If the reason was for money...
“Free Trial Weekend”.
Well, they already sold the game to us players who do not want gear grind…Therefore, it will increase their profit if they can sell more copies to those who like gear grind.
Well, they already sold the game to us players who do not want gear grind…Therefore, it will increase their profit if they can sell more copies to those who like gear grind.
Unless a wave of chargebacks come out of no where by people who get angry, the forecasted profit won’t meet its mark if decisions like that aren’t successful. I know quite a few people who spent another 50 to 100 bucks during halloween, IMHO profits could easily double from a few extra days of coding and modeling, just look at Team Fortress 2.
I think they expect that in the long run, decisions like this would be profitable.
Then why spend all that development time on a 1 time event and a risky change of direction and not expanding on the gem store merchandise? Call me stupid but wouldn’t it have been more profitable and less expensive to add in a customization ticket or even a few more costume lines? I mean think about it. The spectral pony introduced in World of Warcraft sold so well it crashed their online transaction system. Did the vanity ideas introduced in Guildwars 1 not sell well or something or am I crazy?
Just saiyin.
If Anet wanted more money there were billions of cheaper and easier options. Ideas could have been pushed to reinforce the gem store to rake in more fast cash which could have been used to reinforce the overall quality of the game and prepare for Christmas season.
Maybe I am just naive but I’m pretty sure that the people taking those decisions have a lot more experience than you.
I think Nexon’s weird and/or working on a new MMO and the cut from 15% of NCSoft isn’t enough to not kill GW2 off. Or they have the absolute weirdest business sense ever and run their business the same way I find a game I like, namely, to randomely try whatever and hope something works out.
“Maybe I am just naive but I’m pretty sure that the people taking those decisions have a lot more experience than you.”
The people making this decision basically punched their regulars in the mouth, are promising new customers what they won’t be getting, and aren’t adding anything new the their supposed major profit maker (the gem store).
Being stagnant and pissing off a large portion of your clientelle is generally not how you smart people operate.
The first answer to this is pretty much the response you wanted. Free trial weekend. 3 unique time events.
That means people trying the game getting amused by this things, ergo, buying.
:)
A lot of people don’t put a lot of thought into game design. Something like gear grind is likely to be accepted by many people because a. it’s pretty common, b. the reasons why it is terrible take some explaining, and c. some people legitimately like it.