Guild Wars 2

No free trial really turned alot people off from buy the game, how about we have a permanent(I mean permnent by always going) free trial. But it has a time limit, you could only play for 12 hours and will have to buy the game after the time is used. How is this sound?

You could also do something like WoW’s free trail. Have it cap at lvl 20. It gives them access to pretty much just the starter zones. Have the mail and AH locked out so players can’t use them as unlimited storage for there main accounts.

One issues you would run into is more servers becoming listed as full do to abandoned free accounts. This could be fixed by having a specific home server for free accounts. They would still play with others due to the megaservers, but would not affect WvW.

I think a time limit would be a little too restrictive. I agree with simplesimon and think that a level and zone cap would be a better solution.

Oh, and make sure that these accounts can’t use any chat other than party chat. I don’t fancy seeing a load of gold sellers in chat :P

please please make them have their own little zone with a preview of the real world. otherwise the trolling and toxic behaviour will even get worse then it currently has become already after the sales.

mcwurth.2081:

please please make them have their own little zone with a preview of the real world. otherwise the trolling and toxic behaviour will even get worse then it currently has become already after the sales.

If they can’t access map chat, trolling won’t be so much of a problem.

I do think it’s important that they get to see an accurate representation of what the (paying) community is like though- it’s a vital factor for many when choosing to play/purchase a game. Putting all free trial accounts in a separate instance to regular players doesn’t offer this insight.

Crimson Clouds.4853:

mcwurth.2081:

please please make them have their own little zone with a preview of the real world. otherwise the trolling and toxic behaviour will even get worse then it currently has become already after the sales.

If they can’t access map chat, trolling won’t be so much of a problem.

I do think it’s important that they get to see an accurate representation of what the (paying) community is like though- it’s a vital factor for many when choosing to play/purchase a game. Putting all free trial accounts in a separate instance to regular players doesn’t offer this insight.

then no map chat would take away a load of the accurate representation as well, they cant ask for help or ask other players how to use x in combination with z.

really though, no whispers, no trading, intolerant spam filters, swearing will be censored no matter the settings of any paying costumers settings. because the gold selling and trolling must kept at bay. Not to say that all trial players will be trolls, but the amount of trolls are way to high for “my” taste already as of last two 10 bucks per game account sale, I turned of map chat because of it, I do not need that stuff, so yeah I am sure i am missing out on interesting conversations lately. then again, Anet hardly have trials, and when they do it is like a 48 hour weekend or something or a coupon with purchased games (hard copy) to let a friend play full on for a few days (15 hours i think it was or was it 15 days? in gw1). So keep the hopes up for trials, lol.

ArenaNet offers refunds if you purchase the game directly through them. There’s really no need for a free trial, which likely does more harm than good.

I think it could work if they did it using the same restrictions as they’ve had in place for previous free trials: can’t talk in map chat or send whispers, can’t send items or gold by mail, can’t deposit to or withdraw from guild banks, can’t buy gems or use the gold to gem exchange. I can’t remember if they could use the trading post though.

And obviously add either a time or level limit so they can’t keep playing indefinitely.

Danikat.8537:

I think it could work if they did it using the same restrictions as they’ve had in place for previous free trials: can’t talk in map chat or send whispers, can’t send items or gold by mail, can’t deposit to or withdraw from guild banks, can’t buy gems or use the gold to gem exchange. I can’t remember if they could use the trading post though.

And obviously add either a time or level limit so they can’t keep playing indefinitely.

While yes this is pretty much needed restrictions or we would get a HUGE influx of gold seller advertising accounts, but on the other hand it is so restricted it could literally turn off people from buying the game because of it

I like the have a separate map idea.
The account would only have one character slot. and be allowed to change the looks of the character before entering the game.
A way it could be done is to have a temp position for each race.
Humans = soldier, Asuran = pre-student, No idea on others… basically a clay model that you would later get to choose the rest of the character details.

After you complete the zone, and purchase the game you are given another menu to choose your class, race traits (back story) and character looks and save and progress into the next part (either the beginning story, or option to skip)

In the preview zone would have a class trainer allowing you to switch classes and try them all out, (each change would give u basic set of weapons and armor) and soulbound.
Very limited access to a bank (but to show the wardrobe feature), along with a few nodes (of a preview item, no main steam)

This would be a good way for players to chat with other people previewing the game and see if they would like it

mcwurth.2081:

Crimson Clouds.4853:

mcwurth.2081:

please please make them have their own little zone with a preview of the real world. otherwise the trolling and toxic behaviour will even get worse then it currently has become already after the sales.

If they can’t access map chat, trolling won’t be so much of a problem.

I do think it’s important that they get to see an accurate representation of what the (paying) community is like though- it’s a vital factor for many when choosing to play/purchase a game. Putting all free trial accounts in a separate instance to regular players doesn’t offer this insight.

then no map chat would take away a load of the accurate representation as well, they cant ask for help or ask other players how to use x in combination with z.

really though, no whispers, no trading, intolerant spam filters, swearing will be censored no matter the settings of any paying costumers settings. because the gold selling and trolling must kept at bay. Not to say that all trial players will be trolls, but the amount of trolls are way to high for “my” taste already as of last two 10 bucks per game account sale, I turned of map chat because of it, I do not need that stuff, so yeah I am sure i am missing out on interesting conversations lately. then again, Anet hardly have trials, and when they do it is like a 48 hour weekend or something or a coupon with purchased games (hard copy) to let a friend play full on for a few days (15 hours i think it was or was it 15 days? in gw1). So keep the hopes up for trials, lol.

I think it was.something like 15 days or 12 hours what ever came first.

Crimson Clouds.4853:

I think a time limit would be a little too restrictive. I agree with simplesimon and think that a level and zone cap would be a better solution.

Oh, and make sure that these accounts can’t use any chat other than party chat. I don’t fancy seeing a load of gold sellers in chat :P

The problem is new player needs to experience pvp, pvp could be a game of it self. And level gate that is kind of hard.

Healix.5819:

ArenaNet offers refunds if you purchase the game directly through them. There’s really no need for a free trial, which likely does more harm than good.

Well, Walmart offer refund to everything, and most people would still buy the brand they are familiar with. That is not a solution, most consumer will not buy a product they don’t know much about.

I’m join in this game because 7 day free trial last year so it might be good.

warbignime.4610:

Crimson Clouds.4853:

I think a time limit would be a little too restrictive. I agree with simplesimon and think that a level and zone cap would be a better solution.

Oh, and make sure that these accounts can’t use any chat other than party chat. I don’t fancy seeing a load of gold sellers in chat :P

The problem is new player needs to experience pvp, pvp could be a game of it self. And level gate that is kind of hard.

I was wondering if they would benefit from making the spvp free to play in some limited way. Practice and Unranked only, limited character slots, PvE rewards sit there until you buy the game. Could bring new players in, but I don’t know if it would be worth the development costs and community backlash. It seemed to work for TF2, and sPvP could probably learn a thing or two from TF2.

I remember Free Trial weekends, and that’s not a good memory, gold sellers enjoyed it just to to much.

GummiBear.2756:

Danikat.8537:

I think it could work if they did it using the same restrictions as they’ve had in place for previous free trials: can’t talk in map chat or send whispers, can’t send items or gold by mail, can’t deposit to or withdraw from guild banks, can’t buy gems or use the gold to gem exchange. I can’t remember if they could use the trading post though.

And obviously add either a time or level limit so they can’t keep playing indefinitely.

While yes this is pretty much needed restrictions or we would get a HUGE influx of gold seller advertising accounts, but on the other hand it is so restricted it could literally turn off people from buying the game because of it

Apart from being unable to talk in map chat I don’t think any of those would seriously restrict people who genuinely want to try playing the game so they can decide if it’s worth buying. New players are unlikely to need to send items by mail, or have much use for guild banks and everyone I know took a while to realise using the TP was better than using NPC merchants. And the restriction on buying gems is to protect them: you don’t want to let people spend real money buying items for an account that’s going to be deleted soon.

They would still be able to see that these features are in the game, but when they try to use them they get a message like “This feature is only available on permanent accounts.”

Remember this isn’t supposed to be a free-to-play version of GW2 they can stick with. It’s basically a demo version, something you play for a short time then either quit or buy the full version of.

Just make it another server by default, so that trial players cannot interact with other players in the game world unless partied allowing them to “join map”. By default they will only be able to interact with each other ,but can be brought into the normal world by their friends who will be held responsible for their actions.

Disable all whisper, mail, etc. functionality. Only allow parties and guilds.

Ordinarily, yes I would say that MMORPGs most definitely should offer some kind of free trial or demo. Especially games where you still have to pay full price at retail, plus monthly subscriptions thereafter. I’m not usually willing to risk that amount of money on a game I may not really enjoy in the long term, especially since if I don’t stay subbed I basically don’t have a game anymore.

But in GW2’s case, there is no sub fee, and on several occasions the price has gone down as low as $10. And once you have it, you have it forever, to play on your own time and your own pace. I don’t really consider that any real risk, and even if you don’t stick with it for a long time it has got to be worth at least ten bucks.

Fyrebrand.4859:

Ordinarily, yes I would say that MMORPGs most definitely should offer some kind of free trial or demo. Especially games where you still have to pay full price at retail, plus monthly subscriptions thereafter. I’m not usually willing to risk that amount of money on a game I may not really enjoy in the long term, especially since if I don’t stay subbed I basically don’t have a game anymore.

But in GW2’s case, there is no sub fee, and on several occasions the price has gone down as low as $10. And once you have it, you have it forever, to play on your own time and your own pace. I don’t really consider that any real risk, and even if you don’t stick with it for a long time it has got to be worth at least ten bucks.

That’s a good point, but customers still deserve to try before they buy. It’s one of the many reasons why Let’s Plays exist, so people can check the game out before they buy it to see if it’s worth their time and money. On that note, always look up gameplay videos of games without demos before you buy (reviews from trusted sources, too).

I wouldn’t be opposed to a timed trial sort of thing as long as it takes place on a specific server separate from the megaserver and paid servers. Many things would have to happen to make it viable, such as turning off mail privileges, turning off chat entirely, and restricting access to only a few levels/maps so that gold sellers wouldn’t get a chance to scam any people trying the game.

We have enough goldsellers as it is no need to flood the game with new accounts every second to spam /map /whisper or /say. Trial weekends happen from time to time and the game has been on sale every 2 months for almost a year now ranging from 5-10$ which is a steal.
If they want to see gameplay there’s twitch and youtube.