Weapon skins available for 6 days only?

Weapon skins available for 6 days only?

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: MAUS HOUS.8047

MAUS HOUS.8047

When the sale started 10 days ago, they re-added marjorys, belindas, rox’s etc weapons back into the gem store which I personally really liked! Their was no “available for 6 days” or any kind of timer, since these weapons cost about £5 each if you buy the gems from the store which is an insanely high price for an axe skin or anything like that, I’d buy them with gold not real money but we all know how over inflated the prices are. I was hoping that Anet was going to start adding permanent skins to the gem store after adding the wardrobe so people could gradually buy and collect these skins, but it seems they are timing them again, making it near anough impossible to get all of them unless you spend a TON of either gold or real money! GW2 is an EXTREMELY expensive game, if things where cheaper, I’d definitely buy more of them! Say, 275-300 gems MAX for a weapon skin I would class as a decent amount, thats still £3 for a tiny dagger skin but not too cheap so people just buy them with gold not real cash.

Whats your guys thoughts on this? I don’t usually post or even come on the forums but this really tickled a nerve.

Holla. At. Me.

Weapon skins available for 6 days only?

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Danikat.8537

Danikat.8537

Those skins are re-added to the gem store every so often, always for short periods of time. You’ll have another opportunity to buy them.

I agree that it’s a lot of money for a skin. That’s why I haven’t gotten any of them, I don’t like them enough to justify the cost (either in gold or real money).

But having said that after the purchase price GW2 is only as expensive as you choose to make it. Some people have been playing since launch and never spent anything on the gem store. Some people have spent thousands of pounds/euros/dollars.

I don’t know but I’d guess the prices and availability are based on the fact that most people will not buy the full set, they’ll get one or two skins based on which ones they like and what their character/s can use. For that limited availability is actually good because it means people will get on and buy them, instead of hesitating, thinking they’ll definitely get it ‘one day’ (which might actually be never).

Danielle Aurorel, Dear Dragon We Got Your Cookies [Nom], Desolation (EU).

“Life’s a journey, not a destination.”

Weapon skins available for 6 days only?

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Lishtenbird.2814

Lishtenbird.2814

My thoughts:

  • GW2 is a buy-2-play game which provides you with new stuff every few weeks. It has to get money somewhere.
  • Gem Store items are vanity cosmetic or convenience items and not pay-2-win items as you may expect in a “free” game. I find it a very honest approach and think it is perfectly ok.
  • I personally do not like limited availability items, but I understand that it is a viable tactic to get people to buy stuff NOW.
  • Timers appear automatically once the item is available for less than 7 days, AFAIK.
  • 10 bucks for a set of armour or less than 10 bucks for a weapon skin is closer to a cup of coffee and can be paid by most people who’ve graduated from their school and can manage their own money.
  • ANet is kind enough to give you an option to trade gold to gems. Their prices are, however, based on real-world money (see point above) and should not be measured in gold. However if you are a teenager who can’t get a job due to age but have enough free time, you can farm that gold. When too many teenagers farm gold, gold prices rise and make ANet’s income balance out so that the company’s staff doesn’t starve and die.
  • The only thing in ANet’s policy I do not approve of is BLTC chests because it is gambling, but that’s another story.
20 level 80s and counting.

Weapon skins available for 6 days only?

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Danikat.8537

Danikat.8537

  • 10 bucks for a set of armour or less than 10 bucks for a weapon skin is closer to a cup of coffee and can be paid by most people who’ve graduated from their school and can manage their own money.

I think you need to find another coffee shop. I haven’t been to America for a while but I wouldn’t expect to pay £6 (equivalent of $10 and about what most gem store skins cost) for one over here.

Also there’s a big difference between what someone can afford to pay and what they consider to be a reasonable use of their money. It’s a pretty big part of the ability to manage your own money.

I could afford to pay $10 for a coffee, but I never would when I can get one for less than 1/2 that. Likewise I could afford to pay $10 for a gem store skin but I wouldn’t when I can get lots of nice ones in-game completely free.

Danielle Aurorel, Dear Dragon We Got Your Cookies [Nom], Desolation (EU).

“Life’s a journey, not a destination.”

Weapon skins available for 6 days only?

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Zavve.8205

Zavve.8205

My thoughts:

  • 10 bucks for a set of armour or less than 10 bucks for a weapon skin is closer to a cup of coffee and can be paid by most people who’ve graduated from their school and can manage their own money.

By this logic, it would be okay to charge me $1000 for a weapon skin on the gem store because I can afford it since I graduated from high school and can manage my own money. Just because you can afford something does not automatically justify it’s price. Also, where do you buy your coffee?!

Weapon skins available for 6 days only?

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Pandaman.4758

Pandaman.4758

While I agree the skins are generally overpriced, I’m okay with it because a) it’s possible to supplement (when it’s not possible to completely mitigate due to poor exchange rates) the purchase with gold and b) there are so few skins I’m actually interested in that even if I bought them all with cash I’d still wind up paying less per month than a standard subscription.

I’d be in trouble if ANet was releasing something I would want every month, but they don’t, thankfully.

Weapon skins available for 6 days only?

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Obtena.7952

Obtena.7952

My thoughts:

  • 10 bucks for a set of armour or less than 10 bucks for a weapon skin is closer to a cup of coffee and can be paid by most people who’ve graduated from their school and can manage their own money.

By this logic, it would be okay to charge me $1000 for a weapon skin on the gem store because I can afford it since I graduated from high school and can manage my own money. Just because you can afford something does not automatically justify it’s price. Also, where do you buy your coffee?!

I would be OK … the pertinent question is how many people would pay it.

Weapon skins available for 6 days only?

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Lishtenbird.2814

Lishtenbird.2814

  • 10 bucks for a set of armour or less than 10 bucks for a weapon skin is closer to a cup of coffee and can be paid by most people who’ve graduated from their school and can manage their own money.

Also there’s a big difference between what someone can afford to pay and what they consider to be a reasonable use of their money. It’s a pretty big part of the ability to manage your own money.

Also there’s a big difference between what someone considers to be reasonable to pay and what the seller considers reasonable to demand for it to be able to carry on functioning. It may be too much for you, but not for someone else. It may be too much for you, but the company cannot charge less because it cannot provide new content without a subscription fee. That simple.

My thoughts:

  • 10 bucks for a set of armour or less than 10 bucks for a weapon skin is closer to a cup of coffee and can be paid by most people who’ve graduated from their school and can manage their own money.

By this logic, it would be okay to charge me $1000 for a weapon skin on the gem store because I can afford it since I graduated from high school and can manage my own money. Just because you can afford something does not automatically justify it’s price.

Exaggerating won’t bring you anywhere. A “common” daily commodity such as a cup of coffee and a substantial sum of money are too different things.

I think you need to find another coffee shop. I haven’t been to America for a while but I wouldn’t expect to pay £6 (equivalent of $10 and about what most gem store skins cost) for one over here.

Moscow data:

  • “Shokoladnitsa”, a chain cafeteria. $5-8 per coffee. $7-8 per piece of cake.
  • “Coffee House”, a chain cafeteria. Around the same, maybe $4-8 per coffee.
  • “StarBucks”, a bit more expensive (popular non-Russian brand).

All these are places where one would usually bring friends/girlfriend for some chat and stuff. These prices match a price of a weapon skin pretty much. Luckily, I dislike coffee and can avoid this waste of money to spend on my various hobbies instead. And mind you, most common people in Moscow are not considered as well-off as Americans or Europeans.

20 level 80s and counting.

(edited by Lishtenbird.2814)

Weapon skins available for 6 days only?

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: IndigoSundown.5419

IndigoSundown.5419

If someone derives enough enjoyment from a skin to justify that kind of purchase, more power to them. If someone dos not want to farm the gold to get the gems, then they value the time they would have spent farming more than the item is worth to them. More power to them, too.

Kittening about prices is a time-worn tradition that has been with us as long as prices have. However, “Hey, I’d buy this if it cost less!” is not important feedback to ANet if they understand human nature. What’s important is how many buy at the current price.

It’s perfectly valid for the OP to let Anet know he’d buy if the price was lower. Things that bother me about the OP are:

  • the assumption that gold should buy more gems (“over-inflated”) when the conversion rate rises regularly because more players buy gems with gold than buy gold with gems.
  • the assumption that everyone thinks like he does (“we all know”)
  • the assumption that the current gold-gem conversion rate is a deterrent to those who want the skins (“I would class as a decent amount, that’s still £3 for a tiny dagger skin but not too cheap so people just buy them with gold not real cash.”)

Weapon skins available for 6 days only?

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Danikat.8537

Danikat.8537

Ah, I assumed when you said ‘bucks’ that you must be in America, because it’s American slang. However having checked the currency conversion I assume your prices must still be in American dollars because 10 rubles works out at about £0.16.

That also explains the high prices, Moscow is considered very expensive to live in compared to most of Europe. Here’s the equivalents for London which I was using earlier:

  • Starbucks £1.95 – £3.25 ($3.23 – $5.39)
  • Costa Coffee £1.95 – 2.95 ($3.23 – $4.90)
  • Café Nero £1.80 – £2.80 ($2.99 – $4.65)
    Like your list those are all popular chain cafés where people will go for lunch, a snack or to chat with friends. (Or in my case most often to kill time when travelling.)

I guess all of this does prove one important point: it’s not really practical for us to assume we know what any other player can afford to pay, or what would be a “normal”, reasonable price for them because there are a lot of different factors (not just whether you have a job or not).

I assume Anet has someone doing actual market research, trying to juggle consumer spending data in all their various regions to work out what is and isn’t a reasonable price. The varying prices for skins, minis etc. makes me think they also do some experimentation of their own to see what sells at what price points. But they can’t possible price things at the right point for everyone, so they have to compromise and that means for some people it will always be unreasonable.

Danielle Aurorel, Dear Dragon We Got Your Cookies [Nom], Desolation (EU).

“Life’s a journey, not a destination.”

Weapon skins available for 6 days only?

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Death Snakes.8193

Death Snakes.8193

Just to add, the timer only starts showing up when there’s 7 days left before the item leaves, if it’s there for longer then 7 days, it will say new on it (like other new items) but will stay in the promotional section of the store.

Most of the items that come out say “Available for a limited time” in the description which also helps.

I hate that they bring out so many limited time items, but I guess it makes them more money as players will buy more on impulse, thinking it’s their only chance to get the item.

Weapon skins available for 6 days only?

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Lishtenbird.2814

Lishtenbird.2814

Ah, I assumed when you said ‘bucks’ that you must be in America, because it’s American slang. However having checked the currency conversion I assume your prices must still be in American dollars because 10 rubles works out at about £0.16.

That also explains the high prices, Moscow is considered very expensive to live in compared to most of Europe. Here’s the equivalents for London which I was using earlier:

  • Starbucks £1.95 – £3.25 ($3.23 – $5.39)
  • Costa Coffee £1.95 – 2.95 ($3.23 – $4.90)
  • Café Nero £1.80 – £2.80 ($2.99 – $4.65)
    Like your list those are all popular chain cafés where people will go for lunch, a snack or to chat with friends. (Or in my case most often to kill time when travelling.)

Yes, these were in USD. Historically, it turned out that Russian people are used to dealing with dollars, and the “bucks” slang is widely used too.

True, Moscow is a rather expensive city to live in; like, I haven’t seen that much of a difference between Moscow and Tokyo while visiting it, even though Japan is said to be a very expensive country.

I guess all of this does prove one important point: it’s not really practical for us to assume we know what any other player can afford to pay, or what would be a “normal”, reasonable price for them because there are a lot of different factors (not just whether you have a job or not).

I assume Anet has someone doing actual market research, trying to juggle consumer spending data in all their various regions to work out what is and isn’t a reasonable price. The varying prices for skins, minis etc. makes me think they also do some experimentation of their own to see what sells at what price points. But they can’t possible price things at the right point for everyone, so they have to compromise and that means for some people it will always be unreasonable.

I can agree with that. Of course, large companies do their math, and current prices are the result of it. They may not be nice for some of the customers, but they’re definitely right for ANet and fairly right for their solvent customers or they would’ve been changed.

20 level 80s and counting.

Weapon skins available for 6 days only?

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Andred.1087

Andred.1087

Typical forum users over-analyzing everything… the point of the analogy was that the price seems a lot more reasonable when you consider how often you spend that much money on something you put in your face and never see again.

“You’ll PAY to know what you really think.” ~ J. R. “Bob” Dobbs