Possibly returning

[Askip]

Welcome back!

I would at least give it a shot, there is plenty of action and interaction if that is what you want.

If F2P gets access to the official forum, check out the Cities/Towns folders. There is also the Town Crier https://gswiki.play.net/Category:TownCrier and Discord channels.

It all depends on what you want from the game.

Good luck and have fun,
Askip

[gemstonefella]

I would recommend rolling up a F2P character and getting it to about level 20 and then subscribing at the basic account level if you can find the motivation to pay for the game at that point. At best, the game is worth $14.95 a month minus whatever silver / items you can sell to supplement the cost.


Why would he roll up a FTP character when he has a code for 2 free months?

[Hightower]

If the last time you played was after Lich became a thing, then likely not much will have changed as far as pervasiveness of scripting goes.

As others have mentioned, monetization has changed. There's a cash shop with various perks and more pay events than before on top of the usual subscription fee. But it's still difficult to call GS pay-to-win because, strictly speaking, you don't really "win" anything. Further, the price of high end gear typically doesn't reflect the additional benefit it provides so much as the impact of the various methods employed to control supply (e.g. restrictions upon enchants above 7x, arbitrary pricing for certs from the HESS, etc.). Don't get me wrong. There are some whales out there who have made themselves practically invincible with their expensive gear. But average Joe with treasure system drops, crafted and player-serviced gear can still kill all of the same stuff without spending a dime beyond the subscription fee.

As far as the community goes, I'd say it's in pretty good shape. It's difficult to tell if the population has truly grown, since F2P and alts make it appear larger than it probably is in terms of active, long-term player population. But going by number of simultaneous players at peak hours, the game has actually grown over the past few years and seems pretty stable.

Roleplaying and general player interaction really hasn't changed much as far as the players go, but it seems like there are pretty constant RP events going on at any given time somewhere in the world if you're into that. And lots of players are willing to interact if you get the ball rolling, in my experience. But yes, you'll still see plenty of players who keep to themselves and might be running a script.

I'd give it a go if I were you. I recently returned for the 3 months of free premium over the summer. It just ended, but I paid for another month. I'm sure I'll get bored or frustrated with something sooner or later and find another game to play for awhile. But I always end up coming back eventually. I think a lot of players are like that.

~Taverkin

[GSIV Rogue]

I feel like this is a bit inaccurate and your other statement about paying an army of 100s for spell ups is even more inaccurate.

You don’t have to pay to win in GS. You can even participate in the paid events by buying in with silvers where you usually come out ahead. I bought books from players last DR and didn’t spend a dime when it came to real money.

I would give the free trial they are offering to returning players. Not much to lose and can always cancel before it is up. Not quite sure why you would need a f2p if you have a free trial offer.

I'm happy we can celebrate a difference of opinion - and I'm glad you are enjoying your time in the lands.

I've also found motivation to continue playing.

I'm not quite sure what you're referring to when you say that any statements I made about Dreaven & Co. are inaccurate - however - to each their own.

@F2P - I believe the F2P experience made me a more creative and effective Gemstone player, and would highly recommend it to anyone - especially those returning from a long absence. Quite frankly, I would recommend F2P in addition to a trial premium account - just to compare and contrast the differences, and give persons a more accurate overall picture of GSIV 2019.

[audioserf]

The great thing about GS is you can do whatever you want. If you want to play like it's 2001 you can. You don't have to use Lich, attend Dreavenings, whatever. The game is what you want it to be. You lose nothing by trying it out for a couple of months on a free promo. Lich doesn't mean you have to go full automated afk scripting, either - just having access to go2 and Lnet (you can ;untune Lnet and just use the Prime/Help/Merchant/TownCrier/whatever channels if you aren't feeling the Lnet vibe) alone are well worth setting Lich up in my opinion.

[Murrandii]

Game is different from gs3 cause time has passed and people have changed too.

No longer big crowds at the small park where a thief stealing someone was a player based event and sometimes it brought up some nice interactions.

People in gs4 now are like people in 2019: opportunities are: fast food fast reward events and they're more often than not, now, related with GMs being ingame and playing this or that NPC. Welcome RPAs!

Of course, you have the purist but they're rare.

To enjoy this game in 2019, you need to stop looking at it with your 2003's glasses.

[Mobius1]

Mechanically speaking, the game is light years beyond what GS3 was. There are so many new systems that have improved the game, that it is certainly a better experience in most ways.

As was said, the pay 2 win issue is certainly upsetting to some, myself included, but in the end, if you play for the RP, then that stuff doesn't really matter anyways, and you should have a good time.

What class do you play as?

[GSIV Rogue]

I think that this is a great thread - it's interesting to hear everyone's perspective.

I've always enjoyed the roll-playing aspect of GS.

I agree with some of what all the last 3 posters have said:

The great thing about GS is that you can do whatever you want.

GSIV 2019 and the people therein have changed and are indicative of the overall times. You have to look at GSIV as it is today in order to enjoy the game.

GSIV is lightyears ahead of GSIII in terms of mechanics (the changes are too many to list).

From a roll-playing / mechanics mastery standpoint I enjoyed the following about GSIII vs GSIV:

- Less forgiving and more rewarding for min-maxers (No fixstats, fixskills, etc.)
- No level cap
- If you can cap a character in GSIV the game just gets easier - since you can hunt the same creatures over and over again getting the same amount of experience and pick up more skills as you go with the added ability/option to fixstat / fixskill your character.

From my observation, the game has always been set up to incentivize players to spend cash to make things easier on themselves - and less inclusive and more difficult for those who don't. For me, this is what *all* of the changes made over the course of the last 20+ years boil down to. In this way, I feel that GSIV is more challenging than GSIII and is what I personally enjoy about it.

I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has rolled up a character on just a basic account and leveled it from 0-100 in GSIV on their own merits without spending more than $14.95 per month for a basic subscription. This is the challenge I've given myself and would really like to hear from anyone else who is doing / has done the same.

[Vishnell]

I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has rolled up a character on just a basic account and leveled it from 0-100 in GSIV on their own merits without spending more than $14.95 per month for a basic subscription. This is the challenge I've given myself and would really like to hear from anyone else who is doing / has done the same.

Guilty! I've never had a premium account, only basic since 1997 since it went to the web. I took a lot of breaks, life happens: 1998-2003, 2005-2013, and 2015-2017. Gemstone always calls back. Main has always been a sorcerer (alt on same account was an empath i barely play). When i came back in Dec 2017, i was determine to CAP finally. I was level 50 at the time. I finally capped last month! I only play enough to gain 200k exp/month, so it took a bit.

I never felt that i was missing out being a standard account. As a sorc, i always had silvers coming in with ensorcelling, and was able to afford pretty good gear. I never had an issue with hunting, was always able to hunt self spelled or with easy to find scrolls i charged up. I can't justify $40 per month for what i would get for it.

Sent from my LG-G710 using Tapatalk

[GSIV Rogue]

Guilty! I've never had a premium account, only basic since 1997 since it went to the web. I took a lot of breaks, life happens: 1998-2003, 2005-2013, and 2015-2017. Gemstone always calls back. Main has always been a sorcerer (alt on same account was an empath i barely play). When i came back in Dec 2017, i was determine to CAP finally. I was level 50 at the time. I finally capped last month! I only play enough to gain 200k exp/month, so it took a bit.

I never felt that i was missing out being a standard account. As a sorc, i always had silvers coming in with ensorcelling, and was able to afford pretty good gear. I never had an issue with hunting, was always able to hunt self spelled or with easy to find scrolls i charged up. I can't justify $40 per month for what i would get for it.

Sent from my LG-G710 using Tapatalk

Congrats on capping your sorc! What's your character's name?

Is there anyone out there who's been able to cap a character only playing during GSIV in this way? (basic $14.95 account, no other cash spent on game, etc.)