is it viable to play it f2p?

[Artema]

I mean if expansions gives ur more gear so u will be a noob.

[SinisterSlay]

It's viable. Most of the same gear is available to f2p. (viper gear might be missing for condi builds?)
It's difficult though because you get limited access to the trade post. So you have to farm and craft everything yourself. So if you are trying to make ascended or legendary items you won't get any shortcuts using gold.

As a f2p player, you will probably cruise through the game on the story awards stuff, then use your karma to buy exotic gear from Orr. That's pretty much your end game gear until you go for ascended, which is barely any better.

[Artema]

thanks mate

[SinisterSlay]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Artema:

thanks mate

Have fun in the game. It's wintersday!

[Septimus Prime]

It is actually very limited when you F2P!

Also after purchasing any expansion and unlocking full game features, then there is still trade activation limit 5 days after codes activation, so from F2P -> full upgrade you still cannot use trade post fully until 5 days have passed!

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Account

[Sychon]

Viable? Of course. Hundreds of hours of PvE content, alone.
Enjoyable? That's down to personal preference and how you can manage the limitations, as there are a few. Limited inventory space, character slots and access to the Trading Post will be the biggest challenges. No mounts, apart from the raptor trial. But you can learn to live with all of that and even craft a Generation 1 legendary weapon, if you so wish.

The Wizard's Vault is open to you, as well, which means that you can have a full set of ascended gear relatively easy!

[RotherHans]

The F2P content is actually more than we got at launch.

[Bermag]

I personally don't think it is worth it. See F2P as "try before you buy". At least get the first expansion.

With F2P you don't have access to elite specialization. That is very limiting.

[Sychon]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Bermag:

I personally don't think it is worth it. See F2P as "try before you buy". At least get the first expansion.

With F2P you don't have access to elite specialization. That is very limiting.

As limiting as it was before they added elite specs with the first expansion? The F2P version is basically as the game was prior to HoT. I certainly didn't feel limited.

[Xeph The Tamagotchi]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Sychon:

Początkowo opublikowane przez Bermag:

I personally don't think it is worth it. See F2P as "try before you buy". At least get the first expansion.

With F2P you don't have access to elite specialization. That is very limiting.

As limiting as it was before they added elite specs with the first expansion? The F2P version is basically as the game was prior to HoT. I certainly didn't feel limited.

this, it is literally the BASE gw2 experience. the same thing we all paid for and played for ages till they released HoT lol. the cool thing is you can change gold to gems in gw2 so no need to buy much with real money outside of expansions and those go on sale quite often

[ebaG-gamma]

technically yes, but it's VERY LIMITED
TL;DR: if you want to do anything else than play through the base game story and explore the world, get the first two expansions for 7.50 on the next sale.

I feel like it's important to remind everyone that the experience that a lot of us had in the pre-HoT era is NOT what you get when you "play-for-free" (note that ArenaNet rarely call it F2P, since that refers to a specific business model, which is not GW2's) today.
Free accounts have hefty restrictions placed upon them. The full list of restrictions can be found here: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Account#Free_accounts
• only 2 instead of 5 character slots to start with
(with five playable races with their own story missions; and eight playable professions (base classes), that's quite limiting, but okay for a trial)
• only 3 bag slots instead of 5 (making the free 24-slot bag for newsletter signup all the more important for you). Definitely check out the Steam Guide "Basic Inventory Management", it's great.
• you cannot convert gold to gems
… before you unlock your account with an expansion

To really be able to answer your question in a satisfactory way, we'd have to know which kind of gameplay you are after.
• Mostly solo story and open world exploration
• Open world events
• Instanced group PvE (Dungeons, Fractals, Strike missions, Raids)
• structured conquest-arena-style 5v5 PvP
• large-scale 24/7 siege warfare 50v50v50 PvP

Mostly solo story and open world exploration:
The base game's map is vast and really well-crafted. It rewards exploration and is chock-full with lore and side-stories that together build out the world. Compared to later expansion zones, encounters are very relaxed – of course one person's chill is another's boring. The base professions and mobility tools that you will have access to are what the base game was designed for, so this kind of gameplay is totally viable.

Open world events:
While the big, flashy, intricate events are in the expansion zones, the base game world is full of dynamic events too, which are actually the heart of GW2's gameplay.
(Many players are hyper-focused to get zones to 100% ✌completion✌ thinking that this means they have seen and done everything there is to do there. Far from it: Check out https://gw2timer.com/Map and click 👁 Display in the top right of the map area, then check ☑ Dynamic Events. If you then mouse over zones, you'll see the events as orange areas.)

Instanced group PvE (Dungeons, Fractals (of the Mists), Strike missions, Raids):
Here it gets more tricky.
• Dungeons, this name refers to the eight base game dungeons in GW2. Those all have a story mode and an explorable mode with three paths. The story modes actually happen in parallel to your personal story missions (indicated by green stars), starting at level 40 (yes, 40, not 30). You won't be funneled into them, but rather only receive letters inviting you to check them out. You'll probably want one or two other players with you for story mode, but also not more or it will be boring as hell. You can use the LFG to find others players.
Explorable mode is more difficult and was part of the PvE endgame at launch.
However, dungeons were basically abandoned when the game came out and superseded with Fractals of the Mists. Outside of week-long Dungeon Rush events, you'll rarely find groups running dungeons. (Of course you should always open your own LFG instead of waiting for one to pop up.)
There was considerable power-creep in GW2 even before the first expansions came out, so dungeons are now easier than they used to be at launch. With a good build and gameplay, people can solo most explorable paths, and I have even seen a completely new player solo the first story dungeon (but it took a while).
• Fractals of the Mists are a special kind of dungeon with increasing difficulty levels in four 25-level tiers. Base game build and gearing options are probably viable for the first two tiers and if you are good, conceivably tier 3. You'll have a much harder time than someone with access to elite specializations though.
• Strikes and Raids are off-limits to you without expansions, except for one – quite hard – strike mission.

structured conquest-arena-style 5v5 PvP, or just PvP:
PvP in Guild Wars 2 temporarily scales every character up to level 80 and unlocks every build option available to the account. So, you still won't have access to elite specializations and some gearing options, but there are viable build options for free accounts, they just won't be the most competitive. However, …

Początkowo opublikowane przez Artema:

I mean if expansions gives ur more gear so u will be a noob.

In GW2, individual player skill matters a lot more than character power. A competent player on a free account will mop the floor with you on a fully decked-out meta build, if you don't know what you are doing, 🤬 you useless piece-of-… erm, sorry, thinking about PvP caused me to go off the rails a bit 😇. You know, when people talk about GW2 having a warm, friendly, welcoming community, they proably aren't thinking of people while playing PvP in particular. 😅

large-scale 24/7 siege warfare 50v50v50 PvP, or World-versus-World (WvW)
In this game mode, you use your PvE gear, but are upscaled to level 80 (it is not advisable to enter before you really got to level 80 and have your gear somewhat in order). Again, you may not have access to the best meta build options and won't be able to fill every specific role, but that won't stop you from hopping in and having fun.

In any way, this is a great new player guide:
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/User:Dak393/New_player_Guide#Start_Here
Also, I'll tell you what I tell every new player: make an ArenaNet account, instead of a Steam (or Epic) one; see my guide for details: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3335333185

[Mograine]

I've managed 200 hours f2p before purchasing any expansions, exotic gears are still available through dungeons (or orr vendor), and you can definitely still play high tier fractals using the ascended gears from wizard's fault. It's still limited tho, like others said. You can't really rely on TP to buy gears easily. I gotta say that while most core classes aren't as competitive (at least for PVE) compared to elite specs, you can still have fun with them. Try the game, at least try to get to level 80, and then decide whether you would like the expansions or not. Next sale (should be less than 2 weeks from now) will have HoT and PoF bundled for around $7, that is the best bang for the buck for the contents you get.

[ebaG-gamma]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Mograine:

Next sale (should be less than 2 weeks from now) will have HoT and PoF bundled for around $7, that is the best bang for the buck for the contents you get.

It started today, so you were correct: 1 day < 2 weeks 🤪

I don't agree on the best bang for the buck, because on sale, that has to be the Elder Dragon Saga Complete Collection for 50.
HoT+PoF for 7.50 is the best budget option and surely the most recommendable one for someone who would inquire about viability of playing for free, so no hard disagreement really.

[Q]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Artema:

I mean if expansions gives ur more gear so u will be a noob.

get the pof and hot expansions right now, its dirt cheap and they offer hundreds of hours or more, ive been playing this since 2016 and i still do stuff in those expansions plus u get rid of f2p restrictions with those expansions.

[Artema]

whats the most recomended class to play?

[Vulture]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Artema:

whats the most recomended class to play?

Almost all classes nowadays can handle any role. So pick what you like.