Pay to Win?

[Daarksoul]

I was looking at this article here...

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/03/21/gu...everyone-wins/

Apparently you can buy gems with real cash, trade them to other players in game for gold, and then use that gold to buy gear, mats, whatever you want.
So someone can basically spend cash and buy all the best stuff in the game with the gold they get from selling gems.

Wouldn't it make more sense for the gems to be bop, and only usable for mounts and other things that don't break the game?

[Byuiso]

Hmm, if this is true... It might sway my stance on buying GW2 to a no.

I'd rather not be playing a game that is Wallet vs. Wallet.

[Deleted]

It's fine, there are no mounts in GW 2

[Bulls191]

@Byusio Haha ^ Wait because of this little thing that I don't really know how many people are going to do. You will not guy the game.

Isn't playing a game to have fun. Also at max level you will have similar gear so it's not like they will be to OP. The game is more skill over gear....

[MarizzaDraenor]

I disagree also but tbh it all depends on how easy it is to make money in game. If the system is like wow's for example (easy to make money if you try) its not a real issue and will just make life easier on the rich and lazy people while not costing anything performance wise on the rest which is ok for me.

I will definitely try the game since its not subscription based

[Snow White]

I could see how this sort of thing would be threatening for someone who has only experienced wow's gear model. Luckily gw2 will play nothing like wow so there is no need to worry about the cash shop.

[Delias]

Thread #2239507 on the subject, the answer is no.
Nothing you can buy with gems will make you more powerful than other players.
Since there is no gear curve, you won't be able to simply buy better gear with the gold you get and auto-win.
All level 80 gear is equal in power, just with different skins and different stat allocation. (10haste instead of 10crit, for example.)

Also, everyone is 100% even in PvP, which is where it would matter most, so no matter what you buy it wouldn't affect PvP.


Long story short, did the guardian cubs break WoW? No? Now imagine if there was no gear curve at all and nothing you could buy in the auction house was any better than what you got by default for basically free as soon as you hit 80. Even LESS of an issue. Can we move on, now?

[Deleted]

Except in GW2 gear won't be a huge factor at lvl cap and it's definetly better than buying gold from ilegal gold farming sites.

[Geigerton]

Not too bad of a deal. It is just a speed up option people have been wanting for ages and have been in games recently, i.e. Tribes Ascend. Pay to win is where cash gets you things you can't get elsewhere. Here, cheapskates just take longer.

[Deleted]

Everything in the online store is available in-game aswell(From quest rewards etc).

All the potions etc. The exp potions add 50% more exp to mob kills and you get bugger all exp for killing mobs.

Nothing in the store breaks the game since the "advantages" are so slim and pointless almost.

Considering everyone has the "same" stats at max level you can't get the "best" gear and be more awesome stat wise.

[Mif]

buy all the best stuff in the game

GW2 isn't designed around a gear grind like Wow. There is no "best in slot".

[Deleted]

It looks like it's not that easy to make money. but that doesn't matter much. Gear doesn't matter too much, any gear farming will just be for what you want/ like the looks of. If it's anything like GW 1, your weapons/ armour won't matter. What matters is what (elite) skills you have unlocked and what your skill/ weapon set up is.

The game's not too centered around how much gold or gems you have. If people flood the market with gems, their value will plummet. Likewise if money isn't easily earned, people won't be able to afford them (supply vs demand). You can price something at 999999.99 gold, but at the end of the day if it doesn't sell it doesn't sell.

So the sky isn't falling...yet.

[Delias]

It looks like it's not that easy to make money. but that doesn't matter much. Gear doesn't matter too much, any gear farming will just be for what you want/ like the looks of. If it's anything like GW 1, your weapons/ armour won't matter. What matters is what (elite) skills you have unlocked and what your skill/ weapon set up is.

The game's not too centered around how much gold or gems you have. If people flood the market with gems, their value will plummet. Likewise if money isn't easily earned, people won't be able to afford them (supply vs demand). You can price something at 999999.99 gold, but at the end of the day if it doesn't sell it doesn't sell.

So the sky isn't falling...yet.

No gear grind, sky won't fall. >.>
The only way it will fall is if they start selling items that give like, +10% damage for an hour that is usable in dungeons and PvP.
But they won't, because it goes against their whole philosophy.
Unless Anet completely changes their company in every way, they won't sacrifice balance for profit. >.>
(If someone tries to argue that leveling faster = unbalanced even though it's a high cost, only counts for mob kills, and level 30 content is pretty much the same as level 80 because the game isn't about reaching level cap and raiding, I'm going to kill myself.)

[Deleted]

@Byusio Haha ^ Wait because of this little thing that I don't really know how many people are going to do. You will not guy the game.

Isn't playing a game to have fun. Also at max level you will have similar gear so it's not like they will be to OP. The game is more skill over gear....

Shitloads of people are doing it in WoW and many other MMO's...what makes you think only a small amount will do it. If other people can get something with litle to no effort while I "worked" hard for the same thing, yes...that ruins my fun.

But since I only have to buy the game once, I'l less bothered by it in GW2...if I play more than 2 months than I've already had more than enough fun for the money it costed.

[Arlee]

Actually at the Future of MMORPG's panel at PAX East the concept of "pay to Win" was brought up and Jon Peters specifically said it is not a model they like at all and they have no intention of using any sort of thing where if you spend more money you will be better than other players.

[Repefe]

I was looking at this article here...

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/03/21/gu...everyone-wins/

Apparently you can buy gems with real cash, trade them to other players in game for gold, and then use that gold to buy gear, mats, whatever you want.
So someone can basically spend cash and buy all the best stuff in the game with the gold they get from selling gems.

Wouldn't it make more sense for the gems to be bop, and only usable for mounts and other things that don't break the game?

Gems are currency for cosmetic items. PvP and dungeon gear can't be bought with gold. Your doubts come from lack of knowledge how the currency and gearing up in GW works. There is a topic around with diagrams and what not that explains it clearly.

[Deleted]

(If someone tries to argue that leveling faster = unbalanced even though it's a high cost, only counts for mob kills, and level 30 content is pretty much the same as level 80 because the game isn't about reaching level cap and raiding, I'm going to kill myself.)

It's the internet, somebody somewhere will argue about anything.

[Daarksoul]

Looks like they're actually pretty worried about players getting upset based on what they have planned.

See http://blastmagazine.com/the-magazin...test-showdown/

For example "
"Guild Wars 2 took on a protective stance... publisher-wide ban... easy tracing on who smuggled... Talk about high security. But it makes sense given that they’re now testing the Guild Wars 2 microtransactions store, whose future revenues can seriously tank under negative early flack."

[zito]

Looks like they're actually pretty worried about players getting upset based on what they have planned.

See http://blastmagazine.com/the-magazin...test-showdown/

For example "
"Guild Wars 2 took on a protective stance... publisher-wide ban... easy tracing on who smuggled... Talk about high security. But it makes sense given that they’re now testing the Guild Wars 2 microtransactions store, whose future revenues can seriously tank under negative early flack."

Because players take things out of proportion instead of thinking.

[Fencers]

This subject makes me want to die.