'Guild Wars 2: Hearts of Thorn' release date set, game now free-to-play
Exciting news for all "Guild Wars 2" gamers. Developer AreaNet has recently announced at the PAX Prime event in Seattle that their massively multiplayer online role-playing game is going to be available for free now. They are also in the process of launching their latest expansion pack, "Heart of Thorns," which has been scheduled to be available to fans on Oct. 23.
However, according to Inquisitr, the upcoming expansion pack will come with a price that is yet to be announced. But it will all be worth it especially since the expansion for the fantasy role-playing game will include a new system for raids as well as all-new content that will truly keep the gamers engaged with the whole game. Raids will be 10-player instanced challenges that will entail players to uphold teamwork in order to win over powerful, endgame leaders.
AreaNet president Mike O'Brien divulged in an interview with Game Spot the driving factors for the decision to make the base game free. He said, "We are getting ready to launch our first expansion 'Heart of Thorns' later this year, and so we're at a time when we have a lot of new players coming into the game. And it's a great time for new players to come into the game."
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He also assured the fans that the changes of the game will not let players go through a rush of micro-transactions. They only aim to encourage those who are interested with the game to buy the "Heart of Thorns" expansion of "Guild Wars 2."
"If people are expecting we're going to go in and heavily monetize free players now, that's not what this is about," O'Brien stated.
But even though the game is now free, AreaNet still made sure that free accounts will not have the potential to abuse the game or its current players. They want to avoid "botting, cheating, spamming or RMT" which is why free accounts will have some restrictions to it, as written in "Guild Wars" official website.
Some of the restrictions include less character slots only, limited chat and economy, and prohibition of skipping ahead to places where they could be causing disruption.
To experience the world of "Guild Wars" for free, interested gamers can just head over to guildwars2.com, download the game, and start playing.
