Guild Wars 2

Because people are saps for gambling. People will want these skins, and won’t let loosing a lot of money stand in the way. As long as people do this, expect to see more of it…

Zorby.8236:

Because people are saps for gambling. People will want these skins, and won’t let loosing a lot of money stand in the way. As long as people do this, expect to see more of it…

I understand the concept of the casino. How would this concept work for a store that would sell durable goods like clothing and electronics?

Can’t compare it to real world. I hate it too, but this is the reality.

they sell lottery tickets in shops too but noone forces you to buy them.

Given the direction the game has gone, I’m not surprised that the only worthwhile skins/pets available in the gem store have been a lottery! Ah, how the Mighty has fallen from respectable to despicable…oh well. I’m sure a few more rose-colored glasses will be falling off of the Anet cult followers with this one…sigh.

Calae.1738:

Zorby.8236:

Because people are saps for gambling. People will want these skins, and won’t let loosing a lot of money stand in the way. As long as people do this, expect to see more of it…

I understand the concept of the casino. How would this concept work for a store that would sell durable goods like clothing and electronics?

They can make more money with this, and it also limits supply in game and enhances exclusivity. Players like exclusivity.

Cant recall did it say soulbound or accountbound in the skins. either way I will bet a lot of trident skins and spear skins will start to fill ppl banks.

funkymoped.9856:

they sell lottery tickets in shops too but noone forces you to buy them.

A weapon skin is hardly a lottery. It’s a durable good like clothing.

Would you go shopping for clothes at a store that kept your money if you were unlucky with the dice roll?

Ruprect.7260:

Cant recall did it say soulbound or accountbound in the skins. either way I will bet a lot of trident skins and spear skins will start to fill ppl banks.

Account bound. And you get a coupon that you can trade in for the weapon you want, the only RNG is getting the coupon, not in which weapon you get.

John Smith.4610:

A durable good is a good that isn’t destroyed on use, Weapon Skins are closer to luxury goods I believe.

But what’s the reasoning for not allowing them to be sold on the TP? Some people are willing to pay a premium for certainty, and prices on the TP will naturally adjust itself to supply (rarity) and demand (desirability of certain weapons).

I would sacrifice gold to the TP taxes to acquire Fused weapon skins, I would spend gems in the gem store if they were listed like Wintersday weapons, but I will not purchase keys for an RNG chance to acquire them. If I am spending my money on something, I’ll spend it on something I know I am getting.

I’m with you Dusk. I would buy them myself if we could just purchase them directly, but given that it’s a gamble where we don’t even know the odds, no thanks. I like the dagger skin, but not enough to flush potentially $20, $50, $100+ or all my gold just because RNG decides to hate me. And before you say “$100?”, keep in mind I saw someone who didn’t get 1 token after 50 keys. So yes, it’s possible.

I just wish as well that they would have stuck with how they handled the premium weapon skins during the Wintersday event, where we could buy them outright.

Shame on me for briefly getting excited about those cool new weapon skins before realizing that once again they’re only available in Gamble Boxes. Putting things like that in the boxes instead of just letting us outright buy them is highly unpopular. Why does ArenaNet keep doing this?

I regularly buy items from the gem store if I can just freaking buy them instead of wasting my money on a chance of getting them. PLEASE stop using the Gamble Boxes for things like this!

As few of us as there are that say “we won’t spend money for a miniscule chance at something”…..I feel there are a FAR greater number of people that will.

This is what ArenaNet is counting on when putting these new skins that are highly desirable into something that can only be opened with something that requires a Gem purchase….although you can get a few keys here and there just by playing.

Buying anything from the Gem Store helps in one of two ways. It either removes gold from the economy from those converting gold to Gems…..or it puts money in Anet’s pockets from those that buy Gems with real money. Either way….it’s a win/win for them.

Charismatic Harm.9683:

As few of us as there are that say “we won’t spend money for a miniscule chance at something”…..I feel there are a FAR greater number of people that will.

This is what ArenaNet is counting on when putting these new skins that are highly desirable into something that can only be opened with something that requires a Gem purchase….although you can get a few keys here and there just by playing.

Buying anything from the Gem Store helps in one of two ways. It either removes gold from the economy from those converting gold to Gems…..or it puts money in Anet’s pockets from those that buy Gems with real money. Either way….it’s a win/win for them.

Pretty much. They seem fond of shafting anyone that doesn’t play Gold Wars 2 on the Trading Post and/or has a disposable income.

Your understanding of the word “shafting” is very different from mine…

Ah, sorry. Let me rephrase that for you then. “They seem fond of putting things out of reach for people that actually play the game.” Better?
Edit: Oh right, forgot the part about extreme luck too.

Sanarian.9614:

Pretty much. They seem fond of shafting anyone that doesn’t play Gold Wars 2 on the Trading Post and/or has a disposable income.

Just to be clear……

I do play on the Trading Post and have gathered, what I consider to be, a healthy sum of money. I also have disposable income that I could spend on GW2.

I don’t see anything wrong with putting these items in the chest though. What I have issue with is the people that buy keys month after month, then complain they didn’t get what they wanted…..especially when the update notes the last 2 times there were desirable items in the chest stated there was a rare chance of getting one.

Fool me once (but they didn’t because I didn’t buy any keys), shame on you. Fool me twice….shame on me.

I feel no sympathy toward players that continue to DUMP Gems / Gold / Real Money into buying BL Keys to open chests for such a small chance of getting something “worthwhile”.

There’s nothing wrong with opening them every now and then with the hopes of getting lucky….but don’t count on it.

I buy lottery tickets every time I fill up my car with gas….but I don’t go into the gas station and complain that they sold me a losing ticket last time.

You seem to have the impression that I’m actually buying these chests. I don’t. Supporting the next big thing after Nexon isn’t exactly high up on my list of things to do; I’m simply saying, we don’t earn new things for cosmetic value—the only thing to pursue after gearing up in your exotics/ascended gear—by playing the game. We earn it by gambling with gems.

Not exactly my idea of a ‘fun’. No, rather, I’d like another item like Fractal Weapons—where it’s earned, not bought.

John Smith.4610:

A durable good is a good that isn’t destroyed on use, Weapon Skins are closer to luxury goods I believe.

Too bad most people don’t understand the concept of escalation of commitment. A fool and his money are soon parted indeed.

Calae.1738:

John Smith.4610:

A durable good is a good that isn’t destroyed on use, Weapon Skins are closer to luxury goods I believe.

Too bad most people don’t understand the concept of escalation of commitment. A fool and his money are soon parted indeed.

I just looked that up.

Ouch. It describes my history with this game so well.

Now, about that future…

Im just gonna say it … Areanet wants money and are using rng to get it. I think it bad practice to use rng as only way to get items (new skins , precursors) because that just makes it impossible for some and way to easy for others. They should always have a set price in mind, and make a way to obtain the item at that price in one way or another. Then give option to rng for it if you wish to try to save money. I feel like areanet is the next EA and and we all know how “good” EA is since they have been trying to make micro transactions in everything that they touch(not againest micro transactions, but they should never be RNG only makes the company look money hungry). Just my 2 cents do not care if you disagree or flame me for it.

P.S. I wont even start on the mass ban/unbanning they did and allowed all the cheaters to keep there exploited profits which is prolly 90% of the reason prices are high on highly demanded items.

Using RNG+Gambling in your practice is pretty shady, but it’s a business. I do not blame them for using their player base psyche against them, I would do the same.

Calae.1738:

I understand the concept of the casino. How would this concept work for a store that would sell durable goods like clothing and electronics?

This is akin to those promotions you see in the mall sometimes where you buy a pair of sneakers or something and get your name put into a random draw to see if you win a shiny new car.

You basically bought a couple of boosts, a gathering tool, a salvage kit, and maybe a mystic potion (random assortment of each) while basically putting your name in for a chance to win that new car.

This is pretty much the same exact system they had at Halloween, except that you no longer have the option to sell the skin, but in exchange you’re able to choose exactly which skin you want.

Calae.1738:

I understand the concept of the casino. How would this concept work for a store that would sell durable goods like clothing and electronics?

It’s been a long time, so not sure if they still do this, but this is how baseball cards used to be sold. You would buy a pack of 20 cards not knowing what were in there, trying to get the rest of whatever team you were a fan of.

Sure it would be nice if they put everything in the store with a set price, but in order to help take gold out of the economy have to put things in there that will influence people to buy more than they should.

They are mostly cosmetic though, and you can use in game money to get them, so I don’t really think it’s worth getting too riled up over.

What bothers me more is how Alt-unfriendly the game is right now in regards to purchases, but that’s off topic, so….

Scumbag ArenaNet strikes again!

You could’ve just sold the tickets in the store and earned tons of cash that way, but nope.avi

Must add gamble! Must rip customers for cash! More! MORE!

Can’t wait for the next new set of itemskins, now only available through [X-Chest], that must also be bought for gems, but it’s LOCKED! Buy an [X-Key]!
Now you have a tiny slim chance to get our weapon skins, but we’d rather just give you Revive Orbs, our best invention!

/rant.

Open more chest, is worth it, great looking sword, looks way better than the COF weapon, probly took Anet very long time to make this skin

StinVec.3621:

That is not how you do business successfully.

I’d like to point out that the desires of one customer doesn’t reflect your entire customer base.

Ursan.7846:

StinVec.3621:

That is not how you do business successfully.

I’d like to point out that the desires of one customer doesn’t reflect your entire customer base.

True. But how about 100 customers? 1000? Several thousand?
At what point do “the desires” of customers mean something when looking at your current business model?

If your comment is meant to imply that what I would have done is not what many others would have done, then consider this: My 40k gem purchase is equivalent to 40 other players buying 1k gems. From what I’ve seen, and the impression I get from others that are vocal on the forums, my 40k purchase would have been weak in comparison to what they would have spent had Anet gone the straight to Gem Store route, instead of the way they chose to implement the new skins.

So my 40k gem purchase from one person is equivalent to 40 people buying 1k gems…there are many more people who would have bought multiple times what I stated I would have…even into the 100’s of thousands. Dropping $200 on gems, 400 euros on gems… my measly 40k is nothing compared to the sales they just stopped themselves from making.

Yeah, it makes me sad, and very disappointed.

Calae.1738:

Zorby.8236:

Because people are saps for gambling. People will want these skins, and won’t let loosing a lot of money stand in the way. As long as people do this, expect to see more of it…

I understand the concept of the casino. How would this concept work for a store that would sell durable goods like clothing and electronics?

Like this

And on that note, guess where GW got its inspiration for the skill system.

They would of made a lot more money and drained a lot more gold out of the game had they priced it with a fixed amount of gems.

Their business practices seem to target young and ignorant people.

I don’t see this business model working very well on adults with a shred of intelligence.

I think one of the more interesting bits (arguably) about this, is how it actually does increase demand.

There’s a part of our lizard brains that want these skins even more, because they are so rare.

I mean, I gotta admit, if this was a skin I could work toward (like the similar destroyer skins, or the conjure axe skin), I’d probably say – meh – I’ll go for something else, from an aesthetic perspective.

And yet, I have found myself compelled to want one – because – well…

When I really think about it. Why was that again?

Seriously fascinating stuff, here.

Or maybe I’m just finally getting drunk.

= |

Welp. Decided I’d put my monthly GW2 money towards one of these weapons. 40$ later I have nothing at all to show for it besides a couple of gold from selling the dyes I got. I guess you won in the end Anet.

I mean, let’s be honest. I love this game. Why else would I keep playing it?

(Besides addiction – those dailies sure have worked a number on me)

But seriously. I’ve been a strong proponent of Guild Wars 2 from the start, and that won’t change any time soon, despite the little paper wings I give my little digital dollar bills, as I abandon them to Abaddon’s Maw (see: the TP).

It actually reminds me a bit of Facebook. You know how everyone loves to hate on Facebook (but keeps using it anyway, warning everyone they’re going to delete their account a bunch of times, instead of actually doing so)?

Well, every time Facebook changes their design, or adds some shady new privacy feature (or lack thereof), there’s a mass rumbling, threatening a mass exodus. And what happens?

Not much. A few groups pop up (which is a deprecated feature in Facebook, actually – tinfoil hat material, that) boycotting it. A few websites publish angry articles (often Gawker – at least, back in the day). And then, people forget. The fifteen minutes of fame and anger have passed, and the internet is off searching for the next big shame pinata.

Pretty similar here, I think.

Before long we’ll forget how bad the drop rates were for Fused weapons (until the next chest-skin-drop event, where we need to reference past chest-skin-drop events), and will find something else to complain about.

And to some things, the team will (graciously) listen. To some things, they won’t.

That, as a consumer, is our lot in life.

And, as Good Riddance reminds, “Just learn to be a good consumer – you’re now a number, you’ve no longer got a face.”

Seriously though. Kittens and fluffy bits of fur aside, great game. Love it.

My luck with RNG? Not so much…

tl;dr: Drugs are bad, Beer is Great, RNG is Bad (except when it’s good).

TheAngryLuddite.1834:

I think one of the more interesting bits (arguably) about this, is how it actually does increase demand.

There’s a part of our lizard brains that want these skins even more, because they are so rare.

I mean, I gotta admit, if this was a skin I could work toward (like the similar destroyer skins, or the conjure axe skin), I’d probably say – meh – I’ll go for something else, from an aesthetic perspective.

And yet, I have found myself compelled to want one – because – well…

When I really think about it. Why was that again?

Seriously fascinating stuff, here.

Or maybe I’m just finally getting drunk.

= |

That’s a very good point, actually.

I remember during the similar Halloween chest fiasco, I desperately wanted the Greatsaw and the Ghastly Grinning Shield. I got them both, Greatsaw from an unholy amount of chests and the Shield I bought on the TP, but then couldn’t decide who I wanted to use them on, since it didn’t fit any of my characters. I also suffered from not wanting to chose just one character to use it on, especially since it was rare and hard to obtain, so I ended up not even choosing any of them.

Five months later I was looking at them in my bank going, “Why did I want these again?” I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love the look of them, but at the time I think I only wanted them ‘cause they were new and ’rare.’ After I got over that, I was kind of meh about the whole thing. So I sold them both.

Same deal here. They’re cool weapon skins and the daggers would fit my Elementalist pretty well, but I really only have the urge to get them ‘cause they’re rare and otherwise unobtainable.

MikeRocks.9243:

TheAngryLuddite.1834:

I think one of the more interesting bits (arguably) about this, is how it actually does increase demand.

There’s a part of our lizard brains that want these skins even more, because they are so rare.

I mean, I gotta admit, if this was a skin I could work toward (like the similar destroyer skins, or the conjure axe skin), I’d probably say – meh – I’ll go for something else, from an aesthetic perspective.

And yet, I have found myself compelled to want one – because – well…

When I really think about it. Why was that again?

Seriously fascinating stuff, here.

Or maybe I’m just finally getting drunk.

= |

That’s a very good point, actually.

I remember during the similar Halloween chest fiasco, I desperately wanted the Greatsaw and the Ghastly Grinning Shield. I got them both, Greatsaw from an unholy amount of chests and the Shield I bought on the TP, but then couldn’t decide who I wanted to use them on, since it didn’t fit any of my characters. I also suffered from not wanting to chose just one character to use it on, especially since it was rare and hard to obtain, so I ended up not even choosing any of them.

Five months later I was looking at them in my bank going, “Why did I want these again?” I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love the look of them, but at the time I think I only wanted them ‘cause they were new and ’rare.’ After I got over that, I was kind of meh about the whole thing. So I sold them both.

Same deal here. They’re cool weapon skins and the daggers would fit my Elementalist pretty well, but I really only have the urge to get them ‘cause they’re rare and otherwise unobtainable.

If you only knew how often companies use compulsive human nature to make you give them your money, your mind would explode.

I have created a 1000 sided die simulation which I will start when the new expansion rolls out. I will pick one number out of 1000. If that number comes up when I roll, I will pay the expansion’s full price. I will also pick 9 other numbers. If they come up, I will buy the expansion at a severe discount. I intend to roll this die as many times as it usually takes me to get extremely bored of rewards with extremely kittenty odds – usually around 10.

Winning through this simulation will ensure that I will have FUN in the expansion, because moving forward, no amount of Molyneuxian hype will make me purchase anything without it having a foot in a gachapon box.

it’s one of the things about today’s games that make me extremely sad

Not so long ago, you could earn EVERYTHING in games by just playing them.
Today it seems we only have RNG and Micro-Transactions
I know the concepts:
RNG: You need some luck, but it’s possible
Micro-Transactions: Only to get through a bit faster

But thats not how it is today:
Micro-Transactions (or better Pay2Win) are ridiculous. There are Apps which allow you paying up to a few hundred dollars. Some even start at 5$
Luckily, this isn’t the case in GW2

RNG, are we lucky that we’re not on the Micro-Transaction-side or not?
Sure, it’s purely cosmetic and I’m fine with that. (But not with the misleading advertisement, even though most players should know by now.)

What I’m afraid of is Anet (or better said NCSoft) for becoming more and more greedy because they see how easy they can make much money with RNG and such things.
I really hope they don’t get on the Micro-Transaction/Pay2Win train, squeezing the last out of the players before they finally leave.

I’ve seen many great games doing this, only to get more money, regardless of how much players they loose, because… Who cares about them?
If the game’s dead, they’ll make the next one, with even more RNG and Pay2Win and even harder leveling etc

I’m fine with the whole RNG-Story as long as it stay’s only for the cosmetic things.
But I’m still not fine with the advertising. They didn’t even said “a chance for” this time. (Should’ve been “a small chance” to be more honest and still make some money without feeling like someone who steals a lolli from a 3year old)

This is disgusting and should not be the way Arenanet runs it’s gem store. I don’t care if they get a huge chuckle when ever some poor schlub spends over $100 in pursuit of something like this, I also don’t care IF it’s a solid money maker, it’s just plain wrong and absolutely disgusting.

IMO, the moral compass of Arenanet has lost all bearing when they decide to indulge in this kind of practice.

They would probably make more money with a more fair, direct route of purchase for the skins, but apparently it’s just much more fun to gouge the suckers willing to play this long odds lottery.

StinVec.3621:

True. But how about 100 customers? 1000? Several thousand?
At what point do “the desires” of customers mean something when looking at your current business model?

Again, you have no idea how many people think like you. They have actual hard data from various previous sales, you know. They know this better than you do. They’ve so far had…

Halloween (Completely random BL Chest drops, but could be sold on TP)
Lost Shores (Completely random non-BL Chest drops, but could be sold on TP)
Wintersday (Completely random skins which could be sold on TP + purchaseable skins)

And now we have this (Completely random BL Chest drops, CANNOT be sold on the TP).

So while it still seems they are experimenting, rest assured when it comes to the business side (Making as much money as they can) they have a preeetty good idea of what they are doing. Go ahead and complain about the RNG all you want, but to argue that it would make more business sense to do something else based purely on personal preference is to be narrow-minded and ignorant.

Irenicus.9801:

I have created a 1000 sided die simulation which I will start when the new expansion rolls out. I will pick one number out of 1000. If that number comes up when I roll, I will pay the expansion’s full price. I will also pick 9 other numbers. If they come up, I will buy the expansion at a severe discount. I intend to roll this die as many times as it usually takes me to get extremely bored of rewards with extremely kittenty odds – usually around 10.

Winning through this simulation will ensure that I will have FUN in the expansion, because moving forward, no amount of Molyneuxian hype will make me purchase anything without it having a foot in a gachapon box.

Post of the month! Perhaps a contender for post of the year even!

+1 internets good sir.

sure they can make more money with the last one, but they should also think about customers that they’ll lose if they continue this for too long.
At some point players will have no more interest in this RNG or even stop playing the game completely

Don’t blame the lottery, blame the uncontrollable urge to gamble, which you and only you can control.

Take responsibility for once. Don’t gamble, no one is forcing you to.

Kind of sad the new fused skins can’t be sold. Let’s make this big living event and make getting the weapon skins from it unobtainable without gambling so some people will just lose a bunch of money and have nothing to show for it. Fun. Kind of kills the enthusiasm for the whole Flame and Frost thing.

Ursan.7846:

Again, you have no idea how many people think like you.

I never stated, nor implied that I did.

Ursan.7846:

Go ahead and complain about the RNG all you want, but to argue that it would make more business sense to do something else based purely on personal preference is to be narrow-minded and ignorant.

Go ahead and throw insults and call me names, you’ll only get infracted.
Also, do you have a business degree? Do you own your own business? Do your customers for said business continue to come back because they are treated how they want and deserve to be treated, while also keeping said business profitable? There is plenty of profit to be had without giving in to greed. A flawed business model that is only profitable in the short term is still a flawed business model.

Calae.1738:

They would of made a lot more money and drained a lot more gold out of the game had they priced it with a fixed amount of gems.

I don’t know about that. They have tried several methods over the last few months — selling the skins directly as well as selling them with the lotto box/keys.

I think they know which is more profitable.

it’s simple..more RNG , more Gems sold…
they are really taking us for kittens

marnick.4305:

Don’t blame the lottery, blame the uncontrollable urge to gamble, which you and only you can control.

Take responsibility for once. Don’t gamble, no one is forcing you to.

This.

And if you do decide to gamble: never do it with gems/gold/money you can’t afford to lose.