Guild Wars 2

Some great information above guys and thanks to all of you who are taking the time out to highlight these points. I really do appreciate it.

Maybe it’s me being a little lazy rather than it being a gold earning issue. I am going to be a little more prudent and follow some of the advice given here. I’ll report back on my progress and let you all know if I managed to get myself out of the red by following your advice. I’m curious to see if I can maintain a reasonable level of self sufficiency in game without any outside investment whatsoever.

DigitalKirin.9714:

It may be enlightening for all of us to hear from you what a day in the life of TactiCol is (in game, of course). This might help us put a finger on why you are spending more gold than you are making.

Many people have already given helpful tips. I’ll see if I can add one or two things.

Have the appropriate gathering tools equipped and as you clear maps, make sure you’re gathering. You Don’t have to go out with the mindset of farming gathering nodes. Make it incidental. If you were headed to the next point of your story mission, start from the nearest city (which you can get to for 0 silver by using the Heart of the Mists to Lion’s Arch to the Gate Hub) and run there, gathering whatever happens to be relatively close on your map.

Waypoint less when you choose to clear maps. If you must waypoint to a map, so be it, but make sure you are accomplishing goals there (finishing heart quests, doing dynamic events, gathering) enough to recompense your waypoint cost.

Use basic salvage kits for whites and blues. At level 80, you should be salvaging any white and blue Light and Heavy armor. Vendor white and blue medium armor.

Do dungeons for fun. No seriously. If you’ve got decent gear and you’ve got your son and three friends, do some dungeons. If you’re new, choose to do the Easy dungeons first. (You’ll need to do story mode to unlock explorable mode, too.) Try doing one new one a night. Read the guides or watch the videos to know what you’re up against.

Thanks for the tips, couple of handy ones there. Much appreciated.

As to dungeons, I’m just not into that side of MMORPG personally. I will do them all out of necessity rather than desire. Having said that if they are reasonably profitable, it is an avenue we should explore. We have done three of them so far but we are a small family guild so it’s not always easy.

There are only the four of us as and we are not in a rush to let anyone else in due to my sons age. If we find the right people over the course of time we will probably expand a little but quite frankly, I don’t want the management headaches I’ve encountered in previous games when running guilds. I actually want to enjoy the game this time

Maybe a couple of alliances with other small guilds would be the best route for dungeons and looting and that is probably something we will now look to explore in the near future. We went in with GW2 vets on our first and second dungeon runs so we got a nice heads up from them and I suppose we could get to grips with the workings of others and work one different dungeon each day.

If any small guilds on the Fissure of Woe servers are looking to hook up for dungeons, WvW and events – feel free to contact me in game.

MistaMike.7356:

In other words developers should work for free. Do you work for free?

Times have changed buddy. Back in our day we’d be lucky to get any patches for a game after release – games nowadays are continuously maintenanced and added to.

Firstly, read the whole thread before wading in and note the following quoted comment.

As stated previously in my original post, I’d be far happier contributing financially if I felt I was doing so voluntarily to support the devs/product. If I feel pushed into it, I’m far more likely to push back and withdraw that support. I’m also far more likely to leave the game completely and therefore reduce ANets income potential to £0.00

Better that they get a little of my money on a goodwill basis than get none at all. That’s basically what I’m saying here.

I’ve already paid somewhere around a couple of hundred pounds on top of two copies of the game. I’ve also made 2 recommendations to friends and family (who have also bought the game). All this within about two months. So to clarify my position on the matter, no I don’t expect the developers to work for free. You drew that conclusion all by yourself

Secondly, back in your day was probably back in my day too. I’m 40 years old and have been gaming since the late 1970’s on the binatone. I’ve been involved in gaming in some form or other throughout my life and have seen passionate developers as well as developers who simply don’t give a ****.

I’m not criticising the dev team at all in this post, merely highlighting areas of concern for me as a gamer. In fact if you read a little of the thread, you’ll note that I said that this game is a treasure that is in my top 5 of all time. No mean feat. I’m happy with the devs attitude to the game and the frequent updates and don’t mind putting my hand in my pocket from time to time to continue to support that.

tolunart.2095:

TactiCol.8450:

I have been storing mats rather than selling them in order to up my crafting skills later without having to buy everything.

Mats go up and down in price. The min price for copper ore may be 5-6c in the morning, 10-12c in the evening, and even go up to 14-15c during particularly busy evenings. For quick cash I sell it at whatever the current price is, if I don’t mind waiting I list it for like 12c each and wait for the lower-priced stuff to sell and make a few silver.

You’re probably sitting on 10-20 gold right now.

You are probably right as I’ve done the buy more at trading post option on some of my mats and there is a good few golds worth. I’m going to evaluate it again whilst selling everything I collect over the next five days. Just so I’m a little clearer on the numbers involved.

GrandmaFunk.3052:

TactiCol.8450:

Expenses are the guild itself, character gear, waypoints and WvW across two accounts.

Break it down with actual values.

Yeah hang on, I’ll just fetch my calculator and my favourite accounts package.

I don’t know the values as it is based on 2 months of game play. All I know is that I’m spending way more gold than it seems possible to make in game. Guild Research, WvW siege deployment, waypoint travel, repairs and character gear are the main money sinks right now. Spent a little on crafting too but have given that up for now until I research it further.

tolunart.2095:

Without really trying, I’d say the two of us make about 10g per week. The biggest thing you can do to make money fast is to set aside crafting for a while and sell all the mats you get. Later when you want to work on crafting put in buy orders for 100s of the mats you need at minimal prices. If you sell 1000 copper ore at 10c each and later buy 500 copper ore at 5c each you still end up ahead. But it’s very hard to craft items and sell them for a profit because the mats are more expensive than the items they produce.

I’ve held on to the mats but I will try selling them over the next few days worth of gathering and see how that affects my income. As you say, the mats are worth more than the items they produce which in my mind at least, suggests that something is broken and needs to be fixed.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

@TactiCol:

I am vastly curious what gold you require which you do not earn as you play. I’ve never been rich like the people who try flipping stuff on the Trading Post (seriously, you do need a nice investment egg to start that . . . and a lot of luck) but I’ve been able to support my gear.

I am running in 1/6 Ascended gear (I could have more, but decided it wasn’t worth my time yet) and the rest is Exotic with two Rare weapons. I have gone to 400 in three Crafting professions now, and have only had to purchase roughly 40s in materials off the Trading Post when I felt too lazy to go find where Tier 3 Fine materials drop.

I am an active member of a guild, which has perhaps taken more of my gold currency than it should. It still is about as much as I spent on Waypoint travel, which is to say I’m figuring about 12 gold over eight months.

Where is your expense coming from?

If you are having problems, you can do a few things to try making some money back:

- Don’t cross-continent travel via Waypoint if you can avoid it. Drop into Heart of the Mists and then go to Lion’s Arch. This alone shaves off 1-2 silver, but if you then use the asuran gate hub to go to the closest city? You can come in under the cost of a straight transit.

- Try to kill things at either end of a Waypoint travel so you essentially make your money back on Green items.

- If you’re not ever going to craft, sell your crafting materials on the Trading Post.

- Don’t do WvW.

Expenses are the guild itself, character gear, waypoints and WvW across two accounts. I have been storing mats rather than selling them in order to up my crafting skills later without having to buy everything.

GrandmaFunk.3052:

TactiCol.8450:

not interested in making lots of in game money. I’m just concerned with the loot drop rate and low in game incomes.

So… do you not see how you keep contradicting yourself in these posts?

TactiCol.8450:

I am well seasoned in the dynamics of the MMORPG.

Which means you have a bunch of preconceived notions you probably need to unlearn.

There are no contradictions at all to be perfectly honest. I’m being entirely clear on the points raised. Perhaps it is a matter of perception.

The only preconceived notion around here at present is your preconceived notion that I have preconceived notions that need unlearning

I came into this game with very little by way of expectation and in many regards, the game has fulfilled it’s promise on any expectations I may have had. The game itself is a treasure and has a place in my top 5 games of all time. It would be a shame to find myself putting it away in the game collection cupboard though, on account of the issues raised here.

tolunart.2095:

My wife and I have been playing since shortly after launch, and beyond the price of the game boxes themselves I’ve spent a grand total of $50, this was a birthday splurge on two $25 gem cards for her and I. Yet I never lack for money even while leveling two of my toons to 80 and keeping multiple toons in level-appropriate gear and working occasionally on crafting.

Some things to keep in mind:

Don’t travel to waypoints on the other side of the map, it gets expensive especially at higher levels. In each race’s home city is a portal to/from Lion’s Arch. It can be cheaper to WP or walk to the nearest city, go to LA, then go to another city and travel onwards from there. Don’t WP unless you have to, explore the entire zone over the course of a couple days, do a few DEs and gather some loot and you won’t even notice the WP fees.

Sell stuff on the TP whenever possible, not to the vendor. “White” equipment and the things you break down into crafting mats sell pretty well on the TP especially when there is the “recycling” daily.

Depending on the stat bonuses, a lot of lower level equipment sells well too. Bags of random stuff that drops from enemy kills sell for much more than the vendor price, too. Instead of opening them and getting a handful of copper and a crafting mat worth 25c, sell it for 1.5s instead.

These kinds of things vendor for 5 or 10 copper but can sell for 10x that or more on the TP. I have a steady income just by selling the loot from drops on the TP.

If you craft, accept that it’s a gold sink and unless your intention is to outfit your entire guild in exotic armor, you’ll end up spending more than you save. A lot of crafted armor sells for 1c above vendor price, which is foolish because you pay 15% to sell on the TP, so the majority of items sold this way lose money vs. selling to a vendor. But it’s a buyer’s market, instead of using 10s worth of mats to craft one piece of armor, buy it from the TP for 2s1c.

Then sell the 10s worth of mats you’re not using and you get paid more than it costs to upgrade your armor. Even low level mats sell well, every time you swing your pick at a pile of copper ore, it’s worth 10c. You can pay your WP fees just by harvesting whatever mats are near the WP.

If you don’t care about saving up for Ascended gear, do the daily whenever you can and buy dyes. A pack of 10 unidentified dye you get for free can sell for about 1.7g every five days. You can make nearly 3g a week just for playing the game! (More if you count the money you get for completing the daily)

So:

Don’t go to the vendor without checking the prices for dropped loot on the TP, you’ll make a lot more money in the long run.

Sell goodie bags, crafting mats, and unopened dyes on the TP for lots of quick cash.

Don’t WP all over the map, explore one zone for a while and you’ll pretty much get all the money you need just by playing the game.

Work smarter, don’t just get out the credit card whenever you run low. This game can be played forever just for the price of the game itself.

All good advice and I do try to observe that already. It doesn’t even give me in game financial stability though, let alone the opportunity to accumulate in game wealth to further character progression.

I am going to run an experiment this week with my son on mat gathering and see what the numbers are at the end of the week. We will probably do 2 hours per day over 5 days or something and factor in all our income and expenditure. Maybe it will change my mind and I’ll realise I am completely wrong about it, or maybe it will just confirm what I have already said. I’ll report back with my findings after the coming weekend. I’ll then look at crafting in the same manner and evaluate the numbers again.

Mirta.5029:

how about running dungeons, doing fractals, buying gear with dungeon tokens, salvaging and selling it, doing dragon events, doing high level zones? I bought most of my character slots and minies by converting GOLD to GEMS. Never had ANY money problems. You’re doing something terribly wrong in this MMO.

I am not a dungeon runner tbh and am not interested in making lots of in game money. I’m just concerned with the loot drop rate and low in game incomes. I have to finance two accounts and my son does most of the spending on his account. I am an adventurer by trade (in game wise) and have played MMORPG’s since the day Anarchy Online came out. I have ran several guilds in other titles and I am well seasoned in the dynamics of the MMORPG.

Whilst it is possible to get by with the most basic of gear in this title, it’s is very difficult to gear up without making a financial contribution. I have not really had this problem in other titles in the genre, although most were subscription based.

There is no element of surprise in the loot table, little to no money to be made from gathering and very tight margins on crafting. Short of running dungeons repeatedly (A form of grind I thought ANet was against in principle) what other methods are there for making a living in game ?

GrandmaFunk.3052:

TactiCol.8450:

I have no money woes.
…
You should be able to work in game and make enough money to facilitate involvement in other aspects of the game but, it appears that this cannot be easily done in GW2.

Well which is it? Do you have enough money or don’t you?

I have enough money in this world to support an in game lifestyle of some affluence but, that goes against my gaming ethic and if I feel it’s almost mandatory rather than voluntary, then I’d sooner be an in game pauper or find another game.

I love the product, don’t misunderstand me on that. I also understand ANet’s position on monetising the product to generate revenue streams but, I feel that is sailing very close to the bay of pay to play and that is not what I thought I was investing into to begin with.

Grandma Funk

I have no money woes. It’s not a question of affordability. I could finance as many gem purchases as I wish and pay to get ahead but, I simply wouldn’t want to do that. I’ve even been advised against crafting in this game as there is literally no way to make a decent in game living from it.

You should be able to work in game and make enough money to facilitate involvement in other aspects of the game but, it appears that this cannot be easily done in GW2.

Over monetisation is driving the product in a direction that is not entirely compatible with my gaming ethic. Despite it being a rare thing of beauty in gaming terms, it feels devalued by it’s uglier side, the focus on monetisation and profit at the players expense.

As stated previously in my original post, I’d be far happier contributing financially if I felt I was doing so voluntarily to support the devs/product. If I feel pushed into it, I’m far more likely to push back and withdraw that support. I’m also far more likely to leave the game completely and therefore reduce ANets income potential to £0.00

Better that they get a little of my money on a goodwill basis than get none at all. That’s basically what I’m saying here.

I am a fairly new player to the world of Tyria and absolutely love the game in so many ways but, by the same token, I have some major issues with it also.

The environments are beautiful, the game play is excellent and there is enough diversity to maintain interest for a long time to come.

I bought this game for both my son and I to explore an interesting world together and to that end this game has delivered in full. I have also convinced my brother to buy the game and one of my good friends to buy it too. We have gone on to form a small guild together on Fissure of Woe.

Unfortunately due to other issues in the game, our enjoyment has been impaired somewhat.

The major issue for us right now is loot and gold. This is where the beast has impacted upon the beauty of the product and an area in which ANet have lost a little of my respect.

Whilst I appreciate that some level of monetisation is required to keep the game up to date and deliver fresh content, the current model may well turn out to be the thing that drives us from the game in search of pastures new in the MMORPG genre.

Both my son and I have reached the level cap of 80 and whilst there is still a huge variety of things to do, it is becoming increasingly restrictive due to the amount of gold required just to do the most basic of stuff (travel, wvw, better gear etc) If this levelled out with loot drops and better financial rewards for quests / farming etc then fair enough but, it doesn’t. On the route to level 80 I think I have had maybe 3 – 5 rare and 1 exotic item drop as loot. (Finding treasure is important to me in a game of this nature)

We have made several gem purchases (converted to gold) and spent way more than we would on a monthly subscription for other games in the genre. Truth is we could have just about paid for an annual account each on WoW or Rift or something similar. No matter how much gold we have purchased though, we will still need infinitely more with no real means of making it in the game itself. This is a major problem.

We would love to stay in the game for a long time to come but, it feels too much like a pay to play right now and that’s not what we thought we were buying into initially, when purchasing the game.

It’s not that I mind dipping into my pocket from time to time in order to support the developers of such a great product but, I do object to having to do it in order to do the most basic of stuff within the game itself.

I’d much more readily buy the gems if I didn’t feel that I had to and feeling pushed into buying them makes me more resentful of buying them. What will this equate to for ANet ? Probably a loss of potential revenue and reduced player base (albeit by four players). A much happier middle ground would be where we feel like we are purchasing gems to support the developers/product voluntarily, rather than feel like we are purchasing them just to play the game.

Over monetisation and low income potential within the game itself is becoming a game breaker for me and whilst I’d hate to have to leave the game, I think it will become a growing inevitability unless the potential exists within the game itself, to simply make a living. I hope ANet take note of this and address this issue in the future because as things stand the beast, is strangling beauty.