First a brief disclaimer and introduction of sorts: I have played GW since the day of it’s release here in Australia oh so long ago, totally immersed in the game’s systems and lore. I spent many years, like alot of people when GW2 was announced, following every nuance of it’s evolution, waiting with quiet agony for the first beta weekends, etc. I love this franchise like no other in the PC domain, and have a seemingly bottomless capacity for any and all developments in the game, both the good and the bad.
I have also followed this forum, and the developer frequented Reddit, for quite some time, and I am very aware of the perceptions of the functions and approaches in relation to both realms.
It is not remotely my intent to pointlessly stir up malcontent, but simply to enquire, particularly in light of the most recent alterations to the game in the form of the ‘NPE’, and especially the reworking of the trait system to it’s current state, as to the apparent lack of concern being voiced by the community since the revelations recently that Nexon’s monetisation manager was in the lead developmental position now for the new core gameplay features.
Before the commercial release of GW2, when it was announced that Nexon had purchased their way into the game, many of us, after the dire saga that was Maple Story and it’s ilk, were horrified at what would become of the game once Nexon had a foothold in design decisions in relation to GW2.
Monetisation in terms of gameplay intrusion is a monumental matter, and of concern to many, and it’s effects have been both felt and endlessly debated in a multitude of ways, from core system changes (such as dyes) once Nexon had their employees in developmental positions in ArenaNet, to the post-release loot open-world loot reduction fiasco (some of you might remember the storms here on the official forums around this topic, and ArenaNet’s response), through to issues like the scrapping of the initial trait system in favour of this current version.
It is with a particularly suspicious and cynical (in light of the nature of the company now involved in the development of the game) eye that I view this latest evolution of the game.
The reworking of the trait system to it’s current (widely abhorred) state could be seen to be as something of a trial run for future development, as a means to gauge both existing player acceptance of the gem store having a role in accessibility of core game features, and to test the degree to which new players in particular would willingly convert currency to in-game gold to simply purchase in-game features that they could no longer reaslistically acquire through their own, more limited in-game means.
Due to the oft-stated awkwardness of the trait accomplishments and unlocks, is it simply a coincidence that these seemingly deliberately difficult changes were offset by the introduction of a simple (highly priced) monetary purchase to alleviate the difficulty for new players?
To sum up: does it seem to anyone else that the current trait system was a testing ground for a monetary exchange for previous core gameplay features, being slanted in particular to new players? Does it then follow that the designers of such a system would then step up their efforts (and internal positions), to further refine and implement a new, more far-reaching system? Are we in for another iteration of the current trait system, albeit a retooled and redressed implementation? What will become of the current trait system, now that it has served it’s experimental purpose?
Regardless of the origin of the current trait system, the revelation that Nexon’s monetisation manager has spearheaded one of the most widely advertised features of the expansion to come, indeed a system that is touted as the basis for all future development of the game, has me, once again, deeply troubled.
The necessity of funding in development and the drive of profit has been debated to death in the past by myself and many, many others on the official forums, yet it’s role in the core systems of the game has never been more relevant.
The original game that many of us cherish so dearly still starkly stands against what GW2 has become in a multitude of ways, but in relation to this topic, the financial model that ArenaNet employed to both thrive, and continue the development of the game, has been circumvented by an investor, and quite unquestionably one with an origin that could not be in more stark opposition to the core tenets that set GW apart from the crowd.
I would very much like to hear other opinions on this recent announcement in regards to Nexon’s employees new degrees of control over the development of GW2.
Concerns regarding the new core systems
Argh…paragraph breaks, man. Paragraph breaks are your friend. 
(edited by Linken.6345)
Argh…paragraph breaks, man. Paragraph breaks are your friend.
I’d like to re echo this. If you hope to get more people to read that wall of text I’d strongly suggest you organize your post more and add a small TL:DR section.
As far as the nexon manager is concerned, it’s irrelevant. Every business side of a game ever will do the minimum required in terms of appeasing the community while squeezing the most money out of them.
The difference is that maplestory is primarily a pve game, and the gear treadmill is virtually endless with the RnG on gear stats, this allowed them to make it so P2W. In the more pvp/wvw oriented GW2 literally the only thing that evil nexon exec can charge you for is some convenience items and skins. Right now through average casual play time you can have your character max level and geared to exotics in a month. If you can get to endgame within a month what can they possibly cage you for?
About the trait system, it’s unclear to me how charging a measly 3g is in anyway leading to a more P2W GW2…more so when you consider the traits can be achieved by doing events anyway.
(edited by Vert.5041)
Would you like some hard cheeze with your sad whine?
(edited by zenleto.6179)
Space Marine Z [GLTY]
Suggesting that anet changed the trait system to drive gem store revenue is ridiculous…
Not only are the traits free from events, they are rediculously cheap as well.
Do you perhaps suppose businesses do not do things for the purpose of making money? From my point of view, its a rather cunning way to encourage people to buy just $10 worth of gems and convert them to gold. One little hit. Its so cheap its practically free – see how easy it is? Here, have this little nudge to need more gold than you’re likely going to have when new to the game and leveling.
Nobody’s pointing at gem to gold conversion, but ‘lo, the magical light at the end of a tunnel of breaks! For just $10 you can buy some gems and instantly convert them to gold! More gold than you’ll ever need to unlock traits!
And may the become
! The crowd goes wild, cheering all around!
Or, y’know, you can go do all this stuff. S’ok. No pressure bro, no pressure. No guarantees that you’ll be able to…y’know…actually do it all. But hey, its out there, go get it. No biggie. But it’ll take way more than $10 of your time. Just sayin’ homeslice, 800 gems, ten measly dollars, badabing, badaboom, you’re in the magic.
It’ll be here any time you want a hit, bro. You might be cool doing all that stuff on one character, and hey, that’s great. We want you to have some fun. What’s life without a little fun, right bro?
But y’know…come character three…or four… …or five…you might start reconsidering.
Still, no pressure, my man. $10, 800 gems, boom – yours right here, right now.
See you soon.