Guild Wars 2

Guild wars 2 CN have finally announced their price for Chinese players, and it’s only cost about 14 USD,while we cost 49.99 USD here.

have you got any idea how the wages are there? the equivalent of 14$ in CHINA might be 1-2 weeks of work (thats a guess)

well, to be fair, the gw2 cn is very, very different from ours.

That amount of money is a lot for the most people tvere. Much more than the 60€ I paid for mine is for me. I have to work about 8 hours to make that, the Chinese much more.

Wasn’t there a post about that they have to buy the ability to port, use bank, get in downstate, etc?

This pic has been posted. It’s the “VIP” version, wich looks like the main things you need in this game to survive xD

I guess chinese ppl just won’t buy an expensive game immediately, so they need a cheap version to test it.

If you keep the fact in mind, that the biggest mmo competitors are F2P in China, any price tag on a game is a risk.

I am not sure, if ANet did the right thing to set a box price at all.

The average person earns less in China, it does not seem grossly unfair to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_wages_by_country

Last year Foxconn in China, the company that assembles the iPhone and iPad among other things, was going to raise the minimum monthly wage to 4,400 RMB or roughly $700 USD a month. That’s before charging room, board, uniforms, etc. since you live at the plant.

Minimum wage in Eastern Europe is around 200-300E. Buying GW2 is a 1 week worth your wage around there if you work at McDonald’s or w.e, yet no special discounts. So I don’t think it has anything to do with the buying power but more with what has been stripped away from the normal game for CN release.

The cash shop in that version is more of a focus point meaning that it is likely more profitable to get people in the game for cheaper so that they can start burning money buying random dyes.

I am hardly envious.

Also the idea of buying an MMO upfront is a relatively new idea there. There is a multislide presentation at the China GW2 site explaining why buying up front is a “good” thing.

Behellagh.1468:

Last year Foxconn in China, the company that assembles the iPhone and iPad among other things, was going to raise the minimum monthly wage to 4,400 RMB or roughly $700 USD a month. That’s before charging room, board, uniforms, etc. since you live at the plant.

Didn’t they also put nets around their buildings, to stop all the suicidal workers trying to jump?

This isn’t some parody, right? You’re sincerely questioning this? Wow.

if only you know the depth of the microtransaction for Chinese GW2…..

Immensus.9732:

have you got any idea how the wages are there? the equivalent of 14$ in CHINA might be 1-2 weeks of work (thats a guess)

Lol. Do you think the any video game would be marketed toward a crowd who’d be spending 1~2 weeks of salary to buy it?

There isn’t a nationwide minimum wage in China. Wiki says the range is 750-1620 RMB per month. So worse case it’s about 12% of a minimum monthly wage so about 1/2 a week’s income.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_index

Darkobra.6439:

This isn’t some parody, right? You’re sincerely questioning this? Wow.

Never underestimate peoples’ capability to maintain a total lack of perspective.

you know, countries have different economy and different costs for goods & services.
average wage ~250 $/m in CN Shanghai ->14$ ~5,6% of monthly wage
a. wage in Germany ~3100$ -> 50$ ~1,6% of monthly wage.

The average Chinese city dweller can afford to play games just fine and in the end they probably quickly pay more than the average EU citizen, as their cash shop is much more intrusive and they have to pay for a lot of the stuff we get for “free”.

The poor people living in the countryside can’t afford computers so the price of GW2 is not a concern for them.

8 is also the lucky number in China. That’s why the price is 88.

there are lots of changes on CN version, such as

1) VIP

2) You need spend gems to identify dyes

3) Personal Story starts at lv10

4) weapon skills unlock by character level

~250 $/m is minimum wage in CN Shanghai, the average wage is more than ~850 $/m

OneManArmy.9732:

you know, countries have different economy and different costs for goods & services.
average wage ~250 $/m in CN Shanghai ->14$ ~5,6% of monthly wage
a. wage in Germany ~3100$ -> 50$ ~1,6% of monthly wage.

You poor thing, swindled out of all that money.

Xenodmc.9307:

Guild wars 2 CN have finally announced their price for Chinese players, and it’s only cost about 14 USD,while we cost 49.99 USD here.

Exceptionally short-sighted and close-minded post. Well done.
Don’t be afraid of travelling as it is rather unlikely that you will fall off the edge of the world and it might widen your horizon.

Matisse.9356:

Xenodmc.9307:

Guild wars 2 CN have finally announced their price for Chinese players, and it’s only cost about 14 USD,while we cost 49.99 USD here.

Exceptionally short-sighted and close-minded post. Well done.
Don’t be afraid of travelling as it is rather unlikely that you will fall off the edge of the world and it might widen your horizon.

When you live in ‘MURICA you don’t want to travel anywhere else. Or know about it even.

It’s not about their minimum wage, their GW2 version will heavily rely on micro-transactions.

No one would pay our box price if on top of that they also would have to pay for a VIP subscription just to access features that could be considered as free/basic.

Yes, it does cost cheaper, but the following were added to increase the revenue, have a look at this and see if you still want to pay $14 for this version of GW2:

1. Change to the dye system. You can no longer just double click on a Unidentified dye to receive a random dye, but instead you need a Dye Identifier, similar to the Black Lion Chest Key, which can be bought using gem or 10 for 5 laurel

2. VIP system, works like a monthly subscription, with some unique benefits, albeit nothing game breaking