anything could. But it doesn’t have to be.

I imagine this will be coordinated with the release of HoT. When HoT goes live central Tyria will become abandoned except for those still leveling a character to 80 who own HoT and those players who didn’t buy it yet. A F2P core game will keep this area populated.

Manasa Devi.7958:

We’ve gone from “Ahhh!!! The world is going to end, they’re going to make us pay a subscription!!!” to “Ahhh!!! The world is going to end, they’re going free-to-play!!!” in just 2 days. Amazing!

lmao, so true just another day on the forums

Behellagh.1468:

I imagine this will be coordinated with the release of HoT. When HoT goes live central Tyria will become abandoned except for those still leveling a character to 80 who own HoT and those players who didn’t buy it yet. A F2P core game will keep this area populated.

Map rewards are probably going to help with this, too.

Interestingly, the IGN press release that came with the video was worded like F2P would be effective immediately. It’s possible they’re going to launch F2P before the release of HoT, probably to drum up more interest in HoT from people who haven’t played GW2 and would try it when it’s free.

GW2 is NOT going F2P. This is a trial account period. Like a max level of 20, max pvp level of 10 and quite a few other restrictions.

I have never said that in any game forum i played in the past, but….

If GW2 goes full f2p on core game, i am really thinking about quitting the game.

Well i don’t want to take away the money and new players from ArenaNet, but i also don’t want to deal with toxic community. And we ALL know, that f2p games are source of evill and toxic community, thats why i dont play f2p games.

http://thatshaman.blogspot.ca/2014/07/upcoming-features-from-entanglement.html

As you can see, this is NOT F2P.

Wildkitten.3872:

http://thatshaman.blogspot.ca/2014/07/upcoming-features-from-entanglement.html

As you can see, this is NOT F2P.

This post is from one year ago.

nehezbegar.1065:

Wildkitten.3872:

http://thatshaman.blogspot.ca/2014/07/upcoming-features-from-entanglement.html

As you can see, this is NOT F2P.

This post is from one year ago.

And it’s this datamine everyone is going on.

Wildkitten.3872:

GW2 is NOT going F2P. This is a trial account period. Like a max level of 20, max pvp level of 10 and quite a few other restrictions.

Sorry, but that doesn’t gel with… well, anything we know. If you’re going by the datamining, that was from over a year ago and does not necessarily reflect on what’s going to be announced Saturday. It may well represent an abandoned initiative that ArenaNet played with but didn’t follow through on.

This trailer is pretty unambiguous: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3qU4zDPFhU

The core game will be free and expansions (or at least Heart of Thorns) will be paid for. They’re probably doing this because bringing in new players is important, and gem sales generate a lot more revenue than game sales do. More players = more potential gem sales.

Wildkitten.3872:

nehezbegar.1065:

Wildkitten.3872:

http://thatshaman.blogspot.ca/2014/07/upcoming-features-from-entanglement.html

As you can see, this is NOT F2P.

This post is from one year ago.

And it’s this datamine everyone is going on.

No we aren’t. We’re going on the IGN leak and the leaked free to play trailer.

I haven’t read the whole thread yet but I already want to put my two cents: No F2P pleeeease? :P However, more free weekends on some regular base would be nice.

Agent Noun.7350:

More players = more potential gem sales.

And tons and tons fo problems for exisitng players. I defended ArenaNet when they included free core game with HoT. But this f2p nonsense (if its going full f2p) is not defendable, sorry.

nehezbegar.1065:

Agent Noun.7350:

More players = more potential gem sales.

And tons and tons fo problems for exisitng players. I defended ArenaNet when they included free core game with HoT. But this f2p nonsense (if its going full f2p) is not defendable, sorry.

Those problems are all preventable and solvable. While I’m skeptical of ArenaNet’s ability to do so, I want to see what their plans are before I declare the death of GW2.

Also note that I was only presenting ArenaNet’s justification for doing it, not a defense of the move. For what it’s worth, I think it’s entirely within the realm of possibility that it will work out as a net positive for the game, but it’s going to take a very careful and very thoughtful ArenaNet to do it.

nehezbegar.1065:

I have never said that in any game forum i played in the past, but….

If GW2 goes full f2p on core game, i am really thinking about quitting the game.

Well i don’t want to take away the money and new players from ArenaNet, but i also don’t want to deal with toxic community. And we ALL know, that f2p games are source of evill and toxic community, thats why i dont play f2p games.

Exactly.
If gw2 goes f2p we can say goodbye to our great community and welcome masses of trolls and gold sellers. If that is true (but I still hope it’s not), then it’s really awful to announce it after so many people bought HoT already.

Agent Noun.7350:

Wildkitten.3872:

nehezbegar.1065:

Wildkitten.3872:

http://thatshaman.blogspot.ca/2014/07/upcoming-features-from-entanglement.html

As you can see, this is NOT F2P.

This post is from one year ago.

And it’s this datamine everyone is going on.

No we aren’t. We’re going on the IGN leak and the leaked free to play trailer.

YES and that is where IGN got their info from. That’s what is in the files now.

I can only hope it gonna be restricted free to play trial. Started my journey with GW2, because I was tired of F2P games’ community and wanted to try something different. Don’t kitten it ANet..

Linking back to my post that lists the only text in the video.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/IGN-Tweet-Core-Game-F2P-what-does-this-mean-unconfirmed/page/5#post5423568

Nothing there doesn’t preclude restrictions to aspects of the game that have nothing to do with PvE/PvP/WvW content.

And maybe I hang at the wrong forums when games went F2P but I never noticed a rise of toxicity that some are bemoaning is going to happen.

Edit: fixed for grammar and brain damage.

Wildkitten.3872:

YES and that is where IGN got their info from. That’s what is in the files now.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!

The datamined version from one year ago is not what IGN just twitted about, obviously. We also know it’s wrong – the trailer for the free to play version, which has been linked in this topic and is being discussed by those who actually know their kitten, mentions having access to WvW even when playing for free, which is the opposite of what the old and obsolete datamine said.

Face it, what you smell is desperation. GW2 is now a free to play game.

Behellagh.1468:

Nothing there doesn’t preclude restrictions are aspects of the game that has nothing to do with PvE/PvP/WvW content.

Yeah, because the huge line about experimenting “UNLIMITED” content isn’t a hint that we won’t see the kind of restriction some people in this topic are dreaming about.

Some people will refuse to face the truth even after it bites them.

Sylent.3165:

Sigh I hope it’s not true.

1. Free to play typically means the game is over. When games go free to play they don’t last as long. And the amount of spam we will get from gold sellers will be awful.

2. We don’t need raids. I understand people like them and have been asking for them but seriously go play wow and ff14. A large amount of people in this game got it to get away from garbage that destroys the community in other mmo games.

Anet please tell me it’s not true. Your looking more like a wow copycat, next it will be a gear treadmill

You’re wrong. Speak for yourself

1. This won’t change anything for me.

2. Raids have been known to be coming, and this will please many, including myself, that we finally have something to do

Avador.8934:

nehezbegar.1065:

I have never said that in any game forum i played in the past, but….

If GW2 goes full f2p on core game, i am really thinking about quitting the game.

Well i don’t want to take away the money and new players from ArenaNet, but i also don’t want to deal with toxic community. And we ALL know, that f2p games are source of evill and toxic community, thats why i dont play f2p games.

Exactly.
If gw2 goes f2p we can say goodbye to our great community and welcome masses of trolls and gold sellers. If that is true (but I still hope it’s not), then it’s really awful to announce it after so many people bought HoT already.

What great community? This game’s community is pretty much the same as any other game’s community. WoW’s community is “toxic and evil” and that game has a huge barrier in terms of payment. Doesn’t stop anyone from spreading toxicity. Going by the logic that F2P = toxicity, WoW should be the least toxic game in existence. But it isn’t. Neither is Guild Wars 2.

The only thing changing here is that we’ll probably see more spam, unless ArenaNet makes new accounts unable to whisper, mail, and use the trading post.

Hey, uh… maybe it’s possible everyone mourning the loss of this game’s “great community” is playing a different game than I am, because this game has its fair share of trolls, elitists, and all-around jerks.

Whatever is good about GW2’s community comes about as a result of what kind of game it is, not a monetary barrier of entry. WoW costs money and its community is toxic as all getout because of what kind of game it is. I seriously question the premise that the core game going F2P will inevitably destroy the game’s community long-term, especially when expansions remain paid. The people you’re worried about destroying the community? Many of them probably won’t like GW2 enough to stick around, because it is not a game that facilitates ruining other people’s play, nor does it offer the kind of framework required to satisfy the kind of people that ruin community’s like LoL’s.

Wildkitten.3872:

Agent Noun.7350:

Wildkitten.3872:

nehezbegar.1065:

Wildkitten.3872:

http://thatshaman.blogspot.ca/2014/07/upcoming-features-from-entanglement.html

As you can see, this is NOT F2P.

This post is from one year ago.

And it’s this datamine everyone is going on.

No we aren’t. We’re going on the IGN leak and the leaked free to play trailer.

YES and that is where IGN got their info from. That’s what is in the files now.

It most definitely is not. Unless you’re suggesting the trailer on YouTube is somehow in the game files and is also a year old?

If it somehow gonna happen I can only hope for some kind of benefits for players who already bought the game and make special tag for f2p kittens so I can ignore them..

Wildkitten.3872:

nehezbegar.1065:

Wildkitten.3872:

http://thatshaman.blogspot.ca/2014/07/upcoming-features-from-entanglement.html

As you can see, this is NOT F2P.

This post is from one year ago.

And it’s this datamine everyone is going on.

No, it is not. The only people citing that as being a possible basis for the constraints of the rumored free-to-play accounts are those that refuse to acknowledge that the information in that datamining is over a year old and was in reference to an unimplemented trial account status with those restrictions.

The only real free-to-play information us players have (for now) is based on the since-removed ArenaNet-produced info/Ad-video IGN had leaked in a tweet, where details found within it support a fully free-to-play model for the core game.

It is very likely that free-to-play core game is their plan and is not likely to be backed away from. It is ANet we’re talking about here – they do what they want, loyal players be Kittened. The only thing really to discuss is speculation on what form of free-to-play account restrictions ANet will implement, and then what form of free-to-play account restrictions ANet should implement. As what they should logically do and what they will do are not likely to be anything near similar.

Test.8734:

Wildkitten.3872:

YES and that is where IGN got their info from. That’s what is in the files now.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!

The datamined version from one year ago is not what IGN just twitted about, obviously. We also know it’s wrong – the trailer for the free to play version, which has been linked in this topic and is being discussed by those who actually know their kitten, mentions having access to WvW even when playing for free, which is the opposite of what the old and obsolete datamine said.

Face it, what you smell is desperation. GW2 is now a free to play game.

Behellagh.1468:

Nothing there doesn’t preclude restrictions are aspects of the game that has nothing to do with PvE/PvP/WvW content.

Yeah, because the huge line about experimenting “UNLIMITED” content isn’t a hint that we won’t see the kind of restriction some people in this topic are dreaming about.

Some people will refuse to face the truth even after it bites them.

And EOTM is still WvW. Simply not EB or the Borderlands.

Games breed toxic communities. A lot of the games you see with toxic communities aren’t due to those games being F2P, but because of certain aspects of the games where they pit players against each other. WoW for an example, for the longest time subscription game, had damage meters. On raids & dungeons if you didn’t do top tier damage or top tier heals, you were laughed at and harassed. That’s just one example where toxic communities were bred from what the game allowed rather than whether a game is F2P or not.

And if people don’t think there are toxic segments of the GW2 community, you need to either open your eyes more or play different game modes. There’s plenty of that to go around in GW2.

Also note that the way GW2 is designed, players are not playing against each other for loot in PvE. This alleviates a lot of the issues that creates a toxic environment. You see this in other MMO’s. GW2’s PvE is designed so everybody’s rewarded for participation. If you didn’t get something, you get angry at the game rather than at other players.

I think F2P will work fine in GW2. You’ll get bad apples for sure, but overall with this game 3 years old, they deserve props for wanting to grow the game rather than let it sit stale and dwindle in player population. You simply can’t rely on vet playerbase forever, people leave. F2P is a good way to bring new blood into the game.

gavyne.6847:

Games breed toxic communities. A lot of the games you see with toxic communities aren’t due to those games being F2P, but because of certain aspects of the games where they pit players against each other. WoW for an example, for the longest time subscription game, had damage meters. On raids & dungeons if you didn’t do top tier damage or top tier heals, you were laughed at and harassed. That’s just one example where toxic communities were bred from what the game allowed rather than whether a game is F2P or not.

And if people don’t think there are toxic segments of the GW2 community, you need to either open your eyes more or play different game modes. There’s plenty of that to go around in GW2.

Also note that the way GW2 is designed, players are not playing against each other for loot in PvE. This alleviates a lot of the issues that creates a toxic environment. You see this in other MMO’s. GW2’s PvE is designed so everybody’s rewarded for participation. If you didn’t get something, you get angry at the game rather than at other players.

I think F2P will work fine in GW2. You’ll get bad apples for sure, but overall with this game 3 years old, they deserve props for wanting to grow the game rather than let it sit stale and dwindle in player population. You simply can’t rely on vet playerbase forever, people leave. F2P is a good way to bring new blood into the game.

This is what I was trying to argue above but you did it better.

Basically, listen to this post. If GW2 does have an especially great community, I guarantee the game’s price tag is not the reason for it.

Simeonus.9237:

If it somehow gonna happen I can only hope for some kind of benefits for players who already bought the game and make special tag for f2p kittens so I can ignore them..

Why would it matter if they payed full price for a game you don’t have to pay monthly to play or 1/2 price or $10 or free? I don’t understand beyond the obvious vector for RMT spammers that being a F2P player means they will be troublesome rift raft that need to be shunned.

This wouldn’t be surprising but it does show some signs of desperation.

Free core game is absolutely genius

I don’t like it, but it does make sense. They are already giving away the core game for free with HoT and this would allow more people to try out the game. Still, they are going to need some kind of restrictions or this will wreck the economy and Anet has always disliked things that mess too much with the economy…

So we will have 3 tiers of players now?

1. People who bought HoT.
2. People who didn’t by HoT.
3. F2P accounts.

Didn’t they say they wanted to have less amounts of layers? I guess you can’t buy vanilla gw2 anymore though.

xarallei.4279:

I don’t like it, but it does make sense. They are already giving away the core game for free with HoT and this would allow more people to try out the game. Still, they are going to need some kind of restrictions or this will wreck the economy and Anet has always disliked things that mess too much with the economy…

Yeah, that’s why I think there’ll be restrictions on trading and mailing especially. ArenaNet is very protective of the game economy.

RAID HYPE

Not worried. Not worried if the free accounts are limited. Nor am I worried if they’ve basically got everything a core account has now, including PvP, WvW including EB/Borderlands).

There have been a lot of things announced recently that make more sense if Anet had these plans for full free to play coming up. Pact Commander mastery track with the goal of helping new players and tools to go along with it. PvP leagues. WvW population changes. And increased account security options.

Prediction 1: In order to get a free account, you’ll need to provide a valid mobile or landline phone number for SMS authentication. One number per one free account. (GoogleVoice and other such numbers will not work.)
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/a-new-way-to-protect-your-account/
This will prevent most bot/spam accounts from being created. It also means those accounts will already have 2-factor authentication from the beginning greatly limiting whether they could be compromised. It will also mean everyone can’t just roll up as many accounts as they need for bank storage alts.

Prediction 2: Ranked PvP gets turned into leagues as previously announced. Free accounts get unranked access.
More people playing PvP in general is a good thing – it keeps matches from getting stale and matchmaking works much better with larger numbers of people queueing. GW2 also gets a bump as far as esports goes with free PvP access.

Prediction 3: Free accounts get full WvW access, not only EOTM.
This could go a LONG way to resolving population imbalances in lower tiers. It may sound bad at first to dump a lot of free players on the lower tiers – but as long as queue times don’t get out of control, everyone wins with more people in WvW spread across all the servers that were lacking.

NoTrigger.8396:

RAID HYPE

Are we all getting free WoW subs for a month?

MashMash.1645:

NoTrigger.8396:

RAID HYPE

Are we all getting free WoW subs for a month?

No, but we’re definitely getting raids.

HYPE!

Tamasan.6457:

Not worried. Not worried if the free accounts are limited. Nor am I worried if they’ve basically got everything a core account has now, including PvP, WvW including EB/Borderlands).

There have been a lot of things announced recently that make more sense if Anet had these plans for full free to play coming up. Pact Commander mastery track with the goal of helping new players and tools to go along with it. PvP leagues. WvW population changes. And increased account security options.

Prediction 1: In order to get a free account, you’ll need to provide a valid mobile or landline phone number for SMS authentication. One number per one free account. (GoogleVoice and other such numbers will not work.)
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/a-new-way-to-protect-your-account/
This will prevent most bot/spam accounts from being created. It also means those accounts will already have 2-factor authentication from the beginning greatly limiting whether they could be compromised. It will also mean everyone can’t just roll up as many accounts as they need for bank storage alts.

Prediction 2: Ranked PvP gets turned into leagues as previously announced. Free accounts get unranked access.
More people playing PvP in general is a good thing – it keeps matches from getting stale and matchmaking works much better with larger numbers of people queueing. GW2 also gets a bump as far as esports goes with free PvP access.

Prediction 3: Free accounts get full WvW access, not only EOTM.
This could go a LONG way to resolving population imbalances in lower tiers. It may sound bad at first to dump a lot of free players on the lower tiers – but as long as queue times don’t get out of control, everyone wins with more people in WvW spread across all the servers that were lacking.

I really like your Prediction 1. That would be a real good start to the limitations for making new free-to-play accounts. Well done.

I do not take part in PvP/WvW, but your logic seems sound to me on those matters so I’d be for those predictions being implemented as well.

I am happy about the raids though. So that’s good news at least.

good and ……… finally!

is this for real? not even gw1 being free for everyone atm.
if thats the case, i will Quit !!!

I really hope they’ve got some strict limits planned, especially for the economic side of things. If not, this move could easily destroy the game. I expect that they’ve already planned some, but I don’t have a great deal of faith in Anet fully understanding the implications and taking enough precautions.

As for the game community, GW2 is definitely designed to encourage cooperation and helpfulness over competition and toxicity. But going free to play also removes the entry barrier to those that have no interest aside from being disruptive and toxic. Not that the game is free of trolls, elitists, jerks now, but at least they needed enough interest in the game itself to pay for it. The only barrier to the fresh trolling ground of a free game is a few hours or less of download time.

I don’t expect the community go to crap, but I do expect to see some change for the worse. The free games I’ve played do seem to, at the least, have a much more ‘colorful’ map/zone chat in early areas and cities.

Shaogin.2679:

http://dulfy.net/2015/08/27/gw2-getting-raids-with-core-game-being-free/

Looks like raids are coming and the core game is going to be available to everyone for free. Thoughts?

There is a goliath-of-a-discussion already taking place, please comment in the big thread as this one will likely be merged with it soon.