Guild Wars 2

was wondering because someone told me they got the expansion for 30off there wondered if it was reputable off there

If it is on the list of official retailers it’s ok.
Otherwise you buy it on your own risk.

That…doesn’t sound very reliable. I think anet has a list of retailers but that atleast isn’t one I am familiar with. I could of course be wrong. But id do more research on the subject before jumping on it.

I think anet has a list of liscenced retailers on there site somewhere. It may be a good idea to start with finding that atleast for now. But atleast as far as that goes. I would go with the “If it sounds too good to be true it probably is” route and double check EVERYTHING before you buy from there.

I’ve never used it but it looks ok (from the name I was fully expecting it to be one of these places that sells cracked CD keys to use with pirated games, in-game gold and all kinds of other illegal things) and a very quick google search didn’t turn up any negative reports.

Also they’re selling HoT for £23.99 which is only slightly less than Amazon’s £24.85 and the amazon listing is definitely ok.

I’d recommend doing your own research if you’re unsure, and/or using Paypal for an extra layer of protection, but at first glance it looks ok to me.

Also as a general observation I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find perfectly legal copies of HoT sold by reputable retailers for a lot less than the original price. I’ve worked a number of retail jobs in the past, including a video game store for several years, and their prices are often determined partially, or entirely, by a computer system that only knows how many copies of an item they have in stock and how many they sell each week/month. Used properly it gives them an accurate guide to how items with a short shelf-life (like games) depreciate.

But it’s often left entirely to it’s own devices, or relied on too heavily which leads to some weird effects. For example I once picked up a Lord of the Rings Online Collectors Edition (which was about 2 years old at this point) for £0.20 simply because we’d had 1 copy left which got lost on the back of a high shelf. As far as the computer was concerned we had one in stock and it just wasn’t selling so it just kept dropping the price, and no one could be bothered to edit it in the system for 1 item.

another thing if I had gotten from them would I be able to use the key on my already existing act or would I have to start anew any idea? is a key but says comes with core game as well not sure if same or diff key

winterlove.6834:

another thing if I had gotten from them would I be able to use the key on my already existing act or would I have to start anew any idea? is a key but says comes with core game as well not sure if same or diff key

You can do both.

Probably the best option for you is to add the key to your existing account. That gives you access to all the HoT zones, features etc. with your existing characters.

You can also use a HoT key to create a brand new account, but that’s mainly intended for people who don’t have GW2 yet. For you it would mean having to start over from scratch.

Paypal wont offer protection to your account being sanctioned for using a fraudulent key. Your best bet is to only buy from those on anet’s list of “official” retailers. That includes amazon. If it’s NOT amazon itself selling it, but some random listing on amazon, dont buy it either. No sales yet? Be patient, it’ll happen eventually.

“Sales” from places that arent officially partnered with anet are likely fraudulently purchased keys, which would have an end result of your account being sanctioned (permanently), and you being out more money than what you paid on the key.

I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate.

I was under the impression the official retailers list was just for the pre-purchase, since HoT was released it’s likely any retailer can order copies to sell.

I’ve definitely seen it for sale in reputable real-life stores in the UK, places like HMV and PC World that have no reason to sell fake keys and a lot of reason to protect their reputation but which don’t appear on the official retailers list.

Turamarth.3248:

If it is on the list of official retailers it’s ok.
Otherwise you buy it on your own risk.

That was for pre orders only.

I bought several games on cdkeys already, never had a problem, the key is sent by email immediately after the purchase. The only odd thing is they send them as scanned photos.

Warobaz.9543:

I bought several games on cdkeys already, never had a problem, the key is sent by email immediately after the purchase. The only odd thing is they send them as scanned photos.

that is a good thing they are doing that. sometimes the company wants to see prof other then just the key itself. main reason i know this is i had to do this many years ago in gw1 when they changed the login process to must know character on account. needless to say i had more then just a few for the monthly zkey rewards till that got removed~

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.cdkeys.com

I’ve used them for a bunch of stuff (gem cards, expansions, games) and never had an issue.

winterlove.6834:

another thing if I had gotten from them would I be able to use the key on my already existing act or would I have to start anew any idea? is a key but says comes with core game as well not sure if same or diff key

You can add it to your existing account to upgrade it to HoT or create a new account for the whole game, but not both with 1 serial key.

Bought HoT on cdkeys a few days before launch, saved 20 bucks. Seeing as I’m still here, I’d say it’s probably fine. Anecdotal evidence best evidence!

I contacted customer support about it. Support ticket #2121394

Their response:

Please be informed that CDkeys.com is a unauthorized retailers. We recommend purchasing directly from our official website: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/shop/

Or you could also try to purchase from our authorized retailers: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/retailers/

^The list of authorized retailers seems to be accurate.

Edit: And it’s quite possible that website isn’t authorized to sell some, or even all, of the other games and game cards.

CDKeys is legit.

Tiffany.8576:

CDKeys is legit.

Then why did customer support tell me they aren’t?

Charrbeque.8729:

Tiffany.8576:

CDKeys is legit.

Then why did customer support tell me they aren’t?

I think when one says ‘legit’ it’s more of a reference to the fact they are not a scam website that some places can be (ie, invalid or illegal keys). Not whether or not they are an official seller given permission by Anet.

Most 3rd party websites are like this.

Talonblaze.3175:

Charrbeque.8729:

Tiffany.8576:

CDKeys is legit.

Then why did customer support tell me they aren’t?

I think when one says ‘legit’ it’s more of a reference to the fact they are not a scam website that some places can be (ie, invalid or illegal keys). Not whether or not they are an official seller given permission by Anet.

Most 3rd party websites are like this.

This.

Customer Support told you they’re not on the list of authorised retailers, and that they would prefer you to buy directly from them.

That last part is obvious – they’re charging the full recommended retail price and if you buy directly there is no cut going to a middle man, meaning Anet get more money – it’s a better deal for them so naturally they prefer it. (And I don’t mean that as a criticism in any way, it’s a very sensible practice.) The upside for players is that it’s 100% guaranteed to be legitimate, if anything does go wrong you only have 1 support contact and no risk of everyone blaming another party and if you’re upgrading an existing account you can do it directly through the game.

But that doesn’t make it the only option or even the best option. And the same goes for authorised retailers, they are people Anet had an arrangement with to sell pre-purchase copies of HoT and naturally they’ve continued that arrangement.

But it’s not as black and white as anyone on that list is guaranteed to be ok and anyone else is selling fake or stolen keys (or will take your money and never send your key at all). Other retailers can and do order copies of the game to sell and those are completely legitimate. As I mentioned above I’ve seen it for sale in reputable, real-life UK stores, places which would never risk selling stolen or fake keys and yet aren’t on the authorised retailers list because they weren’t selling it until after release.

if you want HoT cheaper get it there :

http://www.dlgamer.us/download-guild_wars_2_heart_of_thorns-pc_games-p-29808.html

37.99 for now … and the reseller is on the authorized list

be safe with your account