Is there any kind of free trial or something?

[Galaddriel]

Demand for the game is still huge, they are expanding server capacity every other day. I wouldn't expect free trials anytime in the near future.

[Shadylol]

Demand for the game is still huge, they are expanding server capacity every other day. I wouldn't expect free trials anytime in the near future.

Diablo 3 sold like 6 million copies in one week, or something absurdly successful like that, and it has a free trial. There's also countless other games that have free trials, or demos which are very successful. A free trial isn't a sign of failure, it's just a good way to bring new people to your game

[shadowmatrix]

There will likely be a trial in about 2 months or so after they have everything stable. In today's economy there are fewer people that have the money to buy blindly.

[Edge-]

Diablo 3 sold like 6 million copies in one week, or something absurdly successful like that, and it has a free trial. There's also countless other games that have free trials, or demos which are very successful. A free trial isn't a sign of failure, it's just a good way to bring new people to your game

Most games with free trials (specifically MMO's) don't have them right on launch time. They usually wait a few months after the overwhelming majority of initial sales happen and they've gotten as many sales as possible from those who were interested in the game. Diablo 3 had a friend code, but the actual trial didn't open up for at least a few months after the actual launch date.

[Shadylol]

Most games with free trials (specifically MMO's) don't have them right on launch time. They usually wait a few months after the overwhelming majority of initial sales happen and they've gotten as many sales as possible from those who were interested in the game. Diablo 3 had a friend code, but the actual trial didn't open up for at least a few months after the actual launch date.

My mistake, I thought Diablo 3 had a free trial, and the friend code had a little bit more access than the basic trial

Anyway, as for MMOs, I know it's standard for them not to launch with a free trial, but that system seems like an artifact, which is unwise to adhere to in the present. Guild Wars 2 isn't competing with WoW's launch, SWTOR's launch, etc., it's competing with these other games as they are now, and they have a free trial

[Edge-]

My mistake, I thought Diablo 3 had a free trial, and the friend code had a little bit more access than the basic trial

Anyway, as for MMOs, I know it's standard for them not to launch with a free trial, but that system seems like an artifact, which is unwise to adhere to in the present. Guild Wars 2 isn't competing with WoW's launch, SWTOR's launch, etc., it's competing with these other games as they are now, and they have a free trial

You're correct. But those are established games well past their initial sales "prime", not brand new games that are trying to maximize initial profits.

If I remember correctly, SWTOR, Rift, TSW, TERA all haven't had proper trials shortly after launch. SWTOR and Rift had free weekends, and I think TERA has had a few programs (it's the odd one out), but those games all held their proper free trials well after they launched.

And again, the different business model makes a ton of difference. The subscription is a higher barrier for entry than you think. When you want to go back and play your character in TSW/TERA/Rift right now, you need to re-sub. SWTOR is losing that barrier soon, but it currently has it still. So that makes people warry, as they need to pay a subscription to play for more than a month, and if they ever want to play again. That's a barrier that the freemium games, and a game like GW1/2 doesn't have.

[Herecius]

I saw it compared to Skyrim here. While the gameplay is wholeheartedly different from Skyrim, the essence of what many people love about TES games - that is, an emphasis on exploration that can make some players feel constantly distracted by all the stuff to chase after and investigate out in the world - is most certainly there.

Playing through the game purely to explore the very rich and astonishingly detailed world will easily eat up $60 worth of playtime, I'd say. You know. If that's what you meant by comparing it to Skyrim, that is.

[Shadylol]

I saw it compared to Skyrim here. While the gameplay is wholeheartedly different from Skyrim, the essence of what many people love about TES games - that is, an emphasis on exploration that can make some players feel constantly distracted by all the stuff to chase after and investigate out in the world - is most certainly there.

Playing through the game purely to explore the very rich and astonishingly detailed world will easily eat up $60 worth of playtime, I'd say. You know. If that's what you meant by comparing it to Skyrim, that is.

You can't free roam in Guild Wars 2 the same way you can in a Elder Scrolls game (post Morrowind), as the level scaling only serves to make the player weaker in low level zones, but doesn't make it possible for you to run around killing stuff in zones way higher than your level. For example, a player who went to Frostgorge Sound at level 4 would just get slaughtered

[Deleted]

Anyway, as for MMOs, I know it's standard for them not to launch with a free trial, but that system seems like an artifact, which is unwise to adhere to in the present.

But it's not really, it's largely a capacity concern.

Most MMO launched are barely able to keep the servers up for the people who paid, nevermind the ones who want a trial run. Guild Wars 2 is no different in this regard and it's only by virtue of the overflow servers that most people have been able to play.

The low level zones where trial accounts would go are still overflowing too.

[Shadylol]

But it's not really, it's largely a capacity concern.

Most MMO launched are barely able to keep the servers up for the people who paid, nevermind the ones who want a trial run. Guild Wars 2 is no different in this regard and it's only by virtue of the overflow servers that most people have been able to play.

The low level zones where trial accounts would go are still overflowing too.

That's true with the current infrastructure, but there are solutions which are relatively easy. For example, they could make one or two servers that were just for trial accounts, and you could transfer off of them if you purchase the game. There would probably be queue times, but I think most people are willing to do something else, while they wait for a queue, if it gives them a chance to try the game for free

[Engineer]

I know quite a few people that won't bother with GW2 but would if there was a free trial; they've just been burned too many times...

[Kelimbror]

You can rent console games though. PC games are for the most part, blind buys - and it SUCKS.

You got me there. I think I should have focused my arguments on the fact that the game has been out a couple of weeks and people are crying for a free trial. This is a texbook example of wanting the goods right now, like all the cool kids, without paying for it. I'm all for a free trial once the expansion launches a year from now.

That is a totally different story.

[Artorias]

There's lots of other games that offer more content than Guild Wars 2, for the same, or lower price

Um, no? I'm pretty sure this game will keep you busy much longer than any other game that has been released (excluding games that are designed to keep you playing forever, meaning subscription based games). Skyrim? Beat in a week, the rest was extremely bland and repetetive (love the lore, love the series, but i did not like Skyrim much at all). Diablo? HUGE hopes for it, failed miserably. Not a single thing to do at level 60 (which again, took only a week) after beating Inferno. Battlefield? Definitely a good game that can keep you going for a long time, but it's an FPS. FPS games don't require tons of content to keep you busy, you just keep racking up kills for fun.

Content? Guild Wars 2 has no comparison. The lore experience alone is worth $60 lol. So far I've put in about 120 hours over three weeks, I just hit 80 a few days ago, and I'm only at 55% map completion on one character. Did I mention that every character you make has an entirely different personal story? Yeah. Content.

I didn't even read the rest of the thread tbh, that comment was just wrong.

[Deleted]

Not yet, maybe in 6 months-1 year. That seems reasonable.

---------- Post added 2012-09-18 at 09:07 PM ----------

You got me there. I think I should have focused my arguments on the fact that the game has been out a couple of weeks and people are crying for a free trial. This is a texbook example of wanting the goods right now, like all the cool kids, without paying for it. I'm all for a free trial once the expansion launches a year from now.

That is a totally different story.

Think they want one limited free trial, as in up to level 10, 5 days of play, stuff like that. Kind of like WoW had before it became "play all you want, just not higher then 20".

[Kelimbror]

Think they want one limited free trial, as in up to level 10, 5 days of play, stuff like that. Kind of like WoW had before it became "play all you want, just not higher then 20".

This might be a more reasonable desire, as I do remember the plague of WoW Trial CDs floating around the world as the last gasp of AOL's terrible marketing strategy. I would argue that we don't need this just for the environment lol.

As for a digital download trial, it probably would have to download the whole game to experience any little part of it, as I doubt the files are structured like WoW's are now with almost instant 'playability'. It would definitely have to be on it's own server, which is more work than they need to do at this moment in time. Much easier to wait 6 months and release the MMO standard free to 15-20 w/e on the current infrastructure.

[TheFeyLife]

Ice cream is one dimensial and costs next to nothing to produce compared to the sample size. Your metaphor works less than mine does.

I was going to post my opinions on whether or not I like the idea of a free trial, but now I just want ice cream :c

[Kelimbror]

I was going to post my opinions on whether or not I like the idea of a free trial, but now I just want ice cream :c

Nonsense, this thread must stay on topic.


(Ben & Jerry's Late Night Snack is zomg delicious)

[Shadylol]

Um, no? I'm pretty sure this game will keep you busy much longer than any other game that has been released (excluding games that are designed to keep you playing forever, meaning subscription based games). Skyrim? Beat in a week, the rest was extremely bland and repetetive (love the lore, love the series, but i did not like Skyrim much at all). Diablo? HUGE hopes for it, failed miserably. Not a single thing to do at level 60 (which again, took only a week) after beating Inferno. Battlefield? Definitely a good game that can keep you going for a long time, but it's an FPS. FPS games don't require tons of content to keep you busy, you just keep racking up kills for fun.

Content? Guild Wars 2 has no comparison. The lore experience alone is worth $60 lol. So far I've put in about 120 hours over three weeks, I just hit 80 a few days ago, and I'm only at 55% map completion on one character. Did I mention that every character you make has an entirely different personal story? Yeah. Content.

I didn't even read the rest of the thread tbh, that comment was just wrong.

Well, you mentioned Skyrim, so we'll just touch on that subject again. Skyrim (as well as previous Elder Scrolls games) has a lot more content than Guild Wars 2. I'm not sure if you actually played the game, given that you said you "beat it", as you can't beat it... but at any rate, there's just a lot more to do, and it's far more varied, with both games at the same price

If you think completing the Main Quest in Skyrim is "finishing" that game, then I'd say getting to level 80 in Guild Wars 2 means I beat GW2, and that only took me 69 hours

[Mirantha]

Considering that ArenaNet suspended digital sales to ensure their current players were able to access the game without the servers being overloaded and sub-par performance, I really do not see they opening free trials right away. They seem more concerned with providing a certain level of performance to their current customers instead of having an influx of trial accounts overloading things. Besides, it is harder to keep the gold-selling spammers out if there are free trials.

[Cthulhu 2020]

I'd like to see them make a trial edition where the level cap was 15 and you couldn't go into any zones other than the starting ones and the capital city...

And then offer the full game for 5,000 gems. Would like to see someone make 5,000 gems off of jute and copper.