Guild Wars 2

Fenar.4025:

Price of games has not kept up with the general rate of inflation, and also it is far more expensive to make AAA video games now than it was in the past, so you could argue that the rate of inflation for games is even greater than inflation in general.

Ok, I exaggerated when I said significantly inflated since they (the games) have pretty much stayed around 60$ over the past many (10ish?) years. But in a way, one thing I was also referring to, when I did say inflation, is the fact that in the past there was no types of micro transactions for games, be it as DLC or extra play time in the case of many “free-to-play” games (i.e. games like Candy Crush Saga).

Companies are basically subsidizing the cost of new games and then making their profits from selling DLC and expansions. Just the way the industry works. It’s also why you see so many “free-to-play” MMOs. They really aren’t free. You end up spending a boat load on DLC just to get basic functionality or to be competitive. You should think of them more like a free trial than an actual game.

On this point I agree, but it may not have sounded like that on my post. I apologize for the confusion.

DmnSrph.5347:

Fenar.4025:

Price of games has not kept up with the general rate of inflation, and also it is far more expensive to make AAA video games now than it was in the past, so you could argue that the rate of inflation for games is even greater than inflation in general.

Ok, I exaggerated when I said significantly inflated since they (the games) have pretty much stayed around 60$ over the past many (10ish?) years. But in a way, one thing I was also referring to, when I did say inflation, is the fact that in the past there was no types of micro transactions for games, be it as DLC or extra play time in the case of many “free-to-play” games (i.e. games like Candy Crush Saga).

Companies are basically subsidizing the cost of new games and then making their profits from selling DLC and expansions. Just the way the industry works. It’s also why you see so many “free-to-play” MMOs. They really aren’t free. You end up spending a boat load on DLC just to get basic functionality or to be competitive. You should think of them more like a free trial than an actual game.

On this point I agree, but it may not have sounded like that on my post. I apologize for the confusion.

I wasn’t really disagreeing with everything you were saying. Just pointing out that games are actually cheaper these days when you take inflation into account. DLC and microtransactions are where the real money is at. I mean, just think how easy it is for someone to spend $10 for, let’s say, a character slot. Some people complain but most pay. $50 for an expansion is cheap in comparison.

ScorpioSting.5917:

I want to clarify that I am not “envious” about ppl that want to spend money like this, I just think that a price should be fair.

That’s a pretty interesting customer model you have come up with there. What in your mind, determines a ‘fair’ price for the expansion and furthermore, what information do you have that allows you to determine that it’s not? Promise I won’t roll my eyes or laugh when you give an answer.

Fenar.4025:

adormtil.1605:

Fenar.4025:

DmnSrph.5347:

ArmoredVehicle.2849:

Yup, totally agreed. No wonder such scummy marketing tactics keep existing.

Not necessarily. The price of games have significantly inflated from what PC gaming was years ago. I believe when my dad bought me StarCraft it was only 40$. Now most baseline games cost 60$. Many expansions and DLC have varying costs depending on the amount of things they are adding. Most “true” expansions cost 40$-50$ with the prices shifting to the latter. DLC are far cheaper but its what I would compare to the Gem Store.

These marketing tactics may have been considered “scummy” in the past but with the all the the free gaming that exists now a days ranging from Candy Crush Saga to truly free MMOs these tactics have become the norm otherwise many of these companies couldn’t compete.

Additionally, I don’t find this as scummy. They told me what I was going to get, and I was satisfied with it, so I bought it. This is not like haggling on the streets of New York, or anywhere else in the world for that matter. This is like going to WalMart and buy a new TV that’s 1000$. If you don’t like it don’t buy it or wait for it to go on sale.

Edit: Added the last paragraph.

Price of games has not kept up with the general rate of inflation, and also it is far more expensive to make AAA video games now than it was in the past, so you could argue that the rate of inflation for games is even greater than inflation in general.

Companies are basically subsidizing the cost of new games and then making their profits from selling DLC and expansions. Just the way the industry works. It’s also why you see so many “free-to-play” MMOs. They really aren’t free. You end up spending a boat load on DLC just to get basic functionality or to be competitive. You should think of them more like a free trial than an actual game.

Really is this true even for games like GTA V, The Witcher 3, Dragon Age:Inquisition that sold more then 10 million copies?
Only GTA V did that but you get my point.

Games that sell more copies make more money and are more profitable. Most games do not sell 10 million copies, though. I think GW2 (which is a fairly successful MMO) has only sold like 5-6 million copies over 3 years. Not sure about exact numbers, but it’s not 10 million. That includes China, I believe.

GW2 also has been putting out free content over the last several years, and that cost the Anet money to make. Witcher 3 is a new game and will probably have some additional content added. I know GTA V has added some free updates, but it is still a young game and is one of those mega blockbusters that can make a lot of money by just selling the base game. Dragon Age has 3 DLCs already.

If you sell 3 million copies in the first or month at the price of 60$ you get 180 millions so how much do video game companies spend in a making a video game?
I will answer you this The Witcher 3 spend a total of 34 million with most being marketing. Do you how many copies they sold 4 million. They got a mountain of profit just with the base game.
So this proves that dlc is greed.

did someone forget to carry the one and include salaries for 281 people, 3rd party studio rentals, marketing, server costs, healthcare ? all while keeping investors happy and entertained ? for 3 years ? maybe ? -smh-

Ricky.4706:

did someone forget to carry the one and include salaries for 281 people, 3rd party studio rentals, marketing, server costs, healthcare ? all while keeping investors happy and entertained ? for 3 years ? maybe ? -smh-

Assuming that average earning for a employee for GW 2 is 40k a year for 281 people is around 34 million that Arena Net had to pay until now. I have no idea what those 3rd party studio rentals do, marketing is lets say 30 million for these 3 years, the server cost its lets say another 30 million, health care is another 30 million so in total it will be 124 million dollar in 3 years spent hey lets put 30 million for 3rd party studio rentals in total being 154 million spent in 3 years. So assuming they sold 6 million in 3 years it is a total of 240 million won. That is only game copies lets add the money they gained from gem store and I wonder how much profit they have?
do not be tricked by all the people who say that video game companies only have profit from dlc and subscriptions. You just need to do the math.

MiniEquine.6014:

The cost is now in line with other companies, so I’m not seeing the issue.

I can’t tell if the amount of content is in line with other companies. That’s my issue.

Hopefully, betas with no NDA will give us much more information, and it will become clear whether HoT is really worth $50.

naw, i’m trying to consider it real world / realistically – we didn’t factor in ncsoft, then the costs of marketing – traveling to events – then there’s corporate taxes…so you know that kitten got trimmed

further you are going way back to 2009 – it would seem logical that’s what they were using to fund them to get where they are at now. that money gets spent fast while inflation doesn’t care. things happen

http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/most-shocking/5-billionaires-who-went-from-filthy-rich-to-flat-broke/

Ricky.4706:

naw, i’m trying to consider it real world / realistically – we didn’t factor in ncsoft, then the costs of marketing – traveling to events – then there’s corporate taxes…so you know that kitten got trimmed

further you are going way back to 2009 – it would seem logical that’s what they were using to fund them to get where they are at now. that money gets spent fast while inflation doesn’t care. things happen

http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/most-shocking/5-billionaires-who-went-from-filthy-rich-to-flat-broke/

I am pretty sure there where tens of million profit for ncsoft. 30 million I think its enough for marketing after the game was released. For example The witcher 3 publishers spent around 25 million for marketing and traveling to events and taxes things not directly related with the actual production of the game and that was when you needed as much exposure as possible.

yeah, that’s why i’m not quick to call it corporate greed -

this session alone, do you have any idea how much it costs to hire an orchestra at union scale ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex9McZRWi40

and this was for the living season, not an expansion. I’m pro music, and can tell you this session alone required a heck of a lot of character slots to be sold to recoup. it was certainly not a band-in-the- box production.

yall have the best team around, no questions – this is not dissing other teams …but these guys are definitely top shelf, that doesn’t come cheap :p

the question is now ….How do we keep them well fed without going broke ourselves!! lol

yeah that’s why GlassDoor is full of disgruntled Anet engineers complaining about incompetent/impetuous upper management, crappy pay, brutal deadlines etc…

Really don’t know why this question brings so much rage when someone complains about the paid value and the model presented here at HoT.

People rush to the battlefront like a real guardian to protect Anet business with shouts like:
- You’ve been playing for 3 years… the game is already paid!
- You don’t belong to here if you don’t wanna pay the expansion!
- Go and play another game if you are not satisfied!
- Anet launched content and did not charged us for that!
- etc, etc, etc…

People, don’t forget:
- We owe nothing to Anet. It’s a good company but we owe nothing;
- Anet isn’t doing any favors;
- Anet has a business model for GW2. They decided about B2P + gem store, so even though someone play for a decade, the service was totally paid and this should not be treated like a favor.
- It’s not only the base game and gems market that rule a game like this… the company needs us to logon in a regular basis… so the game can keep growing. Who wants to play a mmo as crowded as a desert at midday sun?

Don’t bother to pay it again? Feels like a good price to you? Nice! But don’t rush to diminish the ones believing that an extra slot is fair enough.

Let the berserker mode begins.

people who threw a fit over the price seem to be people who dont know the value of a game.

titles like COD spit out a “new” game + dlc every 9 months and people just play it for two weeks then buy another game like assassins creed, and so on. but no, its guildwars 2 who is ruining the industries pricing standards cuz all us whiteknight fanboys want to waste our money on a game that is still fun to us 3 years and thousands of hours later.

look at your steam library and tell me that all your purchases were “worth it for the amount of content” that you got out of it.

gah, it’s past midnight, now i gotta side with the players!

when are we getting ring of fire?! ^.^

Kara Hikarai.8397:

Okay, so I just want this clarified – there’s no JUST HoT expansion pack? Like what they did with Eye of the North? Because I love this game, don’t get me wrong, but I really don’t want to rebuy GW2…^^;

You’re not rebuying Guild Wars 2, though. You’re paying $50 for the expansion. That’s all. You’re paying $50 to unlock the new content and journey into the new areas, and get masteries and guild halls.

Anet has decided that the core game will be included in that for those who don’t already have it, because they want to remove a barrier of entry for new players. They sort of have to do this because other MMOs are. They have to remain competitive.

But the decision to make the expansion $50 was made before deciding to include the core game.

sorry you all but guild wars 2 is becoming like world of warcraft.
this is not cool if i wanted to pay for a Expansion for a game ill play world of warcraft and guild wars 2 still has not fix HOM to get your stuff from come on there try to be like wow but guild wars 1 and 2 is better then wow i will say this the only game i like more then gw2 is star trek online they dont make you pay for there Expansion.

vampiresslilith.1689:

sorry you all but guild wars 2 is becoming like world of warcraft.
this is not cool if i wanted to pay for a Expansion for a game ill play world of warcraft and guild wars 2 still has not fix HOM to get your stuff from come on there try to be like wow but guild wars 1 and 2 is better then wow i will say this the only game i like more then gw2 is star trek online they dont make you pay for there Expansion.

You mean if you wanted to pay for an expansion and a monthly fee? Are you somehow suggesting that Guild Wars 2 charges $15 a month like World of Warcraft, in addition to the price of an expansion?

Give me a break.

I bought the ultimate myself, especially since you get 4k gems for “half the price”*. But at the moment, I only play very sporadically, only tried the new trait system a bit. Very busy with Heroes of the Storm. Will be back though for betas and release ofc.

*well it’s in a bundle, so assuming the additional fluff is worth 25$/€

vampiresslilith.1689:

sorry you all but guild wars 2 is becoming like world of warcraft.
this is not cool if i wanted to pay for a Expansion for a game ill play world of warcraft and guild wars 2 still has not fix HOM to get your stuff from come on there try to be like wow but guild wars 1 and 2 is better then wow i will say this the only game i like more then gw2 is star trek online they dont make you pay for there Expansion.

GW2 was released as B2P game, so you should have expected ‘more expensive’ expansions and you should have expected them sooner, meaning HoT might have been the 3th expansion, meaning you would already have paid more by now.

So the fact that it cost $50,- does not make it more as WoW. In fact during the last 2,5 years GW2 has become more of a F2P game with a heavy focus on the cash-shop and that is why you now seem to expect a cheaper or even free expansion. Maybe they want to move back to the B2P model (then the price is reasonable), maybe not but if anything changed it was the turn to a model where you expect cheaper expansions. The fact that they now ask $50,- for the expansion is not a change from what GW2 originally was.

50$ for 3 maps, lmao sorry not gonna hapen. Want me to pay the full game price again? Gladly just double the size of the game world. For expansion that is less than 1/6 size of the game i can pay max 1/6 price of the game simple as that.

for all you people who think the price is to much here is a solution for you.
wait for the price to drop! it will eventually happen just like it did with gw2 ( you can buy it for $20 right now)

there all your problems are solved you get a great game at a price you thinks fair although you might have to wait a few years….LOL

Lucyfer.9517:

50$ for 3 maps, lmao sorry not gonna hapen. Want me to pay the full game price again? Gladly just double the size of the game world. For expansion that is less than 1/6 size of the game i can pay max 1/6 price of the game simple as that.

This is a very naive way of thinking.

First, it is under everyone’s understanding that there will be 3 maps, but no one know how large these maps will be. Your also forgetting all the other additions that will be made to the game, ranging from quality of life improvements to the addition of the mastery system, elite specializations, guild halls, etc. (There is at least one comprehensive list that has already been made based on the information that has been released.)

Second, No expansion EVER has doubled the content of the base game. Sure, they may have been cheaper but there are things that are mandatory for play that offset their costs such as subscription costs. For example Warlords of Draenor cost 50$ on release and it also has a subscription cost of at least 15$. Yes people may now buy game time with gold, but that costs someone else 20$ i.e. it really isn’t free.

Kharlus.3612:

Let the berserker mode begins.

This quote makes it sound that you have made a troll post just of the sake of starting an argument.

Kharlus.3612:

People, don’t forget:
- We owe nothing to Anet. It’s a good company but we owe nothing;
- Anet isn’t doing any favors;
- Anet has a business model for GW2. They decided about B2P + gem store, so even though someone play for a decade, the service was totally paid and this should not be treated like a favor.

Your right, nothing is owed to ArenaNet or NCSoft, but when a company make a product you enjoy most people find a way to support them, be it music, movies, or games. I know people that watch movies solely based on who directed them. I, personally, will always try a Blizzard game because for the most part they continue to impress me, (they have made some questionable calls every now and then but overall it works out.) I also really enjoy GW2, and purchasing the expansion to it, which ever package it may be, is one way I will support it.

Kharlus.3612:

- It’s not only the base game and gems market that rule a game like this… the company needs us to logon in a regular basis… so the game can keep growing. Who wants to play a mmo as crowded as a desert at midday sun?

Don’t bother to pay it again? Feels like a good price to you? Nice! But don’t rush to diminish the ones believing that an extra slot is fair enough.

I understand the top point, but I don’t know if it is viable in this topic, as I don’t know if I’ve seen emptiness in the game yet.

The bottom point to this quote I don’t understand.

Imho the people complaining about the $50,- (what under the current circumstances is not completely unreasonable) should not now be complaining about the $50,- but should the last 2,5 have been complaining about the cash-shop focus (you know, like I did). Because for a B2P game (What GW2 was supposed to be) kitten,- expansion in completely reasonable, however the heavy cash-shop focus in stead of having those items in the game-word is not reasonable.

However, what happened is that some people got used to that but then now also expect the price of an expansion that you see with such cash-shop games. That is also why I say it’s not a completely unreasonable complain but I stay at my statement that they complain about the wrong thing.

I just want to leave it here

You all do realize..that it isn’t only just up to Anet, for what they charge for their game right? NCSoft can pretty much tell Anet they have to do something or drop sponsoring their game altogether..yeah 50 bucks might seem high to a lot of people, but to me..50 is what I’ve always expected from GW expansions. GW1 expansions were 50 bucks, besides EoTN, so I didn’t expect any different. They’re constantly adding more content through living story. They will build on what HoT has and go from there. If anything, they should have added all LS episodes for free with the expansion so brand new players as well as players who came in before HoT, can get caught up on everything instead of having to buy them, to truly catch up.

I played GW1 since vanilla and I am one of the veterans who isn’t upset about the pre-purchase pricing. It is, what it is. I think people may be a bit premature with all their gripes, we will see what all there is in the expansion in time, and we will continue to see the story unfold through the expansion. There will continue to be content regardless of how much this expansion costs. It won’t release for quite a bit of time yet..Expect an August release if we go by the initial GW2 release.

If people really can’t spend 50 bucks on an expansion then they shouldn’t be gaming at all, honestly. Some PC games are going to cost 50 bucks expansion or not, anyway. The amount of content won’t matter, it just depends on the company developing the game. For console games, they usually cost 50 bucks for like a Playstation game and that game is all you get for good til they release another sequel to it that will cost another 50 bucks. Say you buy Assassins Creed, it cost you 50 bucks and you got maybe 100 hours of a first play through, all you have left for that game is to keep playing it over and over, with it never really changing. PC gaming is far cheaper than console gaming is, in regards to the games themselves, and also offer more.

I understand a lot of people think it’s unfair, but what is all this complaining really going to do anyway? They most likely cannot change their pricing but they can alter what they put into the package for pre-purchasing.

SkiTz.4590:

Ashen.2907:

SkiTz.4590:

No ones whining about prices

People have been complaining about the price since it was announced. Not the only complaint but certainly a common one.

ScorpioSting.5917:

It became obvious why gaming industry makes jokes of us (50$ for a little expansion even for players that already have the game) with ppl like you throwing money like that… GG

dank.3680:

I showed them, 3 copies of GW2 in my house that won’t get updated till they sell it at a fair price.

It doesn’t take too much looking to see plenty of other price complaints.

Price whining is completely ignored by Anet.. it does nothing at all to whine about price.
That is not a legitimate complaint AT ALL and most sane ppl see that.
Everyone complains about pricing on every thing in this world. Everything is expensive to someone, speaking relatively.
Price whining was never a legit complaint falling on Anets ears, they could care less about what people think of the price tag, its pretty standard, most people see that when they compare it to other popular MMO price tags….
Its a useless complaint, no one paid any attention to. The most important complaint was never the price..

I wasn’t commenting about the merits of complaints about pricing. I was pointing out that, contrary to your claim, they exist.

ScorpioSting.5917:

Wow…

You guys should consider to tatoo on your hearth: “I love ANET”.

(-_-)

It became obvious why gaming industry makes jokes of us (50$ for a little expansion even for players that already have the game) with ppl like you throwing money like that… GG

well ACTUALLY.

think of it this way.

if u buy hot on its release, u’ll have 3 years of gametime in that expansion now, lets devide that over the 3 years, as its the replacement of the sub.

thats like… 0.8p (1.6Dollars) a Month, which is CHEAPER then anything on the market currently, so no actually those buying are smart and actually see this in their thoughts, Ur the reason companies laugh at us,

U see right through the MONTHS of playtime which DOES Cost money.

U see right through the countless content releases they do ALL THE TIME for free.

u see right through they give u a way to get gems WITHOUT paying.

u see right through the fact they have ZERO pay to win in their stores and force u into no purchase besides the expansion, its THEIR sub model, Devide it over the time u will Play and theres the real cost ur paying.

buying a phone instantly is ALWAYS cheaper then paying for a Contracted phone.

Same with sub v B2p.

VOLKON.1290:

ScorpioSting.5917:

Wow…

You guys should consider to tatoo on your hearth: “I love ANET”.

(-_-)

It became obvious why gaming industry makes jokes of us (50$ for a little expansion even for players that already have the game) with ppl like you throwing money like that… GG

Seriously, why not? For the years (literally) of enjoyment it’s a small investment. Besides… how do you define “little”? This promises to be quite the beefy expansion. Just look at what’s being added today under the “free” category… Anet’s earned my money.

The expansion itself might be worth 50 dollars if the guild halls are extremely awesome. It seems like they skimped on other content to focus on those because there’s no mention of new towns or dungeons, just a few open world areas.

That said, I also got the ultimate pack because the overall value was much better than the other options.

Drayos.8759:

ScorpioSting.5917:

Wow…

You guys should consider to tatoo on your hearth: “I love ANET”.

(-_-)

It became obvious why gaming industry makes jokes of us (50$ for a little expansion even for players that already have the game) with ppl like you throwing money like that… GG

well ACTUALLY.

think of it this way.

if u buy hot on its release, u’ll have 3 years of gametime in that expansion now, lets devide that over the 3 years, as its the replacement of the sub.

thats like… 0.8p (1.6Dollars) a Month, which is CHEAPER then anything on the market currently, so no actually those buying are smart and actually see this in their thoughts, Ur the reason companies laugh at us,

U see right through the MONTHS of playtime which DOES Cost money.

U see right through the countless content releases they do ALL THE TIME for free.

u see right through they give u a way to get gems WITHOUT paying.

u see right through the fact they have ZERO pay to win in their stores and force u into no purchase besides the expansion, its THEIR sub model, Devide it over the time u will Play and theres the real cost ur paying.

buying a phone instantly is ALWAYS cheaper then paying for a Contracted phone.

Same with sub v B2p.

You seem to not understand why people find it to high. Yes GW1 had the same price, yes I expected this price (and have no problem with it) and yes it’s a fair price for a B2P game.

The problem is that GW2 have been behaving as a cash-shop game the last 2,5 years, not like GW1, not like a B2P game so people who got used to that also expect the expansion to be the cost they see with other cash-shop games and that is in the range from free to max $40,-.

Imho they complain about the wrong thing, they complain about the price of the expansion while they should have complained about the cash-shop focus but thats another discussion. In the end the problem is that people now see GW2 as a different product and so expect a different price.

You compare it to a P2P game, but with a P2P game you also have all those items in the game that a cash-shop game has in the cash-chop (much like GW2) while a B2P would not have a focus on the cash-shop so would have them in the world.

On the other hand, with a B2P game you can expect to pay extra for additional character slots what you would not expect in a P2P game and with a P2P game you expect GM’s in-game answering your question what you also don’t really have in a B2P game.

So you can’t purely compare the 3 models only looking at the price, you also have to compair what they offer for it.

GW2 has been offering what many cash-shop game offer so now they expect the price of the expansion to be in the line of such a game.

If GW2 had been offering what you expect from a B2P game then the people where also expecting the price of the expansion to be more that of a B2P game.

Itzpapalotl.5802:

You all do realize..that it isn’t only just up to Anet, for what they charge for their game right? NCSoft can pretty much tell Anet they have to do something or drop sponsoring their game altogether..yeah 50 bucks might seem high to a lot of people, but to me..50 is what I’ve always expected from GW expansions. GW1 expansions were 50 bucks, besides EoTN, so I didn’t expect any different. They’re constantly adding more content through living story. They will build on what HoT has and go from there. If anything, they should have added all LS episodes for free with the expansion so brand new players as well as players who came in before HoT, can get caught up on everything instead of having to buy them, to truly catch up.

I played GW1 since vanilla and I am one of the veterans who isn’t upset about the pre-purchase pricing. It is, what it is. I think people may be a bit premature with all their gripes, we will see what all there is in the expansion in time, and we will continue to see the story unfold through the expansion. There will continue to be content regardless of how much this expansion costs. It won’t release for quite a bit of time yet..Expect an August release if we go by the initial GW2 release.

If people really can’t spend 50 bucks on an expansion then they shouldn’t be gaming at all, honestly. Some PC games are going to cost 50 bucks expansion or not, anyway. The amount of content won’t matter, it just depends on the company developing the game. For console games, they usually cost 50 bucks for like a Playstation game and that game is all you get for good til they release another sequel to it that will cost another 50 bucks. Say you buy Assassins Creed, it cost you 50 bucks and you got maybe 100 hours of a first play through, all you have left for that game is to keep playing it over and over, with it never really changing. PC gaming is far cheaper than console gaming is, in regards to the games themselves, and also offer more.

I understand a lot of people think it’s unfair, but what is all this complaining really going to do anyway? They most likely cannot change their pricing but they can alter what they put into the package for pre-purchasing.

Nice only people from the middle class in the rich western world countries should game it seems. And the 10% from the not as rich second world world countries and only 1% from the third world countries because hey video gaming is for the fortunate, smart and hard working. If you do not have all 3 of them you do not deserve to game.

adormtil.1605:

Itzpapalotl.5802:

You all do realize..that it isn’t only just up to Anet, for what they charge for their game right? NCSoft can pretty much tell Anet they have to do something or drop sponsoring their game altogether..yeah 50 bucks might seem high to a lot of people, but to me..50 is what I’ve always expected from GW expansions. GW1 expansions were 50 bucks, besides EoTN, so I didn’t expect any different. They’re constantly adding more content through living story. They will build on what HoT has and go from there. If anything, they should have added all LS episodes for free with the expansion so brand new players as well as players who came in before HoT, can get caught up on everything instead of having to buy them, to truly catch up.

I played GW1 since vanilla and I am one of the veterans who isn’t upset about the pre-purchase pricing. It is, what it is. I think people may be a bit premature with all their gripes, we will see what all there is in the expansion in time, and we will continue to see the story unfold through the expansion. There will continue to be content regardless of how much this expansion costs. It won’t release for quite a bit of time yet..Expect an August release if we go by the initial GW2 release.

If people really can’t spend 50 bucks on an expansion then they shouldn’t be gaming at all, honestly. Some PC games are going to cost 50 bucks expansion or not, anyway. The amount of content won’t matter, it just depends on the company developing the game. For console games, they usually cost 50 bucks for like a Playstation game and that game is all you get for good til they release another sequel to it that will cost another 50 bucks. Say you buy Assassins Creed, it cost you 50 bucks and you got maybe 100 hours of a first play through, all you have left for that game is to keep playing it over and over, with it never really changing. PC gaming is far cheaper than console gaming is, in regards to the games themselves, and also offer more.

I understand a lot of people think it’s unfair, but what is all this complaining really going to do anyway? They most likely cannot change their pricing but they can alter what they put into the package for pre-purchasing.

Nice only people from the middle class in the rich western world countries should game it seems. And the 10% from the not as rich second world world countries and only 1% from the third world countries because hey video gaming is for the fortunate, smart and hard working. If you do not have all 3 of them you do not deserve to game.

I find this to be unfair. Saying the game isn’t worth $50 because some people can’t afford it might make sense if the other two most popular MMOs weren’t both subscription that charged $15 a month plus the price of the game. So if you think $40 plus $15 a month is more expensive than $50 for a period of time longer than a year, you’d be wrong.

The cash shop is optional. Everything else in the game you can access for free. It’s not like some games where you buy areas, classes and races separately. It’s not like other games where if you don’t pay an “optional” monthly fee, you might as well not play at all. And it’s not like subscription games.

Guild Wars 2 is the cheapest MMO to play without some sort of ‘catch’, at least as far as the current AAA MMOs go.

If you’re only looking at the price of the box and nothing else, maybe you’d have a point.

Vayne.8563:

adormtil.1605:

Itzpapalotl.5802:

You all do realize..that it isn’t only just up to Anet, for what they charge for their game right? NCSoft can pretty much tell Anet they have to do something or drop sponsoring their game altogether..yeah 50 bucks might seem high to a lot of people, but to me..50 is what I’ve always expected from GW expansions. GW1 expansions were 50 bucks, besides EoTN, so I didn’t expect any different. They’re constantly adding more content through living story. They will build on what HoT has and go from there. If anything, they should have added all LS episodes for free with the expansion so brand new players as well as players who came in before HoT, can get caught up on everything instead of having to buy them, to truly catch up.

I played GW1 since vanilla and I am one of the veterans who isn’t upset about the pre-purchase pricing. It is, what it is. I think people may be a bit premature with all their gripes, we will see what all there is in the expansion in time, and we will continue to see the story unfold through the expansion. There will continue to be content regardless of how much this expansion costs. It won’t release for quite a bit of time yet..Expect an August release if we go by the initial GW2 release.

If people really can’t spend 50 bucks on an expansion then they shouldn’t be gaming at all, honestly. Some PC games are going to cost 50 bucks expansion or not, anyway. The amount of content won’t matter, it just depends on the company developing the game. For console games, they usually cost 50 bucks for like a Playstation game and that game is all you get for good til they release another sequel to it that will cost another 50 bucks. Say you buy Assassins Creed, it cost you 50 bucks and you got maybe 100 hours of a first play through, all you have left for that game is to keep playing it over and over, with it never really changing. PC gaming is far cheaper than console gaming is, in regards to the games themselves, and also offer more.

I understand a lot of people think it’s unfair, but what is all this complaining really going to do anyway? They most likely cannot change their pricing but they can alter what they put into the package for pre-purchasing.

Nice only people from the middle class in the rich western world countries should game it seems. And the 10% from the not as rich second world world countries and only 1% from the third world countries because hey video gaming is for the fortunate, smart and hard working. If you do not have all 3 of them you do not deserve to game.

I find this to be unfair. Saying the game isn’t worth $50 because some people can’t afford it might make sense if the other two most popular MMOs weren’t both subscription that charged $15 a month plus the price of the game. So if you think $40 plus $15 a month is more expensive than $50 for a period of time longer than a year, you’d be wrong.

The cash shop is optional. Everything else in the game you can access for free. It’s not like some games where you buy areas, classes and races separately. It’s not like other games where if you don’t pay an “optional” monthly fee, you might as well not play at all. And it’s not like subscription games.

Guild Wars 2 is the cheapest MMO to play without some sort of ‘catch’, at least as far as the current AAA MMOs go.

If you’re only looking at the price of the box and nothing else, maybe you’d have a point.

So the most popular MMO being WOW who has 10 million players out of 1.2 billion people that play video games on this planet. Maybe this will put things in perspective.
I will change some with the overwhelming majority.
The most popular MMO is Dungeon Fighter Online not WOW and guess what kind of subscription plan it has?

adormtil.1605:

So the most popular MMO being WOW who has 10 million players out of 1.2 billion people that play video games on this planet. Maybe this will put things in perspective.
I will change some with the overwhelming majority.
The most popular MMO is Dungeon Fighter Online not WOW and guess what kind of subscription plan it has?

These number’s are very skewed. Last time there was a subscription check at the end of the quarter for WoW the number is by down to 7.1 million with subs. There isn’t yet a way to see how many are able to play with WoW Tokens, but i highly doubt its as high as 3 million. The most people that play WoW, aside from Wrath of the Lich King, are when new expansions come out and usually a slight bump on new patches. When you looked up how many people play video games I’m pretty sure it said more than 1.2 billion.

PS: When your looking at video game popularity you should not Registered Users but Active Users. Dungeon Fighter Online may still be the largest played MMO, but the numbers change largely, for example WoW has over 100 million registered users but only 7.1 million that are subscribed (as of the end of last quarter).

Edit: Quoted the wrong thing and put in the correct quote. Also added last paragraph.

DmnSrph.5347:

adormtil.1605:

So the most popular MMO being WOW who has 10 million players out of 1.2 billion people that play video games on this planet. Maybe this will put things in perspective.
I will change some with the overwhelming majority.
The most popular MMO is Dungeon Fighter Online not WOW and guess what kind of subscription plan it has?

These number’s are very skewed. Last time there was a subscription check at the end of the quarter for WoW the number is by down to 7.1 million with subs. There isn’t yet a way to see how many are able to play with WoW Tokens, but i highly doubt its as high as 3 million. The most people that play WoW, aside from Wrath of the Lich King, are when new expansions come out and usually a slight bump on new patches. When you looked up how many people play video games I’m pretty sure it said more than 1.2 billion.

PS: When your looking at video game popularity you should not Registered Users but Active Users. Dungeon Fighter Online may still be the largest played MMO, but the numbers change largely, for example WoW has over 100 million registered users but only 7.1 million that are subscribed (as of the end of last quarter).

Edit: Quoted the wrong thing and put in the correct quote. Also added last paragraph.

Yep you are right and around 700 million of those over 1.2 billion people play MMO and the most popular of them are free to play with no subscription or pay for the expansions and yet one gets 1 billion a year and the other 897 million a year.
WTF is wrong with MMO its clear that you can make more profit if you are not greedy.
Edit to add more:
Dungeon Fighter Online has achieved over 3 million concurrent users during its peak in August 24, 2012 in China alone according to data released by Nexon.

It’s $40 if you count the character slot for pre-ordering (something that should have been part of the deal from the beginning).

I don’t understand the fuss, since now there is an incentive to pre-order the standard edition.

Before there was no incentive to pre-order assuming the beta events’ progress doesn’t get saved.

adormtil.1605:

Yep you are right and around 700 million of those over 1.2 billion people play MMO and the most popular of them are free to play with no subscription or pay for the expansions and yet one gets 1 billion a year and the other 897 million a year.
WTF is wrong with MMO its clear that you can make more profit if you are not greedy.
Edit to add more:
Dungeon Fighter Online has achieved over 3 million concurrent users during its peak in August 24, 2012 in China alone according to data released by Nexon.

And these games profit predominately from micro transactions. And yes, the transactions are not mandatory but dollar per dollar are more expensive than the ones than Black Lion Gem Store purchases in this game. (In DFO you can’t even change your look without A. deleting your character or B. paying for it. In GW2 you can at least get really lucky from the Black Lion Treasure Chest.

Also if your talking about MMOs don’t add games like League of Legends into the list. Yes, it grossed the most revenue than any game but we’re not talking about moba games.

Going back MMOs, when its hard to compare an MMO like WoW or GW2 to an MMO like DFO. and this reason is because its 2 completely different niches. The work needed to go into DFO is a lot less. It doesn’t need as many people to work on the game. Therefore less amounts of money to payout and more revenue.

DmnSrph.5347:

adormtil.1605:

Yep you are right and around 700 million of those over 1.2 billion people play MMO and the most popular of them are free to play with no subscription or pay for the expansions and yet one gets 1 billion a year and the other 897 million a year.
WTF is wrong with MMO its clear that you can make more profit if you are not greedy.
Edit to add more:
Dungeon Fighter Online has achieved over 3 million concurrent users during its peak in August 24, 2012 in China alone according to data released by Nexon.

And these games profit predominately from micro transactions. And yes, the transactions are not mandatory but dollar per dollar are more expensive than the ones than Black Lion Gem Store purchases in this game. (In DFO you can’t even change your look without A. deleting your character or B. paying for it. In GW2 you can at least get really lucky from the Black Lion Treasure Chest.

Also if your talking about MMOs don’t add games like League of Legends into the list. Yes, it grossed the most revenue than any game but we’re not talking about moba games.

Going back MMOs, when its hard to compare an MMO like WoW or GW2 to an MMO like DFO. and this reason is because its 2 completely different niches. The work needed to go into DFO is a lot less. It doesn’t need as many people to work on the game. Therefore less amounts of money to payout and more revenue.

No that is the revenue that does include the pay for employee, servers and others. But even if it will need as much amount of payout as GW2 or the lazy kittens at WOW it will still have more profit. you know why it had more profit because its a couple of times bigger then WOW in player population. You think 7 million subscribers is a lot think about the tens of millions of players that play DFO. Its not because they pay more with the micro transactions but because there so many players that just pay for them that is why it dwarfs the profit WOW has.
You want profit you go DFO way.

adormtil.1605:

Vayne.8563:

adormtil.1605:

Itzpapalotl.5802:

You all do realize..that it isn’t only just up to Anet, for what they charge for their game right? NCSoft can pretty much tell Anet they have to do something or drop sponsoring their game altogether..yeah 50 bucks might seem high to a lot of people, but to me..50 is what I’ve always expected from GW expansions. GW1 expansions were 50 bucks, besides EoTN, so I didn’t expect any different. They’re constantly adding more content through living story. They will build on what HoT has and go from there. If anything, they should have added all LS episodes for free with the expansion so brand new players as well as players who came in before HoT, can get caught up on everything instead of having to buy them, to truly catch up.

I played GW1 since vanilla and I am one of the veterans who isn’t upset about the pre-purchase pricing. It is, what it is. I think people may be a bit premature with all their gripes, we will see what all there is in the expansion in time, and we will continue to see the story unfold through the expansion. There will continue to be content regardless of how much this expansion costs. It won’t release for quite a bit of time yet..Expect an August release if we go by the initial GW2 release.

If people really can’t spend 50 bucks on an expansion then they shouldn’t be gaming at all, honestly. Some PC games are going to cost 50 bucks expansion or not, anyway. The amount of content won’t matter, it just depends on the company developing the game. For console games, they usually cost 50 bucks for like a Playstation game and that game is all you get for good til they release another sequel to it that will cost another 50 bucks. Say you buy Assassins Creed, it cost you 50 bucks and you got maybe 100 hours of a first play through, all you have left for that game is to keep playing it over and over, with it never really changing. PC gaming is far cheaper than console gaming is, in regards to the games themselves, and also offer more.

I understand a lot of people think it’s unfair, but what is all this complaining really going to do anyway? They most likely cannot change their pricing but they can alter what they put into the package for pre-purchasing.

Nice only people from the middle class in the rich western world countries should game it seems. And the 10% from the not as rich second world world countries and only 1% from the third world countries because hey video gaming is for the fortunate, smart and hard working. If you do not have all 3 of them you do not deserve to game.

I find this to be unfair. Saying the game isn’t worth $50 because some people can’t afford it might make sense if the other two most popular MMOs weren’t both subscription that charged $15 a month plus the price of the game. So if you think $40 plus $15 a month is more expensive than $50 for a period of time longer than a year, you’d be wrong.

The cash shop is optional. Everything else in the game you can access for free. It’s not like some games where you buy areas, classes and races separately. It’s not like other games where if you don’t pay an “optional” monthly fee, you might as well not play at all. And it’s not like subscription games.

Guild Wars 2 is the cheapest MMO to play without some sort of ‘catch’, at least as far as the current AAA MMOs go.

If you’re only looking at the price of the box and nothing else, maybe you’d have a point.

So the most popular MMO being WOW who has 10 million players out of 1.2 billion people that play video games on this planet. Maybe this will put things in perspective.
I will change some with the overwhelming majority.
The most popular MMO is Dungeon Fighter Online not WOW and guess what kind of subscription plan it has?

Is Dungeon Fighter a AAA MMO? I didn’t think so. If you think you can get more value out of it go ahead.

A Prius and a Lexus are both cars, but I know which one I’d rather have. I’m comparing the top 3 MMO with each other. You’ve got to compare the whole package or nothing at all.

VOLKON.1290:

Heh… bought two ultimates, one for my son and I. That’ll fix ’em!

Ah, it’s nice to be back after a hiatus. Anyone else making a HOT related return after some time off?

I am buying ultimate for myself and my girlfriend She needs a lot of gems for unlocks anyway. And I will even get 15€ refund for her account so it is just 85€

Vayne.8563:

adormtil.1605:

Vayne.8563:

adormtil.1605:

Itzpapalotl.5802:

You all do realize..that it isn’t only just up to Anet, for what they charge for their game right? NCSoft can pretty much tell Anet they have to do something or drop sponsoring their game altogether..yeah 50 bucks might seem high to a lot of people, but to me..50 is what I’ve always expected from GW expansions. GW1 expansions were 50 bucks, besides EoTN, so I didn’t expect any different. They’re constantly adding more content through living story. They will build on what HoT has and go from there. If anything, they should have added all LS episodes for free with the expansion so brand new players as well as players who came in before HoT, can get caught up on everything instead of having to buy them, to truly catch up.

I played GW1 since vanilla and I am one of the veterans who isn’t upset about the pre-purchase pricing. It is, what it is. I think people may be a bit premature with all their gripes, we will see what all there is in the expansion in time, and we will continue to see the story unfold through the expansion. There will continue to be content regardless of how much this expansion costs. It won’t release for quite a bit of time yet..Expect an August release if we go by the initial GW2 release.

If people really can’t spend 50 bucks on an expansion then they shouldn’t be gaming at all, honestly. Some PC games are going to cost 50 bucks expansion or not, anyway. The amount of content won’t matter, it just depends on the company developing the game. For console games, they usually cost 50 bucks for like a Playstation game and that game is all you get for good til they release another sequel to it that will cost another 50 bucks. Say you buy Assassins Creed, it cost you 50 bucks and you got maybe 100 hours of a first play through, all you have left for that game is to keep playing it over and over, with it never really changing. PC gaming is far cheaper than console gaming is, in regards to the games themselves, and also offer more.

I understand a lot of people think it’s unfair, but what is all this complaining really going to do anyway? They most likely cannot change their pricing but they can alter what they put into the package for pre-purchasing.

Nice only people from the middle class in the rich western world countries should game it seems. And the 10% from the not as rich second world world countries and only 1% from the third world countries because hey video gaming is for the fortunate, smart and hard working. If you do not have all 3 of them you do not deserve to game.

I find this to be unfair. Saying the game isn’t worth $50 because some people can’t afford it might make sense if the other two most popular MMOs weren’t both subscription that charged $15 a month plus the price of the game. So if you think $40 plus $15 a month is more expensive than $50 for a period of time longer than a year, you’d be wrong.

The cash shop is optional. Everything else in the game you can access for free. It’s not like some games where you buy areas, classes and races separately. It’s not like other games where if you don’t pay an “optional” monthly fee, you might as well not play at all. And it’s not like subscription games.

Guild Wars 2 is the cheapest MMO to play without some sort of ‘catch’, at least as far as the current AAA MMOs go.

If you’re only looking at the price of the box and nothing else, maybe you’d have a point.

So the most popular MMO being WOW who has 10 million players out of 1.2 billion people that play video games on this planet. Maybe this will put things in perspective.
I will change some with the overwhelming majority.
The most popular MMO is Dungeon Fighter Online not WOW and guess what kind of subscription plan it has?

Is Dungeon Fighter a AAA MMO? I didn’t think so. If you think you can get more value out of it go ahead.

A Prius and a Lexus are both cars, but I know which one I’d rather have. I’m comparing the top 3 MMO with each other. You’ve got to compare the whole package or nothing at all.

So what if its not a AAA MMO its still the biggest MMO in player population and in profit. Just because you are a AAA MMO you need to have a worse payment model and less profit?

adormtil.1605:

Vayne.8563:

adormtil.1605:

Vayne.8563:

adormtil.1605:

Itzpapalotl.5802:

snip
I played GW1 since vanilla and I am one of the veterans who isn’t upset about the pre-purchase pricing. It is, what it is. I think people may be a bit premature with all their gripes, we will see what all there is in the expansion in time, and we will continue to see the story unfold through the expansion. There will continue to be content regardless of how much this expansion costs. It won’t release for quite a bit of time yet..Expect an August release if we go by the initial GW2 release.

If people really can’t spend 50 bucks on an expansion then they shouldn’t be gaming at all, honestly. Some PC games are going to cost 50 bucks expansion or not, anyway. The amount of content won’t matter, it just depends on the company developing the game. For console games, they usually cost 50 bucks for like a Playstation game and that game is all you get for good til they release another sequel to it that will cost another 50 bucks. Say you buy Assassins Creed, it cost you 50 bucks and you got maybe 100 hours of a first play through, all you have left for that game is to keep playing it over and over, with it never really changing. PC gaming is far cheaper than console gaming is, in regards to the games themselves, and also offer more.

I understand a lot of people think it’s unfair, but what is all this complaining really going to do anyway? They most likely cannot change their pricing but they can alter what they put into the package for pre-purchasing.

Nice only people from the middle class in the rich western world countries should game it seems. And the 10% from the not as rich second world world countries and only 1% from the third world countries because hey video gaming is for the fortunate, smart and hard working. If you do not have all 3 of them you do not deserve to game.

I find this to be unfair. Saying the game isn’t worth $50 because some people can’t afford it might make sense if the other two most popular MMOs weren’t both subscription that charged $15 a month plus the price of the game. So if you think $40 plus $15 a month is more expensive than $50 for a period of time longer than a year, you’d be wrong.

The cash shop is optional. Everything else in the game you can access for free. It’s not like some games where you buy areas, classes and races separately. It’s not like other games where if you don’t pay an “optional” monthly fee, you might as well not play at all. And it’s not like subscription games.

Guild Wars 2 is the cheapest MMO to play without some sort of ‘catch’, at least as far as the current AAA MMOs go.

If you’re only looking at the price of the box and nothing else, maybe you’d have a point.

So the most popular MMO being WOW who has 10 million players out of 1.2 billion people that play video games on this planet. Maybe this will put things in perspective.
I will change some with the overwhelming majority.
The most popular MMO is Dungeon Fighter Online not WOW and guess what kind of subscription plan it has?

Is Dungeon Fighter a AAA MMO? I didn’t think so. If you think you can get more value out of it go ahead.

A Prius and a Lexus are both cars, but I know which one I’d rather have. I’m comparing the top 3 MMO with each other. You’ve got to compare the whole package or nothing at all.

So what if its not a AAA MMO its still the biggest MMO in player population and in profit. Just because you are a AAA MMO you need to have a worse payment model and less profit?

The american version basically closed up shop in 2013 and now they’re going to offer an international version, because the Western version couldn’t cut it. Great example.

Yes, it’s popular in China. It’s not popular here. Not yet. Let’s see how it does. Let’s also see if it’s not a pay to win game, since it currently doesn’t exist in the west.

I just checked the Dungeon Fighters reddit. It has 58 people online. Guild Wars 2 reddit has 865 online. If you think this game is in the same league as the top games, you’d probably be right…for China. But it’s like saying that Lineage is the 2nd most popular MMO. It still has to close it’s western operation. China has more people than any other country in the world, but they still couldn’t make Dungeon Fighter work as a western title, and now they’re trying again. AAA? lmao

Asia without the middle east is where the majority of profit for all the MMO industry is gained. The rest of the world does not even equal Asia without the middle east.
But any of you wondered why? I mean sure there are more people there then in the rest of world but the overwhelming majority are poor compared to the one considered poor in the western world and former comunist countries and even more then half of the Muslim countries.
We in the west if you consider Eastern Europe also part of the west has more disposable income way more disposable income and yet we do not bring even half the profit Asia without middles east does.
The reason in my personal opinion is because we do not make MMO’s available to almost all in the western world. For the poor in the western world they are to expensive even if the poor here are better then the middle class in most of Asia without the middle east.

Plus I think computer hardware is much cheaper in Asia… Think of it – everything is manufactured there. It must be a gamer’s heaven to live there.

Yes they are but even so computer hardware is pretty cheap everywhere. We have reached a point where with the price of 4 HOT expansions you can make yourself a desktop that can play any game on minimum on a not so good resolution.

These comparisons are really quite irrelevant and obviously cherrypicked to make the cases of the people presenting them. If pennies per hour of entertainment is too rich for people, then I have to question how they can afford to eat or pay rent.

If you don’t want to pay for the expansion, then don’t. It’s not necessary to justify on the forum why you won’t. If you can’t pay for the expansion, then you have larger life issues than access to it.

Obtena.7952:

These comparisons are really quite irrelevant and obviously cherrypicked to make the cases of the people presenting them. If pennies per hour of entertainment is too rich for people, then I have to question how they can afford to eat or pay rent.

If you don’t want to pay for the expansion, then don’t. It’s not necessary to justify on the forum why you won’t. If you can’t pay for the expansion, then you have larger life issues than access to it.

Let me tell you something about Asian culture they are people who do not move out of their parents house until they get married and they get married late. And that is mainly only for the second or third child if there is one and for girls. The first born will stay with his parents and his own family. Imagine this you can not feed yourself and pay rent by yourself but when there are 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 members living in the same home that is gonna be possible.
And you do not have larger life issues how its a issue when most live like you? Its only a issue when not being able to afford GW2 is the exception not the rule.
Edit to add things:
Prices for food and other necesities and some luxuries are way lower there so people can afford them with the paycheck they get there. 500 dollars a month in USA means you are poor and have issues 500 dollars a month in China means you are a well of middle class.

adormtil.1605:

Obtena.7952:

These comparisons are really quite irrelevant and obviously cherrypicked to make the cases of the people presenting them. If pennies per hour of entertainment is too rich for people, then I have to question how they can afford to eat or pay rent.

If you don’t want to pay for the expansion, then don’t. It’s not necessary to justify on the forum why you won’t. If you can’t pay for the expansion, then you have larger life issues than access to it.

Let me tell you something about Asian culture they are people who do not move out of their parents house until they get married and they get married late. And that is mainly only for the second or third child if there is one and for girls. The first born will stay with his parents and his own family. Imagine this you can not feed yourself and pay rent by yourself but when there are 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 members living in the same home that is gonna be possible.
And you do not have larger life issues how its a issue when most live like you? Its only a issue when not being able to afford GW2 is the exception not the rule.
Edit to add things:
Prices for food and other necesities and some luxuries are way lower there so people can afford them with the paycheck they get there. 500 dollars a month in USA means you are poor and have issues 500 dollars a month in China means you are a well of middle class.

I don’t think Asian culture or economic differences drives Anet’s decision to price their game … at a reasonable price point I might add. the fact is that the game is not made in Asia, so the business model that dictates it’s price is not relevant to what happens in Asia or what Asians think is expensive/cheap.

here is my story … I’ve been playing computer games since the C64. Even as far back as then, games were priced in the $30-$50 range, depending on how many disks it was, etc… Even console games were around that price. MOST of those games don’t give the entertainment value that games do now.

$50 now is a joke to pay for a game and a person gets far more replay value than they ever did for that $50.

Obtena.7952:

adormtil.1605:

Obtena.7952:

These comparisons are really quite irrelevant and obviously cherrypicked to make the cases of the people presenting them. If pennies per hour of entertainment is too rich for people, then I have to question how they can afford to eat or pay rent.

If you don’t want to pay for the expansion, then don’t. It’s not necessary to justify on the forum why you won’t. If you can’t pay for the expansion, then you have larger life issues than access to it.

Let me tell you something about Asian culture they are people who do not move out of their parents house until they get married and they get married late. And that is mainly only for the second or third child if there is one and for girls. The first born will stay with his parents and his own family. Imagine this you can not feed yourself and pay rent by yourself but when there are 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 members living in the same home that is gonna be possible.
And you do not have larger life issues how its a issue when most live like you? Its only a issue when not being able to afford GW2 is the exception not the rule.
Edit to add things:
Prices for food and other necesities and some luxuries are way lower there so people can afford them with the paycheck they get there. 500 dollars a month in USA means you are poor and have issues 500 dollars a month in China means you are a well of middle class.

I don’t think Asian culture or economic differences drives Anet’s decision to price their game … at a reasonable price point I might add. the fact is that the game is not made in Asia, so the business model that dictates it’s price is not relevant to what happens in Asia or what Asians think is expensive/cheap.

I am sure its made in Asia and around half of GW2 players are Asian.
Edit:
To add to your later comment its all about if you are middle class, where you live in what country etc. For any of us 50$ is not a problem for most gamers on this planet it is and yes I mean most mmo gamers.
It sucks to say this but pretty much the elite of gamers can afford to play this game.

I’m buying Standard for my friend, for $62 CAD.