Guild Wars 2

So the expansion came out recently. I haven’t played in a year and have no intention of paying that steep price for a DLC. What advantages do I get as a returning player?

Do not want to argue about the morals of providing new guys the original game for free, just want to know what I would get without dishing out another cent.

Thanks

First of all the F2P version has so many restrictions it’s just better to think of it as a trial that doesn’t have an end. Look it up.
Second – you can still play everything you did before the expansion, you just don’t get the things from the expansion like masteries.

Just as a disclaimer I did buy the expansion and have not found it “just dlc content” In my experience with it, it’s just very large and I have not even gone past the first map, not because I can’t but because I am having that much fun with where I am right now. I have not even done the 2nd part of the story since I am just playing around. Gotten enough of the masteries that I don’t even have to worry about all that gating and grinding some keep trying to say is in there. I don’t rush thru a game, never have and never will.

You get all the thing that the expansion provides to everyone, whether purchased or not. Such as new PvP game mode, new WvW borderland maps, etc.

Welcome return.

Well the main thing is you still have access to everything you had before. Nothing that was in the game before HoT has been removed or made inaccessible as a result of the expansion and none of the restrictions imposed on free accounts apply to you (e.g. they can only have 2 character slots, can’t use map chat, can’t leave starter zones before level 10, can’t enter WvW until level 30 etc.).

But you also get access to some of the new stuff, like the new WvW and PvP maps and when the PvP seasons start you’ll be able to participate in those too.

If your guild has a guild hall you can visit it and use the services there. You also get some of the re-worked guild features like being able to see chat for all your guilds at once (you can also select which ones appear in which chat channels).

Basically the only things you can’t do is visit the new PvE maps and play the storyline and make a revenant character. A lot of PvP or WvW only players have decided not to buy the expansion for exactly that reason.

What do you mean by “free account”?

I purchased the game a year ago, and now it’s considered F2P? Is there a subscription now?

No. But you can create a Play4Free account, which has many restrictions.

Sorry that was me skim-reading your post and misunderstanding. I’ve seen a lot of topics recently from people who heard about the Play for Free announcement and have come to the forum to ask what they got/will get to compensate them for having bought the base game.

But basically no there isn’t a subscription now and the game isn’t considered free to play. For you and me and pretty much everyone else who bought the game nothing has really changed.

But, back in August they did start offering a version of the game which sits somewhere between a demo version and F2P. It’s basically a demo in that free accounts are very heavily restricted (you can see a full list here) and unlike free to play games you can’t lift the restrictions with gold or microtransations – you either buy the game or you’re stuck with them. But unlike most demo versions there’s no time or level limit. It’s entirely possible for someone to play on a free version forever.

(Although based on people I’ve spoken to sooner or later most people who have tried it and didn’t get bored have bought the game because the restrictions get really irritating after a while, especially being unable to trade most items and not getting any laurels.)

Don’t worry about the P4F model, it doesn’t apply to you. The responder misunderstood your OP.

I have two guildies that haven’t bought HoT yet as they have RL distractions in the way of devoting time to the new stuff. They can still do dungeons and fractals and PvE with us, they just can’t get into the new maps, unlock the elite specs, see the new story, or advance their masteries. There’s a lot to do with the expansion, and there may be a little bit of “falling behind” by not having it, more than has previously existed in the game. I know that when I went to help with a fight in Auric Basin before I had first tier Exalted I had to use Teleport to a Friend to get through the gate to the hero challenge, and my one full run in Dragon’s Stand I found a poison area keeping me from helping with an event as I don’t yet have Itzel 4. All the people with higher tier gliding can get places newcomers to the zone can’t reach.

So delay will mean a week or two of your not being able to go where your friends can once you do get HoT. But you won’t have lost anything of the core game you already have other than things that have been iterated out for everyone.

It’s more than a “DLC” at least in the context as you frame it. I mean, since you can get the entire game by download from ANet, it’s all downloadable content … but this isn’t just a little side trip that doesn’t affect most of the game.

What do you get as a result of not buying HoT?

You get less rewards from Fractals if you don’t have HoT.
You get a lack of guild buffs that you would have received pre-HoT.
You get a new WvW map that nobody plays.
You occasionally get 1 extra resource item as a “map reward” when doing events
You get nerfed dungeon rewards for everybody.
You get no ascended drops from Fractals for anybody.