Steam vs GW2 launcher which is good?

[Saoirse]

I created both and planning to buy the complete package all expansions.
the ones that they are offering from the gw2 website the ultimate collections have some pretty good deal with gems and skins
while steam offers living worlds aside from expansions...

can i ask the veteran steam player or occasional gw2 launcher visitors here
is living worlds worth than the 4000gems with exclusive skins?

[Saber]

The steam 100$ one is All expansions + all of the seasons of the living world .
Anet 100$ is all expansions + few skins and 4000 gems that should be close enough to get all of the living world seasons from in game store .(Its cheaper to pick them up as a season pack and not single episodes , and they do go on sales )

Or you can use the gems on other stuff like skins , bag slots , character slots , Infinite tools ....

In general if you like having games on steam go for steam.
If you liking giving more $ to devs so they can make more cool stuff in game get the anet one .



As for spending gems or $ I world still recommend picking up living world seasons since they give you more content to play + ways to get stat selectable ascended gear , meta events that help you farm mats or gold and in general more stuff to explore and have fun with .

Season 1 of the living world is rereleasing atm .And it will stay free for all .
Season 2 has some skins and contains the story that connects core game and the first expansion.

Story goes core>Season 1>Season 2>Hearth of thorns >season 3 >Path of fire >Season 4>Ice brood saga .

In season 3 ep 1 you get blood rubys and a new map . You can pick up stat swapable ring , backpack and amulet
S3 ep2 gives you a new map way to pick up a trinket and backpack stats selectable but not swapable .
S3 ep 3 new map stat selectable ring , trinket , backpack .
S3 ep4 new map stat selectable amulet and backpack .
S3 ep5 new map stat selectable trinket and a ring .
S3 ep6 new map stat selectable amulet 6 different animated backpacks that cost Karma and map currency , gobbler that combines achievements from episodes from this season and leads to legendary trinket Aurora (Aurora requires all 6 episodes of the season).
Each episodes has a reward track for pvp/wvw with extra Mystic Clovers on your first completion of each one .


Season 4
Ep 1 new map with few meta events , in the past it was really decent farm.
Ep2 new map stat selectable ring and trinket achievement for 32 slot bag , position rewinder (really cool thing that helps with most jumping puzzles , and some farms )
Ep 3 new map , rolerbeatle mount ,
Ep 4 new map with meta that people run for the loot and a chance for a rare infusion drop .
Ep5 New map , events that people run for loot .
Ep 6 Skyscale , new map with meta that people run for loot
Legendary trinket Vision and Skyscale require all 6 episodes of the season .
Each episodes has a reward track for pvp/wvw with extra Mystic Clovers on your first completion of each one

Ice brood saga
Prolog new map with events
Ep 1 first half of new map new currency that lets you convert it to living world seaons 4 ones .Some easy locations to park alt caracters for daily loot . Meta event that people run for loot .
Ep 2 second half of the map .
Ep 3 New map that people farm for loot .
Ep 4 2. part of the map added in ep 3 and continuation of the meta event that people farm for loot .
Ep 5 Dragon storm new instanced meta that people run for gold , loot and chance for loot that they can sell on tp .

Ibs also added bunch of strikes that people run daily for gold, loot living world currency and another way to get ascended armor and weapons

[Nico]

The Living World costs a total of 4160 gems, which usually cost 52€. But since you can get the 3 expansion pack on their website with a 10€ discount the total cost of the 2 diferent packs are somewhat equal. So price wise the difference is not too big. For skins I fear I Don't know the exact diferences since on Steam it doesn't seem to show what's all included. Though I do know one thing, and that's on Steam, since you buy the expansions as 2 DLC's they give you a total of 2 shared inventory slots with 2 lvl 80 Booster, whereas the deluxe edition on their website that includes all 3 expansions only gives you a single one.

I guess each place has its advantages. Like the regular launcher has its own downloading system, that even allows you to start the game without having downloaded all the data, you just need the required data, which is not possible on Steam. And on Steam you can ... I guess use your Steam wallet and see your playtime outside of the game? They don't really seem to use any special Steam features like Steam achievements or trading cards, so ... the difference between the platforms is not too big. I guess the biggest difference are the purchases. When you play on Steam you must pay everything with your Steam wallet, you for example can't buy gem cards from a shop and try to activate them on Steam. Those only work for the regular ArenaNet account.

So I guess it's mostly personal preference which acount you want.

[gymrat3232]

Well 100 bux is a big charge for a game with purchase currencies.. but.. I guess wow is worse hahaha really worse.. .... hmm.. I wonder how they register expansion files and if old copies can be used.. i had this directly from them long ago.. with the case and all.. im sure I could find a way to piece it together... perhaps.. im the same person so.. legally I have a license to use it.. registered to another account.. an with steam.. may be some issues.. but i just may try it

[</>]

Given how I'm already in too deep with steam and 2 characters at 80 - definitely don't grab the steam version, if pressed for gems, you can use the gems they give you to grab the living world seasons especially if you can wait for them to go on sale.

There's also the matter of "playing on steam, will tie your gw2 account to your steam account" which in my opinion - not a good thing.
Definitely grab their actual launcher and go ahead with the purchase from there.

[soh]

Anet is cheaper.
Steam is more convenient.

[mimizukari]

steam launcher is better because you can use -provider Portal to login to your arenanet account. anyone who doesn't know, it's a ♥♥♥♥♥ to install Guild Wars 2 from primary launcher, it won't let you use like 1.5Gbps internet connections and will instead simply download at like 2-10MB/s all the way through.

Mix of both.

[Nico]

Originally posted by deneb altair vega:

steam launcher is better because you can use -provider Portal to login to your arenanet account. anyone who doesn't know, it's a ♥♥♥♥♥ to install Guild Wars 2 from primary launcher, it won't let you use like 1.5Gbps internet connections and will instead simply download at like 2-10MB/s all the way through.

Mix of both.

Hmmm, I guess since my maximum download speed is just 1.5 MB/s (12 mbit) I never noticed this weird limitation before ... living in a huge city is quite hard ... I really envy my parents who live somewhere in the mountains with their 1 Gbit/s.

So I personally see absolutely no advantage to use Steam over their native launcher. For me their launcher is even superior since it allows me to start the game without downloading all data, since just downloading the required data is enough to start it. Which Steam doesn't have.

[Tyrian Mollusk]

Originally posted by Nico:

Like the regular launcher has its own downloading system, that even allows you to start the game without having downloaded all the data, you just need the required data, which is not possible on Steam.

This isn't accurate. Steam and non-Steam installs are exactly the same and run the same way. Updates are managed by the launcher and can be played before the full download whether you start it from Steam or standalone.

It's most important that Steam accounts can only buy gems through the in-game store, and nowhere else. Gem discounts are rare, but they do occasionally happen through outside sellers (note: only use authorized sellers--Anet does watch that). Anet never discounts gems through the in-game store.

[Sledge]

If I could go back and start again with all money available? I'd go the A-Net route over Steam.

If you happen to like the game, any purchases you make will go directly to A-Net without Steam taking it's 30% cut which is nice. You're also free of a binding contract in which your account for GW2 would be linked to a Steam log-in. You can't migrate between their own platform and here.

On the other hand though, A-Net don't seem to be doing a particularly good job (not that they ever have really) marketing the game on this platform, so if you enjoy the convenience of having everything tied to a singular library, a-la Steam, then go through Steam instead.

Steam also has the convenience of gifting. It'd be quite easy for a friend to send a digital gift card to you for any gem-related purchases say, out of good will or on special occasions, or you to them. There is in-game gifting but it's item specific and thus would require the person gifting to own / play the game.

[Tyrian Mollusk]

Originally posted by .JayPEG:

so if you enjoy the convenience of having everything tied to a singular library, a-la Steam, then go through Steam instead.

Just use the "-provider Portal" launch argument to play a standalone account on the Steam version, if you prefer Steam managing your games.

Steam also has the convenience of gifting. It'd be quite easy for a friend to send a digital gift card to you for any gem-related purchases say

There's no way to buy gems outside the game for Steam users, so you can't gift anything out-of-game except the expansions and raw Steam wallet. Standalone (non-Steam) accounts can get gem gifts via gem codes and other things people buy in regular stores. Steam users have to make sure people don't gift them gems.

[Sledge]

Well that's what I said, if you wanted gems or wanted to give a friend money to purchase their own gems, friend could send you a digital gift card or vice-versa and then apply the funds to the game when you want gems.

The provider portal argument is fair enough. I've already made my bed by purchasing all content including LW through my Steam account. If I could go back go ANET directly, I would.