A couple of questions

[Rin]

How big is the current game? Steam mentions that 55/65 GB is needed for the client.

Does the UI scale well above 1080p? Can it be made bigger or be tweaked in any shape or form? Or does it just offer exactly what you see onscreen?

I heard that you get a boost from the get go, so is there any point in playing older content to learn the game? I.e for the story, mechanics and so on?

And lastly, how much do you actually have to pay in order to unlock all content (i.e zones, races, classes etc) ? Or is any other alternative available like a premium subscription?

[Silent Manul 🧂]

60,3 GB
Just play it. Or not.

[LoliNoxTan]

UI:
There's DPI scaling based on resolution & you can also scale the interface (Small, Normal, Large, Larger). There's no editing of the interface like FF14 or even GW1

Boost:
Most players would recommend to not use the boost (as a new player) since it's information overload. Take you time learning & maxing one character first. Use the boost on your second character

Pay walls:
Only HoT has a class locked behind it (Rev).
Every xpak has elite specs (A new way to play the existing classes) locked behind them.
HoT gives you gliding
PoF gives you mounts
EoD gives you fishing & skiffs (boats)
Then there's the whole Living World thing. Free to everyone when it drops but the people who fail to log in will have to pay.

Steam release will hopefully do something about the "hidden" Living World fees for new players (Maybe be upfront or give them for free for a time)

The free version of GW2 gives you everything from the core game & Season 1 (Hopefully they make S2 free too)

[Rin]

One last then thing then; is the boost account wide? I think I'll only stick to 2 characters this time around so I figured I'd move the boost to another one if possible.

[Silent Manul 🧂]

Single use 80lvl booster is single char booster.
If you play sPvP or WvW fear not. With that Tome of Knowledge[wiki.guildwars2.com] you can boost any character in any time. It drop from PvE too, nowadays.

[Rin]

Thanks for reminding me that a wiki exists. I feared that the boost didn't hand gear and whatnot but now I'm game.

[SinisterSlay]

The boost is kind of detrimental. It ruins your learning experience, you flop your way through core Tyria, think your all amazing, then die horribly at the first pocket raptors you encounter.
Also, when someone offers to get you your raptor. Don't, it sabotages your dailies, removing an easy 2 gold a day. A single set of dailies is enough money to get you the best gear every 10 levels to max level. Do your dailies 30 times and your sort of rich in the game. But if you get the raptor, you will start Path Of Fire, and your dailies will switch to include Path Of Fire maps. And you're not ready for daily bounties.

And remember GW2 has horizontal progression. That means just getting Exotic or ascended armor doesn't make you strong. Your build, rotation, and strategy does. The difference is so extreme that with the same equipment, one player might do 1k DPS and another might do 40k DPS. This is the part you should ideally master sometime during Living Season 2.

[LoliNoxTan]

Originally posted by SinisterSlay:

The boost is kind of detrimental. It ruins your learning experience, you flop your way through core Tyria, think your all amazing, then die horribly at the first pocket raptors you encounter.
Also, when someone offers to get you your raptor. Don't, it sabotages your dailies, removing an easy 2 gold a day. A single set of dailies is enough money to get you the best gear every 10 levels to max level. Do your dailies 30 times and your sort of rich in the game. But if you get the raptor, you will start Path Of Fire, and your dailies will switch to include Path Of Fire maps. And you're not ready for daily bounties.

And remember GW2 has horizontal progression. That means just getting Exotic or ascended armor doesn't make you strong. Your build, rotation, and strategy does. The difference is so extreme that with the same equipment, one player might do 1k DPS and another might do 40k DPS. This is the part you should ideally master sometime during Living Season 2.

^^^^
I once got flamed in a "non toxic guild" cos I said someone was wrong when they said that players with full legendary gear are better than players in full Exotic.

GW2 isn't like other MMO's when you out gear max level content. I mean you can still get your ass handed to you in dungeons if you don't know how to play your character

[GhiMe]

Full legendary gear (purple) is like 10% better than exotic (orange) and the same as ascended (pink); enough that some people care but not enough that it really matters. Endgame content is balanced around exotic, which you get for free from dailies and can buy or get through achievements (aka quests) pretty easily.

GW2 started as Buy-To-Play aka B2P, so you have to buy the expansions. There's no sub fee. The between expansion DLC, aka Living Seasons, are free if you log in while the episode is active, but otherwise you have to pay something like $1.50 per episode? You can exchange in-game gold for the cash shop gems, so you can buy LS episodes that way if you want. Expansions aren't sold for gems, IIRC.