Guild Wars 2

Thank God I have the 1000 required gold and the time to farm all the stuff I need to complete the collections . ERMM wait I don’t … oh well .. hats off to all the players who received the inside info . Those prices were inflated way before the patch hit. Go figure….

c’mon, it’s not like arena net purposefully put items into a quest that they knew would be quickly and easily price gouged.. it’s not like they knew that implementing 1 of the 6 lousy added items in the home instance since launch as the quest reward would goad older dedicated players into farming tired, old, broken content.. it’s not like their sole purpose is to sham new players into thinking this game isn’t a derelict ghost town.. c’mon now

You seem to be pretty vague about which collections you are referring to. Some collections, like the Kloutaphile one, or the basic crafting ones, are pretty easy to complete and require minimal time/money investment. Others are easier depending on what sort of resources you already have stocked. Are you upset because items that you want are being sold by players who know you want them (hence the high price)? Or are you upset because you didn’t capitalize on these markets first? Regarding insider info, there were previews released publicly about collections. There were also speculators who took shots in the dark about what might be more valuable with collections. Sucks for late comers or those who didn’t keep their ear to the ground but that’s what happens in the GW2 economy. With that said, which collections are you referring to? I agree that some seem like they have a steep investment that doesn’t quite pay off, but you should probably refer to specific ones instead of being vaguely upset about something.

No I did it right the first time .
Grab a seat an a cup of coffee. Replace those batteries in the calculator an prepare that spread sheet . Now go an calculate the costs of everything in the collections that does not involve karma an or a quest to get . No seriously i’ll wait . oooh coffee sounds good right about now … Brb

So, if I’m hearing you right, you are a completionist who wants every last collection filled? Including the black lion ones? And you want to buy everything instead of playing the game to get it? I guess you are setting yourself up for disappointment then. Cause that does cost a lot of money. You already know that there are ways to offset the cost by doing events/world bosses/dungeons/etc. If you are trying to say that you want all of the collections to be account bound items only (or close to it), just say it instead of beating around the bush. Unless, again, I am mistaken.

I don’t know, maybe they were meant to be long term goals and the purpose of them isn’t just to buy everything off the trading post. That would be my guess.

This is why I liked the Spoon collection and Trash collection.

Those items were bound and you had to go get them . . .

Vayne.8563:

I don’t know, maybe they were meant to be long term goals and the purpose of them isn’t just to buy everything off the trading post. That would be my guess.

If so, the long term goals in this game suck plain and simple (imo <4mods>)

leman.7682:

Vayne.8563:

I don’t know, maybe they were meant to be long term goals and the purpose of them isn’t just to buy everything off the trading post. That would be my guess.

If so, the long term goals in this game suck plain and simple (imo <4mods>)

Well, no lie . . . they’re not as terrible as the long term goal of earning “Unlucky” to maximum rank, don’t you think?

leman.7682:

Vayne.8563:

I don’t know, maybe they were meant to be long term goals and the purpose of them isn’t just to buy everything off the trading post. That would be my guess.

If so, the long term goals in this game suck plain and simple (imo <4mods>)

If you say so. Only you can judge of the long term goals suck for you. I think the collection stuff is fine. But then, I’m not in a rush to get it, hence the concept of a long term goal.

Vayne.8563:

If you say so. Only you can judge of the long term goals suck for you. I think the collection stuff is fine. But then, I’m not in a rush to get it, hence the concept of a long term goal.

I don’t expect to ever get a couple of these. Like, the Black Lion collections.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Vayne.8563:

If you say so. Only you can judge of the long term goals suck for you. I think the collection stuff is fine. But then, I’m not in a rush to get it, hence the concept of a long term goal.

I don’t expect to ever get a couple of these. Like, the Black Lion collections.

I don’t expect to get all of them either. One the one hand, that’s good because there’s always one other thing to do. On the other hands it’s bad, particularly in the case of the black lion collections, which are ridiculously expensive and no good in game way of getting them. That feels to me to be greedy.

I just ignore them. It’s not like getting or not getting that collection will in any way affect my game. But I don’t like it.

I don’t know. Near the end of the higher population in GW, things were much cheaper and easier to obtain to fulfill achievements/title ranks/collections.

Thus, that is the way I’m going about some of the collections and other goals in this game, its successor. I will slowly work on it, knowing some time in the future, goals that seemed nearly impossible today will be much easier then.

But, each to their own. If one feels the need to rush to complete it, that’s certainly their choice. =)

Vayne.8563:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Vayne.8563:

If you say so. Only you can judge of the long term goals suck for you. I think the collection stuff is fine. But then, I’m not in a rush to get it, hence the concept of a long term goal.

I don’t expect to ever get a couple of these. Like, the Black Lion collections.

I don’t expect to get all of them either. One the one hand, that’s good because there’s always one other thing to do. On the other hands it’s bad, particularly in the case of the black lion collections, which are ridiculously expensive and no good in game way of getting them. That feels to me to be greedy.

I’d agree, except it seems like a “well why not?” throw-in. Especially giving you back tickets (any tickets at all) for finishing it. What’s more puzzling is the lack of a Fractal Weapon one . . . and Mystic Weapon one.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Vayne.8563:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Vayne.8563:

If you say so. Only you can judge of the long term goals suck for you. I think the collection stuff is fine. But then, I’m not in a rush to get it, hence the concept of a long term goal.

I don’t expect to ever get a couple of these. Like, the Black Lion collections.

I don’t expect to get all of them either. One the one hand, that’s good because there’s always one other thing to do. On the other hands it’s bad, particularly in the case of the black lion collections, which are ridiculously expensive and no good in game way of getting them. That feels to me to be greedy.

I’d agree, except it seems like a “well why not?” throw-in. Especially giving you back tickets (any tickets at all) for finishing it. What’s more puzzling is the lack of a Fractal Weapon one . . . and Mystic Weapon one.

Maybe they’ll add them later. Have to have something to add. lol

Vayne.8563:

Maybe they’ll add them later. Have to have something to add. lol

. . . just make another trash collecting one for the stuff NOT covered already which is trash. Or like the “Fine Dining” one, for a different theme of foods?

Heck, they could get away with adding an item at specific Karma Vendors without announcing it, and a collection which unlocked when you first get one. Then you have to figure out where the others are.

Seriously, done creatively I think Collections are a fascinating potential piece of content.

Vayne.8563:

I don’t know, maybe they were meant to be long term goals and the purpose of them isn’t just to buy everything off the trading post. That would be my guess.

I guess it was always inevitable.. no not the collections achievements being added in game, or the ensuing whines about them… I mean me agreeing with Vayne wholeheartedly on something

All seriousness though OP, are you in some kind of hurry that you feel the need to have to buy your way to the achievements, its not like its really going to make any difference to your game if you don’t get them achievement chests this week.. or next.
ANET have to at least try to find ways to keep players in game, this is one of them, legendary Weapons another.. who knows these collections may develop into something more akin to a real scavenger hunt system.. “Pre-Cursors” anyone?

I wish I had thought more on it when I kept getting "Rotbeards Treasure in every other boss chest I opened the last few weeks prior to the update.. now I cant get it at all… reminds me, I must go whine about the price of it now on the TP….

Happy Hunting though, or at least remember to tip your bank manager at Christmas if that’s indeed the route you want to take.

The idea behind the collections is awesome but it’s a feature where I hoped that they would put more effort in it, or released it at a later state. Because right now the rewards we got for really high end stuff set the tone for upcoming collection achievements. A complete set of corrupted weapons? Here you get a generic exotic, that’s lame. Why not a cool corrupted themed backpack or a piece of armor?

I also think that there should be a collector achievement for every set in the game, like kitten cultural weapons, etc. These collections are easier to get and may encourage newtimers to collect them aswell.

Let put it this way, before the Patch Cobalt was like 6g and after the patch it had increase to 9k and something similar with Arc. I know this since I was thinking of buying those two before the patch. Ok that doesn’t sound much but I pretty sure the other unquie exotic weapons and items needed for the collection achiviement did skyrocketed after the patch.

i wonder why they dont moved the cultural armor archievements to the collection ones (it is exact this)
or why there is no legendary collection

or why no collections collection?
like:
basic – collect 15 basis collections
rare – collect 7 rare collections
blacklion – collect 10 blacklion collections

and collect the basic, rare, blacklion meta collections collection

ye – why not

how bout wvw collection? – all blueprints
how bout pvp collection? – all champion titles?

Fractalskin collection
oh and i want the “asc rings sold to vendor collection”

Collections are a nice idea developed in the laziest possible way:

issues:
1) putting 1 TP rng items in most collections was “not smart”.
If anyone having access to infos stockpiled and started manipulating them maybe it wasn t so hard to see.

2) Rewards value: you spend alwatys more than you would getting same items in other ways.

3) reciclying content forever: Even giving weapon/armor skins using the base models and changing colour or adding particle effects would have been a good deal with few minutes of work.
Giving trinkets invisible in game just updating the Icon is really lazy.

4) its not content, its pushing players to replay the same old stuff forever.

LordByron.8369:

Collections are a nice idea developed in the laziest possible way:

issues:
1) putting 1 TP rng items in most collections was “not smart”.
If anyone having access to infos stockpiled and started manipulating them maybe it wasn t so hard to see.

2) Rewards value: you spend alwatys more than you would getting same items in other ways.

3) reciclying content forever: Even giving weapon/armor skins using the base models and changing colour or adding particle effects would have been a good deal with few minutes of work.
Giving trinkets invisible in game just updating the Icon is really lazy.

4) its not content, its pushing players to replay the same old stuff forever.

It’s not content, you’re 100% right. Because this wasn’t a content patch. It’s a feature. It gives people reason to do existing content.

Content will resume with Halloween and then the new living story, presumably with more new territory.

Lots of people call things lazy. Anet has been many things, but lazy has definitely not been one of them.

Suure
they made so much work for this:
http://db.dulfy.net/item/67294

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mark_of_the_Imperial_Guard

the skins are so detailed and the functionality is totally new..

It Worth all the hundred runs required…

Its not that changing colour palette on AC weapons would have just been almost as fast but way better for every player.

It would still be less work than a single BL weapon.

I remember on gw2 lunch, anet said “you’ll don’t be forced to do over and over the same thing to get the item you want” and they already failed on that. Lot of players don’t even make 10g/day so imagine how long it take to make a legendary.

Now explain me something : how can you get, for exemple, all black lion collections without farming like a pure no life (and don’t do anything else) or using real money ?

Just to get 1 of them (chaos for exemple), you’ll need arround 1900g (assuming 1 skin is arround 100g atm on tp). Assuming 10g/day is doable for most of player, that will take 10*19 arround 190 days to complete

The real goal of this update is somehow to incite players to buy gems, nothing else.

After the pay to win on some games, anet have made a new concept : pay to get ap and be on kitteneless leaderboad !!!

Why is having a long-term goal bad? Why is taking 190 days to achieve something so horrendous? Doesn’t the player-base want something to strive for long-term? Geez, I do. Maybe I’m just the oddball here. /shrug

Anonymous Player.3079:

I remember on gw2 lunch, anet said “you’ll don’t be forced to do over and over the same thing to get the item you want” and they already failed on that. Lot of players don’t even make 10g/day so imagine how long it take to make a legendary.

I wonder how many people took that completely literally, like this. It seems a bit of an unfair stretch to say “well the item I want is Eternity!” and then complain about the required work for something meant to be a long-term goal like Legendaries were.

cheshirefox.7026:

c’mon, it’s not like arena net purposefully put items into a quest that they knew would be quickly and easily price gouged.. it’s not like they knew that implementing 1 of the 6 lousy added items in the home instance since launch as the quest reward would goad older dedicated players into farming tired, old, broken content.. it’s not like their sole purpose is to sham new players into thinking this game isn’t a derelict ghost town.. c’mon now

Derelict ghost town? Wow, and here I see people swarming everywhere I go. I must be hallucinating.

Ethan Mccloud.3218:

Thank God I have the 1000 required gold and the time to farm all the stuff I need to complete the collections . ERMM wait I don’t … oh well .. hats off to all the players who received the inside info . Those prices were inflated way before the patch hit. Go figure….

You mean, like having time to play the game? Well, if you don’t have time to play the game, then don’t play. Problem solved.

Seriously people, the game is meant to be played, not bought. You’re complaining because you cant cheaply BUY your way to content that you can also PLAY to get?

Pardon me while I wipe this tear away….

IMHO current problems:

1) Very unrewarding for complete collections (most of them).

2) Announces/preview of collections – prices skyrocked before the patch.

3) Very low drop rate of exotic items from bosses chests. I play very often, but i saw these items maybe 1 time or never.

Ethan Mccloud.3218:

Thank God I have the 1000 required gold and the time to farm all the stuff I need to complete the collections . ERMM wait I don’t … oh well .. hats off to all the players who received the inside info . Those prices were inflated way before the patch hit. Go figure….

Thank Kormir you don’t need to complete the collections, so you can wait until you acquire the items through ordinary gameplay. The only people spending 1,000s of gold now are people who want to be first (or speculators hoping to profit from the impatience of others). I have yet to spend any gold on these, although I might when prices inevitably drop to more reasonable levels.

ezd.6359:

IMHO current problems:

1) Very unrewarding for complete collections (most of them).

2) Announces/preview of collections – prices skyrocked before the patch.

3) Very low drop rate of exotic items from bosses chests. I play very often, but i saw these items maybe 1 time or never.

So? Not all content is intended to be completed quickly and easily.

I find it funny. If content is fast to do, we get complaints that its too fast. If it takes awhile to do, or is expensive to do it fast, we get complaints that they cant do it both quickly and easily.

Repeat the following mantra: Not all content is intended to be completed quickly, cheaply, and easily.

Vayne.8563:

I don’t know, maybe they were meant to be long term goals and the purpose of them isn’t just to buy everything off the trading post. That would be my guess.

Morfedel.4165:

Seriously people, the game is meant to be played, not bought. You’re complaining because you cant cheaply BUY your way to content that you can also PLAY to get?

Pardon me while I wipe this tear away….

Sorry, but running the boss events for X amount of times (especially now since they can’t be done as fast as they used to be) and still not getting the item due to the kitten RNG (which some accounts get blessed and other (like mine) are cursed) isn’t an option either.

Morfedel : I seem to recall my statement was "time to farm all the " key word there is farm or more so to the point “Grind” . I am all to happy to just play the game. I would much prefer to "Just play the game all the time ".

The point is simple boys an girls . I have no desire to buy anything on the Bltp especially now that the prices of most of the GRINDABLE items are now so far out of range for normal players that completing some of the collections will now require a Grind fest.
Now for the ones who like this as a Long term goal. I’m truly happy for you . I wish I had your enthusiasm, I really do but I was made differently . The thought of an achievement I cannot complete do to A). Buying gems for keys for chests for skins that really seem like an impossible goal . ( by the way I will accept any advice u have in taking my leisure time an playing the game so that I may procure said skins cause u know they are so easy to get an all .) . Running around killing the same kitten monster over an over an over an over (frostgorge anyone) an over to obtain the item.
See Grinding –
But the real issue nightwulf is that karma an account bound obtainable items would of been better (really should of stated this from the beginning but it was just to tempting to see who the anet supporters were in the thread. ) and would of made much more sense. I am a completionist in terms of these achievements . Its how I play my game an the current roadblocks to my goals are perpurtrated by anet an its underlying goals of forcing ,<———my word , players to buy gems .

These views are my sole Opinion an are not those expressed by this broadcast station. Any claims otherwise are false.

skullmount.1758:

Morfedel.4165:

Seriously people, the game is meant to be played, not bought. You’re complaining because you cant cheaply BUY your way to content that you can also PLAY to get?

Pardon me while I wipe this tear away….

Sorry, but running the boss events for X amount of times (especially now since they can’t be done as fast as they used to be) and still not getting the item due to the kitten RNG (which some accounts get blessed and other (like mine) are cursed) isn’t an option either.

Hey, i’ve been playing since beta and I still haven’t received a precursor. I’d love to see the scavenger hunt, but it was INTENDED to be extremely rare.\

So no, I don’t really see a problem with it.

Ethan Mccloud.3218:

Morfedel : I seem to recall my statement was "time to farm all the " key word there is farm or more so to the point “Grind” . I am all to happy to just play the game. I would much prefer to "Just play the game all the time ".

not everyone has time to farm for rare/exotic gear. I have been playing since beta and have never gotten a precursor. I know someone who has SEVEN legendaries. A bit excessive, but I’m not losing sleep over it, I just keep playing the game.

If you don’t have the time and patience to play the way you need to for the more difficult to obtain content, maybe you aren’t going to for quite some time. I still don’t have a legendary, and that’s ok.

It’s ok that you won’t be able to get these things quickly and easily too.

The fact of the matter is, some content is supposed to be easy to obtain, and some aren’t. You are running against content that is, quite obviously, intended to be harder to obtain. The fact you don’t LIKE that its harder to obtain is a personal problem, not a game problem.

I will admit I didn’t like how the preview saw prices jumping to huge levels before the patch even came out, but really, those items are exotic for a reason. I usually see one exotic drop every… oh, week to two weeks… and its not often a named item.

So yeah, I don’t expect to get them, or the achievement, any time soon either. And I’m ok with it.

Morfedel.4165:

ezd.6359:

IMHO current problems:

1) Very unrewarding for complete collections (most of them).

2) Announces/preview of collections – prices skyrocked before the patch.

3) Very low drop rate of exotic items from bosses chests. I play very often, but i saw these items maybe 1 time or never.

So? Not all content is intended to be completed quickly and easily.

I find it funny. If content is fast to do, we get complaints that its too fast. If it takes awhile to do, or is expensive to do it fast, we get complaints that they cant do it both quickly and easily.

Repeat the following mantra: Not all content is intended to be completed quickly, cheaply, and easily.

It is not about “quickly and easily”.

I have ~1300g and 2 legendaries at this moment. I don’t want to buy these items. I will repeat my points + explains.

1) Very unrewarding for complete collections (most of them). – no point to do them. Check jormag collection rewards for example – no sense. Dwayna collection has unique skin at least (i don’t like it but…).

2) Announces/preview of collections – prices skyrocked before the patch. It is about this topic, where author says about 1000g. I don’t want to buy these items any way. This problem is linked with 3rd (very low drop rate for these items + random).

3) Very low drop rate of exotic items from bosses chests. I play very often, but i saw these items maybe 1 time or never. a) farm bosses – nofun content most of them b) very low drop rate – boring.

I don’t plan to do these collections, because it is boring and unrewarding. I want to have:
1) FUN
2) Less RANDOM
3) Free (not cheap, i don’t want to buy them, i want to achive them).

Only 4 collections are normal: Ambrite, trash , spoons, treasure hunter. Others need to be buffed / reworked. So it can be “long run” and “expensive” in same time, but it must be FUN + WORTHY REWARD.

My only complaint with the collections is that a lot of them are based on getting really rare items from RNG, and then also being able to bypass that through buying them. I’d rather they just made everything you had to get soul bound so you actually have to go out and get it and make it a little less RNG.

I by no means want them to make collections something to do in a weekend or extremely easy, just less RNG or Buy it.

ezd.6359:

Morfedel.4165:

ezd.6359:

IMHO current problems:

1) Very unrewarding for complete collections (most of them).

2) Announces/preview of collections – prices skyrocked before the patch.

3) Very low drop rate of exotic items from bosses chests. I play very often, but i saw these items maybe 1 time or never.

So? Not all content is intended to be completed quickly and easily.

I find it funny. If content is fast to do, we get complaints that its too fast. If it takes awhile to do, or is expensive to do it fast, we get complaints that they cant do it both quickly and easily.

Repeat the following mantra: Not all content is intended to be completed quickly, cheaply, and easily.

It is not about “quickly and easily”.

I have ~1300g and 2 legendaries at this moment. I don’t want to buy these items. I will repeat my points + explains.

1) Very unrewarding for complete collections (most of them). – no point to do them. Check jormag collection rewards for example – no sense. Dwayna collection has unique skin at least (i don’t like it but…).

Then don’t do them. Problem solved.

2) Announces/preview of collections – prices skyrocked before the patch. It is about this topic, where author says about 1000g. I don’t want to buy these items any way. This problem is linked with 3rd (very low drop rate for these items + random).

I did admit this was a problem, but then again, it would have happened immediately after the patch anyway, it only made a difference of a few days. Did that effect a few? Sure. But any change effects a few, its an unavoidable fact.

3) Very low drop rate of exotic items from bosses chests. I play very often, but i saw these items maybe 1 time or never. a) farm bosses – nofun content most of them b) very low drop rate – boring.

I don’t plan to do these collections, because it is boring and unrewarding. I want to have:
1) FUN
2) Less RANDOM
3) Free (not cheap, i don’t want to buy them, i want to achive them).

Only 4 collections are normal: Ambrite, trash , spoons, treasure hunter. Others need to be buffed / reworked. So it can be “long run” and “expensive” in same time, but it must be FUN + WORTHY REWARD.

If you dont like them, dont do them. Gratz on having two legendaries, seems like you don’t have a lot of trouble farming or paying for them then, but if this content doesn’t make you want to do more, then just do something else. Coming here complaining about them, I don’t think is going to do much more than just waste time really.

You know what’s funny? I’ve had over half those exotic items at one point or another, sold most of them. Or salvaged them if they werent selling for more. Imagine how I feel now lol

After thinking about it, I decided to rescind some of my earlier comments. Not all, some. The collections for the exotics are going to be kitten ed hard to do, especially with prices jacked up.

Other than that, though, I think the release was fine.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

I wonder how many people took that completely literally, like this. It seems a bit of an unfair stretch to say “well the item I want is Eternity!” and then complain about the required work for something meant to be a long-term goal like Legendaries were.

Work to get a legendary is fine to me, but hope in a drop of a pre to be able to do it
Some friend have bashed more than 2000 gs on mystik toilet and didn’t get 1.

Anyway as i said for me it’s just a ‘how to make player pay more’ patch but i’m maybe wrong ^^

For the time being morfedel we will just agree to disagree. Fair enough?
EZD . I’m glad you get what I was driving at .

Anonymous Player.3079:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

I wonder how many people took that completely literally, like this. It seems a bit of an unfair stretch to say “well the item I want is Eternity!” and then complain about the required work for something meant to be a long-term goal like Legendaries were.

Work to get a legendary is fine to me, but hope in a drop of a pre to be able to do it
Some friend have bashed more than 2000 gs on mystik toilet and didn’t get 1.

And that’s a problem I have with the Legendary system, including the ability to buy the finished Legendary off someone who could make it. That’s just . . . that’s . . . urgh, that still makes me sigh a bit and wonder what thought was behind not Account Binding on Acquire for Legendaries.

Anyway as i said for me it’s just a ‘how to make player pay more’ patch but i’m maybe wrong ^^

I only paid for a character slot to try the NPE material and see if what people said was true . . . so far, I’m finding out there’s a lot of false and incomplete information getting dumped out there. I won’t speculate on why.

disagree w/ OP. if you aren’t into this type of thing, skip it. if you are, you probably aren’t the type of person who needs to rush to finish (the only reason you’d need to grind money quickly).

most can be done by just playing………a few require gems/rng (the BLTC skins). I’d rather the BLTC collections didn’t exist, but who’e really going to try to complete those, unless they have a ton of disposable income (in-game or RL)?

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

This is why I liked the Spoon collection and Trash collection.

Those items were bound and you had to go get them . . .

Yeah. Buying stuff off the Trading Post is boring.

Sokia.3710:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

This is why I liked the Spoon collection and Trash collection.

Those items were bound and you had to go get them . . .

Yeah. Buying stuff off the Trading Post is boring.

So don’t do it.

I think the OP has made himself clear. He would have been happier knowing that he could complete the collections if they were all account bound trophies or karma items. I can see the merit in that. The goal being that people’s experience in collection being somewhat uniform and equal. However, some people are sitting on millions of karma while others are not. And people would still complain about collections being trivially easy or monotonously long no matter where the lines are drawn.

However, I want to talk about something the OP brought up. Real Money Trading. I think the train of thought that people follow with economic complaints in this vein is uninformed. That train of thought is that if you can’t generate enough gold in game to meet your goals then you are forced to participate in RMT. This sort of logic has been the fallback position of players across MMOs for years. When developers or players set the price of a desired item to a point beyond what some players think is reasonable, the conversation usually devolves into “You are forcing players/me to buy currency from RMT sites!” That…just can’t be the case. Issues stemming from RMT in terms of customer support, in game economies and even in game communities are nightmarish. If you look at the history of RMT and how it affects MMOs and even local economies in other countries, you would probably have a better understanding of why Anet took the direction they did with paying for gold with cash. If Anet didn’t participate in legit RMT, and many MMOs still don’t, desperate players would still be flocking to/preyed on by gold sites for the most desired items. For players that can’t control themselves, and there will always be those who can’t, Anet has given them an out. It wasn’t an altruistic motive I can assure you, there is money to be made there, but the pros and cons are complex enough that I think everyone needs to move beyond using the “they do x to drive gem to gold sales” argument as the basis for a rational understanding of game design.

I think not having a purely account bound collection system gives more options for profit for those who wish to participate in the player driven economy. I think having a purely account bound collection system, while a valid option, would necessitate the use of RNG which some people will complain about anyway. Either way, I feel that it’s pretty clear that completing all of the collections is intended to be a long term goal. Players will never agree on just how long that should be or how to gate it. It’s really hard to silence criticism because no system is perfect. For almost any suggestion you can think of, there will be a flaw or downside.

A lot of people fall for Anet’s illusion of content patches. That’s why they keep doing it.