No way to access Bloodstone Fen without LS?
LS3 can still be activated for free for anyone who logs on before the next chapter releases, which won’t be any sooner than this coming Tuesday (and more likely: not for a couple of weeks).
Of course, the person needs to own HoT to enter Bloodstone Fen, so perhaps that’s a problem.
Without any Teleport-to-Friend consumables, they would have to start LS3 themselves and progress it through the first few instances. They’d also need an L80 character. Still, that’s pretty quick — it’s mostly just some dialogue and some minor fights.
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
Yeah… here’s the problem Illlconceived, YOU CAN’T ACCESS BLOODSTONE FEN WITHOUT GOING THROUGH THE INSTANCE AS OF NOW, as far as I’m aware, as it currently stands if you do not own Out of the Shadows but your friend does…too bad so sad you can’t access Bloodstone Fen with them, unless of course you slip arenanet a couple of bucks to buy LWS3…before in S2/1 this wasn’t an issue because, even though you missed out on the instances and the rewards, you still got access to the maps…with this new trend of having the maps be impossible to access without the corresponding season…yeah…I don’t like this idea of being so split from people that I want to play with that are just new or returning, not only do they have to buy an expac, but they also need to buy every single LWS3 episode to get the maps?
I really hope arenanet aren’t stupid enough to do this and have an alternate method for people to access the map if they own HoT but not LWS3 out of the shadows…Think a couple months down the line, 3 episodes in, what if someone is just then wanting to play the game with a friend? Now they need to buy HoT AND all the LWS3 episodes…
I’m not going to freak out yet since I presume that arena-net are not money grubbing jerkwads and actually want to encourage people to get into the game and will do something about it when the next patch comes out…
(should be interesting to see what happens if Arenanet do try this…would letting someone bypass access to the new map via a Tele to Friend be bannable in that situation?)
(edited by thewaterguy.4796)
As of now (as long as you’ve logged into the game), if you don’t ‘own’ Out of the Shadows, you don’t ‘own’ Heart of Thorns, so you would not have access to the map(s).
I’m not sure ArenaNet is (or would be) a ‘money-grubbing jerk***’ for encouraging players to purchase the expansion to access current content (new maps).
How DARE Anet pay their employees to build a whole new map and charge MONEY for people to access it! How VERY DARE they! A whole new map for TWO DOLLARS? Anet should be giving everything away for free! Who ever heard of game developers needing money for their hard work to put food on the table! Outrageous I say!
(I’m just assuming the price is the same as before? 200 gems per episode I think? Which is like $2.50 USD? Or Like 60 gold or something so you don’t even have to pay real money? First world problems much?)
How DARE Anet pay their employees to build a whole new map and charge MONEY for people to access it! How VERY DARE they! A whole new map for TWO DOLLARS? Anet should be giving everything away for free! Who ever heard of game developers needing money for their hard work to put food on the table! Outrageous I say!
(I’m just assuming the price is the same as before? 200 gems per episode I think? Which is like $2.50 USD? Or Like 60 gold or something so you don’t even have to pay real money? First world problems much?)
I can’t +1 this nearly enough times.
If you want to play and enjoy the first episode and the associated content with it simply log-in before 20th september, before the next episode is released and you get it for free. (If you dont own HOT you should not feel entiteled to any of its associated content. Period). If you can’t be bothered to do such a simple thing, as just log in into the game, then you pay for it to play it. Simple as that.
- Don’t ever use the word entitled when it comes to consumer rights, its a dirty word
- Over time, the price tends to add up
- Oh ok, I can’t be bothered to log in…hmmm…I’m not thinking about this for me, I’m thinking about this from the perspective of someone who is coming into the game later down the line (say 2-3 years from now) I’m sorry, but I would feel a bit ripped off because I had the audacity to NOT have been playing GW2 when the updates went live
- Yeah…poor hungry wungry arenanet with all its gemstore purchases! Won’t someone please think of them?
Look I get what you are saying, but I am NOT ok with splitting the community in this way, especially when LWS2 didn’t do that, if it was like this from the very beginning with Living World, then I wouldn’t be as upset about it, its changing the precedent that makes me angry, Arena-net already said you needed HoT to access LWS3, which is fair, but when purchasing HoT many people (rightfully) presumed that they would get future updates alongside it, forcing them to purchase something because gasp you had a LIFE? How dare you not log in to get something you didn’t know existed! For your crimes, now you must purchase the LWS3 pack, only 19.99!
(edited by thewaterguy.4796)
sigh I know this isn’t a huge deal to people on the forums (mostly because they are actively playing the game so it doesn’t affect them) but try to look at this from the perspective of a player just getting into GW2…I don’t know, I would find the idea of having to buy all the maps that were updated for free to people that were actively playing kind of off-putting…I guess it would depend on the price and other factors
I’m not going to panic and declare “the death of GW2” or anything ridiculous like that, BUT I am concerned about the idea to say the least, I would prefer arena-net to just go back to LWS2 model where all you miss is the story instances, but if that doesn’t happen the episodes should be pretty cheap on the gem store (maybe like 500 gems for the whole season and 100 each episode?) and/or also make a possible workaround be using a tele to friend to unlock the map (though again, could that be considered cheating?) too many unknowns here for my taste, (if the maps are being included does that then jack up the price compared to season 2?)
Teleport to friend stones are still able to get you into the zone without needing to do the story instance.
Teleport to friend stones are still able to get you into the zone without needing to do the story instance.
I thought they were.
OP hasn’t returned to the thread yet, but I hope his/her concerns are now allayed. If their friend is currently playing and owns HoT they have full access to Bloodstone Fen without having to pay a cent so long as they load a character into game at least once before Sept 20. Either they do the story instance to get in, or they tele to a friend. After Sept 20 I guess they pay for story access but can still tele to a friend without using the story.
Also it is possible that as the story moves on, other ways to reach the Fen will show up, perhaps an air transport akin to the LA raid entry.
Okay, I don’t understand the misguided rage here. Living Story Season 3, Episode 1 is 100% free, so long as you log on once, just ONCE before Episode 2 is released on the 20th. You have PLENTY of time.
Of course, you have to own Heart of Thorns to access LS S3, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with ANet making you pay for an expansion to play in an expansion zone… If they let you access the expansion zone for free, the value of the expansion would lose worth, and there would be little point to purchasing the expansion. Yes, you have to pay money to play the new content… whoa! Crazy concept that is! Ive never seen a single game where an expansion was free, except free to play games. But lets be honest here, most free to play games don’t have expansions, and the ‘free to play’ really means ‘pay to win’, as the only way you can get the best gear with the best stats, is by buying it with real money.
With GW2 all you have to do is buy the expansions as they are released, and log on for each of the living story episode releases. In fact, you dont even have to buy each expansion, if you want to wait 5 years for the third expansion to be released, all you have to do is buy expansion number 3, and you get expansions 2, 1, and core game for free. And as long as you have at least a free to play account during that time period, that you logged onto during each living story episode release, you’ll get those for free too, you just wont be able to play them until you finally purchase the latest expansion. In other words, if you truly wanted to wait, you would only have to pay for the game once and get every single release free. If you don’t want to wait, then quit complaining, and buy the game. If you dont take advantage of the system, you have only yourself to blame. I cant think of another game that has as generous a business model.
(edited by OtakuModeEngage.8679)
@thewaterguy:
With the purchase of the Core game came all pre-expansion maps (those available at launch, and those added subsequently), and all pre-expansion Living World (Story) episodes (sans LWS1, of course), free (as long as one logged in while active).
With the purchase of the expansion, Heart of Thorns, comes all post-expansion maps (those available at launch, and those added subsequently), and all post-expansion Living World (Story) episodes, free (as long as one logs in while active).
Seems to be the exact same model; I’m guessing it will be, again, the same model for Expansion Two, and subsequent Living World (Story) Seasons.
Look I get what you are saying, but I am NOT ok with splitting the community in this way, especially when LWS2 didn’t do that, if it was like this from the very beginning with Living World, then I wouldn’t be as upset about it, its changing the precedent that makes me angry,
Is it possible that you might be overstating this bit? It seems to me that the community was already “split” as you put it when HoT was introduced because some people have it and others don’t. That means a large part of the population plays in new zones and another large part does not. Does it matter to core Tyria only people whether are 4 or 6 new zones that they cannot access?
Arena-net already said you needed HoT to access LWS3, which is fair, but when purchasing HoT many people (rightfully) presumed that they would get future updates alongside it, forcing them to purchase something because gasp you had a LIFE? How dare you not log in to get something you didn’t know existed! For your crimes, now you must purchase the LWS3 pack, only 19.99!
After Living World Season 1 there was a call by the community to have a way to replay previous living world content that they had missed. Making the living world content available after the fact addressed that request, but ANet charge a small amount for this service. Is this charging twice for the same content? I guess it would depend on your perspective. If you see buying HoT as guaranteeing your living world content, then yes, if you see it as allowing you to play the living world content as it is released, that is a nuanced difference. Charging a similar small amount as is currently set for LS2 would be following a precedent that has already been set. Additionally, if indeed it does go that way, there is a 2-3 month timeframe to log in once. Thus the only current players who would really experience this are those who take long breaks from the game.
It is in Anet’s self-interest to encourage players to play consistently. The world NEEDS people in order to really function. Underpopulation causes problems. I am sure we have all experienced issues on maps where the meta cannot be completed successfully because there aren’t enough players. The login and daily rewards are incentives towards that end. I see charging for access to missed past content as another small incentive to encourage players to log in regularly and play.
For those who buy HoT after the fact and then face the decision of whether or not to buy previous living world content . . . I think the fact that these can be purchased with gems as opposed to real world money means that they can earn the living world stories if they really want them.
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We have to wait until September 20th and until episode 1 is not longer unlock-able for free. Can you still enter Bloodstone Fen with the travel to a friend consumable or not?
If the answer is no then Arenanet changed the paradigm in comparison to LW2. This would be a bad move in my eyes. So far all maps added via LW seasons are freely accessible without owning LW episodes.
We have to wait until September 20th and until episode 1 is not longer unlock-able for free. Can you still enter Bloodstone Fen with the travel to a friend consumable or not?
If the answer is no then Arenanet changed the paradigm in comparison to LW2. This would be a bad move in my eyes. So far all maps added via LW seasons are freely accessible without owning LW episodes.
You can still enter with the teleport to friend stone. Whether you can after the 20th is up in the air but I don’t see why it would be any different.
We have to wait until September 20th and until episode 1 is not longer unlock-able for free. Can you still enter Bloodstone Fen with the travel to a friend consumable or not?
If the answer is no then Arenanet changed the paradigm in comparison to LW2. This would be a bad move in my eyes. So far all maps added via LW seasons are freely accessible without owning LW episodes.
The difference here is that the previous living world seasons were part of the core game, so you only had to own the core game to enter their associated maps. The current and future living world seasons are part of heart of thorns, so you have to own heart of Thorns to play them. And when the next expansion is released, the following living world seasons will be part of that expansion, and you’ll need to own it to play them. ANet has actually remained consistant, just the pattern of their business model hasn’t been visible until just now.
Play any other game, and see if you can enter the expansion zones without owning the associated expansion. It wouldn’t make sense to let players freely enter an expansion zone without buying the expansion. To do so would devalue the expansion, and give little reason to purchase.
(edited by OtakuModeEngage.8679)
I think the issue is, that even owning Heart of Thorns, the only way to enter Bloodstone Fen (sans Teleport to a Friend) is through Living World Season Three Episode One. The problem, then, would be no access without unlocking/purchasing said Episode One. This would be different than the methods of accessing maps that were added to Core Tyria through Living World Season Two.
We will have to wait and see if other methods of accessing post-expansion maps become available without unlocking/purchasing Episode One (or other Episodes).
I think the issue is, that even owning Heart of Thorns, the only way to enter Bloodstone Fen (sans Teleport to a Friend) is through Living World Season Three Episode One. The problem, then, would be no access without unlocking/purchasing said Episode One. This would be different than the methods of accessing maps that were added to Core Tyria through Living World Season Two.
We will have to wait and see if other methods of accessing post-expansion maps become available without unlocking/purchasing Episode One (or other Episodes).
Ah, I see what you mean. That even if you buy the hots expansion, you can’t enter the map without owning living story season 3 ep 1, whereas if you bought gw, even if you didn’t own ls s1, ep1 you could still enter dry top. Hmmm, that is a slight difference. But I still don’t see the problem. You merely need log on once during the release period, or if you missed the release (which you have no one but yourself to blame) and want to go there so badly, just cough up the money for the episode… it’s not that expensive…
True, though it does add extra expense for those purchasing the expansion at any time after Episodes are no longer current.
But, for those that have purchased any time before the Episodes are no longer current, and with the now extended time period Episodes are current, it does seem that ArenaNet is being more than fair. If ArenaNet wishes to change their model slightly, they more than likely have good reason; if it becomes contentious, they may change it. They may change it with the next release….who knows?
So a friend couldnt play for osme time and didnt get his LS activated but want sto join Bloodstone Fen… is there any way? He doesn’t have any Teleport to friends either..
SHould a map be locked behind a LS Episode? Did i miss another way to tell him?
TIA
If I read your post correctly, your friend logged in, but wasn’t able to enter Bloodstone Fen. This means he doesn’t own HoT. Fear not, since he has logged in he owns LS3E1, but it is locked until he purchases HoT. When and if he does buy HoT he will have access to it.
If I read this wrong and he hasn’t logged in, then he needs to do so before 9/20/16. Once he logs in he will own LS3E1 and will be able to enter BLoodstone Fen once he purchases HoT.
True, though it does add extra expense for those purchasing the expansion at any time after Episodes are no longer current.
But, for those that have purchased any time before the Episodes are no longer current, and with the now extended time period Episodes are current, it does seem that ArenaNet is being more than fair. If ArenaNet wishes to change their model slightly, they more than likely have good reason; if it becomes contentious, they may change it. They may change it with the next release….who knows?
It depends, as long as he logged in and played during the living story chapter release(as either a purchaser of the original gw2 core game, or as a free to play member), even if he doesn’t own heart of thorns, he won’t have to pay for the living story season, he just won’t be able to play it until he buys the latest expansion.
On the other hand if he doesn’t log on during this period, or is a new player to the game who has just created an account after the fact, he will have to pay for the LS episode. In either case, I have little sympathy, for someone in the first senario, it’s your own fault for not logging on, and for someone in the second senario, the math works out like this:
Let’s say they start playing after six living story releases and three expansions, ie; ls2, exp1, ls3 ls4, exp2, ls5, ls6, exp3
Vet: playing since launch, so I had to buy the core game and each expansion for $50 each: 4x$50= $200
New player: has to buy latest expansion of $50 and each living story season for $20: 20×5+50= $150
Player who played since the free to play game became available, and doesn’t buy game until 3rd expansion: only has to buy 3rd expansion and ls2: 20+50=$70
In eithet case, for the same content I paid more, so I don’t want to hear any complaints about the business model being unfair to or ripping off new players. And that’s not even counting the fact that they could just earn the living story season buy converting gold to gems, so all they really would have to pay is $50 for the latest expansion.
In gw2, it’s vets who face the pay wall, not new players.
(edited by OtakuModeEngage.8679)
^Yes, I said ArenaNet is being more than fair.
The only way know to access Bloodstone Fen the FIRST time is by owning HoT, and doing the lws3 epi 1. But for alts you can just use the Bloodstone Fen Portal Scroll you can buy from the merchant on the airship.
The only way know to access Bloodstone Fen the FIRST time is by owning HoT, and doing the lws3 epi 1. But for alts you can just use the Bloodstone Fen Portal Scroll you can buy from the merchant on the airship.
Has that actually been confirmed that you must to the LS the first time and cannot just use a teleport to friend stone?
The only way know to access Bloodstone Fen the FIRST time is by owning HoT, and doing the lws3 epi 1. But for alts you can just use the Bloodstone Fen Portal Scroll you can buy from the merchant on the airship.
Has that actually been confirmed that you must to the LS the first time and cannot just use a teleport to friend stone?
Not sure tbh, in theory you should be able to, but, to my knowledge, hasn’t been tested.
So a friend couldnt play for osme time and didnt get his LS activated but want sto join Bloodstone Fen… is there any way? He doesn’t have any Teleport to friends either..
SHould a map be locked behind a LS Episode? Did i miss another way to tell him?
TIA
Dose your friend have HoT? You have to do the story instance once to get there, after that you can buy an Item that takes you to the map. And as long as your friend logs in before the next story release on the 20th, even if they don’t own HoT, the can “bank” the episode for when they do, but untill you own HoT you can not access and HoT, or new LW maps, we have know this for a long time, ANet told us this when HoT was announced or shortly after.
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(edited by BrotherBelial.3094)
This does seem a bit restrictive long term.
Now that they have established a foothold, maybe the pact can set us up an asura gate at the small camp north of the airship.
Do we know anything about how we will access the new zone? Are good if we can get to BF (maybe there is a tunnel)? Do we need to do all of the first part of LS3 (cue us altoholics all screaming)?
Bloodstone Fen requires gliding, which requires the Heart of Thorns expansion. Once you complete Living Story season 3 episode 1, you wind up in Bloodstone Fen on an airship. It does have a waypoint, but without gliding it’s a very long way down. Edit: If you do have HoT, but don’t have gliding unlocked yet, it’s not a problem. It only costs 1 mastery point and you get 1 point for completing the LS3 episode 1.
You only need to complete LS3 episode 1 on a single character though. Once you get to Bloodstone Fen you can run around killing random monsters and doing events to get Unbound Magic, which is currency used in that map.
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Bloodstone_Fen_Portal_Scroll
Costs 1,000 Unbound Magic + 50 silver. It functions exactly like the Captain’s Airship Pass, Noble’s Folly Scroll, and the Royal Terrace pass. It will allow you to teleport to Bloodstone Fen with characters who haven’t even completed the living story episode yet, as long as you completed it on 1 character already to gain access to the map.
There’s something charming about rangers.
This does seem a bit restrictive long term.
Now that they have established a foothold, maybe the pact can set us up an asura gate at the small camp north of the airship.
What you suggest is not unheard of… Anet have changed the entry to zones before. Southsun used to required going to the LA docks to enter, but they added an Asura gate later on.
too many ppl are kittened for no reason ls2 wasnt made after an expansion so it wasnt following p2p only content so you cant compare it with lw3. Lw3 its ok since it follows a gatted storyline for ppl who do not qualify to play i would rather comment anet for unlocking lw3 in the files for ppl who dont either have hot but still logged in the game so when or if they buy it they will get the lw3 as well this is all to wierd coz this thread is in a wierd timing since when mo said that it would be locked ppl did not complain and since theres 10 days still to unlock it i find this thread kind of early to be made.Now i would argue that anet could make a gate on the north for the ppl that have the expac to go in fen that would connect the map to the world but oh well that would be kind of immersio breaking
(edited by zealex.9410)
The zones will likely end up being standalone. Basically, think of them as a part of the episode. You likely won’t be required to go back there in future releases, but if you are, there will certainly be another way to access it.
When they switched to the expansion model, they should have changed how the episodes were unlocked. There shouldn’t have been an unlock period, but rather season 3 should have simply been available to HoT owners. Once the next expansion launches, then they could sell it separately. As is, it’s just a incentive to login once every few months, which likely helps with padding their login numbers.
too many ppl are kittened for no reason ls2 wasnt made after an expansion so it wasnt following p2p only content so you cant compare it with lw3. Lw3 its ok since it follows a gatted storyline for ppl who do not qualify to play i would rather comment anet for unlocking lw3 in the files for ppl who dont either have hot but still logged in the game so when or if they buy it they will get the lw3 as well this is all to wierd coz this thread is in a wierd timing since when mo said that it would be locked ppl did not complain and since theres 10 days still to unlock it i find this thread kind of early to be made.Now i would argue that anet could make a gate on the north for the ppl that have the expac to go in fen that would connect the map to the world but oh well that would be kind of immersio breaking
ANet had said, if you don’t own HoT but are online while the episodes are live you can “bank” them for when you get HoT.
The reason there is no entrance to BSF is that it is, (story wise) technically part of the raid.
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I need some cheese after reading through this thread.
Considering “Living World” was ALWAYS intended to be played AS IT HAPPENED players should be thrilled that they are even given a way to access them post LW1.
There are a lot of obvious reasons for Bloodstone Fen being cut off (while Dry Top/The Silverwastes weren’t) to those who do not own the expansion, but if one is so blinded as to not “get it” then anyone here is wasting their time trying to explain it.
As for the “Real Life” crowd. Get over yourselves. I (as many others here) have a “Real Life” too, and I missed most of LW1 and all of LW2, but its my own fault for having 3 kids, a wife, etc. NO ONE ELSE’s!
The rest of the player base and ArenaNet should not be punished, have to stop everything, or change rules just because poor little me couldn’t be bothered to log on in time.
Obviously what ever was going on in my own “Real Life” was more important, and because of that I missed out on a lot of content that I will never get to take part in again (I have no hope of LW1 ever being repeatable), and when I found that they did the unexpected and made LW2 repeatable I bought full access without a second thought.
It was my fault, my problem, ArenaNet gave a solution.
No one has to like that solution, but its a solution all the same. I for one did not mind it. I was able to access content that under their original vision would have never been repeatable again, and why should I get it for free if I didn’t even have the time to be here when it was actually taking place?
Still… imho it was a bad decision to make the episodes not free all the time you log in. And this comes from someone who always defended the 50€ price tag of HOT!
‘would have/would’ve been’ —> correct
‘would of been’ —> wrong
‘would of been’ —> wrong
Can anyone verify whether or not Portal to Friend works for someone who does not have the first episode unlocked? Trying to see if players can access the map.
It does work. A friend of mine didn’t do any of the LS and used a teleport to friend to get to me in Bloodstone fen a few weeks ago.
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards,
for there you have been and there you will long to return.
for there you have been and there you will long to return.
I used a Teleport to a Friend to access Ember Bay before doing the story, but I guess that’s not what you are asking, because, of course the Episode was unlocked.
I’m afraid I don’t know anyone that owns Heart of Thorns but didn’t log on even once in the last 2 months.
Alright, I know there are some level of difference between LWS2 and 3, but I joined the game and bought HoT and then also proceeded to buy LWS2 and to be honest it didn’t kitten me off at all. In fact, it just made me eager for LWS3 and to make sure I logged in to get the episodes and be a part of something in that moment and if I missed it, tough, I just go and buy it.
I think a lot of you are over exaggerating, new players will have so much content to play through, not to mention ones newer than myself will have to buy both, but I doubt they will be that upset because they’ll probably just play through the two main stories first and then decide they want what is in between (like I did), hell I know I would even buy the instance based story stuff of LWS1 if there was any, just so I could experience defeating Scarlett.
Someone who really likes the game won’t think it is that unfair to be honest.
Can anyone verify whether or not Portal to Friend works for someone who does not have the first episode unlocked? Trying to see if players can access the map.
Doesn’t work. Does take your portal stone. Just tried it with a friend that owns all the new stuff en HOT just not epi one for bloodstone fen. And she got moved to LA. No warning nothing.