Guild Wars 2

Hi all,

Firstly I’d like to say that I love the game and am largely happy with the way it is being handled, this is not intended to be another complaint thread.

Apparently there was a “flash sale” two days ago that was announced on twitter and reduced Black Lion Salvage kits by 50%, but only a limited number were available. I am opening up a discussion as to whether organising a sale that will favour people in a certain time zone (and without jobs at that time), particularly on such a valuable item, is really fair?

Sales are cool, and I am all for ANet making money, but after the Lost Shores event (which a lot of effort WAS made to make up for) I’m surprised to see that the game is still being treated in a way that doesn’t recognise it has an audience in different time zones.

Again this is not intended to be a complaint thread so let’s discuss this nicely. Also, I’d request that this isn’t moved somewhere else (suggestions or black lion forum) as this is intended to be a general discussion on international audiences and could apply to any time restricted event.

Huh, I was completely unaware of this sale until now. Does anyone know if it was advertised at all outside of Twitter? Are these kinds of ‘limited supply’ sales a common occurrence?

The limited stock seems bizarre to me. Surely ANet (which is after all a business and needs to make money) sells far more Salvage Kits etc when they are at a reduced price? Why not do it on a 24 hour timer? We’ve all seen the huge gem spikes that take place when they put a genuinely valuable item on sale (eg: character expansion slots in January). What is the advantage of putting a finite number on sale to an international audience who will not all see the announcement at the same time?

Crash you are totally right that they should have learnt from Lost Shores how much privileging one time zone over another gets people rather wound up!

Would love to hear the rationale behind this one ANet!

I would like to know if it was announced anywhere else, or if these have happened before and I was totally unaware of them. Has anyone on here seen one before?

had not heard of this, I hope it never happens again.

Zinnia Rose.9425:

Huh, I was completely unaware of this sale until now. Does anyone know if it was advertised at all outside of Twitter? Are these kinds of ‘limited supply’ sales a common occurrence?

The limited stock seems bizarre to me. Surely ANet (which is after all a business and needs to make money) sells far more Salvage Kits etc when they are at a reduced price? Why not do it on a 24 hour timer? We’ve all seen the huge gem spikes that take place when they put a genuinely valuable item on sale (eg: character expansion slots in January). What is the advantage of putting a finite number on sale to an international audience who will not all see the announcement at the same time?

Crash you are totally right that they should have learnt from Lost Shores how much privileging one time zone over another gets people rather wound up!

Would love to hear the rationale behind this one ANet!

Since there were only 500 units, I’m sure it’s less about making money and more about expanding their social media.

It was the only flash sale so far I’m aware of, but they did say there would be more.

Karizee.8076:

Since there were only 500 units, I’m sure it’s less about making money and more about expanding their social media.

It was the only flash sale so far I’m aware of, but they did say there would be more.

While I do see your point, I wonder why ANet doesn’t publicise their Twitter based offers more widely, if drawing people in to their social media was the intention?

Hmm why not tell people here first not everyone has twitter.

Man this company is kitten me off more and more everyday.

No 50% sale is going to get me to use twitter.

/sigh

Relax everybody. It was no flash sale, OP is misinformed. There was no twitter only sale. It is the March sale that is going on this whole month, as advertised on the front page of this site.
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/31-days-of-sales-in-the-gem-store/

Each day in March we’re putting a different item on sale in the Gem Store! Save from 15% to 40% on boosters, upgrades, consumables and more! Each sale begins and ends at midnight Pacific Standard Time, so make sure to check the Promotions tab in the Gem Store every day in March to see the daily savings!

SpyderArachnid.5619:

/sigh

Relax everybody. It was no flash sale, OP is misinformed. There was no twitter only sale. It is the March sale that is going on this whole month, as advertised on the front page of this site.
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/31-days-of-sales-in-the-gem-store/

Each day in March we’re putting a different item on sale in the Gem Store! Save from 15% to 40% on boosters, upgrades, consumables and more! Each sale begins and ends at midnight Pacific Standard Time, so make sure to check the Promotions tab in the Gem Store every day in March to see the daily savings!

It was a flash sale.
OP was not misinformed about the sale, only the date of it.

Flash Sale: There are 500 Black Lion Salvage Kits in the Gem Store for sale at 50% off! Hurry–once the 500 are gone, the sale is over! ~RB2
Posted: 3:01 PM – Mar 6, 2013
https://twitter.com/GuildWars2/status/309438628965273600

All 500 kits sold out in 15 minutes or less.

Zinnia Rose.9425:

Karizee.8076:

Since there were only 500 units, I’m sure it’s less about making money and more about expanding their social media.

It was the only flash sale so far I’m aware of, but they did say there would be more.

While I do see your point, I wonder why ANet doesn’t publicise their Twitter based offers more widely, if drawing people in to their social media was the intention?

It seems to be their style. Remember, this entire game was sold from word of mouth and social media, they didn’t spend millions of dollars on Superbowl advertising or anything like that.

draakdorei.9436:

SpyderArachnid.5619:

/sigh

Relax everybody. It was no flash sale, OP is misinformed. There was no twitter only sale. It is the March sale that is going on this whole month, as advertised on the front page of this site.
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/31-days-of-sales-in-the-gem-store/

Each day in March we’re putting a different item on sale in the Gem Store! Save from 15% to 40% on boosters, upgrades, consumables and more! Each sale begins and ends at midnight Pacific Standard Time, so make sure to check the Promotions tab in the Gem Store every day in March to see the daily savings!

It was a flash sale.
OP was not misinformed about the sale, only the date of it.

Flash Sale: There are 500 Black Lion Salvage Kits in the Gem Store for sale at 50% off! Hurry–once the 500 are gone, the sale is over! ~RB2
Posted: 3:01 PM – Mar 6, 2013
https://twitter.com/GuildWars2/status/309438628965273600

All 500 kits sold out in 15 minutes or less.

Ah my mistake then and apologizes. I just assumed they were talking about the March sale going on every day of this month. I don’t visit their twitter or any social sites, so I didn’t know.

In that case then, I definitely agree that it was wrong of them to do that.

SpyderArachnid.5619:

draakdorei.9436:

SpyderArachnid.5619:

/sigh

Relax everybody. It was no flash sale, OP is misinformed. There was no twitter only sale. It is the March sale that is going on this whole month, as advertised on the front page of this site.
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/31-days-of-sales-in-the-gem-store/

Each day in March we’re putting a different item on sale in the Gem Store! Save from 15% to 40% on boosters, upgrades, consumables and more! Each sale begins and ends at midnight Pacific Standard Time, so make sure to check the Promotions tab in the Gem Store every day in March to see the daily savings!

It was a flash sale.
OP was not misinformed about the sale, only the date of it.

Flash Sale: There are 500 Black Lion Salvage Kits in the Gem Store for sale at 50% off! Hurry–once the 500 are gone, the sale is over! ~RB2
Posted: 3:01 PM – Mar 6, 2013
https://twitter.com/GuildWars2/status/309438628965273600

All 500 kits sold out in 15 minutes or less.

Ah my mistake then and apologizes. I just assumed they were talking about the March sale going on every day of this month. I don’t visit their twitter or any social sites, so I didn’t know.

In that case then, I definitely agree that it was wrong of them to do that.

That was my first instinct…just ran a Google search to find the twitter posting.

I agree that Flash sales setup [i]internationally[/s] are a potentially bad idea.

This may have been better received (by both American side and European side who missed it) if there were individual flash sales for both server populations. (American vs European timezones)

I look forward to new sales though, if only for the chance to get something I want.

Rhaps.8540:

No 50% sale is going to get me to use twitter.

Agreed.

Anet needs to get real. Advertise things that are meaningful to the players on a meaningful medium.

Like the official forums or website maybe?

They do this for the same reason that companies but coupons in newspapers – to see how effective advertising is.

And possibly to demonstrate that gamers will complain about anything.

Yargesh.4965:

had not heard of this, I hope it never happens again.

…while being kitten off at not being able to buy a few BL kits due to being at work when the sale was announced, I think they should do this more often. Spread it out over different times so everyone can participate, no matter what timezone you are in.