Guild Wars 2

I also think it is not quite an “expansion” with a truckload of new features that make it feel like diving into a totally new experience. It’s more like the same (good) ice cream bowl you order in the Café of your choice, but this time the the little umbrella sticking out has now a different colour. It’s more like a big patch, but everything else is weird and feels rushed.

Since I am soooo slow ingame, I have no big problem with that, but I concerned ArenaNet could bring this great franchise (my first every I feel attached to a bit) down with half-finished things..

Excelsior.

The term “expansion”, to me at least, means that it is supposed to EXPAND upon what is already there. So it is expanding the map content, story content, character capabilities, etc. It is not supposed to make a bunch of stuff all new and different. If PoF was going to be “Guild Wars 3”, then I would expect things to be different/new.

Sarie.1630:

ruzicka.4783:

I may need someone to help my aging memory here.

For those complaining that the new PoF expansion does not have new raids and such….didn’t most of the current raid content come AFTER the HoT expansion? During the Living World updates? But in order to get that new FREE content, you needed to first have the HoT expansion.

I saw nothing in the expansion announcement that suggested that there would NOT be new raids, etc, coming to us in the future. I could easily see extra/new FREE stuff added on later, but one will need to have the PoF expansion.

I think this is a point that a lot of die-hard doomsayers are missing. ArenaNet have now demonstrated that they can deliver live LW, PvP, WvW, Fractal AND Raid updates at decent intervals between expansions. I can understand why trust might still be at a low after HoT, and those with concerns should of course wait until the expansion has been out for a couple of weeks before making a decision, but I think the promise of content for all game types going forward can be reasonably assured.

I don’t see that as a logical expectation at all. By adding things like mounts that so many people clearly said they would hate and likely stop playing over, they lose a lot of players. More importantly, those that stay will not buy the expansion. Without it, all that future content will be unavailable. The story will become nonsense and likely unplayable without the new masterys and any new skills or abilities. That’s when the rest leave.

It’s so sad when you can see them preparing to do an expansion. “Ok, who has ideas?”
Nope, no money there. Nope, No money there. Yes! we can resell all those different pixels we sold for players in the gem shop, now as pixels for mounts. And then they build the expansion, the maps, the skills, the whole thing around those sales.
If I don’t want mounts, do you really think I will buy horse crap for a horse I don’t want?

I don’t see any logic in claiming that showing they can add content in a reasonable amount of time bears any merit, when they showed that in year one already and this expansion has not proven anything yet except that it will block future progress and likely block the future story, if it’s not purchased.

So, no, I will be saving my money because it looks like I will need it elsewhere soon.

Ok, bring on the “go play another game” because my opinion doesn’t count, only yours does.

Tumult.2578:

I don’t see that as a logical expectation at all. By adding things like mounts that so many people clearly said they would hate and likely stop playing over, they lose a lot of players. More importantly, those that stay will not buy the expansion. Without it, all that future content will be unavailable. The story will become nonsense and likely unplayable without the new masterys and any new skills or abilities. That’s when the rest leave.

So players wont buy PoF because it has mounts in it. Ok, I get that. I don’t like mounts either but still intend to purchase. Why? Because there’s a lot more to it than mounts that interests me.

Tumult.2578:

I don’t see any logic in claiming that showing they can add content in a reasonable amount of time bears any merit, when they showed that in year one already and this expansion has not proven anything yet except that it will block future progress and likely block the future story, if it’s not purchased.

I think blocking Living World Season 4 behind the expansion is a perfectly fine thing to do.

Tumult.2578:

So, no, I will be saving my money because it looks like I will need it elsewhere soon.

We all want different things out of the game and have different priorities. All players should view the evidence and decide what is right for them.

Dose anyone know if we will be able to ride the mounts outside the new path of fire maps? Even if they striped the extra movement abilities I would love to be able to ride mounts around the rest of Tyria

Tumult.2578:

And then they build the expansion, the maps, the skills, the whole thing around those sales. If I don’t want mounts, do you really think I will buy horse crap for a horse I don’t want?

Yes, I could not agree more. They build the whole expansion around mounts: maps are huge because of traveling requirements, they contain desert because it’s easier to create, there is no PvP and WvW content. All is around mounts.

Unfortunately, I will be the one saying “go play another game”, because most likely that is what I shall do too. I also hate mounts, but ArenaNet wants all that money from WoW cash-cow.

You are not alone, we will go play another game… together.

So different strokes for different folks. Hopefully we can agree to disagree.

I for one love the idea of mounts. So does my daughter. And if they eventually add the mounts to the rest of Tyria, as they did bringing in the gliding from HoT, it will add some new elements of fun to old Tyria.

While adding mounts may indeed drive some people away, I’d be willing to wager it might draw some people in, including some people who had already stopped playing GW2. I’ve chatted with some players who told me that they had stopped playing GW2 a while back, but when gliding was added, they came back because they found it to be fun. That will likely happen with mounts as well.

Alin.2468:

Tumult.2578:

And then they build the expansion, the maps, the skills, the whole thing around those sales. If I don’t want mounts, do you really think I will buy horse crap for a horse I don’t want?

Yes, I could not agree more. They build the whole expansion around mounts: maps are huge because of traveling requirements, they contain desert because it’s easier to create, there is no PvP and WvW content. All is around mounts.

Unfortunately, I will be the one saying “go play another game”, because most likely that is what I shall do too. I also hate mounts, but ArenaNet wants all that money from WoW cash-cow.

You are not alone, we will go play another game… together.

As someone who has played WoW since its creation. The idea of me playing Path of Fire because of the mounts is non existent.

I pre-purchased PoF last night, because for me, it matches my assumption of what was “wrong” with HoT, and did not excessively add to it, which was a large cumbersome MP chase, that went in alot of different directions, and were under utilized, except for the one thing we all appreciated, the gliding. So PoF is supposed to go back to flatter and more wide spread maps with alot of exloring, that to me is awesome. Whether I would do it on foot or mount doesn’t matter….. but as I expected, they did have to come up with a mastery line for PoF, and will probably add another for LS4. See you all in Tyria and elsewhere

As a long time MMO player mounts are nothing new for me. And, I confess, I love mounts. But, there are a couple things that bring concern with the fact that it is Anet that is implementing them. First, I hope that they are not hidden behind silly insane grinds. Mounts, for me, are fun, enriching, and just a very large QoL addition to any game. There are some that should be extremely easy to obtain (the functionality) and there should be some that must be pursued. Second, I hope that they are not used to gate content. And, this is a large fear because Anet. I don’t want to need a particular mount to do particular content. I don’t want to encounter anything in PoF that remotely resembles a bouncing mushroom. I don’t want a required mount in order to do platforming. I want them to be for travel and for fun. It would be hugely disappointing if they gated content or were a platforming tool. (From the video this may already be a lost cause.)

Those are the main concerns. Additionally, I would like true flying mounts at some point. This is largely for the view of the game world they would provide. GW2 is such a beautiful game I would love to see it from every angle. There are some who believe this would be antithetical to exploration but I disagree. There are areas that I quested through in WoW with flying that, because of the questing, I stood on just about every square inch of the zone. And, I know those maps like the back of my hand because of flying not in spite of it. Anyway, my thoughts on mounts.

The expansion, IMHO, is DOPE. The story is f’n awesome. It’s story-lines like this that make GW2 so much more interesting and fun to play than most other MMOs. People are being serious fanboy purists (I use the term fanboy loosely since you’re actually kittening at the devs) about the mounts. Give me a break. Yeah, they haven’t been there, but they should have, and now they will be. If you don’t like them, don’t use them. Simple.
My only disappointment is that there is no new race/species and profession. I was saving a character slot for that. I started this game at H.O.T. stage but played free for a while before buying the expansion. I have to say I was a little disappointed with the added Revenant. It’s OK, but not all that different from the others. I thought maybe the devs would want to try again, adding something more different, more exciting. I can, however, see reasons why they would be reluctant to. #1, they already have 9 professions, and adding one would make it difficult to make a nice symmetrical cube or shape for the selection. LOL I could solve that by putting it in a list with icons to the left of each profession description. It might be difficult to come up with something very different from the others, and you guys would probably complain about them just making something like the Revenant again that just combines skills similar to other professions. I have, however, heard a lot of people talking about one (scratching head cause can’t remember now the name of it) that sounded quite good and different enough. For race/species there the only reason is that each race needs a starting place. But they just came out with 5 huge maps! I had an idea though that the “race” could be a spirit, and not bound to any one place. Just like the character wizard gives you choices of the god you worship, etc., you could pick a place to spawn. Being a spirit could also be tied to the only profession possible, making it completely unique. I can think of some super cool skills that would not upset the balance of power from the other races and professions. Like teleportation, the ability to throw a foe or foes when you have enough rage energy built up. Things you might expect a spirit (or ghost) to be able to do. It would be interesting in battle too because it would make sense for physical attacks to have much less effect than magical ones. That would be a weakness of the spirit as well – against caster foes in all modes (WvW, WvE, and PvP).
Anyway, it’s impossible to please everyone. I think they did a pretty good job on this expansion. Maybe by the time it is actually rolled out (I have pre-ordred on both of my accounts) I can actually play in those maps. XD

I heard they were going to add eagle mounts too, but due to some glitch the eagles wouldn’t go anywhere near Mt Maelstrom or any player carrying an ascended ring in their inventory.

Overall it looks good to me.

+ The $30 price is perfect
+ Lots of big maps
+ Lots of story content
+ Weaver looks good so far
+ Mounts (except for Springer)

- Weaver could have a cooler name ;p
- Would like player housing or an upgraded home instance. Maybe next expansion…
- Some story worries from the last LW release that might carry into the expansion:

1. I haven’t played gw1, and I hope the story still makes sense and has impact
2. I am not keen on the pc being in the shining blade and working for Anise; hopefully there is an option to get out of that oath.

Raine.1394:

As a long time MMO player mounts are nothing new for me. And, I confess, I love mounts. But, there are a couple things that bring concern with the fact that it is Anet that is implementing them. First, I hope that they are not hidden behind silly insane grinds. Mounts, for me, are fun, enriching, and just a very large QoL addition to any game. There are some that should be extremely easy to obtain (the functionality) and there should be some that must be pursued. Second, I hope that they are not used to gate content. And, this is a large fear because Anet. I don’t want to need a particular mount to do particular content. I don’t want to encounter anything in PoF that remotely resembles a bouncing mushroom. I don’t want a required mount in order to do platforming. I want them to be for travel and for fun. It would be hugely disappointing if they gated content or were a platforming tool. (From the video this may already be a lost cause.)

Those are the main concerns. Additionally, I would like true flying mounts at some point. This is largely for the view of the game world they would provide. GW2 is such a beautiful game I would love to see it from every angle. There are some who believe this would be antithetical to exploration but I disagree. There are areas that I quested through in WoW with flying that, because of the questing, I stood on just about every square inch of the zone. And, I know those maps like the back of my hand because of flying not in spite of it. Anyway, my thoughts on mounts.

From Bog Otter’s post-show stream, it looks like we’ll unlock the mounts one per new map, and then their skills will be unlocked as masteries, same as HoT masteries. You can do basic stuff with them right away, but it looks like each will have an upgrade to their core trait, the only one we know already is that the Raptor leaps very far forward, and can be upgraded to jump even further. There will be content that cannot be reached without the right mount and upgrade, as a bridge was shown that cannot be jumped with anything less than this upgraded leap.

I doubt we’ll see flying mounts any time soon. Gliding at least you can only go downward from a height, so most places are still impossible to reach. If you could fly upward as much as you like then too much of the maps would need to be “no fly zones” or rebuilt entirely to accomodate them at this point.

What hype? There was no hype and there still isn’t any.

kraai.7265:

wvw!!!! how come there are no substantial changes in wvw more than some new rewards? where is our new wvw map for example

Considering how people barked and whined about the last map they added to WvW, don’t expect another anytime soon.

Sabouma.7186:

The biggest (and only) gripe I have with the new expansion is that I find it way too expensive…. 30 euro for an expansion? Hell no…. 15 or 20 euro is more than enough… Prices these days are nuts….

That’s pretty cheap when you take into account how much gameplay you get for it. It would cost me the same for a single trip to the cinema for 2 hours.

Tumult.2578:

So, no, I will be saving my money because it looks like I will need it elsewhere soon.

Ok, bring on the “go play another game” because my opinion doesn’t count, only yours does.

I don’t know why you sound so kittenhurt, but – surprise, surprise – “go play another game” is a valid option, and while it may sound like fanboy trolling (depends on how it’s worded), there’s really NOTHING wrong with it from a neutral point of view. Especially after you leave a nonwhiny feedback, unless you want to be pitied? Dunno. “It looks like I need my money elsewhere soon” Why this comically dramatic flair to this sentence? Your money, your decision.

If the x-pack offers on your checklist more potential negative aspects than positive, I wouldn’t buy (or play) it either. Moving on is better than clinging vehemently to the past. And GW2 has no monthly fee, so jumping back in or quitting brings no real drawback with it. It’s similar to people in MMOs reacting like it’s travesty and unheard of if you quit an MMO after you “finished” it according to one owns terms. And that’s really ridiculous.

Raine.1394:

As a long time MMO player mounts are nothing new for me. And, I confess, I love mounts. But, there are a couple things that bring concern with the fact that it is Anet that is implementing them. First, I hope that they are not hidden behind silly insane grinds. Mounts, for me, are fun, enriching, and just a very large QoL addition to any game. There are some that should be extremely easy to obtain (the functionality) and there should be some that must be pursued. Second, I hope that they are not used to gate content. And, this is a large fear because Anet. I don’t want to need a particular mount to do particular content. I don’t want to encounter anything in PoF that remotely resembles a bouncing mushroom. I don’t want a required mount in order to do platforming. I want them to be for travel and for fun. It would be hugely disappointing if they gated content or were a platforming tool. (From the video this may already be a lost cause.)

Those are the main concerns. Additionally, I would like true flying mounts at some point. This is largely for the view of the game world they would provide. GW2 is such a beautiful game I would love to see it from every angle. There are some who believe this would be antithetical to exploration but I disagree. There are areas that I quested through in WoW with flying that, because of the questing, I stood on just about every square inch of the zone. And, I know those maps like the back of my hand because of flying not in spite of it. Anyway, my thoughts on mounts.

That is my problem too. Mounts have gated content behind them. A player would have to unlock masteries in order to upgrade mount and reach a given location.

Most of what i’m hearing from people is 50/50. Some give the expansion a thumbs up others refuse to buy it until they can see for themselves that this is not HOT in disguise. HOT was really that bad to alot of people. I hope ArenaNet knows this and plans to prove its not.

wmtyrance.3571:

Most of what i’m hearing from people is 50/50. Some give the expansion a thumbs up others refuse to buy it until they can see for themselves that this is not HOT in disguise. HOT was really that bad to alot of people. I hope ArenaNet knows this and plans to prove its not.

I expect the same model.
Mastery points come from story/exploration/etc achievements.
XP is required to raise them. They might change the XP scaling, but expect players to fuss about this.
I also expect the same Metroidvania map designs as before, so no finishing a zone before moving on to another mastery mount.

vesica tempestas.1563:

RedDeadFred.1256:

ImLegion.4018:

RedDeadFred.1256:

Why would they do a new WvW map after the last time? Besides, they just did a major update.

PvP. Eh, I don’t care. Haven’t cared about it in a long time. Still, you get new Elite specs to play with.

Dungeons. Are you doing a meme?

Fractals. They literally just released one and will probably continue making new ones throughout LS4.

Maps and new Elite Specs. This is what I care about. They’ve given us one more map tham HoT and this expac costs less. As far as I’m concerned, these already make it worth it. Apparently, they’re the largest maps yet, so I’m very happy about this. GW2 for me is about exploring new places and participating in cool open world events. I do fractals, but it’s not at the top of my totem poll for gameplay enjoyment. This expansion is pretty much tailored to my gameplay preferences.

Can’t wait and I’m preordering as soon as I get home.

So because you don’t care, it is not important. Isn’t that a bit selfish? I don’t do dungeons and fractals, but I think it is still weird it’s not with it… Lets not forget the big WvW update is nothing special and just based on rewards and a backpack wooooooohoooooooo

It’s not selfish to want a game to cater to your interests if you intend on spending money on it. The biggest criticisms I and MANY others had about HoT was that it only had 4 maps whilst reinventing amd creating a bunch of systems. This expac seems a lot more content rich for people like me. And I hate to come off this way, but I suspect that people like me are probably by far the majority of GW2’s player base. If you feel they aren’t catering to your preferences (though this should have beem apparent a long time ago), then you should play something else. There are tons of amazing games out there.

There is nothing weird about this. HoT did things similarly, except they added the new Desert Borderlands and PvP leagues. We still have PvP leagues and given the community response, I don’t think hardcore WvWs evem want new maps. Let’s not forget that new elite specs are content for WvW and PvP as well, so that’s like a an update to those modes.

Finally, Anet polled the community on what they wanted them to do next for WvW. Rewards won out. They literally asked the community what they wanted and then did it. Maybe it’s not what you wanted, but tough. I don’t care either way since I don’t do WvW. I will say that I’m glad they made them long term rewards as a way to reward the committed player base that kept that mode afloat.

For me and many like me, this is exactly what we want. I’m sorry it’s not for you though. I know it sucks when a game you enjoy goes in a different direction than you want, but I honestly think GW2 has been going this way for a long time.

As others have mentioned though, lots of the stuff you want will see updates throughout the next season. They’re not really tied to expansions. You can always wait on the expac and buy it when/if Anet introduces more content down the line that interests you. That’s the great thing about the game being B2P, you don’t have to feel obligated to stick around when things aren’t interesting you.

^^ By definition yes this is selfish, you want a multi million project to be tailored to meet your exact needs. The reality is Anet are offering a new product, you either want it or you don’t. Contrary to your justification that ‘MANY’ agree with you, many more don’t, evidenced by the fact that Anet have in fact invested in another expansion.

If many more didn’t, they wouldn’t have made the expac this way. They obviously took a lot of the feedback from HoT seriously. Not only that, they likely have player stats for each mode and map. They know how most people spend their time.

Again though, the other stuff comes with updates outside if the expac.

I completely disagree with the assertion that wanting a product that you’ve spent money on to cater to your interests is selfish. That’s how the world works. If a product no longer caters to your interests, you just stop using that product. I suppose you could argue thay there’s a fundamental selfishness to the free market, but that’s an entire other can of worms.

I agree that it is not “selfish” to want a game that you’ve spent money on to cater to your interests. It is though, in the real world, a bit impractical or unrealistic. Your interests may conflict with the interests of many others. Or your interests might actually end up costing too much for the company. Who knows! One would assume that a company takes in a LOT of requests, adds in constraints for time and money, then tries to create a product that balances things as much as possible. The odds that the specific interests of one single person are totally addressed is likely to be low. However, the odds that SOME of the shared interests of many people are addressed is probably higher. This, of course, assumes that the company is behaving logically and wants to stay in business for a long time!

What could they have done with their time and efforts if they had not done mounts?
How many good suggestions that would work have been made on these forums since HoT that will now not happen because the time and effort went to mounts?
The mount thread IS one of the largest and contains many more accurately put comments against mounts than the “I want mounts because…… they would be cool”. (but I don’t really have any reason why except they might have been cool in a totally different game).

Yes, I played on day one and have owned and played this game since day 5 and I want it to be it’s best for everyone but others are right. This is not so much an expansion, it is so radically different it will seem like a different game for many. Maybe it will bring players, maybe they will stay, maybe they will spend money, maybe they will even make suggestions to help the game. But they already had that before mounts. This will make the difference between who has the expansion and who doesn’t bigger and bigger over time. Will it make new people more likely to buy the game, buy HoT, buy PoF, or simply easier to just play free and be content with that? Core Tyria’s beauty and simple fun is more than enough for many all by itself, especially with life’s time commitments.
And, it’s not the only game I play, but it has been the only game I spend money on and it’s only my opinion that might change that. Mounts are a big push to do so.
Try playing with an account that has HoT and one that doesn’t. I love getting experience on my non HoT account. I love seeing significantly easier dailys on my non HoT account so I can get to what I want to do quicker. It’s not always about what an expansion brings. It’s also about what it takes away.

Well, while I’d love a “Stow Mount” function I’m thinking something will be like that in the game. Not a deal breaker.

Also, remember we got several additional maps via Living Story that are part of the HoT expansion. They did a lot to take the sting outta HoT which I hated. At least that’s the way I see it.

As to rather HoT and/or PoF is a true expansion or not is a kinda silly waste o time argument that says more about the forums than the game.

As for myself, for thirty bucks I’m willing to trust Mo and the team to do us right. Pre-Ordered it already.

I guess I’m still unclear why some do not see PoF as an “expansion”. Whether it is a big expansion or only a small expansion, or regardless of whether or not you like what will be in Pof, isn’t it nonetheless an expansion? It adds or expands upon what is already in the game. Isn’t that the definition of “expansion”?

I seem to be missing something: When HoT came out, Anet announced that every new expansion would include ALL earlier content… For free! It was mentioned somewhere in the discussion about why new players got the core game for free when buying HoT, and those allready owning the core game got nothing extra. I don’t see this promise being honored now, since those who don’t have HoT are offered to buy it in a bundle with PoF… confused

I dont see Elona being in the pros meanwhile you have cantha on the cons. Maybe they should bundle also a special snowflake jackal skin for thsoe who dislike the whole mount thing.

I personally like and welcome as like with gliders i dont believe this will take from the game. Just add on it.

Albadaran.1283:

I seem to be missing something: When HoT came out, Anet announced that every new expansion would include ALL earlier content… For free! It was mentioned somewhere in the discussion about why new players got the core game for free when buying HoT, and those allready owning the core game got nothing extra. I don’t see this promise being honored now, since those who don’t have HoT are offered to buy it in a bundle with PoF… confused

Because ppl would complain for the bulk of free stuff for the price of 30 dollars. The devs decided to sell them asndiff things and bundle them at an oncreased price. Which is cool tbh.

Albadaran.1283:

I seem to be missing something: When HoT came out, Anet announced that every new expansion would include ALL earlier content… For free! It was mentioned somewhere in the discussion about why new players got the core game for free when buying HoT, and those allready owning the core game got nothing extra. I don’t see this promise being honored now, since those who don’t have HoT are offered to buy it in a bundle with PoF… confused

PoF alone is sold at a lower price point than HoT was. The PoF plus HoT bundle costs $50, the same as HoT standard was sold at release. So if you look at it that way you are getting PoF + HoT at the same price as most people paid for HoT alone 2 years ago. They could have sold PoF for $50 and included HoT for those that don’t have it (and dealt with all the complaints of “veterans” feeling ripped off because they “are paying twice for something they already have”, see old threads in HoT forum) or gone with the current model.

Basically it all comes out in the wash and I prefer the current model which allows those without HoT and new customers to buy PoF at the lower price point if they are not interested in HoT. It also allows those of us that already have HoT to pay less for PoF without feeling like,“we are paying twice for something we already bought,” as some have stated in the past. Not me personally but there is a mega thread devoted to that very topic.

Even if they sold PoF including HoT at the current $30 price there would most likely be yet another mega thread of people complaining, “Why do new customers get HoT with PoF for $30 when I had to pay $50 for HoT alone 2 years ago?” So what it comes down to is would you rather have PoF cost $50 and include HoT for free even if you already have HoT or would you rather pay $30 for PoF and have HoT an optional $20 add on (which is $10 less than if you currently buy HoT alone via the GW2 web store)?

JustTrogdor.7892:

Albadaran.1283:

I seem to be missing something: When HoT came out, Anet announced that every new expansion would include ALL earlier content… For free! It was mentioned somewhere in the discussion about why new players got the core game for free when buying HoT, and those allready owning the core game got nothing extra. I don’t see this promise being honored now, since those who don’t have HoT are offered to buy it in a bundle with PoF… confused

PoF alone is sold at a lower price point than HoT was. The PoF plus HoT bundle costs $50, the same as HoT standard was sold at release. So if you look at it that way you are getting PoF + HoT at the same price as most people paid for HoT alone 2 years ago. So they could have sold PoF for $50 and included HoT for those that don’t have it (and dealt with all the complaints of “veterans” feeling ripped off because they “are paying twice for something they already have”, see old threads in HoT forum) or gone with the current model.

Basically it all comes out in the wash and I prefer the current model which allows those without HoT and new customers to buy PoF at the lower price point if they are not interested in HoT. It also allows those of us that already have HoT to pay less for PoF without feeling like,“we are paying twice for something we already bought,” as some have stated in the past. Not me personally but there is a mega thread devoted to that very topic.

Even if they sold Pof including HoT at the $30 there would most likely be yet another mega thread of people complaining, “Why do new customers get HoT with PoF for $30 when I had to pay $50 for HoT alone 2 years ago?” So what it comes down to is would you rather have PoF cost $50 and include HoT for free even if you already have HoT or would you rather pay $30 for PoF and have HoT an optional $20 add on?

I know, it was an endless discussion and your reasoning is flawless Was just wondering why this change was not mentioned by Anet.

Albadaran.1283:

I know, it was an endless discussion and your reasoning is flawless Was just wondering why this change was not mentioned by Anet.

Here is what they said.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/pre-purchase-community-address/

In the future, if we release further Guild Wars 2 expansions, we plan to offer all of the prior expansions, the core game, and the latest expansion for one single purchase price.

I’m not trying to white knight here but that statement could be left to some degree of interpretation. For example they could have put on the sales page, “PoF + Hot and core game included buy now for $50. For PoF only buy for $30.” That, in my mind would fulfill the single price point statement as PoF, HoT and core are offered under a single price. I think it is the bundle add on part that is throwing some people off.

Here are some of Gaile’s comments on the topic:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/PoF-Purchase-Clarification/first#post6663746

Yes, and that’s what we’re doing. At no time did we say “everything preceding the XP is included, or free, or part of the cost of the XP.” We said that core GW2, HoT, and PoF would be offered for a single purchase, and that’s what’s happening.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/PoF-Purchase-Clarification/first#post6663765

As I said above, there was no you get a free game, and you get a free game, and you… As you will note with today’s announcement, there is an option to purchase a “bundle” for a reduced cost over the individual purchases, but the two expansion packs are not inter-dependent, and are separate purchases.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/PoF-Purchase-Clarification/first#post6663777

Folks, you really need to read the previous statement, not with what you thought it said, or hoped it said, or inferred it said, but read it for the value of what it actually said.

“In the future, if we release further Guild Wars 2 expansions, we plan to offer all of the prior expansions, the core game, and the latest expansion for one single purchase price.” We are offering the core game and the two expansion packs for a single purchase price. We are not offering the previous expansion pack for free, nor did we say we would.

I’ll end by stating I do wish that had included LS2 and LS3 in the PoF + HoT bundle for those that don’t have it. I think that would have been a great bonus to encourage first time customers to buy the game.

JustTrogdor.7892:

PoF alone is sold at a lower price point than HoT was. The PoF plus HoT bundle costs $50, the same as HoT standard was sold at release. So if you look at it that way you are getting PoF + HoT at the same price as most people paid for HoT alone 2 years ago. They could have sold PoF for $50 and included HoT for those that don’t have it (and dealt with all the complaints of “veterans” feeling ripped off because they “are paying twice for something they already have”, see old threads in HoT forum) or gone with the current model.

The beauty of this is that all of the references I’ve seen by players on these boards prior to the PoF reveal (mine among them) assumed that the business model would be, “Buy the current XPac at its full price and get all prior XPacs for free.” However, the actual wording used was, “At a single purchase price.” While the wording could apply to buy X and get Y free, it can also apply to the PoF/HoT bundle price. What’s useful to know is that going forward, the bundle should include all prior XPac’s, which will of course not be an issue for some time.

That was some good lawyerspeak. My hat’s off.

Like you, I prefer the current approach.

reddie.5861:

i hate dungeons i love it they remove them slowly from the game sadly gw2 has no open world PvP so its pointless to remove dungeons cus i cant PvP for XP spot anyway so its crap.

Agree:
I also hate dungeons, I love to walk outdoors.
So for me, the mounts are welcome

Interesting thoughts. I like the mounts as I’ve never played a MMO with them and they will be optional like any part of the game is

My wish list for the expansion would be a new playable race. Someone suggested the Tengu – interesting idea which would be good difference thematically from other games.

RedDeadFred.1256:

The biggest criticisms I and MANY others had about HoT was that it only had 4 maps whilst reinventing amd creating a bunch of systems. This expac seems a lot more content rich for people like me.

The more I think about it, especially a few weeks after the announcement… I’m not a huge fan of HoT either but I don’t really see the difference anymore (PvE).

• HoT added 4 (smaller looking, partly vertical) maps – Dragon’s Stand purely meta.
  -> PoF adds 5 maps that may look larger, but probably are flat like core Tyria and probably won’t provide as much density as HoT maps due to the desert theme (barren, empty landscapes) and the mounts:

We could already see 2/3 of the Crystal Oasis map. Most of the time I just encountered a few foes in an overall empty (deserted) environment.
There were just a handful of events that weren’t connected to each other and some of them really reminded me of Queensdale: Farmers are being attacked by the Forged – Farmers are being attacked by the bandits. Protect the water pipes from saboteurs – Protect the water pipes from bandits. Help someone to gather fish from the bay – even sounds like a starter area heart quest.

source: Demo, https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Crystal_Oasis

• HoT introduced elite specializations + a new class
  -> PoF expands elite specializations – no new class

• HoT introduced guild halls: 2
  -> PoF expands: + 1

• HoT introduced a new form of transportation: Gliding
  -> PoF adds a new form of transportation: Mounts

Then there’s $, initial price of HoT 50$, initial price of PoF 30$.

The price tag alone doesn’t really convince me to buy PoF. While HoT introduced some new systems (mastery, guild halls,…), PoF will mostly expand those existing forms without adding anything that’s really new. Bounties were highlighted in the presentation – what they really are: some random foes (champion/legend) with a timer – nothing that would sell an expansion to me.

Guess that’s what future expansions will look like as well – story, a few maps, 1 set of elite specs, some sort of transportation. Doesn’t sound too bad, but it won’t surprise anyone, there’s nothing special about it..