Guild Wars 2

Erm you’re asking for too much… Just a character slot would be enough, GW2 isn’t worth more than around 10 bucks now, or 800 gems.

Nope, i don’t think it would hurt them to be somewhat generous towards the core players. Rather the opposite.

VergilDeZaniah.3295:

Erm you’re asking for too much… Just a character slot would be enough, GW2 isn’t worth more than around 10 bucks now, or 800 gems.

Adding those things does not cost ANet one dime, they may loos some income from the holly Gem-Store but I think they would gain more by happy long term cumstomers, right?.

But right now ANet can’t even be bothered to a add char-slot and inventory / bank tap like they used to do with Factions and Nightfall.

The PR / CEO / WhatEver guy responsible for the current pre-sale should clear his desk.

Torgan DeBaku.9534:

VergilDeZaniah.3295:

Erm you’re asking for too much… Just a character slot would be enough, GW2 isn’t worth more than around 10 bucks now, or 800 gems.

Adding those things does not cost ANet one dime, they may loos some income from the holly Gem-Store but I think they would gain more by happy long term cumstomers, right?.

But right now ANet can’t even be bothered to a add char-slot and inventory / bank tap like they used to do with Factions and Nightfall.

The PR / CEO / WhatEver guy responsible for the current pre-sale should clear his desk.

Indeed, it would hurt the direct economy…

What if everybody thought like that: if they are too cheap to offer one slot, why even bother buying each and every new armor? That only hurts them, not us: we can play with what we are given without given a single dime. Give the crowd one present and they’ll be more prone to helping you, charge them for everything and you’ll get the bare necessities…

Torgan DeBaku.9534:

…

That is why it’s priced as high as a new title at $50.

Because GW2: Heart of Thorns now is GW2.

…

What you just said is that old players have to buy the game again just so they can play a more “complete” version.

ratche.6204:

umm the base game is not free… I picture the pricing conversation as going something like this:
Person 1: “……..so we’ll throw in the old game and charge 50 bucks for it.”

Person 2 “Oh kitten, the vets are gonna be mad we’re charging them for the old game again when they won’t even be able to use it, we better make something up to tell them”

Person 1 " lets just tell them the base game is a freebie added in, they will buy that"

Person 2 “nobody’s going to believe that , anyone with even the most basic knowledge of economics will realize that’s not true”

Person 1 “who cares? lets go take a money bath!”

person 2 “Yay”

lol good one.
i think it went more like this though

person 1: “so expansion will be 50$”

person 2: “Isnt this a little, well high for an expansion?”

person 1: “just tell them it comes with the core game. new players will love that.”

person 2: " what about people that own the game?"

person 1: " who cares , they will buy it anyways. They might get a little whinie, but they will get over it."

person 2: " Well we could give them a free character slot."

person 1: “you are fired.”

matrix seishin.5312:

Torgan DeBaku.9534:

…

That is why it’s priced as high as a new title at $50.

Because GW2: Heart of Thorns now is GW2.

…

What you just said is that old players have to buy the game again just so they can play a more “complete” version.

Exactly. New cumstomers buy the new version. The “added GW2 for free so they can play right now” is a lie. Long time cumstomers already playing have to buy a newer GW2 “again” in the form of GW2: HoT as ANets simply does not offer a version to upgrade your “old” GW2 to the new GW2: HoT version.

Its like instead of releasing “Eye ot the North” the way they did – as a true expansion, lower price tag and all – they had merged it in to Prophecies: Eye of the North, a Propehcies 1.1, not offering EoT as an Upgrade / Addon. Imagine the kitten storm this would have caused back then.

Thats what they are doing right now.

selan.8354:

lol good one.
i think it went more like this though

person 1: “so expansion will be 50$”

person 2: “Isnt this a little, well high for an expansion?”

person 1: “just tell them it comes with the core game. new players will love that.”

person 2: " what about people that own the game?"

person 1: " who cares , they will buy it anyways. They might get a little whinie, but they will get over it."

person 2: " Well we could give them a free character slot."

person 1: “you are fired.”

Lol, that last line

1 year later…..GW2 the Mist Dragon includes GW2 heart of Thorns + The Mist Dragon expansion. We offer it as a bundle for new players….

Torgan DeBaku.9534:

Exactly. New cumstomers buy the new version. The “added GW2 for free” is a lie. Long time cumstomers already playing have to buy GW2 “again” in the form of GW2: HoT as ANets simply does not offer a version to upgrade your “old” GW2 to the new GW2: HoT version.

Its like instead of releasing “Eye ot the North” the way they did – as a true expansion, lower price tag and all – they had merged it in to Prophecies: Eye of the North, a Propehcies 1.1, not offering EoT as an Upgrade / Addon. Imagine the kitten storm this would have caused back then.

Thats what they are doing right now.

I see what you mean and what you are saying is total bulls***. I bought GW2 and even after they release HoT, even if it becomes GW2:HoT I would still be able to play GW2 without HoT. I should not have to buy the game again just to play what I already have + a few more maps, a new profession & a bit more content. GW2:HoT will never be considered a separate game since it contains GW2. It’s like if I bought Half Life 2, and then bought HL2 Episode 1 and it had HL2 attached to it.

matrix seishin.5312:

Torgan DeBaku.9534:

Exactly. New cumstomers buy the new version. The “added GW2 for free” is a lie. Long time cumstomers already playing have to buy GW2 “again” in the form of GW2: HoT as ANets simply does not offer a version to upgrade your “old” GW2 to the new GW2: HoT version.

Its like instead of releasing “Eye ot the North” the way they did – as a true expansion, lower price tag and all – they had merged it in to Prophecies: Eye of the North, a Propehcies 1.1, not offering EoT as an Upgrade / Addon. Imagine the kitten storm this would have caused back then.

Thats what they are doing right now.

I see what you mean and what you are saying is total bulls***. I bought GW2 and even after they release HoT, even if it becomes GW2:HoT I would still be able to play GW2 without HoT. I should not have to buy the game again just to play what I already have + a few more maps, a new profession & a bit more content. GW2:HoT will never be considered a separate game since it contains GW2. It’s like if I bought Half Life 2, and then bought HL2 Episode 1 and it had HL2 attached to it.

You read what I wrote but you did not get it. Of course ANet is not pulling the plug on players who stay with a “GW2 only” account. That wouldn’t cause a kitten storm it would cause a super novae explosion on the internet if they did that.

But one thing I guarantee you: not too far in the future ANet will make changes to GW2, based on new tech injected with HoT, that WILL force you to buy HoT.

GW2: HoT is the new GW2 ANet wants to establish as their foundation and they will kill the old one slowely untill only GW2: HoT players are left.

Edit:

1 year later…..GW2 the Mist Dragon includes GW2 heart of Thorns + The Mist Dragon expansion. We offer it as a bundle for new players….

He / she got what I was saying.

double post sry.

matrix seishin.5312:

It’s like if I bought Half Life 2, and then bought HL2 Episode 1 and it had HL2 attached to it.

The Orange Box originally released with HL2 attached to it, even though it was actually the release method of HL2E2. So your comparison is spot on, just not how you hoped.

The Kraken.2347:

The price for HOT stand alone ONLY is $50, that is the price of the expansion…. Ok, still following…… Base game is included free to make it easier for new players to get into, which is a good thing.

I still dont understand why so many arent paying attention and think they are buying the original and the expansion.. HOT cost $50, thats what your paying for.

Because HoT is not worth $50 of content. The only remaining way to justify that price tag is that they included the value of the core game which was being sold for $40 up until they announced HoT pre-order. I can’t believe some many aren’t seeing what Anet just tried to pull on us.

Torgan DeBaku.9534:

…

But one thing I guarantee you: not too far in the future ANet will make changes to GW2, based on new tech injected with HoT, that WILL force you to buy HoT.

GW2: HoT is the new GW2 ANet wants to establish as their foundation and they will kill the old one slowely untill only GW2: HoT players are left.

If they do that, they will lose a lot of players. They will be crippled but they might get back up. However the loss will be too big to risk. I get what you said, I simply don’t agree and don’t believe that that’s what they’ll do. To keep old players they should offer them just a HoT upgrade for a lower price. That way future player will buy the new GW2:HoT directly for 50$ and old players will extend GW2 to GW2:HoT for 30$ for example.

The Kraken.2347:

The price for HOT stand alone ONLY is $50, that is the price of the expansion…. Ok, still following…… Base game is included free to make it easier for new players to get into, which is a good thing.

I still dont understand why so many arent paying attention and think they are buying the original and the expansion.. HOT cost $50, thats what your paying for.

Oh! So they said it’s free? I didn’t realize there are few thousands of people complaining on different language forums and nobody noticed that…… :0
Ever heard of…. marketing or economics?….. Cost distribution? No? Ok…. Just asking…..

50$ price is in fact is in fact a newbie deal which is designed to make people buy both at once, which means old people pay more than just for expansion, but that allows the price to be lowered for new players.

The cost for HoT should be:
-new people: core game 40$(?) +30$ (or so) for xpac
-old players: 30$ for xpac (obviously core game is already paid for)

To reduce cost of core game for new players they just distributed it among ALL existing and potential players:
-new people: 50$ (for portion of core game + xpac)
-old players: 50$ (for xpac + portion of new players’ core game) + whatever they already paid for the core game

matrix seishin.5312:

(…) To keep old players they should offer them just a HoT upgrade for a lower price. That way future player will buy the new GW2:HoT directly for 50$ and old players will extend GW2 to GW2:HoT for 30$ for example.

Agreed 100%.

The big question now is: why the frack did ANet think it was a good idea to NOT offer such a package? Stupidity? Greediness? Ivory tower syndrome? Whatever it was it was dumb as hell.

Anet doesnt owe any vet players a kittening thing. You got your monies worth and they want to bring in more players. Youve gotten your free skins, youve gotten your free level 20 characters multiple times, a free level 80 if you werent stupid. I have a level 80 whatever I want right now when HoT hits, youve gotten to see the living stories for free and the newcomers have to pay to see it.

Im a vet player, though I’ve been off and on i started about a month after release and I’ve gotten so much that these new players dont have access too. The only people who should be complaining is the people who bought GW2 a few months before HoT pre-orders were released. Those are the only people who got screwed over.

If you dont think the expansion is worth it at this point with the limited information, dont buy it. Some of you vets make it look like the playerbase just wants everything for free. “Wah I want a free character slot” “Wah I want a free skin for being a vet player”… shut the kitten up already.

You want a free character slot, go get some gold and convert that into gems and get one, you want a free skin, do the same thing.

They dont owe you anything, get it through you kittening skulls already.

MEH, it boils down to weather you have gotten $50 worth of value out of the game thusfar; I have. Let the newcomers have their fun.

I bought the ultimate edition and even though I work weekends, I am happy to support ANet in this way. Now about consume conditions?!?

Torgan DeBaku.9534:

matrix seishin.5312:

(…) To keep old players they should offer them just a HoT upgrade for a lower price. That way future player will buy the new GW2:HoT directly for 50$ and old players will extend GW2 to GW2:HoT for 30$ for example.

Agreed 100%.

The big question now is: why the frack did ANet think it was a good idea to NOT offer such a package? Stupidity? Greediness? Ivory tower syndrome? Whatever it was it was dumb as hell.

It is their new business model. They are charging 50$ flat for HoT because they believe going forward that $50 for a ~2 year cycle of updates is a fair value. While at the same time reducing gem store output and (maybe) expanding LS via free HoT updates.

“Just tell them the base game is included for free, they will buy that.”

We know, and there isn’t enough content in HoT to justify paying that.

I even doubt there is enough content to justify the price of a normal expansion.

The Kraken.2347:

Also keep in mind, if you think the price is high, your not paying a monthly subscription. It cost money to keep this game running, if you want to keep playing it, dont complain about the price, or just go play wow.

Of course you can keep playing without question, dignity and respect as a slave.

Not for opening more and more “white knight” defenses, the issue will be buried.

Keep this in mind.

The Kraken.2347:

The price for HOT stand alone ONLY is $50, that is the price of the expansion….

Do you really, honestly believe, that the core game included in the bundle costs nothing and noone is paying for it at all?

The Kraken.2347:

The price for HOT stand alone ONLY is $50, that is the price of the expansion…. Ok, still following…… Base game is included free to make it easier for new players to get into, which is a good thing.

I still dont understand why so many arent paying attention and think they are buying the original and the expansion.. HOT cost $50, thats what your paying for.

Oh they understand it, what you dont seem to grasp is that people dont think HOT is worth $50.

Jongi.7612:

Anet doesnt owe any vet players a kittening thing. You got your monies worth and they want to bring in more players. Youve gotten your free skins, youve gotten your free level 20 characters multiple times, a free level 80 if you werent stupid. I have a level 80 whatever I want right now when HoT hits, youve gotten to see the living stories for free and the newcomers have to pay to see it.

Im a vet player, though I’ve been off and on i started about a month after release and I’ve gotten so much that these new players dont have access too. The only people who should be complaining is the people who bought GW2 a few months before HoT pre-orders were released. Those are the only people who got screwed over.

If you dont think the expansion is worth it at this point with the limited information, dont buy it. Some of you vets make it look like the playerbase just wants everything for free. “Wah I want a free character slot” “Wah I want a free skin for being a vet player”… shut the kitten up already.

You want a free character slot, go get some gold and convert that into gems and get one, you want a free skin, do the same thing.

They dont owe you anything, get it through you kittening skulls already.

wow someone got up on the wrong side of the bed. How about this, they owe us the truth. Instead of the bs line about the core game being a freebie added on, just tell the truth.

Not that they will, it would look pretty crappy if they said “well you have to spend a bit more to pay for the core game, which you already have so will never use,
but it will make things cheaper for new players.”

Yeah that wouldn’t go over too well, but I personally would be less annoyed then with the lie of it being a freebie. It’s actually a bit insulting that they thought we were dumb enough to believe that. so I guess in my opinion they owe me two things as a loyal customer. The truth AND not to be treated like an idiot.

Jitsuryoku.9038:

The Kraken.2347:

The price for HOT stand alone ONLY is $50, that is the price of the expansion…. Ok, still following…… Base game is included free to make it easier for new players to get into, which is a good thing.

I still dont understand why so many arent paying attention and think they are buying the original and the expansion.. HOT cost $50, thats what your paying for.

Oh! So they said it’s free? I didn’t realize there are few thousands of people complaining on different language forums and nobody noticed that…… :0
Ever heard of…. marketing or economics?….. Cost distribution? No? Ok…. Just asking…..

50$ price is in fact is in fact a newbie deal which is designed to make people buy both at once, which means old people pay more than just for expansion, but that allows the price to be lowered for new players.

The cost for HoT should be:
-new people: core game 40$(?) +30$ (or so) for xpac
-old players: 30$ for xpac (obviously core game is already paid for)

To reduce cost of core game for new players they just distributed it among ALL existing and potential players:
-new people: 50$ (for portion of core game + xpac)
-old players: 50$ (for xpac + portion of new players’ core game) + whatever they already paid for the core game

nicely put. I’ve been thinking this may have been a part of it too but that would be a huge scumbag move.

The Kraken.2347:

The price for HOT stand alone ONLY is $50, that is the price of the expansion…. Ok, still following…… Base game is included free to make it easier for new players to get into, which is a good thing.

I still dont understand why so many arent paying attention and think they are buying the original and the expansion.. HOT cost $50, thats what your paying for.

Base game + xpac is $50 unless you have the base game. In which case the x-pac cost $50.
The only way to get the base game is to pay $50.

It does not matter how “free” the bonus is. If it is part of a bundle, you are paying for it. Regardless of whether or not you actually get the bonus.

Astralporing.1957:

The Kraken.2347:

The price for HOT stand alone ONLY is $50, that is the price of the expansion….

Do you really, honestly believe, that the core game included in the bundle costs nothing and noone is paying for it at all?

That would imply it still has an actual cost, it also depends on who you believe is eating the cost, if its players or Anet. It is more believable that as a company it is worth eating the potential profit to promote new players, ensure that all new players are “up to speed” with new content, and be able to streamline their distribution, instead of keeping what is in a sense legacy content separate.

So people might be upset, but some rationality and business sense would tell you that Anet isn’t out to get you. They may not have handled things great, and their PR has been terrible, but that they are trying to subsidize a expansion with a 4 year old version of a game via players is a stretch.

BrooksP.4318:

matrix seishin.5312:

It’s like if I bought Half Life 2, and then bought HL2 Episode 1 and it had HL2 attached to it.

The Orange Box originally released with HL2 attached to it, even though it was actually the release method of HL2E2. So your comparison is spot on, just not how you hoped.

Except that they didn’t remove HL2 because you already owned it.

BrooksP.4318:

Torgan DeBaku.9534:

matrix seishin.5312:

(…) To keep old players they should offer them just a HoT upgrade for a lower price. That way future player will buy the new GW2:HoT directly for 50$ and old players will extend GW2 to GW2:HoT for 30$ for example.

Agreed 100%.

The big question now is: why the frack did ANet think it was a good idea to NOT offer such a package? Stupidity? Greediness? Ivory tower syndrome? Whatever it was it was dumb as hell.

It is their new business model. They are charging 50$ flat for HoT because they believe going forward that $50 for a ~2 year cycle of updates is a fair value. While at the same time reducing gem store output and (maybe) expanding LS via free HoT updates.

What crystal ball are you using to know ANet is going to reduce “gem store output”? You truly believe ANet will stop selling pet rocks, whiplash swords and ludicrous looking Dwayna Outfits? Never.

BrooksP.4318:

Astralporing.1957:

The Kraken.2347:

The price for HOT stand alone ONLY is $50, that is the price of the expansion….

Do you really, honestly believe, that the core game included in the bundle costs nothing and noone is paying for it at all?

That would imply it still has an actual cost, it also depends on who you believe is eating the cost, if its players or Anet. It is more believable that as a company it is worth eating the potential profit to promote new players, ensure that all new players are “up to speed” with new content, and be able to streamline their distribution, instead of keeping what is in a sense legacy content separate.

If Anet is offering the core game at a deficit, (because offering it for free means not just forfeiting the potential income, but also suffering some costs – of the account maintenance and support at least) they will have to balance that deficit somehow. They have two sources for it – either by increasing revenues from gemshop (though if they could do that, they’d do it long ago), or by moving some part of that cost into HoT expansion price. In both cases the cost is ultimately extracted from all players, both veterans and new ones.

…which means, that veteran players are meant to pay in part for the “free” core game for newcomers, while getting absolutely nothing for it.

RabbitUp.8294:

BrooksP.4318:

matrix seishin.5312:

It’s like if I bought Half Life 2, and then bought HL2 Episode 1 and it had HL2 attached to it.

The Orange Box originally released with HL2 attached to it, even though it was actually the release method of HL2E2. So your comparison is spot on, just not how you hoped.

Except that they didn’t remove HL2 because you already owned it.

The keys were combined, so having 2 copies was pointless. In the same way that getting a single key for HoT means you can either apply to current or create a new.

Astralporing.1957:

If Anet is offering the core game at a deficit, (because offering it for free means not just forfeiting the potential income, but also suffering some costs – of the account maintenance and support at least) they will have to balance that deficit somehow. They have two sources for it – either by increasing revenues from gemshop (though if they could do that, they’d do it long ago), or by moving some part of that cost into HoT expansion price. In both cases the cost is ultimately extracted from all players, both veterans and new ones.

…which means, that veteran players are meant to pay in part for the “free” core game for newcomers, while getting absolutely nothing for it.

Pretty sure their support and maintenance is unified, so it is actually more cost effective to shift your people into supporting current, instead of legacy. So just having a single version, HoT. would simplify the process. They are banking in the idea that simplifying the entry will make up for any potential loss by attracting more players. Also the surge in gem store items recently, and the hype around removal of others could have boosted any reserve they needed.

The only cost that players are supplementing by buying the expansion, is actually those vets who don’t upgrade. Since they are adding in some HoT content for those users.

Ronah Lynda.2496:

1 year later…..GW2 the Mist Dragon includes GW2 heart of Thorns + The Mist Dragon expansion. We offer it as a bundle for new players….

1 year lol, you’re quite optimist.

Seriously though, I think that would be the right thing to do, removing barriers from new players so you can play any content with them is great.

Found this video on YT. Pretty funny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=?