Guild Wars 2

Greetings everyone,

I was wondering how many of you would be willing to purchase small expansion packs each month? I am only level 11 and I’m already worried about “finishing” the game too soon, please don’t hate me for writting that, but that’s just how I feel.

I think that arena net could introduce small content updates, like mounts, new events, quests, races etc… through the black lion trading company, you could buy certain single or a bunch of contents for gems. I woukdn’t mind paying 5-10 euros each month, to help the developer and the game and of course my interest to grow.

What are your opinions on this?

See you ingame, cheers

Personally I dont mind too – and given the past history of Anet, I think it will be fantastic!

Thats the spirit mark, maybe if we can get enough people on this topic we can implant the idea to anet

lol – might as well have a sub.

Hi Basen,

I think it’s important to ignore your numerical level in this game and focus more on the content available. There is no real “leveling too fast” because your level scales to the zone you’re in. So if you hit level 80 you can still go to a level 1-15 zone you haven’t gone to before and work on the quests, vistas etc without being very overpowered for the zone.

The main focus of this game, at least to me, is exploration. I know that will take a fair amount of time for me, and then once I’ve hit 80 with one character and seen all that I can, I’m going to roll another and do it all again. I know that may sound boring to some, but for me, I have no problem repeating content as long as there’s something new. In the case of this game, it’s a new character’s story that will keep me going.

Small content updates could be possible but I am very much against mounts for this game- they serve no real purpose. With fast travel on your map, you can get to locations fairly quickly and mounts only succeed in creating annoyances i.e. people who stand on top of vendors with their mounts so you can’t see the vendor.

ArenaNet’s usual business model (at least, for GW1) was to release expansion packs, though I can’t quite remember how frequently they were released. In my opinion, with how I play the game, it will take me a long while to see all there is to see between vistas and each character’s story.

The beauty of this game is you can enter and leave as you please since their isn’t a monthly fee. So if you finish the game and get bored, you can go play something else till they’re ready to release an expansion pack. Then you get to revisit the world all over again.

This is just my two cents/euros (what is the exchange rate these days, anyway?) :o)

Cheers!

Kind of depends what you mean about finishing. If you mean getting 100% in PVE world then yes maybe. Quite a few people have that already but I think that took most a few hundred hours. Having to pay 5-10 euro a month for new content kind of sounds like a sub fee. And other games with a sub fee very few can give out enough content each month to keep everyone busy. So doubt it will work here. Would be nice but don’t think they can do it.

I’d rather have big expansions like nightfall and factions

wakko.5248:

I’d rather have big expansions like nightfall and factions

I have to agree with this.

Anet tried the mini pack thing once in GW1. It was basically just a series of mini missions for weapon skins. None of the skins were very good though. In fact I never saw anyone use them. I don’t think it was a very popular idea. Back when I was playing GW1, I asked several of my guild mates and even asked random people about those mini missions and if it was worth paying the $10 to unlock them, and almost everyone said it wasn’t worth buying it. Of course, only Anet really knows the numbers there.

I am afraid I did not play GW1 therefore I do not know how big those expansions were…at the time I was playing FFXI, a game that me and my fiancee played for 5 years and came nowhere near endgame( mainly cause of the class system of it, where you can play all classes on 1 character, even have a subclass).

Back on topic, I fell inlove with GW2 and I want to see this game flourish and Continue so that even my children will be able to play it. ArenaNet did an amazing job with the game, not to mention the graphics which are amazing( I have two highend graphic cards each with 2GB of ram and I still have to turn the reflexions off in the cities). I think arena should make a poll asking players if they wanted content everymonth for a small subscription fee, this would bring in huge amounts for them, consequently leading to bigger and more servers, more content etc…

One more question, how does arenanet feel about mounts? Were the any in GW1?

So long as the content is worth the price charged, I’ll be happy to pay. If they try to milk money with overpriced content they can get knackered : p Here’s hoping they offer good value.

Exactly, I think 5euro per pack would be a fair price, if the pack contains at least a few minions, 1-2 new dynamic events ( larger scale ), and other miscalenous items like mounts, pets etc…

Basen.8506:

Exactly, I think 5euro per pack would be a fair price, if the pack contains at least a few minions, 1-2 new dynamic events ( larger scale ), and other miscalenous items like mounts, pets etc…

Not to nitpick, but how do you think dynamic events would work if you bought them and someone else didn’t?

It would have to be a dungeon instance of some sort so that people who didn’t buy the content couldn’t play it- in essence, you’d be paying for a dungeon, not a dynamic event.

Again, sorry to nitpick

Pets are already there. The cosmetic ones at least.

As far as I know, GW1 didn’t have mounts, but I could be wrong on that.

While I wouldn’t mind, I’d rather pay a bigger chunk of money for a bigger expansion. It lets them have more room to make something cohesive – adding a new race, plus areas and a story that tie everything together.

A “serial” type release, I’m sure it could be done, but I see that more as gradually unlocking content and I don’t think that would be idea for most people, either. I think they’d prefer to have a big expansion and play at their own pace.

Yeah you are kinda right on the dynamic events… But I’m sure Anet would figure it out, I am playing the game slowly, I read every line of text, watch every cut-scene, just to make it last longer, incase I reached lv. CAP too soon and completed the storyline.
I mean this game if ANY should have a subscription fee. I mean I bought FFXIV and they charged a subscription fee for a game in BETA… This is the most polished MMO to date and they should really get more out of it, the developers need their monthly paychecks and the Gem Store won’t really do that if you ask me, unless they added mounts, special effects to armor and weapons (fire applied to swords, etc…).
I just want to see this game live on :P

One more thing, the world should be 3times the size of the current map correct? Once they add the new areas?

Ceallach.8740:

While I wouldn’t mind, I’d rather pay a bigger chunk of money for a bigger expansion. It lets them have more room to make something cohesive – adding a new race, plus areas and a story that tie everything together.

A “serial” type release, I’m sure it could be done, but I see that more as gradually unlocking content and I don’t think that would be idea for most people, either. I think they’d prefer to have a big expansion and play at their own pace.

I agree.

Where I can understand how some would rather updates every month, I’d personally much rather ArenaNet use their resources to create larger content packs than the occasional small update. Also, I believe more people would be inclined to spend $40-$50 yearly on a large pack that gives them a lot, than spending $5 or $10 a month to get little bits and pieces.

The problem I’m seeing is that the expansions like Eye of the North do not seem big to me at all… I remember the update process in FFXI, we would get new weapons, summons, armor etc via updates and huge content through Expansions.
Expansions would offer content like new classes, whole continents, new monsters, new bosses etc… For example Eye of The north comes short compared to that…

Basen.8506:

Yeah you are kinda right on the dynamic events… But I’m sure Anet would figure it out, I am playing the game slowly, I read every line of text, watch every cut-scene, just to make it last longer, incase I reached lv. CAP too soon and completed the storyline.
I mean this game if ANY should have a subscription fee. I mean I bought FFXIV and they charged a subscription fee for a game in BETA… This is the most polished MMO to date and they should really get more out of it, the developers need their monthly paychecks and the Gem Store won’t really do that if you ask me, unless they added mounts, special effects to armor and weapons (fire applied to swords, etc…).
I just want to see this game live on :P

FFXIV was just a major disappointment in my opinion. Waste of time and money on my part- I couldn’t even play it a month and then when they kept sending me e-mails saying “We’ve improved! Give us a chance!” I unsubscribed from their e-mails. I still can’t believe they allowed that monstrosity to be released as it was, but I digress…

Truly, I don’t think that you have to worry about the game living on. GW1 is still living on and it’s never had a monthly sub or an item shop that is more substantial than what GW2 has now. In my opinion, GW2 is just as substantial if not a little more so than GW1, at least from a PvE perspective and with them adding in game housing and guild houses at a later date, I believe it will only continue to be a great game that appeals to all audiences.

What I would LOVE to see them add is planting crops and farming… now THAT I’d buy gems and pay for!

I liked the big expansions of GW1, but I am not sure how the long waiting periods will work in this more traditional MMORPG environment (well, and totally non-traditional at the same time, to avoid misunderstandings). Did they announce anything on this topic? I had the impression they would take the GW1 route, but that could be totally made up by my mind

Oh I agree with you Nyxx, I’d pay another 50$ just for that , for housing, growing crops, like a sandbox mmo minecraft sort of thingie

I imagine they’ll be following a business model similar to the one they used in GW1, releasing a major expansion every Six Months or so that will introduce new areas, classes and stories to explore. Personally I loved this method, as it allowed people who weren’t interested to ignore it without being nerfed and gave those who were ready for new content, not just a few more quests, but an entire new continent to engage them.

I gladly purchased every one of the GW1 expansions and found each to be fantastic in its own way. That business model seemed to work very well for them, so I’ve high hopes they will continue to use it for the new game. It’s like opening a present every six months and getting more of the awesome you’ve been waiting for.

Basen.8506:

The problem I’m seeing is that the expansions like Eye of the North do not seem big to me at all… I remember the update process in FFXI, we would get new weapons, summons, armor etc via updates and huge content through Expansions.
Expansions would offer content like new classes, whole continents, new monsters, new bosses etc… For example Eye of The north comes short compared to that…

Well, Factions released 2 new classes, 4 new regions, and a bunch of other stuff as seen here:

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Guild_Wars_Factions

Nightfall released 2 new classes, 5 new regions and a bunch of stuff as seen here:

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Guild_Wars_Nightfall

According to Wikipedia, this is what happened with Eye of the North

Scrapping their initial plans for a fourth campaign, ArenaNet has released an expansion pack, Guild Wars: Eye of the North, to the previous three campaigns on August 31, 2007.²³²⁴ Not being a full campaign, this expansion requires one of the other released campaigns, and is only accessible by player characters at level 10 and above. Eye of the North therefore does not feature new professions, but contains new content for existing characters: dungeons, a number of new skills, armor, and heroes. Eye of the North is set in previously inaccessible territory from the first Guild Wars campaign, Prophecies. It is intended to be a bridge to the sequel to the Guild Wars series, Guild Wars 2. As a promotion for their online store and Eye of the North, ArenaNet released a “bonus mission pack”²⁵ for purchase online. It contains playable recreations of four incidents in the history of Tyria, Cantha, and Elona, and each mission expands the backstory for one of four major NPCs.²⁶

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

It sounds to me they had already planned GW2 so they decided not to make Eye of the North a large expansion.

Pretty sure ArenaNet said that they will have free content updates, as well as large expansions to the game

It would be great, if they could push forward smaller updates, including new gear and smaller monsters and maybe ranger pets, etc, while the expansions would add whole worlds, dungeons, classes, skills, housing etc.
That would be the perfect business model if you ask me, as it would be great with the hardcore gamers, striving for the best gear aswell as the laidback, who have yet to even finish the first content.

Nyxx which server are you on? Seems we have the same vision for this game would be fun to play together a bit

Basen.8506:

Nyxx which server are you on? Seems we have the same vision for this game would be fun to play together a bit

I’m on Jade Quarry. You?

Oudo.5236:

Pretty sure ArenaNet said that they will have free content updates, as well as large expansions to the game

I hope it’s this.

Ruins of Sumria for me, had some RL friends on it Too Bad tho, but we might be engaged in some WvWvW soon

Yeah Oudo, any chance for the source of that information?

Basen.8506:

Ruins of Sumria for me, had some RL friends on it Too Bad tho, but we might be engaged in some WvWvW soon

Ah too bad but that sounds good! I think they have server visiting too? My sister and her son were on Jade Quarry so that’s why I picked it

I’m not sure how much I like my server, since it does seem pretty empty, deserted even… It’s quite strange, in my city ( Black Citadel ) I have not encountered a single human, sylvari, asura or norn. Do they not have access or do they just decide not to come to that specific area?

Basen.8506:

I’m not sure how much I like my server, since it does seem pretty empty, deserted even… It’s quite strange, in my city ( Black Citadel ) I have not encountered a single human, sylvari, asura or norn. Do they not have access or do they just decide not to come to that specific area?

No, the Charr threaten to eat the humans, asura and norns and then use the sylvari as toothpicks…

Not to sure the real reason I haven’t been there yet myself, but that’s only because my quests haven’t taken me in that direction yet.

Basen.8506:

I’m not sure how much I like my server, since it does seem pretty empty, deserted even… It’s quite strange, in my city ( Black Citadel ) I have not encountered a single human, sylvari, asura or norn. Do they not have access or do they just decide not to come to that specific area?

They’re just not deciding to go there. If you’re not happy with your server I think transferring is still free at the moment, though I haven’t checked.

“purchase…every month”

You mean like a monthly subscription?

No.

I buy expansion packs, cash shop items, but I refuse to pay monthly. You end up spending multiple amounts of what the game is worth for minimal add on’s that aren’t even close to being of the same caliber of the main game. Then we have to pay for expansions as well? No thanks.

DistantStatic.6098:

“purchase…every month”

You mean like a monthly subscription?

No.

I buy expansion packs, cash shop items, but I refuse to pay monthly. You end up spending multiple amounts of what the game is worth for minimal add on’s that aren’t even close to being of the same caliber of the main game. Then we have to pay for expansions as well? No thanks.

Yes, this is one of the main reasons I love Guild Wars and ArenaNet. I think it would be somewhat of an insult to old GW1 players if they introduced and monthly fee especially after release.

I don’t see anything wrong with what they’re doing now.

Didn’t read all of the replies, so this may have already been said, but Anet has already said that they will be adding content periodically at no cost. There will be expansions down the road, but there will also be free content patches before then.

I did not say that anything was wrong with their current model, I was just worried how long it will take for them to bring out the first expansion, since some players are already practically finishing their endgame, there are videos with people on youtube with full achievements etc…

Basen.8506:

I’m not sure how much I like my server, since it does seem pretty empty, deserted even… It’s quite strange, in my city ( Black Citadel ) I have not encountered a single human, sylvari, asura or norn. Do they not have access or do they just decide not to come to that specific area?

I see lots of people out in the world while I’m exploring – so I think they’re simply just not in cities.

Lion’s Arch seems to be the “clustering” city, and I think rightfully so – since it’s a big world hub.

I haven’t explored any of the capitals other than my own, I’m still out in the world. It will probably be a while before my asura gets all the way to the other side of the map. I actually see charr in Rata Sum pretty regularly when my personal story leads back there.

I haven’t played Guild Wars and I don’t know too much about ArenaNet but as far as I hear from forums and Guild Wars players, we shouldn’t mind this because ANet does that it right.

Basen.8506:

I did not say that anything was wrong with their current model, I was just worried how long it will take for them to bring out the first expansion, since some players are already practically finishing their endgame, there are videos with people on youtube with full achievements etc…

“Power Gamers” will always clear content super-fast. They do it in all MMOs and all games.

I don’t think it represents the experience of the average player who realises there is no reason to rush to 80 (and that by doing so, you’re only cheating yourself out of the game).

Power Gaming is fun for some, so you can cry “first” ! or be thrilled with how fast you can push yourself. But if you’re not a playing to play fast, I wouldn’t worry about clearing everything as fast as someone who is setting out to do so.

I mean they could drastically lenghten the game if they added things like fishing and crafting that is done similarly to FFXIV, cause lets face it 1 click crafting is just not that inviting. Adding weddings and etc would be great, I for one would love to marry my RL fiancee ingame before I do in RL Such small things are great, people really take them on and explore them to their max potential, or reserving a bar in the city for their guild, stuff like that.

I prefer large content updates. Don’t nickel and dime me for little stuff. Give me something big to work on. Not that I am in a hurry, but… bring on Nightfall 2!

In game events is what MMOs lack. No one has the stones to do them because they are afraid of on the spot bugs or issues.

Wow! Thanks ColinJohanson, that is absolutely great news! I thank you for taking the time to read this thread, can you by any chance tell us if fishing would be viable?

Cheers to You!

ColinJohanson.2394:

No need to buy them, Gw2 will feature consistent free content updates and in-game events going forward. Our goal is to make it so you get more from Gw2 for free than you get from a game you pay a subscription for.

On top of a large amount of free bonus content, we will be expanding on offerings in the Black Lion Trading Company going forward, as well as be doing large-scale expansion content down the road.

We’ll cover a lot of the details on the kind of support and plans we have in place over the next month or so on the Gw2 blog and with our press partners.

We do appreciate that you’d like to buy lots of new content, but we’d prefer to give a lot of it to you for free, cause that’s what we think a responsible MMO company does!

Awesome!! Thanks for responding and answering our questions!

That’s pretty neat.
The very first thing to come out for the original game was Sorrow’s Furnace. Do you have something similar planned for GW2?

ColinJohanson.2394:

No need to buy them, Gw2 will feature consistent free content updates and in-game events going forward. Our goal is to make it so you get more from Gw2 for free than you get from a game you pay a subscription for.

On top of a large amount of free bonus content, we will be expanding on offerings in the Black Lion Trading Company going forward, as well as be doing large-scale expansion content down the road.

We’ll cover a lot of the details on the kind of support and plans we have in place over the next month or so on the Gw2 blog and with our press partners.

We do appreciate that you’d like to buy lots of new content, but we’d prefer to give a lot of it to you for free, cause that’s what we think a responsible MMO company does!

Thanks for the response and I’d just like to say that the attitude you just described is why you guys are my favourite games company! <3

It’s also why I’ve bought bank space, dye packs and 2 character slots already, even though I normally spend nothing in cash shops & never buy dlc.

ColinJohanson.2394:

No need to buy them, Gw2 will feature consistent free content updates and in-game events going forward. Our goal is to make it so you get more from Gw2 for free than you get from a game you pay a subscription for.

On top of a large amount of free bonus content, we will be expanding on offerings in the Black Lion Trading Company going forward, as well as be doing large-scale expansion content down the road.

We’ll cover a lot of the details on the kind of support and plans we have in place over the next month or so on the Gw2 blog and with our press partners.

We do appreciate that you’d like to buy lots of new content, but we’d prefer to give a lot of it to you for free, cause that’s what we think a responsible MMO company does!

Mmm, this is another reason why I love ArenaNet.

When expansions come out, will there be any possibility for having available to purchase in the Gem store, similar to how you can purchase the digital deluxe upgrade?