Guild Wars 2

It is really disappointing that Anet does not give those who pre ordered the game the benefit of the heroic edition. Between the nose dive in sale price to lower than $20 sometimes and the fact that heroic is for new purchases, this sends out a concerning message about the state of gw2.
I understand, anything to improve shareholder value. That’s all fine and dandy, having an incentive to buy is all good. However why is it that the heroic bonus items don’t affect those who pre ordered the game for a much higher price. I saw people argue that this stuff isn’t all that valuable. I would take a neat suit of armor over the marginal content that is mistfire wolf and the golem banker any day. An 18 slot bag is actually worth a decent amount in gold. It is in poor taste that Anet desperately tries to make this “heroic edition” even more limited than it is. Rather than trying to reward those who supported GW2 during pre order, they move to make a quick money grab. When a corporation does that and disregard all else, it means things are starting to fall apart.

Tell you what? How about you give up all the progress you’ve made in the game in the last year, and Anet will give you that stuff?

Because it’s hard for people just starting out in an MMO to catch up and what they’re giving is really very little.

…“A concerning message about the state of GW2?”

Every company does this, or a huge number do. It’s usually framed as “Game of the Year Edition,” but it’s nothing even remotely unusual for a company to re-release a game a year later, at a lower price, with more content.

Is it nice to reward players who bought it at the start? Yes; that’s one function of pre-order bonuses. I pre-ordered and got the three-day headstart, beta weekend events, and, when possible, access to the stress test events, along with the Hero’s Band item. Once the game launched, since I was there in the early days, I got a GW2 hat. Are those amazing prizes? The items are okay, but the beta access was a blast. Don’t forget that we were rewarded for pre-ordering.

I would argue that GW2 has more of a mechanism for rewarding long-term players than most, in the form of the Living Story. Whether you like it or not, there’s a lot of content that Heroic Edition players have missed out on. It’s less appealing to get into an MMO after it’s been on the market for a year, but bonus material helps with that issue.

Add in the fact that everything in the Heroic Edition has been available in the gem store (that is, it doesn’t have any exclusive, new content that we’re missing out on,) and the whole thing is a total non-issue for me. It’s just business, and, in this case, even more tolerable than most, since it’s an MMO. (Unlike a regular game, where it doesn’t matter much if you play at launch or a year later.)

Also, an 18-slot box costs 2.5G. It’s not nothing, but I’d hardly call that a “decent amount of gold” if you’ve been playing since launch.

Redenaz.8631:

…“A concerning message about the state of GW2?”

Every company does this, or a huge number do. It’s usually framed as “Game of the Year Edition,” but it’s nothing even remotely unusual for a company to re-release a game a year later, at a lower price, with more content.

Is it nice to reward players who bought it at the start? Yes; that’s one function of pre-order bonuses. I pre-ordered and got the three-day headstart, beta weekend events, and, when possible, access to the stress test events, along with the Hero’s Band item. Once the game launched, since I was there in the early days, I got a GW2 hat. Are those amazing prizes? The items are okay, but the beta access was a blast. Don’t forget that we were rewarded for pre-ordering.

I would argue that GW2 has more of a mechanism for rewarding long-term players than most, in the form of the Living Story. Whether you like it or not, there’s a lot of content that Heroic Edition players have missed out on. It’s less appealing to get into an MMO after it’s been on the market for a year, but bonus material helps with that issue.

Add in the fact that everything in the Heroic Edition has been available in the gem store (that is, it doesn’t have any exclusive, new content that we’re missing out on,) and the whole thing is a total non-issue for me. It’s just business, and, in this case, even more tolerable than most, since it’s an MMO. (Unlike a regular game, where it doesn’t matter much if you play at launch or a year later.)

Also, an 18-slot box costs 2.5G. It’s not nothing, but I’d hardly call that a “decent amount of gold” if you’ve been playing since launch.

You can probably call Heroic a GOTY but that’s really flawed. Heroic is nowhere near what a GOTY edition should be and I’d like to think that Anet still remembers how to make those. In addition, GOTY here is usually pertains to an MMO not a normal game. Heroic is the same sort of “bonus” for just buying the game. Everyone is excusing this because of the time people who pre-ordered the game got in advance. Hear me out I’m *not*steaming mad about not getting heroic items, but because of the MMO nature, the practice of rewarding newcomers significantly more is certainly odd. When you try to bring the potential time spend in game, that obviously biases the whole argument. By that logic (an extreme case so that you get it), giving a newcomer a free legendary weapon would also be perfectly fine because by now everyone could have gotten one. If you want to use time as the equalizer realize what that means for the entire scale, not just this one case.
The key point is that Anet is trying more and more to push a copy of gw2 against all other choices. A confident company does not chase down profit to the last drop and that is where I think Anet is heading. I’m not too concerned in the short term by the heroic edition, what I am concerned about is what that means for the future of GW2.

Sorry but I don’t understand your problem. They’re getting one set of armor and some experience boosters and a bag…not a legendary weapon.

The choice of the three armors that have been there since launch (most of which suck anyway), and a 20 slot bag are the big thing. 10% exp boosters are no big deal just help people level a bit faster…it only counts on kills, not events anyway, and kills don’t level you as fast as events and hearts. It helps people catch up a bit.

So what you’re complaining about is an old suit of armor (which mostly no one cares about), and a 20 slot bag, which is easy enough to get if you’ve been playing since launch.

I think you’re exaagerating the impact of these things to try to say there’s some sort of slope here and that it will get worse. Even if it got worse, since it’s nothing now, I’m not quite sure what your issue is.

Would it help any if the official answer from a Dev was posted? I could take the time to look it up if that would allay your fears about the ‘state’ of GW2.

I’m not sure what you mean by saying ArenaNet is making the Heroic Edition ‘more limited than it is’. The items included are readily available to anyone, as is the Heroic Edition itself. If you can’t afford the gold needed to purchase said items, maybe you could ask the community to help you play and earn it. I’m sure many would be willing to help you out. =)

Hmm, let me see… Exp boosters? I have more than 10 in my bank and they’re just sitting there… 18 slot bags? I make em for breakfast… Legacy armor? I’ve got two sets off the gem store already. Basically these items are readily available to veteran players already and have been for quite a while, and rather cheaply I might add. ANet is running a PROMOTION for crying out loud. It’s something to entice new players to the game. Veteran players are no more entitled to promotional items than new players are entitled to the Hero’s Band. Companies do this sort of thing all the time, especially game companies. Heck, one F2P game I used to play (which shall remain nameless because it sucked terribly) has sent me e-mails offering me tons of free stuff just to get me to come back! ANet is not the first to offer a promotion like this, won’t be the last, and other companies don’t offer promotional items to veteran players either.

Chairman Wang.5930:

The key point is that Anet is trying more and more to push a copy of gw2 against all other choices. A confident company does not chase down profit to the last drop and that is where I think Anet is heading. I’m not too concerned in the short term by the heroic edition, what I am concerned about is what that means for the future of GW2.

…Seriously? You’re worried that it looks like Anet is trying too hard to sell their game to people?

If they were giving away ridiculous prizes, like hundreds of gold, legendaries, permanent stat boosts, or something like that, then I might be concerned, but this is a pretty typical special edition put out to kick-start sales a year after launch. If anything, it’s a little underwhelming, since it doesn’t have any exclusive elements. (Like the GotY of GW Prophecies did, for example.)

Veteran players don’t deserve the Heroic Edition bonuses because they weren’t included in the edition of the game veteran players bought. We deserve the game we pay for, and everything else is icing on the cake. Just because they’ve been made a standard bonus now, a year later, doesn’t mean everyone’s purchases should be retroactively upgraded, anymore than we deserve a refund for the extra money we paid before it got a price cut.

I’m just amazed when people buy one product, and are then baffled when a newer, nicer, cheaper one comes out later. That’s just how product sales work, and it’s perfectly normal.

I’m even more amazed that you see a few non-exclusive bonuses and read that as the company chasing a quick profit and disregarding everything else. That’s a gross exaggeration.

Vayne.8563:

Tell you what? How about you give up all the progress you’ve made in the game in the last year, and Anet will give you that stuff?

Because it’s hard for people just starting out in an MMO to catch up and what they’re giving is really very little.

Except this applies to the people who bought the digital deluxe upgrade as well.
So the whole argument of “giving up the progress made in the last year” doesn’t matter at all.

Manuhell.2759:

Vayne.8563:

Tell you what? How about you give up all the progress you’ve made in the game in the last year, and Anet will give you that stuff?

Because it’s hard for people just starting out in an MMO to catch up and what they’re giving is really very little.

Except this applies to the people who bought the digital deluxe upgrade as well.
So the whole argument of “giving up the progress made in the last year” doesn’t matter at all.

It does. In the last year, I easily made the money about a thousand times over to buy an 18 slot bag, ten boosters and an outfit from the gem store. That’s what your’e getting.

It’s like anything that goes on sale. I opened a bank account. A couple of weeks later they were giving away something for those that opened an account. All businesses do it. You get lucky or you don’t get lucky. It’s that simple.

And if you buy it now, it says it includes all items from the Heroic addition, so people buying it now aren’t screwed at all. Those that bought it like a week before the heroic addition was introduced…they probably have some small reason to feel bad….everyone else…not so sure about that.

Vayne.8563:

It does. In the last year, I easily made the money about a thousand times over to buy an 18 slot bag, ten boosters and an outfit from the gem store. That’s what your’e getting.

And you could have got them indipendently from having gotten the digital deluxe upgrade or not.

Vayne.8563:

It’s like anything that goes on sale. I opened a bank account. A couple of weeks later they were giving away something for those that opened an account. All businesses do it. You get lucky or you don’t get lucky. It’s that simple.
And if you buy it now, it says it includes all items from the Heroic addition, so people buying it now aren’t screwed at all. Those that bought it like a week before the heroic addition was introduced…they probably have some small reason to feel bad….everyone else…not so sure about that.

And i’m fine with that if we talk about the actual item on sale – the game itself. I have nothing against the heroic edition, actually.
What i find annoying is to screw up the people that bought even the upgrade. Since it was quite overpriced for what it gave, and yet people like me bought it for completeness.

Manuhell.2759:

Vayne.8563:

It does. In the last year, I easily made the money about a thousand times over to buy an 18 slot bag, ten boosters and an outfit from the gem store. That’s what your’e getting.

And you could have got them indipendently from having gotten the digital deluxe upgrade or not.

Vayne.8563:

It’s like anything that goes on sale. I opened a bank account. A couple of weeks later they were giving away something for those that opened an account. All businesses do it. You get lucky or you don’t get lucky. It’s that simple.
And if you buy it now, it says it includes all items from the Heroic addition, so people buying it now aren’t screwed at all. Those that bought it like a week before the heroic addition was introduced…they probably have some small reason to feel bad….everyone else…not so sure about that.

And i’m fine with that if we talk about the actual item on sale – the game itself. I have nothing against the heroic edition, actually.
What i find annoying is to screw up the people that bought even the upgrade. Since it was quite overpriced for what it gave, and yet people like me bought it for completeness.

Saying it’s screwing the people who brought it, is to say getting more people to buy the game is bad for the people who are playing the game…it’s not. Any promotion that benefits the game over all benefits the players of the game.

If it’s gotten people to buy who might not have bought, it benefits everyone.

You knew exactly what was in the Digital Deluxe upgrade when you bought it. If you didn’t think it was worth the money you shouldn’t have got it.

You can’t seriously tell us that you bought it because you guessed other items would be added in the future, assumed they would justify the price and also assumed that if you bought it at launch you’d get them when they came out?

I’m still a bit surprised that this bothers anyone. All these items have been in the game since launch. I would have thought it’d be pointless to give them to pre-purchase players because anyone who wanted them would have already gotten them a long time ago.

I know that at some point an ANet employee will be reading this thread. Would it be possible for an official response, in the hopes that people will quit griping over this?

Danikat.8537:

You knew exactly what was in the Digital Deluxe upgrade when you bought it. If you didn’t think it was worth the money you shouldn’t have got it.

But neither i could think it would have worth it later on.

Danikat.8537:

You can’t seriously tell us that you bought it because you guessed other items would be added in the future, assumed they would justify the price and also assumed that if you bought it at launch you’d get them when they came out?

As i said, i bought it for completeness, more than for the actual value.
Obviously, if i knew that i would get additional items at the same price, i would have waited to buy it.

Still, try to apply the same reasoning you people are using to defend the heroic edition deluxe upgrade to other items.
What would have happened if they added infinite account bound gathering items and told the people who already got the soulbound ones those same things you’re saying and just to buy them again?
People would have raged. And rightly so.

Danikat.8537:

I’m still a bit surprised that this bothers anyone. All these items have been in the game since launch. I would have thought it’d be pointless to give them to pre-purchase players because anyone who wanted them would have already gotten them a long time ago.

As if they can’t be useful to people with more characters. Especially considering we just got level 20 experience scrolls for birthdays.

This exact same post was up several months ago. Really digging to find problems.

So if you buy a TV model 1.0 and 4 months later there is a 2.0 model for the same price, you go back to the store and demand the new one? I really don’t get why people think it works differently with a game…

It’s a sales booster, it should not be retroactive. And all the items can be gotten from the TP.

Thank you for this topic. What this forum really needed was a shining example of how self-entitled some people in the MMO community can be.

By this logic, you could buy a PS4 in a bundle with a pack-in game. Then a year later when they change the box and put in a different pack-in game, you are fully within your rights to lose your mind over it and demand that they give you the game in the new bundle. Because when you bought that, it was with the full understanding of completeness and Sony should honor that by also giving you every promotional offer they ever have to attract new customers since you paid for it once, years ago.

Give me a break.

Berelious.3290:

I know that at some point an ANet employee will be reading this thread. Would it be possible for an official response, in the hopes that people will quit griping over this?

Here is the official response from the last time this was raised:

’I asked about this today at a Business Team meeting. Those who purchased the Collector’s Edition are valued customers, for sure! But remember, there were a lot of goodies in that box, and it’s not customary, even if necessarily good business, to continue to give free items for a purchase made a year ago. I can’t think of any other business that would do that, that would say “I see you purchased a mixer a year ago. We’ve developed a handy new accessory and we’re sending it to you for free.”

And by the way, I’m proud to say that at the time it was released, our CE was hailed as “the best in the industry” with having so many nice in-game and physical features.

Sure, it’d be nice to continue to get free stuff for a purchase made in the past. I could see why you would want to get these things for free, but I hope you understand why that isn’t going to happen. Keep in mind that the items are available in the Gem Store or on the Trading Post, so you can get them for in-game gems, in any case I can think of.’

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/I-bought-the-CE-I-d-like-the-Heroic-items/first#post2706527

Feel free to substitute DDE, Pre-Order or any other version of the game for CE in the post. If they aren’t going to give CE-purchasers a few measly items, they sure as heck are going to give those that purchased the regular version (regardless of when said purchase took place) the items.

Thank you, Inculpatus! I knew I’d seen that response somewhere but couldn’t find it.

You are welcome. It was a bit of a search, found it back on page 26…sigh (darn search function still broken).

I bought a Ford Galaxy last year, but this year it has a build in dashboard light. Now I want this years edition…..

Thats basicly what your saying. Its childish and ridiculious.
You pre-ordered so you had access to beta weekend events and the pre-release event. On top off that you have played GW2 for the last year (and hopefully had as much fun as I had). They are only offering some small scratches to newly starting players to pull them to the good side. Don’t envy what you dont have but enjoy what you got.