Guild Wars 2

If a person carelessly talks to/clicks through dialogue for Ellyna Graidy (NPC), they might lose 50 silver without knowing what happened and while 50 silver is nothing to some, it can be upsetting for those who are new to the game or barely play

Alternatively, if the person buys that “amazing crafting recipe” for only 5 gold
they will find out it cost 5 spiritwood planks, 30 crystalline dust and a bloodstone brick to craft which means if they do not buy spiritwood, it would take 5 days to craft
but hey, it can be used by guilds and other folks nearby for extra condition damage and +10 exp per kill so totally worth it right? or maybe it’s a complete rip off and this NPC is just another greedy insert bad word here

Sources
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Tuning_Crystal_Station
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ellyna_Graidy

Urmaug (Ogre Merchant in Lonars Pass) is another NPC (there’s 1 more I believe)
50 freaking silver for a 1 hour food buff
it’s bad enough having to waypoint/teleport all over the place to craft and use mystic forge, time gated ascended material crafting if not looking to buy off trade broker, the absurd amounts of materials needed for this and that, limitations of the halo/horn reward, insert additional randomly generated complaints here

Note: I am aware these items are optional, the buff is optional, players can easily pretend these NPCs do not exist, and anyone who had the misfortune of paying 50 silver for a lame food buff deserved it for whatever reason…
Guess that means I’m complaining just to complain

Hour and a half buff :p

I’m not really upset by the 50s purchase, the text explains that you’ll be buying a “statue” and it lets you know the price before you agree to it.

The recipe for these though are a joke. The things needed to make this buff would cost you around 25g (and thats a low estimate) and are no better that the other buffs out there. The only people I can see these being beneficial to are the Tequatl/Wurm slayer groups, but then tbh it’d probably work out cheaper to buy each person in the map an individual buff.

I’ll never understand why people click without reading… one of these days Anet should put a trapt text to donate all your money if you accept. I bet someone is stupid enough to click without reading…

ShibVicious.9681:

…but then tbh it’d probably work out cheaper to buy each person in the map an individual buff.

Someone did the math on the forums somewhere (maybe the crafting sub-forum)…

You could craft better food for everyone within a map for less money than the recipe costs.

But then again, ArenaNet doesn’t really seem to consider actual crafting costs before they implement anything.

I have to agree. I got the recipes out of completionist compulsion and the expectation that these would be comparable to food trays – for 10 food items, you create a station that can be used by the entire map for 5 minutes.

The one saving grace of the NPC stations is that, for 50 silver, you purchase the station for anyone else in the map to use. I have bought those and benefited from other people doing the same, but if they don’t bring the crafting cost in line with food trays, I won’t be making them myself unless they turn out to be usable in the forge.

It’s your fault if you mindlessly click through everything.

Wow that’s incredibly lame, I honestly had no idea it cost that much. And no I haven’t mindlessly been clicking through dialogues the “cost” section is presented differently than any other dialogue box that deducts money so it’s very easy to miss when you’re used to the response option having a (cost) parenthetical on it.

ShibVicious.9681:

I’m not really upset by the 50s purchase, the text explains that you’ll be buying a “statue” and it lets you know the price before you agree to it.

I did read the text completely and carefully. It’s not clear at all that you’re buying something you can’t take with you, or that you can get an identical bonus for yourself at a fraction of the price. Sure, it’s nice that other people can use it as well, but there’s no indication at all that it’s something like that.

When an NPC that seems grateful that I just saved its bacon offers me something special, I tend to expect a reward, not being ripped off. But hey, when it happened to me I was talking to Evon Gnashblade, so I guess I should’ve known better than to trust that kitten.