Guild Wars 2

Any sign of a discount or removal of the purchasing these from the gem shop? Mastery point requirements for gems are pretty off-putting.

No

they’re free when they are released, you just have to log in at the right time
you can also trade gold for gems some people even get their extra character slots like this

I didn’t start playing until shortly before HoT came out. It seems silly to me to pay the equivalent of a new expansion for a couple quests that I only want for the mastery points.

Hesacon.8735:

I didn’t start playing until shortly before HoT came out. It seems silly to me to pay the equivalent of a new expansion for a couple quests that I only want for the mastery points.

Except you can get gems by trading in-game gold for them.

In addition you can play the instances with someone else who has them unlocked, even if you don’t have them unlocked yourself (in this case, you won’t get the rewards though which seems to be what you’re after).

Diovid.9506:

Hesacon.8735:

I didn’t start playing until shortly before HoT came out. It seems silly to me to pay the equivalent of a new expansion for a couple quests that I only want for the mastery points.

Except you can get gems by trading in-game gold for them.

In addition you can play the instances with someone else who has them unlocked, even if you don’t have them unlocked yourself (in this case, you won’t get the rewards though which seems to be what you’re after).

Yeah I’m really only after the mastery points. I tried to piggyback off someone else doing them off one point to award the mastery point and it didn’t seem to work.

And the direction gem prices and inflation are going are quickly going to put it out of reach of casual players. It would take 400-500 gold at current exchange rates to get all the episodes, and every indication is that the gold-to-gem rate is going to continue going up.

Even if the price were lowered to 400 gems, it would make it obtainable to casual players who already payed for the game by using the gems rewarded from one of the 5k achievement boxes.

But really, I don’t mind certain things like skins being behind a separate paywall, but actual content doesn’t sit well with me.

Hesacon.8735:

But really, I don’t mind certain things like skins being behind a separate paywall, but actual content doesn’t sit well with me.

But once that paywall means there are 3 different ways of getting it free (logging in at the right time, playing it with someone else who has it unlocked or paying for it with in-game gold) then how much of a paywall is it?

Besides, Season 2 has been on sale in the past.

Diovid.9506:

But once that paywall means there are 3 different ways of getting it free (logging in at the right time,

Was before my time and by this point a large population of the game. Two years is a very long time for a game.

playing it with someone else who has it unlocked

Doesn’t reward the mastery points. Mastery points are a feature of HoT, which I paid for with actual American currency.

or paying for it with in-game gold) then how much of a paywall is it?

Besides, Season 2 has been on sale in the past.

Is what I’m complaining about. Paying for something being behind a paywall? I think that’s the definition of a paywall.

Hesacon.8735:

Mastery point requirements for gems are pretty off-putting.

• You can max mastery without doing LS2, so that aspect isn’t behind a pay wall.
• LS2 has always been behind its own paywall (free if logged on at the right times/ 200 gems-per-chapter otherwise). Buying HoT doesn’t affect that.

Further, the price for LS hasn’t changed — it’s always 200 gems/chapter. The only thing that has changed (and only recently) is the gold:gem ratio, which affects everyone equally (hard core or otherwise). It’s harder on skinflints, such as myself, who aren’t willing or able to spend RL cash on gems, but that’s a separate issue from the ones raised in this thread.

tl;dr there’s no requirement to pay gems to max masteries

(mind you: I’m not opposed to ANet offering more mastery points outside of raids, adventures, and LS2 achievements…and it wouldn’t surprise me if LS3 will include some of that)