Guild Wars 2?

[sharaleo]

I can’t see GW2 on GreenManGaming, do they typically have region restrictions?

[lordkosc]

you know I didn’t see it at all on the site yesterday, maybe they ran out of keys?

[Daagar]

I believe the bargain thread mentioned that they ran out of keys pretty quickly.

[walTer]

http://www.arena.net/blog/play-asura-and-sylvari-in-the-july-20-22-beta-weekend-event

“Play Asura and Sylvari in the July 20-22 Beta Weekend Event!”

Here comes another lost weekend.

[instant0]

It is a shame we only have 5 character slots, since I’d like to have tested all the classes up to at least level 10+, and then focused on one or two of them for more thorough “betatesting”.

Should be good to have a stab at the new classes… maybe I’ll pick something else than Charr.

Might be tactical and pick whoever has the “easiest” laid out home city.

[KevinC]

You can buy additional character slots at release… something I’m happy to do in lieu of a monthly subscription fee, especially since it’s a one-time purchase. I’ll play until my 5 slots are filled, then add on as needed from there.

In the meantime, I just deleted previous classes. I’ve wanted to avoid playing a single class too much in the BWEs anyway, since I want it to be new/fresh when the game releases (I’ll be skipping BWE 2 and 3 for that reason).

[Mark_Asher]

Five slots would probably be enough for me, though it would hurt to delete characters. I have three level-capped characters in WoW and two more above level 60. Every other character is low-level.

Then again if a new character slot if just a couple of bucks I’d probably buy one rather than throw away a character.

[Jag]

One of my guaranteed purchases will be slots. I’ll most likely have 1 of each class.

[walTer]

Have they told us how much a slot is? This is one game that I really think I will end up with one in every class as well.

[KevinC]

For some reason I have $10 in my head, but don’t take that as gospel as it’s a dim enough recollection that maybe I just made it up. That being said, that’s less than a monthly subscription fee to WoW or SWTOR that only gets me access to the game, so I’m more than fine with that price point (especially since I only have to buy them once and I probably won’t need them until a month or two into the game, at least).

[krushnine]

The old cash shop leak had extra char slots listed for 800 gems, which people have been saying is probably ~$10 US. Gems can be traded for in-game gold, so it looks like char slots and other cash shop items are still obtainable without using real money.

Cash items leak post:
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/28104-cash-shop-items-leak/
ArenaNet on microtransactions:
http://www.arena.net/blog/mike-obrien-on-microtransactions-in-guild-wars-2

[Charlatan]

It is a shame we only have 5 character slots, since I’d like to have tested all the classes up to at least level 10+, and then focused on one or two of them for more thorough “betatesting”.

Should be good to have a stab at the new classes… maybe I’ll pick something else than Charr.

Might be tactical and pick whoever has the “easiest” laid out home city.

“Easiest” home city… that’s an interesting question. I found the Charr home city really confusing, and difficult to get to where I wanted. Seemed like I was always running up around the corner into a dead end.

I thought the Hoelbrak, the Norn capital city was easy enough to navigate, but way too spread out… felt like I had to run a mile to get anywhere.

The Human home city I thought was organized well - at least I was able to go between bank and crafting areas pretty easily.

I’m sure the Sylvari home city is full of flowers and Sylvari hugging trees, so scratch that one. And the Asura home city is probably a 4 dimensional hyperbolic metacube. Good luck navigating that!

I’d have to go with Humans. Although to be honest it seems really big and sprawling, but I felt that the waypoints were in the locations I wanted.

Tell the truth, I liked the way Lion’s Arch was laid out. I wonder if ANet figures most people will hang out there, since it’s in a central location in the world and has portals to all of the other capital cities (the capital cities only have a poral to Lion’s Arch, so that supports this theory that LA will be the hub).

[walTer]

On micro-transactions, I do like this. I certainly hope that they actually implement this philosophy.

“Here’s our philosophy on microtransactions: We think players should have the opportunity to spend money on items that provide visual distinction and offer more ways to express themselves. They should also be able to spend money on account services and on time-saving convenience items. But it’s never OK for players to buy a game and not be able to enjoy what they paid for without additional purchases, and it’s never OK for players who spend money to have an unfair advantage over players who spend time.”

It also indicates that you can get anything via in game gold as well. Maybe that means by the time I am ready for character #'s 6-10 I will be rolling in the shiny stuff.

[Jag]

“They should also be able to spend money on account services and on time-saving convenience items.”

That’s pretty much why I have no problem buying slots. It’s a one time purchase that lasts the life of the account. I’m an alt fiend, so I know I will use it. I could care less about atheistic items. I’m all for convenience and will pay for it.

[Daagar]

On micro-transactions, I do like this. I certainly hope that they actually implement this philosophy.

“Here’s our philosophy on microtransactions: We think players should have the opportunity to spend money on items that provide visual distinction and offer more ways to express themselves. They should also be able to spend money on account services and on time-saving convenience items. But it’s never OK for players to buy a game and not be able to enjoy what they paid for without additional purchases, and it’s never OK for players who spend money to have an unfair advantage over players who spend time.”

It also indicates that you can get anything via in game gold as well. Maybe that means by the time I am ready for character #'s 6-10 I will be rolling in the shiny stuff.

This is probably the biggest reason I won’t buy GW2 right out of the gate (beyond the fact that my money still goes to WoW - so sue me) - I want to see how well this pans out. If they stick to it, it will be amazing and I’ll likely dive in just to support the concept. No one should be allowed to advertise “f2p” unless it works this way (yes, I know GW2 isn’t claiming f2p because of the initial buy-in).

[Mark_Asher]

Hmmm. I’d argue that the purchase price should include more than five character slots if the philosophy is to not charge players who want to have fun with the game. A lot of players enjoy making alts. Five slots is a bit restrictive on this kind of fun. In fact I’d say only giving five slots is a design decision made to drive the sale of extra character slots.

Anyway, this seems like a minor complaint for a game with no monthly fee. The thing is, at least for me, is that a $10 fee for a single slot will probably discourage me from buying one. It seems a bit high. There’s a lot of DLC for other games that gives you a lot more for a lot less.

[KevinC]

Five slots is a bit restrictive on this kind of fun. In fact I’d say only giving five slots is a design decision made to drive the sale of extra character slots.

I think it’s fair to say they saw this as an appealing option for people to spend money on. There’s many reasons I don’t mind it.
[ul]
[li]5 characters provides you with over half of the character classes by default.[/li][li]It doesn’t give you an advantage over another player.[/li][li]It’s not required to progress in the game.[/li][li]If I’m to the point where I have 5 established characters that I wouldn’t want to delete, chances are I’m playing the game quite a bit and am really enjoying myself. A one-time purchase of character slots is far more appealing, and I’m sure cheaper, to me than a $15/mo subscription.[/li][/ul]

[JM1]

Gems fluctuate in price so it’s difficult to know what they’ll actually be worth. And you can buy gems with ingame currency too afaik.

[Hanacker]

Hmmm. I’d argue that the purchase price should include more than five character slots if the philosophy is to not charge players who want to have fun with the game.

That’s not the philosophy. If it was, the game would be free.

In fact I’d say only giving five slots is a design decision made to drive the sale of extra character slots.

Of course it is.

The thing is, at least for me, is that a $10 fee for a single slot will probably discourage me from buying one. It seems a bit high. There’s a lot of DLC for other games that gives you a lot more for a lot less.

And there are MMOs with monthly fees of more than $15 that give you a lot less. If you think $10 is too much for a character slot and don’t want to buy one or don’t want to buy the game entirely, that’s certainly your prerogative. But I don’t think it’s an inherently unfair deal.

[Jag]

This is probably the biggest reason I won’t buy GW2 right out of the gate (beyond the fact that my money still goes to WoW - so sue me) - I want to see how well this pans out. If they stick to it, it will be amazing and I’ll likely dive in just to support the concept. No one should be allowed to advertise “f2p” unless it works this way (yes, I know GW2 isn’t claiming f2p because of the initial buy-in).

Anet has a great track record with Guild Wars and tons of good will for supporting it as long as they have. You will have no problem getting much more than your purchase price out the base game.