Guild Wars 2

Hay Anet have you ever thought about selling the game on a flash drives these little things are getting cheaper and more reliable by the day this may be a option to sell the expansion 32gig flash drives in bulk can be got for under $10 and how much does the packaging cost for the game. Instead of DVDs or CDs I think it’s time for software and games to switch to this media I think a lot of people would jump on this to get the game install in less than 10 minutes instead of hours downloading it. Also you could put a utility in the game to keep it updated on that drive, so if someone needed to reinstall they would already be up to date. I thing most would be willing to pay $20 over the game cost for this convenience. Yes we have the Internet and we can download it but some don’t have that fast of Internet or are capped, or if your like me can’t wait for long downloads. Anat it’s something to think about. How much would you all be willing to pay extra to get the game installed in less than 10 minutes and have a good backup if you ever needed to reinstall. I think $20 per the cost of the game price would be reasonable. Plus you would have a cool looking GuildWars 2 branded flash drive. Another good selling point Anet could redesign the drive case to look like some item in the game for the collector value.

Could be cool. I don’t know enough about flash drives and updating the client to know if it is feasible or not.

But, I’m always for any licensed doo-dads! =)

I run my gw2 on a flash drive (usb3 is best) and update it with a shortcut just like normal. It’ll work on any windows computer I plug it into.

GW2 isn’t installed in a traditional way, it requires no external dependencies like the registry, it’s a really portable game.

Yes I know you can keep a backup of the game on a separate drive and the game really doesn’t need to be installed but how many actually do this I think offering the game on a flash drive would do really good in sales. Selling the game on a dvd only gets you so much of the game and over time the game changes so much that these disks become coffee coasters you can’t update them and we are seeing posts of people that bought the game on disk and now have to download most of the game after installing from these disks. If the game came on a flash drive and a message came up on the screen before an update to insert your game flash drive to backup for an update this would remind people to keep a good backup.

I really like the sound of everything here.

Flash drives can be compromised after they leave the manufacturer much much easier than cd’s. From a security and legal viewpoint I doubt this would ever happen.

If there was some sort of secure way…..

It took me Three. Days. (72 hours plus) to download the game the first time back at launch and it made me go over my limit so I had to pay an additional $60. I would have liked some sort of download like this.

Hay Anet I just did a Google search to see if there are companies that do this and yes there are several the first one I looked at can even make custom shapes with flash drives up to 32 gigs and preload the game with Auto run so this is doable.

It is worth pointing out that even with flash-drives the delivered version would still need quite a bit of downloads to be ready. Simply due to the fact that things happen between the shipping to the retailers and the actual release.

Yargesh.4965:

Flash drives can be compromised after they leave the manufacturer much much easier than cd’s. From a security and legal viewpoint I doubt this would ever happen.

Yes but if the packaging had some tamper resistants, have you tried opnening some of the stuff you get these days you need a blowtorch and a stick of dynamite to open them. If you pick something off the shelf and the packaging looks a little abused do you buy it no I don’t. I look for some in the back of the mess up one to get one that looks good. I really don’t think this can be an issue and what legal issues any issues can be taken care it with disclaimers just like it’s not a software companies problem if you damage a disk.

lordkrall.7241:

It is worth pointing out that even with flash-drives the delivered version would still need quite a bit of downloads to be ready. Simply due to the fact that things happen between the shipping to the retailers and the actual release.

But this was covered in my idea the game would need a utility with a message for every update to insert the flash drive for updating the backup, you can’t do this with a disk that is why this make this more convenient then a disk.

Feirlista Xv.1425:

lordkrall.7241:

It is worth pointing out that even with flash-drives the delivered version would still need quite a bit of downloads to be ready. Simply due to the fact that things happen between the shipping to the retailers and the actual release.

But this was covered in my idea the game would need a utility with a message for every update to insert the flash drive for updating the backup, you can’t do this with a disk that is why this make this more convenient then a disk.

That would not help those flash-drives that sat on the shelf or in a warehouse for months/years. No way to update them in a sealed package.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Feirlista Xv.1425:

lordkrall.7241:

It is worth pointing out that even with flash-drives the delivered version would still need quite a bit of downloads to be ready. Simply due to the fact that things happen between the shipping to the retailers and the actual release.

But this was covered in my idea the game would need a utility with a message for every update to insert the flash drive for updating the backup, you can’t do this with a disk that is why this make this more convenient then a disk.

That would not help those flash-drives that sat on the shelf or in a warehouse for months/years. No way to update them in a sealed package.

Well Anet could release new drives once a year with all that years updates shaped like a different in game item as an incentive to ge the newest one. People will buy these just to have them, or if an expansion came out a new item shape themed to tha expansion.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

If there was some sort of secure way…..

It took me Three. Days. (72 hours plus) to download the game the first time back at launch and it made me go over my limit so I had to pay an additional $60. I would have liked some sort of download like this.

I assume you are being smart and backing up the game after every major patch onto another device because a drive failure is never a party.

I remember back when Ragnarok Online launched an Oceanic server, they would send out a CD containing installation of the latest client installer to players (for free). Since Australia’s internet back then was very restrictive on bandwidth allowance, it was a very nice gesture to provide for their customers. These days, internet speeds have improved substantially and the same for bandwidth usage allowances, rendering it less important.

There’s also the extra unit costs involved, to break-even means an extra amount of USB shipped copies needed to be sold. It isn’t as simple as just putting games onto the USB. There is postage fees, packaging costs, USB sticker costs, USB drive product costs, extra labor costs.

For those who studied business, the Ford Pinto example is a popular study. Ford decided not to install a simple cheap $10 fix for their car to save production costs. The fix would stop the petrol tank exploding on crash impacts. However the total costs for the fix added up to be more than paying victim’s insurance, it’s simply better for profits. Same could be applied for the USB option. Extra costs are negated because no physical shipping of products is required.

Behellagh.1468:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

If there was some sort of secure way…..

It took me Three. Days. (72 hours plus) to download the game the first time back at launch and it made me go over my limit so I had to pay an additional $60. I would have liked some sort of download like this.

I assume you are being smart and backing up the game after every major patch onto another device because a drive failure is never a party.

I backup everything and I use to have a script running on XP that would backup my gw2.dat file every time it changed but when I upgraded to 7 the script wouldn’t work anymore could no figure out why and the guildy that wrote it quite playing so I could not get intouch to see if he could fix it. Now I have to do it manually but that’s ok I do it after every update. But most don’t and end up needing to download all over again.

Feirlista Xv.1425:

Behellagh.1468:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

If there was some sort of secure way…..

It took me Three. Days. (72 hours plus) to download the game the first time back at launch and it made me go over my limit so I had to pay an additional $60. I would have liked some sort of download like this.

I assume you are being smart and backing up the game after every major patch onto another device because a drive failure is never a party.

I backup everything and I use to have a script running on XP that would backup my gw2.dat file every time it changed but when I upgraded to 7 the script wouldn’t work anymore could no figure out why and the guildy that wrote it quite playing so I could not get intouch to see if he could fix it. Now I have to do it manually but that’s ok I do it after every update. But most don’t and end up needing to download all over again.

I use SyncToy from Microsoft to back up Steam and MMOs to an external drive.

a few problems i could see

usb 2.0, which imo is still the most commonly used, is quite a bit slower than SATA, which could be a problem unless you installed it on the computers harddrive, which brings me to point 2..

afaik, cd’s are cheaper than usb drives, so it would cost them money that they may not be willing to spend

that being said though, a usb like device in which to store games instead of a usb is a really neat idea

Akikaze.1307:

I remember back when Ragnarok Online launched an Oceanic server, they would send out a CD containing installation of the latest client installer to players (for free). Since Australia’s internet back then was very restrictive on bandwidth allowance, it was a very nice gesture to provide for their customers. These days, internet speeds have improved substantially and the same for bandwidth usage allowances, rendering it less important.

There’s also the extra unit costs involved, to break-even means an extra amount of USB shipped copies needed to be sold. It isn’t as simple as just putting games onto the USB. There is postage fees, packaging costs, USB sticker costs, USB drive product costs, extra labor costs.

For those who studied business, the Ford Pinto example is a popular study. Ford decided not to install a simple cheap $10 fix for their car to save production costs. The fix would stop the petrol tank exploding on crash impacts. However the total costs for the fix added up to be more than paying victim’s insurance, it’s simply better for profits. Same could be applied for the USB option. Extra costs are negated because no physical shipping of products is required.

This couldn’t cost anymore than a handheld game system company shipping out games on a cartage plus I posted that this would cost more then the game cost if you were to download it and I asked how much would this convenience be worth to them and gave hypothetical amount of $20 over the download cost yes I agree this may not be practical but it could be a way for people with slow, capped Internet, or to get I to the game in a timely matter, and a better way to get a backup incase of a drive failure
I just think this is a better way to distribute the game or an expansion if they plan a boxed version of HoT instead of DVDs . Also making the flash drive shaped into an in game item would inhances sales.

ITheNormalPerson.9275:

a few problems i could see

usb 2.0, which imo is still the most commonly used, is quite a bit slower than SATA, which could be a problem unless you installed it on the computers harddrive, which brings me to point 2..

afaik, cd’s are cheaper than usb drives, so it would cost them money that they may not be willing to spend

that being said though, a usb like device in which to store games instead of a usb is a really neat idea

I have copied the game to a flash drive and it takes less then 10 minute to get the game installed and you are in game compared to how long it takes on the averag internet connection plus this can be updated over a DVD I’m just think Anet may be able to get more sales over offering a boxed game on Flash drive then one on a Dvd. also that flash drive shaped into an in game item would be really cool, I would buy one even if the cost was more than the digital or DVD version.

Feirlista Xv.1425:

This couldn’t cost anymore than a handheld game system company shipping out games on a cartage plus I posted that this would cost more then the game cost if you were to download it and I asked how much would this convenience be worth to them and gave hypothetical amount of $20 over the download cost yes I agree this may not be practical but it could be a way for people with slow, capped Internet, or to get I to the game in a timely matter, and a better way to get a backup incase of a drive failure
I just think this is a better way to distribute the game or an expansion if they plan a boxed version of HoT instead of DVDs . Also making the flash drive shaped into an in game item would inhances sales.

The problem is that shipping out USB drives is not an established setup, hence it would cost more for Arena Net. If it was an already established production from the company, then it could be very feasible. Shipping CD/DVD was their previous channel, if they want to make game sold on USB, then they still need new suppliers, new packaging etc. After all CD distribution is the main source for many games, there’s hardly any companies using USB distribution. It’s not a bad idea, just giving the perspective from business standpoint, it would have to be profitable and manageable.

Also I fully understand the frustrations of capped internet, as Australians have been the victim of it for numerous years. Though this is more of an individual basis that it costs more for one player compared to the next person.

Including a custom usb with a copy of the game on it, would be a nice addition to a Collectors Edition of the expansion.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if things move in that direction, and really should already be. CD/DVD drives are more and more becoming obsolete, with flash drives, cloud systems, increasing internet speeds and reliability, some computers may not even have a disc drives anymore.