Guild Wars 2

I’ve discussed this with a random person in HotM that said that ANet should nerf elites to be more in-line with base specs. The question raised in the discussion was this:

Should elite specs be available to everyone in sPvP? even without buying HoT?
as ANet wants to establish the game as a proper eSport, adding elite specs and blocking very powerful builds (even more powerful than base content) behind a 50$ paywall, are they locking away any potential GW2 has to become an eSport? That was one of the things they wanted to achieve with going F2P – increasing GW2 sPvP player base, viewer base for tournaments, etc. But if people go in, get their kitten kicked by a build they cannot play, wouldn’t they just get frustrated and go back to whatever MOBA they play and can access 100% of the content in?

The answer is: No. Elite specs should NOT be available to everyone. They’re on par with other specs and will be balanced out with more time given to find proper counters and get more familiar with their capabilities. The reason why they SEEM to be PERCEIVED as “OP” is that players are not as familiar with their specs or how to counter them (unlike the ‘core’ specs which are 3 years old).

However they are still a key piece of the HoT expansion. No, it is not “a pay wall”. It is an expansion. If you want the FEATURES OF THE EXPANSION, you must SUPPORT THE DEVELOPERS WHO SPENT MONEY CREATION THE EXPANSION. There is no locking away any potential anything. This is the way the world works. I’m sorry, but nothing in life is truly free. Somewhere, somehow, something must be paid for it.

The main reason for F2P was to get more people to buy HoT.

Otherwise idk. A perfect balance won’t be possible anyway.

The Elite Specs come with their own strengths and drawbacks. They aren’t a straight upgrade from a regular one out there. Once people learn what they are capable of then opinions will settle down some.

Also funny that you should use MOBAs as a comparison. Since I am fairly sure a few of the more popular ones gate their characters behind some form of currency wall. You can earn them sure, but its the same situation for new players that you mentioned. They go in and get their butt kicked by a hero they haven’t got access to (yet).

I can see this being the biggest complaint after HOT and people stop whining about raids. “X profession killed me just because he has a specialization, P2W!” And honestly they almost have a point, specializations are made to be no stronger than core specs, but no mmo is ever 100% balanced.

Id say let ppl be able to buy access to specializations like you can do for certain runes, but you only get 1 at a time. So someone can choose to play for 2 weeks to get 100 gold (made up number, but it should be somewhat high) to get access, or they can buy HOT and get it right away. It might lead to less actual sales, but it will get more people into the game.

Sizer.3987:

I can see this being the biggest complaint after HOT and people stop whining about raids. “X profession killed me just because he has a specialization, P2W!” And honestly they almost have a point, specializations are made to be no stronger than core specs, but no mmo is ever 100% balanced.

Id say let ppl be able to buy access to specializations like you can do for certain runes, but you only get 1 at a time. So someone can choose to play for 2 weeks to get 100 gold (made up number, but it should be somewhat high) to get access, or they can buy HOT and get it right away. It might lead to less actual sales, but it will get more people into the game.

If they go for unlocking it should be something you get from PvP and make it per profession (if it’s pvp only).

No, they shouldn’t get Elite specs for free and I disagree that Elite specs are by default better (even if they were I would still say no).

No, I am sure arena net will never provide them for free. If you want elite spec, pay the money, find a good profession or go play another game.

THE END.

Sizer.3987:

I can see this being the biggest complaint after HOT and people stop whining about raids. “X profession killed me just because he has a specialization, P2W!” And honestly they almost have a point, specializations are made to be no stronger than core specs, but no mmo is ever 100% balanced.

Was there P2W complaints with WoW releasing the DeathKnight as a WotLK-only class? How about the Monk as only for MoP? Or the Draenor/Blood Elf for TBC only? And the up coming Legion is required for the Demon Hunter class, otherwise no-dice. These are EXPANSION EXCLUSIVE CLASSES.

This is not something new to the genre either. It is beyond a decade old thing that even UO did with it’s 2003 expansion Age of Shadows (2 expansion exclusive classes released). Although EQ beat it by releasing The Ruins of Kunark in 2000 with an expansion-exclusive race of lizard people that had unique racial abilities. EQ’s The Shadows of Luclin is more appropriate example of introducing both an expansion exclusive race and an expansion exclusive class of the Beastlord.

Bottom line? Do I have one? Oh yes, that I do: Expansion exclusive content. Buy-2-Play (the business model of this game) said content or don’t play it. It is very much that simple.