On August 29, Guild Wars 2, the MMO-RPG produced by ArenaNet started adopting a new business model. As their first expansion “Heart of Thorns” is scheduled to launch on October 23, they are going to offer the core game for free for new players.

Let me elaborate here. Guild Wars 2 launched three years ago and introduced a simple, buy-to-play model with micro-transactions for your cosmetic needs. This meant that once you bought the game, you were allowed to play with no restrictions and no monthly fees.

Now, claiming that this model was hugely satisfying for both the developers and the community alike, they want to continue on this model with the launch of their first expansion, except that they are willing to offer the “vanilla” experience for free, with a minimum set of restrictions of course. They believe that this is the best way for veteran players to get their friends into the game, and other, new players that have always wanted to give the game a try. Mentioning that some other MMOs’ business models force new players to buy previous expansion releases and the current release just to enjoy not much of everything is simply not a good way to do it.

What this means is that you and me can jump in on this beautiful fantasy realm of Tyria for free, enjoy as much content as possible and then later decide if we want to unlock the new expansion features, we simply buy the game once and enjoy the full experience for as long as the servers hold. Keep in mind that by full experience this means the additions that the expansion brings, and the removal of a few restrictions imposed on the free accounts that help prevent evil-doers’ activities.

The game has 5 races and 9 professions, this being their way of naming classes, and the expansion will be adding a new profession. Professions have quite interesting play mechanics, as the skills or spells you will be using will change depending on the weapon you have equipped. Which is quite unique and interesting as I am often faced with not choosing a weapon based on its DPS, but by what spells I want to use at a certain situation. Let us not forget that there is a dodging ability which lets you avoid attacks, and should you fail miserably and be defeated by monsters, you still get the chance to fight for your life while being down on the ground, as you get a few offensive abilities and a healing one to keep you going until you get help.

They have also created a vast, beautiful world ripe for exploring, with certain hubs where you complete tasks in order to get that sweet XP, gold and karma points to use in exchange for better equipment. You can also get involved in dynamic events happening all around the place and being rewarded based on your contributions, and let us not forget about the instanced. Starting at level 10, you get to experience your character’s personal story, an instanced arc that is defined by your character’s biography, which you establish at its creation, and by some decisions you make in the game during certain gameplay moments. Friends can also help you on your personal story, but it is still up to you to take the lead and make the decisions upon which the story is based.

Also worth mentioning is the high probability of you running into absolute wonderful people that will help you and stick with you for a good time, enjoying the awesome and diverse world that the game provides. It is a known fact that Guild Wars 2 has one of the most amazing and friendly communities out there, and it shows. Some of this is also possible due to some game mechanics that allow high-level players to scale down their heroes depending on the group’s average level and zone where they are playing.

The restrictions imposed on free accounts are, of course, related to mitigating the possibility of the game being flooded with scam/bots/gold-farming accounts. Therefore your bag space will be limited, your character slots will be limited to 2 out of 5, and some trading and chatting limits apply in order to prevent spamming and sellers. So far this has not been a nuisance. The game offers plenty of things to keep you entertained and all you have to do is sit back and start enjoying it. I highly recommend befriending people as early as possible and make a friends’ group cause that usually spikes the enjoyment of the game, especially in the tedious jumping puzzles – oh yeah, these babies will make your space bar hate you, but the fat treasures at the end are well worth it.