Guild Wars 2

The whole business surrounding the black wings had me thinking about the effect of exclusivity in gw2. Personally i have no issues with how Anet handled the sales time, it was so short that it forced people who didn’t have enough gold to convert to gems (since they wont gain from gold farms), to buy using real money while simultaneously encouraging people to check into the game more often (at least the website) because that encourages people to play.

At the heart of every mmorpg playerbase, standing out is important. In the beginning, people complained about no healer because that means not being recognized for helping someone else. People complain about precursor drop rates not for the stats but because the legendaries are so much shinier than other weapons. Since we play with millions of other people, its human nature to want to be different.

So what is the point of this thread? two things, to remind the people smacking Anet for the time frame to remember that exclusivity is pretty important in a game like this. Sadly it means that some people will miss out. You might have missed the sale today but you might get the next one and the wing bearers today might miss that one.

The second is i’m all for occasional 1 day special item sales, i may miss some of them, but I welcome the idea that i have items that very few people have, it makes the game a lot more interesting and i’m wondering if other people feel the same.

I would also like to remind people that the wings are not exclusive to this one-day sale and will, in fact, be back in the gemstore.

Well said, Ragion. There is much that I’ve missed out on in this game as well as others because I’m not always an “every day” player. In WoW, I missed out on the highest raid tier gear because I simply did not have the time to dedicate to a serious heroic raiding guild. In this game, it’s been things like the blade shard back piece, because I didn’t have the time to run LA events every day. I remember for a while they would occasionally have free items in the gem store (i.e. a free black lion key, instant repair canister, or karma booster,) available for a very short time. I missed a lot of those because I’m more of a casual player.

It’s to be expected that not everyone will get everything every time. Part of the appeal of some of these things is how limited they are. I would rather miss out on some nice things now and then than to be guaranteed that everyone gets everything. Who wants to be just like everyone else anyways?

Ragion.2831:

At the heart of every mmorpg playerbase, standing out is important. In the beginning, people complained about no healer because that means not being recognized for helping someone else. People complain about precursor drop rates not for the stats but because the legendaries are so much shinier than other weapons.

Yeah, second hand psychology isn’t a very compelling argument. You are assuming people have a child-like need to compare themselves with others as opposed to a (far more mature, by the way) ability to be satisfied with themselves. In other words, that players want to have one skin because few people have it, not because they like how it looks regardless of how many people have said skin or not.

I would rather give players access to every skin they want (earning them in some way), so they can look how they want to look, instead of catering to the players who need others to feel validated.

Ragion.2831:

The whole business surrounding the black wings had me thinking about the effect of exclusivity in gw2. Personally i have no issues with how Anet handled the sales time, it was so short that it forced people who didn’t have enough gold to convert to gems (since they wont gain from gold farms), to buy using real money while simultaneously encouraging people to check into the game more often (at least the website) because that encourages people to play.

At the heart of every mmorpg playerbase, standing out is important. In the beginning, people complained about no healer because that means not being recognized for helping someone else. People complain about precursor drop rates not for the stats but because the legendaries are so much shinier than other weapons. Since we play with millions of other people, its human nature to want to be different.

So what is the point of this thread? two things, to remind the people smacking Anet for the time frame to remember that exclusivity is pretty important in a game like this. Sadly it means that some people will miss out. You might have missed the sale today but you might get the next one and the wing bearers today might miss that one.

The second is i’m all for occasional 1 day special item sales, i may miss some of them, but I welcome the idea that i have items that very few people have, it makes the game a lot more interesting and i’m wondering if other people feel the same.

In MMOs with micro-transactions a majority of the revenue typically comes from only a small part of the player base that spends a relatively large amount of money compared with others. It’s these players that tend to check the gem store very often and it’s these players that often make impulse buys based on “limited sales”.

Therefore what ANET has done is exactly the right thing to maximize profits.

Ragion.2831:

At the heart of every mmorpg playerbase, standing out is important. In the beginning, people complained about no healer because that means not being recognized for helping someone else. People complain about precursor drop rates not for the stats but because the legendaries are so much shinier than other weapons. Since we play with millions of other people, its human nature to want to be different.

Hehe and the thing is just like in real too that the “want to be different” leads to them being exactly the opposite. Wearing the wings and wielding the sunrise is pretty much the most common thing they can do.

No one can be different by trying to be different. Everyone else trying to be different will be the same too.

The actual different people do not try to be different. They just ARE.

Ragion.2831:

… its human nature to want to be different.

… i’m wondering if other people feel the same.

Yes, but people also want to look pretty. I think the wings are ugly, not animated and very eh bold on the big cats.

But there are enough people throwing money at anet for the wings.
its OK. they are different

Ragion.2831:

…

How is it exclusive when every third player has the item?

At the moment not using the wings would make you stand out more, it seems like every other player has them. Of course that will go down over time, but it’s still hardly exclusive.

Personally what makes a player stand out to me isn’t any single item but more putting together a really good combination.

For example I saw someone in Silverwastes the other day wearing luminescent armor and using The Bifrost. I’d seen both dozens of times before, even several times that day, but that particular character caught my attention because they had also put together a colour scheme that tied the whole set together and made it look exceptionally pretty.

Later on I was admiring someone else’s character for much the same reason even though they were wearing a combination of crafted and dungeon armor. There was nothing special about those particular skins, but they had made them look special.

Guhracie.3419:

I would also like to remind people that the wings are not exclusive to this one-day sale and will, in fact, be back in the gemstore.

I guess that didn’t fit their narrative.

I just wanted to keep with the thread title here. I am one of the last people to visit the gem store for items, and I guarantee you my main elementalist is about as exclusive as one can get.

Exclusivity isn’t only bound to availability of items, but also how hard someone is willing to work to earn these items outside of the gem store.

Personally, I knew the black wings were going to be overhyped when there was first mention of them. They’re one of the most bold backpieces around and I’m not really a fan of them. The looks aren’t very clean and they don’t suit a lot of characters. That being said, I’d have gems ready to spend if they brought out some nice shiny white ones.

There’s millions of permutations of how to customise a character in this game. Compared to its predecessor it is literally light years ahead. Exclusivity doesn’t have to be limited to what you can obtain in the gem store; if you want to look good and you think your toon looks good in something then get it. But please don’t be misled into getting something that everyone else has just because there was a one-day sale and everyone ‘will look heaps cooler’ with these wings.

To sum up, everyone who plays this game has their own taste and a different opinion on what they think looks good. There’s costumes/outfits to wear (some of which actually look good), others like myself will make the most of the skins they unlock through normal game progress and evolution. Everything (skins) you use and wear is account-bound, so there’s got to be something for just about everyone. Personally I leave the gem store alone unless there’s something that I think will suit the theme of one of my toons.

Ragion.2831:

its human nature to want to be different

Apparently I’m broken, because that phrase really doesn’t apply to me. I don’t really give a rat’s kitten if I’m ‘different.’ I don’t have any particular desire to ‘stand out in the crowd’ (it tends to make one a target). Conversely I don’t have any driving to desire to conform either.

shrug

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Ragion.2831:

its human nature to want to be different

Apparently I’m broken, because that phrase really doesn’t apply to me. I don’t really give a rat’s kitten if I’m ‘different.’ I don’t have any particular desire to ‘stand out in the crowd’ (it tends to make one a target). Conversely I don’t have any driving to desire to conform either.

shrug

You honestly aren’t bothered by the idea of living your whole life as a complete nobody? Because that’s one of the major driving forces behind my goals in life. Normalcy is the unfortunate consequence of a world with limited resources, and so “normals” are nothing but pawns in the money-making machines of the rich, living their whole lives by the standards set forth by the very people who stand to make money taking advantage of it.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being considerably “normal” (although everybody is different in their own way), but the lack of a desire to avoid that is odd to me.

On topic: those wings are gross and literally half the people playing right now have them. I move that everybody reading this adopt a policy of saying “NICE WINGS” in ‘say’ chat to everyone they see wearing them.

Andred.1087:

You honestly aren’t bothered by the idea of living your whole life as a complete nobody? Because that’s one of the major driving forces behind my goals in life. Normalcy is the unfortunate consequence of a world with limited resources, and so “normals” are nothing but pawns in the money-making machines of the rich, living their whole lives by the standards set forth by the very people who stand to make money taking advantage of it.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being considerably “normal” (although everybody is different in their own way), but the lack of a desire to avoid that is odd to me.

Nope, not bothered at all. I’m one of those people that just wants to go about their business and be left alone. Oh don’t get me wrong, I strive to excel in my chosen career path (it earns me more money to do so), but I have absolutely no desire for the limelight. I’m not big on being the center of attention.

On topic: those wings are gross and literally half the people playing right now have them. I move that everybody reading this adopt a policy of saying “NICE WINGS” in ‘say’ chat to everyone they see wearing them.

See, I like the wings, which goes back to my general ‘I really dont give a rat’s what others think’ stance lol. I haven’t quite found the perfect set up to pair them with, but I haven’t had much time to play this week either.

Ragion.2831:

At the heart of every mmorpg playerbase, standing out is important.

Yes, but other more traditional mmorpgs make you stand out if you beat one hard aspect of the game.

In this game, standing out means you farmed for more hours, or you logged in at the correct time, or you spent enough money.

It’s like those people who appear in reality shows: yes, they get the limelight and their seconds of glory, but for what?

By the way, I got the wings because I liked them and they went well with two of my characters. Now my norn guardian doesn’t wear them because the wings hide some small areas in fractals, and the necro doesn’t wear them because it would be like screaming SHOOT ME in spvp.

Ah, and for the prize of the wings, i can buy some complete games. Come on, anet, you should have done better than a cardboard set of wings with so little movement. They look specially crappy when the character is runnning (and no, don’t interpret this as a request to make them flap constantly, that would be the most annoying thing i can think of).

Ragion.2831:

…..
At the heart of every mmorpg playerbase, standing out is important.
…..

The irony of this statement as it applies to this situation is just awesome! How is being like hundreds of other dress up lemmings standing out? Being able to pony up a certain amount of gems during a specific time to be part of the latest fashion fad DOES say something about you (but likely not what you really want it to say).

Andred.1087:

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Ragion.2831:

its human nature to want to be different

Apparently I’m broken, because that phrase really doesn’t apply to me. I don’t really give a rat’s kitten if I’m ‘different.’ I don’t have any particular desire to ‘stand out in the crowd’ (it tends to make one a target). Conversely I don’t have any driving to desire to conform either.

shrug

You honestly aren’t bothered by the idea of living your whole life as a complete nobody? Because that’s one of the major driving forces behind my goals in life. Normalcy is the unfortunate consequence of a world with limited resources, and so “normals” are nothing but pawns in the money-making machines of the rich, living their whole lives by the standards set forth by the very people who stand to make money taking advantage of it.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being considerably “normal” (although everybody is different in their own way), but the lack of a desire to avoid that is odd to me.

On topic: those wings are gross and literally half the people playing right now have them. I move that everybody reading this adopt a policy of saying “NICE WINGS” in ‘say’ chat to everyone they see wearing them.

I think it’s more important to focus on who you want to be, who you enjoy being. Whether the end result of that makes you a “nobody” or the most famous person in the world, should be irrelevant.

Andred.1087:

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Ragion.2831:

its human nature to want to be different

Apparently I’m broken, because that phrase really doesn’t apply to me. I don’t really give a rat’s kitten if I’m ‘different.’ I don’t have any particular desire to ‘stand out in the crowd’ (it tends to make one a target). Conversely I don’t have any driving to desire to conform either.

shrug

You honestly aren’t bothered by the idea of living your whole life as a complete nobody? Because that’s one of the major driving forces behind my goals in life. Normalcy is the unfortunate consequence of a world with limited resources, and so “normals” are nothing but pawns in the money-making machines of the rich, living their whole lives by the standards set forth by the very people who stand to make money taking advantage of it.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being considerably “normal” (although everybody is different in their own way), but the lack of a desire to avoid that is odd to me.

On topic: those wings are gross and literally half the people playing right now have them. I move that everybody reading this adopt a policy of saying “NICE WINGS” in ‘say’ chat to everyone they see wearing them.

This only bother’s specific people, usually those who actually care more so about those things.

There are a lot of us here are here for US to enjoy ourselves, not for others to admire us. That’s an ego thing. Obviously most of us aren’t going to go out and look trashy because there’s a sense of decency, but we do what we want, and look how we want because it pleases us. I have far better things to do in life than care about what others think about how i live my life/play my games.