I could have swore I just saw someone make a thread exactly like this not long ago.

But to answer you question, and expansion is an expansion. It adds to the game, meaning you need to buy the game first, then buy the expansion. At least it'll be that way at first.

Later on, in a year or less they may have FFXIV:ARR + Heavensward as a bundle that comes with the expansion, but I don't think they will right from the start.

Though to be honest I don't see why having that as an option could be a bad thing, so who knows. Maybe they will make a bundle with the two, but it'll likely be just digital only if they did. Too much effort goes into making physical bundles.

Considering they are giving this expansion it's own Collector's Edition physical package, I don't see them doing any physical bundles with ARR just yet.

Both Physical and Digital expansions are just the expansion. You can't play the game if all you have is just the expansion. So yeah, you need to buy FFXIV:ARR, and then buy Heavensward (or buy them both together, doesn't matter).

Basically, Heavensward will not work by itself. It's not some kind of stand-alone game. It just adds a huge amount of new content to the already existing game.

Don't worry about telling your friends they have to buy the game twice, that's not true. But if they don't already have the game (FFXIV:ARR) they will have to buy that and the expansion.

They won't really have to dole out that much money on either if all they want to do is play the game. The only reason to buy the CE's is if you really just want those extra digital items. The items themselves don't really have a huge impact on anything and some only have a really limited use, so it truly isn't anything that important.

If you are playing with a PC Steam sells the game for $24.99. I checked Gamestop and they list the PS4 version at $39.99, but I am sure you can find it cheaper elsewhere if you shop around.

We don't know the price points for the expansion "Heavensward" just yet (or do we?) but I honestly don't expect the plain, non-CE version to cost more than $19.99-$29.99. If it is more than that I would be highly disappointed.