How much money do you spend on GW2 per month?

[Sevyvia]

If we look at time I've actually played, not just time passed over all, since launch, a fairly high amount. Though it's likely to drop off, since I largely don't care about skins, and have most of the things I care about.

I'd say it varies between $10 and $30. Mostly because there have been story and quality of life things that I wanted. LW episodes, expansions (Bought HoT and PoF separately), character slots, and even an endless salvager. Last thing I'm likely to get is a set of endless harvesting tools. I am a turbo-casual as far as GW goes, with a job, so I don't mind throwing a bit of money their way. As long as it gives me story and allows me to play my max tank/sustain terrible builds in peace.

[PACOX]

Why don't you play World of WarCraft instead?

Because they are two very different games?

[Akasha64]

Recently? Nothing. Endgame isn't really cutting it for me. Could be that I don't quite understand it, but the game doesn't really make it seem like it's accessible.

[Edge-]

Recently? Nothing. Endgame isn't really cutting it for me. Could be that I don't quite understand it, but the game doesn't really make it seem like it's accessible.

What do you mean by endgame, raids? Because from what I know the "endgame" is technically just raids and T4/HM fractals or whatever, but in reality it's the "whole game is the endgame" schtick because outside of legendary gear progression is largely flat at max level. But there are usually a fair number of raid groups recruiting more in LFG, you just need to have certain builds for PUGS as they're less forgiving of non-meta characters.

It's less chasing stronger gear and more chasing different gear/unlocking achieves etc. I know I mostly just end up doing T2/3 fractals and bouncing around between classic/HoT world events...still hoping that they release a teleport item for PoF events, I actually haven't really been back to do those in a while.

[Akasha64]

What do you mean by endgame, raids? Because from what I know the "endgame" is technically just raids and T4/HM fractals or whatever, but in reality it's the "whole game is the endgame" schtick because outside of legendary gear progression is largely flat at max level. But there are usually a fair number of raid groups recruiting more in LFG, you just need to have certain builds for PUGS as they're less forgiving of non-meta characters.

It's less chasing stronger gear and more chasing different gear/unlocking achieves etc. I know I mostly just end up doing T2/3 fractals and bouncing around between classic/HoT world events...still hoping that they release a teleport item for PoF events, I actually haven't really been back to do those in a while.

Well, anything that benefits my character beyond finishing the leveling. But ya,for this game this seems to be raids, dungeons/fractals, WvW, structured PvP, maybe open world events and living story. I mean there seems to be some things to do in the endgame, but I don't quite get it. I don't think it's very accessible. I'm mostly interested in PvE. I mean when I was leveling, I was told that if you go into dungeons with a bunch of other newbies, you most likely aren't going to survive. You'll get killed over and over. So I mostly stayed away from that.

And finally when I'm max level, now I'm told I can't do fractals because I don't have ascended gear and agony resistance or whatever. I'm told raids are very hard, and cannot be done if you haven't at least done a lot of fractals. And the game doesn't have an automatic group finder system; you have to manually join groups or send them a whisper. All of this makes it very hard (at least for me) to get anything going. Content might be there, but I cannot judge it because it's not super accessible. I mean on the forums you guys seem to be helpful, but in the game everyone's always, oh you need experience for this and that, which doesn't help either.

[froschhure]

gw2? died with warhammer mmo?

[Edge-]

Well, anything that benefits my character beyond finishing the leveling. But ya,for this game this seems to be raids, dungeons/fractals, WvW, structured PvP, maybe open world events and living story. I mean there seems to be some things to do in the endgame, but I don't quite get it. I don't think it's very accessible. I'm mostly interested in PvE. I mean when I was leveling, I was told that if you go into dungeons with a bunch of other newbies, you most likely aren't going to survive. You'll get killed over and over. So I mostly stayed away from that.

It's not a traditional linear gear-grind endgame, it's designed to be horizontal so you're not constantly chasing more powerful gear that leads to power creep.

Technically, everything you do is endgame with level scaling, as mats/gold are part of that endgame grind when it comes to crafting/buying legendaries. So you can still "progress" towards any goals you set even sticking to the stuff you did while leveling.

I haven't done too many dungeons, but the story mode is generally pretty straight forward. It's the different paths where you actually need to know fight mechanics, but there are usually a few groups that will help out newbies.

And fractals are functionally dungeons at level 80, just shorter/less story based and with their own track of gear (ascended gear) with a progression system associated with it. If you like 5 man content I'd recommend that, just let folks know you're new so they can explain anything important and you can start working on ascended sets so you can do higher tier fractals (they have added mechanics/modifiers as the tiers increase).

And finally when I'm max level, now I'm told I can't do fractals because I don't have ascended gear and agony resistance or whatever.

Some folks want you to be overgeared, but you can easily do most T1 fractals without any agony resist. There's also a potion vendor that will sell super cheap potions that buff up your agony resist by 15 to help you out for the higher level t1 fractals. There are a bunch of guides that will help too, and you can get a lot of the gear from various vendors in-game and buy agony resist mats from the AH, it's pretty easy to get enough agony resist for all the T1 fractals so you can farm that with ease.

I'm told raids are very hard, and cannot be done if you haven't at least done a lot of fractals.

Never done them, but they are more mechanically challenging from what I've heard. If you're looking around for guilds, there are a fair number that have "learner" groups that will help teach you mechanics, but it does come with more restrictions in terms of builds as you can't just walk in with a messed up build/gearset and perform well.

And the game doesn't have an automatic group finder system; you have to manually join groups or send them a whisper. All of this makes it very hard (at least for me) to get anything going.

It's not as easy as automated, but it's still very easy. I'd suggest finding a guild that helps newbies as there are usually a fair number of them recruiting from cities. The group finder as-is works pretty well IMO.

Content might be there, but I cannot judge it because it's not super accessible. I mean on the forums you guys seem to be helpful, but in the game everyone's always, oh you need experience for this and that, which doesn't help either.

That's the thing though...it pretty much all is. Group content is slightly less accessible as it does require at least a modicum of effort to find a group, but that's still an insanely low barrier for entry. And for non-group content like open world events, WvW, etc. is all easy as pie as you literally just join in and start having at it.

Just gotta ask around a bit and put forth a bit of effort.

[PACOX]

Well, anything that benefits my character beyond finishing the leveling. But ya,for this game this seems to be raids, dungeons/fractals, WvW, structured PvP, maybe open world events and living story. I mean there seems to be some things to do in the endgame, but I don't quite get it. I don't think it's very accessible. I'm mostly interested in PvE. I mean when I was leveling, I was told that if you go into dungeons with a bunch of other newbies, you most likely aren't going to survive. You'll get killed over and over. So I mostly stayed away from that.

And finally when I'm max level, now I'm told I can't do fractals because I don't have ascended gear and agony resistance or whatever. I'm told raids are very hard, and cannot be done if you haven't at least done a lot of fractals. And the game doesn't have an automatic group finder system; you have to manually join groups or send them a whisper. All of this makes it very hard (at least for me) to get anything going. Content might be there, but I cannot judge it because it's not super accessible. I mean on the forums you guys seem to be helpful, but in the game everyone's always, oh you need experience for this and that, which doesn't help either.

Raids are tuned for exotic gear. Most training/guilds not doing hardcore runs only ask that you know a raid build. They aren't going to let you tank, probably not heal, your first few runs.

Thursday - Sunday/Monday AM is good time to look for training runs - after people have done full clears on their mains.

There's no barrier of entry to fractals, only to advance tiers. You don't need agony resist for tier 1. You can do any level regardless of your 'fractal level'. Your level only dictates what you can open yourself, which is not a problem because you have 4 others in your party to open a level if you can't.

Tier 2 fractals are were you start to learn how to deal with mechanics and class dynamics. Tier 3 is 'fractal hell'. Mechanics matter, knowledge of your class should be adequate. Because it's a full on progression tier, you'll find people of varying skill level.

T4 is for people who have a solid understanding of the game and/or stuck it out long enough in T3. Your are expected to know your builds role in the group, how to deal with mechanics, etc.

If you are NA my guild is welcome to people who want to jump into the game.

[Edge-]

Personally I've found the gearing system to be really difficult to approach. Crafting in particular seems to be a requirement and yet is needlessly convoluted, with more mats than I can reasonably keep track of as a casual player.

Yeah, crafting requires a lot more effort, but thankfully you can buy a lot of stuff directly from the AH if you just farm mats and sell them.

I can't keep track of most random mats, but since I'm mostly just dicking around and not pushing for legendary crafts etc. I just end up stockpiling them in case I ever need them one day.

[Isabella Smith]

Zero dollars ...

[Spacewalrus2010]

Played it a long time ago and remember spent a hundred dollars within a week at some point for gold.

I realized that a lot of my enjoyment out of the game was predicated on being able to skip some of the massive grinds and/or gold farming. So I quit.

Was weird because it took self control to quit, but I had no self control in regards to the real world money I spent on the game

[Morswina23]

Right now I'm not spending, I'm earning
I decided to try to sell gold on pages like *nope* and it's going pretty good I guess

[sselucas]

Plus the money for gw2 gold, $50 per month now

[Super Kami Dende]

Most I spent on GW2 was like $15? to unlock a living World season I missed.

I wish I had my $15 back

[sponge5307]

None? I just started lol bought the expansion. Can't even locate the cash shop on their website.

[KainneAbsolute]

$100 dollars since the Game launched.

[PACOX]

None? I just started lol bought the expansion. Can't even locate the cash shop on their website.

Its found in game.

[MoanaLisa]

Maybe $10 every 2nd or 3rd month. I'm a very casual player in the midst of leveling some new characters so anything I do an RMT for is likely something that will last me for a while. Like extra bag slots or perhaps something akin to a crafting license that grants something to the account.

[Teucer]

I play very casually and probably have spent around $150 total on gems.

Mostly quality of life/utility items (char slot, crafting slot, gathering tools, salvagers etc), I also bought a handful of black lion chest keys and living world stuff I missed. Pretty much only buy stuff when it’s discounted

- - - Updated - - -

Newer player and so far only spent about $30 for character, inventory, and bank slots. Far, far less then I have spent playing WoW over the years. No issues with the store though, Anet has to support the game somehow.

My understanding is people’s issue with the store is that pretty much any good looking skin must be acquired through the store. I think the counter argument is that you can grind gold to get the gems, not the funnest of mechanics though.

I wish GW2 had the player base to support a better business model, but here we are.

[Malthanis]

I'll spend 10-15USD every so often. The only "guaranteed" purchases I make are the supply drops (https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/8th...op_Requisition). They're heavily discounted on the first week of availability, and they tend to be worth it in terms of cosmetics.

As for this "the good stuff is in the gemstore" thing: that's a solid 'matter of opinion' deal. I don't think I've felt a 'must buy' for a specific gemstore item since the Grand Lion griffon skin.

I won't disagree on the issues with mount skins though. The fact there's literally one mount skin available via in-game methods (WvW reward track for the Warclaw) annoys me to no end.