ArenaNet co-founder and president Mike O’Brien and Guild Wars 2 game director Colin Johanson presented to hundreds of fans at a packed theater in Seattle and many more tuning into the livestream from around the world. O’Brien revealed details about how the core version of Guild Wars 2 is now available to play for free starting today. The transition to free comes nearly three years to the day after the game launched to widespread acclaim, garnering a 90 percent Metacritic rating and multiple game of the year of the year awards, and selling more than five million units to-date. Johanson delivered news aimed at the game’s current player base, highlighting how Heart of Thorns will introduce raids as an all-new form of challenging group content for skilled players and a key part of the studio’s strategy for content updates after the expansion launches. ArenaNet kicked off the presentation with a video trailer confirming that Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns will ship in North America and Europe on October 23 of this year.
As far as I've seen, the limitations on the free accounts are as follows:
- 2 character slots (5 with paid account)
- 3 bag slots (5 with paid account)
- Send in-game mail to friends only, no attachments allowed
- Can send whispers to different people in the same zone only once every 30 seconds
- Restricted Trading Post (player-to-player auction house)
- No access to the Guild bank
- No bonus for daily logins
- No conversions of Gold to Gems
- No forum access
- And more...
Also announced today were the inclusion of 10-player Raids for Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns. The expansion, due out on October 23 will task a team with tackling challenging puzzles, enemies, and bosses. The first raid will be released in three parts shortly after the release of Heart of Thorns. ArenaNet feels that this staggered rollout will give players enough time to learn new Masteries and skills ahead of time.
ArenaNet’s take on raids will be distinctly Guild Wars 2, factoring in the action-based combat system in the game to replace UI-gazing with active strategies such as weapon and ability changes on the fly in combat, skill combos, dodge rolling, positioning for attacks, and the ability to heal for every class. They don’t rely on the conventional tank, healer and damage dealer ‘trinity’ to take on challenges. Instead, all players in a group will need to step up and support, control and do damage in encounters in order for the group to succeed. Also true to form for fans of the game, raids in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns will deliver epic encounters and massive boss fights, providing enduring challenges for players to overcome, replay, and refine as they pursue legendary rewards.
Check out some screenshots for the new Raids below.
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I still wish there was a toggle for showing items instead of having to hold control down all the time, and the crafting system is a pain since so much of it involves making recipes yourself. The auction house can get a little glitchy too with people requesting stuff at a price cheaper than it can even be listed for, which messes up price matching when you go to post something for sale.
It's a good game to go back to every now and then but I don't play it consistently considering other games that demand my time. =P