Guild Wars 2

I apologise in advance for this not being a happy post.

Right now, the direction this game is taking makes my skin crawl. The issues with temporary content and gem store RNG boxes are certainly troublesome, but there’s one that sticks in my craw so badly it’s almost offensive.

One issue I can point to and feel like is something that is objectively wrong, something that should not be, is entire armour sets, related to content currently (if temporarily) in the game, unobtainable through gameplay but solely through the gem store.

Long ago, before GW2 launched, I clearly remember a developer blog post about how this game was not going to have stat-based progression, about how progression was going to be about making your character look cooler and better. I also remember plenty of worries about the gem store being allayed by us being told that everything in the gem store could also be obtained through gameplay (aside from things like boost items and account/character services).

I seriously wonder at what point grinding for gold to convert to gems is so much part of the meta in this game that, when you put an armour set related to a temporary dungeon in the game that can only be obtained through the gem store and nowhere else, how we are not to feel almost cheated. If the only progression in this game is through aesthetics (read: gear), but those aesthetics are not only able to be bought through the gem store but solely through the gem store, then that is literally buying progression, paying to win.

The occasional back item cover, and weapon skin here and there, those aren’t too bad, but when the first armour set added to the game since its launch is obtainable only through the gem store, that is a truly toxic precedent being set. It’s a precedent that makes me feel as though I was mislead when I bought this product.

It is a precedent that serves only to highlight the business practises of this game, of creating artificial scarcity (an arguably unethical practise) with temporary content to get as much flowing into the gem store as quickly as possible. I understand ANet needs money to operate, that is absolutely acceptable, ANet launched a fine product, they should make money from it. However, there are many ways to make money and this one is one of the least positive ways ANet could use for the sake of their customers.

Between this one issue with the armour and my own personal incredible distaste for the very concept of temporary content that isn’t a holiday (and hence cyclical), I have lost all desire to spend more money on this game than I already have. I hope to see something in this game like what I was promised.