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“I heard rumours of ingame consumables in shop such as +20% exp, +10% karma, +def items and many other things. The GW2 shop looks more like a F2P game. I'm a bit disappointed, because I thought that there'll be only costumes, dyes and character slots. I didn't read the whole topic may be somebody already said it.”
While it hasn’t been confirmed that these leaks were correct or incorrect, there was still some follow-up discussion over what kinds of items really constitute “pay-to-win”. I haven’t played a lot of MMOs, and many of those I’ve never stuck around long enough to check out their cash-shops. Guild Wars was the first time I experienced this “phenomenon”. I’m well aware Guild Wars isn’t a true MMO, but a CORPG, a Cooperative Role-Playing Game. With that disclaimer out of the way, anyone who has played the game and at least looked at the in-game shop or the NCSoft online store can see that everything for sale is some sort of cosmetic item or account add-on (character slots, expansions, etc.) that give no player any advantage over another. The only things that have any kind of effect on gameplay are all PvP skill bundles that can only be used by heroes and PvP characters. Since the amount of information we have on Guild War 2’s cash shop is limited, general, and a bit dated, we can only make general speculation based off what ArenaNet has said. Without further ado, I’ll provide some of my thoughts on items that are commonly seen in other MMOs that directly affect combat and how they might work in Guild Wars 2 without causing too much of an uproar in the process. It is also important to remember that this IS speculation and only based off of my similar experiences in other games.• Experience Boosters: These lovelies are usually found as consumable items in most games if they’re not already being granted by an NPC or some sort of in-game event. Some of you may even recall that the original Guild Wars had special +exp events and also purchasable +exp Scrolls from merchants in towns but also in mob loot tables. Since most players didn't have a problem with this system the first and most obvious thing that can be done to make items like these acceptable in a cash-shop is to provide a way to earn them in-game. A little love to the money-hoarding college student is always appreciated. The next thing that can be done is limit its usage in any place that may give the player an advantage. In this case, there is no real reason to. Since ArenaNet has built its PvE to be inherently cooperative rather than competitive, there’s not much of a reason to race to level 80 all by yourself. Remember, the endgame starts at level 1, and whenever you return to lower level areas, your stats are scaled down to the appropriate level. With WvW I couldn’t see it being much of a problem. Our characters are already leveling from combat with other players. With competitive PvP your character is automatically bumped up to level 80 so the use of an +exp Booster would be nothing short of a waste.
• Damage/Defense Boosters: Unlike an experience booster, damage and defense boosters would have a direct effect on the outcome of combat. However, like the exp. boosters, the same rules apply when considering implementation. In PvE, these items would lessen the amount of “oh sh*t!” encounters in combat. On the other hand, if you can apply buffs to a character left and right that doesn’t help teach people how to play the game carefully/strategically when they’re juiced up on boon steroids, especially when much of the PvE content can be soloed or completed with a handful of players. Add on top the fact that there are attack and defense boons that can be granted through your own skills or accomplishments in the world, and suddenly you're steamrolling through all of the, what was supposed to be, challenging content. With WvW, for those who aren’t already aware, players are already rewarded certain buffs and boons for accomplishing various events in each zone. These power-ups are applied to everyone on that server, while the other two servers can achieve the same rewards as well. In spite of the negatives, something like this might prove useful for “bumped” lower level characters that end up squaring-off with naturally higher-level characters. Lastly there’s PvP, for which my only response is a big “no”. Competitive PvP’s main purpose is to display player’s battle prowess in its purest form, not who can afford the best power-ups.
• Karma Boosters: Despite the name’s uniqueness to Guild Wars 2, karma can be likened to things like “renown”, “faction”, and “morale”. These things are usually tied to PvE through allegiances to certain groups or to reward good deeds done in which physical items and regular currency aren’t the only rewards. Karma can also be earned in WvW. This allows WvW players the chance to acquire gear and other items through other means in addition to metal currency and loot drops. Karma boosters wouldn't be a problem in these two areas of the game solely due to its untradeable nature. Structured PvP is a different story. Since it's pretty much an unspoken rule that offering purchasable buffs that improve a character's overall performance in competitive areas of a game is the Eighth Deadly Sin, any sort of karma booster should not be allowed in PvP. Fortunately, that is all a moot point since players don't earn karma currency from Structured PvP as it is now.
I suppose this is when I get to the punch-line. It's possible ArenaNet will provide items that exist solely to further a player's achievements at a faster rate. It’s of my opinion however that Guild Wars 2 already provides enough opportunities in-game that these items technically shouldn't even have to exist, but, for the sake of speculation, as long as these items do not hinder the advancement and success of other players who do not have them then I see no reason why they couldn’t be sold in a cash-shop (as long as there are earnable alternatives in-game). If these requirements are met, players should be allowed to decide what they want to do with their money, and ArenaNet should be allowed to make a profit from their cash-shop without compromising their overall stance on cash-shop items. I think we can all still agree that selling things like weapons and armor with higher stats are and forever will be off-limits, but between those intolerables and cosmetic items there is a gray area, a liminal space that deserves review by both players and developers so that it can explored in a both profitable and fair manner. (comments)We're looking for writers within the Guild Wars 2 Guru community that would like to write editorials focusing on Guild Wars 2-related topics. There's so much great written content generated here on the forum, there must be a few of you wanting to put your thoughts in article form! We plan on featuring select articles on the homepage and letting the community discuss your ideas as well. If you have any topics you would like to write about please contact Roun Lyriel. We look forward to sharing your thoughts and commentary with the community.
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