Guild Wars 2

Should I buy heart of thorns or just wait for the next expansion that’ll most likely have it included for free? Should I expect a time where it’ll be on sale or something?

I think your best bet is to set a valuation of the content and purchase it when it hits that valuation (This is what I’m doing).

Black friday week, lots of sites and places will have discounts, so you may find it hits that valuation quicker than you think.

The expansion has been £25 from day one, now sits at £20 at many places (or your regional equivalent).

Of course you should buy it, HoT is amazing so far and well received out side of official forum. People here are not accurate representation of gw2 community. I suggest you ask in Lion Arch, you know people that actually plays the game. People here are angry and hateful. Maybe you should post on Reddit it’s way better than forum.

Guild Wars 2 is a great game, Heart of Thorns is not.

HoT is a pain in the bugged backside, the game developers are ignoring most valid concerns from theplayers and it’s torture sometimes to just find an active Meta. XP has been nerfed from most of the mobs and mastery points require you do spend hours doing things you have zero interest in doing.

That said, I would buy it again knowing all of this beforehand because the things that actually work can be fun and it’s a nice break from the same old boring bosses we’ve been choking on for 2 years.

Besides, you can’t complain in forums about it until you buy it and complaining seems to be one of the more popular activities included in this expansion

That’s a thorny question.

It really depends on what you want to play.

If you find standard GW2 too easy and “light”, then you may want to look at it.

If you like standard GW2 how it is, feeling it’s a nice level of “casual and relaxed”, then HoT will likely not appeal to you very much.

HoT also requires time in larger chunks to make real progress than GW2 core does. Again, if this is good or bad depends on you.

Palador.2170:

It really depends on what you want to play.

If you find standard GW2 too easy and “light”, then you may want to look at it.

If you like standard GW2 how it is, feeling it’s a nice level of “casual and relaxed”, then HoT will likely not appeal to you very much.

HoT also requires time in larger chunks to make real progress than GW2 core does. Again, if this is good or bad depends on you.

Well said. When I first started on the new maps, it felt like a huge accomplishment just to find a new waypoint if that tells you anything. You really have to be more aware of what is going on around you or you can get trampled in a hurry (sometimes literally). It is also a necessity, IMO, to change up your tactics depending on what you are fighting. If that sounds like fun, you will probably like it.

id say depends on how far you’ve gotten in gw2 first if you think you done everything then yes but if you think theres more to accomplish then wait. and take in mind what palador says they got the gist of it

While I seriously dislike HoT, this looks like a bait thread.

Palador.2170:

It really depends on what you want to play.

If you find standard GW2 too easy and “light”, then you may want to look at it.

If you like standard GW2 how it is, feeling it’s a nice level of “casual and relaxed”, then HoT will likely not appeal to you very much.

HoT also requires time in larger chunks to make real progress than GW2 core does. Again, if this is good or bad depends on you.

This is probably the best advice anyone could give you.

For a new player, I think you will enjoy it.
You are put in a somewhat level-playing-field in terms of people trying to figure out how to do stuff. The only thing vets will have on you are probably the gears and massive amount of gold.

For a veteran, you’ll probably find out that GuildWars2 has turned into GrindWars2. This is what most of the people are complaining about.

All in all, it is good value of one-time payment, instead of a monthly subscription thing

If you haven’t purchased it already, just wait for a discount somewhere.

My advice is if you newcommer play the core game first leading up to the HoT stuff since it free and there plenty to do in the core game if you enjoy it enough sure support the dev team and buy the expansion it too is fun and just add onto the gameplay. Forget must the complaints because thats all they are complaints.

Chiccotot.7296:

For a new player, I think you will enjoy it.
You are put in a somewhat level-playing-field in terms of people trying to figure out how to do stuff. The only thing vets will have on you are probably the gears and massive amount of gold.

For a veteran, you’ll probably find out that GuildWars2 has turned into GrindWars2. This is what most of the people are complaining about.

All in all, it is good value of one-time payment, instead of a monthly subscription thing

Only a grindfest if you speed through content and run outa stuff to do then again name a mmo that doesnt have grind after your done with content?The grind is progression in the end because you run outa stuff to do i mean what are you expecting a end with some credits rolling not gonna happen only grind if you make it grind go hang out in a hub and socialize hang out in the taverns and listen to the rpers the players are the ones limiting themselves not the devs.Once the living story starts kicking off im sure we will be up and running again i predict that will be after new years though.

My advice to anyone who hasn’t bought HoT yet is to seriously read threw the forums, some people will say its just haters going to hate, but when you see topic after topic on the same things, its time to pay attention, so many people cannot be wrong,

There are some major issues with HoT that need addressing, thus far anet have ignored both ingame and on the forums, these range from simple things to map breaking/ game breaking for some people,

As much as I have enjoyed HoT so far, I would tell anyone new to the game to tread with caution, as it may not be what you are expecting.

When the patch hits in December for fractals, if it does not address some of the other issues that have been raised by the community, regards XP, Grinding, Broken Meta ( TD ) I will then recommend to people I know whom haven’t gotten HoT not to get it, until such time Anet pays attention to the people who are keeping them in a job.

Ok I Did It.2854:

My advice to anyone who hasn’t bought HoT yet is to seriously read threw the forums, some people will say its just haters going to hate, but when you see topic after topic on the same things, its time to pay attention, so many people cannot be wrong,

There are some major issues with HoT that need addressing, thus far anet have ignored both ingame and on the forums, these range from simple things to map breaking/ game breaking for some people,

As much as I have enjoyed HoT so far, I would tell anyone new to the game to tread with caution, as it may not be what you are expecting.

When the patch hits in December for fractals, if it does not address some of the other issues that have been raised by the community, regards XP, Grinding, Broken Meta ( TD ) I will then recommend to people I know whom haven’t gotten HoT not to get it, until such time Anet pays attention to the people who are keeping them in a job.

Do not read thread on forum for actual community opinion, this place is a toxin pit. Go on reddit for actual gw2 community. Forum are filled with complainers since day one laumch of the game, they literally complain about every little changes.

myren.5490:

Should I buy heart of thorns or just wait for the next expansion that’ll most likely have it included for free? Should I expect a time where it’ll be on sale or something?

Do you like raids? Do you like maps with scheduled 2h large scale meta events? Do you want to have a chance in PvP? Would you like to have better fractal rewards, and/or do high level fractals?

If you answered any question with yes, you should buy HoT.

If you can wait, or if you’re satisfied with vanilla GW2 as it is now, you should wait for sale or next expansion.

Wait for a sale. It’s not worth full price.

Most of the content is just grinding BS. The zones get very old, very quickly. The events are boring. The grind is horrible.

If they put out a major patch soon that actually address all the incompetent design decisions they made then it might be worth it. But given the state of ANET atm, I wouldn’t count on it.

Grim West.3194:

Wait for a sale. It’s not worth full price.

Most of the content is just grinding BS. The zones get very old, very quickly. The events are boring. The grind is horrible.

If they put out a major patch soon that actually address all the incompetent design decisions they made then it might be worth it. But given the state of ANET atm, I wouldn’t count on it.

Again time consuming progression are not grind. HoT maps are amazingly designed which offers tons of content. If you think HoT zone events are boring then core zone events are snooze feast, and if that’s the case why are you playing pve anyway?

If you are a f2p account, I’d say the core game is actually worth 50 bucks. I think you’ll get your moneys worth in the old world, even if sPVP seems wonky and WvW may have died. As for HoT? I can’t judge because I didn’t think it was worth 50 bucks.

I would say HoT is worth it if you are Free2Play right now. If you have the core game already, I honestly do not think HoT is valued at 49.99 at all. Its an expansion that is worth 29.99 and not 1 penny more.

If you are casual you only get 5 new maps, 2-3 that have good meta’s, 1 that has a crappy meta that never succeeds on a 2 hour cool down, 1 new Class, a handful of soloable achievements that yield skins (mist walker armor for one) and the mastery system (Auto Loot is VERY nice, but should not be a mastery!!!!!!!!)

So even at my 29.99 price, the content just isnt there. But it is NOT worth the full price as it stands.

sirsquishy.8531:

I would say HoT is worth it if you are Free2Play right now. If you have the core game already, I honestly do not think HoT is valued at 49.99 at all. Its an expansion that is worth 29.99 and not 1 penny more.

If you are casual you only get 5 new maps, 2-3 that have good meta’s, 1 that has a crappy meta that never succeeds on a 2 hour cool down, 1 new Class, a handful of soloable achievements that yield skins (mist walker armor for one) and the mastery system (Auto Loot is VERY nice, but should not be a mastery!!!!!!!!)

So even at my 29.99 price, the content just isnt there. But it is NOT worth the full price as it stands.

It’s not about number of maps, need I to remind you that every single HoT map are extremely large and has incredible verticality, so every HoT map is at least 2~3 regular maps. Also TD meta is awesome just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s bad, it’s a well designed meta.

warbignime.4610:

sirsquishy.8531:

I would say HoT is worth it if you are Free2Play right now. If you have the core game already, I honestly do not think HoT is valued at 49.99 at all. Its an expansion that is worth 29.99 and not 1 penny more.

If you are casual you only get 5 new maps, 2-3 that have good meta’s, 1 that has a crappy meta that never succeeds on a 2 hour cool down, 1 new Class, a handful of soloable achievements that yield skins (mist walker armor for one) and the mastery system (Auto Loot is VERY nice, but should not be a mastery!!!!!!!!)

So even at my 29.99 price, the content just isnt there. But it is NOT worth the full price as it stands.

It’s not about number of maps, need I to remind you that every single HoT map are extremely large and has incredible verticality, so every HoT map is at least 2~3 regular maps. Also TD meta is awesome just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s bad, it’s a well designed meta.

5 Maps that can be mapped out in a day if you are OCD about it or a couple of days if you are casual does not make them HUGE maps. Each map is about the size of a major City with 2 Levels. Thats it.

and the Meta I am complaining about is Dragons Stand. If you are not lucky enough to taxi into a successful organized map, you are typically on a farm map with no hope to completion.

The other 3 metas are fine and fun. But we need more content. its not worth the 49.99 we all paid for it. Esp those of us that already had the core game.

you can. HOT is correct but no more. There is good stuff, but bad stuff too (unfinished new class, only 3 h of personnal story, plenty of bugs, new scrawled wvw map…). I suggest you to buy it when it reach something like 25 dollars or euro. It don’t deserve more.

NO!!!!!
you will thank me later….

sirsquishy.8531:

warbignime.4610:

sirsquishy.8531:

I would say HoT is worth it if you are Free2Play right now. If you have the core game already, I honestly do not think HoT is valued at 49.99 at all. Its an expansion that is worth 29.99 and not 1 penny more.

If you are casual you only get 5 new maps, 2-3 that have good meta’s, 1 that has a crappy meta that never succeeds on a 2 hour cool down, 1 new Class, a handful of soloable achievements that yield skins (mist walker armor for one) and the mastery system (Auto Loot is VERY nice, but should not be a mastery!!!!!!!!)

So even at my 29.99 price, the content just isnt there. But it is NOT worth the full price as it stands.

It’s not about number of maps, need I to remind you that every single HoT map are extremely large and has incredible verticality, so every HoT map is at least 2~3 regular maps. Also TD meta is awesome just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s bad, it’s a well designed meta.

5 Maps that can be mapped out in a day if you are OCD about it or a couple of days if you are casual does not make them HUGE maps. Each map is about the size of a major City with 2 Levels. Thats it.

and the Meta I am complaining about is Dragons Stand. If you are not lucky enough to taxi into a successful organized map, you are typically on a farm map with no hope to completion.

The other 3 metas are fine and fun. But we need more content. its not worth the 49.99 we all paid for it. Esp those of us that already had the core game.

Are you serious? If that’s how you calculate things then you might as well say that you can complete entire gw2 in an weekend, because you can easily do map compeletion in an weekend. Then core GW2 pve must be worthless too right?

I went from F2P to HoT and I have to say I’m not spending any time in the HoT content but for the price I paid the core game is more than worth it. I’ll save the HoT stuff for when they make the maps and/or mobs easier. Having tough mobs on a map is fine. Making every mob on a map tough and almost impossible to avoid is not fine and not fun.

Current Amazon UK price for HoT: 23 pounds.
And Black Friday is almost here.

another thing worth mentioning that no one seemed to talk about yet is living story. season 3 and most likely season 4 will be out before the next expansion they’ll require HoT to play (not sure about unlock) If they dont unlock without HoT thats like 40 euro worth of content right there you’d get for free. Beyond that without season 3 and season 4 it would be 2 years or more you’d need to wait without any new content before the next expansion.

Disclaimer timelines are my own estimate obviously. next expansion might come out quicker or slower then 2 years as well as we may get more or less living world seasons in between.

None can really give a clear answer to this, but I like to look at mmorpgs a bit differently from normal single player games (with online features), that they are more of a long term goal/progression. If you like the GW universe, combat or w/e floats your boat, then why not buy it.
For me it was a clear yes as I only play one mmorpg at a time, I dont play other games. Playing GW2 solely without other games and without HoT is just a hinderance in my opinion.

Galen Grey.4709:

another thing worth mentioning that no one seemed to talk about yet is living story. season 3 and most likely season 4 will be out before the next expansion they’ll require HoT to play (not sure about unlock) If they dont unlock without HoT thats like 40 euro worth of content right there you’d get for free. Beyond that without season 3 and season 4 it would be 2 years or more you’d need to wait without any new content before the next expansion.

Disclaimer timelines are my own estimate obviously. next expansion might come out quicker or slower then 2 years as well as we may get more or less living world seasons in between.

Which looks likely to be next year going by the rate in which they’re fixing their expansion.

By that time it should of hit the £15 I’ve been waiting for, currently under £20.

You haven’t used the search function, have you. Or just read through the general section, the GW2 and HoT sections and you’ll find plenty of reasons not to buy the “expansion”.

Yeah, I agree with most here, don’t buy HoT, it’s not worth $50. Wait till it drop to $5-$10 or free. I wish I never pre-order this and save my $50 instead.

Thanks for all the responses guys very helpful! Yea I think I’ll hold off on buying it cause I’ve been playing the core game for about 3 years now and honestly nothing in HoT really catches my attention besides chronomancer and reaper. So I’ll hold off on raids and stuff until heart of thorns goes down to the price it should be.

Sicarius.4639:

Galen Grey.4709:

another thing worth mentioning that no one seemed to talk about yet is living story. season 3 and most likely season 4 will be out before the next expansion they’ll require HoT to play (not sure about unlock) If they dont unlock without HoT thats like 40 euro worth of content right there you’d get for free. Beyond that without season 3 and season 4 it would be 2 years or more you’d need to wait without any new content before the next expansion.

Disclaimer timelines are my own estimate obviously. next expansion might come out quicker or slower then 2 years as well as we may get more or less living world seasons in between.

Which looks likely to be next year going by the rate in which they’re fixing their expansion.

By that time it should of hit the £15 I’ve been waiting for, currently under £20.

There is nothing broken in PVE , just because you don’t like certain changes does not mean it’s broken.

warbignime.4610:

Sicarius.4639:

Galen Grey.4709:

another thing worth mentioning that no one seemed to talk about yet is living story. season 3 and most likely season 4 will be out before the next expansion they’ll require HoT to play (not sure about unlock) If they dont unlock without HoT thats like 40 euro worth of content right there you’d get for free. Beyond that without season 3 and season 4 it would be 2 years or more you’d need to wait without any new content before the next expansion.

Disclaimer timelines are my own estimate obviously. next expansion might come out quicker or slower then 2 years as well as we may get more or less living world seasons in between.

Which looks likely to be next year going by the rate in which they’re fixing their expansion.

By that time it should of hit the £15 I’ve been waiting for, currently under £20.

There is nothing broken in PVE , just because you don’t like certain changes does not mean it’s broken.

What changes wouldn’t I like?

Not broken? Have a wonder through there:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/bugs

I’m one of the authors of a haters-gonna-hate threads and I say to buy it.
The way I think about games is this:
How much entertainment do I get per dollar?
$8 – 2 Hours ($4 an hour) Going to the movies.
$15 – 2 hours ($7.50 an hour) with mandatory popcorn and a drink
$20 – 1 hour for going out to the bars (more if I buy drinks for other people)
$60 – 600+ hours (10cents/hr)- Skyrim ( a solid second option)
$200 – 2448 hours (8 cents/hr) – GW2 including HOT so far.

Basically, even If I hated hot (in many ways, I totally do actually), They still earned that money from me and maybe this time, my money will go toward content that doesn’t completely disenfranchise small guilds! You can play hot however you played before if you ignore guilds all together. It’s really only kittenty if you’re a primary earner in a small guild or in a small PVP guild. Those 2 groups got the finger.

The gliding is super cool, but the maps are a bit too confusing until you get the hang of it… Kind of like downtown San Fran driving…

Gaining mastery (the new XP after 80) is easier than gaining the points to fill it out, for sure, but it’s doable – even solo if you’re not on an empty map. Generally the GW2 community is pretty helpful.

Honestly, after going through the story quests, though, I haven’t been spending much time at all in the new zones but for events I see pop up in LFG, so… meh.

But… buying this XPAC makes stuff you do in the old zones worthwhile. There is a gain for leveling over 80 again! You’d earn mastery and points. Your mats are desperately needed by small guilds! Join one! I think it’s worth it even without doing raids or guild hall stuff…. barely, maybe, but worth it.

I wouldn’t equate time spent to value.

I wouldn’t trade The Witcher 3’s 200 hours for 20,000 hours of GW2.

Yea… maybe for some people, my method doesn’t work. But it works for me because I tend not to spend time doing things I don’t like. If I’m not having fun, I log out and do something else… I have a ton of games on my box and a pretty mice steam library, so I’m always doing something I like. The value of my time is mostly equal but for time with my kids, which trumps all.

Not unless you like paywalls.

I bought it, and I’m not altogether unhappy with my choice. In terms of “bang for the buck entertainment value,” it’s reasonable.

However, I will say this:

- If you compare the amount of content in HoT to the amount of content in many other MMO expansions, HoT is pretty small. I’m ready to be flamed for saying so, but it’s how I see it.

- The changes ANet made to core GW2, in order to make HoT seem bigger and more attractive and likely to be played was a pretty cheap shot, IMO.

- The design philosophy of HoT is very different than that of core GW2; only you can decide if you like it better. Don’t expect it to be “just like GW2” but bigger and better. It ain’t.