Guild Wars 2

So I was curious and sifted through all my old “Thank You” emails from ANet for when I have bought gems in the past. A lot of people lately have been saying, “We don’t have to pay a monthly fee so what do you expect?” in regards to the new expansion and I thought I’d actually look up what I have invested in this company. So here goes:

Since launch, I have spent $1,375 in gems in Guild Wars 2. People like to bring up the monthly subscription fee as an argument, so lets say I had a sub to another MMO and paid $15.00 a month. With the amount I have spent on GW2 I have paid for 7.6 years of a subscription to any other monthly paid MMO.

Do I believe that the content we have gotten is worth 7.6 years worth of a sub to another MMO? No, unfortunately, which probably explains why I have really throttled down the gem purchases recently.

So I’m curious, these are just my numbers, but how much have you invested into this game? How many years of any other MMO sub have you payed for in GW2 alone and do you think that the amount of content you have gotten is worth it?

Without going back and adding everything up, I would estimate around $1200 since launch. That’s gemstore only, does not include my collectors edition or the ultimate HoTs edition.

no idea really, but in the end most of the replies will likely be in the high end here, since the people that go on the forums are typically those that spent a lot of time on the game and thus more likely to have bought a lot of gems, but is in no way indicative of the average amount spent per player. And the fact is, you chose to spent it, you didn’t have to, you could have played this long not spending anything at all, which I am sure there is ppl that have done, but most likely those wont be on these forums and see this thread

enough to scrooge mcduck myself in all the gems i bought.

Roughly, I have spent about $3300 since launch, including buying the game for 8-10 of my friends. Most has been on gems, obviously.

Used to run a guild were we would give out Gem(800-1200) for lotteries and such. I would say that guild leadership spent close to 8k over the last 2 years between the 8 of us.

on my account alone close to 800, then I have 4 other accounts that I paid for. So quite a bit, but thats only cause I enjoy this game…when its working properly.

I do think Anet is getting too greedy though.

I think I paid about $35 because I bought the game on Amazon for a discounted price from the regular $50.

So, yeah. $35.

As for gems… I paid for them with my hard-earned gold or was gifted them. I haven’t ever spent real life money on ’em before.

I haven’t invested any money into GW2. I’ve spent a fair amount on GW2, but I’ve definitely not invested any money. It would be a bad investment the way I spend it, since I will never make any money on the exchange.

Kal Spiro.9745:

I haven’t invested any money into GW2. I’ve spent a fair amount on GW2, but I’ve definitely not invested any money. It would be a bad investment the way I spend it, since I will never make any money on the exchange.

Excellent distinction.

People need to remember that they are spending money on a product when they buy gems, not investing in the game. You spend money, you get what you paid for. All too often, it seems, the whole, “loyalty to veterans,” issue comes up because people don’t grasp this principle.

webtoehobbit.4201:

So I was curious and sifted through all my old “Thank You” emails from ANet for when I have bought gems in the past. A lot of people lately have been saying, “We don’t have to pay a monthly fee so what do you expect?” in regards to the new expansion and I thought I’d actually look up what I have invested in this company. So here goes:

Since launch, I have spent $1,375 in gems in Guild Wars 2. People like to bring up the monthly subscription fee as an argument, so lets say I had a sub to another MMO and paid $15.00 a month. With the amount I have spent on GW2 I have paid for 7.6 years of a subscription to any other monthly paid MMO.

Do I believe that the content we have gotten is worth 7.6 years worth of a sub to another MMO? No, unfortunately, which probably explains why I have really throttled down the gem purchases recently.

So I’m curious, these are just my numbers, but how much have you invested into this game? How many years of any other MMO sub have you payed for in GW2 alone and do you think that the amount of content you have gotten is worth it?

I really feel like you have a problem here. It’s good that you’re cutting back, but the fact that you did this in the first place is still pretty irresponsible. It’s especially true if you don’t feel that you got value for your expenses, since you have absolutely no one blame but yourself.

Still, in keeping with my previous post, you didn’t invest anything with ANet, nor GW2. You spent money on a service. You participated in an exchange, nothing more. Investment implies risk of losing your investment, coupled with a prospect of being rewarded beyond your investment. This is not a thing in this case. You will never get more than what you bought. It is possible that some time in the future you may also lose what you bought, but that is the nature of virtual spaces and can’t be helped.

$60 for GW2 itself. Amazing value over the years.

$10 for gems. Character slots were on sale and I didn’t have much gold at the time. A combination of that $10 and some gold got me two character slots. Worth it.

$10 for a second account. I haven’t played it much, but have logged in every day to collect the reward. If I convert my laurels to T6 mats to gold, it would be better than spending $10 for gems and converting that to gold. I do plan to actually play this account in the future though. Want to check out the EU spvp and wvw scene.

$80 in all. No regrets. Will buy the expansion at some point.

Reading how much people spend on gems amazes me though lol.

Unfortunately, being on a limited fixed-income, I, so far, have spent only $90.00 on Guild Wars 2. (I would certainly like to support ArenaNet more, as I think they deserve it for all the enjoyment and entertainment [for me] they provide.) Eighty dollars pre-purchasing the core game (Digital Deluxe Edition), and $10.00 on Gems, not too long ago.

I will, however, spend $100 more, in the near future, by pre-purchasing the Ultimate Edition of Heart of Thorns. (I’ve been saving up for months and months.) =)

Yeah, I’m about the same as you – I haven’t spent as much, but then I haven’t been playing as long.

I would have been far better off with a sub.

The problem is, they are overcharging for items, as the price of those items has to not only cover the price of the items themselves, but to also help pay for the running of the game and the fact that only some people will buy those items.

I, basically, feel that you have people who overspend subsidising people who spend nothing.

Which would be OK, if the people spending could all afford it and the people who spend nothing really couldn’t afford it (and if they all had good attitudes towards other players).

But if some of them are just tight (and/or don’t), it’s really not fair is it?

Especially if games companies, that use these methods, then try to hide behind the no sub thing as a reason for delivering a sub-par product.

Really, I think they should bite the bullet and charge a sub.

Maybe they could give a grace period, for people who have already spent a lot on average, per month, so it didn’t seem too much like double-dipping?

I realise I will get a load of people saying they would have to quit, if they had to pay a sub and that is something that genuinely upsets me.

But, if someone can’t even afford to pay a small sub per month, that is due to a far bigger issue – i.e. the current horrendous economic inequalities, in the world, that urgently need to be sorted out.

You’re not going to sort these issues out by just expecting one bunch of (probably not that wealthy) people to pay for another bunch of (even less wealthy and/or tighter) people.

No other form of entertainment expects some customers to pay, almost entirely, for others (as far as I’m aware?), so I’m not sure how long people will put up with it, to be honest.

£35 on the game three years ago. Around £10 on gems when I was drunk around two years ago. There’s nothing in the Gem Store that I’m interested in these days that can’t be picked up via a gold/gem exchange (there’s no way I’m paying the equivalent of £20 for an outfit).

As others have pointed out, this money is not an investment because I get no financial return on it. It’s a transaction for services rendered and nothing more.

I currently have no plans to buy the expansion, especially since we still know very little about it.

I got the game for 60 euros in amazon because it had an art book with it. I wasn’ t a GW fan, but i like a lot artbooks and conceptual arts so for few more i picked that.

Besides that i never spent in gems. Not like i don’ t want to support anet, i also think they deserve it, but i still don’ t like the idea of giving away real money for unnecessary stuff. Got my mentality struck in that :\
However i don’ t work yet, so i don’ t have disposable income either.

Besides the expansion, i think the only thing i would buy are account upgrades, like bank slot and character slots. In some companies the source of the income is weighted for the discipline that producted it, not sure if is Anet case but i would give my money to the coders department rather the artistic one.

Professional deformation i guess, i am studying engineering :P

10€ from my side in total.

$60 on the launch of the game, and I think I’ve spent about $40 on gems. Most of the time I just to gold→gems transactions, it’s not like gold is hard to obtain.

AlliedKhajiit.2794:

$60 on the launch of the game, and I think I’ve spent about $40 on gems. Most of the time I just to gold->gems transactions, it’s not like gold is hard to obtain.

Depends which parts of the game you play and how you play them.

Including both my ultimate tier purchases? Probably about £500 at this point, no regrets.

I feel any money spent on buying gems is donating to a company that given you such a great time. I wont use my gem purchases to feel entitled to something.

I’ve spent quite a bit of money on the game. I don’t know how much off the top of my head, but considering I bought the collectors edition and my wife and I each have four accounts, plus we buy gems regularly….it’s well over a thousand, probably over two.

I’m quite happy with the purchase since this is our main form of entertainment.

before the shift to outfits only about 1500 bucks atleast…since the change bout 30 bucks, still gotta buy the pre-order though

I don’t know exactly. But at a rough estimate I buy £8.50 of gems every 2 months (this isn’t consistent, I buy gems when I want something that I don’t have enough gems for, but previously I’ve found that’s what it averages out to) and I’ve been playing since launch so that’s about £144.

And I bought the Deluxe Edition of the base game and the Ultimate edition of HoT so that’s another £140. (Which, based on the above estimate, includes my next 10 months of gems.)

So £284 so far. Or $447 USD.

webtoehobbit.4201:

A lot of people lately have been saying, “We don’t have to pay a monthly fee so what do you expect?”

The actual argument is, “this game doesn’t have a subscription and so some things are done differently from what some gamers might expect after playing games like WoW.” Some times, this turns out to be better or more convenient for GW2 players, sometimes not.

The way you phrased it implies that it makes GW2 a less well-crafted or maintained game, which is not the case. Some folks might not like all the features and some might hate some; that’s got nothing to do with whether we should have high expectations for the content and the level of service.

webtoehobbit.4201:

Since launch, I have spent $1,375 in gems in Guild Wars 2. ….With the amount I have spent on GW2 I have paid for 7.6 years of a subscription to any other monthly paid MMO.

Certainly, US$1,375 over 3 years is more than 15/month. What, my fellow patron, did you choose to spend all that money on? Presumably you received cosmetic or convenience items that you wanted and presumably you got some enjoyment from them. That wasn’t just fourteen hundred bucks that ANet took from your bank account; it was cash you offered to them in exchange for something.

Further, if you have saved the 60% in cash on a traditional sub game, all you would have gotten is the core game. That wouldn’t have paid for any expansions or extras of any sort, including character slots or skins or whatever.

Thus we can’t really compare the figures you’ve proposed; they are apples-to-cucumbers.

webtoehobbit.4201:

Do I believe that the content we have gotten is worth 7.6 years worth of a sub to another MMO? No, unfortunately, which probably explains why I have really throttled down the gem purchases recently.

I’m glad for your sake that you have slowed your spending. I’m curious, however, why it is that you allowed yourself to spend so much without keeping track.

I love some of the terminology used here, such as ‘investing’ ‘patrons’ etc. You are doing no such thing- you are spending money on a product. Typical marketing ploy, make you feel ‘invested’ in the product.

Investing would involve buying shares in the parent company.

I wouldn’t consider it an investment.

An investment is a return in type, so my investment would be my game play hours vs the pleasure/entertainment received. Despite my somewhat snarky demeanour about the game, I feel that my several thousands of hours worth of time investment has been more than worth it.

As for how much money I have spent? I would estimate around £6-700. 2 accounts, lots of gemstore stuff, I think thats about right. Worth every penny.

Baldrick.8967:

I love some of the terminology used here, such as ‘investing’ ‘patrons’ etc. You are doing no such thing- you are spending money on a product. Typical marketing ploy, make you feel ‘invested’ in the product.

Investing would involve buying shares in the parent company.

It would only be a marketing ploy if Anet had used that terminology. As far as I’m aware they’ve never referred to buying the game or gems as an investment, only as a purchase.

But that does seem to be how many gamers see it these days. And as someone else said it leads to higher expectations and a higher probability of being disappointed. If you see buying gems as a simple purchase (of whatever you use the gems to buy) then you know exactly what you’re getting and can make an informed decision as to whether it’s worth buying.

But if you tell yourself you’re investing in GW2 and imagine that this means you’re ensuring Anet will develop content you personally want then there’s a very good chance you’re going to be disappointed because that’s not what they agreed to or what they’re going to do.

People say the same about subscription games – they see paying the sub as an investment in the game, essentially paying for future updates in advance. Personally I see that as another reason to avoid sub based games. I’d much rather wait and see what they’ve made and then decide if it’s worth buying.

(Before anyone asks yes I did pre-purchase HoT, I personally feel I’ve seen enough of it to know I want to buy it. I completely agree that we’ve not seen enough for everyone to make that decision and I agree that if you’re not sure waiting is the right decision.)

50€ GW2
30€ Char slots
21€ 2000 Gems
34€ HotT

140€ total

100 euros Gw2 (pré-commande)
+50 per month since the game’s release for shop
+100 HOT

presque 2100 euros…

130€ on Guild Wars 2, game, expansion and some gems. (Mostly SAB items)

But Arena Net have had much more from me over the years as I am a beta weekend GW1 player. I have the original plus addons and expansion each pre-ordered, plus all store outfits and one bank slot. I am not sure what that would add up to as it was long ago and I can not remember the prices.

I would hand over the money for a full price expansion every year if it had quality and quantity. But unfortunately Arena Net focus on the gem store and mediocre Living World, so they loose out on some possible income from me.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

The way you phrased it implies that it makes GW2 a less well-crafted or maintained game, which is not the case.

Well maintained? Not really.

Would you like a simple example? You are looking at it right now. This forum has been broken since it was created, with a myriad of bugs (like the one that happens when topics reach a new page) and only barebones features. Yet, ArenaNet has lost connection with the company that designed and maintained this forum, so they don’t have the knowledge of how to fix it.

Does that speak of something “well-crafted or maintained” to you? Do you think Blizzard would ever have allowed something like that to happen, or if it did happen that they wouldn’t have provided a new, better forum?

In the end, the platform you are writing in shows how much ArenaNet really cares about their players.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Certainly, US$1,375 over 3 years is more than 15/month. What, my fellow patron, did you choose to spend all that money on? Presumably you received cosmetic or convenience items that you wanted and presumably you got some enjoyment from them. That wasn’t just fourteen hundred bucks that ANet took from your bank account; it was cash you offered to them in exchange for something.

Further, if you have saved the 60% in cash on a traditional sub game, all you would have gotten is the core game. That wouldn’t have paid for any expansions or extras of any sort, including character slots or skins or whatever.

Not really. He would have the core game, all the features he has bought with gems and more, since one of the main differences between the free to play model (which is basically the model GW2 is following right now, given how big the Gem Store is) and the pay to play model is that the former restricts through a pay wall many features that the latter offer completelly in game. So, were this a subscription based game, the great majority of the Gem Store skins would have been available in game instead of through the store, we would have a decent way of obtaining the BL weapon skins instead of the scam-like lottery way we currently have, and so on, and so on.

The OP would have received everything he paid for and far, far more. In this, his comparison is perfectly apt.

I’ve spent more than most, but less than some. Don’t regret spending the money I have on gems, I don’t have any vices, sure I could spend it on other things, but I spend.it on what I enjoy. I use to enjoy going out on the weekend and get drunk. Probably spent more doing that in my life than I have on GW1/2 combined. These days getting drunk requires more recovery time than minor surgery.

I paid for the game with money. That’s it.

I’m not totally sure how much I’ve spent on GW2 (especially regarding account upgrades, skins, items etc considering I do a lot of gold→gems conversions). Sorry if my maths is a little off too, I can’t remember the exact pricing and I’ve also purchased things with a few different currencies.

-GW2 at release £40-ish
-Deluxe upgrade- £20
-3 alt accounts- £24
-3? lots of 2,000 gems – £60
-HoT Ulti- £70

Total: £214 approximately, give or take a bit.

I have 3k+ hours in game, which makes GW2 a very cheap hobby. I’ve gotten a lot of enjoyment from it and I never feel hard-pressed when I spend real money on the game.

I don’t understand why other people get upset at people who spend a larger amount of money on GW2. I’m sure that these players don’t feel like they have to, but enjoy supporting A-net and indulging their characters with goodies and new aesthetics. If they get pleasure from spending their money, I’m happy for them.

Baldrick.8967:

I love some of the terminology used here, such as ‘investing’ ‘patrons’ etc. You are doing no such thing- you are spending money on a product. Typical marketing ploy, make you feel ‘invested’ in the product.

Investing would involve buying shares in the parent company.

I have bought the game for entertainment, if putting more money in results in more entertainment, then it’s a worthy investment. There are plenty of more expensive games/hobbies I could’ve chosen to do which would’ve required spending more money/more frequently.

Not sure exactly but it’s a couple hundred dollars.

Maybe $500 at this point? idk.

50
10
10

Luckily for me, I don’t do video gambling. I like the WYSIWYG approach.

100$ for the ultimate edition, and probably i wont buy gems for real money, only for gold. I will buy any contect which will come in the future tho.

I believe $50 for the game, and no more than $50 for gems. and as soon as i get the money (and decide if i’d rather buy GTA V first or not..) i’m spending another $50 on the xpac, so $150. I’m happy with that, what with 800 days and 1500+ hours of entertainment.

Between my wife and I, we have probably spent about $1000, including HoT. We don’t really keep track of which of our accounts get what.

We’re good with that.

I bought the game and have got gems in payment for gold to gem conversion if my friend wanted something from the store

I think the average people spend is around the game + 2000 gems or so? Or do you think it’s higher? I think most people don’t buy gems at all.

$60 for GW2 in 2012, $50 for HoT, about $100 in extra character slots (got some on sale), and $100 in gemstone items, make-over kits, etc.

over £2000 on gem store

95 Pounds in the GW2 collector’s edition
79.55 Pounds in the GW2:HoT ultimate version
—————-
174.55 Pounds.

The difference between gems and MMO suscriptions, is that if you don’t buy gems, you can still playing the game, but if you don’t pay the suscription…

Also, when you buy gems, you are able to obtain an inmediate product, (a new costume, new weapon, a service, etc…), but with the suscription, you don’t. You just pay a permission to can keep playing in that month.

I haven’t invested any money. I bought items that the gemstore was selling. I don’t consider that investing, any more than going to a shop and purchasing items is investing in that shop.

€50 for the game. Nothing afterwards.

I don’t care about cosmetics that much; I just love the gameplay of this game. Whenever I really want something, I always have enough gold to buy it, just from playing the game.

To be honest, I’ve never liked the gem store skins that much.

Around $400-$450 USD.

I refuse to answer this question. :P

Too much but I’m absolutely loving the game again. My guild is very active again. We have new members and it’s a lot of fun.

Do I think the game is worth what I’ve spent? Yes, I do.

A solid 20 USD and frankly I wouldn’t want to pay more atm. It’s fun but it’s missing some important features involving pvp. Maybe I buy HOT at discounted price.