Guild Wars 2

Will F2P players without the HoT expansion still be locked out of raid content and elite specializations with the release of the next expansion?

Will HoT content become free after the new expansion?

Hoping this information is out there, or will be addressed before the release. Thanks.

I would imagine that players who don’t buy the future expansion will, indeed, be locked out of raids and other content released specifically for that expansion; I’d also imagine that HoT features will never be included in the F2P version of the game. And I’m fairly certain they’ve already said that future expansions will include the base game and previous expansion(s), but I don’t remember exactly where they said that.

1. the release wot be anytime soon
2. Whatever they decide to do, the info will be released well in time
3 They said that the way they are gonna do is the next expac will include the hot content and the standard game
4 Things might change, we dont know yet. wait and see

As they’ve announce things so far, free to play players will never have elite specs, or masteries, or access to raids. This can change but I don’t think that’s likely.

As far as we know:
1. The f2p content will remain the same as it is now (there were no dev statements that suggested any change in that regard).
2. HoT will be included “for free”, with any new expac. You will still need to pay for that expac to get HoT however. It won’t be really free.
3. Hot and the next expac will be bundled “for free” (the same as above, so at no additional cost, but not really for free) with next expac in line. And so on – every future expac will include all previous expac content (basically, if you’ll pay for the game at any point, you will get every expac content released up until that point).
4. To reiterate, HoT won’t be included in f2p with the next expac release. That was just a misunderstanding of the policy mentioned in point 2 that somehow got treated as fact by some.

Astralporing.1957:

4. To reiterate, HoT won’t be included in f2p with the next expac release. That was just a misunderstanding of the policy mentioned in point 2 that somehow got treated as fact by some.

Probably because the original plan was to bundle it, but that caused complaints, then the free client was announced shortly after. There’s really no reason to even include HoT, since it’s not actually required.

Considering the free client failed to sell the game and that season 3 was given away to anyone, it seems unlikely that they’d make it f2p. The only reason to do so would be to repopulate the older content, which is more of a problem for HoT since it was designed for highly active maps. If they do simply make it f2p however, that would mean you could potentially play a few years behind to get everything for free, though that was the original plan of the living world.

Healix.5819:

Astralporing.1957:

4. To reiterate, HoT won’t be included in f2p with the next expac release. That was just a misunderstanding of the policy mentioned in point 2 that somehow got treated as fact by some.

Probably because the original plan was to bundle it, but that caused complaints, then the free client was announced shortly after. There’s really no reason to even include HoT, since it’s not actually required.

Nah, people heard “HoT will be included for free with the next expac” and understood “Hot will become free when the next expac appears”. Which wasn’t what was being said, of course, but some people ran with that interpretation anyway.

If you are a F2P player right now, I would wait until the next xpac drops – probably within the next 12 months – so you don’t pay for HoT now and then again for the next expansion.

Yes, people who don’t buy the game will likely remain at a disadvantage.
And older players who only bought the core game and ended up having to pay twice, so they could get HoT, too. And everyone who has HoT and has to pay again for the next xpac. This system should really be changed..

It’s perhaps worth thinking of this more as “players who purchased the core game, prior to HoT, got the advantage of playing the game earlier than people who waited for HoT.”

I mean, you could wait for xpac 2 to come out now, then buy that and get HoT for “free”, provided you don’t mind not playing for six to twelve months. How much $$$ is waiting that extra time worth to you?

You want the EXP, open up your wallet. If you don’t buy it, you will have the restricted F2P as it now is.
Hopefully ANET gives some break on the next Exp for those that paid full price 2x’s.
HoT just wasn’t worth the price, specially if you had paid for the core already.

Kumouta.4985:

This system should really be changed..

It already has. Their “includes all prior expansions” part of their 1 box model was already dropped when they made the core game F2P. The core idea remained, in that you only need to buy a single box to get started.

I highly doubt they’ll repeat HoT by simply including it. They likely won’t just make it F2P either, as there’s really no benefit to them in doing so. With season 3 locking maps behind both the gem store and the expansion, it was likely a experiment to see how the population fared. Obviously the more gates, the less people. By bundling however, they could potentially triple the lifespan of the content, by including HoT with the 2nd expansion, then making it F2P with the 3rd. The only problem is selling it.

Personally, I’d expect a hybrid. F2P failed to sell the game, but it repopulated it, which is the most important thing in an MMO. The maps and masteries should become F2P, while the elite specs and story should be shifted to the gem store and packaged like season 2.

Healix.5819:

Kumouta.4985:

This system should really be changed..

It already has. Their “includes all prior expansions” part of their 1 box model was already dropped when they made the core game F2P. The core idea remained, in that you only need to buy a single box to get started.

Going f2p did not invalidate their “one box model”, and was planned already when we got info about that model (there were some elements of f2p restrictions datamined in files already).

Don’t expect for the model to change, unless something really big happens that will force their hand.

Blude.6812:

You want the EXP, open up your wallet. If you don’t buy it, you will have the restricted F2P as it now is.
Hopefully ANET gives some break on the next Exp for those that paid full price 2x’s.
HoT just wasn’t worth the price, specially if you had paid for the core already.

You are not likely to get that, because you are not paying “for the expansion”, you are paying “for the expansion now”, which is a significant difference.

I’m sure xpac 2 will go on sale after three or six months, at which point you can get your discount. You just have to be happy that you didn’t get to participate in it for those months.

SlippyCheeze.5483:

Blude.6812:

You want the EXP, open up your wallet. If you don’t buy it, you will have the restricted F2P as it now is.
Hopefully ANET gives some break on the next Exp for those that paid full price 2x’s.
HoT just wasn’t worth the price, specially if you had paid for the core already.

You are not likely to get that, because you are not paying “for the expansion”, you are paying “for the expansion now”, which is a significant difference.

I’m sure xpac 2 will go on sale after three or six months, at which point you can get your discount. You just have to be happy that you didn’t get to participate in it for those months.

Semantics! I will have paid full price 3x’s with the ridiculous model Anet uses, a new player only once. Secondly, an EXP isn’t a full game, it is small ‘expansion’ to the full game. A new player to the game should pay more, those that already have the core and Hot, should pay less.

Blude.6812:

SlippyCheeze.5483:

Blude.6812:

You want the EXP, open up your wallet. If you don’t buy it, you will have the restricted F2P as it now is.
Hopefully ANET gives some break on the next Exp for those that paid full price 2x’s.
HoT just wasn’t worth the price, specially if you had paid for the core already.

You are not likely to get that, because you are not paying “for the expansion”, you are paying “for the expansion now”, which is a significant difference.

I’m sure xpac 2 will go on sale after three or six months, at which point you can get your discount. You just have to be happy that you didn’t get to participate in it for those months.

Semantics! I will have paid full price 3x’s with the ridiculous model Anet uses, a new player only once. Secondly, an EXP isn’t a full game, it is small ‘expansion’ to the full game. A new player to the game should pay more, those that already have the core and Hot, should pay less.

No, a new player should pay less, just like he does in WoW and EQ. Because every additional barrier to entry that exists for new players, the less likely someone will start. Sure it’s only one expansion and one game now, but soon it’ll be two expansions and the game, and the living story, if people want the story.

They’ll look at they’ll say $200 to catch up? Screw that and never start.

All MMOs suffer from natural attrition. People stop playing. They move to other games. New players coming in are what keeps MMOs ticking over. Removing barriers to entry is a vital part of maintaining a successful MMO. That’s why WoW doesn’t make you buy every expansion.

The reward for buying it is playing it when it’s at it’s busy peak and getting what you need from it early on.

New players are always playing catch up. They have less money. They have less people to play with. They’re always behind the curve.

That’s why it’s important to remove barriers to entry.

To put it another way, I wouldn’t trade the money and gear and achievements I’ve made in three years, to save a few dollars or even $50 on a game today. New players have none of that and have to start now. That includes achievements and skins they’ll never have, and content they’ll never play.

It’s right to make it easier to get new players into the game. Presumably existing players have gotten their money’s worth over 3 years times.

Is that what most companies do? I don’t know, as I’ve never purchased an expansion, except for Guild Wars which were full Campaigns and, I guess, full price. Well, there was EotN; I don’t really remember what I paid for it. I think it was 10 dollars less.

What do other no-subscription companies that offer free content updates charge for their expansions? What do subscription companies charge for their expansions?

Since the HoT expansion cost less than the Core Guild Wars 2 game, why is it labeled as paying ‘full price’ twice?

Should ArenaNet charge less for the expansions, a once-every-two-years-or-so expense, and charge more for Gem Store items all the time?

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Is that what most companies do? I don’t know, as I’ve never purchased an expansion, except for Guild Wars which were full Campaigns and, I guess, full price. Well, there was EotN; I don’t really remember what I paid for it. I think it was 10 dollars less.

What do other no-subscription companies that offer free content updates charge for their expansions? What do subscription companies charge for their expansions?

Since the HoT expansion cost less than the Core Guild Wars 2 game, why is it labeled as paying ‘full price’ twice?

Should ArenaNet charge less for the expansions, a once-every-two-years-or-so expense, and charge more for Gem Store items all the time?

Guild Wars 1 didn’t actually give expansions away for free, as such, however, the price of the games over time went down so much new players were paying much cheaper prices anyway.

I mean if you bought stuff when it first came out, you were paying over $150 bucks for four games, when you could later buy the trilogy for a third of that price.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Is that what most companies do? I don’t know, as I’ve never purchased an expansion, except for Guild Wars which were full Campaigns and, I guess, full price. Well, there was EotN; I don’t really remember what I paid for it. I think it was 10 dollars less.

Absolutely.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

What do other no-subscription companies that offer free content updates charge for their expansions? What do subscription companies charge for their expansions?

WoW gradually increased the amount of content you got in the base game over time, so essentially you purchase “everything prior to the current xpac” and “the current xpac” to get the full current content unlocked. The former was $20, basically the equivalent of the F2P version of GW2 in the sense of “not much cost to get in, but you don’t get the full endgame”.

FFXIV is about to release what amounts to a full price second expansion pack, the same way anet charging full price for xpac two would. It’s not yet clear if they will continue to charge for the first xpac, or bundle it, but history suggests bundle it with the base game. (After all, it’s essentially superseded content, now.)

So… I think it’s entirely fair to say that what you are paying a premium for is when you get the content, not if you get it, in the world of subscribe-to-play games. If you want to wait and play it when it’s obsolete, and trivialised (often to the point of soloing) you can totally wait. Want it on launch day, pay full price every time.

Well, there you go. Not sure what the issue is, then.