As per
EP of GW2:
In Guild Wars 2 we have three currencies: gold, karma, and gems. Gold is the common in-game currency. Karma, which players earn in-game but cannot trade, is used for unique rewards. And gems are the currency thats bought and used to purchase microtransactions.
We have a new player-driven market that allows players to trade gold for gems and gems for gold. If you want something, whether its an in-game item or a microtransaction, you ultimately have two ways to get it: you can play to earn gold or you can use money to buy gems. We think thats important, because it lets more players participate on a level playing field, whether they use their free time or their disposable income to do it.
MMO veterans will note the similarities of our system to EVE Onlines PLEX system. As in that case, our system takes gold trading out of the hands of real-money trading (RMT) companies and puts it directly in the hands of players.
Replace "gold" with "energy credits", "karma" with "gold-pressed latinum" and "gems" with "dilithium", and you can eerily replace "Guild Wars 2" with "Star Trek Online".
Naturally, the
initial reactions from the community have been mixed.
I for one have been looking greatly forward to GW2 after being a longtime player of GW1, and I this announcement has not changed my outlook. I am interested how if the ArenaNet / NCsoft version will differ from what we have from Cryptic / PWE (if at all).
Comments
It will differ in that their "GPL" will most likely grant players access to actual functional game items instead of useless trophies and holoemitters
Their karma sounds more like the Boff/Doff skill pool.
And it´s actually relieving to see they have copied one of the better "F2P" systems. What EVE and STO suffer from most is that their systems got added quite a while after the economy developed. Bringing all the inflation problems.
We´ll see how this pans out when it´s implemented right from the start. The commitment to shun Pay4Win (unlike STO
That being said, gear will still play a role in player effectiveness and thus be coveted to some extent to the typical player segments (min/maxers, money>time, etc.). We still have to see what gear will be made available for gold/gems via vendors, but perhaps this is where taking a(nother) page (ideally only the idea not the execution) from STO in regards to the high-end gear put behind a grind wall (namely STFs or crafting to a lesser extent) with its own pseudo-currency to represent accumulation towards the gear is what AN could do to avoid the P2W stigma. Perhaps karma (assuming it will still be acquired through general/all gameplay, but it now (more) for "unique rewards") ends up being the currency used to obtain the better (non-tradable) gear. So:
gold = EC
karma = hybrid STF salvage/tech + GPL + Defera tech (and possibly still used to impact a character's personality)?
gem = refined dilithium (integrated with dilithium ore and CPs)
Curious and curiouser...
Guess this means no money for STO in April from some folks unless they do really good sales.
Besides ... it is not Star Trek
You know what I mean
As for Elves maybe the Sylvari are elves of sorts
Which is actually a weakness, since there is no way to gate how much gold people gain in a day. On the other hand, they are starting out fresh, so they don't have the problem of pre-existing inflation that Cryptic had.
Initially markets will be strange as people try to sell gems for gold, as people wont actually have much gold at all until they get established. The system should work as they control how much people get from drops etc and all gems have been bought so doesnt matter how much they sell for.
They came very late in the game, well after the final expansion came out.
No Pay 2 Win like STO has now become!
It is going to be vanity items only and so called account services. So probably adding character slots etc.
To be fair, Cryptic said mostly the same thing a long time ago.... among other things.
Still, Guild Wars was my first online game so I have to check this out as well.