Guild Wars 2

I’m one of those leeches and have spent $0 on gems. Spent over 3000 Gems so far but all bought with gold, a little bit every day.

that is insane. if it would be a subscriber based game u would have payed ~120 for 1 year. u spend soooo much money for content worth 30 max…. we didnt get high quaility content. it was there for generating money through the gemstore

Jordy: That statement seems rather opinionated doesn’kitten If someone spends 200 dollars or more on any game I would think they thought it was worth their cash. How do you place a 30 dollar max value on the content? What MMO that isn’t F2P cost 30 dollars. All of the new MMO in development for next year will all be SUB + BOX and all more than 30 to get invested before you even play.

Daywolf:
The Infinite continue coin: I can understand why people don’t like this item. I can understand why they call it Pay 2 Win. It certainly can feel that way. I feel though you are being a little misleading in your post. You do not need to buy this coin to access anything. It makes players feel like Tribulation is a breeze once they do buy it because the value of 1 life is now meaningless. But you do not have to buy anything to access SAB. (I assume that is what you were referencing? )

I agree such an item can certainly look like and feel like a slippery slope, time will tell. I had a similar feeling with RNG boxes. Spending tons of cash and gold trying to get a fusion skin and a mini at Christmas. I got the fusion skin at a high cost, and all but 1 Christmas Mini. It did not leave me with a good feeling either time. I was fooled by myself twice. Never again trust me.

I’ve spent 20 euros so far. 10 euros on bank space and some Transmutation Crystals and 10 euros on a medium Aetherblade outfit. c:

KOPPER.1458:

Jordy: That statement seems rather opinionated doesn’kitten If someone spends 200 dollars or more on any game I would think they thought it was worth their cash. How do you place a 30 dollar max value on the content? What MMO that isn’t F2P cost 30 dollars. All of the new MMO in development for next year will all be SUB + BOX and all more than 30 to get invested before you even play.

do u have any idea how much content other mmos release? since release we got fractals and 1 mini dungeon that stayed for 3 weeks.
its just low quality content. a few cutscenes and some achievements, and minigames i dont like….
there is no serious content since release… what is new since release? nothing…. no dungeon, no new map, no new gear. oh wait. we got ascended weapons that fullfill 1 goal…. make ppl buy more on the gemstore…. our inventorys get flooded and we need to transmute new skins…. with gemprices this high ppl rather spend some cash than change gold for gems….
its just timesink content that keeps us a little bit busy. its not good quality content that is worth 10 bucks a month..
ppl need to understand the concept behind this gemshop financed content…. its there for a reason… its not for giving us enjoyable content….

“The Evil Game Design Challenge”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_duqqVHTGRA&feature=youtu.be&t=21m10s
watch this and understand the idea behind everything anet is doing…. it is so obvious….

Jordy.1570:

with gemprices this high ppl rather spend some cash than change gold for gems….

And an odd point about that, have you ever actually checked the prices for selling gems and then checked the prices for buying them with gold? I don’t mean just look at the chart but actually enter the forms for buying and then selling (if you have some). It’s a difference that would make a carnival carney proud hehe
Excuse me while I go drop another unlimited continue token in the jukebox.

£40. A couple name changes, makeover kits, the sickle, can’t remember where the rest went. Since they introduced more RNG weapons, haven’t spent another penny, and don’t intend to until they stop with this scam.

lol im kinda new i wish i had like 10g xD

Precisely £0. I looked at the unlimited tools in the past, realised that it would cost the equivalent of £40 in gems and decided I could buy a few indie games for that price – so I did.

roughly speaking? about 15 euros per month since launch. most of it went to buy char slots for me and the gf, a set of infinite tools, bank expansion and some skins she wanted for her account

Less than 200€, but not by much. This is for both me and my daughter though.

About 60 bucks. Infinite tools, bank expos, total makeovers.

And this is the reason monthly sub doesn’t need to exist.

0$ And I think people who buy gems are stupid or rich.
I used gold to gems and bought everything that I need…

Around £60-£70 on gems over 1 year 9 months, so decent investment for the amount of enjoyment. That would be £170ish plus money for expansions if I was playing one of the sub based MMO’s.

Somewhere close to around 500$, most of them were gifts though from family.

I spent 100€ in the first 3 months.
Then nothing anymore, because I will not pay for temporary content of which I am not able to play half of it due to having a real life and a job.

I don’t want to say. If I wrote it down I’d want to hang myself… I’d ballpark it in the 400 – 500 range though, depressingly enough.
What is money for if not to enjoy spending it, but half of that has been spent on make over kits and hairstyle kits -__-

Let’s see, I got the three infinite harvesting tools, salvage-o-matic, four character slots, two bank slots, and transmutation gems a few times… so maybe around $100? I’ve only been playing five months, so Anet’s basically got a $20 subscription from me.

Can’t really imagine what else I’m going to buy, I have plenty of bank space, the outfits-formerly-known-as-town-clothes are worthless, and I have a bit too much sense to spend anything – be it money or gold – on RNG boxes. I might get armor skins if they look nice (most don’t though) and character slots if they come out with new classes.

I haven’t really kept track. But a lot.

Roughly $10/mo since release.

$15 at Christmas 2012 but it was from a BB gift card present not my money really.

Then $25 recently to get another char slot and the infinite salvaging tool.

Then decided I would never spend any more, and have just been buying Gems with Gold.

0€

$440 That’s worth a lot of pizza, burgers, and other junk fast food deliveries. Thank you anet, you improved my diet. XD

Not a single cent, and I’m pretty glad about it. If ANet actually starts moving in the right direction, that will change, but the development of the last 1.5 years did not deserve anything.

$150

- Three infinite gathering tools
- A couple bag slots and bank tabs
- The Permanent Quaggan Finisher
- Zodiac Heavy Armor
- I have also converted some gems to gold.

All worth it. I view it as a way to support ArenaNet and to make the game more exciting in useful ways.

On Topic: I have only spent $20 for the whole 1.5+ years I have been playing. Both going to the Molten Mining Axe and Chop-it-All axe. I also have the Toxic alliance axe and the sickle which I bought with the gold I made with the first two tools.

I wonder when people will start realizing that you are supporting NCSoft by buying gems?

All that money goes to w/e NCSoft feels like giving the money to.

Zacchary.6183:

I wonder when people will start realizing that you are supporting NCSoft by buying gems?

All that money goes to w/e NCSoft feels like giving the money to.

And like any business NCSoft will put money into whatever is profitable. If GW2’s gem store is profitable, then NCSoft will give Anet a bigger budget to let them encourage customers to continue throwing money at them.

If it’s not profitable, then game goes into the death spiral known as maintenance mode.

1200 Euros in two year. an extension per month … ArenaNet is not really generous with his followers.

I support the game the best as possible. For this I use 3 simple steps.

Before that however you see if the game has potential. GW2 seemed as a game with potential, it did some good work with GW1, has some nice idea’s, had no sub and said it was B2P. With GW1 so no cash-shop focus that hurts the game.

Steps:
1. Buy the CE edition of the game. You support the game and box-sales a little extra.
2. If the game deliver also buy the CE edition of the expansion. (Did not get the chance to do that yet and with the current state of the game i’m not sure if I am willing to buy the CE. Depends on there explanation when it comes and the state of the game at that time.) I did expect a expansion once every year / year and a half, this being promoted as a B2P game.
3. Do not spend a single dime on cash-shop / gems as that only helps to push towards a cash-shop focus what is bad for the game. So as supporter I make sure I don’t steer them in the wrong direction. I don’t want to be part of the reason stuff go’s bad.

Sadly enough there are to many people who do buy many gems (falling for marketing tricks) helping the game come to the bad state it is in currently. Anyway, I did what I could to support this game.

So to summarize it and give an answer to the question. I did spend nothing on gems.

I bought a few gems to bump up what I could get with my gold a couple of times, to buy an armour skin or two and infinite harvesting tools.

My biggest spend of real money was about 18 GBP I spent on a 2000 gem card for my brother for christmas – then when I opened my presents I found he’d bought me one too lol

€30,00 not counting the €45,00 I spent on my game copy. C: I mostly do gold to gem conversions. I bought a bank tab and 2 armor sets with it if I remember right.

Steel Fenrir.2791:

$440 That’s worth a lot of pizza, burgers, and other junk fast food deliveries. Thank you anet, you improved my diet. XD

LOL.. thanks for the laugh. Sooooo true right? If we don’t spend it here we spend it on something else equally as frivolous. Don’t kid yourselves. Anyone who thinks people are “stupid” for paying cash for gems must not have ever purchased something they didn’t absolutely need to live.

I never did go back and do a proper tally. I’d guess in the $1200 range. Anything I felt like buying… bag and char slots, tabs and stack size increases, loads of transmute stones, skins etc.

I’ve bought and played perhaps one other game since GW2 came out, in the long run I’m not sure if I’d have spent more less if I wasn’t playing it. I don’t see myself buying any more though.

The more significant concern is the ridiculous amount of time I’ve spent on the game which would be a massive $ value if I’d spent it on something actually useful like overtime or whatever.

I spend what I like and I have never bothered tallying it up. It is the only game I play and I might as well enjoy it. If that means more bag slots, infinite use gathering tools and copper-fed salvage kits for all of my 13 characters then so be it. If I am going to indulge myself then no sense being stingy.

Like icewyrm, the time I have spent playing the game when I could have been doing something more productive is something I feel twinges of guilt over rather than the money I spend.

Approximately $400, spent on account upgrades (bank slots, collection expanders, bag slots), a couple of extra character slots, and 5 full sets of unlimited tools for my 5 mains. Still have some gems left over for any new purchases I might want.

I spent $70 in the first two months the game was live. I would continue to support the game by buying gems if I felt that the developer wanted my money. They’ve managed to convince me — over and over again since then — that they’d rather have other peoples’ money than mine.

$0

I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t just trade ingame gold for gems like I do. Each to his/her own I guess.

Indeed. As a hoarder-type of player, seeing my gold or my mat collection (1500 Mithril Ingots!) in my bank get bigger makes me happy. I don’t spend much on my hobbies aside from video games, so I have the disposable income to drop on gems now and again. It’s quicker and easier for me than grinding dungeons or playing the TP (I’d rather be doing in-game stuff than poring over spreadsheets and placing buy/sell orders for hours.)

At the end of the day, as long as you’re having fun in GW2, in whatever fashion that finds you, that’s what’s important.

I treated this game like a sub model (used to that mmo model anyhow) 10-20$/month in support of Anet, gave that up due to the direction and content about 9months ago.

I did drop $20 in response to the Feature Pack, back to f2p mode til they figure out a direction that I consider worthy of support.

I see two statements coming back in these sort of threads.

1. I spend X but won’t spend any-more for now because they don’t add any interesting / I don’t like where the game went.

Well why the heck would they invest time and money in making real content if they can simply make the game a grind or add some fluff to the cash-shop and people are dropping tons of money in there direction for the fluff or to get out of the grind?

2. It’s just a game for me so I don’t mind spending money on it. I just want to have fun, don’t want to grind for everything I want.

So the game is a grind and you can buy yourself out of that grind making it more fun.

If only people would refuse to spend money on cash-shops and DLC and other nonsense (yeah fun nonsense but it being a game fun nonsense should be in the game) and in stead pay it for real content (the game itself, good expansions) then quality of games (including GW2) would be much better.

Of course it’s up to everybody how he spends he or her money. However people should be aware how it effects a game and that throwing money at a company does not mean you are supporting the game.. you are supporting the company and support them to make cash-shop stuff even more interesting in many times by making the game without cash-shop products less interesting.

Devata.6589:

I see two statements coming back in these sort of threads.

1. I spend X but won’t spend any-more for now because they don’t add any interesting / I don’t like where the game went.

Well why the heck would they invest time and money in making real content if they can simply make the game a grind or add some fluff to the cash-shop and people are dropping tons of money in there direction for the fluff or to get out of the grind?

2. It’s just a game for me so I don’t mind spending money on it. I just want to have fun, don’t want to grind for everything I want.

So the game is a grind and you can buy yourself out of that grind making it more fun.

If only people would refuse to spend money on cash-shops and DLC and other nonsense (yeah fun nonsense but it being a game fun nonsense should be in the game) and in stead pay it for real content (the game itself, good expansions) then quality of games (including GW2) would be much better.

Of course it’s up to everybody how he spends he or her money. However people should be aware how it effects a game and that throwing money at a company does not mean you are supporting the game.. you are supporting the company and support them to make cash-shop stuff even more interesting in many times by making the game without cash-shop products less interesting.

Welcome to the f2p/b2p mmo model, you nailed it in your post.

If a mmorpg is worthy of a sub model every player has a voice when they dislike the direction by withholding their sub.

In the f2p/b2p mmo model five players can spend nothing while one drops $100 plus in one click. I don’t see any reason for them to change their direction sadly.

Wetpaw.3487:

I treated this game like a sub model (used to that mmo model anyhow) 10-20$/month in support of Anet, gave that up due to the direction and content about 9months ago.

I did drop $20 in response to the Feature Pack, back to f2p mode til they figure out a direction that I consider worthy of support.

By treating this B2P game as a sub-based game you did push them in that direction.
You want some higher quality content then spend some extra bucks on the expansions. Not on a cash-shop.

Wetpaw.3487:

Devata.6589:

I see two statements coming back in these sort of threads.

1. I spend X but won’t spend any-more for now because they don’t add any interesting / I don’t like where the game went.

Well why the heck would they invest time and money in making real content if they can simply make the game a grind or add some fluff to the cash-shop and people are dropping tons of money in there direction for the fluff or to get out of the grind?

2. It’s just a game for me so I don’t mind spending money on it. I just want to have fun, don’t want to grind for everything I want.

So the game is a grind and you can buy yourself out of that grind making it more fun.

If only people would refuse to spend money on cash-shops and DLC and other nonsense (yeah fun nonsense but it being a game fun nonsense should be in the game) and in stead pay it for real content (the game itself, good expansions) then quality of games (including GW2) would be much better.

Of course it’s up to everybody how he spends he or her money. However people should be aware how it effects a game and that throwing money at a company does not mean you are supporting the game.. you are supporting the company and support them to make cash-shop stuff even more interesting in many times by making the game without cash-shop products less interesting.

Welcome to the f2p/b2p mmo model, you nailed it in your post.

If a mmorpg is worthy of a sub model every player has a voice when they dislike the direction by withholding their sub.

In the f2p/b2p mmo model five players can spend nothing while one drops $100 plus in one click. I don’t see any reason for them to change their direction sadly.

I would rather name this a cash-shop model. What is the pretty much the same as a F2P model but then I get people telling me it’s really a B2P model because you have to pay for the initial game. So cash-shop game.

A true B2P model does not have such a heavy focus on the cash-shop but on box-sales (including expansions). So you should say ‘Welcome to the cash-shop model’. Problem is, I did sign up for the B2P model. What is in the way you describe it the same as a sub-model but without the timer over your head.

Devata.6589:

Wetpaw.3487:

I treated this game like a sub model (used to that mmo model anyhow) 10-20$/month in support of Anet, gave that up due to the direction and content about 9months ago.

I did drop $20 in response to the Feature Pack, back to f2p mode til they figure out a direction that I consider worthy of support.

By treating this B2P game as a sub-based game you did push them in that direction.
You want some higher quality content then spend some extra bucks on the expansions. Not on a cash-shop.

This is a b2p game, I understand this game has to have some revenue w/o a sub model to be successful in the age of gaming where players think content, development, and wages come for free, and yes this may be new news for you but expansions have and tend to be the norm in mmo’s even b2p/f2p models.

I think after the first year Anet gave me a good indication that they were not going the route of GW1, or other mmo’s w/xpacs & solid content so withholding the financial support of this game was a personal decision I came to.

But implying supporting this game in the way I did ($10-20/m) was the reason we see no expansions, faster and earlier QoL updates, and content is just ignorant.

The direction of GW2 falls on Anet and Ncsoft. If they choose to continue down this path and has a community that enjoys this path and support it, all that means is the game is not for me.

Wetpaw.3487:

Devata.6589:

Wetpaw.3487:

I treated this game like a sub model (used to that mmo model anyhow) 10-20$/month in support of Anet, gave that up due to the direction and content about 9months ago.

I did drop $20 in response to the Feature Pack, back to f2p mode til they figure out a direction that I consider worthy of support.

By treating this B2P game as a sub-based game you did push them in that direction.
You want some higher quality content then spend some extra bucks on the expansions. Not on a cash-shop.

This is a b2p game, I understand this game has to have some revenue w/o a sub model to be successful in the age of gaming where players think content, development, and wages come for free, and yes this may be new news for you but expansions have and tend to be the norm in mmo’s even b2p/f2p models.

I think after the first year Anet gave me a good indication that they were not going the route of GW1, or other mmo’s w/xpacs & solid content so withholding the financial support of this game was a personal decision I came to.

But implying supporting this game in the way I did ($10-20/m) was the reason we see no expansions, faster and earlier QoL updates, and content is just ignorant.

The direction of GW2 falls on Anet and Ncsoft. If they choose to continue down this path and has a community that enjoys this path and support it, all that means is the game is not for me.

Yeah they have to make money and expansions are the norm. But they are not just as important for every model. Cash-shop sales are more important for F2P games so they often get less expansions and more little additions you can buy. Sub-based games do also not rely on expansions for income but will release an expansion on average every 2 years, in multiple MMO’s for free as people pay the sub.

Then there is the B2P model that should make money on people buying the game. That also means expansions and as you say they have to make money so you should expect expansions on a faster release then F2P or sub-based games. One a year max 1,5 year. So not sure why you say ‘even in B2P games’. They are there to support a true B2P games. It should be the core of a B2P game as (as you say) a company has to make money.

That also means that the direction a company go’s is influenced by the way it gets it’s money. If they would have sold many copies (they did) but would have very low gem-sales they would have to focus on an expansion knowing that would likely generate income but if they see gem-sales are high that is what they focus on.

Hey I would like to agree w/you, your direction of thinking I wish was true and makes sense, but sadly is not where the industry is at anymore. We are no longer in the mmo age where a sub means you can earn all content, b2p guarantees an xpac, and f2p was cash shop focus.

We have sub models w/cash shops WoW/ESO
We have hybrids f2p/sub & cash shop like Rift, ArcheAge, SWTOR
We have hybrids b2p/sub/ ingame currency sub plex/credd EVE/Wildstar
We have ftp pushing out xpacs faster than b2p like DCUO, SWTOR, RIFT

What I’m getting at the lines were blurred long time ago and the age of western mmo payment models and content is pretty much gone.

But we also have to consider cost now to make/market/and compete in the mmo industry compared with the 90’s and early 2000 are vast. Also to mention the willingness of players in the West to adopt and spend cash in these shops at exorbitant amounts has greatly increased for all these payment models.

Unfortunately it is the way it is, the goal now is to find a game w/content and vision you share on what you find entertaining in a mmo and ignoring its payment model all together. Some just seem to do that better than others depending on the customer opinion.

Well I can’t see a complete log of purchases.
But all my shoppings has been with real money.
Have bought:
3x tools
3 extra character slots.
several bank slots.
1 bag slot
craft mats bank expansion
quite a few Karma/crafting boosters.
some keys.
Quaggan hat.
Aprox: 10Euro pr month for 15 months

Would have bought 1-2 more skins but missed the window.
it is currently unlikely that I will buy anything now as the game is.
_
Things I would buy:
Unlimited tools. spread to all characters. – I use tools for convenience. but with 8 characters the cost is to much for all to have them. and the point of convenience becomes nullified if I have to go to a bank- place them and pick them up on another- 8 times a day+ The account bound thing on them is useless. I do not play serially my characters

Bag slots- if again it was for all characters not one.

Cloth nodes in home instance.!!!! cloth price is still ridiculous.

Mini pets: IF they didn’t go away every-time you zoned – etc- if they had a minuscule effect. say +1 vitality- didn’t fill up my bags

In my dreams I would also buy:
A fix so engi Hobo pack/shield does not clip the backpieces.
not- having to be on megaservers.
removal of the underwater breathers as a gear.- so normal helm is the function
crack assassin team; hunting down gold spammers/gold farmers/auction house flippers.
Movement speed increase to 25 on all characters without having get 15g pr rune/use a utility slot to get this, depending on profession.

Nuka Cola.8520:

oh gawd i wish i was that rich spamming over 2k dollars on a random game like that. Anet should give you a title of a Legendary Supporter of Gem Store.

Actually..some of us have..beginning this year you could get a mini and stuff for spending on gems

rather they could offer us the expansion … it would be better for that good, armors skins of 50 Euros …