Guild Wars 2

…one day sale.

When I got home I logged on and had my credit card ready to buy gems to make a purchase from the gem shop.

The items that I planned to buy were no longer on sale.

“Take Away” is the term for this type of practice in the sales industry. I guess they made more money manipulating players than they would make by just having a sale on items that lasts longer than one day.

This is more of a “learn to read” situation. They had stated before the sale, that for 3 days, 3 separate items would be listed each day. Each day the three items were listed for 24 hours. At the end of the third day, the sale was over. This is a ridiculous cooked up complaint that I expect to come from someone being paid to come here and whine about something. Read the terms of the sale next time.

cNcHellShadow.7691:

This is more of a “learn to read” situation. They had stated before the sale, that for 3 days, 3 separate items would be listed each day. Each day the three items were listed for 24 hours. At the end of the third day, the sale was over. This is a ridiculous cooked up complaint that I expect to come from someone being paid to come here and whine about something. Read the terms of the sale next time.

I was living my life.

Mahaedros.7085:

cNcHellShadow.7691:

This is more of a “learn to read” situation. They had stated before the sale, that for 3 days, 3 separate items would be listed each day. Each day the three items were listed for 24 hours. At the end of the third day, the sale was over. This is a ridiculous cooked up complaint that I expect to come from someone being paid to come here and whine about something. Read the terms of the sale next time.

I was living my life.

And nobody is faulting you for that. But, as ANet stated, this was a 3 day sale. That information could be found on the homepage, and on the launcher, which is required to start the game. If you didn’t see that information, then you are just oblivious. I am sorry if I am being rude, but this is a sad thread to have started. If you aren’t going to buy gems, don’t….we don’t need to hear about it.

I wanted to give Anet $50 dollars for gems. That’s almost the price of the game.

Some things happened in real life. I was unable to log in.

I was aware of the time frame stated by Anet. Thanks for telling me about it again, twice.

My post was not about Anet making the details of the sale available. Thanks though, for your response.

Problem is, is that you are claiming they used some shady sales technique to try to get your money. They did nothing of the sort. I’m sorry you were unable to log in and get the items on sale, but it was a sale. Would you go in to JCPenny and claim they were unethical because they had a sale on a Friday, and you went in on a Saturday? Probably not. My point is, I understand you wanted items, and it’s a shame you weren’t able to get them. Do not come and complain about it though, as it brings nothing constructive to the door.

So you want sales-promotions to last for a longer period of time. Why don’t you write it then?

And guess what, even if they would last longer it could happen that you will miss a promotion.

I think the only thing anyone can respond with really is, “Sorry about your luck”.

For some resaon I entered this thread and thought the topic-title would continue with …I got high. :P

The items aren’t gone either, you can stlll buy them

I was gonna buy some gems not too long ago. Then the game told me that needed to jump through a bunch of hoops to contact their customer support or whatever; apparently I’ve hit some sort of cap. I still haven’t purchased the gems because I don’t feel like going through the extra steps. >_>

Chrissle, haha, I thought the same thing also.

This is one of the dumbest complaint threads I have ever read.

I and everyone else is dumber for having read it.

Mahaedros, I can definitely sympathize with your situation. We’ve all been there, at some point. Especially in the video game sector, there are all kinds of digital sales going on all over the place, and many of them are for a limited time. For example, there are often dramatic, sweeping price reductions on Steam for holidays and special events — and while those tend to go on for a week or more, there are individual sales on certain games within that time frame, which only last 24 hours.

Another example: a few years back, when I was playing World of Warcraft, Blizzard held a sale for a limited time where the game and all the expansions were available for a drastic price markdown. By the time I realized that this would be a great time to get the game for my girlfriend, the sale was over and everything was back to normal price. Man, was I disappointed.

Is this manipulation? Sure, but they’re only manipulating their prices, not us. Every major retailer has regular sales, or a weekly flyer, where prices on certain items are reduced for a limited time. No one’s forcing you to buy them during the sale, and no one’s forcing you to buy them at regular price either.

It’s definitely understandable that some people will not be able to check back and view the sales, especially if the limited time is very short. To be fair, they didn’t reveal in advance which items were to go on sale, and on which days — so, I would say that part of it was maybe a little manipulative, because it expects you to log in every day if you just want the basic information about the daily sale. Still, it’s within their rights to do so. The items on sale are not necessary to enjoy the game, the end user has no obligation to take part in the sale, and there’s no concrete disadvantage in dismissing it outright.

During that sale, I actually ended up grabbing a character slot, and I actually did the total makeover for my main as well. Depending how you want to view the situation, you could say that the practice of limiting character slots is manipulative — or, that having to pay to change character appearance is manipulative. There’s no end to it.

Mahaedros.7085:

cNcHellShadow.7691:

This is more of a “learn to read” situation. They had stated before the sale, that for 3 days, 3 separate items would be listed each day. Each day the three items were listed for 24 hours. At the end of the third day, the sale was over. This is a ridiculous cooked up complaint that I expect to come from someone being paid to come here and whine about something. Read the terms of the sale next time.

I was living my life.

You won’t get any sympathy on this forum.

Honestly, I bought one of the town-clothes-sets for the full price one day before they reduced it by 50%. OF COURSE I was angry (mostly with myself xD). But really, stuff like this happens.

Not to be able to grab a special offer on sales is just bad luck, thats it, the item is still there for the normal price.

The forums were experiencing some technical difficulties Monday morning- it kept triple posting among other things…so I left home to run some errands

@ Clark Skinner: thanks
@mcwurth: LRN2RD what? Maybe take your own advice.
@Chrissle: I did get high.
@xeysorso: I realize they’re still available to buy, I’m not sure I want to now after repeated “shady” (as cNcHellShadow.7691) calls it…
@Sil: that actually happened to me too on Halloween. I would have given Anet $100 more of my own cash
@CreativeAnarchy: thanks for your opinion and for being a pro-establishment sheep. Your comment does not suit your forum name very well.
@Fyrebrand- surely, these forums are one place on the enormous world wide interwebs where I can express my own opinion regarding GW2. Limited time events/offerings are not what I want in my MMORPG because I will not become a slave to this or any game. I’m not going to schedule my life around a game and I’m not going to wait with baited breath for a new announcement about the game.
@Ansultares: I guess I felt I wasn’t on a forum for one of Blizzard’s games…I expected People here to be civil
@Pirlipat: you’re right.

I just feel like my revolutionary MMORPG that I bought before it was released last August has changed it’s toon so dramatically lately.

I do not want to see more one day events or one day sales.

I don’t care if retailers manipulate ignorant consumers every day of the year. I expect more from my MMORPG of choice.

It’s not that I don’t want to give Anet my money, I would and now, on two occasions, they persuaded me not to give them my money.

I’m starting to think a subscription model is better than a cash shop model …if we’re going to be nickel-and-dimed at every opportunity, I would rather pay a subscription.

I play this game for fun, and I have had fun playing this game since beta. The changes and practices since release have made me question the integrity of Anet. I don’t care if the rest of the unethical businesses we are faced with every day employ a certain tactic- I expect more from the MMORPG company that wants my loyalty for years to come.

I do not want to see more one day / limited time events or offerings.

I’m sorry but this is mostly your own fault, it was clearly stated in the event title that the sales are going to be different every day o.O

LieutenantGoogle.7326:

I’m sorry but this is mostly your own fault, it was clearly stated in the event title that the sales are going to be different every day o.O

I don’t know how many times I have to say that I understood and was aware that they clearly stated their sale and it’s duration.

I do not want to see one day events or one day sales in the future. I’ll give Anet my money, they don’t have to resort to manipulative practices to keep me checking every day for a deal. Announce an event or a sale and make it longer than 24 hours.

I’m sorry if you don’t agree with me, I have other things to do than play this game. I’d like to buy things from the cash shop, which I think the company wants- cash shop purchases, but I missed out because they are for a small/short/limited time.

But in a way you let yourself manipulate by the reduced price as well. So a manipulation by reducing the price and putting a big XX% discount sign at the product is ok, but doing it for a very limited time is not?

CreativeAnarchy.6324:

I’m hardly a sheep.

I’m just not so stupid to believe that a one day sale will be extended to a second day.

I’m sorry we’ve never met in real life, you calling me “dumb” and “stupid” in two different posts where I never said anything at all to the effect that I believed " that a one day sale will be extended to a second day" or anything like that at all…

I do not support manipulative business practices by any business, including the company that makes the MMORPG that I play. There is no reason to have a sale- or an event- that only lasts 24 hours FOR A GAME- unless you’re trying to manipulate the consumer base and get them to separate their cash from your players not by the value of your product, but by a cheap marketing tactic. As I mentioned before, I wanted to give Anet my cash… they felt that they could guarantee a set amount by manipulation rather than counting on the loyalty of their fanbase.

Pirlipat.2479:

But in a way you let yourself manipulate by the reduced price as well. So a manipulation by reducing the price and putting a big XX% discount sign at the product is ok, but doing it for a very limited time is not?

It’s a well know term called “the take away” in sales. It’s used regardless of the value of your product that you are selling to manipulate the buyer- aka “sucker”- into buying the product you’re selling.

There’s a movie called “Boiler Room” you can watch, or you can watch Glengarry Glen Ross.

The “take away” simply preys on the human impulse to obtain something that will be unobtainable in the near future. It’s not used to promote the value of the product for sale.

Go to the closest automobile sales lot and they will say things like " this deal is only good for today…" watch an info-mercial and they will have a timer counting down the seconds you can buy the product – which is a total lie they will sell the product to you any day of the year.

Sheep are manipulated by these tactics every day.

I don’t want to see 24 hour sales or 24 hour events in the MMORPG I play. It’s a disgusting manipulative tactic.

So you are against it because it’s manipulative? Then you should not even think about buying at a reduced price, no matter for how long they reduce it, if it’s a temporary sale. Or are you against it because the time of reduction is to short? Then don’t talk about manipulation because you willingly let yourself manipulate by the reduction and get angry you can’t.

The thing is, I would simply not let manipulate myself by a simple reduction to buy something I don’t need. I felt tempted because I could need some of the items they offered but I didn’t buy because I don’t need them now. When the time comes I need them, I will wait for a sale or buy it for the normal price. If consumers let themself manipulate so easiely they don’t deserve any better. (Sorry for beeing cynic)

You snooze you lose comes to mind…

I stopped buying gems since they introduced the ascended gear grind which I’m sure will bound to continue this year. So they’re missing on 100s of dollars from me but I’m sure they get more than enough, though I’m deeply hoping I’m not the only one that stopped.

Pirlipat.2479:

So you are against it because it’s manipulative? Then you should not even think about buying at a reduced price, no matter for how long they reduce it, if it’s a temporary sale. Or are you against it because the time of reduction is to short? Then don’t talk about manipulation because you willingly let yourself manipulate by the reduction and get angry you can’t.

It’s a guess on your part that I’m angry, I’m unhappy with the tactic, not angry. I see the tactic every day. I play a fantasy MMORPG because I want a brief release from everyday life.

Anet could choose business tactics that instill loyalty in their player base, or they could choose to manipulate their players with one time limited duration EVENTS or SALES.

In a persistent virtual world, I do not want to see things offered for a short limited time.

Well english is not my native language, angry for me means “verärgert” in german, so I may have used the wrong word. Edit: Annoyed might fit better ,no idea.

Pirlipat.2479:

Well english is not my native language, angry for me means “verärgert” in german, so I may have used the wrong word.

Every form of written and verbal communication is fraught with ambiguities simply because of the nature of human communication.

I can see how someone reading this post would think any of the responses were in anger.

I actually enjoy debates, and I enjoy making my voice heard in the hope that it will bring about positive change. I want to see the company that makes the MMORPG I play attempt to provide an outstanding product to instill loyalty from the players…not resort to cheap marketing tactics to swindle a few nickles from the suckers in every crowd.

You mean the crowd that you fully intended to be a part of?

Leablo.2651:

You mean the crowd that you fully intended to be a part of?

Sorry, I’m not sure what you’re asking exactly. Would you elaborate please?

Mahaedros.7085:

@Fyrebrand- surely, these forums are one place on the enormous world wide interwebs where I can express my own opinion regarding GW2.

Yes, and no one has stopped you from doing that. You have the right to express your opinions freely, just as we have the right to express agreement or disagreement. I actually sympathized with your situation — and, frankly, I agree that a one-day sale is pretty inconvenient for a lot of people. I just disagree with you that it is “manipulative” or otherwise unsavory behaviour, to the degree that you seem to think it is.

Mahaedros.7085:

Limited time events/offerings are not what I want in my MMORPG because I will not become a slave to this or any game. I’m not going to schedule my life around a game and I’m not going to wait with baited breath for a new announcement about the game.

ArenaNet has made no demands whatsoever with regards to when and how you want to enjoy the game, nor how you approach the Gem Store, if at all. They do not make you pay extra to access PvP or other game modes, they don’t hold levels 60-80 for ransom until you cough up more money, nor do they ask you to make a minimum purchase at any point just to keep playing. No one who has bought anything in the Gem Store necessarily has a competitive advantage over you, nor can they do anything substantial that you can’t.
Any price reduction or sales event they want to hold is totally up to them — and there has to be some predetermined time limit to how often the sale lasts for, otherwise they’d be accused of false advertising if they ever set the price back to normal. And yes, I agree that only one day is a very short window of time for a sale to last — that’s just the tactic they feel will serve them best, for the moment. It sucks for some people, but it grabs attention. Just as you can’t be expected to schedule your life around the game, they can’t schedule their sales around what’s convenient for you. Whether the sale is one day, two days, or a full week, some people are going to miss it for whatever reason. It was a temporary promotion that was put up for whoever had the chance to catch it.

Mahaedros.7085:

I’m starting to think a subscription model is better than a cash shop model …if we’re going to be nickel-and-dimed at every opportunity, I would rather pay a subscription.

Okay, you’ve now crossed the line between hyperbole and just plain being unreasonable. Seriously, what are you even talking about, anymore? ArenaNet merely decided to hold a temporary price reduction on some of their Gem Store items, and you claim to be “nickel-and-dimed at every opportunity”?! You’re really stretching it.

How about this — just pretend they didn’t even have the sale. Just assume that the prices on the Gem Store are what they have always been, and ignore the whole thing. Go back to playing the game however you did before this incident, have fun, and put this “unethical” business behind you. Don’t pay ANet another nickel or dime, and continue to enjoy all the free stuff the developers put out there for us. No one’s going to force you to do otherwise.

TIL the limited-duration event is a manipulative practice. ANet, I believe in you, so please make permanent all the BLTC sales, Halloween and Wintersday events. You’re not a manipulator, are you?

I do not like events that last 24 hours. I do not like gems store sales that last 24 hours.

It’s a tactic to manipulate players.

I do not wish to see this practice continue.

I’m expressing my view on these forums.

Sorry if you do not agree with me.

If you think reduced drop rates and diminishing returns and 24 hour specials are not manipulating players into spending real cash on the real money auction house, then I guess we just agree that we disagree.

I expect more from Anet.
You’re happy with everything?

It’s a great game and I love it…I don’t like some of the recent changes/ tactics that I’ve seen recently in the past few months. Before that, I tried to get all my friends to play this game. All of them have quit. You might want to say “that happens to every mmo it is the norm…” I think the manifesto was unique and it plays a large part in who is not playing the game that they pre-purchased.

I’m expressing my dissatisfaction. I’m sorry if you do not agree and thing everything is perfect.

Erm. What is an appropriate length for a gem store sale, then? Or should we just have no sales at all?

I love seeing all of these arguments about the length of these sales. Some saying they should be longer….even permanent. THAT is ridiculous!!!!

Do you also go down to your local Target or Macy’s and complain to them that they need to extend their Black Friday Sale….or their 3-Day Only Sale? Do you tell them they need to make them permanent?

You missed out on the sale. Get over it.

I bought my character slots right when the game came out. Should I too be upset that they put them on sale? Should I request a refund of the price difference? I only missed the sale by a few months. Should I have waited?

Boo hoo…..poor me.

Anet used a sale tactic employed by nearly EVERY retailer to generate business. Good for them. They made money. You do realize that they’re in it to make a profit….right? You also realize that there’s no subscription to play this game, so they need to make their money somewhere…..right? To complain about not being able to purchase items on sale that you DON’T NEED to play the game is kind of ridiculous.

The REAL problem is a sense of entitlement. Many players feel they should have instant access to everything everywhere at any time……for free.

If you honestly hate ArenaNets practices, sales, support, or whatever else SO much…..go play another game. I know that I won’t be sorry to see you leave because the community will actually be stronger without you.

While I may not agree with everything ArenaNet does, I don’t fault them for trying to make a buck. It’s the reason they created Guild Wars 2.

Charismatic Harm.9683:

Anet used a sale tactic employed by nearly EVERY retailer to generate business. Good for them. They made money. You do realize that they’re in it to make a profit….right? You also realize that there’s no subscription to play this game, so they need to make their money somewhere…..right? To complain about not being able to purchase items on sale that you DON’T NEED to play the game is kind of ridiculous.

I don’t care what every retailer does to generate business. i don’t want to see these scumbag practices in MMORPGs.

You’re content and happy with it, okay. I’m not.

I’d like to see Anet’s integrity return instead of the decisions they’ve announced in the last few months.

During the open beta weekends, Anet said they wanted to test the black lion trading post. I bought gems then and again at release. $50 a pop. I got three extra character slots and some inventory space- the day the game was released.

I would have given them more of my money.

We just don’t agree on something- the sales tactics of businesses.

You’re fine with cheap manipulative tactics to raise money. I would rather see a company devoted to the quality of the product they are selling and have a goal to instill loyalty in the fanbase. You don’t, so we simply disagree.

Part of the “no subscription” was that you could take a break and come back to GW2 whenever you wanted… lost shores one day event? How would you rate that?

Anet said themselves that they made mistakes. You’re saying their mistakes are okay because other companies do the same thing.

I don’t agree with you. I don’t have a sense of entitlement. I want to see changes that are more inline with what Anet told us about the game before we bought it. Things have changed with this game and you’re okay with them. I feel they are not positive changes and I’m expressing my view. I never asked for anything or to be treated special.

You have my point entirely incorrect. I never said YOUR opinion was wrong. I never said YOU were among those that feel they “entitled”. I also never said I was happy or content with their decisions as to sales, events, etc. Nor did I say I’m fine with cheap manipulative tactics to raise money.

What I did say was that ArenaNet is a business. A business whose goal is to make money. In order to make money, they made a VIDEO GAME. Within that video game, they have chosen to conduct sales and one-time-only events to get players playing their video game and generate income.

The “shady” tactics that they use may be the same ones that other retailers use….and there’s a reason for it. THEY WORK!!!!

They play on human nature. They play on the fact that people think they’re getting some kind of deal on something and are willing hand over money to get in on that deal.

ArenaNet did not make this game for me. They also didn’t make it for you. They made it for everyone.

I think the following quote sums up my stance.

“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.” – Abraham Lincoln

A retailer having a sale for a limited period is a “scumbag practice” and “cheap manipulative tactic”?

Words fail me…

Charismatic Harm.9683:

The “shady” tactics that they use may be the same ones that other retailers use….and there’s a reason for it. THEY WORK!!!!

They play on human nature. They play on the fact that people think they’re getting some kind of deal on something and are willing hand over money to get in on that deal.

I don’t condone the decisions of a business simply because “THEY WORK!!!!” to trick people into spending money.

Wouldn’t you rather see a business provide a valuable service to their consumers rather than “…play on human nature”?

I’m just not a consumer who will buy what is set before them hook, line and sinker.

I want better options and I am willing to post on these forums to express my dissatisfaction with the way things are being handled recently.

Consumers are sheep and take what they get and like it.

I love the game that I play but I think someone other than the devs are making it a shady cash grab at every opportunity. You can easily review recent history with regards to GW2 and see for yourself the new direction that is happening with the game.

I don’t like it and I am going to express my dissatisfaction with it on these forums. The company that makes the MMORPG I play is not a scumbag retail chain that tries every cheap tactic it can to make a nickel. Or at least they told us they weren’t before the game was released.

I don’t like what Anet has been doing since November 15th and I’m going to express my dissatisfaction about it on these forums.

Astraea.6075:

A retailer having a sale for a limited period is a “scumbag practice” and “cheap manipulative tactic”?

Words fail me…

Yes. Why wouldn’t you want a business to sell you something because it has value rather than using a cheap marketing tactic?

You’re just a consumer bereft of any independent ability to think and you feel the corporations are great and the actions they take are find and dandy?

Zogyark.4597:

I stopped buying gems since they introduced the ascended gear grind which I’m sure will bound to continue this year. So they’re missing on 100s of dollars from me but I’m sure they get more than enough, though I’m deeply hoping I’m not the only one that stopped.

You’re not the only one.

Mahaedros.7085:

Astraea.6075:

A retailer having a sale for a limited period is a “scumbag practice” and “cheap manipulative tactic”?

Words fail me…

Yes. Why wouldn’t you want a business to sell you something because it has value rather than using a cheap marketing tactic?

You’re just a consumer bereft of any independent ability to think and you feel the corporations are great and the actions they take are find and dandy?

And you’re suggesting that none of what was on offer during the recent sale had value?

Take character slots for example, I’m prepared to pay the full price for these (800 gems or $10), but haven’t really felt the need to purchase any as I’ve been busy enough with the 5 I started with. Along comes the sale, so I decided to purchase an additional character slot at a reduced price now, even though I might not fully utilise it straight away.

How is this a cheap marketing tactic? I got something I wanted at a discounted price. Sure, I was “induced” to purchase earlier than I may otherwise have done without the sale, but that doesn’t make me “a consumer bereft of any independent ability to think”.

The duration of any sales promotion is always at the discretion of the seller. There was no bait-and-switch on promoted items. The advertised discounts were not misleading. There was nothing “cheap”, “sleazy”, “under-handed” or “manipulative” about this sales promotion.

The lost shores event was for one day only. Besides yourself, how do you think this event was received?

The company is starting to sell things at a discount for one 24 hour period.
Why are they doing this?

Just because other retailers employ this tactic does not make it anything other than “cheap, sleazy, under-handed, manipulative.”

From the beginning, Arenanet said that this game was not one were you were forced to log on every day. Now they are putting up events(EVENTS) and sales that only last 24 hours. They emphasized that the absence of a monthly subscription as a reason that players could play the game whenever they felt like playing and they would not be missing out if they continued to play other MMORPG’s and only played GW2 when they felt like playing.

The tactic you are defending has a specific term: “the take away” you can look it up.

Why doesn’t Arenanet emphasize the value of the items in the cash shop? Instead, they make them available for a limited time only to lure suckers into buying something they feel will not be available in the future (at least for the same price).

Would you criticize Arenanet if they made all the items for sale the entire weekend? Do you think they made more money by offering the items for only 24 hours?

If you made an MMORPG exactly the way you wanted, would you try to manipulate the players to spend cash by cheap marketing tactics, or would you try to provide the best product and service possible?

Do you think the Steam flash sales over the last few weeks were “cheap, sleazy, under-handed, manipulative”? Some of them only lasted for six hours.

Colbear.6425:

Do you think the Steam flash sales over the last few weeks were “cheap, sleazy, under-handed, manipulative”? Some of them only lasted for six hours.

According to the OP, any sales promotion with a limited duration is “cheap, sleazy, under-handed, manipulative”. All sales must last forever, otherwise the seller is engaging in the “Take Away” selling technique.

Seriously, I read up on the “Take Away” technique, and the definition is extremely broad. It even includes putting expiration dates on coupons.

I really like playing MMORPGs. I feel that the companies that make MMORPGs would benefit tremendously from providing value for their loyal fan base rather than using the marketing tactics other companies use, in order to make a buck in the short term.

Steam did not make an MMORPG that I bought after the company that made the MMORPG said it was going to be a different and revolutionary experience. WalMart did not make the MMORPG I bought either…nor did Target or the Gap or any other sleazy retailer that has no problem screwing over anyone from their employees to their customers.

What do you think about Steam? They’ve certainly generated a lot of hype and maybe even profit with their limited time duration discount sales. Ask yourself if the people who buy these games at a discount would have paid full price for the game. Same goes for the cash shop- if you want to pay for something and the lower price is the determining factor, why make it only available for a brief time?

that’s the “Take Away”

Sure every major retailer employs this manipulative practice.

I don’t want to see it in the MMORPG I play.

You are fine with it?

Astraea.6075:

Colbear.6425:

Do you think the Steam flash sales over the last few weeks were “cheap, sleazy, under-handed, manipulative”? Some of them only lasted for six hours.

According to the OP, any sales promotion with a limited duration is “cheap, sleazy, under-handed, manipulative”. All sales must last forever, otherwise the seller is engaging in the “Take Away” selling technique.

Seriously, I read up on the “Take Away” technique, and the definition is extremely broad. It even includes putting expiration dates on coupons.

I never said all sales must last forever.

Go to a used car lot or a furniture store and witness the Take Away being practiced in all it’s glory…or just watch an informercial.

If you had your choice, would you want your MMORPG company to provide value and instill loyalty in their player base because the game they made was good and well maintained and bug free? Or would you buy a game and play it based on the sales tactics that the company uses to make a quick buck?

Just because companies use sleazy marketing techniques on a regular basis does not mean we have to settle for it and say it’s okay for our MMORPG.

Mahaedros.7085:

I really like playing MMORPGs. I feel that the companies that make MMORPGs would benefit tremendously from providing value for their loyal fan base rather than using the marketing tactics other companies use, in order to make a buck in the short term.

Steam did not make an MMORPG that I bought after the company that made the MMORPG said it was going to be a different and revolutionary experience. WalMart did not make the MMORPG I bought either…nor did Target or the Gap or any other sleazy retailer that has no problem screwing over anyone from their employees to their customers.

What do you think about Steam? They’ve certainly generated a lot of hype and maybe even profit with their limited time duration discount sales. Ask yourself if the people who buy these games at a discount would have paid full price for the game. Same goes for the cash shop- if you want to pay for something and the lower price is the determining factor, why make it only available for a brief time?

that’s the “Take Away”

Sure every major retailer employs this manipulative practice.

I don’t want to see it in the MMORPG I play.

You are fine with it?

Actually, almost all of the games I buy off Steam are games I wouldn’t have been willing to pay full price for, so… I don’t really understand your argument here. Sometimes I’m disappointed that I wasn’t awake or paying attention when a sale happened that I might have been interested in, and sometimes other people are sad when they buy something and it goes on sale a month later.

I don’t think that means Steam is cheating me. I think it means that they’re trying to adjust their prices, temporarily, for me in the hopes that they’ll finally find a price for their item that makes me happy enough to buy it.

Ideally, they’d just offer all the games for free and I’d be able to get all of them without having to pay. But I don’t really expect that to happen, nor am I going to feel cheated if they give someone else something for free because that someone else was paying attention when I had better things to do. Someone else benefitting from something doesn’t hurt me, so why would I feel cheated?

Did ANet ever promise that they were going to continually drop gem prices for items? Because I don’t see any promises being broken here. Just because GW2 is different in one way doesn’t mean it’s obligated to be different in another way.

Steam is a different type of company than Arenanet.

I bought Guild Wars2. It was created by Arenanet I hold them to a higher standard than WalMart or other retailers- including Steam.

I don’t have any problem with someone getting or having something that I can’t have.
I do have a problem with an MMORPG company focused more on short term cash acquisition than it is on providing a valuable and superior product.

I don’t feel cheated. I would simply rather see more integrity from the company that runs this game.

I don’t think you understand the difference, back-end effort-wise, between “make a new thing and make it good and set a price point” versus “push a button to set a discount on this item”.

It’s not an either-or situation. ANet SHOULD add better things to the cash shop to make it more appealing. ANet SHOULD add new items with new functionality.

But the fact that they ARE discounting existing items doesn’t mean they chose to do it INSTEAD of adding new stuff.

It’s easy to think of a company as one entity, and in most cases they pretty much are, but there’s a distribution of resources here that I don’t think you understand. The people who make new items are not the people who program new zones are not the people who determine pricing.

On the forum for the site I work at, I watched some customers throw a fit because our company was “sending people to conferences instead of fixing bugs”. My thoughts to that? “That’s stupid. I’m not being sent to conferences, I’m fixing other, more important bugs.”

ANet should do both. The fact that they do one but not the other doesn’t mean they chose to do one instead of the other. It means that they should really do the thing that they didn’t do. It doesn’t mean they shouldn’t do whatever it is they’re doing.

Mahaedros.7085:

I never said all sales must last forever.

Go to a used car lot or a furniture store and witness the Take Away being practiced in all it’s glory…or just watch an informercial.

If you had your choice, would you want your MMORPG company to provide value and instill loyalty in their player base because the game they made was good and well maintained and bug free? Or would you buy a game and play it based on the sales tactics that the company uses to make a quick buck?

Just because companies use sleazy marketing techniques on a regular basis does not mean we have to settle for it and say it’s okay for our MMORPG.

Apples and Oranges. This is nothing like what happens on a car lot or in a furniture store, where the technique is being used to close a deal with a customer who may be showing reluctance.

Unlike an infomercial, this was a discount on the actual prices that items are usually sold for, and the limited duration of the offer was very real.

I would prefer my MMORPG company to provide value because the game they made was good and well maintained and bug free, but that has nothing to do with whether or not they have sales promotions in their primary source on ongoing revenue.

How much different would you feel if the items were on sale for two days instead of one? three days? a week? a month? Is there some arbitrary duration where a sales promotion is acceptable?