This past weekend, thousands of players entered Tyria to experience glorious combat, grand adventures and maybe just a little crafting. Or in my case, a lot of crafting. It seems I was not alone. After the dust settled on the weekend, maybe players took to the Guild Wars 2 Beta Forums to discuss crafting, and a few expressed concern over the XP gains of crafting, some calling it the dreaded “Pay-to-Win”. In response, Linsey Murdock of ArenaNet replied to forums with this:

While some fear this is a bad thing, many others point out that the amount of money, in-game and, if one chose to use gems, real world, would be substantial to accomplish this goal. Many also point out that this is not a game based on levels and gear, as much as it is experience. Crafting simply adds another dimension to the game, just as the trading post, jumping puzzles, dungeons and quaggan do.

So, breakout your pickaxes and find those nodes, because if you love crafting, this is the game for you. And if you’re not into crafting? Well, this game is for you too; just ignore those silver mines and keep on conquering.