Guild Wars 2

Magnus Heartseeker.7958:

lordkrall.7241:

Jahroots.6791:

That’s what most of us were expecting; unlimited free swaps after purchase and/or transmutation. ANet gets their sales and we get true cosmetic progression. Doesn’t look very promising so far, but I’ll reserve judgement until the 15th.

Was it?
I can only speak for myself of course, but I never assumed that they would remove a massive source of revenue and simply give it away for free without something replacing said revenue.
But I suppose that might just be me.

I know that I was expecting it to go to free. If you think about it, I believe the player base will be much more willing to buy a skin or set if it was unlocked for all characters and it was free to switch the skins. The fact that you have to pay to switch the look of your gear after purchasing/earning it is ludicrous, and I have always thought that.

I was expecting the same thing. Maybe a one time fee per item or an access fee but not for every single piece of armor every time. If they really wanted people to experiment with different looks they wouldn’t be using the system they are going to implement.

Anytime a fee is added it is restrictive. I know it’s a way to make some money but I just feel like Anet is getting the better deal than the players. Definitely not worth it to me. I’ll just stick with ugly as sin armor until level 80 then buy one set I really like never using the wardrobe feature if at all possible.

Price to change full outfit skin each time:
Levels 1-79:______ 49 gold__________ or 450 gems _ or $5.63
Level 80:________ 25 gold 20 silver____or 280 gems_ or $3.50

ProsaicPudding.6437:

I actually kind of agree. Stick it in the home instance, in my new house…. That I get to have now please.

DR overflows on most servers… :P (seeing how many characters are human)

I would rather be able to mix town and combat clothes but apparently we cannot do that.

Darcness.2408:

I would rather be able to mix town and combat clothes but apparently we cannot do that.

https://help.guildwars2.com/entries/45944258-Town-Clothes

What’s happening to town clothes with the April 2104 Feature Build?
The separation between in-combat and out-of combat appearance is being replaced by a completely new armor skinning system known as Wardrobe. This conversion will affect the town clothes that you already own in one of three ways:
Town clothing sets such as the Pirate Captain’s Outfit or Mad King’s Outfit will become one-piece account unlocks known as outfits which can be toggled to be displayed on your character instead of armor, even during combat.
Most pieces sold separately, such as the Fuzzy Animal Hats or Phantom Hood, will become armor skins for the appropriate slot, usable by a character that wears armor of any type.
Some promotional town clothing, such as the Dragon Emblem T-shirt and retired town clothes such as the hoodies, will become endless tonics which allow you to continue to wear the clothing in non-combat situations.

Can I still mix and match my town clothes?
Clothing pieces that are converted to armor skins can be mixed and matched with the same restrictions as other armors. Outfits cannot be mixed as each of them now is stored on an account-wide basis as a single unlock. Items related to endless tonics cannot be mixed or dyed.

What’s happening to toys?
Toys obtained prior to the implementation of the Wardrobe system will first need to be exchanged at a Black Lion Armor Trader for a new toy before they can be used again. Costume Brawl equipment such as the Boxing Gloves or riding toys such as the Witch’s Enchanted Broom—all of which previously were equipped on the Town Clothes page—now will be used directly from inventory.

If I don’t want a tonic, can I get a gem refund for the purchase?
Customer support will be able to fulfill gem refund requests only for town clothes that become endless tonics. Such requests must be made after the Town Clothes system changes take effect; refund requests cannot be processed prior to the April Feature Build. Customer Support is not able to fulfill requests for refunds other than those related to Town Clothes that become endless tonics. This means that town clothes that become skins are not eligible for a refund.

Downwood.3192:

The problem is that this isn’t a wardrobe. A wardrobe is a collection of clothes that you can pick and choose and use at any time because it’s yours.

This is a unlockable skin store.

You work, grind, and put effort in to collect skin. You pay real cash for, or convert gold to gems to buy skins on the TP. Either way, you can now earn the right to pay again to use something that you’ve unlocked..

This needs to be repeated over & over. This is my entire problem with this new system. They added cool stuff by making things account bound (it’s essentially going back to the GW1 costume account bound stuff) & saving bank space, then they ruin it by keeping the crappy “pay to use” system. I want to be able to swap at any time to any look for free. I’d pay to unlock each skin but just to swap to it? eff that. So far this will just open bank space for me & nothing else. I’m not going to pay to be swapping all the time even though that would be the whole fun of a wardrobe system. Unlocking 100 skins & just having them sit in the UI because I have to pay to use them is not the point of a wardrobe.

Tofu.1978:

Xillllix.3485:

Will all the gems armors we have bought be unlocked even if we salvaged some of them?

Thanks,

https://help.guildwars2.com/entries/46419166-Wardrobe says:

“If any of your characters are wearing or own any piece of an armor set (such as the Profane armor set or the Magitech armor set), all of the remaining pieces will be unlocked in your Wardrobe in addition to any pieces currently on your character or in your inventory.”

So did you salvage the whole set or just part of it?

I salvaged the whole set. I think Anet should unlock the gem armors we’ve bought in the Wardrobe.

Specifically, I meant in the case of outfits that I know will probably become tonics- like how the winter’s day gear is – apparently all or nothing- as it was described. I am uncertain how certain things will be changed, specifically to pieces like individual shirts and so on. there are some opf my town clothes/ outfits that I would love to use in combat but at the same time, outside of which is all or nothing?

DarksunG.9537:

Downwood.3192:

The problem is that this isn’t a wardrobe. A wardrobe is a collection of clothes that you can pick and choose and use at any time because it’s yours.

This is a unlockable skin store.

You work, grind, and put effort in to collect skin. You pay real cash for, or convert gold to gems to buy skins on the TP. Either way, you can now earn the right to pay again to use something that you’ve unlocked..

This needs to be repeated over & over. This is my entire problem with this new system. They added cool stuff by making things account bound (it’s essentially going back to the GW1 costume account bound stuff) & saving bank space, then they ruin it by keeping the crappy “pay to use” system. I want to be able to swap at any time to any look for free. I’d pay to unlock each skin but just to swap to it? eff that. So far this will just open bank space for me & nothing else. I’m not going to pay to be swapping all the time even though that would be the whole fun of a wardrobe system. Unlocking 100 skins & just having them sit in the UI because I have to pay to use them is not the point of a wardrobe.

This 1000x times over.

My thoughts exactly.

notebene.3190:

However, they key phrase in all my requests was – ‘like a dye’. In that, I was happy if they made me use stones and crystals (which you have to buy) to ‘unlock’ skins. I wanted to be able to use them freely, like a dye, without charge, whenever I wanted to, after I had unlocked the skin.

Agreed. ANet, all the changes you’ve unveiled honestly look great, but if you’re going to talk about “Revolutionizing” the way we choose our characters’ looks, you need to fix the current problem that occurs every time someone finds a new piece of gear with better stats and has to burn some difficult-to-acquire consumables to keep their old look while acquiring the new stats.

Burning consumables (currently trans. stones/gems, “charges” after update) to unlock skins? Fine. Burning consumables every single time you want to apply a certain look to a piece of armor? Not okay. Please DO NOT talk about revolutionizing the system without fixing such a basic problem. What you’re proposing is much better and will honestly enhance my experience, but there is an inherent flaw in the system that your update does not appear to be fixing.

When I find a look I really like, I want to be able to swap armors or weapons for the stats without my look changing. I should be able to equip a recently looted or trading-post-purchased piece of equipment because I like the stats, and my current appearance should not change at all, and this should be FREE. I understand you subsist on micro-transactions, and I have supported you many times by purchasing gems, however I feel that you could make appearance-swapping and keeping a look when equipping new equipment free while still getting revenue from transmutation charges when people buy them in order to unlock an account-wide skin for the FIRST TIME.

To any ANet admins reading this: It appears that you have not replied to this thread at all. I really think you should. A lot of people have some valid concerns and suggestions.

Also, totally unrelated, but please make weapons dyable. That would be awesome.

As always, thank you for making such an awesome game and continuing to make great improvements overtime. Nothing’s ever perfect, but even if I complain about certain things, I can honestly say that your MMO is the best I have ever played, and has truly revolutionized the genre. Stay awesome ANet, and keep setting amazing precedents that will likely shape the MMO industry in positive ways. I appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Azure Moonfire,
Sylvari Elementalist and Guardian player

Anet,

The new wardrobe is cool.

However, you’ve got the wrong profit model. I do not want to spend money for every transmutation. With the proposed system, I will use the minimal number of transmutations possible, mostly from in game sources.

If, however, I could spent a charge to permanently unlock free changes for that piece, I would gladly buy gems to unlock the free changes on a range of pieces.

Sure, there are the big spenders who probably always buy gems for most anything Anet wants to sell. But I think you’d make more money overall by incentivizing the modest spenders.

I’d feel I was getting value for my money with permanent free unlocks for a transmutation charge. Having to spend a charge everytime, even to go back to a former look – that’s not value for my money, imo.

Prophet.6257:

DarksunG.9537:

Downwood.3192:

The problem is that this isn’t a wardrobe. A wardrobe is a collection of clothes that you can pick and choose and use at any time because it’s yours.

This is a unlockable skin store.

You work, grind, and put effort in to collect skin. You pay real cash for, or convert gold to gems to buy skins on the TP. Either way, you can now earn the right to pay again to use something that you’ve unlocked..

This needs to be repeated over & over. This is my entire problem with this new system. They added cool stuff by making things account bound (it’s essentially going back to the GW1 costume account bound stuff) & saving bank space, then they ruin it by keeping the crappy “pay to use” system. I want to be able to swap at any time to any look for free. I’d pay to unlock each skin but just to swap to it? eff that. So far this will just open bank space for me & nothing else. I’m not going to pay to be swapping all the time even though that would be the whole fun of a wardrobe system. Unlocking 100 skins & just having them sit in the UI because I have to pay to use them is not the point of a wardrobe.

This 1000x times over.

My thoughts exactly.

Lol. Here I made a ridiculously long post and there was one sitting right there that encapsulated this whole issue in a much more concise manner.

Anyway, I agree entirely. Please hear the voice of your Players, ANet, for we who buy your products have spoken.

Imagine this:

You have a smartphone that can play songs. You have the ability to only store so many songs on your player. By default, you can put 20 songs on it. with some work, you can get your player up to 80 songs. But, when you dock it, you can swap out up to 30 songs into your computer. You can buy 11 more 30 song banks in your computer and can pay for 4 more 20 song storage spots on your player. I’ll let you do the math yourself, but it can be over three digits just to add more storage space for your songs. But now you can play 520 songs. Pretty awesome, right?

Well, as it turns out, you can’t do anything else with your phone, since all the other games, voice messages, and everything else takes up that same storage space, so let’s say that you save some of it for other things, and for a long time, you just deal with it and learn to make the best use of your space.

Now your smartphone company says that they’ve been listening to what their users want and are going to start storing your song library ‘on the cloud’ and that all songs you currently own (and for remixes, they’ll even give you the original versions for free) will be automatically added to the cloud library. How awesome!

But, there is a catch.

Even though you may have already paid $10 for that album, for each song you want to swap into your smartphone, they’re going to charge you $0.40 each to grab it from the cloud. Now, through special deals and promotional challenges, you can earn free transfers, but once you have used those and need more transfers, you’re paying to listen to your library of songs. So, either you keep paying to swap out, or you just deal with the songs you have and keep going.

And, the six gods help you if you just want to download a few albums for an evening to go out to a party.

I have several Gemstore skins that I haven’t transferred on armor yet. How will that work out? The FAQ just talks about “new” purchases, but not “old” ones.

DarksunG.9537:

Downwood.3192:

The problem is that this isn’t a wardrobe. A wardrobe is a collection of clothes that you can pick and choose and use at any time because it’s yours.

This is a unlockable skin store.

You work, grind, and put effort in to collect skin. You pay real cash for, or convert gold to gems to buy skins on the TP. Either way, you can now earn the right to pay again to use something that you’ve unlocked..

This needs to be repeated over & over. This is my entire problem with this new system. They added cool stuff by making things account bound (it’s essentially going back to the GW1 costume account bound stuff) & saving bank space, then they ruin it by keeping the crappy “pay to use” system. I want to be able to swap at any time to any look for free. I’d pay to unlock each skin but just to swap to it? eff that. So far this will just open bank space for me & nothing else. I’m not going to pay to be swapping all the time even though that would be the whole fun of a wardrobe system. Unlocking 100 skins & just having them sit in the UI because I have to pay to use them is not the point of a wardrobe.

I completely agree with this! If they could quickly change that program to run this way I would spend money on charges. As it stand I won’t be spending many on them, only farming for them.

ANet tap into people’s collector mentalities! #fashiondevas

-Vys

Jamais vu.5284:

I have several Gemstore skins that I haven’t transferred on armor yet. How will that work out? The FAQ just talks about “new” purchases, but not “old” ones.

Right click, and then click make account bound.

2 things I’ve realised which needs really to be addressed.

1. Having the same Fractal weapon dropped multiple times. This would be rather annoying, as the skins are already rare as they are, so getting a second almost pointless drop (basically only saving you 1 transmutation charge) would annoy a lot of fractal runners.

Solution: make it such that you can’t get a fractal skin you have gotten before as a drop.

2. The legendary greatsword Eternity. You can make Sunrise and then Twilight, bind them both to unlock the skins and then make an Eternity and sell it to reap back most of the costs involved.

This needs to be fixed ASAP otherwise it’ll massively devalue Sunrise and Twlight, angering a lot of people.

I guess the only way to really prevent this is to make Eternity account bound on creation from now on, or make soulbound Twilight and Sunrise unusable in the forge. Unless anyone can come up with a better solution?

The biggest problem with going to a one time pay unlimited use skin system is that the sales volume would be many times smaller, so the cost per transaction would have to go up, which would then lead to a further decrease in sales volume. You’d wind up having to pay $50+ for each unlimited skin unlock in order to make up for the lost sales that ArenaNet would have made on individual charges.

That said, I think they may want to consider adding a premium Transmutation service, in which an account can pay a one time $200-300 fee and would then have unlimited unlocks, to satisfy the people who don’t want to use the system as is.

mtpelion.4562:

The biggest problem with going to a one time pay unlimited use skin system is that the sales volume would be many times smaller, so the cost per transaction would have to go up, which would then lead to a further decrease in sales volume. You’d wind up having to pay $50+ for each unlimited skin unlock in order to make up for the lost sales that ArenaNet would have made on individual charges.

That said, I think they may want to consider adding a premium Transmutation service, in which an account can pay a one time $200-300 fee and would then have unlimited unlocks, to satisfy the people who don’t want to use the system as is.

No you wouldn’t have to increase the price, did you see how many skins were in there? Each would require a charge.

mtpelion.4562:

The biggest problem with going to a one time pay unlimited use skin system is that the sales volume would be many times smaller, so the cost per transaction would have to go up, which would then lead to a further decrease in sales volume. You’d wind up having to pay $50+ for each unlimited skin unlock in order to make up for the lost sales that ArenaNet would have made on individual charges.

That said, I think they may want to consider adding a premium Transmutation service, in which an account can pay a one time $200-300 fee and would then have unlimited unlocks, to satisfy the people who don’t want to use the system as is.

Fair point. However it’s clear this issue is upsetting a lot of people. Allowing players to swap skins for free while also keeping a reasonable permanent unlock charge would greatly increase customer satisfaction and, I think, loyalty. I know I’d be much more likely to buy gems in the future if I wasn’t all bitter about ANet making me pay every time I either changed my look or changed my stats while keeping my look.

Another thing to consider: if ANet is dead set on charging every time a player wants to change his/her look, could they at least allow those cosmetic changes to be preserved when equipment is changed due to stats, rather than binding the look to a specific piece of armor? This would allow players to at least level (and change their minds about which lvl 80 stats they prefer), swapping out better gear when they loot/buy it, while preserving their favored look.

Vystirch.3418:

Jamais vu.5284:

I have several Gemstore skins that I haven’t transferred on armor yet. How will that work out? The FAQ just talks about “new” purchases, but not “old” ones.

Right click, and then click make account bound.

I wonder about that…

I have not used all items from my Viper set. I can now transfer them, for free, on any armour piece, lvl1 to lvl80. What if I put them into my vault (after the update). Will I still be able to use them for free (at least, the first time)?

Vystirch.3418:

No you wouldn’t have to increase the price, did you see how many skins were in there? Each would require a charge.

Please tell me how that is different from today? Today, if I want a skin to put over my current armour, I’ll have to go out there (TP, dungeon, drop, whatever) to find the skin, then buy a transmutation crystal (assuming I’m lvl80, otherwise I might use a free stone I get from map completion), and put the skin on my current armour.

In the new system, if I want to put a skin over my current armour, I’ll go out there (TP, dungeon, drop, whatever) to find the skin, put it in my vault (unless it’s in my vault already, I skip the searching bit), buy a transmutation charge (if I don’t have any left from the free ones I got from map completion) and put the skin on my current armour.

It’s in fact a lot easier this way, if you want a skin of the same look. Let’s say I want to use another coat of the viper set. I’d have to go to the store, buy a new set for 800 gems, use the coat and try to figure out what to do with the other 5 pieces. After the patch, I’ll go to my vault, buy a transmutation charge (if I don’t have any left, etc) and done. I have the feeling a transmutation charge won’t cost me 800 gems (even if I didn’t have any left from map completions)…

I accidentally transmuted away my gas mask skin a while ago, but i have the achievement. Will the new system detect my achievements and unlock it in the wardrobe?

mtpelion.4562:

The biggest problem with going to a one time pay unlimited use skin system is that the sales volume would be many times smaller, so the cost per transaction would have to go up, which would then lead to a further decrease in sales volume. You’d wind up having to pay $50+ for each unlimited skin unlock in order to make up for the lost sales that ArenaNet would have made on individual charges.

That said, I think they may want to consider adding a premium Transmutation service, in which an account can pay a one time $200-300 fee and would then have unlimited unlocks, to satisfy the people who don’t want to use the system as is.

No, sales would likely increase.

Why, because one time charge fee is a much better value proposition to the customer. Instead of buying just enough charges to get one look and change it rarely (because each change costs money), customers will want to get a broad collection of unlimited unlocks.

If for $10 I get 25 item skins, I will get a taste for changing up each gear slot as I like. I will be inclined to buy more gems to increase my collection. With a charge for every change, I will not want to change very often.

So, i haven’t been able to find anything about this. But what if you have bought armor skins in the gem store, then you thought, well just gonna change the gloves and headgear because i will get a better look. So now i will have like half a set of that gear and that’s it? Since it’s gem store items there is no certain chance for them to come back, and even then i wouldn’t like to spend money just for two pieces to get the full set for my wardrobe.
Anyone know if i have to buy the splitter stones just to get the original headgear and glove skins back before the change, or will i actually get “credit” and get my full, in this case, phoenix armor set for my wardrobe?

Not sure if this has been answered yet, but concerning the new wardrobe system, if let’s say I have a gasmask skin which was applied to an heavy armor piece, will the same gasmask skin be avaible for light and medium armor ?

Same question goes for the other living story skin like the molten gloves which you could only get in one armor type.

mtpelion.4562:

The biggest problem with going to a one time pay unlimited use skin system is that the sales volume would be many times smaller, so the cost per transaction would have to go up, which would then lead to a further decrease in sales volume. You’d wind up having to pay $50+ for each unlimited skin unlock in order to make up for the lost sales that ArenaNet would have made on individual charges.

That said, I think they may want to consider adding a premium Transmutation service, in which an account can pay a one time $200-300 fee and would then have unlimited unlocks, to satisfy the people who don’t want to use the system as is.

not correct, because this system has already existed and the majority of players only change their looks rarely and seldom back to a style they previously had. They really arent going to get much sales with a per change rental system as much as a buy system.

I have never, in 1.5 years reused a skin i transmuted on this current system. In the new system i also will not. If they had an unlock system i would actually use more stones, and unlock more gear. Most people would.

The only loss they get with unlocks is from people who will go from say legendary A to Mystic forge Item B back to A. Which is not going to happen, they will create a second item and store it, just like they do now.

There is overall not going to be an increase in sales over time, because people will not use it in that way. The evidence is what exists now. The system is virtually the same, and people dont use it that way at all.

Eldric.2109:

I accidentally transmuted away my gas mask skin a while ago, but i have the achievement. Will the new system detect my achievements and unlock it in the wardrobe?

We don’t know. If you still have the item that has the mask under it, you will unlock it. If you deleted/salvaged… well unlucky you.

Price is everything. If the transmutation charges are priced at 1g or less, I’m happy to use it over and over again. At the current price of the transmutation crystal – nope not excited.

Eldric.2109:

I accidentally transmuted away my gas mask skin a while ago, but i have the achievement. Will the new system detect my achievements and unlock it in the wardrobe?

Don’t worry…

What happens with gear that I currently possess that is already transmuted?

The skins for both of the items used in the most recent transmutation of your gear will be unlocked in your Wardrobe in this situation. This means that you will have skins representing your most recent stats and appearance choices for each transmuted item.

So, unless you again transmuted the item again (so, from gas mask → other mask A → other mask, you will get your gas mask back. If you did transmute it again, you’ll be out of luck and you’ll get other mask A and other mask B.

LadyRhonwyn.2501:

It’s in fact a lot easier this way, if you want a skin of the same look. Let’s say I want to use another coat of the viper set. I’d have to go to the store, buy a new set for 800 gems, use the coat and try to figure out what to do with the other 5 pieces. After the patch, I’ll go to my vault, buy a transmutation charge (if I don’t have any left, etc) and done. I have the feeling a transmutation charge won’t cost me 800 gems (even if I didn’t have any left from map completions)…

And for all my complaints so far, this is absolutely true. I have to say I love this aspect of the system and will be using it.

I think a lot of people are just bummed that they can’t empty out their bank tabs of the lower-tier items that they keep around for casual use or to randomly put on for a few hours here and there. This isn’t a RP clothing solution, which a lot of people were hoping it would be.

For those people that want to apply the same hard-to-get (or expensive) skin many times to different armor and/or characters, this is great and awesome. For those people who like to have many different options of what skins/look to have on any given day. It’s not everything that we wanted, though better than what we had.

I have a question.

I currently have an ascended bow skinned to look like the seraph bow – however, in the past, I had an exotic bow with the zenith greatbow skin. This has since been destroyed due to me getting a better one, etc etc. What I want to know, is will the zenith greatbow skin still be unlocked on my character, since I had it at one point, or is it gone forever?

Downwood.3192:

For those people that want to apply the same hard-to-get (or expensive) skin many times to different armor and/or characters, this is great and awesome. For those people who like to have many different options of what skins/look to have on any given day. It’s not everything that we wanted, though better than what we had.

I remember the days of GW1, where my main had 5 different armour sets simply because of the looks… I was so happy they made that extra bag for armour

LadyRhonwyn.2501:

Vystirch.3418:

Jamais vu.5284:

I have several Gemstore skins that I haven’t transferred on armor yet. How will that work out? The FAQ just talks about “new” purchases, but not “old” ones.

Right click, and then click make account bound.

I wonder about that…

I have not used all items from my Viper set. I can now transfer them, for free, on any armour piece, lvl1 to lvl80. What if I put them into my vault (after the update). Will I still be able to use them for free (at least, the first time)?

Vystirch.3418:

No you wouldn’t have to increase the price, did you see how many skins were in there? Each would require a charge.

Please tell me how that is different from today? Today, if I want a skin to put over my current armour, I’ll have to go out there (TP, dungeon, drop, whatever) to find the skin, then buy a transmutation crystal (assuming I’m lvl80, otherwise I might use a free stone I get from map completion), and put the skin on my current armour.

In the new system, if I want to put a skin over my current armour, I’ll go out there (TP, dungeon, drop, whatever) to find the skin, put it in my vault (unless it’s in my vault already, I skip the searching bit), buy a transmutation charge (if I don’t have any left from the free ones I got from map completion) and put the skin on my current armour.

It’s in fact a lot easier this way, if you want a skin of the same look. Let’s say I want to use another coat of the viper set. I’d have to go to the store, buy a new set for 800 gems, use the coat and try to figure out what to do with the other 5 pieces. After the patch, I’ll go to my vault, buy a transmutation charge (if I don’t have any left, etc) and done. I have the feeling a transmutation charge won’t cost me 800 gems (even if I didn’t have any left from map completions)…

i think you are misunderstanding him, the system he wants is the same as the system they are proposing, except after the first time you pay the transmutation fee, you no longer have to pay again if you want to use that skin.

So you already bought vipers, now you want to transmute it on your second charachter, you pay transmutation unlock fee once, now that top is forvever free. Its the difference between buying a piece of clothes, and buying use of that clothes until next time you change clothes.

phys.7689:

i think you are misunderstanding him, the system he wants is the same as the system they are proposing, except after the first time you pay the transmutation fee, you no longer have to pay again if you want to use that skin.

So you already bought vipers, now you want to transmute it on your second charachter, you pay transmutation unlock fee once, now that top is forvever free. Its the difference between buying a piece of clothes, and buying use of that clothes until next time you change clothes.

I never even thought they’d do that. Considering they have the transmutation system from day 1. Because what you’re say here is saying (in the current system): if you transmuted an item once, you can then put it on any other item for free thereafter.

They simply streamlined the entire process, without actually changing the underlying processes (that much).

DarksunG.9537:

Downwood.3192:

The problem is that this isn’t a wardrobe. A wardrobe is a collection of clothes that you can pick and choose and use at any time because it’s yours.

This is a unlockable skin store.

You work, grind, and put effort in to collect skin. You pay real cash for, or convert gold to gems to buy skins on the TP. Either way, you can now earn the right to pay again to use something that you’ve unlocked..

This needs to be repeated over & over. This is my entire problem with this new system. They added cool stuff by making things account bound (it’s essentially going back to the GW1 costume account bound stuff) & saving bank space, then they ruin it by keeping the crappy “pay to use” system. I want to be able to swap at any time to any look for free. I’d pay to unlock each skin but just to swap to it? eff that. So far this will just open bank space for me & nothing else. I’m not going to pay to be swapping all the time even though that would be the whole fun of a wardrobe system. Unlocking 100 skins & just having them sit in the UI because I have to pay to use them is not the point of a wardrobe.

just gonna +1 this, completly agree

LadyRhonwyn.2501:

phys.7689:

i think you are misunderstanding him, the system he wants is the same as the system they are proposing, except after the first time you pay the transmutation fee, you no longer have to pay again if you want to use that skin.

So you already bought vipers, now you want to transmute it on your second charachter, you pay transmutation unlock fee once, now that top is forvever free. Its the difference between buying a piece of clothes, and buying use of that clothes until next time you change clothes.

I never even thought they’d do that. Considering they have the transmutation system from day 1. Because what you’re say here is saying (in the current system): if you transmuted an item once, you can then put it on any other item for free thereafter.

They simply streamlined the entire process, without actually changing the underlying processes (that much).

pretty much, but imo the old system didnt make transmutation very desirable, and made exploring new looks and cosmetics as horizontal progression not really possible. Which they said was one the goals they wanted to have for the game.

I think an unlock system increases the value of their art assets, and value as a goal for players. by attaching the unlock system they ensure that they gain revenue with every gear they put out that people find cool, whereas now, people only transmute or like armor if its Cooler than what they currently own.

Essentially the old system was crippling their cosmetic meta, and the new system still cripples it, but it cripples it less than what we have now.

Maximum Potato.5923:

I have a question.

I currently have an ascended bow skinned to look like the seraph bow – however, in the past, I had an exotic bow with the zenith greatbow skin. This has since been destroyed due to me getting a better one, etc etc. What I want to know, is will the zenith greatbow skin still be unlocked on my character, since I had it at one point, or is it gone forever?

From how I understand it, stuff you destroyed/salvaged in the past, prior to this update, is gone forever (at least until you find/buy another one).

Buuut, this is a zenith skin you’re talking about, as in one you earned from achievement points, right? Just go to your achievements tab on the hero panel, go to the “summary” subtab, and find your zenith weapon skin in the little box that contains all your unlocked skins, click on it, and click the “withdraw” button. You can withdraw an unlimited number for any of your characters.

I think the main reason that some people here are suggesting that ArenaNet is doing it “wrong” believe that because they are only looking at the system based on how they themselves currently use it, not on how the rest of the playerbase is using it.

For example, a few people challenged my post above and claimed that sales would increase by switching to a pay once system, however, there is only one scenario in which that would be the case and that would be if all players picked out a look a single time and never really changed it. That’s the way I play, and that’s probably the way they play as well, but it is not the way EVERYONE plays, and that is why they are wrong. The system proposed by ArenaNet will maximize profits because while there are players who pick a skin and stick with it, ArenaNet does not make money from those players, they make money from the players who change their looks ALL THE TIME. If those players get to pay once and have unlimited changes, or even pay once per skin, the volume of transactions will decline significantly (I don’t have any figures, but I would estimate in the range of an 80%+ decrease in revenue from transmutations).

To make up for that lost revenue, they would have to significantly increase the price of transmutations.

ArenaNet is making the business decision that maximizes sales, because by doing it on an individual transmutation basis, they can get money from both the one and done crowd (me) and the fashionistas who just have to have the new thing.

kiimi.2853:

DarksunG.9537:

Downwood.3192:

The problem is that this isn’t a wardrobe. A wardrobe is a collection of clothes that you can pick and choose and use at any time because it’s yours.

This is a unlockable skin store.

You work, grind, and put effort in to collect skin. You pay real cash for, or convert gold to gems to buy skins on the TP. Either way, you can now earn the right to pay again to use something that you’ve unlocked..

This needs to be repeated over & over. This is my entire problem with this new system. They added cool stuff by making things account bound (it’s essentially going back to the GW1 costume account bound stuff) & saving bank space, then they ruin it by keeping the crappy “pay to use” system. I want to be able to swap at any time to any look for free. I’d pay to unlock each skin but just to swap to it? eff that. So far this will just open bank space for me & nothing else. I’m not going to pay to be swapping all the time even though that would be the whole fun of a wardrobe system. Unlocking 100 skins & just having them sit in the UI because I have to pay to use them is not the point of a wardrobe.

just gonna +1 this, completly agree

The game is dependent on skins, it is not your usual gear focused game where skins are nothing but one more lame feature. The payment is there to make it a challenge anyhow to change your looks.

Not only is it good for the company because this is actually a job and they want money but also it is highly argueable if the system becomes better if it is totally free to use. Yea, you will be happy jumping around now, however, easy content, never work and people eventually lose total interest because they don’t feel rewarded.

This way, collecting the skin and actually using it, feel more of an accomplishment eventhough it is only cosmetic, but hey, this is the point of gw2 to be cosmetic.

lordkrall.7241:

Pjwned.3601:

Wow, account bound dyes are REALLY EXCITING, I sure love it when broken promises are finally made up for well over a year later!

Better late than never I suppose, and I will give ANet a miniscule amount of credit for making transmutation stones actually worth anything with the 3:1 conversion, but it should’ve been like that a long time ago; again, better late than never though.

“Broken promise”?
Seriously?
There was one point MONTHS before release where they talked about account-bound dyes (in a system that was MUCH worse than the current one) but that was changed months BEFORE release, and quite clearly told. Including the reasons for it.

It was changed because they were too lazy to put it in at release much like other basic features like events that actually work, a LFG system, being able to see anything happening in WvW, etc.

nGumball.1283:

The game is dependent on skins, it is not your usual gear focused game where skins are nothing but one more lame feature. The payment is there to make it a challenge anyhow to change your looks.

Not only is it good for the company because this is actually a job and they want money but also it is highly argueable if the system becomes better if it is totally free to use. Yea, you will be happy jumping around now, however, easy content, never work and people eventually lose total interest because they don’t feel rewarded.

This way, collecting the skin and actually using it, feel more of an accomplishment eventhough it is only cosmetic, but hey, this is the point of gw2 to be cosmetic.

The accomplishment should be there by finally being able to acquire the skin, not by adding artificial grind on top of content that already relies on grinding the same stupid crap. Other games have some sort of challenging & interesting content so you can get those rare weapons or armor pieces (see: the original Guild Wars) but who needs that when we have the living story instead.

mtpelion.4562:

I think the main reason that some people here are suggesting that ArenaNet is doing it “wrong” believe that because they are only looking at the system based on how they themselves currently use it, not on how the rest of the playerbase is using it.

For example, a few people challenged my post above and claimed that sales would increase by switching to a pay once system, however, there is only one scenario in which that would be the case and that would be if all players picked out a look a single time and never really changed it. That’s the way I play, and that’s probably the way they play as well, but it is not the way EVERYONE plays, and that is why they are wrong. The system proposed by ArenaNet will maximize profits because while there are players who pick a skin and stick with it, ArenaNet does not make money from those players, they make money from the players who change their looks ALL THE TIME. If those players get to pay once and have unlimited changes, or even pay once per skin, the volume of transactions will decline significantly (I don’t have any figures, but I would estimate in the range of an 80%+ decrease in revenue from transmutations).

To make up for that lost revenue, they would have to significantly increase the price of transmutations.

ArenaNet is making the best business decision here, you can’t fault them for that.

i disagree with you, anet knew they werent getting people to change gears as much as they want, thats partially why they made this change, the difference is they figured it was mostly due to the item destruction factor that was getting in the way of dress up. But this was only one facet.
I contend that the major barrier is iretreiveable costs associated with swapping looks. one part of that cost was item destruction the other part of that cost was transmutation fees. For many of the items that exist in the game, transmutation fees is currently higher on the list of costs. (every gear from 1-79)

The model they are proposing doesnt exist anywhere and succeed unless the fees are minimal.
even rentals irl, charge per day the current system charges per change, which means change is little as often is encouraged behavior.

The people who change all the time, probably dont change back very much, they would still get the same money off them. see, they only lose money on players who go back to old looks, which under the old system was probably so rare as not to exist. Under the new system it will be similarly as rare, at the same time discouraging people to even try.

If you are the person who makes t shirt designs, you dont want to charge people for changing designs, it means you only get paid when you come out with a better design. If you charge for buying a design, you get people buying 5 and 6 and 7 designs where before they would buy one, and they still will buy when cooler item comes out. Its just not a good model for the business, or the user.

phys.7689:

i disagree with you, anet knew they werent getting people to change gears as much as they want, thats partially why they made this change, the difference is they figured it was mostly due to the item destruction factor that was getting in the way of dress up. But this was only one facet.
I contend that the major barrier is iretreiveable costs associated with swapping looks. one part of that cost was item destruction the other part of that cost was transmutation fees. For many of the items that exist in the game, transmutation fees is currently higher on the list of costs. (every gear from 1-79)

The model they are proposing doesnt exist anywhere and succeed unless the fees are minimal.
even rentals irl, charge per day the current system charges per change, which means change is little as often is encouraged behavior.

The people who change all the time, probably dont change back very much, they would still get the same money off them. see, they only lose money on players who go back to old looks, which under the old system was probably so rare as not to exist. Under the new system it will be similarly as rare, at the same time discouraging people to even try.

If you are the person who makes t shirt designs, you dont want to charge people for changing designs, it means you only get paid when you come out with a better design. If you charge for buying a design, you get people buying 5 and 6 and 7 designs where before they would buy one, and they still will buy when cooler item comes out. Its just not a good model for the business, or the user.

I know you disagree, but I think you are severely underestimating the number of people who change their look all the time… and yes, that includes changing back.

The Sims is the best selling game series of all time primarily because there are people who LOVE changing things. EA figured out how to monetize that, and so has ArenaNet.

mtpelion: I think you are severly underestimating the value of customer loyalty and satisfaction. Making the system “pay to unlock” and not “pay to change” would make a lot of players really happy, and more likely to buy IN GENERAL from the gemstore in the future, simply because they like to support the company. I know that if I see something awesome that I’d like to buy, and can afford, but I am irked at the company that produces it for some reason or another, I am less likely to go through with the purchase, and I think a lot of people are the same way.

Azure Moonfire.7493:

mtpelion: I think you are severly underestimating the value of customer loyalty and satisfaction. Making the system “pay to unlock” and not “pay to change” would make a lot of players really happy, and more likely to buy IN GENERAL from the gemstore in the future, simply because they like to support the company. I know that if I see something awesome that I’d like to buy, and can afford, but I am irked at the company that produces it for some reason or another, I am less likely to go through with the purchase, and I think a lot of people are the same way.

Yes, you’d make the people who don’t normally buy anything more likely to buy, but you’d lose millions upon millions of transactions from the people who currently buy all the time because they would only have to buy once.

Making lots of people buy something once is a LOT less profitable than making a few people buy often, unless you charge a hefty premium, which then leads to less people buying once putting you right back at square one.

mtpelion.4562:

I think the main reason that some people here are suggesting that ArenaNet is doing it “wrong” believe that because they are only looking at the system based on how they themselves currently use it, not on how the rest of the playerbase is using it.

For example, a few people challenged my post above and claimed that sales would increase by switching to a pay once system, however, there is only one scenario in which that would be the case and that would be if all players picked out a look a single time and never really changed it. That’s the way I play, and that’s probably the way they play as well, but it is not the way EVERYONE plays, and that is why they are wrong. The system proposed by ArenaNet will maximize profits because while there are players who pick a skin and stick with it, ArenaNet does not make money from those players, they make money from the players who change their looks ALL THE TIME. If those players get to pay once and have unlimited changes, or even pay once per skin, the volume of transactions will decline significantly (I don’t have any figures, but I would estimate in the range of an 80%+ decrease in revenue from transmutations).

To make up for that lost revenue, they would have to significantly increase the price of transmutations.

ArenaNet is making the business decision that maximizes sales, because by doing it on an individual transmutation basis, they can get money from both the one and done crowd (me) and the fashionistas who just have to have the new thing.

There’s also only one scenario in which you’re assumptions work as well. That at the majority of money coming into the gem store is from players willing to spend for every time they want to change their look.

None of us know the internal figures at Anet, in fact, Anet probably can’t know themselves if their current transmutation sales are for either type of customer, or even if there are customers not willing to pay for the old system.

So, two assumptions, you just claim you’re right, so do we. But on our side is the fact what we propose gives a lot of incentive and satisfaction to customers.

Nor is it as “easy come” system that will lack satifaction in the long term. Getting the skins is the same as always. All Anet is adding is a barrier to want to expand your skins collection, which is the whole point of the wardrobe. If it still costs me the same gems as the old system, Anet isn’t really going to get many more sales out of that. The high spenders probably already made multiple transmuted sets and why spend money to just shuffle those around?

mtpelion.4562:

Yes, you’d make the people who don’t normally buy anything more likely to buy, but you’d lose millions upon millions of transactions from the people who currently buy all the time because they would only have to buy once.

Making lots of people buy something once is a LOT less profitable than making a few people buy often, unless you charge a hefty premium, which then leads to less people buying once putting you right back at square one.

A valid point, and one I don’t have a counterargument for, or at least not one that would add something new to the discussion.

I think that there are too many variables and possible scenarios to be really sure that any one course is the best. I understand that ANet is running a business and has to make money, but I also hope they will choose to make the players who support them as happy as possible while doing so.

Regardless, the system looks pretty great even with the crappy (imo) “pay per change” system, so as much as I hope they do change that bit, even if they don’t, I’m excited for the April update.

Joiry.2504:

There’s also only one scenario in which you’re assumptions work as well. That at the majority of money coming into the gem store is from players willing to spend for every time they want to change their look.

None of us know the internal figures at Anet, in fact, Anet probably can’t know themselves if their current transmutation sales are for either type of customer, or even if there are customers not willing to pay for the old system.

So, two assumptions, you just claim you’re right, so do we. But on our side is the fact what we propose gives a lot of incentive and satisfaction to customers.

Nor is it as “easy come” system that will lack satifaction in the long term. Getting the skins is the same as always. All Anet is adding is a barrier to want to expand your skins collection, which is the whole point of the wardrobe. If it still costs me the same gems as the old system, Anet isn’t really going to get many more sales out of that. The high spenders probably already made multiple transmuted sets and why spend money to just shuffle those around?

Unless ArenaNet has done something horrifically wrong with their pricing model, my assumption is correct. There is a reason almost every game has a cash shop now, publishers found that microtransactions in which a few players pay a lot and most player pay little to nothing winds up generating many times more revenue than a subscription system where everyone pays the same and has access to everything.

ArenaNet isn’t changing the system, they are just making it easier to use, so there really is no gamble on their part with respect to losing sales. They aren’t changing the model because they know how profitable the current model is and their projections indicate that the alternative is not as good.

Azure Moonfire.7493:

Prophet.6257:

DarksunG.9537:

Downwood.3192:

The problem is that this isn’t a wardrobe. A wardrobe is a collection of clothes that you can pick and choose and use at any time because it’s yours.

This is a unlockable skin store.

You work, grind, and put effort in to collect skin. You pay real cash for, or convert gold to gems to buy skins on the TP. Either way, you can now earn the right to pay again to use something that you’ve unlocked..

This needs to be repeated over & over. This is my entire problem with this new system. They added cool stuff by making things account bound (it’s essentially going back to the GW1 costume account bound stuff) & saving bank space, then they ruin it by keeping the crappy “pay to use” system. I want to be able to swap at any time to any look for free. I’d pay to unlock each skin but just to swap to it? eff that. So far this will just open bank space for me & nothing else. I’m not going to pay to be swapping all the time even though that would be the whole fun of a wardrobe system. Unlocking 100 skins & just having them sit in the UI because I have to pay to use them is not the point of a wardrobe.

This 1000x times over.

My thoughts exactly.

Lol. Here I made a ridiculously long post and there was one sitting right there that encapsulated this whole issue in a much more concise manner.

Anyway, I agree entirely. Please hear the voice of your Players, ANet, for we who buy your products have spoken.

I also agree with this view. I created a post about this that was blocked,
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/New-Wardrobe-was-not-what-I-expected/first#post3815422

Some replies were about ‘oh, you people are never happy and complain even when good things happen’. Just to make it clear I welcome this update to the skin system. I was just expecting something else, a real wardrobe. And the important thing here is not the complaining, is the feeling that we’re part of MMO that sees itself as one of the best out there, with susbscription-free model, but feels like just a pretty ruse to trick people into spending money in the Gem Store.

Put in another words: Anet could say, ‘We made a kitten good game and we want people to enjoy it and feel like they’re part of something really great and we’ll go the extra mile for everyone to feel like they’re getting plenty for what they paid for. At the same time, if you guys appreciate our effort, enjoy the game and want to support it and more content in the future, have a look at the Gem Store for some handy, convenient tools and pretty, well designed skins. We made these extras so awesome (as awesome as we are) that we’re sure everyone will feel like buying some ’.

But this kind of update feels like ‘Hey, we own this pretty decent MMO with nice graphics and addictive gameplay and we would like to make as much money out of it as possible, so we’re implementing all these LS updates, fancy skins and paid convenience in such a way as to maximize the desire/make easy to acquire these extras. We will spend little resources polishing and fixing minor stuff that has been broken since the beginning (where’s the profit in that?). Most of our effort will go to the new things we constantly add to the game that must be released with an underlying mechanism to ultimately persuade people into spending more in the Gem Store’.

(a bit off topic, but related: these new LS updates still have problems with overlapping dialogues, which is pretty incredible/unbelievable for a game which regards itself so highly; adding insult to injury, things like this still happen in spite of people complaining about them and asking repeatedly for fixes since forever. Have you been to SE path3? ‘No, no, no… no, no, no… no, no, no…’ In my guild when people want to refer to that boss, that’s what they call it…)

The word “wardrobe” is a misnomer. The right term is “transmutation simplified”. The more I think about this, the more I seem to like it.

However charges need to be slightly cheaper than how they currently are.

I just want someone to clarify if dyes we don’t own can be previewed with armors that we also don’t own. I tried watching the video and reading the press releases and I’m a little overwhelmed. Anyone, help?

So first of all, these new changes that have been posted, I feel like a little girl squealing… seriously Thank you Anet, finally thank you!!

So getting to the point: If unlocked old backpack skins, if i bought before various sets of armor, weapon skins, etc, that essentially accidentally got deleted or transmuted over time. Skins that were once in a time available, like the tentacle backpack and etc.. Will I ever get back old skins, i have already unlocked, even armor pieces, or have to re do dungeons?

Again thank you for these updates, an almost retiring player like me has something to look forward all month now