Guild Wars 2

As a player, I’m here to offer some helpful responses to all the others who constantly complain about the market and Gem Store. This will also cover discussions ranging from Legendary materials to Holiday Event items and puzzles (just to have everything in one place). I’m hopeful this will educate a few, and we’ll have much less QQ overall.

Argument #1: Anet is forcing me to buy stuff.

No. Anet is not forcing the players to do anything. They provide a game that requires no monthly fees to play, and no mandatory microtransactions (i.e. Gem purchases) to complete/have fun. Yes they provide premium content that players can purchase, but these are by player choice to get. Complaining that one cannot get the mini pets they want is akin to being mad at the rich guy driving the Porsche.

Argument #2: RNG is game breaking and should be eliminated.

No. RNG exists in all games. When I was little, I would hunt for hours to find that Metal Slime in Dragon Warrior. The same exists here, only on a larger scale. People want Mystic Clovers, Tier 6 mats, or certain mini pets so bad, that when they can’t get it, they blame the game mechanics. Players need to remember that certain things are more rare than others, so any percentage roll to get them will be rightfully smaller. If it were easy to get, everyone would have it, and it would no longer be “rare”.

Argument #3: Trading Post item prices are high and it’s Anet’s fault.

Wrong. Players control the prices on the market. While Anet does control the means to which rare items drop, the people who get these are free to determine whatever price they choose to sell them for. The reason why prices would remain high is because there are those who freely choose to purchase these items at said high prices. That’s how a market works. Player A has an item for sale, and Player B will buy it. If Player B can’t afford the item, then Player C will buy it.

Argument #4: Gem/Gold exchange rates are high and it’s Anet’s fault.

Wrong again. Player demand drives the exchange rates. If more players are using Gold to exchange for Gems, the ratio to which the exchange is made slowly goes up. At the same time, the ratio for players using Gems to exchange for Gold goes down. And vice versa. As the game gets older, more players are gaining wealth. These players can now afford to convert their Gold into Gems. With time, even more players will have the means to afford conversions. But if the rates get too high for comfort, players will naturally stop, and the rates will drop as more Gem to Gold exchanges are made.

Argument #5: Casual players suffer the most.

Not exactly. Casual players who want premium stuff (i.e. Legendaries, rare mini pets, etc.) suffer. But that’s their own fault, so to speak. The game does NOT require you to get the best looking items to play or complete the story. People who don’t have the time to invest in playing the game, but want all the good stuff four months into the new game, made the choice to suffer. Some of these things were meant as a long term journey/investment. Just because you can’t have the goodies now doesn’t mean you can’t have them a year from now. And any complaints about present/box/chest RNG should go back and read the Argument #2 example.

Argument #6: Jumping puzzles are hard, and should be dumbed down.

The JPs are challenging indeed. Some love the challenge, and some don’t have the skills to do them. Just because something is difficult for you doesn’t mean Anet should make easy mode. Do you want to just walk a straight line and be rewarded with an Enormous Chest? There’s no Up Up, Down Down, Left Right Left Right cheat codes here. The puzzles are there, but they aren’t required to complete. If you don’t have fun doing them, find something else to do. And IF you feel compelled to do them, then take the time you use to complain, and refocus on honing your skills. Less QQ, more Pew Pew.

Argument #7: I paid for this game, so I should get everything I want.

No. You paid for the right to play this game. You don’t own the game or the contents within. Anet provides you a game to play, and the option to purchase premium content. The only thing players are entitled to is fun, but each player has a different definition of that term. If the game doesn’t give you the fun you want, then this game isn’t for you.

Argument #8: Players who have more time to play have better stuff than me.

So what’s your point? If someone puts in more time to play, how is that unfair? This game is meant for a wide variety of people to enjoy. If Player A got a Legendary in two months because he played 4x as much as Player B, that doesn’t mean Anet should turn on easy mode to satisfy someone’s jealously.

Argument #9: There are still game bugs and they break the game.

Yes there are bugs and exploits that exist, or are created with updates. Anet fixes them as fast as they can without breaking other game mechanics at the same time. When a bug causes reduced drops, so far the company has been good about offering compensation (i.e. Karka end chest).

I like your examples and i agree with them. Except
Argument 8 i understand ppl can spend more time on the game than i can , and i would expect them to have more than i do. My argument is because of number 3 a player with more time will have a legendary for much CHEAPER than a person without the time. Ofcs they will have it quicker due to time invested but I don’t think the finish line should move further and further away for the casual player for the same item. If all I good and fair you will see my logic in that.

Booler.6598:

I like your examples and i agree with them. Except
Argument 8 i understand ppl can spend more time on the game than i can , and i would expect them to have more than i do. My argument is because of number 3 a player with more time will have a legendary for much CHEAPER than a person without the time. Ofcs they will have it quicker due to time invested but I don’t think the finish line should move further and further away for the casual player for the same item. If all I good and fair you will see my logic in that.

This may be true, but the prices of each item is based on the Demand for them. Anet hasn’t changed the formula to make a Legendary. Each requirement is the same for Casual and Hardcore players. Because more players are now starting their journey to getting their own Legendary, more players need T6 mats. The “goal post” is only moving because the players themselves are causing it.

While I don’t feel Anet should do a thing about this, they are increasing the drop rates for some of the T6 mats. Remember, they need to take into consideration ALL players, not just a segment. If Anet made T6 mats super easy to get, that would be punishing Hardcore players for taking the time to farm/buy them early on. It seems a slight increase in drop rates is a good balance between making the mats more available to everyone, without hitting the easy mode button.

perhaps you might care to elaborate on exactly how “players” determine the gem exchange. Simply having players buy/sell into an imaginary pool of gems does not convince me that prices are determined exactly by players. Also, as far as I know, Anet has kept their mouths shut about pretty much everything regarding the gem trade, save a few details.

When you buy, you hit the buy button. When you sell, you hit the sell button. I don’t determine a price to buy or sell. I’m not buying the whole argument that all of the gems were once purchased with real money. If so, then where is the exchange data? Why do the buy/sell mirror each other as if the volume of trades on both sides is equal 100% of the time? Compare that to every other item on GW2spidy’s wonderful database.

If this was an actual exchange, then could I have a list of sellers, please?

What makes the gem exchange so different from the TP, other than the fact that it is a source of revenue for Anet? Not that I’m ‘implying’ anything. Why are gems sold in a different way than everything else?

1) pretty much agree
2) don’t agree……since they have the rng tied to rl cash expenditures..it’s just as bad as playing the lotto or at casino…it was once a signature of the game/series that it didn’t include these kinds of things
3) definitely don’t agree…the number one influence on prices is drop rate, which they control….players only settle on prices derived from said drop rate….much like the price of diamonds…. artificially high, not because the merchants make it so, but rather DeBeers etc…makes it so…which is why they aren’t allow on US soil
4) same deal as 3…..they are the ones with the most influence…..they create demand via additions…while I agree the players do play a role in it….it’s plainly obvious that the additions alter the demand
5) it’s pretty easy to see that casual/new players are being left on the side of the road in many aspects of the game…..from empty open worlds, no proper lfg tool (ig), inflation, etc all have effecst that only widen the gap between the haves and the have nots
6)I agree sorta……festival content should be accessible to everyone….specially when an achievement is tied to it….as I have noted b4 most players clamoring for harder content don’t actually want harder content alone…they only want it if tied to exclusive rewards…if harder content is available w/o exclusive rewards then by all means add tons of it, but I highly doubt that would please those that want it
7) the only reason this is a iffy topic is b/c ip laws are still in infancy…things will change with time to what consumers have rights to and what ip holders have rights to
8)just a personal note here…. I could care less bout the karka compensation…I’d much much rather have compensation for the lack of wvw bonuses for over 1k hours…it makes the karaka deal look like a joke in comparison

Essence Snow.3194:

1) pretty much agree
2) don’t agree……since they have the rng tied to rl cash expenditures..it’s just as bad as playing the lotto or at casino…it was once a signature of the game/series that it didn’t include these kinds of things
3) definitely don’t agree…the number one influence on prices is drop rate, which they control….players only settle on prices derived from said drop rate….much like the price of diamonds…. artificially high, not because the merchants make it so, but rather DeBeers etc…makes it so…which is why they aren’t allow on US soil
4) same deal as 3…..they are the ones with the most influence…..they create demand via additions…while I agree the players do play a role in it….it’s plainly obvious that the additions alter the demand
5) it’s pretty easy to see that casual/new players are being left on the side of the road in many aspects of the game…..from empty open worlds, no proper lfg tool (ig), inflation, etc all have effecst that only widen the gap between the haves and the have nots
6)I agree sorta……festival content should be accessible to everyone….specially when an achievement is tied to it….as I have noted b4 most players clamoring for harder content don’t actually want harder content alone…they only want it if tied to exclusive rewards…if harder content is available w/o exclusive rewards then by all means add tons of it, but I highly doubt that would please those that want it
7) the only reason this is a iffy topic is b/c ip laws are still in infancy…things will change with time to what consumers have rights to and what ip holders have rights to
8)just a personal note here…. I could care less bout the karka compensation…I’d much much rather have compensation for the lack of wvw bonuses for over 1k hours…it makes the karaka deal look like a joke in comparison

While we can agree to disagreeing, I’d like to respond to a couple of things (in no particular order).

The #7 point can be iffy if the company doesn’t do a good job with their EULA and ToS. Perhaps in the future, people will be able to sell their accounts off to someone else, but bottom line is all virtual items is property of the game company. This would be more like selling the rights to access the virtual items via the account in question.

RNG – What you’re mentioning with #2 is using $$$ to buy Gems, then buying presents with Gems. That’s only a part of the whole picture. I was referring to RNG as a means to determine rarity. Without RNG, there’d be no rare item, as everything would have a specific guaranteed drop (i.e. Kill the Mega Rat and get a Twilight). And if someone makes the argument that a “rare” item could just be a pure shop item, that would open a whole different can of worms.

As for the TP, Anet does control the drop rates. But it’s us players collectively who determine the price of each item. The more the player base wants something rare, the price will increase. Part of that increase in price is because there are those who stockpile them, thus lowering the overall Supply available on the TP. If I were to unload my stack of Charged Lodestones all at once, for a much lower price than what’s listed, I could send the market into a temporary fit. But over time, the market will correct itself, and prices will rise or fall accordingly. And when Anet releases new content, the demand for said content is still determined by us players.