Guild Wars 2

“Not only are we doing those things, new features and content you would traditionally get from a boxed expansion are also things that will be added to Guild Wars 2.

“The thing that we haven’t decided yet,” he went on, "is what form that type of content will take. Is it right for Guild Wars 2 for that kind of boxed expansion? Is it right for that to be something we add, live, through storylines in the game? Is that something we want to sell through our in-game store? There are a lot of different options available to us.

I found this from http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-01-14-you-thought-that-was-it-for-guild-wars-2

Its quite a nice interview with Anet. The paragraph that I linked is of some importance to players and gw2 I think because the dev speaking(I think its Colin) mentions that they haven’t yet decided whether they want to release this meaty content through boxed expansions or through an in game store. It got me thinking. How would the community feel about releasing content expansions via gemstore similar to what other games do with micro-transactions for quest packs? It wouldn’t be like an official expansion which is boxed and what not, where there is a huge amount of hype and a trailer and some gw2-con where nerds whail their arms in the air while viewing the trailer.

But what if they released big chunks of content(new maps/modes/dungeon/features) that occured every 4-5 months. Something that would be similar to the size of 4 months of living story content but imagine if that was all permanent.(like all the temporary dungeons we had and temporary zones). If anet did this, they wouldn’t have to release armor/weapons/town clothes through the gemstore, instead you would earn these through the new content you did.

When they first announced the gem store and the idea of only paying for what you want, I thought they might release content through the store, instead of 1 big expansion.

The problem with that however is that if it’s not required, you’re going to find that the new content would lack players. If it was required though, people would complain, calling it at paywall even though it would be the equivalent to an expansion over time. For maximum participation, it’s better to release it for free and then entice people to buy the cosmetics.

Don’t know how I feel about gem store content. I think from a players standpoint, buying content with in game gold via gem/gold conversion would be way to keep playing the game free, time spent earning gold not withstanding.

However, I think this would take a lot of money out of the pockets of Anet releasing content via real expansions that they can just charge for.

Earning items through the gem store version of content is a nice idea, but essentially they would probably make more with the current set up.

Added, we already have content coming in that is free. Would I want to change that? No. Permanent or no, it’s still content.

So, the simple approach in my mind is to do what they have been doing with the free stuff and release an actual expansion with added lands/armors/dungeons via a boxed version.

Smaller paid for content (that needed to be bought with real cash) always made me feel like I was being nickeled and dimed in other games. Every new dungeon is gonna cost, every new class is gonna cost, every new land is gonna cost. Throw it in large installments I say and get it over with.

expansion content via living story updates is fine and working well as intended.

leave the gem store for luxury, vanity, convenience items.

Anet announced that they will keep going with the living story but with updates being bigger and taking longer time. In addition to that, we have the special content which is to be more specific, two unique projects, they are working on, going more towards an expansion content than pure Living world.

The options are basically, either put it in an expansion, add it to Living world content which will make the updates even more huge with permenant changes aside from the ones Living world will offer with its story or, last but not least, content through Gemstore.

I have been playing MMOs for a long time and from personal experience, despite what could accure in this situation cause everything is possible, the Gemstore option is the worst scenario. Guild Wars 2 have been offering this Living story for a while now and people aren’t really impressed, yes it is great, many love it and I do personally BUT people want ‘’expansion content’’ however, the negative reactions towards the Living story aren’t always connected to the content but alot of times more towards the model itself. There is a difference in the impact between 10 living story updates and one huge expansion, both in the media and the player-base. An expansion basically have the potentional to blow the media again, with Guild Wars 2 head-lining every news-title once AGAIN, something that casual updates will never do.

The Gemstore option doesn’t only fail in offering the same impact on the players and the media but it also may lead to huge upset in the Guild Wars 2 community ’’wasn’t this meant to be a b2p games, why are you charging us for content?’’.

Yes, maybe it is the same in your mind, an expansion and gemstore content however IT TOTALLY IS NOT for others, who will accuse Guild Wars 2 for forcing the players into paying more money.

So basically the Gemstore option offers the same content as an expansion with 10 times less impact on the players, less hype to bring back old players or attract new ones and last but NOT least, it will fail to make the Gw2 community happy as many will RAGE and tbh, there is no difference between paying for this or an expansion, choosing this however path just makes you a hipster who wants to be different, sacraficing the whole community. Everyone WANT an expnasion, threads, blogs, sites, everyone are asking for it, going the hipster way, taking a less effective and popular path where you gonna pay anyhow, may become a huge loss for Anet if they actually choose to take that becuase none will care about their ‘’You can pay and play when you want’‘, most people will get it as ’’there is no expansion and now even the updates are pay-to-play’’.

Regarding, adding even armor and such in the Gemstore content, is just a step to statisfy you and maybe 10 others. You are just forcing people into buying the content even more, making the Buy 2 play model useless.

The Gemstore option is something I am hugely against cause even if logically it is the same as an expansion or a mini-expansion, it got too many negative spots more or less and everyone will be more excited to buy an expansion, it is the same afterall, u gonna pay anyhow and if u don’t wanna try new content, you can decide to not buy either.

PS. Aside from that speking practically, a Gemstore update does always feel directed towards current players, they are the people using the Gemstore afterall. Players who left and new-faces will almost be not interested at all. It will always feel as an in-game thing which won’t matter for the world but only for the current players.

To be honest, if Anet goes with that method, I personally think and it is a personal opinion, that they will do a huge mistake during a very important phase for the game.

I want to see them try to sell real content on the gem store.

An expansion worth of content maybe. ^^ I don’t think GW2’s population would stay on a healthy level if they tried to make people pay for an expansion.

One more PS, I am sure alot of people will think selfishly that a Gemstore update will be better because THEY have enough gold to not bother paying money not thinking about the casual players that this model will hurt neither the development of the game itself, needing new players to evolve the game.

Sorry for the reference but World of warcraft got most of its players after the 1 year mark pushing the company to do even bigger stuff with a bigger community. With a Gemstore content we are basically saying ‘’we DON’T want new players, me and my guild members will play have fun and then leave because the game gets inactive or just stay and play with eachother in an empty server’’.

It is not an opinion that Gemstore content won’t have impact on people who don’t play Guild Wars 2, it is a fact.

If Anet takes this model, hindering new players from coming, pushing others away, to keep those who have enough gold playing, I at least, hope that people won’t open threads about how it is Anet’s fault, because it is none but ur own, informing the company of selfish opinions.

The feature patch should just be a way to finally fix what’s broken and introduce content that was way overdue so nobody should pay for what’s due to players.
Even free, even if it’s worth an expansion, it would just introduce improvements that should have been put in the game progressively since release ….

Personally, I like the idea of Expansions. However, an Expansion shouldn’t exclude those without it from the Living Story. So, for example, if there is a Cantha expansion, those who purchase it can visit the continent and explore it whenever they like, roll a new race, a new class, and have access to new dungeons, armors, and weapons. Those who don’t buy it can access restricted zones for Living Story content.

To use the current Living Story as an example, if you didn’t have the expansion, you could only access Lion’s Arch and the hub of Gendarren Field. Once the Living Story content is over, you can’t access those areas again unless they’re part of the next or a future Living Story installment.

In this, players can experience the expansion content on a minimal scale, which may prompt them to buy the expansion, or they may choose to not purchase the expansion and keep to what the original game gives them.

I would have no problem at all with a expansion being sold via the gemstore.

It would only be like selling a expansion via digital download really. So what would be the problem.

Fact is I just want a proper expansion, with new explorable zones, perhaps 2+ new character class, new dynamic events (preferably chains that tell a good well put together story, that you don’t after wait 16 months to be disappointed with), new spvp content and some new stuff for WvW.

I wish they would just concentrate on building upon the original world of Tyria and how the game was at release, rather than this living story nonsense.

I would instantly buy gems with real $$$ to get a expansion. No questions asked.

If they ever do release a expansion probably best selling it in 3 ways:-

A bundle, original GW2+expansion. For new players.

Expansion on its own. For players who already own GW2.

Optionally they could have it purchased via gems but that would mean players with a lot of gold getting it free and the gold to gem conversion rate would probably end 1 for 1 or worse.

I don’t know how having the ‘expansion’ sold through the gem store would keep new players away. It’s not like it would be a stand-alone campaign, as before. New players would have to purchase the original game to be able to access the expansion, anyway, so why would they be denied access? There it would be (the expansion), ready to be purchased in the gem store that comes with the original game. It might even be a selling point (for future purchases), as new people would see that expansions are available at no cost.

Perhaps, what ArenaNet will decide to do, is offer this kind of content in multiple venues. In-game and out. Nothing says they can’t release content with multiple pay methods.

I doubt the gem store. Many dedicated gamers (“powergamers”) care about content and power and not so much about fancy hats and stuff. Those also tend to be the ones who get the most gold in game without the use of their credit card, be it via farming or tp daytrading. For an expansion, most would trade in gold for gems, so no profit there.

Vexander.9850:

Personally, I like the idea of Expansions. However, an Expansion shouldn’t exclude those without it from the Living Story. So, for example, if there is a Cantha expansion, those who purchase it can visit the continent and explore it whenever they like, roll a new race, a new class, and have access to new dungeons, armors, and weapons. Those who don’t buy it can access restricted zones for Living Story content.

To use the current Living Story as an example, if you didn’t have the expansion, you could only access Lion’s Arch and the hub of Gendarren Field. Once the Living Story content is over, you can’t access those areas again unless they’re part of the next or a future Living Story installment.

In this, players can experience the expansion content on a minimal scale, which may prompt them to buy the expansion, or they may choose to not purchase the expansion and keep to what the original game gives them.

I really like this idea !!!

Or increase the Waypoint travel cost on these new areas by alot if you dont have the expansion
+ The repair NPC , charge you an extra 30%
+ Your Magic Find is -50% less effective to these new World Bosses+Istances , plus you get less silver/gold from them (edit: you can diactivate this drawback , by using a gemstore item/per month)
+ New crafting items (600-700 crafting) needs more mats
+ You need to pay some silver to unlock the new Spells (even in PvP – like the current healing spells)
+ You have to pay a 1000 gems (transform gold>gems) to create the new Quaggan-Warrior or pay an extra 1000g to roll an other class :P

@Inculpatus cedo.9234
@Meglobob.8620

What I meant with ‘’Gemstore updates are negative’’ is if they go with Gemstore updates instead of an expansion as a model, something some games already use. The content here gets released in mini-expansions you could say, that you can only get from the Gemstore. What is negative here is that, even if the content is similiar to that of an expansion, the impact won’t be the same as it will sound more as ‘’buy some extra content with gems or gold’’ rather than ‘’an expansion taking Gw2 to a new stage’‘. Also, most people who left Gw2 and people who don’t play it won’t be attracted if they hear of ‘’an update through an in-game gamestore’’ cause even if it sounds good for you as a player, for a person who don’t play the game, it will always sound as something for the people in the game rather than himself ‘’well, they get an update, good for them’’, again, not the same impact as an expansion.

On the other hand, if the model of the update was to be an expansion, being released that way with new art trailers, covers, CD, teasers etc. and the Gemstore is just an option to buy from, it would be great obviously.

My point was that if the updates are to be bought exclusivly from in-game, it won’t reach too many people as people who don’t play will feel left out.

The updates being released as an expansion but also having a Gemstore option, is no issue ofcourse.