Guild Wars 2

I have to say I’m a little cranky at the choice to make the Jade weapons sellable. I was given the impression that these were limited, and hard to obtain. This impression lead me to spending a LOT of in game gold to get the weapons I wanted.

While I would have rather just purchased them on the trading post, and while I rather buying Coffers didn’t cost me a LOT of gold, I was at least happy because in the end I got what I wanted.

Now, suddenly, without warning they’re available on the trading post. The pistols that I ended up getting are now only 20 something gold each…..a LOT cheaper than what the total number of coffers it took me to get those.

And what about those who spend hundreds of real money to get a ticket? A few months later, they’re suddenly on the TP for a fraction of the cost?

Look, I’m happy you can buy them now (I’m gonna get the shield I couldn’t get), but this kind of “bait n’ switch” is pretty poor form in my opinion.

So, what is the solution? Simple:

1. Sell them straight out on the TP for gems
2. Sell a chance to get “scraps” or “tickets” from chests (RNG, but maybe cheaper)
3. Randomly drop them (tickets) in open world
4. Keep them off the TP as sellable items so the value stays high.

Anyway…I found this to be a bit of a “up yours” to all that purchased coffers with real money, and/or more gold than they should have.

Well i disagree , im happy the items are for sale , having the worst rng luck in the game its good for me . I must have opened 3k + coffers n got nothing

@OP: I’m glad that you support the ability to purchase skins on the TP (because I agree that this was a FANTASTIC change), but I sympathise completely with your position. Someone on this forums (Geotherma, I think?) spends hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars buying up all the “exclusive” skins via gems converted to gold. If I were someone in his shoes, I too would be quite peeved at spending all that money on something I could now obtain a lot more cheaply.

i have about 22 black lion chest keys (from personal story, map completion, farmed level 10 personal story a few times etc)

i used 12 keys because i have not used any keys before.
i got 3 Black Lion Claim Ticket Scraps

25% drop rate.
not too bad i guess.

so using 40 – 50 keys i might get 10 ticket scraps to redeem a weapon skin.
about 3600 – 4500 gems if buying keys from the gem store.

perhaps i try again after i farmed (via level 10 personal story) enough black lion keys to see how many keys it would take to get 10 ticket scraps.

i dun fancy those weapon skins anyway.

Ive cant sold my Jade Weapon Skins which i get during Dragon Bash. ;<

10/10 for Anet on this change. I didn’t even know they did that till I saw this post. This update has been a thing of beauty.

It’s a wonderful turnaround from Anet, a generous gesture.

I’d imagine that even, especially, those who’d spent hundreds of real $$ to get theirs would be the first to welcome individually purchasable skins (whether gemstore or TP).

Decrypter.1785:

Well i disagree , im happy the items are for sale , having the worst rng luck in the game its good for me . I must have opened 3k + coffers n got nothing

Have to agree with Decrypter. I must have opened at least 2,000 coffers, and never got a ticket, while my friend opened about 500 and got 3 tickets. Now I can finally get that super cool shield.

Perhaps we should look at this another way.

Lets say that you went online and found a limited edition movie prop from your favourite movie. The owner tells you that they are going to sell tickets for a chance to win it.

You dig into your bank account and buy $200 worth of tickets. Luck wasn’t on your side today, so you buy another $200 more. A few days later UPS knocks on your door and delivers a package, and a smile beams across your face as you know exactly what it is.

A few weeks later you’re surfing the web and notice that the movie prop you purchased is now being sold on Ebay for $29.99.

Would you not feel a tad cranky?

Look, I understand that those of you who were unlucky the first round are super happy that you now have the chance to buy these weapons. I’ll admit myself that I’m happy to have the chance as well.

But this isn’t about getting a weapon, or not getting a weapon. It’s about principal and expectation. ANet sold us on the idea that these were limited edition weapons. They encouraged many of us to spend way more than we otherwise would have, by telling us they are rare, and they are only available for a limited time.

Had we all known that a few months later we could pick them up for 20 – 40g, I’m sure most of us wouldn’t have put in so much effort.

All I’m saying is that I don’t care which way ANet decides to conduct business. Just don’t sell me on the idea that something is rare so I’ll spend money, and then change it after. What that will do is cause me to lose trust in the company. It will teach me that it is risky to spend money on this game because I never know if I’m getting the best deal or not.

I dunno, I’m sure not many of you care. I guess I’m just a little surprised considering the uproar at how much money/gold people spent to get these weapons, only to see people shrug it off now.

I agree with the OP.

I didn’t get a ticket. I am terribly unlucky with things like that. Am I happy they’re now being sold? Of course I am. Do I feel bad for those who worked so hard and spent so much to get them? Yes, I do.

Another game, [name redacted] had a unique item that was incredibly expensive to obtain, and could only be obtained through in-game means. Then, one day they decided to offer it in the cash shop to anyone at what would be considered a much lower price. I quit the game not long after that, because they began to do it with a lot of so-called “rare” things (among other reasons.)

Why? Not because I was kitten (which I was) but because it was just another in a long line of homogenizing moves. At one time, that item was a symbol of hard work and effort. Now it is a symbol of who has the most disposable income.

While the BL tickets are pure RNG, it is still a status symbol of sorts. It’s just not fair to those who got them already.

I truly hope Anet doesn’t continue to roll down that path.

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

Had we all known that a few months later we could pick them up for 20 – 40g, I’m sure most of us wouldn’t have put in so much effort.

Something to consider, if the weapon skins wouldn’t have been marketed as exclusive (account bound), people would have farmed fo dragon coffers less, and fewer leftover weapon skins would be on the market now, so they wouldn’t necessarily be so cheap now.

Yeah, thinking that you have only one shot at getting a specific skin and overspending just to find out later that the rules were changed can suck. But players asked for the weapon tickets or skins to be tradable and got their way, and all things considered I’m happy with the change. It just came too late, it should have been implemented this way in the first place.

Pixelpumpkin.4608:

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

Had we all known that a few months later we could pick them up for 20 – 40g, I’m sure most of us wouldn’t have put in so much effort.

Something to consider, if the weapon skins wouldn’t have been marketed as exclusive (account bound), people would have farmed fo dragon coffers less, and fewer leftover weapon skins would be on the market now, so they wouldn’t necessarily be so cheap now.

Yeah, thinking that you have only one shot at getting a specific skin and overspending just to find out later that the rules were changed can suck. But players asked for the weapon tickets or skins to be tradable and got their way, and all things considered I’m happy with the change. It just came too late, it should have been implemented this way in the first place.

This is a horrible reason. If you look at LoL, every week you have at least one thread asking for ancient champion skins from 09 to be released and they STILL have a strict policy to not release them.

In fact, if A-Net is listening to the player base in this regard, that’s a sign of desperation, and really that’s not a good sign by ANY measure. It’s just as if they released the collector’s edition (physical) right now at half price. It defeats the prestige of it.

At least ANet is doing something right.

Down with exclusivity! Down with prestige!

I was traveling working abroad and couldn’t do the event… I missed the skins completely. Having at least the option to buy them sounds nice.

They weren’t that hard to get if your the lucky sort. I lucked out and was able to get two of the three I wanted. The GS and the rifle. I think it’s totally fine to have these items on the TP for the unlucky. I would like to see more goal oriented skins in the future though. Something that you have to really work at through some kind of adventure that is not easy to get.

Anet can and does change the rules. I don’t blame them. They have openly said that skins take an age to develop. Why should all that work benefit only the few who got lucky with the RNG? Isn’t it better if a good designers work is easily accessible and we show our support in-game? It may lead to even better designs from the same people in future.

Fair points, OP. I agree and I am happy that ANet is making these available outside of RNG. I just wish they’d said something to suggest they were going to do this, as many people, myself included, do make investment choices based on the exclusivity of these items. For example, I bought a bunch of Dragon Coffers on the TP when they were near their lowest price so that I could sit on them for a few months and sell them back for profit when there was no other good way to get a Dragon’s Jade weapon. Well, it’s nearing a few months and I’d imagine that this change is going to make their value plummet again, and likely stay low.

Again, I’m happy they’re making these RNG items available by direct purchase, I just wish they’d given a heads-up.

At least now we know, and we can probably assume that these ‘bring it back’ sales are going to happen at the ends of coming years as well.

I didn’t have any lucky with the first several ‘limited’ time weapon skins, and I didn’t bother investing in the RNG boxes. Why? Because I sort of saw something like this coming along due to the massive screaming of the players. Not just on the forums, but in game as well.

The ‘general’ consensus was that people wanted less RNG, and a more guaranteed way to get some of these skins. Anet has slowly been working in this direction – adding the rng coffers as game drops, making the skins tradeable, changing out the tickets needed to buy them to something you can get from an every day drop (the black lion chests), creating an npc for purchasing the skins ‘later on’ (even if the price does go up, you can still get them).

Now they are doing a sale, so that some of the people that didn’t have the luck or the money previously have a chance to simply buy them (which is what people wanted in the beginning). We have no idea how much the skins are going to cost. Could be 10$, could be 20$. We really don’t know. Does it kitten off the people that spent hundreds of dollars on RNG? Sure. However, things like this happen every day in real life. You go out and buy a new washing machine/dryer set and spend $3000, only to find out its on sale or clearance the next week or the week after and you could have gotten it for $1000 if you had simply waited. It happens. It sucks, but that’s just how things work. That’s how businesses work, and how they make money.

The only issue here is that they weren’t tradable from the very start. You win some, you lose some.

inb4 old legendaries are on the cash shop….it might be another year, but it will happen

I like the fact that a skin is only available via RNG at the start and then becomes an item that can be directly purchased at a later date. It’s a good model. HOWEVER, there needs to be disclosure about it first.
People will still gamble in hopes of buying cheap keys, coffers, etc. and getting the ticket for a skin. Some people will hold off and opt to pay a higher price but get a direct purchase. The gamblers have the potential to get a cheap ticket and/or an exclusive skin for a time.
It only falls apart if the gamblers aren’t told that there will be an option to purchase later on, or an option to trade the skin later on.
It’s a good model but this time it was a bit of a poor implementation.

I agree this was rather poor form, but overall I agree with the change. Hopefully going forward they make ALL skins tradeable on the TP. The retroactive thing kind of sucks.

I spent 100g getting the skins I wanted and now I can get them off the TP for half that.

Lesson learned don’t spend anymore $ to buy gems for gambling and Anet will have to change their strategy.

@OP

What you paid for is to have it first, before many other people had the chance or were willing to take the chance.

What you paid for what to be guaranteed the skins you wanted.

In the future you have an option now that you know how things go. You wait and take the chance that the skins do make it to the TP. We don’t know how Anet will continue to run things.

Also, these skins are still limited. Once they sell off the TP they are gone. So a few more people get the opportunity at the skin, but once they are gone from there they are gone for good.

I’m soooo happy about this change. Finally if I wanted a very awesome weapon skin I could just buy it.
I really enjoy seeing the sclerite weapons in there. I hope that one day I’ll have enough gold to snatch one up.
Now if only fused gauntlets or their ticket became sellable.

I like the change. I ended up getting 5 skins from opening dragon coffers (averaged about 1 skin per 1000 coffers) and after awhile wasn’t sure I liked them as much anymore for my character given the new skins that are available. Now If I decide I like some other skin better I can just sell the dragon skins and recover the gold I spent on them.

I’m with OP here. It does suck quite a bit to think you had something exclusive only to find out that ~60 days later it will be available to everyone for a lower price anyway.

Just poor execution. I honestly feel if Anet would have told us not to worry, if you don’t get a ticket for a weapon during the event that there will be a chance to get it later then people wouldn’t have stressed over it and certainly wouldn’t have dished out money for the items. That may have been the intent all along, but seriously, that’s some questionable business practices. I realize you can’t please everyone, but really, it seems they went out of their way to tick off another sub-set of players. This time the ones that possibly spent real money to get something.

All this means is that under no circumstances will I ever purchase things on the store designed to give a better chance at “tickets” (Rich Coffers for example). That can’t be what their intentions were with this new set-up. Which I probably wasn’t going to anyway. But still.

If they are going to leave it at “maybe we will make them available in the future again, maybe we won’t, we won’t tell” then wtf Anet, that’s a messed up way of dealing with your player base, and doesn’t really motivate me to put any effort into “exclusive” skins.

They need to be clear in the future about what skins are exclusive, ie you get them during this event or you never get another chance, and which skins will be available later on in the year requiring significantly less effort. It’s the right thing to do. It really is.

The system is finally correcting itself and yes I also spent money to obtain them orginally but you know what, it is actually more unfair for new players who join today to not have any way to acquire these skins.
This may seem like a bad move but honestly no one can keep up with the 2 week weapon/armor release they are moving with. allowing these items to be on TP gives us players a way to still obtain these items in future so both the current and the future players have a chance to obtain them now.

Also all the people comparing this to real life items need to understand that this is a video game and not a limited edition sports car which is only released for 12 people.

I am all for all items on TP, say no to Soul Bound/Account bound going forward, ty Anet!

Does this apply to fused and sclerite weapons too? I have a fused Greatsword sitting in my bank unused…

Totally agree with you, OP.

I feel the exact same way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy everyone can get their hands on those beautiful skins, especially those who couldn’t play the game back when the chests were available.

But as someone who spent gold and real money to get those skins, I feel like Anet has lied to me. Because when I bought those chests, it was clearly advertised by Anet that the skins would be available only for a short period of time.

If I knew back then that those skins could be bought off the TP months later, I definitely wouldn’t have spent so much money on this. I wouldn’t have felt the “gambling pressure” of not getting the skins I wanted in the time frame Anet clearly advertised, thus missing the opportunity to get the skins forever.

Clearly, knowing it would be available on TP (even years after) would have changed my behavior as a customer.

So, while I’m glad everyone can now get their hands on those skins, I’m definitely not happy with the position Anet has regarding the customers who bought their chests.

Keep in mind that Anet never said the skins would never come back. They never said that there wouldn’t be other ways to get them.

All they said, was (at that time) that they were ‘limited time’ skins. Which they were, after given period of time, they were no longer available.

As a consumer you made some assumptions which turned out to be inaccurate.

Anet has a love of reusing content, something I have said repeatedly since the beginning of the game. Having these things come back again, as a limited time purchase, supports that statement. However, at the same time they are simply doing what every successful_ business does, and that’s to try to give their customer’s what they want, since that means more income for them.

Currently I am unable to list my unused skins on the trading post but can list ones bought with a dragon ticket after this patch, is this actually working as intended or am I missing something here?

foofad.5162:

Does this apply to fused and sclerite weapons too? I have a fused Greatsword sitting in my bank unused…

yes. You’ll earn like 150G by selling it.

For the people who are upset (not just disappointed, but upset), I wonder whether they felt they wanted the skin, or just wanted to be “exclusive” and be envied?

Good lord. People whine about RNG and refer to the game as RNGwars or the company as CasinoNet, and then when they give us a non-RNG way of getting skins, people whine.

What the hell is wrong with people in this game? I got five jade tickets (used 3, banked 2) and I don’t give a kitten if other people can get the skins I got. Oh boohoo it’s “not as exclusive” anymore, cry me a river.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Keep in mind that Anet never said the skins would never come back. They never said that there wouldn’t be other ways to get them.

All they said, was (at that time) that they were ‘limited time’ skins. Which they were, after given period of time, they were no longer available.

As a consumer you made some assumptions which turned out to be inaccurate.

Anet has a love of reusing content, something I have said repeatedly since the beginning of the game. Having these things come back again, as a limited time purchase, supports that statement. However, at the same time they are simply doing what every successful_ business does, and that’s to try to give their customer’s what they want, since that means more income for them.

Misleading advertising can get them in some trouble. That’s why most companies have the “fine print” in their advertising explaining the specifics. What Anet needs to look at is how it is perceived by the consumer. If 95% of people took it to mean one thing, but really it meant something very different, that’s a problem from a legal standpoint. There’s no “well technically it could also mean this, so technically we weren’t lying” loophole. This likely won’t cause an issue for them since it is such small potato stuff, but they should really be clear as to exactly what they are offering.

It would be along the lines of selling something at a premium saying it is limited edition and then turning around and selling the exact same thing at reduced pricing to everyone a couple of months later. The exclusivity is implied by the price and the fact you are claiming limited edition. Those that paid more for the item under the assumption of it being limited would have legal grounds to demand the additional premium back (unless the fine print stated otherwise) because it is a logical assumption based on the information given. That “technical” loophole nonsense only works in the movies and TV. Advertising law is very clear.

Don’t confuse this with things costing more when they first come out and then the price goes down the longer they are available. That is very different from claiming something is limited or exclusive. No normal person would have jumped to the conclusion that when they say it is only available from X event during X period of time, that it really meant you are really only getting the option to purchase it ahead of everyone (like a pre-order type deal), and then later on it could possibly be available again. It’s questionable business practices.

I don’t believe ANet did it intentionally. Not in the slightest, and that is in their favor as well. I honestly believe they wanted it to be exclusive but there were so many people whining about not having access that they decided to make the available once again to appease them, which inadvertently will upset those that already have them. In my opinion the complainers outnumbered those that are upset now by quite a big margin.

I’ll get over it and so will everyone else. It will likely affect their gem store purchases, but probably not a whole lot.

colesy.8490:

Good lord. People whine about RNG and refer to the game as RNGwars or the company as CasinoNet, and then when they give us a non-RNG way of getting skins, people whine.

What the hell is wrong with people in this game? I got five jade tickets (used 3, banked 2) and I don’t give a kitten if other people can get the skins I got. Oh boohoo it’s “not as exclusive” anymore, cry me a river.

There it is…no, over there, argh…turn around, there…..there…..nope…..the point, you missed it.

arjeidi.2690:

For the people who are upset (not just disappointed, but upset), I wonder whether they felt they wanted the skin, or just wanted to be “exclusive” and be envied?

That is part of playing an MMO. Many players pride themselves on looking visually different from other players. It is important that they have hear that makes them unique, and work very hard to do this.

I don’t this as something to look down on. If we all look the same, what is the point of getting gear?

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Sure. However, things like this happen every day in real life. You go out and buy a new washing machine/dryer set and spend $3000, only to find out its on sale or clearance the next week or the week after and you could have gotten it for $1000 if you had simply waited. It happens. It sucks, but that’s just how things work. That’s how businesses work, and how they make money.

That is why many reputable businesses offer buyer protection plans and/or return policies.

This isn’t about an item going on sale though. It is about being told these items were rare, which drove up the perceived value for some. The fact that they were advertised as rare, means many people spent much more than they otherwise would have.

Again, good job making them available, but as we’ve seen many times by ANet

- mini pets
- molten mining pick
- weapons

When they say something is limited edition, that is really not true. So, for me, the lesson learned is that ANet will say anything to sell more gems, which means I think it is a much safer bet to not purchase items from the gem store when they first go up. Wait for them to go on sale, or show up on the trading post.

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

colesy.8490:

Good lord. People whine about RNG and refer to the game as RNGwars or the company as CasinoNet, and then when they give us a non-RNG way of getting skins, people whine.

What the hell is wrong with people in this game? I got five jade tickets (used 3, banked 2) and I don’t give a kitten if other people can get the skins I got. Oh boohoo it’s “not as exclusive” anymore, cry me a river.

There it is…no, over there, argh…turn around, there…..there…..nope…..the point, you missed it.

+1 LOL

Well played.

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

colesy.8490:

Good lord. People whine about RNG and refer to the game as RNGwars or the company as CasinoNet, and then when they give us a non-RNG way of getting skins, people whine.

What the hell is wrong with people in this game? I got five jade tickets (used 3, banked 2) and I don’t give a kitten if other people can get the skins I got. Oh boohoo it’s “not as exclusive” anymore, cry me a river.

There it is…no, over there, argh…turn around, there…..there…..nope…..the point, you missed it.

The point is that people spent money on these skins thinking they would remain exclusive. People also complained about RNG coffers, ANet give us an alternative now to the limited-time only RNG and people … complain. I don’t understand what I’m missing here.

colesy.8490:

The point is that people spent money on these skins thinking they would remain exclusive. People also complained about RNG coffers, ANet give us an alternative now to the limited-time only RNG and people … complain. I don’t understand what I’m missing here.

I think you’re missing the point of why people are complaining. You’ve stated and compared the two, but fail to see why each group took issue. To put it a other way, try focusing on the complaint, not the fact they’re complaining.

Attempting any kind of argument about their “real world cost” from Gems, is just plain silly when you consider how broken our own real world economy is to begin with. So don’t even get started. Infact a good portion of Steam Devs & the Console industry relies on a demographic that casually spends over $200 a month on games they’ll NEVER PLAY AGAIN or Hats they’ll only wear for a couple weeks.

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

I don’t this as something to look down on. If we all look the same, what is the point of getting gear?

I’ve only ever seen 1 other person walking around with the Arah Greatsword on their back like my ranger has. Meanwhile I’ve seen hundreds of players with these Canthan D-Festival Skins everywhere I go. …. if the whole point was to be really unique based on some “Ability” to achieve something, then I’d say they’ve succeeded just fine at that.

….Not implying Arah is some uber l337 content either. I’m saying it’s just a lot more Obscure and independent from the status ladder that most people in this game seem to be achieving for through pure Grinding & Farming.

I see both sides of the coin and I still think items should have been sold via the TP from the start. I don’t care how many people have “said” skin. I just know what I want and I would like a clear cut way to get it that isn’t random.

This would be wonderful if everyone could sell these things or no one could as they were stated in the beginning now there is a double standard in customers which needs to be addressed immediately..

For those of you having trouble figuring the issue, I’ll simplify it.

People put effort behind getting skins that are supposedly available for a ‘short time’. It feels cheap and underhanded when they’re available after that short time has passed. The Uniqueness is a bonus to that, sure, but ultimately noone likes putting in work and then finding out they could have gotten it later on for half the effort and cost (cost of effort, time, gold, gems accumulatively, seeing as those are the commidities people put towards getting w/e they want.

It’s just like how Anet pulled the sellable-voting token crap last time. Sure, it was kinda to be expected, but A-Net didn’t really make it expectable, and they seemed 100% useless if you didn’t vote, so easily 75% of the player base did expend them all in voting whilst the other 25% by a flukery and luck got the rest for sale because Anet decided to pull something that was easily unnecessary. It just looks bad, and makes Anet somewhat untrustworthy as a company.

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

arjeidi.2690:

For the people who are upset (not just disappointed, but upset), I wonder whether they felt they wanted the skin, or just wanted to be “exclusive” and be envied?

That is part of playing an MMO. Many players pride themselves on looking visually different from other players. It is important that they have hear that makes them unique, and work very hard to do this.

I don’t this as something to look down on. If we all look the same, what is the point of getting gear?

To get what you like, not what you think will make other people jealous? Even cynical petty hateful ol’ me finds it hard to believe people are that hollow and sad.

ASB.4295:

At least ANet is doing something right.

Down with exclusivity! Down with prestige!

LOL perhaps we should all wear brown paper bags a newspaper boat hats,