Guild Wars 2

As was said above, I think the best idea is the leave the default options up front so as not to confuse new people, but add a “Other Amount” button… Sort of like an ATM. You click on that button, and you can type in how many gems you want. Everyone knows what an ATM screen looks like, so that should not confuse anyone.

Well I was about to go exchange my gold for 200 gems to buy the devil horns, but then noticed you could only exchange in larger quantities now. No I don’t want 400. I want 200. You want to force me to buy more? You won’t get my business. Simple.

This change to the gem conversion has only finalised my decision to no longer support Anet.

One option might be to have the default gold/gems conversion page be the new “basic” interface more friendly for the new player. Have a button off to the side that enables the “advanced” interface which includes the freedom to convert any amount and show the history chart. Make it a user’s choice which interface they prefer.

bloodletting wolf.2837:

I would like to know why the conversion history was removed.

For the same reason that they don’t display how many people actually sold or bought gems or gold, or the respective amounts. For the same reason that they never explained how, exactly, the exchange rate is calculated. And because some people were starting to notice that certain things didn’t add up.

OK answering said statements….

*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.

BS…..We were all new players once but we learned quickly. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. If someone has a question what is the community for? It’s not hard to ask in any major city. Also NEW players don’t have that much gold to buy 400gems worth! since the going rate is 70+ gold lol what a crock.

*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.

What a crock, this is not like other shopping experiences! If that is your concern then people will be shopping around for a new game to play since you clearly do not care what the people think about your customer base (which ARE your veterans)!

*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.

Once again BS. I know more people have converted gold to gems in increments of 10, 20, 30 gold, etc not 73.25 gold or whatever the cost is at the time. In the other case maybe 5 gold to get that 1 gem they needed for something rather than buy tons of extra gems.

*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.

Maybe the team should have asked the player base first instead of assuming this is what was best, because everyone knows what happens when you assume things. If this statement is actually a true statement then if you want to keep the change you have made also give us the option to type in our own amount of gold we want to spend to buy gems as well as your system!

This way the new player and the veterans are happy!!!!!!!!!
Otherwise we will know that your really don’t give a kitten of what we think.

Another note:

While a 100 increment would be better, it still leaves amounts in the 10s and 1s un-accounted for. So I have 180 gems right now. I can no longer make that into an even 200 with just 20 more gems.

So that’s one of the issues you could expect if it’s implemented that way.

(Looks like WindFall got it first. Posts are flying here today :P)

Gaile Gray.6029:

WindFall.1479:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Errant Venture.9371:

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

THERE! Thank you, Errant Venture — that’s a solid suggestion with a reasonable tone. Thank you.

Regardless of the increments (though I also wish for smaller increments if this new system is here to stay), please keep in mind the pricing of current, new, and on-sale items. The system you have right now is inconvenient with anything priced at 500 gems, 900 gems, etc. This goes especially for items priced anything in between those 100 gem intervals (125 gems, 275 gems).

Hey everyone, whatever your opinion is on this new currency exchange, hyperbole doesn’t help. It wastes everyone’s time trying to read them and filter out the BS.

I understand what you’re saying, WindFall, and thanks for providing the team with a clearly expressed suggestion.

What if someone of us only need like say 10 gems, or 50, or maybe even 1??

The old style was so much better, why did this change even take place. Honestly who would be stupid enough not to figure it out?

DarkWasp.7291:

Put the graph back in.

I’m not sure about that. I thought that was the most confusing thing in the old interface.

Personally, I get the reason behind the change in theory, but this is what I suggest:

1) Smaller increments to purchase gems with gold (100 gems would probably be ideal).

2) The ability to change whatever gems you have remaining to gold in addition to the increments you choose (for example, if you have 350 gems, have the option to change 100, 200, 300, or [all] into gold). This would not only help those with an odd number of gems carried over from the old system, but also help those who buy gems with IRL cash (and who even now have fewer gem increments they can purchase).

You guys know how you can tell the simplification excuse is bull? Literally nothing in the gem store that was added today matches 400 gem increments. Nothing. It’s all 200, 500, or 700. There’s a reason for that.

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 very disappointed in the team right now.

Easy solution? put the custom purchases back in as well as the set denominations. Not rocket science. Or toss on a 50 denomination and be done.

Is this a particularly rude way of feedback, perhaps, but I’m really really disappointed. I’m sitting here wanting to get the 700 gem outfit, it’s not a possible denomination. I want the demon horns as well, 200 gems, again not a denomination. Together 900, oops, still not a denomination. In all I’d have to get the 1200 gems at minimum to get the 2 items, leaving me with 300 extra.

I don’t feel this change was not well thought out, on the contrary, as businessmen ya’ll are very smart, you know what to do. You set tiers so people are forced to overpay, it’s the same idea as gift cards, there’s going to be leftover that you still get the payment for.

It’s sound business, but when coming from a system that allowed custom options… huge disappointment and feels like a kick in the groin.

And yeah, you may change it in the future, but in time for the current set of goodies? I doubt it. You all are smart people I have no doubt you knew exactly what you were doing, bravo on the business sense, boo on the PR nonsense. Gaile I’ve loved your activity on the forum but this really disappointed me. Sorry to be rude but simply had to say this, me and my friends were having fun tonight, when we found this out, we simply logged out.

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.

So only the new players have to benefit? And we have to just sit back and see our whole system thrown away? This proves the point that you do not care about veterans at all. You’re only saying: " Veterans won’t benefit from this system, deal with it. We’re only thinking about the new players" With other words, new players will roll into this system and will not ever know how it was before so they have nothing to complain about. You veterans however, will eventually stop playing so we really don’t care what you think as long as we have new players.

Oh and btw: With new players we mean monkeys who are not able to put in a number to see how many gems they are able to buy’. Also, we are now aiming for a new target audience, 9 year olds and 88+…

Gaile Gray.6029:

• 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.

All the people commenting in this topic already thought about it.. and no.. just no.. kitten argument.

Gaile Gray.6029:

• 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.

“That’s not to say they never did, nor that there wouldn’t be the desire to do so” if people did buy less than 400 gems, there was a desire to do so. There were no options to be selected before and they don’t need to be here now. The fact that people decided to buy 400 gems in one order does NOT mean everyone wants to do that. You’re putting a label, wich we did not ask for, on every singel player in this game because you think it;s what we want. Wel surprise!! we don’t!!

Gaile Gray.6029:

• 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.

The only thing people in this topic seem to desire is the old system, put that in your kitten notebook.

This change is awful and deserves the ranting…not to mention pages of actual suggestions already in place before Gaile’s post…

I’ve put many years into the GuildWars universe…my husband and I pre-ordered the first game and bought two copies of every add-on and exapc. We pre-ordered GW2 and purchased two more copies for our older sons.

But in the past year I’ve gotten very jaded with these changes. It feels like one tiny inch forward and three steps back. Trickling of content and more cash shop pushing. I understand needing money. But if you give us things to spend money on…we will. Things like content. I’ve counted 9 areas on Tyria currently not opened. Open only one per year and that’s many years of content. So why the trickle. I have patience and consumer loyalty.

But it only goes so far.

LOL, looks like torches and pitchforks time.

And Gaile, people are reacting in an understandable manner.

It’s because they are angry.

The big question in my mind, is why?

With the ahem welcomed changes with the latest Feature Pack— why can’t we just level gate this as well? if (level < 80) { display increment buying} else { display custom buying }

I honestly don’t convert my gold to gems hardly ever. I think maybe I’ve done it 10 times in the history of me playing since the head start. Anyways… my suggestion is to level gate it. Keep the veterans happy and keep the noobs less confused I’m all for less confused noobs lol

Hello Gaile! As many and many users already pointed out, solution is pretty simple: keep the new UI for who have troubles with the old one as the default ui. Want gems? go for it at those fixed amounts (i suggest to add the option to have a minimum lower than 400 gems too, like 100). Then, add a “Custom Conversion” button which opens a small menu allowing us to buy the amount of gems we want like before (and maybe give us a mini graph on low/high fluctuations like before aswell on that page, to know how the market moves, that would be too awesome maybe). Welcome the new, but keep the old in mind as someone said, i dont see myself having 99 gems and buy 400 more because i need 1 to get to 100 if u get what i mean

Gaile Gray.6029:

Ok, guys. Some of you are unhappy about this change, I can see that. BUT… quite honestly, most of you are sort of (I hate to use the word) ranting (sorry!) instead of offering suggestions.

I assure you, the team leader told me not 15 minutes ago, they will listen to suggestions.

• Does that mean you get everything you want? Probably not.
• Does that mean you should suggest something? Yes, of course! Because they’re expecting player input.

So you want lower increments? Think it through and present a suggestion! You want XYZ in the interface? Post that idea. You would rather see something else? Post what you think about that other thing. Please don’t get into the whole “I’m going to kick the devs and their little dogs, too” because it’s not doing you or us any good at all.

I’m not here to apologize. I’m here to communicate and right now, the communication is coming in without a whole lot of substance. Over to you for suggestions and constructive input!

You guys want to do increments instead of letting us chose the exact amount? Fine, then do it at 50 gem increments. At the very MOST it should be 100. The 400 increments is an incredibly bad idea.

Also, bring back the gem/gold history. Many of us use the history as a tool to help us decide when to buy gems, when to convert them, etc. By taking that way you are keeping us blind and taking away an important tool. It also looks incredibly suspicious to remove it. Please bring it back, and if you INSIST on forcing us to buy/convert in increments, make it lower increments like 50 or 100 gems.

This is a huge indication of the mindset that Anet currently has towards its playerbase, the fact that this change even happened at all is a big red flag. There was nothing wrong with the previous system, and it was one that had respect towards the players- a simple thing that said “we don’t view you as a means to take advantage of to gain revenue.” That’s changed.

The only reason tiered currency systems like the one they implemented exist is to rip people off. This change, along with some of the more recent changes and admittance that things like dungeons are not something they care about, means I won’t be playing much anymore, and that means me not spending any more money in their gem store either- gold or actual cash.

Schtizzel.5497:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Ok, guys. Some of you are unhappy about this change, I can see that. BUT… quite honestly, most of you are sort of (I hate to use the word) ranting (sorry!) instead of offering suggestions.

I assure you, the team leader told me not 15 minutes ago, they will listen to suggestions.

• Does that mean you get everything you want? Probably not.
• Does that mean you should suggest something? Yes, of course! Because they’re expecting player input.

So you want lower increments? Think it through and present a suggestion! You want XYZ in the interface? Post that idea. You would rather see something else? Post what you think about that other thing. Please don’t get into the whole “I’m going to kick the devs and their little dogs, too” because it’s not doing you or us any good at all.

I’m not here to apologize. I’m here to communicate and right now, the communication is coming in without a whole lot of substance. Over to you for suggestions and constructive input!

Put in an option to manually exchange gold for X amount of gems and vice versa

Done.

No more putting in X gold to get the amount of gems you want and so it won’t confuse players. I want to exchang my 100 gems for gold, fine, just type it in and when you wanna get gems for your gold, fine, just type in how much gems you want. Profit.

This. Logged in today and was looking everywhere for an option to convert X amount of gems to gold… nothing. Not anymore. I too suggest that be brought back. If it’s not broken don’t fix it.

“Fixed exchange amounts have been set to simplify the exchange process and remove confusing rounding points.”

I have never seen a single soul complain about ‘confusing rounding points’. I am quite sure I’m not the only one who agrees that the exchange system was absolutely fine before this update.

They are asking for suggestions for improvement? I have played many games over the past few years. Many of the devs had the courtesy/common sense to inform their player base of specific updates via polls/forum posts etc that ‘will’ be taking place in X amount of time…

..I suggest before launch if they have everything ready post a forum subject about said improvements/updates that way players are informed of these and are free to add their ideas/motives/suggestions before hell breaks loose, or, at the very least.. to hopefully have their ideas implemented and lessen the scar this inevitably shrewd update will leave.

My 2 cents: You can keep this new system in place, but I’d like to be able to buy gems in whatever amount I feel like at any given moment (with gold).

Say I ran a few dungeons and sold some items and have disposable coin, I’d rather use that amount, whatever it is to get some gems and not keep it sleeping in the bank where inflation hits hard.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Ok, guys. Some of you are unhappy about this change, I can see that. BUT… quite honestly, most of you are sort of (I hate to use the word) ranting (sorry!) instead of offering suggestions.

I assure you, the team leader told me not 15 minutes ago, they will listen to suggestions.

• Does that mean you get everything you want? Probably not.
• Does that mean you should suggest something? Yes, of course! Because they’re expecting player input.

So you want lower increments? Think it through and present a suggestion! You want XYZ in the interface? Post that idea. You would rather see something else? Post what you think about that other thing. Please don’t get into the whole “I’m going to kick the devs and their little dogs, too” because it’s not doing you or us any good at all.

I’m not here to apologize. I’m here to communicate and right now, the communication is coming in without a whole lot of substance. Over to you for suggestions and constructive input!

I posted my suggestion in this several times on the thread. I am not ranting, nor do I dislike the new system. I actually like being able to see what it costs ballpark for a set amount of gems rather than playing with numbers and guessing.

HOWEVER, I Would LOVE lower denominations ie: 100gems, 350 gems (2xblack lion Keys anyone?), 500, 700, etc. I would love if they increments were more in line to the denominations of things you can buy from the gemstore so that I don’t have to over buy gems to get the thing I want.

For example, I really want the new outfit for my secondary account, I have 400 gems left over from a 25$ purchase last week. I need 300 more gems to get the outfit sent to my other account. However I would have to buy 400 gems at the current exchange rate. Thus I am left with 100 left over gems. I don’t want to have to have the left over gems just sitting there. I balance out my purchasing with gold and purchasing with real money and I would love to keep doing so.

Thank you for your time.

Be nice to Gaile guys, it’s not her fault this… horribly thought out decision was made. Even if I don’t play this game anymore, it’s still sad to see how the excuse of ‘new players confused’ keeps being used.

Also, removing the old system completely was dumb. This is why a PTS is needed for GW2. Could have easily tested this out, and instantly known it was a mistake, fixed it, then released it live.

Suggestions:

Give us an extra option to select an exact amount of gems to buy or sell.

- Replace the top value with an input box that lets us state exactly how much we want to purchase, or
- Give us a button we can press that bring us to a new screen where we can select an exact amount to purchase.

About the gem-for-gold exchange and how I want use it:

If I want to buy something in the shop, it has a price in gems. Sometimes, I already have a few gems on my account left from the previous transaction. So I have to buy the difference either with a gem card or for gold. If the difference is low, I give some gold for gems.

Now, if I buy gems for gold, I would like an input field where I can enter the exact number of gems I’m missing. This is the amount I need and I’d like to buy. The game should fill in the amount of gold I have to pay, and then I press a button to buy them.

Neither the old interface nor the new interface support this workflow.

Since I always have some gems left from some gem card, 400 gems is much too high to buy gems in bulk. Even 100 is too high, because I always have some odd remainder from previous transations. If there is some discount at the gem store, prices are odd as well. I would like to be able to enter the exact number of gems I’d like to buy.
To buy gems in 800-quantities with real money is ok, but with ingame gold 400 is much to high. What should I do with 23 gems that may be present on my account?

Gaile, just add an option to manually type in how many gems you would like to exchange for gold (even buying some odd number like 273 gems should be possible), then the game calculates how much gold this conversion would need and when you have the needed amount the “accept”-button would be useable.

Do the same thing for the gem to gold conversion and you’re good to go. Nobody wants to exchange 724 gems for 500 gold to be left with 76 gems which have no use.

Please, don’t add more increments to buy/exchange gems that wouldn’t solve the problem. People who currently have 73 gems but want to have an even number of gems won’t be pleased if lower increments would be introduced.

Suggestions – ok.

Assuming that we’re not being trolled, the most obvious one is to simply revert it to what it had been. That should also be the least technically challenging.

Failing that, the next most obvious choice would be to have a field where you manually enter how many gems you wish to purchase, and it tells you the cost in real money (or, in my case, American money, which is nearly the same thing) or gold, depending on how you’re purchasing. If you believe that all your users have been ingesting glue, you can even include a verification box (“This will complete your purchase – are you sure?”)

The preset intervals is flat out unacceptable. One doesn’t go into a commercial establishment, exchange real world money for tokens, and then find themselves with options that will unfailingly leave them with excess, non-refundable tokens. If any other business attempted this, they would rapidly find themselves out of business, and rightly so.

Gaile, I’m trying, I really am, but I can see no way that the new system isn’t either a) attempting to milk us for more than we want to spend, or b) designed to be as insulting as possible.

Also, regarding the ranting. It’s not just this – it’s this plus everything else as it were. The ranting is a side effect of the cumulative errors that your bosses (I’m well aware this isn’t directly your fault) flatly refuse to either learn from or rectify. The proverbial straw on that well worn camel.

Hope you have some excellent wine or industrial strength painkillers. You don’t deserve the bull (juvenile cat) that you’ll be taking over this.

Love ya lady – not impressed with the one’s you represent, it all.

Absolutely terrible! I went to go use it tonight to get just enough gems from my gold to buy the new hood in there for my necro and it took all the gold I had for gems I didn’t need, now in order to trade it back I have to do it 75 at a time.

This Chris or Gaile This is what people are complaining about when we say that you don’t communicate major changes and then just put them into the game, not as a test but as a major change and then after we complain about it it’s likely never to change. If ever you needed an example of why people get angry this would be it! Yet another example of something that was working just fine, that never needed to be changed, that should never have been touched but was instead of actual problems in the game, like hobosacks!

I know it’s not your fault Gaile but the people in charge of these things really aren’t thinking about what works best are they?

Gaile Gray.6029:

Errant Venture.9371:

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

THERE! Thank you, Errant Venture — that’s a solid suggestion with a reasonable tone. Thank you.

Simply:

Give us an option to exchange a custom amount, behind a “custom amount” button.

Give us a page to view the exchange rate history.

They’re not changing it back. Just add smaller amount conversions. Gold → 50 and 100 gems exchange before skyrocketing to 400 gems, pl0x

Gaile Gray.6029:

Ok, guys. Some of you are unhappy about this change, I can see that. BUT… quite honestly, most of you are sort of (I hate to use the word) ranting (sorry!) instead of offering suggestions. ~snip~

I…wow I love you guys at ArenaNet but that’s almost as insulting as being told that not buying gems in bulk is too confusing for us to handle. I mean, this has to be one of the most non-irrational non-ranty threads I’ve seen.

Fix seems obvious. Let us buy however many gems we want/can afford with gold in any increments. I’m under no delusion that this would come as some great revelation though…as I’ve said before the people at ArenaNet are some of the best of the best. They already know this…that’s why it disappoints a lot of us so much.

I mean how would anyone feel if their favorite corner store had a $100 dollar minimum and all you wanted was a Snickers bar?

DarxMaster.3819:

DarkWasp.7291:

Put the graph back in.

I’m not sure about that. I thought that was the most confusing thing in the old interface.

I guess technically I always ignored the numbers on the side. I never really put the effort to figuring them out. I just used it to see if we were currently on the lower end of a curve or not.

Gaile Gray.6029:

WindFall.1479:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Errant Venture.9371:

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

THERE! Thank you, Errant Venture — that’s a solid suggestion with a reasonable tone. Thank you.

Regardless of the increments (though I also wish for smaller increments if this new system is here to stay), please keep in mind the pricing of current, new, and on-sale items. The system you have right now is inconvenient with anything priced at 500 gems, 900 gems, etc. This goes especially for items priced anything in between those 100 gem intervals (125 gems, 275 gems).

Hey everyone, whatever your opinion is on this new currency exchange, hyperbole doesn’t help. It wastes everyone’s time trying to read them and filter out the BS.

I understand what you’re saying, WindFall, and thanks for providing the team with a clearly expressed suggestion.

Here are a few suggestions everyone will love.

1.) Allow us players to choose the amount of gems converted from gold.
2.) Allow us players to choose the amount of gems bought using real money. (Meaning if say I only wanted to buy 1 black lion chest key for 125 gems, I wouldn’t have to pay for 800 gems to get 1 key).

I suspect people would be mostly alright with the change if it weren’t for the loss of functionality. Having preset amounts conveniently offered is nice. I’m okay with that. I am not okay with losing the ability to convert the exact amount I need to buy something.

Here are the main problems introduced by the change:
I buy $10 of gems to convert to gold. I have 800 gems in my account, but due to the options presented, I can only convert 789 of them. I am left with 11 gems I cannot convert to gold due to the exchange rate, and there is nothing on the gem store I can buy that costs 11 gems or some increment thereof. They are essentially wasted, and I am not getting the full value of the $10 I spent on gems.
I have 11 gems on my account. There is an item I want that costs 200 gems. Whereas I used to be able to convert gold to gems and buy 189 gems to purchase said item, now I am forced to save up until I can buy ~twice as many gems I need. After purchasing the item, I now have 211 gems in my account that I don’t really have a use for (and even if I buy another 200 gem item, those 11 gems aren’t going away). I am being forced to pay more than I would otherwise spend.

It’s fine to keep the new currency exchange layout, but please, please bring back the option to convert custom amounts of currency. And when you do, please do what makes logical sense and instead of asking a person how much gold they want to convert into gems, ask them how many gems they would like and calculate the gold cost based on that.

I hope this was calm and rational enough to be considered as viable feedback.

barnabas j collins.2306:

~Snip~

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.

~Snip~

Terrible analogy as you must be grocery shopping in the wrong store(s) or they don’t have decent ones where you live. I’m single too and have no problem buying anything in quantities of 1(not that I ever would), because in your grocery shopping analogy I would just make all of the purchased items at once, and presto, now I don’t have to worry about them going bad before I use them(there’s such a thing as a freezer, and you can freeze anything, even already cooked items). Gems can be looked at the same way, just keep the leftovers in the wallet until that time you might find them useful, though how you couldn’t expect to have an odd number left over when using the Gold to Gem conversion is beyond me.

So with that in mind, for those that flew off the handle, just offer your constructive criticism or better yet, good, well thought out suggestions on how to improve the usability of the new conversion interface instead of berating or just being vitriolic.

tomroark.3756:

This is a huge indication of the mindset that Anet currently has towards its playerbase, the fact that this change even happened at all is a big red flag. There was nothing wrong with the previous system, and it was one that had respect towards the players- a simple thing that said “we don’t view you as a means to take advantage of to gain revenue.” That’s changed.

The only reason tiered currency systems like the one they implemented exist is to rip people off. This change, along with some of the more recent changes and admittance that things like dungeons are not something they care about, means I won’t be playing much anymore, and that means me not spending any more money in their gem store either- gold or actual cash.

Oh come on… there were certainly things wrong with the old system. Gem exchange rates fluctuated so fast that often the number the interface said you were getting wound up very different than what you actually got (and boy did that kitten some players off), for example.

I understand you’re disappointed. I get that you (and others) are angry (like usual). But come on, let’s not pretend there was “nothing” wrong with how it was before.

I came here wanting to make some suggestions, as the new gem exchange system looks to me like it had no thought put into it (I’m not saying that was the case of course). Someone said it already way better than I could… This system was made to help new players not get confused with the exchange rate, correct? a new player cannot afford 400 gems, so making it default the min. amount you can buy was not the greatest idea! I’ve read that players don’t generally buy less than that, but generally those who do tend to be… Guess who? New players! Because they can’t afford the higher prices! This is why you mustn’t fully trust metrics and think a bit about what you’re doing. Metrics are great, but they are just numbers, they tell you what, but not why. They tell you how many people are buying and how much, but not why they do so. I think the idea of adding a min of 50/100 gems as a choice would fix most of what’s wrong with the new system, but I still would have some few problems with it…
A few of the options someone else mentioned would be great, putting back the graphic means I know when it’s the best of times to buy or sell gems, though I could live without that; what almost needs to happen, and I’m not sure why it wasn’t like this from the very beginning, is having a custom amount for buying gems. It should have been “Buy X amount of gems” from the start, instead of “Spend x amount of gold for gems”, THAT’S what I found confusing from the system from the start.

I wonder how long it will take before ArenaNet simply decides to shut down the forums altogether. Every single thing ever done in the game is just met with massive rage and hatred here and very little constructive and useful comments.
Might be a better idea to just shut them down and spend the time and resources on the actual game rather than having to wade through all the kitten here.

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.

As a rather new player (<30 Days) to the game, I have to say that I find some of the changes to the Gem Trade tab kinda confusing, more so than helpful.

The lack of the graph struck me the most, since I have no way to tell if gem rates are going up or down, as such, I can’t tell when would be the best time to trade my coins for gems or the other way around. If anything, though, I’d compact the graph’s timeframe to weekly rather than the current monthly[?], but that’s sorta unrelated.

Not having the option to buy less than 400 Gems makes my in-game wallet cry. There’s no way I can afford those prices. Saving up and all, I’ve just managed to get about 60g total on my character.
If the devs are set on fixed quantities, 50 or 100 Gems would be reasonable, especially 100, since everything costs a multiple of that, but I think being able to buy a custom amount of Gems would be best.

Also, the interface is a bit confusing. Hadn’t I stopped and looked in detail, I’d have sold Gems by accident, as it seemed as if the selling/buying panels were reversed.

I think that’s all I can come up with. Hopefully we get some positive feedback from the devs soon.

The main issue is that we have to purchase gems in bulk of 400 gems. That’s too much.

1) 400 gems doesn’t match Gem Store prices. Of the 12 feature items on the gem store, only one could be purchased for gold without any gems left over.

2) 400 gems is expensive in gold. If I have enough gold for 200 gems but not enough for 400 gems, I can’t get 200 gems. But there are items on the Gem Store for 200 gems.

3) 400 gems is more expensive than “new players” could afford. It took me a year to have 75g. I wouldn’t still consider myself a “new player” after a year. If this is geared towards new players, 400 gems is a hefty price.

4) Conversion History let us know when to buy. Transparency helps the customer. We’ve lost the transparency. We have no idea when is a good time to buy or sell, now. We liked knowing.

I find it extremely CONFUSING that my 3 gems just become useless
Why not revert it while adding the option to quick exchange
Why am I forced to buy more than the amount I need

Anet never cease to amaze me lol

I like having options. This is my currency, I spent cash to acquire it. I have fewer options for what to do with that currency under this new system.

I also like having information. This information allows me to make intelligent decisions about what to do with my currency. I have less information available to me under this new system.

Reducing the options and information available to your customers makes them less empowered, hence the negative reactions. Money and time has been given by the customer, with one set of expectations, and now the conditions under which that money or time may be redeemed has been changed with absolutely no notice.

Whether or not it’s a legal sort of change, it’s a very rotten thing to do to a customer. Talking about how you want to advance the discussion or improve the system will be pointless to many so long as you fail to acknowledge that fact.

chemiclord.3978:

tomroark.3756:

This is a huge indication of the mindset that Anet currently has towards its playerbase, the fact that this change even happened at all is a big red flag. There was nothing wrong with the previous system, and it was one that had respect towards the players- a simple thing that said “we don’t view you as a means to take advantage of to gain revenue.” That’s changed.

The only reason tiered currency systems like the one they implemented exist is to rip people off. This change, along with some of the more recent changes and admittance that things like dungeons are not something they care about, means I won’t be playing much anymore, and that means me not spending any more money in their gem store either- gold or actual cash.

Oh come on… there were certainly things wrong with the old system. Gem exchange rates fluctuated so fast that often the number the interface said you were getting wound up very different than what you actually got (and boy did that kitten some players off), for example.

I understand you’re disappointed. I get that you (and others) are angry (like usual). But come on, let’s not pretend there was “nothing” wrong with how it was before.

Fair enough, changes could have been implemented to improve the system, perhaps I was hasty in typing my response because I’m still in disbelief. This is still ridiculous. One of the main points they’ve said is that the old UI was confusing for new players (I clearly remember it not being difficult to figure out when I first started playing). However, if it truly was an issue for new players, there’s an amazing concept called “options.” As others have suggested, there are many ways to implement UI improvements and to still retain advanced users for players who desire them. Anet clearly doesn’t have a desire to give its playerbase options, however- they want them to accept the implementations they make that have alternative agendas without question.

Suggestion: Revert it back or put in an option for specific amounts.

Although I do support many on here and on reddit for their anger, and I really feel sorry for this game for what the devs do to it and for the new players that have to have everything spoon fed to them and not actually learn how to do anything and complain about the slightest inconvenience that most of the veteran players have had to deal with for +2 years.

Also, just wanted to thank you Gaile for at least replying, even if the answer is one that frankly, I do not find believable given the actual effects of the new system. I certainly hope they gave you some warning of the impeding kittenstorm before dropping this patch XD

Gaile Gray.6029:

Bellizare.5816:

LOL, looks like torches and pitchforks time.

And Gaile, people are reacting in an understandable manner.

It’s because they are angry.

The big question in my mind, is why?

Yeah, I was thinking the same about the pitchforks and torches.

I don’t discount players when they are upset, though, and I truly understand that sometimes things hit close to home and cause some angst, anger, upset, any sort of reaction. (I’d think it was possible to have the discussion without it devolving into unpleasantness, but then, I always was an optimist! )

I asked a quick question of a team leader about the changes. I thought the answers were pretty clear so I posted them. But if you want more info, maybe there’s more to be learned and I’ll ask about that tomorrow.

Hang in there.

Hopefully you are well compensated for running point.

a-net really seems to work kitten destroying everything working in the game. Heck now even the darn gem thing kittened. I mean do you want my darn money or not?

I am a huge fan of this game. I am not a fan of this in any way, shape, or form. I used to loathe this with xbox points. I don’t want leftovers. I don’t want the subtle push to get more. Please just stop the slow knife and just finish it already. how much further down this road will we be in two years?

Remember when you guys talked about how you wanted the gem shop stuff to be really unobtrusive? Where is that stuff now? I want that ArenaNet back please.