How often do the expansions go on sale?

[I Am Klaus]

Gave ESO a try, didn't like it because despite the gameplay being fun and deep, the overpopulation killed any semblance of enjoyment for me. When there's 10+ people in the same newbie zone camp killing everything the second it respawns and picking every resource bare, it's a buzzkill for me.

Going to try a Charrdian as my first toon. If this game resonates with me and I want to get the expansions, how long do I have to wait for a sale?

[perrisian63]

4 to 6 times a year. Generally. There should be a sale coming up in a few weeks. Though, this is based on ANet itself and not Steam.

[I Am Klaus]

Originally posted by perrisian63:

4 to 6 times a year. Generally. There should be a sale coming up in a few weeks. Though, this is based on ANet itself and not Steam.

Doesn't it apply to Steam too though?

[Connor]

Originally posted by Your Moms Car:

Originally posted by perrisian63:

4 to 6 times a year. Generally. There should be a sale coming up in a few weeks. Though, this is based on ANet itself and not Steam.

Doesn't it apply to Steam too though?

Sometimes stuff will go on sale directly through Anet but not Steam, that's what he means.
Stuff does go on sale fairly often though, any major holiday and there's very likely to be a sale both on Anet and Steam; amount of sale usually ranges from about 30% off to 50% depending on the age of the Expansion.

[Nico]

The next major Steam sale is the autumn sale in 38 days. But no idea if there is another sale before that.

If you woudlo want to buy anything during a sale, the probably best purchase would be th eelder saga complete edition for usually 100$. Also, don't expect the newest expansion to go on sale any time soon. (Though it's no tlike you really need the newest expansion)

[I Am Klaus]

Originally posted by Nico:

The next major Steam sale is the autumn sale in 38 days. But no idea if there is another sale before that.

If you woudlo want to buy anything during a sale, the probably best purchase would be th eelder saga complete edition for usually 100$. Also, don't expect the newest expansion to go on sale any time soon. (Though it's no tlike you really need the newest expansion)

Isn't the Elder Saga already $100 or something? So if it went on sale it would be $50. That's worth waiting for.

[Nico]

Originally posted by Your Moms Car:

Originally posted by Nico:

The next major Steam sale is the autumn sale in 38 days. But no idea if there is another sale before that.

If you woudlo want to buy anything during a sale, the probably best purchase would be th eelder saga complete edition for usually 100$. Also, don't expect the newest expansion to go on sale any time soon. (Though it's no tlike you really need the newest expansion)

Isn't the Elder Saga already $100 or something? So if it went on sale it would be $50. That's worth waiting for.

That's why I said it costs usually 100$, aka without a discount.

[I Am Klaus]

Originally posted by Nico:

Originally posted by Your Moms Car:

Isn't the Elder Saga already $100 or something? So if it went on sale it would be $50. That's worth waiting for.

That's why I said it costs usually 100$, aka without a discount.

Oh, misread, sorry. Yeah I'd be game for that, especially if the expansions come with anything else like Gems or mounts or something. For that matter, I haven't seen any "packs" offered either, Starter Packs, Deluxe Packs, etc.

[Nico]

Originally posted by Your Moms Car:

Originally posted by Nico:

That's why I said it costs usually 100$, aka without a discount.

Oh, misread, sorry. Yeah I'd be game for that, especially if the expansions come with anything else like Gems or mounts or something. For that matter, I haven't seen any "packs" offered either, Starter Packs, Deluxe Packs, etc.

Yeah, those packs only exist on their website or ingame. On Steam they don't exist (probably since they would be too difficult to add to the steam shop)

Also, each expansion comes with one shared inventory slot and a lvl 80 booster (which you shouldn't use on your first character). Except for that they do not have any exta goodies. And no idea why that's not listed in the steam store.

I guess in general you could say that I wouldn't encourage anyone to start playing GW2 on Steam instead of using a regular GW2 account with their regular launcher, it just does not have any big advantages ...

And in regard to mounts ... I do not have too much experience with mounts in other MMO's ... but from what I know, mounts in GW2 are very different from mounts in other games. You do need expansions to unlock them, since they only were added with the second expansion, and you do need them to explore many of the maps, though obviously not for the core game and first expansion maps, as they were made before mounts existed.

And owning any expansion does already unlock the first mount permanently, otherwise you just get a 10h trial mount once you reach lvl 10 with each character if you use a free2play account. (A practice I personally dislike, they should have just kept the mounts locked behind an expansion, or make the first mount completely free)

[I Am Klaus]

The way I'm playing right now is to try to 100% every zone before I go to the next one, so right now I want to 100% the Plains of Ashford and complete the first Adventure Guide before moving on to the next one, to try and maximize my profits, crafting gains and account bonuses as I progress.

[ebaG-gamma]

Expansions frequently go on very attractive sales, especially the older (and, imo, at the same time best) ones.
Note that Ultimate Editions (those that contain 50 bucks worth of gems) never go on sale and even get taken off ArenaNet's store page during sales. The Elder Dragon Complete Collection has been discounted -50% numerous times in the past.

Check here for recent sales history:

⛲ Sales history[isthereanydeal.com] and Sales History[gg.deals], personal, manually curated list of giveaways and sales by community member Dak393[wiki.guildwars2.com]

Copied from the penultimate section of my guide:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3335333185

[ebaG-gamma]

Originally posted by Your Moms Car:

For that matter, I haven't seen any "packs" offered either, Starter Packs, Deluxe Packs, etc.

Those Deluxe and Ultimate bundles aren't available on Steam. Check the guide linked in my previous comment for details.

[I Am Klaus]

Hmm...I guess I don't mind starting over. I could've sworn I had a couple of expansions in the past but never played because my internet couldn't download them at the time (Wireless DSL then, Verizon 5G+ now, 72gb in 2 hours instead of 3 days).

Was hoping you'd say the Ultimate Edition goes on sale too, because getting 4,000 gems along with the expansions for $50 is something I would strongly consider. Wonder why the Complete Collection doesn't offer any gems either.

I guess if I'm going to switch to the standalone client though, I should do it now.

[Nico]

Originally posted by Your Moms Car:

Hmm...I guess I don't mind starting over. I could've sworn I had a couple of expansions in the past but never played because my internet couldn't download them at the time (Wireless DSL then, Verizon 5G+ now, 72gb in 2 hours instead of 3 days).

Was hoping you'd say the Ultimate Edition goes on sale too, because getting 4,000 gems along with the expansions for $50 is something I would strongly consider. Wonder why the Complete Collection doesn't offer any gems either.

There is an important difference between the Complete Bundle and the Ultimate Bundle. Both bundles contain the first 3 expansions, but while the ultimate bundle contains 4000 gems, the complete bundle contains all living story (which is content inbetween the expansions, which is on a similar level as expansions and costs a total of 4160 gems if you were to buy it ingame) Btw, the complete bundle is the only way here on Steam to buy the Living World without using gems.

Though I guess ultimate editions of singular expansions also exist. But they are 50$ more expensive than the regular expansions and just so happen to contain gems worth 50$, aka 4000 gems. But I guess since it also contains the content of the deluxe edition, which are a few skins and a char slot, it's probably still not a bad deal. But yeah, those deluxe and ultimate editions aren't available on Steam.

Also, if you really owned some expansions in the past it's probably worth it to try to find your old account to get them back.

[I Am Klaus]

Originally posted by Nico:

Originally posted by Your Moms Car:

Hmm...I guess I don't mind starting over. I could've sworn I had a couple of expansions in the past but never played because my internet couldn't download them at the time (Wireless DSL then, Verizon 5G+ now, 72gb in 2 hours instead of 3 days).

Was hoping you'd say the Ultimate Edition goes on sale too, because getting 4,000 gems along with the expansions for $50 is something I would strongly consider. Wonder why the Complete Collection doesn't offer any gems either.

There is an important difference between the Complete Bundle and the Ultimate Bundle. Both bundles contain the first 3 expansions, but while the ultimate bundle contains 4000 gems, the complete bundle contains all living story (which is content inbetween the expansions, which is on a similar level as expansions and costs a total of 4160 gems if you were to buy it ingame) Btw, the complete bundle is the only way here on Steam to buy the Living World without using gems.

Though I guess ultimate editions of singular expansions also exist. But they are 50$ more expensive than the regular expansions and just so happen to contain gems worth 50$, aka 4000 gems. But I guess since it also contains the content of the deluxe edition, which are a few skins and a char slot, it's probably still not a bad deal. But yeah, those deluxe and ultimate editions aren't available on Steam.

Also, if you really owned some expansions in the past it's probably worth it to try to find your old account to get them back.

I did. No dice. I thought I had purchased the first two when I originally tried to get the game running, but alas, my memory is always selective.

I can wait for a sale regardless. I don't have that much time to play now since I'm starting a new job at Salvation Army, so just 100%ing the zones and adventure guides should keep me busy for a while.

[ebaG-gamma]

Originally posted by Your Moms Car:

Hmm...I guess I don't mind starting over. I could've sworn I had a couple of expansions in the past but never played because my internet couldn't download them at the time (Wireless DSL then, Verizon 5G+ now, 72gb in 2 hours instead of 3 days).

Was hoping you'd say the Ultimate Edition goes on sale too, because getting 4,000 gems along with the expansions for $50 is something I would strongly consider. Wonder why the Complete Collection doesn't offer any gems either.

I guess if I'm going to switch to the standalone client though, I should do it now.

Yeah, as Nico pointed out, the living world stuff costs 4160 gems (1280💎 or $/€16 for LWS2; 960💎or $/€12 for the other three), but unlike gems those do go on 20% or sometimes 30% sales. You can check the Gem Store history on the Complete Packs' wiki pages to get an idea, e.g., https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Living_World_Season_3_Complete_Pack#Gem_Store_history … the other packs are linked at the bottom under "See also"
Since you won't likely get to season 4 or Icebrood Saga next week, if you follow the story order, this might be a good idea … or wait for the EDS Complete Collection being -50%.

Definitely try to get your account back if you had one in the past. :)

Sounds like you did check out my guide then? Always makes me happy if it does help someone come to a decision.
Gems are virtually never discounted as a general principle. Presumably, so people don't hesitate when considering gem purchases.
Yeah, if you do consider making the switch to a standalone Anet account (ideally your old one; Anet support is usually very helpful with that), there is no point in waiting, the sooner you make the switch the better. For example, there's still time to earn this year's Halloween skin, the Grasping Shadows Plate, which next year will be 20 candy corn cobs (which are ~100 gold atm) … just to name one reason.

Originally posted by Nico:

But yeah, those deluxe and ultimate editions aren't available on Steam.

In the interest of transparancy though, for anyone stuck with a Steam GW2 account: Deluxe Upgrade Packs are available on the gem store and they go on sale with the same discounts as their base expansions. So, one can get the HoT and PoF Deluxe upgrade bundles for 600💎 instead of 2400💎. They both contain a character slot expansion, and PoF deluxe even contains a lounge[wiki.guildwars2.com], Lily of the Elon.