"The Guild Wars 2 combat system doesn't put us in a situation where you have to do that. "If you look at what the experience is like trying to form a party for traditional raiding, the challenge is that you have to have three healers and four damage-dealers and three tanks," Johanson said. Johanson noted that Guild Wars 2's raiding system is also well positioned to take advantage of the game's unique approach to player roles - which is to say that there are none. One of those barriers Johanson pointed to is a heavy focus on user interface and "watching a lot of UI bars move up and down." Johanson said that Guild Wars 2 raids will be a lot more focused on watching the actual action unfold on screen, including active combat, dodge-rolling and working with allies to perform combo attacks. "Raids in MMOs come with a lot of traditional barriers that we believe we can remove or change to get rid of the some the headaches that people who love raids normally associate with them," Johanson told Polygon. However, ArenaNet is putting its own special spin on raiding.
As popularized in other MMOs, raids will be a 10-player experience challenging groups to overcome extremely difficult bosses. With that step to appeal to new players, the developers also went on to reveal a new raiding system that will be added to the game with the Heart of Thorns expansion to satisfy the hardcore player base that already exists. "If you love Guild Wars 2, we think you're going to buy Heart of Thorns" Our bet is that we still believe in buy-to-play, but all we want you to buy is Heart of Thorns." "If you love Guild Wars 2, we think you're going to buy Heart of Thorns," O'Brien said, explaining why offering the core game free makes sense for ArenaNet. O'Brien declined to comment on whether Heart of Thorns or other future expansions may also become free upon the release of subsequent expansions for Guild Wars 2. Free players will also have to reach level 60 before they're allowed to take part in Guild Wars 2's world versus world mode. For example, free players will have less inventory space, will have a limit on how often they can begin new whispered conversations and will not be able to send mail to players. It's the same Guild Wars 2 that it's always been and the same gem store that it's always been."ĭuring the PAX press conference today, O'Brien confirmed some restrictions related to free accounts. We're not going to make it so it starts free but has its hand out asking for money. We're not going back and changing the way the game is monetized. But there's that stigma that it's a different business model. "We're not using the phrase 'free-to-play' for Guild Wars 2," O'Brien said. The Black Lion Trading Company allows players to purchase mostly cosmetic items using gems, which are primarily attained through spending real money. O'Brien confirmed that the studio will not change the Black Lion Trading Company, its hub for real-money transactions which has been in the game since launch, in order to get more money out of free players. Guild Wars 2 is the game about tearing down those barriers and making it easy to play with your friends." You have to buy the base game and each expansion pack just to be qualified to buy the latest. "We've seen cases in the industry where a game is buy-to-play, it comes out with expansion packs, and you want to get your friends into the game, but they can't just buy the latest thing and play with you," said O'Brien. "Guild Wars 2 is the game about tearing down those barriers" Instead of changing their business model, O'Brien says making the core Guild Wars 2 experience free is more about removing barriers for entry, another key focus of the developer. We love that customers who bought the base Guild Wars 2 got more than 40 major content releases for free, no monthly fees." "You buy the game, you can play it as long as you want for no monthly fee. "It's just such a clean business model," O'Brien said. In an interview with Polygon earlier this week to prepare for the announcement, O'Brien told us that this shift to free for the base game doesn't change the studio's core approach buy-to-play, a model he has "been championing since the original Guild Wars a decade ago."
#Guild wars 2 free to play vs pay for free
In a press conference at the Penny Arcade Expo, ArenaNet president Mike O'Brien and Guild Wars 2 game director Colin Johanson surprised fans by announcing that the core Guild Wars 2 is officially available to play for free starting today. Just one day after announcing a release date for its new expansion, Heart of Thorns, developer ArenaNet unleashed even more major news for massively multiplayer RPG Guild Wars 2.
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