Guild Wars 2

really bad decision. I want to buy custom amount of gems and gold

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

Yup, that’s complete BS and anyone can see that. Had it started at 10gem>50 gems>100gems>200 gems>400gems then it would be about functionality, but not the way it is. I’m done buying gems, and I hope other people follow me on it.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

That’s fine and well, but in no way justifies removing functionality and pigeonholing paying customers into fixed denominations as was done with this patch.

szygum.2607:

Nevets Crimsonwing.5271:

What does Vayne think of this?

I am 100% sure that VayneBot is already being uploaded with excuses and corporate bullkitten to calm down the situation.

Or they’ll just close the thread with the elegance of camel gunk.

That would be a huge slap in the face to their customers, and the worst possible thing they could do. If they did that i would immediately uninstall and never look back. I’m sure i’m not the only one either. It would do nothing but give them an even worse reputation.

What a crappy response. Why don’t you just come out and say it gaile, you guys aren’t actually going to listen to our complaints about your joke of an “update” and aren’t going to do anything about this “fix” to a system that wasn’t even broken.

What about the poor guy that has one gem less than whatever the cheapest item is on the TP that he wants to buy?

For example, if the guy has 199 gems already and he wants to buy an item that costs 200 gems. Instead of buying JUST ONE MORE GEM, he has to buy 200 more gems. That 199 gems will sit in his account forever until one day the gem store has an item he wants that costs say 100 gems. Now he spends 100 of his 199 gems and is stuck with 99 gems he can’t spend until maybe one day an item appears in the store that he wants for 50 gems. He spends 50 of his 99 gems, but now is stuck with 49 gems he can’t spend.

Is ANet going to come out with items that sell for 1 gem or 5 gems so people can spend their gem “change” as it were?

This is not good.

At today’s pricing, 199 gems is about 25 gold (doing this from memory while I wait for the patch so I may be a bit off). For many of us 25 gold may be chump change, but for the player that buys one gold worth of gems every other day or so because that’s all he can afford, it’s a lot of money.

Unless this “simplified system” comes with cheaper gems, then it doesn’t aid the players at all.

Gaile Gray.6029:

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

I understand what you’re trying to accomplish with this change, but as you can see in this thread, people get very upset when something they were able to do in the past is taken away from them.

My suggestion would be to keep the front page of the Currency Exchange as it is now, the new system to be less confusing to new players, but include a link to a version of the old page that would allow the slider for people who just want to buy 100 gems (or 5 or 28 or whatever other odd number). That way you have the best of both worlds.

Tulki.1458:

Immediately before this patch: 10g = 70 gems.

Immediately after this patch: 10g = 57 gems (going off the 400 gem exchange rate).

They tampered with prices to make gems more expensive at exactly the same time as they removed the price history and made 400 gems the lowest increment you can buy in. Did anyone else see this? No other holiday event has had that big a fluctuation before.

I first thought it was because people rushed to exchange gold for gems to buy the new outfit but still… something ain’t right.

This new system needs to be adjusted. Great awesome amazing make the gem store accessible for the newbies, totally okay with this. Give us vets a button to use the old system. The code already exists, just add it to the massive box of free space for the menu buttons on the trading post.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

Say I have 700 gems, but need 100 more to get something from the gemstore.. I don’t want to over pay for 400 gems, when I only need 100. So this change is dumb.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

Hey there indeed. Three huzzahs for teamwork.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

Ok Ok … but what if we use the new AND the old system?

- make the new system the “main page”
- make button with “buy specific amount of gems”
- button brings you to the old system which lets you buy for example only 125gems for one key

Lalalala… lalalalalaaa

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

And yet in the history of this forum there has never been a post saying “the gem exchange interface is confusing me as a new player” or anything similar.

Where do you guys get these metrics from?

There’s so much wrong with that post.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

I bet you’ve installed at least once a program on your computer. There are always two options: standart and costumized. So why isn’t that possible for GW2? An “easy to understand” option for “confused” players and the old option for the regular player.

“But newer players will benefit from the updated system.”

Oh, will they? Will they REALLY benefit from being forced to blow 400 gem increments on items that cost something OTHER than 400 or 800 or 1200 or 1600, wasting enormous amounts of gold in the process?

In what conceivable universe should someone have to use gold on 400 gems to get a single black lion key worth 125?!

This is just making me even more furious than before. If the team legitimately cared about any kind of integrity this would be optional. It’s not. That is unacceptable.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

I want to buy 125… I cant.. I want to buy 500…. I cant…. thanks but no your wrong, People buy the amount with gold for the item they want.

You know all the 125 or 150, 300 etc… we cant get those unless we get 800gems now.

I dont think I can even give you my money anymore, you greedy ppl, its a video game stop making everything so clunky.

I want to get 500 gems.. Im NOT getting 800 so guess what I will not use gold OR use money now.. gj anet.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you are always getting your Gems from Gold, you as a player are not contributing a dime to A.net except with your initial purchase of the game. Only those that buy Gems with real money are providing income. For those that say what if I want 1 Gem, or 25 Gems or what ever miniscule amount it was, think about it, does that really make sense? For those that complain about having left over amounts of Gems, at some point in the future there will be an item that will allow you to use that left over amount of Gems and get back to zero(0) balance, I’ve seen it before in other games, and with other companies that use sort of the same thing but not even in game(looking at BioWare points). So before you go flying off the handle and swearing up a storm, and not offering constructive criticism, try and look at it from the companies point of view: they have statistics, remember, what only 2% of the people want does not a system make(that’s just an example).

I’m all for helping newer players get a better experience, but not at the expense of veterans. There is no excuse for changing the entire system instead of just using it as an additional UI instead.

fellyn.5083:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

And yet in the history of this forum there has never been a post saying “the gem exchange interface is confusing me as a new player” or anything similar.

Because the forums would be way to confusing for such an individual to access, of course.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

Unless these changes are reverted, I am boycotting your game, and will be suggesting the same thing to any friends and family. Maybe i’ll even take it a step further and start spreading the word across other games. I’ve spent hundreds upon hundreds of hours in this game, and this move is nothing but a giant slap in the face.

Unbelievable. Just another way to try and squeeze more from the player base. Absolutely unbelievable.

fellyn.5083:

And yet in the history of this forum there has never been a post saying “the gem exchange interface is confusing me as a new player” or anything similar.

I have actually seen quite many posts wondering about the gem to gold exchange and how it works.

And keep in mind that these forums are most likely not the only place where ArenaNet gathers information nor does the vast majority of new players use these forums.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

Always fault of the new players, right?

Always an unintended change, right?

Always working as intended, right?

Always a bug, right?

Sigh…

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

Very simple – type in the number of gems you want and it tells you how much gold you will need to spend.

That was the only fix needed to the old system.

Of all the things that might have confused player, the gem exchange WASN’kitten

As for making it like other shopping experience, as a single guy, I am used to having to buy a bag of carrots or potatoes and only being able to use 1/3 of them before they go bad and I have to throw them away because stores don’t offer 1 person amounts of many things. So if you goal was to make the gem store as miserable as grocery shopping – you hit the nail right on the head.

And what the heck am I supposed to do with the 7 gems left sitting on my account at the moment that I can’t use and can’t turn in for silver?

Gaile Gray.6029:

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

The initial UI addresses all of the bullet points you listed. However, when you mouse over “Get Gold” and “Get Gems,” they light up but cannot be clicked. Perhaps they can tuck in a “Buy Custom Amount” option when these area clicked, so that players who want to buy an exact number of gems / gold can do so, but it allows the less confusing interface to remain the ‘default’.

This is not a deal breaker for me, but I would appreciate more precise control if at all possible. I understand the frustration of having an item cost 250 gems and not being able to exchange that exact amount.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

So why not both options? Fixed denominations AND player choice.

Bellizare.5816:

fellyn.5083:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

And yet in the history of this forum there has never been a post saying “the gem exchange interface is confusing me as a new player” or anything similar.

Because the forums would be way to confusing for such an individual to access, of course.

Well that explained it perfectly. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

If it was so confusing (and let’s be real here, it wasn’t) then instead of starting at 400 gems the least that could have been done is make the lowest option 200 gems. God forbid I want to buy trans charges or something similar in price and I have to fork over 75g for something that used to be about 25g or so.

That’s not right no matter what way you spin it. Being able to make small transactions was something that I appreciated back when I was a new player, but I guess that opinion is irrelevant compared to the apparently idiot new players that we’re trying to appeal to now.

I don’t normally think lowly of Anet decisions, but this was stupid.

Why not just make it so you can buy every item in the store with either gold or gems?

Malediktus.9250:

So why not both options? Fixed denominations AND player choice.

If Gaile can answer that well, not only will I eat my own socks, I will be happy whilst I do.

Gaile Gray.6029:

I wanted you to know I went immediately to see if I could get an answer on this, and don’t worry, there was no “stealth nerfing” of gem costs. What happened is a common occurrence with new builds: A whole lot of people made exchanges when the new build went live. And as you know the conversions are market driven.

So that’s why you saw the seeming discrepancy in the exchange rate. All is well, and it will continue to ebb and flow according to the volume of exchanges, as always.

Gonna have to back Gaile up on this, whenever there is new Gem Store content like Outfits, Armor, Weapons, added, the conversion immediately skyrockets with people buying Gems for Gold.

I NEVER bought 400 gems or more at one purchase, NEVER, always 100 gems, 50, maybe 200 if the exchange price was low…
I feel a bit offended by your answer Arenanet.

I really hope no one buys that this is just about simplification and making the interface intuitive. What a laughable claim.

I will never buy gem stores again, through gold or real money, until this is fixed. Such a blatant money grab.

I have never seen a company I once respected so much completely descend in every single way I can imagine. The only way my respect for ArenaNet could fall lower is if you somehow screwed up the combat and art — because those are literally the only things that keep me playing at this point.

It should not start with any ‘minimum’ at all. It should start by 1 Gem and it should end in how many you’d like to get.

The only possible postitive change would be that you can put in the amount of gems you like manually and see how much it wil cost you to buy that amount (and being able to do so!). So not the amount of gold to see how many gems you’re able to buy.

I used to buy gems in parts when I was able to spend some gold. Now I won’t be buying any gems at all ever again.

Lately it seems the only reason I’m still here is because of my guild and the people in there who i care a lot about.

It’s changes like this that ruins this game for me. They insult me by thinking I’m not able to use and understand their system.. I think they believe I, and the rest of their playerbase, am/are plain stupid or something.. It’s only a matter of time before I completely throw this game out of the window, and I think a lot of people are following..

Zaklex.6308:

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you are always getting your Gems from Gold, you as a player are not contributing a dime to A.net except with your initial purchase of the game. Only those that buy Gems with real money are providing income. For those that say what if I want 1 Gem, or 25 Gems or what ever miniscule amount it was, think about it, does that really make sense? For those that complain about having left over amounts of Gems, at some point in the future there will be an item that will allow you to use that left over amount of Gems and get back to zero(0) balance, I’ve seen it before in other games, and with other companies that use sort of the same thing but not even in game(looking at BioWare points). So before you go flying off the handle and swearing up a storm, and not offering constructive criticism, try and look at it from the companies point of view: they have statistics, remember, what only 2% of the people want does not a system make(that’s just an example).

I don’t use gold for gems. I don’t want to be pigeon holed into converting my gems into amounts dictated by anet. I convert my gems into gold for what I need and not more. And why take away the conversion history? I used that to get a good deal for my gems.

That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans…

Learning the old system was okay for the veterans.

But newer players will benefit from the updated system.

But it isn’t for the new players.

A is fine for Group V. A is too difficult for Group N.
Group N is dumber than Group V. Apparently.

That’s what I feel Anet is saying. The system was just too confusing.

When you read their explanation out loud, there is no intelligent way to justify it.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Concerns of this nature come in via tickets, when someone takes the wrong step, buys too many times, isn’t able to process the acquistion or exchange, etc. By the time someone’s on the forums, they’re usually comfortable with the systems.

What prevented you from adding more quantity tiers then? What’s the explanation to this question? Also confusing?

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

I’m sorry, but I really can’t believe you guys anymore till we see proof. Your charts, your metrics, whatever.

Give us a REASON TO BELIEVE anything you say, please, because right now it’s impossible for any sensible vet to do so.

You guys constantly fall back on “oh such and such is a bug” or “oh such and such is an unintended oversight” and my favorite “oh such and such is intended, but we’re totally going to listen to your feed back, promise, pinky swear!” and nothing happens.

Please answer, how does leaving those of us who purchase Gems to convert to Gold with stuck some random amount of change that we can’t convert makes things “easier” or more “convenient”? If there’s nothing in the Gem Store I want or can afford with that change, and I was spending real dollars specifically to convert to gold, then as far as I’m concerned you would be stealing my money at that point. You’d certainly be taking it from me and putting it into a form which is not usable until I’ve spent yet more money, which given the numbers I’m seeing will just start that cycle all over again. How is this even remotely good for the player? How is taxing every purchase I make, by preventing me from converting every last Gem I buy into Gold if that is my wish and thus sticking me with unusable Gems, helpful at all?

I’m trying to keep as calm as I can about this, but seriously, if you want constructive suggestions then you guys need to keep to making constructive changes to the game. This is a blatant money grab.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

1. I almost never exchanged more than 400gems. Most often it was small amounts, frequently around 100.
2. I relied on the price history, and would typically time it so I exchanged on a dip.
3. I very simply want the old system back: Both a custom amount exchange, even just 1 gem if I want to be so silly, and the exchange history graph.

You can, by all means, keep the new interface, but add a “custom” button, and perhaps either a tab or button to show history, just like before.

Zaklex.6308:

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you are always getting your Gems from Gold, you as a player are not contributing a dime to A.net except with your initial purchase of the game. Only those that buy Gems with real money are providing income. For those that say what if I want 1 Gem, or 25 Gems or what ever miniscule amount it was, think about it, does that really make sense? For those that complain about having left over amounts of Gems, at some point in the future there will be an item that will allow you to use that left over amount of Gems and get back to zero(0) balance, I’ve seen it before in other games, and with other companies that use sort of the same thing but not even in game(looking at BioWare points). So before you go flying off the handle and swearing up a storm, and not offering constructive criticism, try and look at it from the companies point of view: they have statistics, remember, what only 2% of the people want does not a system make(that’s just an example).

Well, of course they need to make $$$

But the business model they chose (non-sub) would have to come back to bite them eventually.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

This is a blatant lie. There is zero truth to this, I don’t care if you cooked up documentation from your financial department and posted it here. This post made me even angrier than the change itself. And this is constructive feedback, just because I strongly disagree with the change and your explanation of the change doesn’t make the feedback nonconstructive. The change is hilariously bad and everyone knows it including you. Make a ridiculous change like this to the game and then post something like that… how stupid would anyone have to be to swallow that. You might as well have wiped all characters and told us it was for the good of the economy and that 75% of players supported the idea when polled. We are not as stupid as you think, stop treating us with such disrespect.

Let’s go over the lies one by one.

New players had trouble: NOPE. not even one. It was the most clearly laid out and self explanatory menu in the game. If someone couldn’t figure out the old menu they wont figure out the new one either.

Better shopping experience: NOPE. Less options to the point of nearly no options, thanks but no thanks. I wont be shopping here anymore. If my grocery store decided all things in the store cost 1 of 5 prices and the new minimum price was 400 times the old one I’d find another store, which is what I’m considering with GW2.

No one bothered buying gems sub 400: AHHH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA. Most disrespectful and ridiculous lie I’ve ever heard in my life.

The team is going to listen: Second most disrespectful and ridiculous lie I’ve ever heard in my life. You guys shoved this change down our throats with no warning and no one ever in the history of the game mentioned the old system being bad. The actual problem was it was too good, too easy to use. You just don’t have the courage or respect for your players to admit it and that’s almost the worst part.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

is it too much to have a system of “quick buys” where we see whats there now, and a “set buy” where we can set how many gems we want to buy?

Also, Gaile, what does it tell you, and your colleagues, that the only defence to this system in 5 pages comes from an employee of the company?

Gaile, if the main reason for this change was because new players found it confusing why not add an option to have both system ingame? This way for those who don’t understand the gem/gold graph and don’t want to do the math how much gold/gem do they have to spend to get the amount they need have an option to buy gem/gold in bundles ,but for those who prefer the old system can use that.

Add an option buy gems in 100 gem increments instead of making 400 gems the smallest denomination possible. Problem solved.

BTW Gaile, you guys would have a lot fewer PR headaches with stuff like this if you would float the idea a week or two ahead of time instead of making it a surprise in the patch notes.

Sorry Gaile, I know that you’re the one that gets stuck with the lovely jobs like this, but we’re not idiots – whoever came up with this bright idea needs to see that this isn’t acceptable.

• Picking up food and feeding a cow was not difficult.
• Knowing that an axe can be used to cut down a tree was not difficult.
• Counting one number at a time was not difficult.

We were all new once, we survived. It’s one thing when you dumb down gameplay elements, that just affects the game. This is different, this involves our money. I’m sure the genius who came up with this wouldn’t be happy if their wage was rounded down by a few thousand or so, because it’s an easier number for them to cope with.

I’m sure I’m in the minority here, but I used to buy gems and convert the leftovers to gold after buying my gem store items… that’s gone now. This change would actually reduce the amount of money I’d spend, if it weren’t for the fact that it’s pretty much convinced me never to spend again. Instead of cheap, underhanded tactics like this; how about just producing things that we’re happy to pay for?

• Dumbing down the game to attract non-gamers
• Fiddling with the gold:gem conversion
• Outfits instead of skins
• No toys with outfits
• Recycling content that shouldn’t be recycled (The Bloody Prince broke free last year, he doesn't need to go through with that again this year!)
• Slapping achievements onto Living Story releases that require multiple playthroughs of the same missions

I know the management will be looking at efficiency, but what ever happened to making a product you were actually proud of and selling it in a fair way?

Gaile Gray.6029:

Hey there,

Here are a few tidbits from the team:

• A lot of newer players had trouble with the interface. That doesn’t apply to you, you’re veterans who have been around the conversion block a time or two. But newer players will benefit from the updated system.
• The goal was to make the Gem Store more like other shopping experiences, and if you think about it, there is more of that feel to it now.
• You may be surprised to know this (I know I was) but very few people bought gems at smaller denominations than the first one offered in the new system. That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so. But overall, the current options were selected based on player purchases in the past.
• The team is going to listen to your feedback and, if and when it’s practical and desirable, they can look towards adjusting the new system to better meet your needs.

So please keep your thoughts coming on the new system. Feel free to make suggestions but please, keeping them constructive would be very much appreciated.

Hello Gaile,

I know I was very interested in getting the 700 Courtier outfit that just came out, but no way was I going to buy 800 gems and have 100 left over.
This change has made me go from debating whether to drop more actual cash instead of gold conversion to never wanting to support game. As the change seemed to be in real bad faith.

As most items are priced on the 100 gem mark there really should be an option for 100 gem purchase for those that want to get the exact amount needed to buy what they want. If there are ones ending x50 or x75 gems should be options that allow a clean purchase.

Otherwise claims the left over being there is to encourage more purchase and the “real” cost of the outfit is 800 gems else you will be suckered into buying more start to sound creditable.