Guild Wars 2

As of now it is 22ish gold for this item, which is an exorbitant amount of gold for most. I understand there is a cool factor to this item with its effects, but it is still exorbitant. For something this expensive, it would stand to reason that the item be Account bound instead of Soul bound. The cool factor did play in a role in my decision to buy the item, however the extinguishing of a money sink is a main selling point.

How come everyone on these forums always assume that the prices should be based on the cost for converting gold to gems?

The gold to gem transfer rate is completely irrelevant when it comes to pricing stuff in the gem-store, since ArenaNet want people to buy the gems directly to buy stuff, not get it for free with gold.

You are right that the gold to gem transfers are not their main goal, but the cash cost is also high for an in-game item.

Kwishin.5124:

You are right that the gold to gem transfers are not their main goal, but the cash cost is also high for an in-game item.

Why?
I for one find it to be rather fairly priced.
10 euros in order to never have to worry about not having a pick ready.

It is a permanent convenience item after all, it should be somewhat “expensive”.

Kwishin.5124:

You are right that the gold to gem transfers are not their main goal, but the cash cost is also high for an in-game item.

So what if it’s high? It’s not a required item, and you have a perfectly reasonable and cheaper alternative in game. The only people who will buy this are those who want convenience. And it’s not exactly convenient when you spend the time putting it in the bank and then equipping your alt each time.

Seriously, first people moan about high-demand items that can only be acquired through RNG.

Well now they give you something that is guaranteed (imagine the kittenstorm if this was included in BLTC chests?)

Yet we still have complaints.

Next we’re gonna have complaints that this 800-gem pick-axe doesn’t give you extra chances at mats.

It also has a fantastic animation when mining and makes picking up copper with 80th level characters completely guilt-free. Zero harvesting overhead.

3 of my character have them already and I expect to buy several more.

lordkrall.7241:

Kwishin.5124:

You are right that the gold to gem transfers are not their main goal, but the cash cost is also high for an in-game item.

Why?
I for one find it to be rather fairly priced.
10 euros in order to never have to worry about not having a pick ready.

It is a permanent convenience item after all, it should be somewhat “expensive”.

I believe the price point would be fine, if a player uses only the toon with the pickaxe. However, if the player creates alts, then that would make the expense that much more. One of the biggest convenience factors, would come from leveling a toon with the axe. I find having to buy all the various pickaxes tedious as I go from zone to zone.

this is a convenience item, and I feel that the cost should yield just a little bit more. I am not asking for a huge decrease of price or anything dramatic, just that other toons can use the convenience item.

Nike.2631:

It also has a fantastic animation when mining and makes picking up copper with 80th level characters completely guilt-free. Zero harvesting overhead.

3 of my character have them already and I expect to buy several more.

haha I thought I was the only one. I never liked wasting gathering tools on lower lvl nodes even though the loss is probably a few copper

Nike.2631:

It also has a fantastic animation when mining and makes picking up copper with 80th level characters completely guilt-free. Zero harvesting overhead.

3 of my character have them already and I expect to buy several more.

I agree completely that the animation is awesome, that is one of the main reasons I bought it. I hope they put out a sickle and axe version later, as well as make them Acount bound :P

Vol.5241:

Kwishin.5124:

You are right that the gold to gem transfers are not their main goal, but the cash cost is also high for an in-game item.

So what if it’s high? It’s not a required item, and you have a perfectly reasonable and cheaper alternative in game. The only people who will buy this are those who want convenience. And it’s not exactly convenient when you spend the time putting it in the bank and then equipping your alt each time.

Seriously, first people moan about high-demand items that can only be acquired through RNG.

Well now they give you something that is guaranteed (imagine the kittenstorm if this was included in BLTC chests?)

Yet we still have complaints.

Next we’re gonna have complaints that this 800-gem pick-axe doesn’t give you extra chances at mats.

You are right about the having to put it in the bank to switch between your toons, but what about lvl alts?

I completely agree with the OP, but because of the cost in actual money. For $10, it should be account bound, not character bound.
I was about to purchase the item, but right before I did so I noticed that it soulbinds on use. That changed it from a pricey convenience item to completely worthless to me. I swap around between several characters (I can not log in for a day’s worth of playtime and not have actually played at least 3 characters by the time I log off), but to be able to outfit them all with this convenience would instead of $10 (and even more frequent bank-trips than I already make) become $50+. I’m not dumping $50 into this sort of thing – $10 was pushing it in the first place.

The price seems absolutely fine for an item that is unlimited.. I only use one character to mine/gather anyway. 800 gems for a pickaxe that will save me hundreds of gold through the time I play seems pretty fine to me. And it is the highest tier pickaxe as well, idk what else you could ask for. Account bound? No thanks, it is an infinite item, how often do you get that kind of item in game? $10 for an unlimited item, pfft $10 bucks can’t even buy me a pizza, or a video game, or a fast food meal anymore. Enjoy it while it lasts.

A year from now people will be in game wishing there was a permanent version of the pickaxe that didn’t cost karma or gold to buy every time. And we will refer them to this moment and they will say “Well crap that’s not fair, you all got such an amazing item and we are out of luck..” The only thing better I can think of would be a BL Salvage kit with unlimited uses, now that would be OP lol. And guaranteed I’d spend almost any amount to get it because I would make my money back so very fast :P But of course that would be game breakingly bad heh. Thanks Anet for the awesome item, the dyes on the other hand.. no luck yet.

I agree if this item was account bound it would be an instant buy for me. But because it is a soulbound item I am doubting if it’s worth the money.

Qwerty Azerty.1790:

I agree if this item was account bound it would be an instant buy for me. But because it is a soulbound item I am doubting if it’s worth the money.

Same here.
It’s definitely not worth it as it stands right now.

But… Anyone has any vídeos using it? If it’s THAT cool, who knows…

Also can we get an ice version that freezes and shatters the node :P

The gathering item would have to be different, because you don’t want to run around burning down plants.. Maybe an ice gathering tool that fresh freezes the plant lols

Dan.8709:

Qwerty Azerty.1790:

I agree if this item was account bound it would be an instant buy for me. But because it is a soulbound item I am doubting if it’s worth the money.

Same here.
It’s definitely not worth it as it stands right now.

But… Anyone has any vídeos using it? If it’s THAT cool, who knows…

Vid should be ready in a minute, and in HD a few after.

soulbound definitely made it any iffy purchase for me.
but just that wouldn’t of made me not want to buy it. it’s not a convenience in my opinion. sure, you don’t have to worry about ever having mining picks again, but that not worrying will make you not worry about axes or sickles. so you’ll end up not being able to harvest those from time to time. If all 3 tools were released, I’d be much more inclined to buy.
if all 3 tools were released and account bound instead of soulbound, I’d drive home from work right now and buy 2 complete sets.

I have too many characters to spend $10 on an item that only one of them can use. I’m tempted, but I know I’d regret it the minute I equipped it

2nd it as an account bound item please! for those who have not yet bought it and for those of us who have bought one

By making it account bound your essentially making hundreds of thousands of people never have to use a (part) of a money sink. There would be every account would probably get one, thus making the gold purchasable ones totally pointless other than to those who missed out or didn’t buy. Soulbound makes it so it doesn’t remove a part of a gold sink that is necessary in balancing the economy. Say all 3 are added, and they are all account bound? You just make those NPC’s and their gathering tools entirely useless. Granted the change won’t be seen right away, but overtime it will effect the economy in some way. But come on.. it is $10… Gas costs me $75 to fill my tank, $10 is nothing for a cool addon.

1. It has an awesome unique animation.
2. It is UNLIMITED.
3. It costs less (through gems) than a large pizza at any restaurant near me. Pizza or mining pick.. decisions decisions…

It’s a no brainer for me.

I get about 18g per day so I can pay this off in a day and a half.

Vol.5241:

It’s a no brainer for me.

I get about 18g per day so I can pay this off in a day and a half.

Agreed ^^ That is if I did the gold > gem, which I don’t, but still.

Geotherma.2395:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XOMg_iXiXU

Vid should be ready in a minute, and in HD a few after.

Thanks a bunch! It looks pretty sweet indeed, but that just made me wonder which other cool effects they could make q_q I believe I will end up buying anyway

+1.

Account-bound = instant buy for me. Soul-bound = no go.

Dan.8709:

Geotherma.2395:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XOMg_iXiXU

Vid should be ready in a minute, and in HD a few after.

Thanks a bunch! It looks pretty sweet indeed, but that just made me wonder which other cool effects they could make q_q I believe I will end up buying anyway

I’m hoping for shattering ice animation heh at least for picks. As for harvesting-gathering tool, ice something-or-other would probably be better. Axe, hmm fire again would not be logically good lol But maybe after you chop it down the chopped part shatters :P

Bought and cheerfully equipped my fouth one (I have 14 slots). I’ll give it a week before deciding if any of my lower level alts need to never have to buy picks.

I just don’t expect them to let me plug even a minor gold drain forever, account wide for 10$.

lordkrall.7241:

The gold to gem transfer rate is completely irrelevant when it comes to pricing stuff in the gem-store, since ArenaNet want people to buy the gems directly to buy stuff, not get it for free with gold.

The gold to gem price is extremely relevant when it comes to pricing items in the gem store, especially an item like this. There is no way that I spend $10 on this item, but cashing out 20 gold worth of gems? I didn’t hesitate. As far as A.Net’s bottom line is concerned, my ‘gold purchase’ was just as good as a cash sale – because it enabled someone else to spend $10 on gold at a rate that drove that sale.

I’d argue that the uberpick is an item that targets players with more gold than dollars more than the usual gem store item. Looking at the gold cost, then, is extremely relevant, because A.Net is going to make its money off the ensuring gem to gold purchases, and the more players it can compel to sell gold for gems, the better they’ll do.

So yeah, I couldn’t resist, bough it hahahah. Enjoying it very much.

The soulbound looks unappealing but having the Mystic Forge Conduit tells me this is mostly irrelevant … unless you also happen to have a Permanent Bank access on every character that is going to use this.

This definitely is a convenience item if you are converting gold to buy, at least right now. I will have to mine every ori node in frostgorge and cursed every day for over 6 years before I see any savings in gold from having this(compared to a regular ori pick). I know there are more ori nodes but getting those as well just increases the amount of time I have to spend doing something other than how I normally play.

I agree, totally worth the price for an unlimited item. However, being soul bound makes it a no buy for me. If they changed it to account bound I would pick it up for sure.

Taking from Character bound to account bound is making a bad ideal into a worse idea. This item removes a gold sink from the game, and therefor affecting the economy in a negative way.

Yes you can spend 22 g to convert it ( i think that is what i read earlier)and that is a gold sink now, but others will spend real money to get it.

Turning it into an account bound item would do a lot more harm, then the convenience that it would provide.

BTW i think the item is really cool, just a poor idea. make it limited usage, ie 500, and make it a lot cheaper.

Nike.2631:

It also has a fantastic animation when mining and makes picking up copper with 80th level characters completely guilt-free. Zero harvesting overhead.

3 of my character have them already and I expect to buy several more.

it IS wicked looking! When i bought it I just expected a pick that wouldnt break for my own convenience and like you said, guilt free to mine the lower stuff (i’d often skip them to not waste my oric pick).

Geotherma.2395:

…
I’m hoping for shattering ice animation heh at least for picks. As for harvesting-gathering tool, ice something-or-other would probably be better. Axe, hmm fire again would not be logically good lol But maybe after you chop it down the chopped part shatters :P

Actually the way they used to mine way way way back was by heating a surface area by fire and then flooding it with water thus cracking the stone due to the temp. differential.

/Q

aeneq.1760:

Geotherma.2395:

…
I’m hoping for shattering ice animation heh at least for picks. As for harvesting-gathering tool, ice something-or-other would probably be better. Axe, hmm fire again would not be logically good lol But maybe after you chop it down the chopped part shatters :P

Actually the way they used to mine way way way back was by heating a surface area by fire and then flooding it with water thus cracking the stone due to the temp. differential.

/Q

That’s awesome, thank you.

I will just be a kitten like what other ppl did when some one suggested to make wxp account wise:

“No, that will be an absolutely bad idea. It has to be soul bound for each char.”

Kwishin.5124:

As of now it is 22ish gold for this item, which is an exorbitant amount of gold for most. I understand there is a cool factor to this item with its effects, but it is still exorbitant. For something this expensive, it would stand to reason that the item be Account bound instead of Soul bound. The cool factor did play in a role in my decision to buy the item, however the extinguishing of a money sink is a main selling point.

It’s a convenience item like permanent bank contracts etc. I don’t see a point in making them account bound other than cheapening their value.

Nike.2631:

It also has a fantastic animation when mining and makes picking up copper with 80th level characters completely guilt-free. Zero harvesting overhead.

Zero harvesting overhead? You mean other than the cost of 500 orichalcum picks you spent on it, right?

Geotherma.2395:

800 gems for a pickaxe that will save me hundreds of gold through the time I play seems pretty fine to me.

Save you hundreds of gold!?! You must buy an enormous amount of gathering tools! How many do you buy in a given week?

If you buy 10 a week (wow, that’s a lot of mining), it’s going to take an entire year of play to break even. After two years (!) you will have saved 20 gold. It’ll take you 11 years to save hundreds (200) of gold, and that’s if you do spend so much time mining that you actually go through 10 picks a week.

Really, how many do you use in the average week?

Gibson.4036:

Save you hundreds of gold!?! You must buy an enormous amount of gathering tools! How many do you buy in a given week?

If you buy 10 a week (wow, that’s a lot of mining), it’s going to take an entire year of play to break even. After two years (!) you will have saved 20 gold. It’ll take you 11 years to save hundreds (200) of gold, and that’s if you do spend so much time mining that you actually go through 10 picks a week.

Really, how many do you use in the average week?

You are forgetting the fact that you would need to WP in order to buy said picks aswell.

Vol.5241:

haha I thought I was the only one. I never liked wasting gathering tools on lower lvl nodes even though the loss is probably a few copper

Depends on what you count as loss.

Copper ore goes for 8c on the TP, for a profit of 6c. One use of an Ori Pick costs 4c, so you’re still making 2c using one. So you’re not losing any money.

Now, if you switched out to a Copper Pick, it’d only cost .24c/use, so you’d be making 4.26c per ore, so an Ori Pick is losing you 2.26c per ore compared to switching.

lordkrall.7241:

You are forgetting the fact that you would need to WP in order to buy said picks aswell.

Why?

You can get picks all over the place. I always keep an extra one of each Ori gathering tool in my pack. As soon as a tool runs out of uses, I switch in the one in my bag, and buy another at the next vendor. Took very little time to get into the habit, uses only three bag slots.

I’ve never used a WP in order to get a new harvesting tool.

For the sake of argument, fine, throw an extra 3 silver on the cost of a pick. It’s still going to take years of very intensive mining to save hundreds(!) of gold with a molten pick.

LordKrall, how many picks would you say you use in a given week of play?

The accumulating value isn’t in the picks you don’t buy, it’s in the nodes you choose to harvest that you would otherwise skip and in the extra bag space if frees up.

I don’t expect to make it back this month, I expect to benefit over the course of the game – hopefuly 3-5 more years.

Doesn’t break my heart I’ll never see another ruined ore again because I forgot to flip my picks before digging after changing zones.

Nike.2631:

Doesn’t break my heart I’ll never see another ruined ore again because I forgot to flip my picks before digging after changing zones.

I never have this problem, because I only use the Ori tools. Copper profits 6c, and an Ori pick is 4c/use, so that’s still 2c per ore.

Sure, you make a couple more coppers per ore if you switch to a Copper pick, but then for comparison we’re not talking the Molten pick being worth 500 picks, it’s worth vastly more (8000 copper picks?!).

If you really hate thinking about the tools, then perhaps 20 gold is worth never having to think about them again. I can understand that. I paid that much for a name change on one of my characters because it was worth it to me.

I just don’t think anyone who believes that they are going to save “hundreds of gold” with one has really thought that through. Especially if they are buying them on multiple characters.

Lafiel.9372:

It’s a convenience item like permanent bank contracts etc. I don’t see a point in making them account bound other than cheapening their value.

Other than that enough of this kind of thing in the game adds up to a discouraging of alts, which also leads to a shorter average play-lifetime per user.

If I only play one character for 20 hours a week, it costs me 800 gems for 20 hours of unlimited mining per week. If I play three characters, it costs me 2400 gems for 20 hours of unlimited mining a week.

There have been several alt-unfriendly design decisions lately.

Gibson.4036:

Nike.2631:

It also has a fantastic animation when mining and makes picking up copper with 80th level characters completely guilt-free. Zero harvesting overhead.

Zero harvesting overhead? You mean other than the cost of 500 orichalcum picks you spent on it, right?

Geotherma.2395:

800 gems for a pickaxe that will save me hundreds of gold through the time I play seems pretty fine to me.

Save you hundreds of gold!?! You must buy an enormous amount of gathering tools! How many do you buy in a given week?

If you buy 10 a week (wow, that’s a lot of mining), it’s going to take an entire year of play to break even. After two years (!) you will have saved 20 gold. It’ll take you 11 years to save hundreds (200) of gold, and that’s if you do spend so much time mining that you actually go through 10 picks a week.

Really, how many do you use in the average week?

1237 hours 3 months. I play a lot :P And I’d spend the 10 bucks for the animation and unlimited uses (for convenience) alone. the saving money over the months or maybe years of play is cool, but in no way really influenced my purchase. Besides, after all it is a convenience/shiny item :P Oh and it saved 4 slots of my inventory.

And besides now I have all these for my alts :P

There’s no point discussing expenses further, we didn’t buy it because we’re saving money, because it’s obvious we’re not.
The animation is awesome, the pick itself looks cool as hell and it’s LIMITED time, ok that a month long, but limited!

Geotherma.2395:

1237 hours 3 months. I play a lot :P

Wow! That’s almost 100 hours a week! It doesn’t exactly answer my question of how many picks you go through in a given week, but it does give some kind of context. You actively play 13 hours a day?

I guess, perhaps at that point it’s going to save you a few gold at some point. Whether or not you even need to save gold would be a whole other question.

And I’d spend the 10 bucks for the animation and unlimited uses (for convenience) alone. the saving money over the months or maybe years of play is cool, but in no way really influenced my purchase. Besides, after all it is a convenience/shiny item

That’s what I was getting at above. For some people convenience might be worth 20 gold, and who’s to say it’s not.

:P Oh and it saved 4 slots of my inventory.

Of course, you could buy an entire new bag slot for half the price.

Unless, of course, you’ve bought all three extra bag slots, equipped twenty slot bags in all seven, an still feel that you need to free up four slots out of the 140 you’re sporting. Which is almost as mind-boggling to me as someone playing thirteen hours a day for three months straight and enjoying the game enough to plan on playing for years to come. You know about “deposit collectibles”, right?

How four? Other than the back up pick you don’t have to carry, what are the other three slots carrying that the molten pick saves for you?

Dan.8709:

There’s no point discussing expenses further, we didn’t buy it because we’re saving money, because it’s obvious we’re not.

If you look a little farther up the thread, you’ll see that it wasn’t obvious to everyone.

And there is a point to discussing the expense. If the average player could expect to see a savings in a reasonable amount of time, more people might buy them. Then again, ANet has probably thought that through, and decided that the cost/benefit is in favor of fewer people buying at the higher price.

The animation is awesome, the pick itself looks cool as hell and it’s LIMITED time, ok that a month long, but limited!

I do wonder how long the animation will continue to feel “awesome” to most people. In the videos I’ve seen, I’d rate it as “decent”, not “awesome”, so I have no way to judge how long it would take for “awesome” to wear off.

I know, it’s completely subjective. It’s great that the animation is so pleasing to some.

Kwishin.5124:

You are right that the gold to gem transfers are not their main goal, but the cash cost is also high for an in-game item.

dont buy it them, its not compulsory.

And as for gold costs…you can get hundreds of orchi picks for the same price, so you are really just paying for minor convenience and the effect.

Gibson.4036:

Geotherma.2395:

1237 hours 3 months. I play a lot :P

Wow! That’s almost 100 hours a week! It doesn’t exactly answer my question of how many picks you go through in a given week, but it does give some kind of context. You actively play 13 hours a day?

I guess, perhaps at that point it’s going to save you a few gold at some point. Whether or not you even need to save gold would be a whole other question.

And I’d spend the 10 bucks for the animation and unlimited uses (for convenience) alone. the saving money over the months or maybe years of play is cool, but in no way really influenced my purchase. Besides, after all it is a convenience/shiny item

That’s what I was getting at above. For some people convenience might be worth 20 gold, and who’s to say it’s not.

:P Oh and it saved 4 slots of my inventory.

Of course, you could buy an entire new bag slot for half the price.

Unless, of course, you’ve bought all three extra bag slots, equipped twenty slot bags in all seven, an still feel that you need to free up four slots out of the 140 you’re sporting. Which is almost as mind-boggling to me as someone playing thirteen hours a day for three months straight and enjoying the game enough to plan on playing for years to come. You know about “deposit collectibles”, right?

How four? Other than the back up pick you don’t have to carry, what are the other three slots carrying that the molten pick saves for you?

I have every bag slot upgrade for 2 characters. I have every bank slot maxxed, cannot upgrade further. As for the bolded part, I have no comment :P

And the 3 slots would be for all the consumable “fun” items I love like mortars and ember spirits and ogre whistles :P

oh your last question, I carry 2 stacks at least of each gathering tool. So now instead of 6 slots taken, it is only 4. unless I worded it wrong? Maybe I did, it is early lol

Cameirus.8407:

dont buy it them, its not compulsory.

This reads as “If you don’t like the price, you’re not allowed to say so,” which is strange for a discussion forum about the game.

What’s wrong with saying, “The price of these items is high”?