Hey guys. Before I get started, I want you all to know that this is not a rant of any kind. I’m not here to hate on anyone or anything so if that’s what you’re expecting, you might be happy/disappointed that this is not the case.
What I would like to do is bring up what I think are a few issues with the pre-purchase incentive for Hearth of Thorns as it currently exists. ANet can consider this constructive criticism, and anyone else is welcome to add to, or debate any of the points I bring up if they want to.
1: Justifying The Price Point
Now, I think this is more of an issue for veteran players rather than new players. As it currently stands, you can get the standard version of the HoT expansion for about $50, and that includes the original game as well. For new players, this might seem like a very appealing offer – $50 for a game + an expansion – however, for veteran players who are only really benefiting from the expansion content, it may feel like a bit of a steep price point.
What perpetuates this issue even further is that there is no discount for veteran players who already have the core game and are upgrading to the expansion. The pre-purchase deal, as a whole, is vastly more attractive for new players than it is for veterans, and as a veteran player, I don’t think this is a very graceful gesture on ANet’s part. ANet should be rewarding veterans for their commitment and contributions – both in terms of time and money – to their product over these last few years, but instead it feels like we are simply invisible bystanders, while new players are exalted as the V.I.P. clients.
I think this feeling of neglect has been growing in strength for some time now, with lots of changes in-game favoring new players over veterans, and I think this latest example might just upset veteran players even more.
2: Lack of information
Another issue with the pre-purchase incentive is that there really isn’t enough information for us consumers to make an informed purchasing decision. As it stands at present, I’d say that it’s almost like going to a car dealer and seeing the shiny exterior of the car on offer, but the salesman doesn’t want to tell you what’s inside, or what engine is running under the hood.
In the case of HoT, we’ve gotten snippets of information regarding some of the new content in the game, but because that information is still being released in incremental updates, we don’t have a holistic view of what we’re in for, or what we, as consumers, will ultimately gain in terms of content for the price we’ve paid. Given that some of the new features are already confirmed to be coming to players who only earn the base version of GW2, it does bring into question just how much extra content or features we’re really getting in the expansion and whether it justifies the price.
How many new PvE Maps will there be? Will we get new dungeons or fractals? What kind of new guild missions can we expect, if any? Will there be other new minigames or alternative forms of end game content? What can we expect in terms of new armor or weapon sets? What about new character creation options? I could go on, but I think you get the point.
3: Closing notes
I think ANet might have been jumping the gun a bit by introducing the ability to pre-purchase the expansion for GW2, without giving any upgrade incentives for veteran players, nor giving enough details regarding the actual content in the expansion to justify the current price point.
Given how much content we got in the original game for its starting price, one would expect the expansion to give similar amounts of content if it’s going to be sold at the same base price. If it’s not, and the price is only as high as it is because it also includes the original game, then there needs to be a cheaper upgrade price for people who already own the original game, and who will not benefit at all from purchasing it a second time.
I really think that ANet should look into and address some of these issues in order to appeal to player concerns. If they have an answer or would like to bring up additional points or factors that I might not be considering, or that as a whole might be unknown to us, I welcome them to enlighten us.
(edited by Tenrai Senshi.2017)