Guild Wars 2

Come on. I’m not complaining the 500 gems because I myself already purchased ton of useful things in this game.
But this new Mask in trade post?? I don’t even remember what the name is..
500 gems is so horrible, for fact that it changes nothing on my charr toon aside of putting some random black speckles around it’s eyes.

Buy this often and we’ll be fed with more lazy arts~
Please anet. Make something that actually worth the price and looks lol

The party masks (also fairly horrible but more detailed) were 400 gems each…some face paint is now 500gems as is the new place holder price for helms.

It’s novelty. Don’t buy it if you don’t need it.

Vol.7601:

It’s novelty. Don’t buy it if you don’t need it.

lol of course i didn’t buy it XD
I just wanna state the reason behind why i don’t feel like buying it, and how it will be more reasonable to put better art for 500 (which is quite a price)

I assumed it was going to be exactly what the icon says. But nope. So not paying 500 for that. I didn’t even buy the other masks for 400. Also, the purpose of voicing displeasure about it is so that they know you’re not buying it and why, then do better. It’s better to not buy it and say ‘I don’t like it, so I’m not buying it for x reason’, rather than not actually buying it and them not knowing why.

Remember when the top hat and glasses were only 200? Now head/hat skins are 400-500?

darwin.2790:

Vol.7601:

It’s novelty. Don’t buy it if you don’t need it.

lol of course i didn’t buy it XD
I just wanna state the reason behind why i don’t feel like buying it, and how it will be more reasonable to put better art for 500 (which is quite a price)

You may not like it, but what of the person who bought two of them? If they felt it was worth paying 500 Gems each, then it’s reasonable.

The price of these single-piece armors has been ridiculous for quite a while. It was bad enough when the Toxic Shoulders and Gloves were 400 Gems. People complained about that as it is, and rightfully so considering a full armor set goes for 800 gems and you’re only getting a third of the armor pieces compared to the full set if you buy both. So then the next single armor pieces they come out with (the Grenth Hood and the Stag Helm) are even higher… I don’t really see the logic there. These are the same price as the Hood and Helm. I suppose its nice it didn’t go up again, but its still pretty silly.

I guess they must be selling well enough, though. If they weren’t selling then Anet would have to lower the price.

Here is my justification for the price.

This is one of the very few skins in game where you can actually wear your helmpiece while showing the rest of your head features. Hair, stubble, ears, e.t.c. The other two AFAIK are the Masks and the Monocle.

So if you are the type of player who likes to prance around in LA with full armor except for an exposed head, this is something for you.

500 gems for a fake tattoo, I’ll have to pass. But good luck to those who enjoy it.

Yea, this is one of many options on the gem store that has been particularly disappointing. I mean, it’s ANet’s loss since this is just another missed opportunity to get some of my extra $$$, but there’s no way I would drop gems on something like this.

The idea of buying tattoos for gems is fine with me but 1) this design is terribly bland and 2) charging 500 gems for something like this that couldn’t have taken more than 10 minutes to create for every race really puts a dent in ANet’s credibility.

So, yea, ANet is free to put whatever they want on the gemstore and if it’s a bad item it won’t get sold, but when there are blatantly overpriced, low quality items like this, it makes a serious blow to the game’s reputation.

Think how many of these they would’ve sold if they were 200 Gems each. A ton!

I use to have a boss who charged an arm and a leg for his product and his saying was “you can never spend other people’s money” as a justification for his prices. You know what, he is right. The market will support what the market will support, what you find ridiculously expensive may be the perfect finishing touch for someone else’s toon and not be expensive to them at all.

I don’t understand mini pets, what’s the point of having a stupid little grenth priest running around behind me if he cannot fight? But, I have a ton of them that are account bound and cannot be tossed into the forge. I cannot see why people spend 300 gems on a mini pet set when almost everyone can be bought with less than a gold on TP but again, I cannot spend someone else’s money so have at it.

People are willing to spend the equivalent of $600 US to get an Eternity or Twilight which has the same approximate stats as an ascended weapon which can be built for so much less but they spend the money.

Control your own funds, try not to speculate on whether something is worthwhile to you if someone else is buying it.

One last point, the market has seen inflation of about 50% since ascended weapons were released, did anyone not expect the BLTP to not follow suit? You gold is at least 50% weaker than it used to be. I sold a Zap in July for 405 gold and that was going price. Today, 750 gold is the lowest sale prices so gold has actually lost half its’ value.

IMO this is a new low point…

Hey guess what?

If you don’t like it then don’t buy it! So kitten simple. Just because you don’t think it’s worth the 500 gems doesn’t mean the person next to you does.

Too many kitten complainers in this community.

Cassocaster.4576:

One last point, the market has seen inflation of about 50% since ascended weapons were released, did anyone not expect the BLTP to not follow suit? You gold is at least 50% weaker than it used to be. I sold a Zap in July for 405 gold and that was going price. Today, 750 gold is the lowest sale prices so gold has actually lost half its’ value.

One thing that’s flawed with this paragraph. The mask can be bought for Gems. Now Gems can be bought with either money or gold conversion. Money as I know has not lost 50% of it’s value. Gold to Gem conversion in July (as to reference to date you’ve provided) was on average 3.5g per 100 Gems. Today it’s 7.5g for 100 Gems, so not only the gold value been lost, but also the prices doubled to what we used to pay in July. so in retrospect we end up paying 4 times what we did back in July.
Regardless, people are not complaining because something is expensive saying “Who would’ve buy that”, but because they want the said product, but the price is way past the justification line.
Understandable that some people will buy it regardless of the price, but at the same time I truly believe that if they made it half that price at roughly 250 Gems, their sales would quadrupled. Not only because it’s cheaper, but also people would support them for making things affordable, in answer to complains about last few skins. Especially since the item in question is quite good looking and would fit numerous amount of characters.

I find the gem price for this to be painfully out of balance with what it should be, and that worries me.

Fair enough Romo, you are right. REAL money hasn’t inflated by much more than 5% in that timeframe and the doubling of TP prices is truly indicative of the gold being worth half as much, not the direct gem purchase. I can still buy 1200 gems for $15 so I see your point. But, given that the gem to gold ratio has doubled (thanks for doing the research), ANet is actually losing out when people convert gems to gold because of the insane market (though I am sure they don’t complain when people are selling things). The natural reaction of any company is to raise prices when inflation hits, they are just doing it with gems in a virtual economy.

If people did not think this were worth it, they would not buy it.

But the fact that something as minor as the Monocle is currently selling for 280G shows the minute novelty pieces have buyers.

Cassocaster.4576:

Fair enough Romo, you are right. REAL money hasn’t inflated by much more than 5% in that timeframe and the doubling of TP prices is truly indicative of the gold being worth half as much, not the direct gem purchase. I can still buy 1200 gems for $15 so I see your point. But, given that the gem to gold ratio has doubled (thanks for doing the research), ANet is actually losing out when people convert gems to gold because of the insane market (though I am sure they don’t complain when people are selling things). The natural reaction of any company is to raise prices when inflation hits, they are just doing it with gems in a virtual economy.

That I have to agree with you on that perspective.
After doing some calculations, it comes down to roughly 37.5g for the mask, which looking at the current TP economy is quite attainable.
One will definitely be purchased by me because of the way my main character looks at the given moment. At the same time, if the price would be lower, I would definitely purchase multiple version of this mask for some of my many characters.

FYI – If they put in Housing or Guild Halls for 5k Gems, I’d plop down the money for it.

It’s all a matter of the individual. One person may think something is overpriced, while another person may think it’s cheap.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

FYI – If they put in Housing or Guild Halls for 5k Gems, I’d plop down the money for it.

It’s all a matter of the individual. One person may think something is overpriced, while another person may think it’s cheap.

I think though that one thing that we all can agree on, is that the Swim Booster cost is pathetic and an unnecessary item in game ;p

Vol.7601:

Here is my justification for the price.

This is one of the very few skins in game where you can actually wear your helmpiece while showing the rest of your head features. Hair, stubble, ears, e.t.c. The other two AFAIK are the Masks and the Monocle.

So if you are the type of player who likes to prance around in LA with full armor except for an exposed head, this is something for you.

Hah its why I rip off the Starter Necro Mask for my Clothies :-)

The ‘Face Paint’ is good for Medium/Heavy Armor as I dont think they have such options other then the festival Masks from the Halloween ‘Mad King Says’ option.

I don’t understand the whining, really.

Do you go to brand-named purse stores and complain that the effort/materials put into the purse is not worth the price tag?

Prices are ultimately dictated not by the amount of effort put in by the devs, but by demand from the player base. There will always be a subset of players who will be things at a price which is unimaginable to you.

Vol.7601:

Smooth Penguin.5294:

FYI – If they put in Housing or Guild Halls for 5k Gems, I’d plop down the money for it.

It’s all a matter of the individual. One person may think something is overpriced, while another person may think it’s cheap.

I think though that one thing that we all can agree on, is that the Swim Booster cost is pathetic and an unnecessary item in game ;p

Hold up Vol. We might actually need them when “Bubbles” surfaces.

I like it. So I bought it.
It’s a little bit overpriced in my opinion. And maybe I would have bought some more if the gems would have been around 200/ 250 each.
However, that way only one of 8 characters will enjoy this mask.

“Do you go to brand-named purse stores and complain that the effort/materials put into the purse is not worth the price tag?”

Google around a bit, yes people do.
I do not see the problem with those who dislike it and dislike the price of it to voice their opinion on the matter. A fair amount of us players who come to forums have been complaining for some time that the amount of work and effort put into some gem store items is lacking and yet prices continue to rise. 500 gems for a full armor set at launch, now you get a face tattoo for that.

People will buy it if they like it and can afford to, and so AN will continue to so. I wonder what and when the next price hike will be.

KOPPER.1458:

“Do you go to brand-named purse stores and complain that the effort/materials put into the purse is not worth the price tag?”

Google around a bit, yes people do.

Of course people do. It’s a stupid, pointless thing to do and it’s a display of inane selfishness as well as a lack of understanding of the factors which determine pricing.

You have a right to complain about prices, just as people have a right to complain about Prada and their insane pricing. I am going to point out to you that your complaints are meaningless and why effort of creation has little impact on desirability and pricing of said items.

Not to mention that some full armor skins go as low as 500 gems. So why the hell are one piece the same amount. it should be 1/6 the price.

flipyap.5789:

Not to mention that some full armor skins go as low as 500 gems. So why the hell are one piece the same amount. it should be 1/6 the price.

Just like how a bottle of water should cost 1/12th of a 12 pack of water bottles.

Right?

instead of a tattoo “cool tattoo” like a dragon head or sword hill or an orb what ever ! we get a spot ?
i call this item “a net’s spot”, the great spot, spot the fail. if you make it green it is like your character have the Ebola virus :>

Ursan.7846:

KOPPER.1458:

“Do you go to brand-named purse stores and complain that the effort/materials put into the purse is not worth the price tag?”

Google around a bit, yes people do.

Of course people do. It’s a stupid, pointless thing to do and it’s a display of inane selfishness as well as a lack of understanding of the factors which determine pricing.

You have a right to complain about prices, just as people have a right to complain about Prada and their insane pricing. I am going to point out to you that your complaints are meaningless and why effort of creation has little impact on desirability and pricing of said items.

Just as someone could point out that you complaining about people complaining about prices is just as meaningless, because people will continue to complain about prices.
Also, if enough people complain, they will lower prices. Just like when people complained about Flamekissed, they took it down.

500 gems for a little mark that isn’t visible with a majority of hairstyles? disgusting, how can you have the audacity to charge $7.50 or around 40g for such an item? first the flamekissed scandal now something stupid like this is really pushing the greed too far.

The game is designed to sap your wallet and your will to play. It’s a double edged sword my friend, and they are slicing deep this time.

I’ve been waiting for this mask ever since I saw it in the PvP locker. 500 gems seems fair to me.

Really things like this should be like 70 gems, not 500. This is just a stain on a face…

Quite bluntly I think anyone who spends money on any of these cosmetics (cheap or at a ridiculous price) that do nothing to enhance game play and abilities really need to have their heads examined.
But nothing I can do to enhance their IQ, so foolishy spend away and Anet thanks you for being ‘duh’.

It’s not an issue of “don’t buy it”, its an issue of “we don’t want gw2 to go out of business, please put good items in the gem store”.

I couldn’t care if my local jewellery store sells junk and goes out of business, but if my dad owned the store, I sure as heck would be telling him to sort it out and that’s the issue here.

Making money with the gem store should be fairly simple, but as it is we are seeing many items pulled from it and each of those took some development time and used up more time by sitting on the shelves unsold. None of that is good for the game.

Players have been quite clear on these forums as to what they need and what they wil pay, often pay well, for. Decent normal town clothes themed to the setting for one – look how popular the winter outfits were and still are. Complete items is another – I would have bought at least one of the shirts if the matching pants in their advertising picture actually existed, for example.

Face tattoos could be a great item and a big money spinner. They aren’t even hard to create as they are extremely simple in nature. Why isn’t it being done right and thus making the money for gw2 that it easily could?

OMG—see
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/bltc/500-gems-for-lazy-art/first#post3465100
and all those that buy remember
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/A+fool+and+his+money+are+soon+parted

darwin.2790:

Come on. I’m not complaining the 500 gems because I myself already purchased ton of useful things in this game.
But this new Mask in trade post?? I don’t even remember what the name is..
500 gems is so horrible, for fact that it changes nothing on my charr toon aside of putting some random black speckles around it’s eyes.

Buy this often and we’ll be fed with more lazy arts~
Please anet. Make something that actually worth the price and looks lol

yeah, $10 min gem purchase or 40 gold exchange for a smudge on your face. pathetic cosmetic offering that is probably a taste of what’s to come in 2014 for all the loyal fans. great way to thank and welcome us to a new year anet!

As a small side note, this is also pretty horrible for those of us that are into RP.

It’s a face tattoo, right? Or scar, or whatever you want to think of it as. But if you wear town clothes, it goes away…

Palador.2170:

As a small side note, this is also pretty horrible for those of us that are into RP.

It’s a face tattoo, right? Or scar, or whatever you want to think of it as. But if you wear town clothes, it goes away…

For me it looks like a make-up, just a painting around the eye. Like a tribal painting or whatever.

Arrelaine.5692:

Ursan.7846:

KOPPER.1458:

“Do you go to brand-named purse stores and complain that the effort/materials put into the purse is not worth the price tag?”

Google around a bit, yes people do.

Of course people do. It’s a stupid, pointless thing to do and it’s a display of inane selfishness as well as a lack of understanding of the factors which determine pricing.

You have a right to complain about prices, just as people have a right to complain about Prada and their insane pricing. I am going to point out to you that your complaints are meaningless and why effort of creation has little impact on desirability and pricing of said items.

Just as someone could point out that you complaining about people complaining about prices is just as meaningless, because people will continue to complain about prices.
Also, if enough people complain, they will lower prices. Just like when people complained about Flamekissed, they took it down.

Need to correct you on a couple of things:

1) People had a valid complaint about the Flamekissed armor.

2) People can complain all they want. But if they are in the minority, and the item sells, there’s no reason to revisit the base pricing.

Vol.7601:

Here is my justification for the price.

This is one of the very few skins in game where you can actually wear your helmpiece while showing the rest of your head features. Hair, stubble, ears, e.t.c. The other two AFAIK are the Masks and the Monocle.

So if you are the type of player who likes to prance around in LA with full armor except for an exposed head, this is something for you.

Just wanted to note this in case some people don’t know, and even if you know, Vol, there’s always someone else who doesn’t!

On the Hero screen, there’s little checkmark boxes next to your Helmet, Shoulders, Gloves and Backpiece equipment slots. By clicking those boxes you can toggle the appearance of those armour pieces on or off. As a result, you can have a character wearing full armour but with their head exposed and visible without needing to buy a mask or tattoo on the gem store.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Arrelaine.5692:

Ursan.7846:

KOPPER.1458:

“Do you go to brand-named purse stores and complain that the effort/materials put into the purse is not worth the price tag?”

Google around a bit, yes people do.

Of course people do. It’s a stupid, pointless thing to do and it’s a display of inane selfishness as well as a lack of understanding of the factors which determine pricing.

You have a right to complain about prices, just as people have a right to complain about Prada and their insane pricing. I am going to point out to you that your complaints are meaningless and why effort of creation has little impact on desirability and pricing of said items.

Just as someone could point out that you complaining about people complaining about prices is just as meaningless, because people will continue to complain about prices.
Also, if enough people complain, they will lower prices. Just like when people complained about Flamekissed, they took it down.

Need to correct you on a couple of things:

1) People had a valid complaint about the Flamekissed armor.

2) People can complain all they want. But if they are in the minority, and the item sells, there’s no reason to revisit the base pricing.

1) Just like people have a valid complaint that it’s being changed after they bought it.

2) Who says they’re in the minority? Quite a few people are posting they don’t like it. There are even more people who won’t buy it, and say nothing. Do you have graphs that show how many people are buying this? No, because that would only be available to an ANET employee.

500 gems for the face tattoo is quite expensive. If we say that a full suit of armor is 800 gems, then apparently the headpiece is over 60% of the value. Sorry but according to the prices for dungeon sets, it seems that the chest and legs are the most valuable followed by shoulders, feet, arms and head.
If you are asking for 800 gems, then the headpiece should be worth somewhere in the range of 100 gems. You could ask 200 for the chest and legs, and 100 for feet, shoulders, arms and head.
If they wanted to increase the cost of new armor sets to 1000 gems, then you could expect a value of 250 for chest and legs and 125 for shoulders, arms, feet and head.
If I’m off on any of the values, my apologies, I’m currently on a break at work so I can’t see the exact values. I’m approximating as best I can.

When I saw the 500 gem price for an eye mark, I literally asked myself “Seriously?”

“Novelty”…pf. ANet might as well make a bald head hairstyle and sell it on gem store for 1000 gems, and people would still rush to the gem store throwing their money at the screen reasoning “Overpriced? Ugly? No functional use? Who cares! IT’S NOVELTYYYY!!!!” It’s a reasoning any person can use to excuse an absurd price for any item, no matter how unbelievably simple, bland or uncreative, as long as it’s a limited time item. A practice that doesn’t generally sit well with most consumers.

People can use their money any way they want, but I’m personally against ANet’s preposterous listing of a eye tat valued at 500 gems. The Toxic Gauntlets and pauldrons (~400-600 gems? I forget) were a bit more reasonably valued due to special effects, but a bland eye tattoo which one has a choice among tens of other FREE tattoos that ANet provides during character creation/makeover? Come on.

To a professional graphic artist this “mask” takes 10 minutes to make. Maximum (to make sure it fits all races and genders). 500 gems is ridiculous.

Romo.3709:

Think how many of these they would’ve sold if they were 200 Gems each. A ton!

Nah, they still need to tack on “This is pullable like the Zenith and Radiant/Hellfire skins as many times as you like for all characters on your account” before I think they’d sell “a ton”.

I like it. I’d buy it. But I can’t justify spending 500 gems on it. But I still keep going back to it, trying to figure out why it’s so special that it’s so expensive.

The price is pretty steep plus considering it’s a facepaint I thought I’d be more suitable as a new exclusive total makeover kit addition that was available across all races. If one for the added bonus of seeing it under helms rather than replacing them altogether, plus the price would be more reasonable.