Guild Wars 2

I’m new to GW2 and the forums, so I apologize if my ideas are unoriginal, terrible or have already been brought up.

I’m not a programmer, so I don’t know how difficult these suggestions would be to implement. I’m a writer with a background in marketing and advertising, so my suggestions may or may not be helpful in the context of ArenaNet’s business model.

I know people have suggested some of these things as a free option to be added to the game later, but if that’s not feasible given time/financial constraints, this could be an opportunity to give players what they want while generating revenue to justify it.

1. Hairstyles. You can either sell these in packages of 2 or 3 or individually. Players will have a chance to try it on their character in the Preview screen before purchasing.

Hairstyle packages can be sorted according to race & gender and each new hairstyle can be applied to one character. If this proves to be popular, you can release special hairstyles tied to events or special times of year. You could also have rare hairstyles that are available for a very short period of time (see #2 for details).

2. Unique, limited-time mounts not bound to a special holiday that come out at random for a few hours or a day and then disappear for an undisclosed, indefinite amount of time (no speed boost, purely for vanity). You could make them unique to a certain race (ie: a golem for Asura) or available to all races. My reasoning behind the limited time “one day only” offer is that it will encourage players to log in more frequently to check the store for rare sale items and to play.

3. Special gems that enhance the appearance of existing items/gear. If they’re one-time use, you could sell them in packages with random appearance alterations (with the chance to get a really super-rare one that looks awesome). Some possible examples:

A. Jewelcrafting stones/runes/etc. that, when added to a weapon, give that weapon a cool glow or animation (ie: fiery glow, frosty glow, a green trail of leaves) as well as a rare chance of giving the weapon a trait that grants it exotic/legendary status.

B. Jewelcrafting stones/runes/etc, that, when added to certain armour pieces, adds an animation or glow (some ideas: super-rare ghostly wings to the back of a chest piece, a glowing belt, a vanity animation ability similar to the melting witch costume, a stone that converts your head piece to a glowing halo, etc.). Again, it would have a chance of giving the armour piece a special trait that upgrades its rarity.

4. A low-medium price point (ie: 25-150 gems) mystery lottery box that gives players the guarantee of getting a minimum number of useful items (ie: karma potion, mystic coins, resurrection stones, Black Lion chest keys, etc.) with a rare to extremely rare chance of getting the following:

A. Varying amounts of gold (1 to 50 gold). This would have to be rare so the economy won’t be adversely affected.
B. 500-1000 gems (this would have to be an extremely rare drop to maintain the integrity of GW2’s gem-based/non-subscription business structure).
C. Pirate outfit or some kind of unique skin or fashion item.
D. Minis.
E. Extra character slot, bank slot, bag slot.
F. Makeover kit.

Think of the above as a lottery ticket with a low chance of getting the really good stuff but still providing players with the excitement of having the CHANCE to get rare items, in addition to giving them items that are useful and give them value for their money (even if they don’t win a bonus item).

Anyway, I don’t know if these ideas are good or bad or even doable, I was just thinking of items I’d buy with gems if they were available.

Bad ideas, nothing new. Mounts forget them.

Thank you for your articulate and highly detailed opinion. I’ve bought virtual items from various games in the past – and the items I’m most likely to purchase are those that allow me to personalize my avatar’s appearance in a unique way, which is why I suggested the items I did. The items I listed may not be great ideas, but the marketing concepts behind them could work to ArenaNet’s advantage.

ArenaNet could start having random, unannounced Gem Store “events” – sell limited-edition, exclusive items (minis, toys, costumes, skins, hairstyles, appearance enhancers, vanity mounts) for a few hours, a few days or a few weeks (the amount of time it would be on the Gem Store would also be random) – and then either never list the item again or list it on unannounced, random and rare occasions. It would motivate players to keep checking the Gem Store for new items, especially if they missed out on a really cool one from a previous store event. As well, ArenaNet would be able to charge more for these items because perceived rarity increases an item’s perceived value.

There are extremely rare vanity pets from another MMO that are selling on eBay for $850-$2500. Though that’s an extreme example, it shows that people will pay an exorbitant amount of money for exclusive/rare virtual items.

I’d pay 1500-2000 gems to have a stone that would allow me to continually apply ghostly wings and a matching halo onto my Guardian’s gear….or bony, demonic wings with horns, skeletal boots and an evil aura around my Necromancer. As long as it’s permanent to that character, even when I change my gear.

What would be really cool – if they sold musical instruments, and if you came across another player that had one, you could jam together…you could have in-game bands. LOL! Weird idea, but I’d totally love that and would pay good money for that.