Guild Wars 2 is PAY TO WIN or is it?? 

Having 10 alts all parked @ chests that i can log in and out of for free loot isnt an advantage at all right? The mental gymnastics people use to defend pay to win is funny 😂 Having 9 character slots isnt a power boost in your ability to switch roles and playstyles? What about having all the templates and being able to swap to whatever you want at will? Let alone storage, and as already mentioned teleports/alt parking @ rare loot locations etc. Thats just the character aspect of the advantages you can buy, for money, after paying for all the game, expansions (upgrades not expansions), and living world seasons (again argueably upgrades, not expansions). While we are on the topic i hope you can see the difference between paying to upgrade your game (faster mounts, level 80 boost, better farming areas) and an expansion with new content. In this games design and model if you do not own the latest version (or all of them) you are at a disadvantage relative to someone who does (aka someone who spends money). Now while there is "content" behind these expenses, they do not separate you from the main player base in competitive modes, ie an advantage that ONLY money can buy. Depending on the misguided views of people of the internet (who cant use google or translate english) pay to win can mean many things. It does not. It is very clear and concise in its definition, please google it right now if you dont know what it is. Gaining an advantage in game by spending $ is the TLDR and they clearly offer you a progression system in this game by spending money. You argue that because i can grind for 1$/hour (if that) i should be happy to grind 10 hours to unlock a bank slot? OR spend 10$? For 3 slots in a bank, 10$. After i got a game and expansions for close to 150$ it wants more. Thats genre defining end game goals right there 😂, unlock the stuff that shouldve been in the game in the first place. But now that getting to the endgame is easier, it is completely useless. The gold to gem conversion ratio is rediculous, time gating you essentially (or you can pay) to grind for hours on end doing the games repetitive content. The same way the inventory, storage for mats, 5/9 character slots on a fully paid game, and the list of paywalls goes on and on. The main thing people dont seem to grasp is that this is pretty much cheating, but its okay so long as TOS says so and the company gets money. Worst of all you defend it and approve it when YOU ARE THE VICTIM. The company is doing fine and the game would have probably done better without the cash shop (i would still be playing it for one, and ik im not alone here in abandoning this mmo). Worst of all do you see the game getting any improvements with the money you invest? All the living world seasons i played sucked. The story in this game is trash. The fractals are okay? What the fuck happened to dungeons, theyre trash. Open world is a joke, you can beat the hardest zones in the game no problem. Speaking of that the game outside of raids (coordinating a group is the only challenge in this game) is rediculously easy. Raids arent even that hard theres just an extremely tanky enemy who shows you where and when hes going to attack like night and day. The only way you will mess up is when theres 500 light and water aoes on the ground because fk dps and being able to see right? Youd think after all the $ sunk into this game theyd at least be smart enough to change the visuals somehow so that everything doesnt = circle on the ground. TLDR: rant over, cash stores kill games and this game is definitely pay to win (by definition, learn to use google) as progression and quality of life, money, mounts, classes, etc are all clearly advantages over those who do not own the current/latest season. And even if you get them all the game still wants more for basix features. Predatory at least.

I love gw2 - however, power creep is real. Vanilla classes simply can’t achieve the same dps or healing as expansion classes - or the bump from Weapon Mastery adding 5 to 10k to some classes bench. Gold farming is also quicker in expansion maps, so combine power creep and faster farming = GW2 is Buy to Win Quicker. And I’m ok with that, because it’s fun

GW2 is a "Pay 2 have a chance to win" game. The expansions themselves give these things that tip the scale in competitive combat: - Elite specializations. - Weapon access. - Expansion-exclusive runes and relics. - Specifically for Rangers: Expansion-specific pets. The more ways you have to customize your builds, the more chances to counter play you have. Imagine your build options if you are a F2P account or you only own SOTO. Good luck in SPvP and WvW.

Can you buy legendary weapons for real money, sure you can. Can you craft ascended gear set if you pay money, sure you can. Can you get the best food, potions and so on if you pay money, sure you can. In gw2 you can buy the game, all expansions, all living worlds buy storage, bank tabs, shared storage... plus all the gear you want and max out a character in a day if you pay money. For a free player, even an ascended set would take months if he just started, gold is super rare. To be able to reach pay player level of goods will take years (if ever happened). So, it all depends on definition of pay to win, for me GW2 is as pay to win as let’s say Lost Ark. After all any player can get to the same level after months/years of playing :) Don't get me wrong, I love the game. I play every day and buy lots of things in the gem store for money. But I am not delusional about what is pay to win, and what is not. If you wonder, in 2023 everything is pay to win. At best it is pay to skip 5-10 years of your life grinding :)

I hate those discussions. P2W has no clear definition. I can easily say: Based on semantics, I can PAY real money to WIN at the game, by changing gems into gold and buying legendaries r high end gear. Thus, I have an ADVANTAGE in progression over normal players in terms of progression. Yes, GW2 can be considered P2W. But, since it's progression is horizontal, it simply doesn't have a big effect after a certain point. Reducing the P2W discussion on PvP only misses the point. Competition can be present even without hard number interfaces, given by the game. Simply standing in Lions Arch and showing off your eye-cancer inducing infusions can be a form of competition for aknowledgement. P2W is not simply: Me credit card for higher numbers than you. The definition you brought up in the beginning is incredibly outdated in times of live-services and microtransactions in an ever changing market. There is a reason this debate comes up every once and again in GW2. And that is because, based on your definition, GW2 CAN be considered to have P2W elements.

After playing and paying for monthly sub with WoW for nearly ten years, buying occasional items from the gem store is a choice, not an obligation. Yes, Ive paid for four expansions but they were still cheaper that WoW’s expansions. I never had to buy Living World series as they were included by logging in daily. Is GW2 worth what I have invested? Absolutely and I am glad to support the continued evolution of this game!

pay to win: The ability and/or practice of exchanging real-world currency for an in-game benefit. Guild wars 2 is pay to win. Yes, you can reach the same level and gear without paying but also you can buy gems, make them gold, upgrade a leatherworker,etc. to 500 and create ascended gear which is the best in terms of stats. You can get gems and make them gold, and gold is everything in gw2. You can obtain skyscale faster if you throw some gold to it. Candy corn gobbler. Makes wvw reward track faster, makes experience gain increase. Which you buy with real money. You can throw money to gw2 and remove a huge repetitive grind.

I have only the first 2 expantions, and 500 h in game. I farmed gold for so much utility from the gemstore, and for free. Two bank tabs, 2 stash expanders, all 3 salvage o matics, Candy gobler and LW 2 and 4.I would have invest much more in utility, but i developed my character at the same time, full artificier, almsot full ascended gear with infusions and now i will unlock the griffon.I dont feel the need to buy the last 2 expantions. Not bcs i dont want them, or like them, is bcs i dont NEED them. I still have tons to do with what i have. GW 2 is pay once to play forever. Evsrything you want from the gemstore, you can buy with ingame gold. It has one of the best economies of all the mmos out there. The only game i can think it has similar progression mechanics and market is Warframe, but Warframe is not really an rpg. Ofc, if you buy gold with real life money, youre progression will be much faster. But that doesnt mean you will be good in fractals, raids, strikes, pvp and wvw. The only things that you can get with money are utility and skins.

The most this game is pay for convenience, ive bought bag expansions, bank expansions, outfits and the salvage bot ,but again you can convert gold to gems if you dont want to dish real money for it. Yes it makes my day to day a little easier/faster but there is no power/stat boosting at all. Im grinding for ascended gear on my 1st character and gem store doesnt help with that, gotta put in the time. Side note: highly recommend get SotO to get a Skyscale fairly easily (1-2 weeks of work)

P2w for me is , spending money to get something that is not available (or realisticly obtaineable) by playing the game, xpac doent count since you dont pay for power, but for content

Everything you said at 02:10 is wrong. You can't purchase Living World Season 4 in the gemstore without having Path of Fire (the bundle literally doesn't show up on f2p account) and you also can't exchange gold to gems as a f2p - only gems to gold. The Skyscale is also not the most important mount in the game, if you only use the Skyscale for everything you're severly gimping yourself. Just putting this here for potential new players to see.

It's borderline pay to win, the best specs, weapons and mounts are locked behind a paywall. For example, core necro sucks you can not play competitively with necro unless you spend money on expansions to unlock the elite specs and weapons. Also mounts give you a clear advantage, you can not own mounts without spending money.

But paying for a specialization givs you an advantage over a free account, but there is nothing wrong with the game being pay to win.

People asking if gw2 pay to win have never played real pay to win Korean game. Just an example c9 a game i played for years got so bad with psy to win they straight up sold you max level gear with upgrades no less, introduced a system where you wear a cosmetic that gives you stats and a "soul" you socket into each of those cosmetics that are randomly dropped from chests with less than a 1% chance for any of them with each requiring you to be one of the 50 +classes. And this is one aspect. Thry had multiple systems that require you to just straight gacha your way into it.

As one of my guildie say "You cannot buy skills" cheers

yes it is. exp boosters, bag slots, character slots, storage foh. whales have a huge advantage.

agree with all things except 1: Griffon > Skyscale

YES you buy gems and with that you buy gold to kit yourself out with a legendary weapon. and i would even argue that buying the unbreakable tools is paying to win. Pay to win does not mean free players can not reach the same point. it just means you can pay to gain an advantage (maybe temporarily) the whole sickening mobile market has just changed peoples opinion on this matter.

GW2 is one of if not the BEST MMO when it comes to what you get for your investment time/money. I bought it in preorder back then in 2012 been playing it 11 straight years and I still LOVE it as the first day. In all that time I spent 50$ for the game and (40+30+30+25$) expansions, so in total 175$ for 11 years. Compare that to Elder Scrolls Online I tried recently (expansion+all the DLCs you need at least 350$) plus you need to have monthly whatever they call it just to get CRAFTING MATERIALS bag!!! To say GW2 is FAIR is modest statement, to this day I have not played or heard of a game that gives you more for less and in all that respects your time (there is no classical grind in GW2 or vertical progression)!

its only to you to learn very good to your character and the game system and eurything go well for you

Agreed, I spend a decent amount in the gem store and willingly do so. I love the game and have no problem giving support to the team. All the items I have purchased were skins and QoL items that are certainly not required to be competitive. Note: I've taken months to years away and everytime I come back there is nothing to make you feel irrelevant, just features one would like to enjoy/ explore any new content. It's a superb model and no regrets giving back through the gem 💎 store.

can't use the trading to sell or buy things from players as f2p so a f2p has it harder and you have no mounts you walk very slow across the map everything is just bad as f2p they could give people at least a raptor🤣

Lol I almost choke on my weed when you said “other game” then I see BnS 😂😂😂

Definitley pay to win, swipe and buy all legendary weapons swipe by all storage space, swipe by all salvage kits swipe buy all the expensive stuff on the trading post swipe swipe swipe, now on a level of pay to win it is about a 3 out of 10 but it definitely is Pay to Win.

Gold and Time savers are advantages in GW2 and for someone that can spend irl money to access these on a swipe is a huge win. Yes GW2 is P2W. It's tolerable and not as bad as other P2W games but let's not pretend that's it's not. PS. If you are paying IRL money just for the convenience then you are still paying to win because you paid to overcome the grind/suffering/challenge with the power of money not with time investment nor skill (IRL job skill maybe XD).

GW2 isn´t pay to win but it´s not entirely free either. Besides the expansions you have to pay for the living world episodes. Character Slots etc. are not free. The things you can buy are more quality of live. And you have to pay a lot for this kind of quality in this game.

No, it's not... You can All Farming InGame and InGame Shop Currencies too... Main Game is Free to Play and you pay only for Addons...

Its pay to win. If you are new player avoid this. Only the veterans with complete legendaries will tell you that its not Pay 2 Win.

GW2 is Pay for Convenience.

Ofc it's pay to win LOOOOL i as fwp player have to suffer thousands of hours to earn gear where some righ guy jsut swipe credit card and buy full legendary ser on TP :D

BDO and ESO are p2w

its not pay to win! im ten years on this game and the game not have nothing to be better from the others.

Anybody who thinks it is pay to win is simply bad at the video game. Paying only adds convenience, convenience does not equal winning lots of players pay money and are still trash at the game. Pay to win means you are paying money to have an unwavering advantage over a person or player who does not pay, if that advantage can be overstepped by a person who does not pay it is not pay to win. Everyone who says it is pay to win is simply making an excuse because they are bad and too proud to admit they need to improve.

a big NOOOOOOOO

The Answer is no, no need to watch.