Guild Wars 2

Scarlet’s Spaulders and Scarlet’s Grasp are now in the gemstore for 400 gems each. They go well with the helm (Scarlet’s Veil) from the living world achievements

Scarlet’s Spaulders – [&AgG4vgAA] – 400 gems

Scarlet’s Grasp – [&AgGxvgAA] – 400 gems

Each of them got 4 dye slots.

Here are some pics: http://dulfy.net/2014/03/11/gw2-scarlets-spaulders-skin-in-gemstore/

A pity because i love that crystalline look. But can we PLEASE stop adding spikes to things? We end up looking like psychopunks with spikes coming out of everywhere.

It even looks techie, but floating spikes. Tsk. It is SWTOR all over again.

400 a piece, that was a bit greedy of anets imo. Would loved to have seen a 600gem pack for both, nevertheless i bought both of em to show support to anet’s living story. Even tho it will just count to their more future sales of these kind of prices.

And then add some Magitech armor to the mix and presto, you’re Scarlet

Must have!

Taras.4578:

400 a piece, that was a bit greedy of anets imo. Would loved to have seen a 600gem pack for both, nevertheless i bought both of em to show support to anet’s living story. Even tho it will just count to their more future sales of these kind of prices.

I know, it’s a shame that you can’t buy these with in-game gold

OH WA-

Vol.7601:

Taras.4578:

400 a piece, that was a bit greedy of anets imo. Would loved to have seen a 600gem pack for both, nevertheless i bought both of em to show support to anet’s living story. Even tho it will just count to their more future sales of these kind of prices.

I know, it’s a shame that you can’t buy these with in-game gold

OH WA-

The gold to gem thing was a genius move on ANet’s part because, despite the fact that the gold to gem ratio is huge, making it out of most players reach, it allows for arguments both ways no matter what you do:

1) This stuff in the gem store is overpriced!
But you can use in game gold, so its free.

2) This sale just meant the gem price went up!
The sale isn’t for you, its for people paying real cash.

So, the gems are too expensive for most players to buy with gold, you can’t complain that the stuff in the store is overpriced because its technically free, and if you complain that sales don’t benefit gold users then you don’t even count! Win, win, win!

This isn’t a criticism of ANet as such though, its a community thing. I wish we could just drop the gold-gem relationship entirely from discussions over pricing.

On that note, while 400 gems a piece isn’t the worst value for money we’ve seen in the gem store lately, does anyone else think that giving away one part of a set as the reward for the living story, then selling the other two matching pieces on the gem store is a bit shady?

Okay so they are seriously selling them at 400 gems each? So 800 for both.. for 2 pieces of armor… when other full set are 800?
The gemstore gets worse every single time. I’m really fed up. (I have spent lots of money in it too)

Also have you seen the kitten conversion rate? It costs a ton of gold to buy it and these are probably only on for a limited time. I don’t have time to gather enough gold to purchase them. Being able to buy stuff with gold is no longer an excuse, they keep pushing the limits with what they add. I and others are really fed up with these practices.

Vol.7601:

Taras.4578:

400 a piece, that was a bit greedy of anets imo. Would loved to have seen a 600gem pack for both, nevertheless i bought both of em to show support to anet’s living story. Even tho it will just count to their more future sales of these kind of prices.

I know, it’s a shame that you can’t buy these with in-game gold

OH WA-

It’s a shame this doesn’t matter in the least when considering the blatant inconsistency of their pricing schemes, which inexorably leads to ‘overpriced’ / ‘underpriced’ discussions like these.

Saw this coming a mile away once I saw Scarlet’s boss model and the model her “armored” mini uses.

I actually really like the shoulders and gloves (I have a Guardian who has a crystal theme, and although thus far its only extended to weapons, it’d be interesting to do some crystal armor as well), but I’m still not sure if they’re worth 400 each. Guess I’ll have to give it some thought.

Imagine what this game would be like if ANet didn’t spend so much time implementing new additions to the Gem Store.

When this game was in development, I was under the impression that the Gem Store would have additional cosmetic items rather than a monopoly on them.

Flytrap.8075:

Imagine what this game would be like if ANet didn’t spend so much time implementing new additions to the Gem Store.

When this game was in development, I was under the impression that the Gem Store would have additional cosmetic items rather than a monopoly on them.

Items added to the gem store amount to ANet doing a “bake sale” to raise funds to support the game’s development.

So I imagine if there were no additions to the gem store the game would be far short of what it is today.

No, they are over priced no matter which way you look at it.

It you bought the gems with cash it comes out to about $1.68 per piece for the 800 gem armor sets. For the scarlet gear its $5.00 per piece. That’s is a 298.5% mark up.

While you can exchange gold for gems how long would it take to get enough for 800 gems? I find grinding extremely boring would likely quit the game taking this path.

So you either spend too much money or too much time. Either way these thing are way too expensive.

Meh. Too expensive. Not buying.

Everyone cries about the gem store. Its all a look. Luckily these items do not have stats. Now that would be something to cry about. I love the gem store busness model. Way better than paying $15 a month subscription fee for the priveledge to play the game I already purchased!! Now that is something to cry about.

I’m not buying them because it’s too expensive for what it is (just 2 pieces). I think the helm looks better than these two, so ty for making that free.

Not everyone who thinks/says this is crying/whatever about it. A lot of it is just feedback.

RavenRecoil.6103:

Everyone cries about the gem store. Its all a look. Luckily these items do not have stats. Now that would be something to cry about. I love the gem store busness model. Way better than paying $15 a month subscription fee for the priveledge to play the game I already purchased!! Now that is something to cry about.

I would much rather pay $15 a month and have all the content in the store available to us by actually playing the game. There’s a difference between some minor cosmetics being put in the gem store, and 75% of all content (including all entirely new armor sets except ascended, as well as large sets of GW1 and other weapons). If it were just town clothes in the store, that’d be great. Unfortunately it seems we’re forever cursed to have everything worthwhile placed up on the Wal-Mart shelves. GW2 is becoming less about being a heroic adventurer and more about being a heroic consumer. It seems like, at this point, only a paid box expansion will save us from the awful reality that all armor sets and good weapon selections are in the gem store.

RavenRecoil.6103:

Everyone cries about the gem store. Its all a look. Luckily these items do not have stats. Now that would be something to cry about. I love the gem store busness model. Way better than paying $15 a month subscription fee for the priveledge to play the game I already purchased!! Now that is something to cry about.

Except for 15 dollars a month, all that stuff wouldn’t be in the gem store and we would have it directly available in game.

Instead we have to pay hundreds of dollars to constantly use all those items in the gem store, every time we want to use them. Unlike a AAA game that charges 15 bucks every month, and we get it all for free all the time in game.

So yeah, I’d rather pay 15 bucks a month for access to everything whenever I want it, than pay 10 bucks for one outfit that I can only use once and then have to keep paying 10 bucks every time I want another one.

And OT (so my post doesn’t get deleted for being off-topic), those gloves and shoulders should of been in the game, not the gem store. 800 gems for two pieces of armor is ridiculous, when a full set costs 800 gems already. Those gloves and shoulders, along with the helm, should of all been a reward from doing the story. Not sold in the gem store.

Nobody forces you to buy the stuff in the gemstore. It’s all optional. Nobody is forcing you to pay a cent in order to play this game. If you don’t want to spend money on it, you can even grind the gold needed to buy the gems. So instead of grinding to get tokens or whatever to buy the items, you can grind the gold. Or were you expecting all armour would just readily and freely be available if it wasn’t for the gemstore?

I do agree that in this time the price of the items is a bit hight (400 gems for the whole set would have been more reasonable) but again, I’m not being forced to buy anything so honestly, I don’t really care.

I bought it and I like it.

I guess I will continue to subsidize this game for you non-purchasers

You’re welcome!

The way I see it is there are two different business models.
Option A takes both your time AND your money. You buy the game and then forced to pay 15 bucks a month for the privilege to play the game. AND you also have to put it the time to get the items.

Option B. Time OR money.
I buy the game and then choose to buy a gem card OR put in the time for gold to gem currency exchange.

If I spend 15 bucks a month in Guild wars 2 on gem cards and that is my “subscription fee” I actually get something for my money. I support the devs and receive items. In the other mmo I pay 15 bucks support the devs and do get a thing except the privilege to play. I don’t see why every complains about items in the gem store..

Vol.7601:

I bought it and I like it.

I guess I will continue to subsidize this game for you non-purchasers

You’re welcome!

By doing so you encourage a pricing scheme that actively deters players both from buying gems and playing (and therefore inviting others to play). So in the long run, the game loses money and players.

I’m very happy to support the game, but 500 players buying these at 800 gems is financially the same as 1,000 buying them at 400 because there are no material costs once the design has been made. In the latter case, you get 1,000 happy players who feel they got a good deal, in the former you don’t. Happy players and same money > unhappy players and same money. That’s even assuming that halving the price would only double the buyers, and ignoring other factors like the fact that at 400 gems you’d still need to buy 800, and that more loyal players will buy more things in the long run.

CrashTestAuto.9108:

Vol.7601:

I bought it and I like it.

I guess I will continue to subsidize this game for you non-purchasers

You’re welcome!

By doing so you encourage a pricing scheme that actively deters players both from buying gems and playing (and therefore inviting others to play). So in the long run, the game loses money and players.

I’m very happy to support the game, but 500 players buying these at 800 gems is financially the same as 1,000 buying them at 400 because there are no material costs once the design has been made. In the latter case, you get 1,000 happy players who feel they got a good deal, in the former you don’t. Happy players and same money > unhappy players and same money. That’s even assuming that halving the price would only double the buyers, and ignoring other factors like the fact that at 400 gems you’d still need to buy 800, and that more loyal players will buy more things in the long run.

That’s exactly how I feel, written in words :-D

The more items I purchase that I KNOW is overpriced, the more THAT becomes normalised and expected. Lately I’ve been making a personal stand by only buying things that both 1) I like and 2) are priced fairly – These are priced unfairly, and I may like them, but that won’t matter in the end.

In this particular case, Anet has lost me with this purchase. If it was priced fairly, they would have gained my gems. I may only be 1 customer, but I can only imagine how many others refuse to buy these because of their price.

Same situation with the Name Change Contract – 800 gems for a simple name change? Jeez… that’s more than the price of receiving 2 total makeover kits. I know which one I’d rather choose – just sayin’

Zaoda.1653:

CrashTestAuto.9108:

Vol.7601:

I bought it and I like it.

I guess I will continue to subsidize this game for you non-purchasers

You’re welcome!

By doing so you encourage a pricing scheme that actively deters players both from buying gems and playing (and therefore inviting others to play). So in the long run, the game loses money and players.

I’m very happy to support the game, but 500 players buying these at 800 gems is financially the same as 1,000 buying them at 400 because there are no material costs once the design has been made. In the latter case, you get 1,000 happy players who feel they got a good deal, in the former you don’t. Happy players and same money > unhappy players and same money. That’s even assuming that halving the price would only double the buyers, and ignoring other factors like the fact that at 400 gems you’d still need to buy 800, and that more loyal players will buy more things in the long run.

That’s exactly how I feel, written in words :-D

The more items I purchase that I KNOW is overpriced, the more THAT becomes normalised and expected. Lately I’ve been making a personal stand by only buying things that both 1) I like and 2) are priced fairly – These are priced unfairly, and I may like them, but that won’t matter in the end.

In this particular case, Anet has lost me with this purchase. If it was priced fairly, they would have gained my gems. I may only be 1 customer, but I can only imagine how many others refuse to buy these because of their price.

Same situation with the Name Change Contract – 800 gems for a simple name change? Jeez… that’s more than the price of receiving 2 total makeover kits. I know which one I’d rather choose – just sayin’

The 800g for name change is fully understandable as it literally changes your character identity. As it’s only intended to be used once(unless you like having the attention people mentioning and asking if you’ve changed name).

CrashTestAuto.9108:

Vol.7601:

I bought it and I like it.

I guess I will continue to subsidize this game for you non-purchasers

You’re welcome!

By doing so you encourage a pricing scheme that actively deters players both from buying gems and playing (and therefore inviting others to play). So in the long run, the game loses money and players.

I’m very happy to support the game, but 500 players buying these at 800 gems is financially the same as 1,000 buying them at 400 because there are no material costs once the design has been made. In the latter case, you get 1,000 happy players who feel they got a good deal, in the former you don’t. Happy players and same money > unhappy players and same money. That’s even assuming that halving the price would only double the buyers, and ignoring other factors like the fact that at 400 gems you’d still need to buy 800, and that more loyal players will buy more things in the long run.

I think this is at least the 3rd time they have come out with individual armor pieces for 400 gems. The fact that they keep doing that leads me to believe their sales metrics show satisfactory sales.

If it didn’t work, they wouldn’t be pricing them this low.

Vol.7601:

I think this is at least the 3rd time they have come out with individual armor pieces for 400 gems. The fact that they keep doing that leads me to believe their sales metrics show satisfactory sales.

If it didn’t work, they wouldn’t be pricing them this low.

How would that be calculated? Three lots of armour pieces, none of which can be compared with how they’d have sold cheaper, and with no related cheaper armour pieces to compare sales to (which, even if existent, would be of a different aesthetic so not a valid comparison).

That’s just viewing the problem as a simplistic (sell A amount at B, compared to C amount at D). Compare that to lost sales through loyalty loss, players leaving, players not being invited to play by happy players, people buying 800 gems for some 400 gem stuff then blowing the other 400 just because its there…

Its a huge set of factors that “Oh we’ve sold well (compared to what?) at this price, so let’s continue” simply can’t account for. Obviously there are some very smart people who work the store, and have the stats. But they need to factor in player dissatisfaction to that equation (because player satisfaction has a serious monetary impact), which is why coming to this forum and voicing that concern is helpful. We’re giving feedback, and expressing our concerns, not just whining pointlessly.

I had to get them for my engineer’s condition/tank set for wvw Now her look matches her build hehe.

I think the price isnt all that bad for the shoulders. If i buy a set its usually for one or two pieces. If i could get that specific piece for half the price of the set it will only help me.

With that said, i think there should be a difference between lets shoulders and gloves. Shoulders are imo far more noticeable and worthy of that 400 gem price. Gloves however should be priced slightly lower. Lets say at 300.