Will Guild Wars ever go Free To Play?

Will Guild Wars ever go Free To Play?

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Posted by: wouw.5837

wouw.5837

I have been playing loads of Guild Wars lately, but unfortunately there are barely any players left, especially PvP is as dead as it can be.

So I was wondering, now Guild Wars 2 is Free 2 Play, why not giveaway Guild Wars for free when you buy Guild Wars 2?

P.S. Maybe then A-net could finally finish GW: beyond. Sell it as dlc, I don’t care I just want to play it.

Elona is Love, Elona is life.

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Posted by: Ok I Did It.2854

Ok I Did It.2854

Im actually surprised that Guild Wars hasn’t went full to play completely unlocked full to play I mean, I know a few friends who only joined the GW games with GW2, and ive suggested a few times they should go back and play threw GW1, but its never on offer,

Given the game is running on its own now, with little to no interaction from Anet, yea they should push it out as a free to play game now, fully unlocked, esp if the player has bought GW2 HoT.

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Posted by: Dawdler.8521

Dawdler.8521

I seriously doubt it. They still need to keep the servers running, so its not without costs. I never played original guild wars but they dont have a gemstore, right? So no income. IE no reason to give it for free.

That said, I just looked it up on Steam and was quite surprised that gw and its expansions still has a fairly high cost.

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Posted by: Glenstorm.4059

Glenstorm.4059

Guild Wars does have a store, which offers costumes and convenience items/upgrades. AFAIK the only content “expansion” the store offers is the Bonus Mission Pack, which is nice to have if you’re into the lore of the world and/or REALLY want the BMP-exclusive weapon skins. The GW1 store was the prototype for the Guild Wars 2 Gem Store, though the original game does not have a separate currency for its store (only accepts real-world cash.) I suspect people still buy stuff off the store, though I don’t have any idea if that income alone is enough to keep the servers running.

Honestly though, I support the idea of the original GW campaigns still being buy-to-play, in the (vain) hope that Anet sees that people still love the original game and that there is still demand for additional content, such as rounding off the Guild Wars: Beyond Elona campaign.

Fear the might of SHATTERSTONE.

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Posted by: Traced.3495

Traced.3495

I just want character slots… I loathe to give money to ArenaNet, but if a character slot was 2 or 3 € I might get a bunch. I clearly don’t have enough ritualists yet. :/
There’s some other shop stuff I have been wanting to get, but the prices feel very steep these days.

let the sky fall

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Posted by: wouw.5837

wouw.5837

I’d assume they would have to add some new gemstore stuff to make it profitable.

They could give away the 3 base games for free ( Just proph won’t be enough to keep players interested these days, factions and NF are just way better games, also heroes) and sell EotN, so if people want to get HoM they still need to invest money.

Elona is Love, Elona is life.

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Posted by: Yargesh.4965

Yargesh.4965

No it won’t.

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Posted by: Just a flesh wound.3589

Just a flesh wound.3589

I doubt it will become f2p. They are no longer supporting the game except for keeping the servers running, and iirc they fix exploits. I don’t think they are even fixing bugs anymore. If it became f2p that would pull in new players who would want bugs fixed and support for their problems, which is a cost to ANet. imo they’d just as soon have all gw1 players completely leave so they can turn off the servers.

Be careful what you ask for
ANet may give it to you.

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Posted by: Glenstorm.4059

Glenstorm.4059

Nah, I don’t think they want people to stop playing GW1. They wouldn’t still sell the game otherwise. If they do want to shutter the servers (which I don’t think will happen soon), they would stop selling the game and notify players of the impending shutdown.

I think they recognize that the original games still attract new players and definitely continue to hold value for veterans. I don’t see GW going away any time soon. I know that I myself will probably be playing GW until the day they finally shut it down (may it be a long way away.)

Fear the might of SHATTERSTONE.

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Posted by: Just a flesh wound.3589

Just a flesh wound.3589

Nah, I don’t think they want people to stop playing GW1. They wouldn’t still sell the game otherwise. If they do want to shutter the servers (which I don’t think will happen soon), they would stop selling the game and notify players of the impending shutdown.

I think they recognize that the original games still attract new players and definitely continue to hold value for veterans. I don’t see GW going away any time soon. I know that I myself will probably be playing GW until the day they finally shut it down (may it be a long way away.)

Inertia is a fact of business life, as well as physics.

The decisions about selling of the games and what’s in the shops are made by a different set of people that do the creating of content. As long as the old game is making some profit and not causing too much problems then inertia will have the old game still be sold without marketing, or anyone else, giving it to much attention. It’s in the background quietly chugging along. That doesn’t mean that the main Devs want people to play Guild Wars 1. People who are playing Guild Wars 1 aren’t in the new game, bringing up concurrency numbers and buying from the gem store. Benign neglect isn’t the same as wanting people to play Guild Wars 1.

Be careful what you ask for
ANet may give it to you.

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Posted by: slamfunction.7462

slamfunction.7462

It is F2P.

You mean, will the HoT expansion ever be “F2P too?” Probably when the next xpac hits.

Arena Nets are used to catch Gladiator Fish.

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Posted by: RoseofGilead.8907

RoseofGilead.8907

It is F2P.

You mean, will the HoT expansion ever be “F2P too?” Probably when the next xpac hits.

No, OP is talking about Guild Wars. The first Guild Wars game.

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Posted by: BrotherBelial.3094

BrotherBelial.3094

Probably never, they don’t really have anyone actively working on GW anymore. There in game shop is limited to a few items, bank tabs a few outfits, skill unlocks for PvP only characters and hero’s and a mission pack. That’s it. Not enough to to keep the game alive if it went f2p.

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Posted by: Glenstorm.4059

Glenstorm.4059

Nah, I don’t think they want people to stop playing GW1. They wouldn’t still sell the game otherwise. If they do want to shutter the servers (which I don’t think will happen soon), they would stop selling the game and notify players of the impending shutdown.

I think they recognize that the original games still attract new players and definitely continue to hold value for veterans. I don’t see GW going away any time soon. I know that I myself will probably be playing GW until the day they finally shut it down (may it be a long way away.)

Inertia is a fact of business life, as well as physics.

The decisions about selling of the games and what’s in the shops are made by a different set of people that do the creating of content. As long as the old game is making some profit and not causing too much problems then inertia will have the old game still be sold without marketing, or anyone else, giving it to much attention. It’s in the background quietly chugging along. That doesn’t mean that the main Devs want people to play Guild Wars 1. People who are playing Guild Wars 1 aren’t in the new game, bringing up concurrency numbers and buying from the gem store. Benign neglect isn’t the same as wanting people to play Guild Wars 1.

Fair enough. I guess they’d rather have as many people buying stuff on the GW2 Gem Store than drifting off to the first game. I just hope they never see it as unacceptable enough that they consider shutting it down.

Fear the might of SHATTERSTONE.

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Posted by: Just a flesh wound.3589

Just a flesh wound.3589

Nah, I don’t think they want people to stop playing GW1. They wouldn’t still sell the game otherwise. If they do want to shutter the servers (which I don’t think will happen soon), they would stop selling the game and notify players of the impending shutdown.

I think they recognize that the original games still attract new players and definitely continue to hold value for veterans. I don’t see GW going away any time soon. I know that I myself will probably be playing GW until the day they finally shut it down (may it be a long way away.)

Inertia is a fact of business life, as well as physics.

The decisions about selling of the games and what’s in the shops are made by a different set of people that do the creating of content. As long as the old game is making some profit and not causing too much problems then inertia will have the old game still be sold without marketing, or anyone else, giving it to much attention. It’s in the background quietly chugging along. That doesn’t mean that the main Devs want people to play Guild Wars 1. People who are playing Guild Wars 1 aren’t in the new game, bringing up concurrency numbers and buying from the gem store. Benign neglect isn’t the same as wanting people to play Guild Wars 1.

Fair enough. I guess they’d rather have as many people buying stuff on the GW2 Gem Store than drifting off to the first game. I just hope they never see it as unacceptable enough that they consider shutting it down.

If, as I read, no one is doing bug fixes then game closure is unavoidable at some point. Sooner or later there will be either too many small bugs that are stopping people from doing missions or one big bug that’s a game breaker. At that point it’s either fix the game or close it down. I’m thinking they’ll close it down rather than fix and refund the money to any newer purchasers.

Be careful what you ask for
ANet may give it to you.

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Posted by: Illconceived Was Na.9781

Illconceived Was Na.9781

Why would they make GW1 F2P? What little revenue they get from the game now comes from people buying the campaigns (Proph, Factions, NF) or the expansion. (There is a gem shop, but it’s very limited.)

John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”

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Posted by: quaniesan.8497

quaniesan.8497

No subscription, but now also free too play? There has to be a degree limit to being spoiled. People demanded free food and also free spoon-feeding service nowadays huh. It’s just a one time cost for god sake, just pay up and play for years. So much time devoted just to waive a 50 buck. This is beyond stinginess, it’s along the line of penny-pinching and mingy. Their gemstore is mainly for non-essential service and cosmetic stuff, you don’t need to pay to the gemstore to play normally.

If ya no longer see me after this post,
it means THEY got me for " neg criticism in clever disguise".
Know that it has been fun and I love ya all.

(edited by quaniesan.8497)

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Posted by: Aidan Savage.2078

Aidan Savage.2078

Nah, I don’t think they want people to stop playing GW1. They wouldn’t still sell the game otherwise. If they do want to shutter the servers (which I don’t think will happen soon), they would stop selling the game and notify players of the impending shutdown.

I think they recognize that the original games still attract new players and definitely continue to hold value for veterans. I don’t see GW going away any time soon. I know that I myself will probably be playing GW until the day they finally shut it down (may it be a long way away.)

Inertia is a fact of business life, as well as physics.

The decisions about selling of the games and what’s in the shops are made by a different set of people that do the creating of content. As long as the old game is making some profit and not causing too much problems then inertia will have the old game still be sold without marketing, or anyone else, giving it to much attention. It’s in the background quietly chugging along. That doesn’t mean that the main Devs want people to play Guild Wars 1. People who are playing Guild Wars 1 aren’t in the new game, bringing up concurrency numbers and buying from the gem store. Benign neglect isn’t the same as wanting people to play Guild Wars 1.

Fair enough. I guess they’d rather have as many people buying stuff on the GW2 Gem Store than drifting off to the first game. I just hope they never see it as unacceptable enough that they consider shutting it down.

If, as I read, no one is doing bug fixes then game closure is unavoidable at some point. Sooner or later there will be either too many small bugs that are stopping people from doing missions or one big bug that’s a game breaker. At that point it’s either fix the game or close it down. I’m thinking they’ll close it down rather than fix and refund the money to any newer purchasers.

Ideally, the game could run indefinitely as there arent any new content releases, which means there’s no risk of coding conflicts to create bugs. Sure there might be minor bugs still around, but eventually those would be treated as quirks rather than something to be fixed.

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Posted by: IndigoSundown.5419

IndigoSundown.5419

Why would they make GW1 F2P? What little revenue they get from the game now comes from people buying the campaigns (Proph, Factions, NF) or the expansion. (There is a gem shop, but it’s very limited.)

This.

F2P would require making changes to the game, which would mean they’d have to allocate staff to make those changes. There would be no incentive to do so unless they also put more stuff in the store , which would mean more staff time. I suspect that they believe that the return on a game that’s more than a decade old would not justify the resources needed to make that happen.

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Posted by: Sephas.8793

Sephas.8793

The other thing to think about here is hardware cost. Server hardware does die, and when it does, it can be expensive. If GW is run on ANet owned and operated hardware, they’ll have to fix it if it fails. And as it does, at what point does it become cost prohibitive to keep replacing hardware on a system that isn’t making (much) money?

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Posted by: Chyanne Waters.8719

Chyanne Waters.8719

Lol why are people never happy? The Guildwars franchise are built on one thing BUY TO PLAY. You make a purchase of the game and each campaign/expansion, then you can play for as long as you would like. Free to play games are just free. They get their money from somewhere like unlocking certain things, or giving you better armor through their stores.

The Saga games by King are a great example wow I made it to this level, but I cannot get through it. Tada King to the rescue you can purchase a way to get past 10 more levels easier. You still have to do them, so its like a key or something. King has made a lot of money doing that. They have commercials on TV all the time where do you think that money comes from.

So Anet asks you to purchase a game to play it without a sub fee. They offer different items in a gem store that do not give any advantage over other players. They allow you to purchase those gems with cash or in game gold.

Stop asking them to go free to play, because it is not gonna happen.

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Posted by: wouw.5837

wouw.5837

Lol why are people never happy? The Guildwars franchise are built on one thing BUY TO PLAY. You make a purchase of the game and each campaign/expansion, then you can play for as long as you would like. Free to play games are just free. They get their money from somewhere like unlocking certain things, or giving you better armor through their stores.

The Saga games by King are a great example wow I made it to this level, but I cannot get through it. Tada King to the rescue you can purchase a way to get past 10 more levels easier. You still have to do them, so its like a key or something. King has made a lot of money doing that. They have commercials on TV all the time where do you think that money comes from.

So Anet asks you to purchase a game to play it without a sub fee. They offer different items in a gem store that do not give any advantage over other players. They allow you to purchase those gems with cash or in game gold.

Stop asking them to go free to play, because it is not gonna happen.

You are misunderstanding me, I just want more people in the game, 5 people in Lions Arch right now, it’s just sad.

How many people do still buy the game? A couple per year? If they would give it away for “free” with HoT, what’s the big deal?

It promotes the second game some more and puts some new life in the game

Elona is Love, Elona is life.

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Posted by: Rio.4259

Rio.4259

Including it for free with GW2 purchase might be interesting, adding the Hall of Monuments as another selling point. -shrugs- But…I don’t think it will ever go free to play. They wouldnt want to bother putting resources into creating new cash shop items for such an old game.

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Posted by: Just a flesh wound.3589

Just a flesh wound.3589

Adding it for free would increase population numbers but it will also increase the numbers of tickets to support. Invariably there will be people who forget their login information, get hacked, get scammed, encounter a bug or whatever else that might happen and they will contact support to resolve it. They already have a long wait time now, since support is minimal. This would give both games a bad name as those players are sure to be vocal about having to wait weeks or months for their problems to be fixed and blaming ANet for inadequate service.

Be careful what you ask for
ANet may give it to you.

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Posted by: Rio.4259

Rio.4259

Adding it for free would increase population numbers but it will also increase the numbers of tickets to support. Invariably there will be people who forget their login information, get hacked, get scammed, encounter a bug or whatever else that might happen and they will contact support to resolve it. They already have a long wait time now, since support is minimal. This would give both games a bad name as those players are sure to be vocal about having to wait weeks or months for their problems to be fixed and blaming ANet for inadequate service.

GW1 log in and password is the same as GW2 when they are linked. Not sure what the issue would be there. >.> If they forgot their GW1 password, they would have forgotten their GW2 password and have to submit a ticket anyway. In addition, GW2 going free to play/trial would have caused those same “issues”.

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Posted by: Just a flesh wound.3589

Just a flesh wound.3589

Adding it for free would increase population numbers but it will also increase the numbers of tickets to support. Invariably there will be people who forget their login information, get hacked, get scammed, encounter a bug or whatever else that might happen and they will contact support to resolve it. They already have a long wait time now, since support is minimal. This would give both games a bad name as those players are sure to be vocal about having to wait weeks or months for their problems to be fixed and blaming ANet for inadequate service.

GW1 log in and password is the same as GW2 when they are linked. Not sure what the issue would be there. >.> If they forgot their GW1 password, they would have forgotten their GW2 password and have to submit a ticket anyway. In addition, GW2 going free to play/trial would have caused those same “issues”.

You are assuming that the person has a Guild Wars 2 account. It’s possible for a person to only play Guild Wars 1 and not play Guild Wars 2. It’s also possible to have both and be so new that you don’t know about the HoM and linking the 2.

As an aside, my alt account in Guild Wars 1 is linked to this account and the 2 logins are not the same.

Be careful what you ask for
ANet may give it to you.

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Posted by: Rio.4259

Rio.4259

If guild wars 2 includes guild wars 1, they would have a guild wars 2 account. Thats what my part of the discussion was about anyway. -shrugs-

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Posted by: Just a flesh wound.3589

Just a flesh wound.3589

If guild wars 2 includes guild wars 1, they would have a guild wars 2 account. Thats what my part of the discussion was about anyway. -shrugs-

However that doesn’t address the main point of my post, which is about the wait time involved in contacting Guild Wars 1 support.

People have said on previous posts that the wait time for Guild Wars 1 support to finalise a ticket can range from weeks to months. Adding more people who will make more tickets would only increase the wait time, which means frustrated and angry players who blame ANet for inadequate service.

Be careful what you ask for
ANet may give it to you.

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Posted by: Illconceived Was Na.9781

Illconceived Was Na.9781

You are misunderstanding me, I just want more people in the game, 5 people in Lions Arch right now, it’s just sad.

More people playing would be good, but it’s never going to be like it was even 2 years ago, which was a fraction of what it was like 4 years ago. It’s basically a single player game now, that allows you to substitute a friend for a hero, if you like.

How many people do still buy the game? A couple per year? If they would give it away for “free” with HoT, what’s the big deal?

If it were only a “couple per year”, they wouldn’t keep the servers running probably. I doubt it’s “tens of thousands,” but aggregators like Steam buy licenses in bulk. If you have another low-cost way for ANet to generate that income without charging for the license, I’m sure they’d be interested.

Plus, you keep discounting the effort that ANet would have to make to go F2P.

  • Customer Support, for people who just bought the game and feel they should get a refund.
  • Changes to the game to prevent botting, gold selling from becoming worse than they already are.
  • Restrictions on F2P for other reasons.
  • At least a few bug fixes

It promotes the second game some more and puts some new life in the game

The game might get a brief burst by going F2P, but not in a way that benefits ANet (nor most of those that start six months before or six months later). It certainly won’t justify the additional trouble for ANet.

tl;dr it’s a noble idea that costs more to implement than you think, which makes it a bad business decision.

John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”

(edited by Illconceived Was Na.9781)

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Posted by: Behellagh.1468

Behellagh.1468

B2P pays the development costs in a way that just a cash shop couldn’t without selling P2W merch or limiting character slots and erecting pricey paywalls around certain types of content.

Cue the poster who will claim that’s exactly what the expansion is, a costly paywall.

We are heroes. This is what we do!

RIP City of Heroes

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Posted by: DoctorDing.5890

DoctorDing.5890

If they gave a free copy of GW1 with every purchase of GW2 then a significant chunk of new purchasers would initially spend their time playing the “old” game because it seems right to play stuff “in sequence”. It would be an odd business decision to be encouraging new GW2 players to not play the new game.

Having said that, I am also amongst those who are surprised that the street price for GW1 is still so high. If they were to bundle all the releases into one mega pack at a budget price they could probably squeeze a bit more revenue from it and boost the player numbers but that still risks competing with their sequel. These games are so time consuming that most folk cannot play more than one concurrently.