Guild Wars 2

How would you feel about it?

Personally I don’t like the items that are currently in the gem store. It seems like everything that I need to work toward to is sold for gems. For example: there are no new armors to work on, but there is a way to just buy them with real money… That doesn’t feel right to me. I also don’t feel good about just buying things that I suppose to earn by playing. It would be a lot more fun to earn phalanx armor by playing Tower of Nightmares then farming gold in CoF to get it.

Also… It always felt good paying for gw1 expansions… And expansions sounds more like new professions/races/crafting disciplines to me. And less like: new picks/scythes/axes or an instant skin access.

I’d dislike it. Not because of an unwillingness to pay for these features – because I would definitely pay good money for them – but rather for the sheer unexciting nature of it. New races and/or professions should be introduced through lore.

That said, I would have no problems paying for bonus story missions that unlocked these things. That would integrate them more smoothly while making you feel as though you’ve earned your profession or race. No different from an expansion in that regard.

That the way of the future for GW2. Anet need to make money! With no expansion and decline in box sales, how will the developers pay the bills?!

With all the new AAA mmos coming on 2nd half of this year, Anet need to milk as much as they can before the players base drop significantly. Be prepare for a significant increase in Gems store items.

Cloudwalkernz.1328:

That the way of the future for GW2. Anet need to make money! With no expansion and decline in box sales, how will the developers pay the bills?!

With all the new AAA mmos coming on 2nd half of this year, Anet need to milk as much as they can before the players base drop significantly. Be prepare for a significant increase in Gems store items.

I don’t know if GW2 has anything to fear from these so-called AAA titles. WS is nothing special. TESO already has a bad rap with the MMO community. The only real competition is EQN, and judging by their gameplay videos, they have some serious work to do if they want to produce a half decent combat system.

It’s how I want them to do it, since they don’t want to make traditional expansions.

They need money and things to advertise, and new races and classes are expansion material.

new professions and races in the gem store? …that may be the one thing that could kill GW2 for me beyond any hope of revival.

and i say that as someone who has spent a good deal of rl money on gems

The title need a tag [How to kill GW2].
Gemstore must exclusively provide skins and out fight bonuses.

Kulvar.1239:

The title need a tag [How to kill GW2].
Gemstore must exclusively provide skins and out fight bonuses.

Why is it okay for other games to charge you 60$ for an expansion that includes a new race or class, but GWII is not allowed to sell those things seperately?

Naus the Gobbo.5172:

Kulvar.1239:

The title need a tag [How to kill GW2].
Gemstore must exclusively provide skins and out fight bonuses.

Why is it okay for other games to charge you 60$ for an expansion that includes a new race or class, but GWII is not allowed to sell those things seperately?

Because expansions contains alot more than just new characters?

knives.6345:

Naus the Gobbo.5172:

Kulvar.1239:

The title need a tag [How to kill GW2].
Gemstore must exclusively provide skins and out fight bonuses.

Why is it okay for other games to charge you 60$ for an expansion that includes a new race or class, but GWII is not allowed to sell those things seperately?

Because expansions contains alot more than just new characters?

Like what? New dungeons? We did get a few without paying anything!

It will never happen-
whether you like the gem store or not, it is for cosmetic and fluff items only- as it should be.
New content will be added to the game in due time and it will not be through the store.

Kulvar.1239:

The title need a tag [How to kill GW2].
Gemstore must exclusively provide skins and out fight bonuses.

So what is the PvE going to be about? Skins are already gem store exclusive. Stuff like new back pieces or minis are not enough to make people interested in new content.

And new professions are NOT something that you need! It was far worse to not have some profession in Gw1 since you need it there for your secondary. But its different here. You don’t need a new profession to keep playing the one you already have.

Morrigan.2809:

It will never happen-
whether you like the gem store or not, it is for cosmetic and fluff items only- as it should be.
New content will be added to the game in due time and it will not be through the store.

How do you know?

Naus the Gobbo.5172:

Why is it okay for other games to charge you 60$ for an expansion that includes a new race or class, but GWII is not allowed to sell those things seperately?

Not the same paradigm.

• In gemstore it feel like : Hey ! If you pay more than the other you will have a better class ! Let the ugly tasteless classes to the others and pick this shining one, you deserve it !
• In expansion it feel like : During the last two years we have developed new content and improvement for some game mechanisms.

Morrigan.2809:

It will never happen-
whether you like the gem store or not, it is for cosmetic and fluff items only- as it should be.
New content will be added to the game in due time and it will not be through the store.

It might happen like the upgrade you can buy in the gem shop (heroic? can’t remember exact name). Just giving an ingame gold way to get things you can also buy outside the game with real money.

Kulvar.1239:

Naus the Gobbo.5172:

Why is it okay for other games to charge you 60$ for an expansion that includes a new race or class, but GWII is not allowed to sell those things seperately?

Not the same paradigm.

• In gemstore it feel like : Hey ! If you pay more than the other you will have a better class ! Let the ugly tasteless classes to the others and pick this shining one, you deserve it !
• In expansion it feel like : During the last two years we have developed new content and improvement for some game mechanisms.

But isn’t it exactly the same thing anyway?

The only difference I see is that with selling things seperately is that you get to decide what you pay for instead of being forced to pay a certain amount of money, and then get whatever the devs wanted to sell.

Think of it this way:
Expansions can contain new classes, races and maps. But instead of paying for all of it, you simply get to decide which parts you want.

Lets use Mists of Pandaria as example. There is a new race, a new class and a new continent. Maybe I just want a new race and a new continent. Why should I be forced to pay for the development of another class if I didn’t care about that class?

No. At least not just in the Gem Store. Must be available to buy at a regular game store. I am not against gem store being an option for getting them, but it must not be the only way.

HiddenNick.7206:

So what is the PvE going to be about? Skins are already gem store exclusive. Stuff like new back pieces or minis are not enough to make people interested in new content.

And new professions are NOT something that you need! It was far worse to not have some profession in Gw1 since you need it there for your secondary. But its different here. You don’t need a new profession to keep playing the one you already have.

The PvE is about defeating threats, learn about the story, collect materials to make better armors and weapons.

Professions are not a fashion only thing. It have his own mechanism. If a new profession appeared, some players will take it because of the gamestyle. It can cause balancing issues, profession denial…

Yargesh.4965:

Morrigan.2809:

It will never happen-
whether you like the gem store or not, it is for cosmetic and fluff items only- as it should be.
New content will be added to the game in due time and it will not be through the store.

It might happen like the upgrade you can buy in the gem shop (heroic? can’t remember exact name). Just giving an ingame gold way to get things you can also buy outside the game with real money.

The upgrade in the store is just that an upgrade that also only gives you some fluff and cosmetic items.

I know the whole expansion topic is much debated on this forum but Anet said right from the start that they will not release free standing games like in GW because it splits the player base and that they want to build on GW2 until GW3 comes out.

So we will see expansion content- whether it is via living story as small bits, large lumps or however they choose to do it- I very very much doubt that we will pay for the actual content in the store.
If they do release a retail expansion, which I doubt- that is another matter and I would expect that to be in the store in addition to else where.

I do however expect the store to carry new and more diverse things as the new content comes available. I also expect those things to be purely cosmetic/ fluff.

We will never have a buy x class or x skill in the store for gems- I am willing to take bets on that ;P

Morrigan.2809:

Yargesh.4965:

Morrigan.2809:

It will never happen-
whether you like the gem store or not, it is for cosmetic and fluff items only- as it should be.
New content will be added to the game in due time and it will not be through the store.

It might happen like the upgrade you can buy in the gem shop (heroic? can’t remember exact name). Just giving an ingame gold way to get things you can also buy outside the game with real money.

The upgrade in the store is just that an upgrade that also only gives you some fluff and cosmetic items.

I know the whole expansion topic is much debated on this forum but Anet said right from the start that they will not release free standing games like in GW because it splits the player base and that they want to build on GW2 until GW3 comes out.

So we will see expansion content- whether it is via living story as small bits, large lumps or however they choose to do it- I very very much doubt that we will pay for the actual content in the store.
If they do release a retail expansion, which I doubt- that is another matter and I would expect that to be in the store in addition to else where.

I do however expect the store to carry new and more diverse things as the new content comes available. I also expect those things to be purely cosmetic/ fluff.

We will never have a buy x class or x skill in the store for gems- I am willing to take bets on that ;P

I agree, I also think that the store should be fluff. I did not write that the classes/whatever should be exclusive to the store but another option. I don’t know what they have decided to do about the expansion question, they absolutely should have a clear direction by now though. When it comes great, I am sure there will be lots of things people love and hate and will enjoy chewing over for many months before and after release.

I’m not sure we will get new professions & races in the gem store, but what I can see is a gem store item that allows you to change your race or profession, to allow you to change your main to a newly introduced one. Well… maybe that’s more a hope than an expectation. I would love to see new professions and races introduced, but if there is one I think would make a more fun main character, I would want a way to change my main rather than having to go through leveling and gearing up from scratch again.

Naus the Gobbo.5172:

But isn’t it exactly the same thing anyway?

Why should I be forced to pay for the development of another class if I didn’t care about that class?

It’s not the same.
Why do you pay taxes for things you don’t use ?
Because it help to develop and maintain the [city/state/game] attractivity.
Imagine that what you like in the game is like by a minority and Arena.net choose to not spend his money to improve it but other things apprently more profitable or, worst case, they remove the feature of the game to save server capacity. Will you stay or leave revolted ?

If any of these little things stay decaying, people will leave the game. Until the game finally die because of a too little player base.

Separate game content will make this happen. And because what make a game attractive is it’s richness of little things, you can’t do that.

In business it’s called the “long tail”. Especially for virtual content, the long tail is the most benefical support.

Imagine a shop. People buy products many times in quantity (milk, eggs, potatoes…).
It’s 20% of the shop products, but it’s reponsible for 80% of the shop earnings.
It’s statistical, look for Pareto distribution.
So, why the shop don’t sell only these 20% products ? It will save places and storage costs.
If you can’t find toothpaste, toothbrush, papers, pen or glue stick in the shop when needed, will you continue to shop here ? Perhaps you never need pen or glue sticks, but other people will want it. If the shop stop sells of pen and glue sticks, people will go shop somewhere else. There still be this 20% products / 80% earnings. Progressively, the shop will offer less and less products, lose clients and finally bankrupt.

In GW2 case, it’s virtual. No storage cost. It’s only 0 and 1 you can copy at will without any cost of recrafting. So, these 80% of side content making 20% of profit cost nearly nothing in storage, only in making. It’s the long tail from the beginning. It support the 20% things providing 80% of players.

So, let these elements tied in an expansion pack.

New classes will never EVER be in the gem store.

If anything new classes would come as living world content patches or with an expansion.

Only possibility I see is an expansion (with classes/races included) being purchased through the gem store, but very very unlikely. For one, I’m not really tempted to even try an expansion at this point of the game. Might be I get better content for the same worth if I just decide to roll with a new game.

Guys… The real question is:

What would you prefer to find in the gem store:
1. Majority of cosmetic items. Like: all armors, all cool looking weapon skins(really distinguishing from others) and other relevant rewards(like infinite picks) – pretty much the way it is now.
2. New career options for your characters in the gem store. But all cosmetic rewards would be back in the game world. Absolutely opposite of what’s currently going with the gem store.

There is no third way here… Or I don’t see it.

I would prefer cosmetic items, fluff and toys in the store.

I also don’t agree with you that all the best armor and weapons skins are in the store- I have actually only ever bought Kasmeer’s staff for example.

Infinite tools are a convenience and I do have them- I bought them so that i don’t have to carry tools around. They are not a reward by any means

The majority of cosmetic items have always been in the game

New story and area content is needed before anything else.

Naus the Gobbo.5172:

Kulvar.1239:

The title need a tag [How to kill GW2].
Gemstore must exclusively provide skins and out fight bonuses.

Why is it okay for other games to charge you 60$ for an expansion that includes a new race or class, but GWII is not allowed to sell those things seperately?

There are a few reasons, actually:

First, there’s generally an expectation that anyone who’s serious about a game will buy the expansions (major ones, at least) – if there’s one thing in the expansion they won’t benefit from, there’s usually enough in the expansion that there’s something they will like. Generally an expansion for an RPG will involve a large chunk of new content for existing characters as well as any new character options like races or classes, and most serious players will want the content regardless – the new character options are an added bonus.

Second, as an observation, generally speaking stuff bundled together in an expansion generally comes to less than buying individual items in a cash shop. Think about all the new armours in Eye of the North alone, for instance, and how much it would cost to buy that many skins from the gem shop under the GW2 system… and that’s without considering everything else an expansion provides. This is probably partly because a lot of stuff in an expansion is, to a greater or lesser extent, “tail” – person A may like X and Y while person B prefers Y and Z and both may be willing to pay, say, $15 for each feature – separately, the company might feel they can get away with charging $15 for each feature, but as an expansion they’d only get away with charging $30 and both players would get a feature packaged in for free. Basically, expansions generally end up as a better deal than getting the same material through microtransactions, sometimes by a significant margin.

Thirdly, buying new character options such as classes through microtransactions is something that has a bad taste in many people’s mouths, as free-to-play MMOs (as opposed to GW2, which is still technically buy-to-play) have traditionally used deliberately overpowered cash shop classes as a revenue generator. ArenaNet putting professions in the gem shop may not deliberately do this – but let’s face it, balance will never be 100% perfect, and if it goes on the “too powerful” side, people will complain that it’s a case of the above, and if they overcompensate the other way, people will complain that they’ve paid real money for a junk profession. Balthazar help them if it starts out overpowered and then gets nerfed… (Expansions get a pass on this because of the first point – the expectation that everyone who’s serious about the game will get the expansions regardless.)

Ok, I must say I’m a little mad about this thread. Because what I considered an interesting discussion was moved to suggestions sub-forum and died.

I don’t how in the world asking about something can be a suggestion?!