Guild Wars 2

I wanted to reach out to try and get some clarification around the decisions behind the recently announced refund for new players. I think it’s great that you’re willing to refund their purchase price as a “welcome to the game!” sort of thing, but I feel like it’s a huge disrespect to the other players. I’ve been playing Guild Wars since a a month or two after the Guild Wars 1 release, and have purchased every expansion after that. I was in the beta for GW2, and have spent a significant amount of money on Guild Wars 2 add-ons. I, like many others, have been a huge supporter of Arena-Net for over half of my life but instead of being taken care of, we’re getting shafted. I’m not saying I expect the expansion to be free for veteran players because I understand the time and money that goes into making the game (the graphic designers alone…jeez. you don’t pay them enough. It’s glorious) but to say “Instead of giving our extremely loyal fan base similar consideration as our new fan base, we’re going to provide you with a character slot” is pretty lame. When Factions and Nightfall came out, an extra character slot was standard! At this point, I feel that at least providing some sort of deal, be it a specific armor set, a specific weapon, or even more Gems would be warranted.

Like I said: I understand that everybody at ArenaNet has put in significant time and energy into this and you should all be applauded. I just don’t think that you’re making the best decisions when it comes to taking care of your very loyal fan base this time around, which is disappointing because you’ve always done so well in the past.

This is my first forums post here, so if I didn’t put this in the right place, please let me know! Also, if this was already talked about, sorry for bringing it up again. Just point me in the right direction

Thank you!

Heart of Thorns subforum has many threads on this subject already for your reference

If you have been playing GW since a couple of months after the GW1 release have you not gotten your money’s worth ?

Was the experience of playing this franchise for the past decade so terrible that you need after the fact, retroactive, compensation in order to not feel as if you are being, “shafted?”

Honestly if the game is so unenjoyable that you dont feel as if you have gotten your money’s worth over the course of ten years of play you may want to consider the possibility that GW was never the right game for you.

The reasons for this decision are two fold. First, Anet’s own FAQ implied people needed to buy the game, when it was decided to include the base game in the HoT box. So people felt misled, and rightly so. It was worded badly. So Anet is making good on that, because they need to.

But about the decision to include the core game in the box…let me just say this.

You bought Guild Wars 2 X number of years ago for $60. A new person would have to buy the core game AND the expansion. Now that’s when there’s only one expansion. In the future, there’ll be two, maybe three. So you’re asking new players to part with an increasing amount of money. As that number goes higher you get less and less new players, the death knell of any MMO, since all MMOs suffer natural attrition.

This isn’t about you. It’s not about vets. It’s not about anything but business. If the game doesn’t survive and move forward, Vets don’t have a game either.

WoW is doing it. If you own the core game of WoW and buy the current expansion, you get every expansion of WoW made between for free.

EQ has been doing it for a long time.

This is what businesses have to decide. Should they keep giving us more and more, because they want to remove a barrier to entry for new players? Don’t new players help EVERYONE?

This isn’t some attack on veterans. It’s how the game moves forward.

Ashen.2907:

If you have been playing GW since a couple of months after the GW1 release have you not gotten your money’s worth ?

Was the experience of playing this franchise for the past decade so terrible that you need after the fact, retroactive, compensation in order to not feel as if you are being, “shafted?”

Honestly if the game is so unenjoyable that you dont feel as if you have gotten your money’s worth over the course of ten years of play you may want to consider the possibility that GW was never the right game for you.

I completely understand where you’re coming from. I think you misunderstand what I mean, though. I love Guild Wars and I really feel like I got my money’s worth. It’s not that I feel I shouldn’t have to buy another copy of the game (which I hope was obvious from buying factions and nightfall) but more of the fact that they’re choosing to give newer players a deal and not doing anything to help out the older players. If new players were asked to buy the game and the expansion separately this wouldn’t even be an issue because it’d be a same across the board. The issue arises when certain people get better deals simply because they haven’t been a part of the Guild Wars game for a while.

Vayne.8563:

WoW is doing it. If you own the core game of WoW and buy the current expansion, you get every expansion of WoW made between for free.

Super nitpicky and doesn’t really change anything, but that’s not exactly how it works.

WoW sells the “base” game, which includes WoW vanilla, BC, Wotlk, cata and MoP for $19.99. You do not have to buy WoD to get the previous expansions. Vanilla WoW and all but the the most recent expansion are sold in a bundle.

I don’t understand why people weren’t all up in arms when GW2 was offered for $10. I mean as a veteran myself I spent $60 and these new people only have to spend $10! I had to waste my precious hours running through the ToN and fighting the marionette. New players are so lucky they don’t have to experience all that content.

My thousand hours played counts for nothing, maybe I should delete my account and start over and get the exact same deal new players are getting.

We as veteran players should be happy that the barrier to entry is lower for new players. When is more people a bad thing in a game like Guild wars 2.

Vayne.8563:

You bought Guild Wars 2 X number of years ago for $60. A new person would have to buy the core game AND the expansion. Now that’s when there’s only one expansion. In the future, there’ll be two, maybe three. So you’re asking new players to part with an increasing amount of money. As that number goes higher you get less and less new players, the death knell of any MMO, since all MMOs suffer natural attrition.

well, to be fair, that’s what we did for Guild Wars 1.

I understand what you’re saying and I agree that having the core game and expansion being separate 60 dollar purchases isn’t ideal. I just thought that some common ground could be found

Goku Matrix.6750:

Vayne.8563:

You bought Guild Wars 2 X number of years ago for $60. A new person would have to buy the core game AND the expansion. Now that’s when there’s only one expansion. In the future, there’ll be two, maybe three. So you’re asking new players to part with an increasing amount of money. As that number goes higher you get less and less new players, the death knell of any MMO, since all MMOs suffer natural attrition.

well, to be fair, that’s what we did for Guild Wars 1.

I understand what you’re saying and I agree that having the core game and expansion being separate 60 dollar purchases isn’t ideal. I just thought that some common ground could be found

That’s what you did with Guild Wars 1 10 years ago, when there was no competition in that space. And no. You didn’t. Because in Guild Wars 1, you could buy Factions and never have bought Prophecies. You didn’t have to buy Prophecies at all, ever.

But today the competition is high and it’s what the competition is doing. That’s just the reality.

This industry changes as fast as any industry on the planet. What Anet did ten years ago is largely irrelevant.