Guild Wars 2

I’d use the search function, but it seems to be broken… and I haven’t seen this being mentioned recently. I also checked the wiki; there doesn’t seem to be anything about it.

So if you stick around in LA mainly, you’ll notice that asura charge for their gates. (the most common observation is the charr complaining about the extra fee for oversized items).

I would understand being free if they didn’t require energy and only needed minimum maintenence, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. So what gives?
Is it just a case of gameplay and story segregation?

Perhaps they’re funded by the LA council? (Spitballing here, I’m sure someone else will come along with hard evidence XD)

i dont know it but it could be something the nations have agreed to for helping your home nation so much. or something the pact have manged to get in with some deals

If I remember right, though I could be very wrong on this, the Asura allow people to use the gates for free as more of a good faith deal. It raises the view of Rata Sum and Lion’s Arch in the public’s eye, and it also helps build ties between the different cities.

Merchants or anyone moving a large amount of good, or just large items, do get billed to use the gates, and possibly very heavily too, since the gates allow the instant transportation of goods across large distances, bypassing all the dangers the road might offer.

Also, most, if not all, of the Asura Gates in Lion’s Arch are owned by Captain Shud. Going by her own words, she is the richest captain on the council.

Mechanics to be able to have a cheaper means of travel and a way to play with friends immediately.

Nothing more to it.

@Erukk: Asura Gates cost money in lore. Same as waypoints. Shud even outright stated during Dragon Bash that the people coming through those gates meant money for her because they’re using the gates.

I do not recall anyone paying cash for the gate travel in Edge of Destiny or Ghosts of Ascalon… And the flow of people also means the flow of goods. And the flow of goods brings in extra cash for Shud.

I want to say Erukk is right, but I’ve been proven wrong before.

Probably governments pay the price. This way, merchants and visitors can come and go easier, meaning more traffic which is good for their economy.

at gate hub plaza in LA an asura gatekeeper and a charr traveler discuss the cost of gate travel

Traveler: Why do you charge extra for oversized items. That service should be included. (what service? included in what?)

Gatekeeper: Fine. I’ll even offer free gate travel if you provide me a with lifetime supply of rifles.

Traveler: What would you do with so many rifles? (especially since rifles can be pretty sturdy and if you take good care of them just one or two can be a lifetime supply. ammo on the other hand…)

Gatekeeper: Protect my precious gate from freeloaders.

it’s already established that everyone can pay for gate use without having to ‘sign up’, ‘make an account’, or buy a pass first. but this gives me the impression that there are special deals you can make, perhaps like buying free passes or half-fare passes on the buss.

Yes, but in this instance it is obviously a merchant trying to get some merchandise through the gate, unless the asura is making a crack at his size by calling HIM an oversized item, lol.

Narcemus.1348:

I do not recall anyone paying cash for the gate travel in Edge of Destiny or Ghosts of Ascalon… And the flow of people also means the flow of goods. And the flow of goods brings in extra cash for Shud.

Edge of Destiny, page 42-43

“Not going to Lion’s Arch today,” Snaff said to the gate attendant. Slipping him a coin, Snaff said, “Rata Sum, if you please.”

There’s also the charr NPC going through the Black Citadel asura gate in Lion’s Arch, who has to pay and tries haggling.

And in regards to Shud:

“Ahoy, there! Traveling through one of our many popular gates, perhaps?”

→ Just passing through. Who are you?

“The name’s Shud. I’m a key member of the Captain’s Council. I own most of the asura gates in and out of Lion’s Arch. If you want it moved quickly, you come to me.”

Captain Shud during Dragon Bash

“So many people here for Dragon Bash. More people means more traffic through my gates. And that means money. So much money.”

→ Who are you

“Captain Shud, member in good standing on the Ship’s Council and owner of the city’s asura gates. Be sure to use them if you’re going after those holoprojectors.”

And more importantly:

“Ahoy! I sure hope you’re a traveler. We live off folks like you coming and going. Plus travelers have the best stories.”

→Nice to meet you. Who are you, anyway?

“Captain Tokk of the Captain’s Council. In this city, the more you know about people’s business, the more business you get.”

It sounds like it’s Tokk, not Shud, who makes profit from people buying things. Shud owns the asura gates, so she is likely directly literal when she’s saying traffic through them gives her profit.

Akbaroth.2861:

it’s already established that everyone can pay for gate use without having to ‘sign up’, ‘make an account’, or buy a pass first. but this gives me the impression that there are special deals you can make, perhaps like buying free passes or half-fare passes on the buss.

That situation sounds more like haggling and bribing than any “special passes.”

I’m not stating the economic value of the merchandise appearing is what Shud is happy about, but it is the payment for the cargo transported. It’s very visible in areas that shipping cargo is expensive, even if shipping people may not be. Shud would get the money for people coming in with cargo, Tokk would get the money off of the merchandise they sold (expecting we’re talking taxation). As for the Snaff portion, it could be perceived as him tipping the person to switch out destinations, although I’ll give it to you, it’s more likely he’s paying to move through. Although, now that I think about it he is transporting the giant stone head at the time, so it could be pay for that cargo…

@Konig: Hm… I might need more context for that bit with Snaff. Was it “expanded” more in previous/consequent paragraphs? Because as it stands, it feels like he’s paying for a destination change, as Narcemus said, but… From what I’ve read, it’s extremely hard and time-consuming to change the destination of asura gates. So how are we supposed to interpret the payment?

Considering how much they rake in from all the WPing, they can leave the gates on as free to use.
Though I think the story of Ebonhawke mentions Jennah funding the building of the gates? So I guess the operators/maintainers are paid wages by the government and that’s it.

It’s a gameplay reason, nothing more. Stand at the gates in LA. Listen to the NPCs. Actually people have to pay. For example, there is this Asura which quarrels a bit with a Charr. Basically the Charr wants to know why he has to pay extra for something. The whole conversations ends with the Asura wanting a huge bunch of weapons from the Charr in order to: “… protect my precious gate from freeloaders?”.

I guess gameplay wise, Anet didn’t want players to spend money while travelling between the main social hubs.

EDIT:
Ah, that was already mentioned. Didn’t read the whole thread, sorry. Nevermind, I’m sure that’s just a gameplay thing. So, for roleplaying your character should pay a fee. There is enough evidence to support this.

I always assumed that traders where the ones that paid in modern Tryia. While normal travelers can just come and go as they please. Kind of like having a tole booth for cars but allowing pedestrians to pass for free.

I think I remember an ambient dialog on this topic. Two citizen discussing travel near the Canal WP. One say something like “I could use the asura gate, but I don’t have this kind of money”. Ring a bell to anyone? :S

I can’t remember where I heard it nor what it said exactly, but I’m sure there are more dialogues than just that one with the Charr and the Asura and the lifetime supply of rifles that confirms that everyone has to pay. Its location was just… less obvious than directly near the gate hub in LA.

As for the waypoints, I’m still having a hard time considering them an integral part of the lore. I mean… instant teleportation from anywhere on the map, and not only do people still use gates, but it is never mentionned anywhere in the books, in game story and dialogues, or any other kind of lore support. The only way I can see the waypoints included in the lore is to have them be some kind of advanced direction signs, with access to a UI (for a fee) with features like itinerary searches, well something like that, that stays within the acceptable boundaries of the game universe.

TheLazyOne.8509:

Considering how much they rake in from all the WPing, they can leave the gates on as free to use.

This is what I thought could be a rationale for why adventurers are allowed free city gate. Ordinary citizens don’t use waypoints very much so the asura charge them for gate travel, whereas adventurers use waypoints so much they get a ‘frequent flyer’ perk of free city gate travel.

Of course, I’d like to see the asuran contractual clause that explains why waypoints cost more the higher level a character is. I suppose one could rationalize that high level players radiate more raw power which is more difficult to transport.

Elidath.5679:

I think I remember an ambient dialog on this topic. Two citizen discussing travel near the Canal WP. One say something like “I could use the asura gate, but I don’t have this kind of money”. Ring a bell to anyone? :S

(self quote because I am bad mannered)

Found it: it was indeed the two NPC the nearest to the Canal Ward WP of Lion’s Arch (the one leading to Gendarran). A male charr and a female human.
It goes like this:
- Human: “What would be the easiest way to DR?”
- Charr: “That would be the asura gate, but it’ll cost you a lot.”
- Human: “And what if I use my natural charm on the gate operator?”
- Charr: “Then it’ll cost you more.”

So, it is said unambiguously that using the gate cost money.
It is also implied that operators can adjust cost on a whim, so maybe the PCs got a special “hero discount” for whatever they did.