Will the next expansion be discounted?
I really don’t understand the expectation a lot of folks have that the new expansion should be cheaper for them than for someone new. It boggles my mind.
I know this is the MMO for people who don’t play MMOs…but come on now. Every game out there with expansions expects everyone to pay full price when it releases. It doesn’t matter if others had the expansions up to that point or not. It doesn’t matter if they include the previous ones. It’s ALWAYS the same price for everyone on release of a new expansion.
To expect anything different is ridiculous. If you are like me, you may have paid full price for GW2. Then full price again for HoT. But that in no way means I should get the next one any cheaper. If you want it cheap? Wait a year and buy it on sale or something.
At the very least, give people who own HoT players something extra, like an exclusive miniature or selling the deluxe for a discount.
Yes. In the end this was what really caused a debacle with HoT. Many of those that complained then would have given Anet a pass if the “expac” version contained something extra for veterans. Lot of complains died down after Anet gave up and added character slots as a bonus.
Something extra for those buying expac as an upgrade is actually likely to happen. What’s that going to be however is hard to predict.
Not sure however why some people still seem to expect tiered pricing, when Anet has made their policy on this clear long ago.
Actions, not words.
Remember, remember, 15th of November
Remember, remember, 15th of November
(edited by Astralporing.1957)
For example:
Brand New Players:
Core + HoT + Xpac2 -> 50 Base, 75 Deluxe, 100 UltimateCore Only Vets
Hot + Xpac2 -> 40 Base, 65 Deluxe, 90 UltimateCore + Hot Vets
Xpac 2 -> 30 Base, 55 Deluxe, 80 UltimateOr some such. I just pulled numbers out of the air here, but that’s the idea people are going for.
The problem with that approach is, given enough expansions, the price point will eventually hit 0. Do people really think that is viable for a business if it wants to keep making money? That’s essentially asking ANET to apply their own in-game law of diminishing returns to themselves…
Not necessarily, they could leave the tiers as they are, regardless of expansion. However, I would think that eventually the need for the middle group (players that just own core) would go away, and they’d just have the first and last set ups – free to play / new players, and vets. The first group gets everything, the last just wants the latest shiny. In theory, there will be those that might miss an expansion here or there, but Anet could do similarly to WoW and just have them available for single purchase and just leave the price at $25 or $30 a piece. Although, I suppose for expansion more than 2 years old, they could drop the price further.
In all honesty, there is no clean way to do it. Which, I feel, is partly why Anet went with the bundle method they did.
Additionally, the ‘idea’ of removing the ‘pay wall’ for new players is actually a good one. Its just a matter of making both new and returning players feel ‘valued’ in their purchase, which can be difficult to do. They cannot please everyone all of the time. No one can.
I’d have just had 2 groups. People who have bought and people who haven’t. So group one would be people who bought, either Core then HoT, HoT and unlocked the Core game with it or Core game but not HoT. Group 2 would be new players and F2P players.
So only two different prices, one for those who have bought the game in any way and one for people who haven’t.
Unsurprisingly, there are still players that just have the core game (I have at least 2 guildies in such a position), which is why I included the middle group. As I said above, the need for such may eventually go away, at which point yes, we’d end up with just the two groups. Which, I did consider in my initial tiering.
Assuming they went with just 2 groups, one buys everything, the other just buys the most recent xpac, how then do we deal with someone that owns core and buys xpac2, but would also like hot? do they now need to be treated as a new player and buy the new player pack? (which is sort of what caused all the uproar with how they bundled core and hot with its initial release). do they offer each individual xpac for its own standalone price? does it come as part of the vet bundle? (would this in itself not cause an uproar from people complaining about rebuying what they already have?) Its not uncommon for MMOs to sell each xpac as its own thing, most of which stating right on their boxes that you need to own ‘x game’ for it to work, but anet didn’t want to go that route. They want to remove that pay wall altogether.
And again we’re right back to not being able to please everyone and the logic behind Anets packaging choices.
Don’t look at me like that. Whatever you’ve heard, it’s probably not true.
(edited by LanfearShadowflame.3189)
Not sure however why some people still seem to expect tiered pricing, when Anet has made their policy on this clear long ago.
They have stated that all future expansions will be sold as a full game (i.e. Vanilla + all expansions). That is not mutually-exclusive to a tiered price model which they have NOT made any statements regarding as of yet.
Server: Devona’s Rest
The Morrowind upgrade for ESO was almost as expensive as the full HoT game at launch (40€ for Morrowind vs. 45€ for HoT), while the full ESO+Morrowind package was considerably more expensive (60€ if I’m not mistaken).
That’s how it usually works. $50 is the standard price for B2P expansions.
If GW2 was like other MMOs, HoT would have been $50 by itself while the core game would have remained at $25. A year in, they would have bundled in the core game for free, then later dropped the price to $25 to repeat the cycle with the next expansion.
So, everyone is kitten because Anet’s decided it’s not worth bilking new players $25 on a less-than-full-experience product?
The problem with Heart of Thorns was a lack of content. I don’t think the new Xpack’s going to have that problem.
For those wanting/waiting for all Legendaries to be released before expansion 2, it has already been officially stated that some Legendaries will be released after the launch of expansion 2.
Good luck.
While I enjoy the discussion (and do hope for a price reduction for vets in the future), the one important point still stands: It is not fair for newer players to come here and complain about having to pay extra for the upcoming expansion, when vets have done that already for the last expansion. Either people accept the fact that you can’t get all content for free, including future releases, or they don’t — whining about it won’t change that fact.
Fair or not, it would be an absolute miracle for players not to voice their concerns about…well, just about anything Guild Wars 2. =P
While I enjoy the discussion (and do hope for a price reduction for vets in the future), the one important point still stands: It is not fair for newer players to come here and complain about having to pay extra for the upcoming expansion, when vets have done that already for the last expansion. Either people accept the fact that you can’t get all content for free, including future releases, or they don’t — whining about it won’t change that fact.
While I agree with what you are saying, whining by other players is actually what got vets like myself the extra character slot during HoT release. I never participated in the whining and most likely never will, but if someone else’s hard work of whining is getting me freebies, I’m not about to get in their way :P
New players get vanilla for free, and the expansion will cost the average price for an AAA expansion, whats to debate.
“Trying to please everyone would not only be challenging
but would also result in a product that might not satisfy anyone”- Roman Pichler, Strategize
New players get vanilla for free, and the expansion will cost the average price for an AAA expansion, whats to debate.
People are upset that new players will be getting the mostly-abandoned husk of Heart of Thorns at no additional cost when they purchase the new expansion. (I wish they’d officially announce where we’re going, so I can start using my joke name for the expansion, which spoils the location)
New players get vanilla for free, and the expansion will cost the average price for an AAA expansion, whats to debate.
Quite a few things.
1) Price Point / Value (Size)
2) Ethics of Double Dipping (I.E this expansion will be the 3rd time someone has paid for GW2 base, 2nd time for HoT etc)
3) Defining the average for a AAA expansion (GW expansion for example were ~$20)
Not much a player can ask for but, these are things that really should be thought about by the marketing team as it can have a very real impact on sales as a whole.
1. The new expansion looks to be about the same size as a World of Warcraft expansion, in terms of open world content, progression (New mastery tracks and specializations), and gameplay changes. Heart of Thorns had half the maps it needed.
2. We’re buying the expansion. The base game and Heart of Thorns are being bundled into it for new players, but that takes nothing away from veterans – that content has been devalued to ‘almost nothing’.
3. ESO and World of Warcraft are good to look at there.
I really don’t understand the expectation a lot of folks have that the new expansion should be cheaper for them than for someone new. It boggles my mind.
I know this is the MMO for people who don’t play MMOs…but come on now. Every game out there with expansions expects everyone to pay full price when it releases. It doesn’t matter if others had the expansions up to that point or not. It doesn’t matter if they include the previous ones. It’s ALWAYS the same price for everyone on release of a new expansion.
This topic is backwards. It’s not existing players that would be getting a discount, it’s new players that would be paying more by having to buy the full game. This is how it’s always been in other games and why people expect it should be cheaper, since they’re expecting to buy the expansion separately.
The funny thing is, ArenaNet’s reasoning for their 1 box model doesn’t even apply since HoT isn’t actually required. Why go through this mess every expansion just to be different? New players that want the full package (including the living world) actually end up paying more because of this, in comparison to other MMOs that would have bundled the DLC into a single package deal. Buying the seasons is almost as much as the full game and will only continue to rise.
(I wish they’d officially announce where we’re going, so I can start using my joke name for the expansion, which spoils the location)
All of the leaks were ArenaNet trolling and season 3 was nothing more than a distraction. Aurene for example is just an illusion made by Lyssa and everything will be tied up in the final episode. We’re randomly going to Cantha, accidentally, by using the unstable rifts.
They can’t reveal the expansion yet because they have to wait for the final episode.
1. The new expansion looks to be about the same size as a World of Warcraft expansion, in terms of open world content, progression (New mastery tracks and specializations), and gameplay changes. Heart of Thorns had half the maps it needed.
2. We’re buying the expansion. The base game and Heart of Thorns are being bundled into it for new players, but that takes nothing away from veterans – that content has been devalued to ‘almost nothing’.
3. ESO and World of Warcraft are good to look at there.
1) Skipping this because its entirely debateable how much content is enough content to justify a price point.
2) Great! I’ve already paid for the base game @ $60, then again with HoT @ another $60 (you could say base was 30 / HoT was 30) but i had no option to just pay 30 at launch /shrug. If this continues players will be paying another at the same price point you’d be paying $20 for each unit bringing your total cost for Core to $110…. Is that really ethical ?
3) Eso’s expansion are good to look at ? I’m not sure i’d buy it as a real comparison considering how much that game has suffered and just how poorly its been managed. WoW is a fleeting game and it’s near impossible to compare a game that has a Box + Sub + Micro to one that’s just Box + Micro when it comes to value as one has a lot more resources to spend making a product.
New players get vanilla for free, and the expansion will cost the average price for an AAA expansion, whats to debate.
Quite a few things.
1) Price Point / Value (Size)
2) Ethics of Double Dipping (I.E this expansion will be the 3rd time someone has paid for GW2 base, 2nd time for HoT etc)
3) Defining the average for a AAA expansion (GW expansion for example were ~$20)Not much a player can ask for but, these are things that really should be thought about by the marketing team as it can have a very real impact on sales as a whole.
all subjective forum blah blah. the reality is new players get vanilla for free, and the expansion will cost the average price for an AAA expansion in all likelihood. People may like to pretend chat in forums like this may make a difference, but thats not how things work.
As for someone worrying that someone else is getting a better deal, well as we tell our children, don’t worry about it and enjoy what you enjoy.
“Trying to please everyone would not only be challenging
but would also result in a product that might not satisfy anyone”- Roman Pichler, Strategize
(edited by vesica tempestas.1563)
Yes peeps, you will have to pay for things. It’s just how the world turns.
If you can afford to make frivolous purchases, afford a computer and afford to spend time sitting at a desk playing games many hours per week… I’m sure you can afford to come up with $50- $100 bucks for a game expansion… for a game that has $0 in monthly access fees… that allows you to buy gem store items for FREE due to converting gold…
Anet has close to 400 employees… A company has a crap ton of expenses… and this particular company gives you a ton of free crap already, so let’s stop being cheap.
Edit- And if anything, anet needs to be more aggressive with making money, not less.
New Main- 80 Thief – P/P- Vault Spam Pro
221 hours over 1,581 days of bank space/hot pve/lion’s arch afk and some wvw.
221 hours over 1,581 days of bank space/hot pve/lion’s arch afk and some wvw.
(edited by Swagger.1459)
I feel I got good value for money…
For vanilla certainly,
I think it was a epic journey, and I still enjoy being in older zones.
For Hot:
It redeemed itself in the end.
Yes, some things are still lacking… but still being released.
And I still expect a good amount of legendary weapons.
And most if not all other things have been covered, except maybe dungeons…
I got for both releases combined:
- a good amount of zones and story
- a good amount of (replayable) content.
- a good amount of masteries
- a good amount of skills, skins and options…
- 4 wings of raids; more fractals
- A rework of WvW; even if it was late.
- QoL updates on most content
- A new experience on my characters.
As for expenses:
I payed pre purchase for Gw2 the complete digital package…. 75 euro
I played 3 years and had good value for money.
I played GW2 vanilla for ~6500 hours
In the end I payed ~1.2 eurocent/ hour played
I payed pre purchase the biggest package for HoT 99 euro
I used the 4000 gems to best ability (normally 50 euro)
I got 2 character slots (1 from the purchase and 1 from the storm…)(normally 20 euro)
I played GW2 HoT for 4500-5000 hours
in the end I payed about 0.8 – 0.66 eurocent per hour played
together:
I payed 174 euro’s,
I got 11500 hours played
I got roughly 70 euro’s of currency… (in gems and character slots)
I payed 104 euro for 11.500 hours… for just the game and it’s sequel.
in the end thats 0.9 eurocent/ hour played.
The future
I will pay the package for the next expansion.
I’ll prepurchase.
I’ll likely look into the offers.
And:
I am not feeling any problems with ppl joining now paying the same amount as I do after I payed 175 euro already.
Cause they missed out (in my view) on
- More then 11.5k hours of very nice gaming
- more then 11.5k hours of guild life,
- Living world seasons 1,2,3 (and their unlocks)
- 5 years of epic fights, in PvE, WvW and PvP
- good customer service, who helped me out in all situations I was in need of help.
- enjoyable stories,
even when all content (except maybe LW Season 1) is available and playable
Indirectly including:
- the best community I ever saw, since I started gaming in ‘85, providing:
- good fun and sentiment,
- Nice, interesting vloggers, streamers and dedicated ppl holding up beautiful and informative sites, I’d probably never had visited if I never bought GW2.
- 6(+) years of forum drama, both positive and negative, cause this game and it’s community is most certainly alive.
- new content hype, for Vanilla, Living world season 1,2,3 & HoT and now expansion 2
An investment which was well worth my time and money. But that’s just my opinion….
Perspective Guild Wars -The Complete Edition-
Then again it was more expensive then “Guild Wars 1 -The complete edition” I found in a bargain bin, standing next to a trashcan listed 7.99… I bought it for 4.99 euro after I talked to the store’s manager and I played it for 2500(+) hours… in the 3 years before I prepurchased gw2. In the end I payed 0.2 cents / hour played on this game and it was my first introduction to a Cooperative game…
I still remember lore and characters and I feel glad proud and sometimes sad if I see what’s come of places I explored, conquered or vanquished in the previous life I lived in Tyria….
But I sometimes felt behind…even though I finished all content, got 30+ points on the HoM…. Having said the previous: In retrospect: I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. It was a extremely good buy and the best 5 euro I ever spend on a game ever.
I noticed:
TL;DR: Buying is not the problem, it’s just my unlimited acces to “my personal portal to Tyria”, so I can explore and I can enjoy my stay for as long or as short as I want, for as long as I want and return whenever I want!.
No questions asked. And it’s fun to do so with others; new and old.
23 lvl 80’s, 9 times map, 4ele, 4ncr, 3war, 3grd, 3rgr, 2thf, 2msm, 1eng, 1 rev.
Been There, Done That & Will do it again…except maybe world completion.
Been There, Done That & Will do it again…except maybe world completion.
(edited by PaxTheGreatOne.9472)
2) Great! I’ve already paid for the base game @ $60, then again with HoT @ another $60 (you could say base was 30 / HoT was 30) but i had no option to just pay 30 at launch /shrug. If this continues players will be paying another at the same price point you’d be paying $20 for each unit bringing your total cost for Core to $110…. Is that really ethical ?
You are setting a value on an old game far higher than the market price. At the time of the HoT announcement, core had been on sale multiple times for $10. As of just before HoT launch, access to core was free (with restrictions). Other old games can be found in store bargain bins or at sites like Steam for a pittance. Bundling old games is a fact of life in the gaming industry. The current WoW package bundles vanilla and 5 XPacs for one price. That’s the business reality of old games, which you’re completely ignoring.
About all I can figure is that people like yourself are complaining about Anet’s policy because ANet is bundling the old stuff in with the current XPac. All that is is ANet setting a value of $0 on the old stuff. That’s completely within their rights as a business.
Ethical? Did players who purchased either core or HoT have the opportunity to gain value from their purchase by playing the game? Afaik, the servers have been up 24/7 with one or two exceptions, a far better record than other MMO’s I’ve played. There’s no rental fee on top of the box cost, either. So, the opportunity was there. There is no validity whatsoever to the aspersions you’re casting at ANet. That’s not to say you have to like it, just that you should reconsider the baseless insinuations.
If a person atm has : Gem Stores-Buny Ears + Magic Carpet + 5.000.000 karma to buy the Unbound Magic Gatherther from the ingame NPC +have collected 2.000 gold from the events /Raids
then a newers person must play x10 times to collect theses old items + collect the new from the new x-pack (and hopefully will find some1 to help him , in those deserted old areas) :P
On break
You’re paying for the expansion with previous content coming for free with that expansion. If you truly feel the way that you do then just apply the code to a brand new account.
I’d love to split the content as it’s being sold as such, but that’s not actually something i can do.
After all if i’m paying for the expansion and getting something else, then it should be my choice to use that something else how i see fit. Currently that is not possible as im being sold a bundle of goods but i already have a majority of that.
Now i know you guys see this as me attacking anet, it’s not. It’s not me being poor or wanting anything for less. It’s me wanting to get whats being marketed. As a common place example if i buy a bundle from Humblebundle just for sake of naming, I’m given the digital keys for all of the bundle items meaning if i already own something in it i can give that away or as you suggest create another account and apply the key.
Notice the difference here ?
I don’t think the “double pay” for veterans is a problem at all.
Remember that the game is free to play and they only make money through the gemstore and exactly this expansion sells.
You pay once like every 2-3 years, then play for completly free and still get regular updates.
I think its perfectly fine. There are games out there like FF14 that charge you 13 bucks each month and still expect you to pay 30+ for the expansion on top of that.
Sometimes i feel like GW2 players are just way too spoiled with the convience they actually have.
You’re paying for the expansion with previous content coming for free with that expansion. If you truly feel the way that you do then just apply the code to a brand new account.
I’d love to split the content as it’s being sold as such, but that’s not actually something i can do.
After all if i’m paying for the expansion and getting something else, then it should be my choice to use that something else how i see fit. Currently that is not possible as im being sold a bundle of goods but i already have a majority of that.
Now i know you guys see this as me attacking anet, it’s not. It’s not me being poor or wanting anything for less. It’s me wanting to get whats being marketed. As a common place example if i buy a bundle from Humblebundle just for sake of naming, I’m given the digital keys for all of the bundle items meaning if i already own something in it i can give that away or as you suggest create another account and apply the key.
Notice the difference here ?
In the Guild Wars online store, you can buy EotN for $20 or buy the GotY for $20 which includes both Prophecies and EotN. If you buy the GotY edition, are you going to complain when you don’t get an extra prophecies game or that you feel that the standalone EotN should be cheaper?
You are getting what’s being marketed. They’re pretty clear on what you get if the code is applied to a new account vs an existing full account. The removal of restrictions for the core game, as well as access to HoT content, is a bonus for new accounts. Many companies give new players such deals to attract them to their product(s).
If the next expansion released for $5, there wouldn’t be any complaints about how it’s “unfair” that new players are getting more and so on. The entire complaint is really about some people disliking the price and using the promotional aspect for new players as a means to get the expansion cheaper.
This is all very similar to the whole complaints some players made years ago about the different editions of the core game and how newer players were getting bonuses that existing players did not get and how they felt that they were entitled to them.
(edited by Ayrilana.1396)
I’d have just had 2 groups. People who have bought and people who haven’t. So group one would be people who bought, either Core then HoT, HoT and unlocked the Core game with it or Core game but not HoT. Group 2 would be new players and F2P players.
So only two different prices, one for those who have bought the game in any way and one for people who haven’t.Unsurprisingly, there are still players that just have the core game (I have at least 2 guildies in such a position), which is why I included the middle group. As I said above, the need for such may eventually go away, at which point yes, we’d end up with just the two groups. Which, I did consider in my initial tiering.
Assuming they went with just 2 groups, one buys everything, the other just buys the most recent xpac, how then do we deal with someone that owns core and buys xpac2, but would also like hot? do they now need to be treated as a new player and buy the new player pack? (which is sort of what caused all the uproar with how they bundled core and hot with its initial release). do they offer each individual xpac for its own standalone price? does it come as part of the vet bundle? (would this in itself not cause an uproar from people complaining about rebuying what they already have?) Its not uncommon for MMOs to sell each xpac as its own thing, most of which stating right on their boxes that you need to own ‘x game’ for it to work, but anet didn’t want to go that route. They want to remove that pay wall altogether.
And again we’re right back to not being able to please everyone and the logic behind Anets packaging choices.
Sorry, I should have explained better what I was meaning by the 2 groups. Both would get Xpac2 and HoT. Just rather than having a tier for every different type People who have bought the game and people who haven’t.
So tier 1 would include HoT owners and paid core game owners.
They buy Xpac2 available at a lower price and get HoT with it if they don’t already have it.
Tier 2 would be F2P and new players
Their bundle would be Xpac 2, HoT and the core game.
Although before we get our hopes up, now the price of HoT is the same for a new player to buy as it is for a core game owner to upgrade.
I’d have just had 2 groups. People who have bought and people who haven’t. So group one would be people who bought, either Core then HoT, HoT and unlocked the Core game with it or Core game but not HoT. Group 2 would be new players and F2P players.
So only two different prices, one for those who have bought the game in any way and one for people who haven’t.Unsurprisingly, there are still players that just have the core game (I have at least 2 guildies in such a position), which is why I included the middle group. As I said above, the need for such may eventually go away, at which point yes, we’d end up with just the two groups. Which, I did consider in my initial tiering.
Assuming they went with just 2 groups, one buys everything, the other just buys the most recent xpac, how then do we deal with someone that owns core and buys xpac2, but would also like hot? do they now need to be treated as a new player and buy the new player pack? (which is sort of what caused all the uproar with how they bundled core and hot with its initial release). do they offer each individual xpac for its own standalone price? does it come as part of the vet bundle? (would this in itself not cause an uproar from people complaining about rebuying what they already have?) Its not uncommon for MMOs to sell each xpac as its own thing, most of which stating right on their boxes that you need to own ‘x game’ for it to work, but anet didn’t want to go that route. They want to remove that pay wall altogether.
And again we’re right back to not being able to please everyone and the logic behind Anets packaging choices.
Sorry, I should have explained better what I was meaning by the 2 groups. Both would get Xpac2 and HoT. Just rather than having a tier for every different type People who have bought the game and people who haven’t.
So tier 1 would include HoT owners and paid core game owners.
They buy Xpac2 available at a lower price and get HoT with it if they don’t already have it.Tier 2 would be F2P and new players
Their bundle would be Xpac 2, HoT and the core game.Although before we get our hopes up, now the price of HoT is the same for a new player to buy as it is for a core game owner to upgrade.
I think we’d still run into the same whine with your set up. Players that own HoT are going to kitten that they are buying something they already bought, when they purchased the new xpac.
shrug
You just cant please some people. But I get what you’re going for, and I’m not opposed to it.
Don’t look at me like that. Whatever you’ve heard, it’s probably not true.
Really depends. A core game owner could have bought it when it first came out. Another player could have started F2P then bought HoT during a sale. Not too sure about the figures but I’d not be surprised if the core game owner paid >3 times what the HoT owner in this example paid.
Then there are also people who bought the core game then bought HoT.
Thats why I’m thinking if Xpac2 is released a bundle just have 2 sets of prices, a lower one for people who have bought either or both before and a higher one for people who haven’t already bought.
Except nothing i said was baseless. It was entirely based in reality. I did pay those values. Yes i know base had been discounted, i know HoT is currently discounted. That does not change the cost associated and the fact that the current model is double dipping consumers.
A more reasonable model since the entire thing is Digital anyway is paying only for the content you do not own.
So to use your prices
10 – Core
30 – HoT
30 – Future (for sake of adhering to previously known statements)As opposed to what we had happen in the past
60 Core
50 HoT
50 againWhich is literally double dipping the consumers as there’s no reason for people to re-pay for content they already own.
That was “baseless insinuation” not baseless pricing. Insinuation, by the way, is, “an unpleasant hint or suggestion of something bad.” You made an insinuation about unethical behavior on ANet’s part. It’s baseless, and a cheap tactic to try to shame the company into charging you less.
As to price points … The current value of core GW2 is $0. That’s what it costs to play. The current price of HoT is $30, though if that will remain the case when XPac 2 drops is anyone’s guess. If Anet sticks to the announced business plan, HoT will no longer be for sale at any price. They might open HoT maps to PFF players, they might not.
What I hope they do is bundle core and HoT and have the new XPac priced separately, at whatever price they think it’s worth. Doubtless, there would still be complaints about the price, but at least all this muddled thinking around bundling would be put to rest.
Not sure however why some people still seem to expect tiered pricing, when Anet has made their policy on this clear long ago.
They have stated that all future expansions will be sold as a full game (i.e. Vanilla + all expansions). That is not mutually-exclusive to a tiered price model which they have NOT made any statements regarding as of yet.
…
“In the future, if we release further Guild Wars 2 expansions, we plan to offer all of the prior expansions, the core game, and the latest expansion for one single purchase price.”
How exactly do you get “tiered price model” from “single purchase price”?
If all the future expansions are going to be sold only as full game, and for a single price, the possibility of tiered price model does not exist.
Actions, not words.
Remember, remember, 15th of November
Remember, remember, 15th of November
In the past, I’ve purchased some console games that included an older game from the same publisher. I didn’t get a discount because I had purchased the older game when it was new. I’ve also purchased albums that I didn’t get a discount on, just because I had previously purchased some of the tracks as singles.
I would like to think that those interested enough to want to purchase an expansion would also want to support the development team that made such content available. But…
Edit: Bah, typos!
(edited by Inculpatus cedo.9234)
I expect to pay whatever the game is worth. If it is an entire game’s worth of content, than I expect to pay the average price for a game. If it is an expansion’s worth of content, I expect to pay about the average for an expansion. What came before means NOTHING. Human beings are continuing to create additional content, and those human beings require payment for their time and services. I don’t expect them to work for a discount, or for free, and no one else should either.
How many people expecting a discount on the next product release because they bought the last give their employer a payroll discount on this year’s pay because they were paid last year?
For me, price doesn’t matter – content does.
If i like it, i buy it, if i don’t like it, like HoT, i avoid it.
Just my 2 cents
In the past, I’ve purchased some console game that included and older game from the same publisher. I didn’t get a discount because I had purchased the older game when it was new. I’ve also purchased albums that I didn’t get a discount on, just because I had previously purchased some of the tracks as singles.
I would like to think that those interested enough to want to purchase an expansion would also want to support the development team that made such content available. But…
But this is an expansion for the same game. Wasn’t the new console game available on it’s own?
In the past, I’ve purchased some console game that included and older game from the same publisher. I didn’t get a discount because I had purchased the older game when it was new. I’ve also purchased albums that I didn’t get a discount on, just because I had previously purchased some of the tracks as singles.
I would like to think that those interested enough to want to purchase an expansion would also want to support the development team that made such content available. But…
But this is an expansion for the same game. Wasn’t the new console game available on it’s own?
Same price, with or without.
It really doesn’t matter. The Devs are entitled to be paid for the work they do; whether they spent 2 years creating stand-alone content, or content that comes bundled with previous content. I don’t really understand why that seems such a difficult concept to grasp.
Some of you need to stop begging for more freebies and discounts on a game that has $0 in monthly access fees.
If some of you want some super deal then wait a year after the next xpac launches.
It’s like nobody buys anything on the gem store to support the game, right?
The expansion should not cost the same for existing players as it does for new players if the new players get everything existing players paid for. There’s not really any ethical way around that. And yes, new customers should get LS unlocked. It’s a big part of the content.
How many people expecting a discount on the next product release because they bought the last give their employer a payroll discount on this year’s pay because they were paid last year?
That’s an inane-sounding analogy so maybe you could ’splain it?
Some of you need to stop begging for more freebies and discounts on a game that has $0 in monthly access fees.
If some of you want some super deal then wait a year after the next xpac launches.
It’s like nobody buys anything on the gem store to support the game, right?
The expansion should not cost the same for existing players as it does for new players if the new players get everything existing players paid for. There’s not really any ethical way around that. And yes, new customers should get LS unlocked. It’s a big part of the content.
New players do not get everything that veteran players paid for.
How many people expecting a discount on the next product release because they bought the last give their employer a payroll discount on this year’s pay because they were paid last year?
That’s an inane-sounding analogy so maybe you could ’splain it?
Anet provides a service for which players pay.
Workers provide a service for which employers pay.
Some people are arguing that because some players have paid for the service in the past they should have access to future service at a discounted rate.
So employers should get a discount from workers (or at least from those making the argument that its unethical for Anet to charge existing customers full price for expansions) for future service as well…right?
The expansion should not cost the same for existing players as it does for new players if the new players get everything existing players paid for.
New players DON’T get everything existing players paid for, even outside Living Story. They miss our on the experience of playing through the game’s content when it was relevant.
And there’s nothing unethical about giving someone something, then another thing, then giving both of those things later to someone else.
(edited by Sartharina.3542)
I don’t think any company would give discount at launch.
Maybe they will offer an incentive like extra character slot if you already own HoT or something.
Please nerf bag types instead of class skills!
Some of you need to stop begging for more freebies and discounts on a game that has $0 in monthly access fees.
If some of you want some super deal then wait a year after the next xpac launches.
It’s like nobody buys anything on the gem store to support the game, right?
The expansion should not cost the same for existing players as it does for new players if the new players get everything existing players paid for. There’s not really any ethical way around that. And yes, new customers should get LS unlocked. It’s a big part of the content.
I agree with you on the living story unlocks, for what it is worth. It would open up the field to, eg, have daily event completer run in the LS3 zones, which I think would be a good thing.
I think you are mistaken about what you bought, though. You don’t pay $X and get “guild wars 2”, you pay $X and get “guild wars 2 at this point in time.”
Is it an ethical issue that someone paid $60 at launch for HoT, but today I could purchase it for $30? After all, I’d be paying less than you did, for the same content, right?
The same is true of the next xpac: if they price it at $60 for everyone, and bundle HoT, all that means is someone could have waited until that point in time and gotten HoT for, effectively, $0.
On the other hand, they had to give something up for that, right? Like, not being able to play HoT for all the time from the launch of HoT to the launch of xpac2.
You are, in essence, arguing that discounting older products over time is an ethical failure. It’s … probably not an easy position to support.
Need to make money and make sure everyone gets paid. I’d expect $40-60 and I guess they would plan to include HoT in that? Gw2 still has the most consumer friendly business model of any current mmorpg that I am aware of. Everyone else seems to gate content/convenience features behind sub fee/cash shop/dlc.
Josre
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Zulu Ox Tactics [zulu]
Considering the quagmire that the HoT pricing caused for them, I’m hoping that they learned a lesson about price points.
Current players should be expected to pay no more than $30 for an expansion (ignoring any premium editions, of course). Whether you want to charge more for new players is up to you, but expansions+full game should not cost as much for someone who already has the full game.
The largest MMO releases their expansions at a $30 price point, this is true, but they ALSO require you to pay a monthly fee. A large amount of ANets total income, which means the money they get to continue making new content for this game, comes from initial sales rather than sub fees or EVEN from the gem store. $40 (or even $50 if there is enough content to justify) is not unfair for a game that doesn’t now, nor ever has required a sub for a business designed to make money.
Some of you need to stop begging for more freebies and discounts on a game that has $0 in monthly access fees.
If some of you want some super deal then wait a year after the next xpac launches.
It’s like nobody buys anything on the gem store to support the game, right?
The expansion should not cost the same for existing players as it does for new players if the new players get everything existing players paid for. There’s not really any ethical way around that. And yes, new customers should get LS unlocked. It’s a big part of the content.
Regardless of how you think the gem store sales work, the quarterly reports tell a different story. Early adopters to the expansion pay more essentially to fund whether or not there will BE a next expansion, just like movie sequels are made based on initial box office rather than what the film makes over its lifetime. Maybe you don’t like the system. Good for you, but that’s still the way the system works.
The largest MMO releases their expansions at a $30 price point, this is true, but they ALSO require you to pay a monthly fee.
Nope.
World of Warcraft: Legion is at kitten price point, as was Warlords of Draenor before it, and Mists of Pandaria before that, and Cataclysm before that, and Wrath of the Lich King before that, and The Burning Crusade before that.
The largest MMO releases their expansions at a $30 price point, this is true, but they ALSO require you to pay a monthly fee.
Nope.
World of Warcraft: Legion is at kitten price point, as was Warlords of Draenor before it, and Mists of Pandaria before that, and Cataclysm before that, and Wrath of the Lich King before that, and The Burning Crusade before that.
Yeah, when released all the WoW expansions retailed $10 below the industry standard price for a new standalone game. So did HoT, for that matter.
The largest MMO releases their expansions at a $30 price point, this is true, but they ALSO require you to pay a monthly fee.
Nope.
World of Warcraft: Legion is at kitten price point, as was Warlords of Draenor before it, and Mists of Pandaria before that, and Cataclysm before that, and Wrath of the Lich King before that, and The Burning Crusade before that.
Holy kitten, legion is $50? I remember BC being lower than that, but then it has been a long time since then, and that was also when I started, and also stopped playing cause I hated WoW but loved GW1.
Edit: But this only makes my point all the more valid… I will not complain if the new xpac is $50, because others expect that plus a sub fee. The amount I have spent on the the base game and then HoT, I feel I have gotten my money from in over 4000 hours of play time.
(edited by Sojourner.4621)
Maybe if Anet wasn’t as civilized with their monetization of the game and milked us for money,like 99% of the other MMOs do,there wouldn’t be posts suggesting that buying HoT 2 years ago made you eligible for a discount to the new expansion.
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lose a pip,win 2 pips,lose a pip,lose a pip…………..-
-Go go Espartz.-
lose a pip,win 2 pips,lose a pip,lose a pip…………..-
-Go go Espartz.-
You know, this just remindes me on giveaways on Steam. This weekend they gave away 5mio copies of Payday 2. Are people who payed for it before crying that someone gets it for free now?
I got my mobile phone contract with 1GB Internet volume per month included, one week later they offered the same contract with 2GB. Oh my god, that’s so terrible that other people get more for the same money!
That’s how life goes, just welcome the new players to the game and keep going.
Herleve – Ruins of Surmia