The silence is taking a long time. I think there’s only one way to go. I would expect to see a message like this very soon:
“Greetings fellow inhabitants of Tyria,
Earlier this week we opened pre-orders for our exciting new expansion, Heart of Thorns. We are really excited about this expansion – not only does it have the new Elite classes, only a few of which have been fully revealed so far, but it also introduces a whole new world for you to explore. We have many more teasers and spoilers planned over the next few weeks that will let you share our excitement about the expansion.
That said, we here at Anet have been aware of the voice of the community on the pricing or content of the expansion packs we’ve offered. We feel that the prices we listed are appropriate for the content we are releasing, and certainly comparable to the other releases we and other gaming companies are producing these days. We have a fantastic user base, and many of you have been as hyped as us for the expansion. Some of you have been with us from the original Guild Wars, including even some of our beta testers of that game. You veterans form the core of our userbase, and are are often the most vocal supporters for us. Or, in this case, vocal in your discontent. We do want to have you continue your journey with us through Tyria, after all, we have dragons and lore you haven’t even seen yet (are you there, “Bubbles”?).
After a great deal of internal conversation, we’re making the following change to all expansion packs: All packs will now include 800 gems, which is the current cost of a character slot in the game. Are you one of our players who has a maxed character in every slot? You can use these gems to buy yourself a new spot to roll that exciting new Revenant. Are you a newer player and still have open slots? Use these in our Gem Store to buy many quality of life and appearance items – we’re sure you’ll find something you’ll like! For our user base who want to buy the Ultimate Edition, you’ll now get these gems in addition to the ones you already are receiving as part of the package. We expect you to be the snappiest dressed Revenants in Maguuma!
Once again, thank you for your passion around our world. We are on a shared journey and look forward to you joining us in the newest chapter, Heart of Thorns!"
If this is Anet’s response to this situation, I’d not only be happy to pre-purchase now, I’d go ahead and get the Ultimate edition and I know I’m not the only one. I know for some the price of the standard is tad high so the Ultimate is unthinkable for them, but a good-will gesture of 800 gems across the board would at least mean people have equal access to content right out of the HoT “box” and to me that’s the real crux of the matter.
Honestly, I think this kind of gesture would soothe a lot of this anger (though of course not all of it) and get a lot of players back of the hype train again. It would also send a very strong message from Anet: we want new players but we also value our current players and are listening.
anet pls.
New feature announcements from Colin (Dragonite ore eater, ascended stat changes) look like they’re being used to quell the riot. So I don’t think pricing will change.
Well, personally speaking I’ve not said that the price should be reduced or ever thought it would. To my mind, making that $50 minimum stretch out over more (and not even a lot more, 800 gems as suggested) would be the wisest call they could make.