F2P vs. Premium Value

[Albanacha]

I am coming here honestly and curious because from every metric I have seen, this game appears to be one of the best free options out there. I only have about 3 hours playtime so far, and have loved every second. However, I don't know anyone AT ALL that plays this game to ask certain questions about whether or not this game really does deliver on what it appears to offer:

Free to Play value - Is this game really, actually a worthwhile time investment? I'm a stay at home dad and love the idea of MMORPGs, but lack a lot of the time and friends required to fully invest in a power climb(hence why I don't play W*W.) I'm also aware that any MMO is best experienced with others, and that is not what I'm asking about.

Premium value - I would love to invest the money in this game, but as stated above I am a stay at home dad so any amount of money I have to spend on extra stuff has to be spent very wisely. Assuming that I do have the time and continue to play, are these expansions actually worth it for solo play? Or am I best left to F2P and waiting for sales?

I know these questions involve considering a very specific set of circumstances, so I really appreciate any advice or feedback in these departments. I love the essence of MMOs and really only intend to play this game at my own pace, on my own time, and branch out when I can. I would LOVE for this to be one of my main games that I play. Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read and engage with this post(in good faith of course :) )

Hoping to see you all out there in some fashion!

[Yvan]

GW2 is the MMO to go if you want to play casyally, in my opinion and many others'.
Expansions are all of them worth it, Imho, but some much more than others. Path of fire + Heart of thorns are the best two for me. They used to come in a pack, 2 at the price of one (not sure if that's still the case), so best value for maney too.
That said, no rush to buy expansions till you finish the main campaign and maybe try dungeons/fractals... Unless you feel the limits to ftp are too much for you.
That said be warned that, if you are a lore enjoyer and wan't to experience ALL the story, there's a steep price in front of you

[Hefutoxin]

This MMORPG doesn't work like WoW does. This is a VERY solo friendly game.

1. Free to play value. There isn't much of a power grind. Second best gear (Exotic) is fairly cheap on the Auction House. It'll be enough for anything you, personally, would be doing. Top gear is Ascended, which you, personally, can get over time. As Free To Play.

This isn't a gear treadmill game.

2. Premium Value as a solo player. The overwhelming majority of the content is for solo players. Open world "Group" events are more or less solo players doing the same thing in the same area. World bosses are a bunch of people attacking the same boss. Not grouped up, just individuals doing their own thing.

Expansions basically just expand what you can do at level 80 (max level). They can be done in any order as well as bouncing between them.

[SlyDevil]

I would rate the "Free to play" of this game more like a free trial. You can definatly play to level 80 with a free account and a reccomend you doing that before deciding to pay money, but there are limitations of free accounts.
If you are realy strapped for cash i recomend getting the HoT+PoF expansions when they are on sale for around 7 bucks. It adds a lot of content and it also upgrades your account from a "Free account".
This game is very solo friendly. Most of the open world content people play "solo with other players".

[SinisterSlay]

Play for free until the next sale then buy HoT and PoF bundle.
If you are having a ton of fun and want a few 1000 hours of extra stuff, buy the full dragon saga bundle.

[Sanity]

I may be telling you information you already know, but unlike most MMO games, this one has horizontal endgame progression. You don't have to worry about getting awesome gear, only for it to be trash after a new expansion launches. Good gear will ALWAYS be good gear. Therefore your time and effort will never be for nothing. Even with the game having horizontal end game progression, there are TONS of things to do and work towards even on a free to play account.

You absolutely do not have group with others to play. This game is very solo friendly as others have mentioned. Unless you are doing dungeons, raids, world bosses, etc. In that case there is a "Looking for game" tab where you can find others to play with.

Regarding the DLC expansions. I would suggest playing all the way to max level on free to play to see how much you enjoy the gameplay. Heck might even make a second character to see if you enjoy other classes. I started with necromancer but ended up loving the guardian class. Do not be discouraged by not having a mount. I'm pretty sure the game was first made without mounts. Therefore there are plenty of waypoints around the map to teleport around to. Also walking around on foot seems to trigger world events more often in my case.

IMPORTANT: If you are playing through steam and buy ANY of the first 3 expansions, than you will NOT be able to buy the "Elder Dragon Saga DLC" which comes with the "Living World Seasons DLC" You will instead have to buy it in the in game shop with a currency called "Gems".

As others have mentioned the "Path of fire/Heart of thorns" bundle is def the most bang for your buck BUT it does lock you out from buying the "Elder Dragon Saga". So keep that in mind if you are interested in getting the "Elder Dragon Saga".

According to SteamDB The "Path of fire/Heart of thorns" bundle goes on sale for about $8.
The "Elder dragon saga" goes on sale for about $50

Hope you enjoy

[dunnothisguy]

Postat inițial de Albanacha:

Free to Play value - Is this game really, actually a worthwhile time investment? I'm a stay at home dad and love the idea of MMORPGs, but lack a lot of the time and friends required to fully invest in a power climb(hence why I don't play W*W.) I'm also aware that any MMO is best experienced with others, and that is not what I'm asking about.

Depends on what do you call "investment". Will it pay off with interest? Most certainly not, you will sink dozens of hours of your time into it having fun, getting nothing in return - while you could earn some RL money outside of it instead. So, a horrible investment, don't recommend :) Is it worth the money as an attraction and leisure hobby? If you like combat mechanics, visuals, lore etc - definitely. It becomes much better in HoT and PoF (I haven't played the newer DLCs yet). Maps are much more interesting in those (though game gets challenging as well, but I see it as improvement, the vanila maps are too easy for my taste), you get new elite classes which change A LOT, sometimes it's as if you start playing a different class, like when Ranger (mostly combat class) turns into Druid (mostly pure healer), also mounts are added in PoF. The story is better as well in those (relatively, as I don't like GW2 story in general, find it rather plain and incoherent in many places). Switching to paid account will lift a bunch of restrictions from it (mostly related to trading, as they limit free acounts to combat RMT).

Postat inițial de Albanacha:

Assuming that I do have the time and continue to play, are these expansions actually worth it for solo play? Or am I best left to F2P and waiting for sales?

I think Anet are being a tad dishonest when advertising their game as "FTP". FTP assumes you have access to almost full experience of the game, what isn't even remotely the case for GW2. You don't have access to tons of important content until you buy both HoT and PoF. You may decide to not buy the rest (though I recommed End of Dragons too, as it comes with a new elite spec for each profession, so basically 9 new playable classes). Actually, there is currently a sale on Epic Store which offers 50% discount on package that contains all three of those plus tons of extra story episodes (including new maps not present in the mentioned DLCs) normaly sold separately

Postat inițial de Albanacha:

Premium value - I would love to invest the money in this game, but as stated above I am a stay at home dad so any amount of money I have to spend on extra stuff has to be spent very wisely.

Honestly, my opinion on such matters is this: if you can afford PC that can run such a game, pay for internet connection and have enough free time in your life to waste on an online game, you definitely can afford it. The fact you would rather prefer to not pay doesn't mean you can't ;)

[Albanacha]

Postat inițial de dunnothisguy:

Postat inițial de Albanacha:

Honestly, my opinion on such matters is this: if you can afford PC that can run such a game, pay for internet connection and have enough free time in your life to waste on an online game, you definitely can afford it. The fact you would rather prefer to not pay doesn't mean you can't ;)

Thanks, this was a pretty comprehensive response! Thank you to everyone else who answered here, as they were also on point.

Just wanted to quote this though, and respond to this opinion in earnest:
Not everyone is in the same situation in life and can afford things. Yes, while I do have an expensive PC, it was from about 5 or 6 years ago. Situations change. Also, internet is relatively cheap most places... spending $50 for some people is a huge deal. Just figured I would help broaden your view a bit; people out here are broke! lol

[dunnothisguy]

Postat inițial de Albanacha:

Postat inițial de dunnothisguy:

Thanks, this was a pretty comprehensive response! Thank you to everyone else who answered here, as they were also on point.

Just wanted to quote this though, and respond to this opinion in earnest:
Not everyone is in the same situation in life and can afford things. Yes, while I do have an expensive PC, it was from about 5 or 6 years ago. Situations change. Also, internet is relatively cheap most places... spending $50 for some people is a huge deal. Just figured I would help broaden your view a bit; people out here are broke! lol

You tell me bro ;) As if I never was young, broke - and still was able to find money to pay for wow/eve online subscription ;) And there is no subscription in this one, just a single 50$ payment. I find it amusing, as usualy people who tell things like that on internet waste times more on monthly basis on some trash like beers or smokes/wapes.

P.S.

And sorry if it sounded condescending and devaluing your experience, but that's just honest obesrvation of humans' behavior which includes me. Dozens of hours wasted on attempts to justfiy a purchase I really was fated to made anyway, searching for cheaper alternatives to get it - while I could just cut my unnecessary expenses for a month to pay for it, worst case scenario. You won't convince me that somebody facing, say, real hunger will be obsessed with such dilemas. I was there too, the games I play during this period was the last thing that worried me. I would be happy to play just any games at all.

[Albanacha]

Postat inițial de dunnothisguy:

Postat inițial de Albanacha:

You tell me bro ;) As if I never was young, broke - and still was able to find money to pay for wow/eve online subscription ;) And there is no subscription in this one, just a single 50$ payment. I find it amusing, as usualy people who tell things like that on internet waste times more on monthly basis on some trash like beers or smokes/wapes.

P.S.

And sorry if it sounded condescending and devaluing your experience, but that's just honest obesrvation of humans' behavior which includes me. Dozens of hours wasted on attempts to justfiy a purchase I really was fated to made anyway, searching for cheaper alternatives to get it - while I could just cut my unnecessary expenses for a month to pay for it, worst case scenario. You won't convince me that somebody facing, say, real hunger will be obsessed with such dilemas. I was there too, the games I play during this period was the last thing that worried me. I would be happy to play just any games at all.

Oh no, I was in no way attempting to shame you at all my friend! I agree, nobody should choose games over food. I was just explaining that some people have specific circumstances such as myself where yes, I am able to spend a little bit extra on games and am very picky on where that money goes :) my wife and I have a budget lol

thanks for not being a toxic prick. I'mma friend you

[Spirit]

2 words : horizontal progression system
its not like wow where you have lost the train after 3-4 months or even weeks of hiatus
all your equipment is the same when you left and wont get nerfed to oblivion like other mmo´s do