Guild Wars 2

I am hoping to get a response from staff on this. But I myself along with many others bought the collector’s edition before release and we got a few cool real world items like the book and Rytlock model. But we also paid $150 for that. an extra $100 beyond the actual price of the game and $80 more than the deluxe. And I was happy to pay extra for those items. But then Heroic edition comes out and it comes with two free armor skins that you would otherwise have to purchase from the gem store for $25. I was a little disappointed but I eventually shrugged it off. Now if you buy the game for the cost of the gem card you still get those items and the game itself was practically free. And I still have to go spend another $25 if I want those items. That just doesn’t seem right to me. and I personally feel that everyone that had purchased the collector’s edition should be essentially reimbursed for those items that they should have received but never did. I think this needs some serious discussion.

There has been a bunch of threads on this already … https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/info/devtracker

You got what you paid for at the time. If you didn’t think it was worth that price you shouldn’t have bought it. Many different products eventually end up offering deep discounts and/or additional stuff in order to get people who didn’t buy it originally interested in buying it.

GW1:Prophecies + EotN is also the same price as GW1:Prophecies alone.

The Heroic Edition doesn’t have 2 free armor skins. It is 1 set of armor and 1 set of skin. Both look the same.

You can read the Devs response to this matter over in the Account Issues sub-forum.

Here is one such response:

I asked about this today at a Business Team meeting. Those who purchased the Collector’s Edition are valued customers, for sure! But remember, there were a lot of goodies in that box, and it’s not customary, even if necessarily good business, to continue to give free items for a purchase made a year ago. I can’t think of any other business that would do that, that would say “I see you purchased a mixer a year ago. We’ve developed a handy new accessory and we’re sending it to you for free.”

And by the way, I’m proud to say that at the time it was released, our CE was hailed as “the best in the industry” with having so many nice in-game and physical features.

Sure, it’d be nice to continue to get free stuff for a purchase made in the past. I could see why you would want to get these things for free, but I hope you understand why that isn’t going to happen. Keep in mind that the items are available in the Gem Store or on the Trading Post, so you can get them for in-game gems, in any case I can think of.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/I-bought-the-CE-I-d-like-the-Heroic-items/first#post2706527

Would you be willing to give up 2 years worth of play and rewards for a set of armor and a skin of the same armor? Because that is what those that purchase the Heroic Edition today give up. It would not be worth it to me. /shrug

When a product gets older, to entice more people to buy it, specials often occur. No one is entitled to specials a year or two down the line. It makes no sense. I once bought a Sony DVD player and a couple of months later they were giving free movies to buy it. I didn’t get those free movies and Sony wasn’t going to give them to me. It’s all about timing.

However, with an MMO it’s different. Anyone who starts today is behind the curve. They have less gold, less karma. Karma gain was at one point nerfed tremendously.

I think anyone should be able to trade everything they’ve earned in the game to get free stuff that comes with the box now.

I’m pretty sure almost no one would go for that trade.

• I got GW Prophecies Special Edition (which came with an art book, sound track and a bunch of in-game unlocks for PvP) for the same price as the normal edition was at launch.
• I got the Collectors Editions of Factions and Nightfall in an Amazon January sale for less than the normal price of the normal editions.
• I got Eye of the North free with another game in an HMV sale.

Should everyone who bought those games be reimbursed the difference between their copies and mine? If anyone else got it cheaper should I be reimbursed too?

Of course not.

Another way to look at it is this: those armor sets have been in the gem store since launch. If you wanted them you had the option of exchanging gold for gems back when they would have cost a few gold at most. New players don’t have that option. They’re looking at starting with nothing – brand new characters, no crafting mats saved up, no experience running dungeons etc. and saving up hundreds of gold (fighting against ever increasing inflation) if they want to get gem store items for free.

Khisanth.2948:

The Heroic Edition doesn’t have 2 free armor skins. It is 1 set of armor and 1 set of skin. Both look the same.

Actually, as I currently understand it, it is 2 sets of the same armor.

When you open the box, you obtain a box that used to contain level 0 gear to transmute it onto. However, it now contains all of the armor skins to transmute onto your gear for free (without the use of a transmutation charge).

You also used to obtain each of the armor piece items to transmute onto your gear for free (without the use of a transmutation charge). You still gain this, meaning you, as I understand it, have 2 copies of the same set (7 slots base, or 12 slots if you use the bundle).

I have yet to actually get the Heroic Edition, so I can’t confirm this, but it seems reasonably sound..

Esplen.3940:

Khisanth.2948:

The Heroic Edition doesn’t have 2 free armor skins. It is 1 set of armor and 1 set of skin. Both look the same.

Actually, as I currently understand it, it is 2 sets of the same armor.

When you open the box, you obtain a box that used to contain level 0 gear to transmute it onto. However, it now contains all of the armor skins to transmute onto your gear for free (without the use of a transmutation charge).

You also used to obtain each of the armor piece items to transmute onto your gear for free (without the use of a transmutation charge). You still gain this, meaning you, as I understand it, have 2 copies of the same set (7 slots base, or 12 slots if you use the bundle).

I have yet to actually get the Heroic Edition, so I can’t confirm this, but it seems reasonably sound..

Unless they changed it some time after the wardrobe was added otherwise it is still 1 set of lv0 + 1 set of skin.

Not sure how the OP got to $25 either. That would be enough to buy 4 of those skins.

Let’s say you purchase a cell phone from a store, and you pay extra to get one that comes with an extra battery and a cool case. The next year the same store starts a promotion that for the same price, you also get a free memory card… would you expect the store to go trough its records and start calling everyone that bought the cell phone the year before to give them a free memory card?

BTW, you could just get 10$ (800 gem) worth of gems, buy the legacy armor (which is 500 gem), sell the other 300 gem and you’d have enough gold to buy 18 slots bags for several characters.

This will never end. It is about comprehension and understanding and as long as humans are involved there will be failures to comprehend or understand.

“I bought something when it first released, I paid extra to get more stuff than others and I thought that was fantastic! Now long after the item has been out and the company puts out more stuff with extra cost to entice customers to pay extra I don’t get that extra! I feel ripped off!”

Really….

As a CE buyer I have no issue with later upgrades getting the things they have gotten. Not only did I get some cool stuff, I got a whole lot more game time and the chance to see the world when it was new. I did have some buyer’s remorse, as I didn’t really care for the physical stuff in the CE beyond the nice artwork in a frame. I don’t collect statues, and managed finally to mail my Rytlock statue to a friend to get it out of my computer room. The item that really swung me to getting the physical box was the promised sound track — and that turned out to be maybe 5 minutes of sample music, not the full 4 cd set I ended up buying separately before Soule’s company proved complete crap for those attempting purchase.

That doesn’t mean I’d never fret about later incentives. ArcheAge founders have very legitimate complaints about much better starter packages getting offered at launch when they were selling founder packs up to a couple of days before. ANet didn’t do that. They gave us tons of game time post launch, items that every alt gets forever (not just the first 6 created), and access to everything in the new upgrade version as we piecemeal desired it.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

You can read the Devs response to this matter over in the Account Issues sub-forum.

Here is one such response:

I asked about this today at a Business Team meeting. Those who purchased the Collector’s Edition are valued customers, for sure! But remember, there were a lot of goodies in that box, and it’s not customary, even if necessarily good business, to continue to give free items for a purchase made a year ago. I can’t think of any other business that would do that, that would say “I see you purchased a mixer a year ago. We’ve developed a handy new accessory and we’re sending it to you for free.”

And by the way, I’m proud to say that at the time it was released, our CE was hailed as “the best in the industry” with having so many nice in-game and physical features.

Sure, it’d be nice to continue to get free stuff for a purchase made in the past. I could see why you would want to get these things for free, but I hope you understand why that isn’t going to happen. Keep in mind that the items are available in the Gem Store or on the Trading Post, so you can get them for in-game gems, in any case I can think of.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/I-bought-the-CE-I-d-like-the-Heroic-items/first#post2706527

Would you be willing to give up 2 years worth of play and rewards for a set of armor and a skin of the same armor? Because that is what those that purchase the Heroic Edition today give up. It would not be worth it to me. /shrug

However they did give free stuff to people who did buy gems in the past. (I once made a thread about that).

Not that I feel the need for those skins but it does show that Anet indeed does indeed reward for previous purchases (while here they say they don’t) but there priority is different. There priority is gem sales, not game / expansion sales.

That was the reason I made a thread about that back then as I did see and still see there focus on the cash-shop in stead of game-sales as a much bigger problem.

On a side note: The CE is sure great however I would have liked it if there would have been one truly unique item in game.. unique to the CE edition only (so not in the Deluxe). That was the only negative I had about it. Something to remember for a future expansion CE.

That’s totally off-topic and just another excuse to post the ‘cash shop is evil’ mantra.

Devata.6589:

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

You can read the Devs response to this matter over in the Account Issues sub-forum.

Here is one such response:

I asked about this today at a Business Team meeting. Those who purchased the Collector’s Edition are valued customers, for sure! But remember, there were a lot of goodies in that box, and it’s not customary, even if necessarily good business, to continue to give free items for a purchase made a year ago. I can’t think of any other business that would do that, that would say “I see you purchased a mixer a year ago. We’ve developed a handy new accessory and we’re sending it to you for free.”

And by the way, I’m proud to say that at the time it was released, our CE was hailed as “the best in the industry” with having so many nice in-game and physical features.

Sure, it’d be nice to continue to get free stuff for a purchase made in the past. I could see why you would want to get these things for free, but I hope you understand why that isn’t going to happen. Keep in mind that the items are available in the Gem Store or on the Trading Post, so you can get them for in-game gems, in any case I can think of.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/I-bought-the-CE-I-d-like-the-Heroic-items/first#post2706527

Would you be willing to give up 2 years worth of play and rewards for a set of armor and a skin of the same armor? Because that is what those that purchase the Heroic Edition today give up. It would not be worth it to me. /shrug

However they did give free stuff to people who did buy gems in the past. (I once made a thread about that).

Not that I feel the need for those skins but it does show that Anet indeed does indeed reward for previous purchases (while here they say they don’t) but there priority is different. There priority is gem sales, not game / expansion sales.

That was the reason I made a thread about that back then as I did see and still see there focus on the cash-shop in stead of game-sales as a much bigger problem.

On a side note: The CE is sure great however I would have liked it if there would have been one truly unique item in game.. unique to the CE edition only (so not in the Deluxe). That was the only negative I had about it. Something to remember for a future expansion CE.

Anet didn’t say they don’t EVER rewards for previous purchases. Everyone who bought a commander tag at 100 gold got updated functionality. People who bought cash shop picks at 800 gold when they were soulbound, enjoyed them account bound at the same price.

What’s being said it’s not reasonable to expect most stuff from a one or two year old purchase. As far as I can tell the cash shop rewards were rewarded a month or so after spending the money.

Honestly your obsessing with the cash shop is infiltrating way too many other threads…unrelated threads at that.

Well, they do pass out free stuff from the store fairly often and I’ve actually gotten free items for purchases prior. I think for a game that has a store, they give a fairly decent amount away, even if they aren’t the higher priced items.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

That’s totally off-topic and just another excuse to post the ‘cash shop is evil’ mantra.

You don’t really need any (new) excuse for that as it is still going on. And it’s 100% on topic with a statement as this:

“But remember, there were a lot of goodies in that box, and it’s not customary, even if necessarily good business, to continue to give free items for a purchase made a year ago.”

People did get there gems (just like the CE people got there goodies) and it where purchases mybe not over a year ago but for sure months ago.

So that statement made is 100% on topic.

Also I did not go into / started the whole ‘cash shop is evil’ mantra. I only gave that as reason why I made the topic, thats all. You did bring that up now.

Vayne.8563:

Devata.6589:

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

You can read the Devs response to this matter over in the Account Issues sub-forum.

Here is one such response:

I asked about this today at a Business Team meeting. Those who purchased the Collector’s Edition are valued customers, for sure! But remember, there were a lot of goodies in that box, and it’s not customary, even if necessarily good business, to continue to give free items for a purchase made a year ago. I can’t think of any other business that would do that, that would say “I see you purchased a mixer a year ago. We’ve developed a handy new accessory and we’re sending it to you for free.”

And by the way, I’m proud to say that at the time it was released, our CE was hailed as “the best in the industry” with having so many nice in-game and physical features.

Sure, it’d be nice to continue to get free stuff for a purchase made in the past. I could see why you would want to get these things for free, but I hope you understand why that isn’t going to happen. Keep in mind that the items are available in the Gem Store or on the Trading Post, so you can get them for in-game gems, in any case I can think of.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/I-bought-the-CE-I-d-like-the-Heroic-items/first#post2706527

Would you be willing to give up 2 years worth of play and rewards for a set of armor and a skin of the same armor? Because that is what those that purchase the Heroic Edition today give up. It would not be worth it to me. /shrug

However they did give free stuff to people who did buy gems in the past. (I once made a thread about that).

Not that I feel the need for those skins but it does show that Anet indeed does indeed reward for previous purchases (while here they say they don’t) but there priority is different. There priority is gem sales, not game / expansion sales.

That was the reason I made a thread about that back then as I did see and still see there focus on the cash-shop in stead of game-sales as a much bigger problem.

On a side note: The CE is sure great however I would have liked it if there would have been one truly unique item in game.. unique to the CE edition only (so not in the Deluxe). That was the only negative I had about it. Something to remember for a future expansion CE.

Anet didn’t say they don’t EVER rewards for previous purchases. Everyone who bought a commander tag at 100 gold got updated functionality. People who bought cash shop picks at 800 gold when they were soulbound, enjoyed them account bound at the same price.

What’s being said it’s not reasonable to expect most stuff from a one or two year old purchase. As far as I can tell the cash shop rewards were rewarded a month or so after spending the money.

Honestly your obsessing with the cash shop is infiltrating way too many other threads…unrelated threads at that.

And maybe your thread post here gets to much influenced by Inculpatus cedo as my post was not about the cash-shop influence. It was only about showing that the statement is strange when they in fact DO give things away for older purchases while in there statement they act as if that would be strange and something companies would not do. And because of that is completely related / relevant in this topic.

It was not about the cash-shop itself. All I said about that was that they do it for the things where there priority is what is indeed the cash-shop. But this post was not about how and why the cash-shop is a bad influence for the game.

I think I said enough about that in the past, and by now most people seem to notice / agree so don’t really say much about that anymore. But it can get mentioned because it does touch many things yeah.

Also your examples are completely off. They are about changes to the game that made something better of worse. Not rewarding new (unrelated) goodies purely based on an old purchase. What the two examples here are about.

Me influencing Vayne? Ha ha, that’s a good one.

ArenaNet rewarding Gem purchases or giving away items from the Gem Shop is hardly the same as someone feeling entitled to continued bonuses from a purchase 2 years hence. But, if you feel that once an item is purchased, it entitles one to every upgrade said item receives for the life of the item or purchaser, that is certainly your right. Just seems a bit over-the-top to me. It takes all kinds to make the world go ’round. /shrug

munkiman.3068:

I’ve actually gotten free items for purchases prior.

That is exactly what I was talking about. (But according to some that’s irrelevant in this topic) and thats go’s directly into the statement given here as an answer to that persons questions.

Just wanted to point that out.

@ Devata

This is exactly what you said:

“Not that I feel the need for those skins but it does show that Anet indeed does indeed reward for previous purchases (while here they say they don’t) but there priority is different. There priority is gem sales, not game / expansion sales.”

Here’s the quote from Anet:

“Sure, it’d be nice to continue to get free stuff for a purchase made in the past. I could see why you would want to get these things for free, but I hope you understand why that isn’t going to happen.”

Now what you’re doing is equating buying something that you knew what you were getting and getting something when the product changes with giving someone a reward for buying something.

Anet added value to the game by adding stuff with the purchase. They added value to buying gems by giving you something for buying gems. They didn’t go back and give that bonus to everyone that’s ever bought gems. That’s what makes it a promotion.

Comparing these two things is just ridiculous. Anet basically gave people a bonus for buying something. They didn’t give it to everyone that ever bought something. You had to qualify for it. Some people got it, and some people didn’t. If you bought it in the date range you got it and if you bought it out of the date range you didn’t.

On top of that, Anet has gone back and given people added value to stuff that they bought a long time ago, like commander tags…but they didn’t buy commander tags from the cash shop.

The bottom line is a company CAN give people a bonus for supporting them, but they aren’t obligated to and to expect it seems a bit entitled.

Do you feel the OP has a reasonable take on this or not? And if so, how do you compare it to what other businesses do? Why is it a fair take?

Vayne.8563:

@ Devata

This is exactly what you said:

“Not that I feel the need for those skins but it does show that Anet indeed does indeed reward for previous purchases (while here they say they don’t) but there priority is different. There priority is gem sales, not game / expansion sales.”

Here’s the quote from Anet:

“Sure, it’d be nice to continue to get free stuff for a purchase made in the past. I could see why you would want to get these things for free, but I hope you understand why that isn’t going to happen.”

Now what you’re doing is equating buying something that you knew what you were getting and getting something when the product changes with giving someone a reward for buying something.

Anet added value to the game by adding stuff with the purchase. They added value to buying gems by giving you something for buying gems. They didn’t go back and give that bonus to everyone that’s ever bought gems. That’s what makes it a promotion.

Comparing these two things is just ridiculous. Anet basically gave people a bonus for buying something. They didn’t give it to everyone that ever bought something. You had to qualify for it. Some people got it, and some people didn’t. If you bought it in the date range you got it and if you bought it out of the date range you didn’t.

On top of that, Anet has gone back and given people added value to stuff that they bought a long time ago, like commander tags…but they didn’t buy commander tags from the cash shop.

The bottom line is a company CAN give people a bonus for supporting them, but they aren’t obligated to and to expect it seems a bit entitled.

Do you feel the OP has a reasonable take on this or not? And if so, how do you compare it to what other businesses do? Why is it a fair take?

Thats a very long way of saying you think it´s different simply because is had a date range.

What is not even completely correct. Basically everybody who did buy gems (before the last time they did this) got something extra. They just didn’t keep giving extras to people they had already gave extras to so once you did get something extra the timer went back to 0.

But all this does not even matter. They did give stuff for free purely based on the fact that people did purchase something else in the past, and in this statement that persons gets as reason why he would not get that they basically say that this would be strange and something a company would not do.

You see “Sure, it’d be nice to continue to get free stuff for a purchase made in the past. I could see why you would want to get these things for free, but I hope you understand why that isn’t going to happen.” the problem here.. It did happen! (If you did buy gems that is)

—

If the OP has a fair take on it?

Yes and No. I would not care for them not giving it.. However the problem here is that in other cases (gem sales) Anet did do that. And then it might become a little unfair.

This person did spend additional money for additional stuff (CE, not normal version) exactly as the gem-buyer did! Then that gem-buyer got free additional stuff to thank him for doing so (or to get him to buy again) but the other guy who also spend extra money to get extra did not get another addition of goodies on top of the extra goodies he did buy. Like the gem-buyer did.

So looking it from that perspective I think he has a reason to complain while it would be more based on the extra goodies the gems-buyers got then for the existence of the heroic edition.

But all I said here (adding information to your thread) was simply that there statement did not hold up because they did that with gem-buyers. Now what that means for this discussion may everybody decide for himself.

@Devata

Case 1. Product purchased changes and you didn’t get the changes.
Case 2. Anet gave a bonus for a purchase that was already made…they didn’t change the original purchase.

It’s called a promotion and many companies do it. The two cases have nothing at all to do with each other.

And at least one of the times they gave gem item bonuses it was because you bought gems between certain dates. People who didn’t buy them before that date didn’t qualify. That’s not theory. You had to buy gems during a certain period to qualify for the purchase.

There may have been another instance, but I can’t say for sure that everyone who ever bought gems got that bonus. In any event, it’s still not remotely the same.

In one case, you bought and object and that object changed and you’re asking for more. It’s like when the game goes on sale now, do you expect a refund for the difference from what you paid? Because that’s the same situation.

A bonus item given on a purchase is the companies choice. It’s a nice thing for them to do. (Of course they do it for the good will, not just out of the goodness of their hearts) but again, no one is entitled to those gems. That’s what makes it a bonus.

Vayne.8563:

@Devata

Case 1. Product purchased changes and you didn’t get the changes.
Case 2. Anet gave a bonus for a purchase that was already made…they didn’t change the original purchase.

It’s called a promotion and many companies do it. The two cases have nothing at all to do with each other.

And at least one of the times they gave gem item bonuses it was because you bought gems between certain dates. People who didn’t buy them before that date didn’t qualify. That’s not theory. You had to buy gems during a certain period to qualify for the purchase.

There may have been another instance, but I can’t say for sure that everyone who ever bought gems got that bonus. In any event, it’s still not remotely the same.

In one case, you bought and object and that object changed and you’re asking for more. It’s like when the game goes on sale now, do you expect a refund for the difference from what you paid? Because that’s the same situation.

A bonus item given on a purchase is the companies choice. It’s a nice thing for them to do. (Of course they do it for the good will, not just out of the goodness of their hearts) but again, no one is entitled to those gems. That’s what makes it a bonus.

Well you see them adding goodies as a change of the object and he does see adding goodies as giving an extra bonus for buying the object (just like they did with people who did buy gems).

Also you seem to forget that he talks about the CE while your example is more like talking about the normal version.

So with the CE it becomes more like. Paying more to get more and to support the company. In a way buying additional gems could be seen the same. Both going the extra mile. However in the one occasion they did say “you did go the extra mile so here are even more extra goodies for it” and in the other occasion they did not.

And based on that information you may.. or may not think that they should have given that to those CE buyers.

Maybe they should have said “We did give gem-buyers extra items (you buy with gems) to thank them for there extra support and now we give CE buyers extra items you now get with buying the game for thanking them for there extra support.” Maybe not.

But I do think it’s relevant information to the discussion. And thats really all I wanted to add to this discussion.. just that information.

Do with it what you want.

Devata.6589:

Vayne.8563:

@Devata

Case 1. Product purchased changes and you didn’t get the changes.
Case 2. Anet gave a bonus for a purchase that was already made…they didn’t change the original purchase.

It’s called a promotion and many companies do it. The two cases have nothing at all to do with each other.

And at least one of the times they gave gem item bonuses it was because you bought gems between certain dates. People who didn’t buy them before that date didn’t qualify. That’s not theory. You had to buy gems during a certain period to qualify for the purchase.

There may have been another instance, but I can’t say for sure that everyone who ever bought gems got that bonus. In any event, it’s still not remotely the same.

In one case, you bought and object and that object changed and you’re asking for more. It’s like when the game goes on sale now, do you expect a refund for the difference from what you paid? Because that’s the same situation.

A bonus item given on a purchase is the companies choice. It’s a nice thing for them to do. (Of course they do it for the good will, not just out of the goodness of their hearts) but again, no one is entitled to those gems. That’s what makes it a bonus.

Well you see them adding goodies as a change of the object and he does see adding goodies as giving an extra bonus for buying the object (just like they did with people who did buy gems).

Also you seem to forget that he talks about the CE while your example is more like talking about the normal version.

So with the CE it becomes more like. Paying more to get more and to support the company. In a way buying additional gems could be seen the same. Both going the extra mile. However in the one occasion they did say “you did go the extra mile so here are even more extra goodies for it” and in the other occasion they did not.

And based on that information you may.. or may not think that they should have given that to those CE buyers.

Maybe they should have said “We did give gem-buyers extra items (you buy with gems) to thank them for there extra support and now we give CE buyers extra items you now get with buying the game for thanking them for there extra support.” Maybe not.

But I do think it’s relevant information to the discussion. And thats really I wanted to add to this discussion.. just that information.

Do with it what you want.

I don’t think it’s relevant in the slightest.

A company has the choice to offer rewards and promotions, they’re not obligated to. The Anet quote said it’s not smart business to do it, but that response to specifically to this situation…ie changing a product and the providing people with the changed product. If they set that precedent it would be a bad precedent to set.

It’s completely different than giving a reward for something as a promotion.

In either case no one was entitled to either.

But you know if Anet replies to a specific situation, and you’re bringing up a different situation, I can’t see how it applies.

Well, maybe the OP would like to give back the Chalice of Glory (giving glory [impossible]), the Hero’s Band, and the 3-Day Headstart (and any character names he/she snagged during that time) in exchange for the Legacy Armor and Mithril Box. Then it would be fair, because the two editions are different products.

I know I wouldn’t want to trade those items. Not to mention the year’s worth of play and all associated rewards given out before the Heroic Edition was even available.