Guild Wars 2

The whole preorder ordeal seems like a basic marketing flaw. I think the cost is too high by $15-20, but that’s not my point here.

People want to know they’re getting a deal. Anet should be taking steps to help people feel that way. “Free” copy of the base game for new players – awesome.

But what about customer loyalty? The people posting here are (mostly) dedicated players who support the company and the game. Reward them. Customer loyalty is paramount to a company’s survival and this is a perfect chance to show your current customer base that you appreciate their business.

Maybe give a discount (25%) to current players who preorder.u

Right now, I won’t be buying the expansion – I don’t know why any of the perks are helpful (other than the slot or 4000 gems), I don’t see enough content to justify the cost, there’s no cost insentive to buy now when the xpac will just go on sale come Christmas, and there’s no recognition of the fact that I am a loyal customer.

mrstealth.6701:

You get a totally worthless title. Which they apparently feel is worth paying for a product you have no idea when you will actually recieve.

This reminds me the GW2 soundtrack. I heard your money goes into the ether paying for it, and indeed nearly two years later it still hasn’t come. I like Jeremy Soule’s music but man what a stinker of an online store he owns.

I only didn’t complain because I acquired it through other means (a friend) while purchasing due to the abysmal feedback his store has. It’s almost fraud, but I went in knowing I probably wouldn’t get the physical item for a very long time if ever.

I know I can trust ArenaNet to get the product. And indeed, even a free character slot for pre-purchasing would be better than nothing at all for existing customers. Heck, I’ve bought a few gem cards over the years for the simple purpose of wanting to contribute. Giving ArenaNet money isn’t what I’m upset about. Hopefully they fix this up.

mrstealth.6701:

You get a totally worthless title. Which they apparently feel is worth paying for a product you have no idea when you will actually recieve.

According to this site, the Heart of Thorns release date is set for 12/31: http://www.gamesdeal.com/guild-wars-2-heart-of-thorns-addon-pc.html

Otokomae.9356:

mrstealth.6701:

You get a totally worthless title. Which they apparently feel is worth paying for a product you have no idea when you will actually recieve.

According to this site, the Heart of Thorns release date is set for 12/31: http://www.gamesdeal.com/guild-wars-2-heart-of-thorns-addon-pc.html

That’s just a placeholder date. Anet has made no announcements about a release date.

Pretty Pixie.8603:

Otokomae.9356:

mrstealth.6701:

You get a totally worthless title. Which they apparently feel is worth paying for a product you have no idea when you will actually recieve.

According to this site, the Heart of Thorns release date is set for 12/31: http://www.gamesdeal.com/guild-wars-2-heart-of-thorns-addon-pc.html

That’s just a placeholder date. Anet has made no announcements about a release date.

Yeah, I emailed that website about it, and they actually got back to me a few minutes later, saying that they can’t process a pre-order without a release date, but that 12/31 wasn’t an actual set date for the release. Sorry if that caused any confusion.

You can try to mislead people however you want, but at the end of the day, you’re selling people a game they already own. It’s part of the price we’re paying for the whole package therefore it’s not “free” At the end of the day, I’m paying for something I already own, and it’s insulting.

I happen to think the price would be a fair price for the expansion anyway, so I don’t really mind TOO much, but the way you’re approaching it and trying to sell it to people like they’re idiots who don’t know better honestly turns me off of the whole thing.

GW1 had no such problems with it’s exp’s. If i remember right, as smooth as silk.

It didn’t have revenue from Gems or a Gem Store either. They didn’t exist.

Otokomae.9356:

mrstealth.6701:

You get a totally worthless title. Which they apparently feel is worth paying for a product you have no idea when you will actually recieve.

According to this site, the Heart of Thorns release date is set for 12/31: http://www.gamesdeal.com/guild-wars-2-heart-of-thorns-addon-pc.html

this is from a site selling HoT keys.

and since Anet and NCSoft haven’t authorised anyone to do that, that means this site is incredibly shady.

but hey, scammers are know to be accurate where release dates are concerned.

(seems about as legit as kormir’s ascension…)

Zunnar.8503:

mrstealth.6701:

You get a totally worthless title. Which they apparently feel is worth paying for a product you have no idea when you will actually recieve.

This reminds me the GW2 soundtrack. I heard your money goes into the ether paying for it, and indeed nearly two years later it still hasn’t come. I like Jeremy Soule’s music but man what a stinker of an online store he owns.

I only didn’t complain because I acquired it through other means (a friend) while purchasing due to the abysmal feedback his store has. It’s almost fraud, but I went in knowing I probably wouldn’t get the physical item for a very long time if ever.

I know I can trust ArenaNet to get the product. And indeed, even a free character slot for pre-purchasing would be better than nothing at all for existing customers. Heck, I’ve bought a few gem cards over the years for the simple purpose of wanting to contribute. Giving ArenaNet money isn’t what I’m upset about. Hopefully they fix this up.

I bought the Skyrim (twice for that one) and GW2 soundtracks, and didn’t have any issues with either. This is, of course, just the experience of one person. Since then, I’ve heard several similar reports.

And like you, I don’t have any doubts that Anet will actually deliver HoT. But I do have my doubts about its content, and several issues with the way they are doing business with the pre-purchases. I’m certainly not giving them any money till these problems are resolved.

yorick.1305:

GW1 had no such problems with it’s exp’s. If i remember right, as smooth as silk.

It didn’t have revenue from Gems or a Gem Store either. They didn’t exist.

GW1 also didn’t have any involvement from these people: http://www.nexon.net/
It’s funny, but the first thing Nexon did after buying a 15% stake in NCSoft was install a former Maplestory director to run GW2’s Gem Store… ew.

Just to add my two cents to this:

Personally, I don’t have a problem with pre-purchasing. I have faith that Anet will deliver something eventually. I know some people don’t like to do it, and I wouldn’t do it for every game, but for HoT I would.

The price tag of $50: I’m not thrilled with it. I’d pay it, I just want to be sold on it. I need more information to tell me how much content I’m getting for my money.

The fact that there is no expansion-only option: I would be ok with this if it weren’t for…

The fact that existing players get nothing, and do not benefit from the “free” base game: This is the part that doesn’t sit well for me, and what stopped me from pre-purchasing already.

When GW Factions and Nightfall came out, they added character slots if you had an existing account. Not as many character slots as if you started a second account, but enough that you could make the new classes. This was a Good Thing.

When EotN came out, it was priced lower than the other campaigns. It did not add any character slots (if I remember correctly), but it also did not add any classes. The lowered price was also a Good Thing.

When Valve released the Orange Box, it included Half Life 2, HL2 Episode 1, HL2 Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. At the time HL2 and HL2 Ep1 had already been released. If you added an Orange Box key to an account that already owned those games, you got a giftable copy you could send to a friend. This was a Good Thing.

What I’m getting at is that forcing existing account holders to buy a version of HoT, that includes a “free base game” that we will not be able to use, nor get any benefit from is a Bad Thing.

I’m not oblivious to the fact that you need to make money. You’re not making games for the sole purpose of our enjoyment. You have goals to hit and investors to impress. If you gave away a character slot with every existing account HoT you sold, you’d sell a lot less gems to people looking to add to their account. Existing players will feel they “need” that extra slot. You’d be hard pressed to find a person that doesn’t at least want to TRY the new class you’ve hyped us up about. At the same time, you have a market of existing players that are unhappy with the current options being offered to them.

Here is my suggestion: Make it so that existing players that add HoT to their account get something. This could be a character slot (I hold this is as the Best-Case Scenario, but I’m not holding my breath), it could be a giftable copy of the base game with which we could bring in new players, or (and here’s my As-Realistic-As-I-Can-Be suggestion) 400-600 gems. 400-600 gems would cover 1/2-3/4 of the price of a new character slot for the players that still need one. 400-600 gems would also be a nice bonus to any player that didn’t want another character slot. 400-600 gems would get players to buy more gems, since you’d still need more to cover the full cost of a character slot. The leftover gems would then be there, ready to spend on the next nice thing to come down the pipeline.

There are a lot of options out there, and I’m eagerly awaiting some kind of word from your team on what course of action you decide to take. If you aren’t going to change your pricing/rewards structure, you’re going to need to give a well-thought explanation on why you decided on what you did.

Can I chime in please?

I do agree that this expansion doesnt seem to have that much content to warrant a 50 dollar price tag at first glance.

I do agree that an Extra character slot should have come with the basic expansion.

And yes, Maybe the veteran players should have gotten some extra goodies. Nothing huge, just neat little “I’ve been around a long time” things like SWToR and LoTRo does for its loyal gamers.

But I will say this; GW2 is a Sub-free game and with this expansion we are likely to get 1-2 years worth of updates and patches and… stuff. Paying $50 now for what doesnt seem that much at this time, will, in the long run, be a better purchase than we all originally thought. Hell after 5 months worth of the game it will pay itself off compared to the subscription games out there.

Now I know Im in the minority here, and I know ive been very negative and angry towards Anet since that whole Traits fiasco. But on this subject of price for the expansion, I think 50 dollars is just fine.

Perrsun.4285:

Just to add my two cents to this:

Personally, I don’t have a problem with pre-purchasing. I have faith that Anet will deliver something eventually. I know some people don’t like to do it, and I wouldn’t do it for every game, but for HoT I would.

The price tag of $50: I’m not thrilled with it. I’d pay it, I just want to be sold on it. I need more information to tell me how much content I’m getting for my money.

The fact that there is no expansion-only option: I would be ok with this if it weren’t for…

The fact that existing players get nothing, and do not benefit from the “free” base game: This is the part that doesn’t sit well for me, and what stopped me from pre-purchasing already.

When GW Factions and Nightfall came out, they added character slots if you had an existing account. Not as many character slots as if you started a second account, but enough that you could make the new classes. This was a Good Thing.

When EotN came out, it was priced lower than the other campaigns. It did not add any character slots (if I remember correctly), but it also did not add any classes. The lowered price was also a Good Thing.

When Valve released the Orange Box, it included Half Life 2, HL2 Episode 1, HL2 Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. At the time HL2 and HL2 Ep1 had already been released. If you added an Orange Box key to an account that already owned those games, you got a giftable copy you could send to a friend. This was a Good Thing.

What I’m getting at is that forcing existing account holders to buy a version of HoT, that includes a “free base game” that we will not be able to use, nor get any benefit from is a Bad Thing.

I’m not oblivious to the fact that you need to make money. You’re not making games for the sole purpose of our enjoyment. You have goals to hit and investors to impress. If you gave away a character slot with every existing account HoT you sold, you’d sell a lot less gems to people looking to add to their account. Existing players will feel they “need” that extra slot. You’d be hard pressed to find a person that doesn’t at least want to TRY the new class you’ve hyped us up about. At the same time, you have a market of existing players that are unhappy with the current options being offered to them.

Here is my suggestion: Make it so that existing players that add HoT to their account get something. This could be a character slot (I hold this is as the Best-Case Scenario, but I’m not holding my breath), it could be a giftable copy of the base game with which we could bring in new players, or (and here’s my As-Realistic-As-I-Can-Be suggestion) 400-600 gems. 400-600 gems would cover 1/2-3/4 of the price of a new character slot for the players that still need one. 400-600 gems would also be a nice bonus to any player that didn’t want another character slot. 400-600 gems would get players to buy more gems, since you’d still need more to cover the full cost of a character slot. The leftover gems would then be there, ready to spend on the next nice thing to come down the pipeline.

There are a lot of options out there, and I’m eagerly awaiting some kind of word from your team on what course of action you decide to take. If you aren’t going to change your pricing/rewards structure, you’re going to need to give a well-thought explanation on why you decided on what you did.

lengthy, but more or less sums up my problem with Anet right now.

They’re climbing in your wallets, they’re snatching your money up
Trying to kitten us, so you need to hide your kids, hide your wife, hide your kids, hide your wife,
And hide your husband, cuz they kittening everybody out here
They don’t have to post and confess, we know what they do
We’re not buying you, we’re not buying you, so you can run and tell that, run and tell that, run and tell that, Anet, A-A-Anet.
We paid full price for Guild Wars 2 back in the day, this is so dumb, this is really dumb, for real.

I feel like with a price tag that is nearly the same of GW2 at launch, the expansion would have to be comparable in size to the wealth of content the base game gave us to be on par with the great value that GW2 is known for.

The current pre-purchase pricing tiers are a huge disappointment, I already own 2 GW2 accounts, I don’t need a third… and I am not into minis, titles or Guildhall decorations.

I am hoping to see an upgrade only option for players like myself that have been playing since launch, are not interested in an additional copy of the base game, minis, titles or guildhall decorations or pre-purchasing more gems.

If an upgrade only option does not become available I will definitely not be purchasing the expansion until it goes on sale later down the road.

Unless of course Heart of Thorns turns out to be nearly the size of the original game and provides a similar amount of new territory to explore, dungeons to conquer and legendaries to lust after.

I guess only time will tell.

The people who’ve been playing since release are getting the short end of the stick here. I’ll wait till the price drop unless someone can convince me otherwise.

What are long time players getting in return?

Please Anet Entertain this question!

I think this is a disguised form of a monthly fee system! We will pay for the HoT and the core game in recent years.How about the new players?They don’t have to pay the core game twice because they haven’t played this game before.What is this?This is a monthly fee system!

Took 7 years to get GW2.
Everyone seems to forget that while they’re espousing just how much wonder they’ve obviously come up with in merely 3…

Hammersmash Ureface.2650:

Took 7 years to get GW2.
Everyone seems to forget that while they’re espousing just how much wonder they’ve obviously come up with in merely 3…

I doubt they’ve been working on an expac for a full 3 years. It’s probably closer to a year, msybe a year and a half.

Frightlight.3796:

sanelson.4028:

Jesus Christ… I can’t even write a constructive comment right now due to all the rage I’m feeling…I’ll just come back later.

Well this is the generation of people that feel entitled to having things for free or paying less too get more. Making a good game costs money as people that want this game too continue we should be happy to do what we can to keep it going. Imagine if anet said we have decided not to release HOT and are shutting down the gw2 servers because of financial trouble would people flock to help?

Entitled? Free? I have received nothing for free from Anet. I have purchased everything I have or earned it playing. Anet’s unscrupulous marketing tactics and overpriced unknown content is whats at play here. If Anet cant treat their loyal customers with some respect and gratitude then shut the servers down.

Pretty Pixie.8603:

Hammersmash Ureface.2650:

Took 7 years to get GW2.
Everyone seems to forget that while they’re espousing just how much wonder they’ve obviously come up with in merely 3…

I doubt they’ve been working on an expac for a full 3 years. It’s probably closer to a year, msybe a year and a half.

Is it even that?

They said they would launch the specializations when they had something to show. So far only a few have been presented and with doubts, possible changes to them.
Revenant only had a few trait lines, we only got to explore a piece of a map.

For a game that has been in development for “so long” it feels like everything is early work.

Wolfeng.3784:

Pretty Pixie.8603:

Hammersmash Ureface.2650:

Took 7 years to get GW2.
Everyone seems to forget that while they’re espousing just how much wonder they’ve obviously come up with in merely 3…

I doubt they’ve been working on an expac for a full 3 years. It’s probably closer to a year, msybe a year and a half.

Is it even that?

They said they would launch the specializations when they had something to show. So far only a few have been presented and with doubts, possible changes to them.
Revenant only had a few trait lines, we only got to explore a piece of a map.

For a game that has been in development for “so long” it feels like everything is early work.

Not to forget, originally GW2 was supposed to take a year or 2 tops.. Instead it took 7.

I wonder what is defined as “When it’s ready” this time around?

It’s a good thing they had Blizzards Crusader to copy; Imagine how long it would have taken if they’d designed their own class!

Pretty Pixie.8603:

Hammersmash Ureface.2650:

Took 7 years to get GW2.
Everyone seems to forget that while they’re espousing just how much wonder they’ve obviously come up with in merely 3…

I doubt they’ve been working on an expac for a full 3 years. It’s probably closer to a year, msybe a year and a half.

As of July 2013, there was no one working on any expansions for Guild Wars 2.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-07-03-its-unlikely-guild-wars-2-will-ever-get-an-expansion-pack

the way i am looking at it we get no release date … they asking you to pay for a it before it done it like paying you seat belt ticket before you get one … not only that but you spitting in the face of your long time players you should of offered just the xpack and then later down the road off the core game for free as a bundle whats going on right now is the info you gave us sounds more like we paying 50 dollars for a xpack that does not have the same amount of content as the orginal game that we payed for 3 years ago .. .and before you start you got all the free updates and content all those years that does not fly cause if they did not add that content then no one would be there to use the cash shop and pay for the server upkeep …… if there no content for 3 years where you think the play base would be with 3 year old content gone thats for sure …… so what they did was have a bad ad by saying we give you the core game for free … and that core game ( so you give it to me for free ) but yet i can not use the xpac on my old account and set the core game aside it sounds more like hey you paying use 50 bucks for the core game and we are giving you hot for free cause i can bet that hot does not have any where near the content as the the launch of guild wars 2 i am not even counting the living story ….. so they want you to per buy the game and not knowing it if worth it or when it will be released .. so your paying them for site unseen but yet you all are saying that it worth it how can you say it worth it with out even seeing the full thing .. that like me trying to sell you a half eaten burger with teh eaten half hidden by wrapper and tell you that the other half will be up in few months to years …. it took them 3 years to give us 3 maps …. think about it so i would say i am not buying this till they stop the hype and give hard facts and not this when it ready.. i heard all that from you before … release a map of how big of area we getting for the 50 dollars .. cause what it boils down to it content selling us a new class for 50 and not to much content… you do have to show the area in game or that but we like to knwo how big is the area we getting for 50 cause we know for a fact it not the same size as the gw2 launch .. we are just trying to justify why 50 for the product you want use to buy and as far as those say either you buy it or wont … i care less that your willing to throw your money on a game that has no Release date … what is they came out tomorrow and said the release date will be dec 2019 … the problem is that you already made a commit to the buying the game and do not want to feel like you made mistake you you will defend it … there marketing the issue here not the price …. and the sneaky change of the faq after they caught …. so untill we get more info on justify the cost …. cause i am not blindly giving money for a PRODUCT THAT HAS NO RELEASE DATE OR DETAILS ….. that like handing money your isp for broadband and then when they hook you up you got dial up and them telling you well you pre bought it your stuck with it ….. ok done with my rant

AnClar.1304:

While I’m unhappy about the marketing surrounding HoT, I think peeps saying a lack of response from ANet for 3 days equates to ANet doesn’t care is, I think, a bit unrealistic.

Given Anet’s continuing inability to address issues from two years ago, are you really that surprised?

SenorMoody.5908:

But I will say this; GW2 is a Sub-free game and with this expansion we are likely to get 1-2 years worth of updates and patches and… stuff. Paying $50 now for what doesnt seem that much at this time, will, in the long run, be a better purchase than we all originally thought. Hell after 5 months worth of the game it will pay itself off compared to the subscription games out there.

Now I know Im in the minority here, and I know ive been very negative and angry towards Anet since that whole Traits fiasco. But on this subject of price for the expansion, I think 50 dollars is just fine.

I see people using that argument again and again, it’s sub free it’s sub free. And? did we force them to be sub free? Did they operated at a loss all this time out of the goodness of their hearts or something? Is Anet a charity? If no, then why should we become one. At the end of the day, if they think they can cut the mustard with a subscription they should do it. But we all know how that experiment would end, don’t we? So please, don’t present the absence of a sub fee as a gift to us. It’s probably the only mode of operation that they can make profit off. Let them compete with wow and ff14 and see how the cookie crumbles. We already know how ESO fared, how wildstar did (which had challenging group content and all that), and wow lost 3 mil of subers once the content was consumed. Sub fees are a harsh land right now. Fact of the matter is, we’re not in 2000 anymore, being sub free isn’t something extra ordinary, it’s becoming common industry practice. So not a really good argument. Unless of course you think that gw2 would enjoy the success it does now with a sub fee, but that’s debatable.

As far as 45 euros for the expansion (plus another 10 for that character slot) is concerned, truth is, we don’t know if it has value or not. We don’t have a list of the content, we don’t even know more than half the specializations. We don’t know how many zones we’ll get, we don’t know the average time required to complete the story, we don’t even know how many and which legendary weapons we’ll be getting. So I can’t tell you if 55 euros is fine or not. But, based on what we do know, it doesn’t seem to be. Anyway i look at it, feels like a cash grab.

Grav.3568:

AnClar.1304:

While I’m unhappy about the marketing surrounding HoT, I think peeps saying a lack of response from ANet for 3 days equates to ANet doesn’t care is, I think, a bit unrealistic.

Given Anet’s continuing inability to address issues from two years ago, are you really that surprised?

Yep. As I said, it took them 7 years to give us what they said would take 1-2. I’d say, check back in about, oh, a month, 3 perhaps.. A year? It certainly pays not to count with aNets clock…

Otokomae.9356:

Well this is the generation of people that feel entitled to having things for free or paying less too get more. Making a good game costs money as people that want this game too continue we should be happy to do what we can to keep it going.

[/quote]

I first apologize for my english.

But, you are a generation of people totaly blind and naive.
You pay a new AAA game ( meaning a REAL game, with 3-4years ( or more ) developpement ) just 10more $
( without saying that you can easyly find new game for around 40$ depending of the site where you buy the key. )

Actualy, the HOT expansion dont even provide 1/4 of what a GW1 expansion / stand alone was offering , and they were sold, like 20$ cheaper…
( even if they was sold as stand alone, they were still acting as expansion tho )
HOT is
- 3 pve maps
- Guild hall housing ( because thoses greedy cant even provide that “for free”, btw “for free” mean : paid with the cash shop, of nothing is done for free and dont worry the CS is a very good money income )
- 1 new class
- 1 specialisation per class ( compare to what they were able to with GW1, its just… nothing )
- 1 pvp mode with 1 map ( dat hard work ! )
- 1 mcm map… /yawn.

And now, you try to tell me that for that very (very) little content after THREE YEARS, its normal to pay a AAA game price, for ONLY that ?
I even bought GW2 itself for less than the “expansion” price like a week or two after his release…
Oh and btw, Anet scam... I mean… get enough money with the cash shop, dont worry for that.
So its not really like they need to scam.. i mean.. sell that “expansion” that expensive.

And, just look at what other mmo do for their “expansion”…

Please, stop be a blind Anet fanboy, stop alcool / drug, and wake up a bit.

Hammersmash Ureface.2650:

Grav.3568:

AnClar.1304:

While I’m unhappy about the marketing surrounding HoT, I think peeps saying a lack of response from ANet for 3 days equates to ANet doesn’t care is, I think, a bit unrealistic.

Given Anet’s continuing inability to address issues from two years ago, are you really that surprised?

Yep. As I said, it took them 7 years to give us what they said would take 1-2. I’d say, check back in about, oh, a month, 3 perhaps.. A year? It certainly pays not to count with aNets clock…

Coming to you. Valve Time

E Tan.7385:

Otokomae.9356:

Well this is the generation of people that feel entitled to having things for free or paying less too get more. Making a good game costs money as people that want this game too continue we should be happy to do what we can to keep it going.

I first apologize for my english.

But, you are a generation of people totaly blind and naive.
You pay a new AAA game ( meaning a REAL game, with 3-4years ( or more ) developpement ) just 10more $
( without saying that you can easyly find new game for around 40$ depending of the site where you buy the key. )

Actualy, the HOT expansion dont even provide 1/4 of what a GW1 expansion / stand alone was offering , and they were sold, like 20$ cheaper…
( even if they was sold as stand alone, they were still acting as expansion tho )
HOT is
- 3 pve maps
- Guild hall housing ( because thoses greedy cant even provide that “for free”, btw “for free” mean : paid with the cash shop, of nothing is done for free and dont worry the CS is a very good money income )
- 1 new class
- 1 specialisation per class ( compare to what they were able to with GW1, its just… nothing )
- 1 pvp mode with 1 map ( dat hard work ! )
- 1 mcm map… /yawn.

And now, you try to tell me that for that very (very) little content after THREE YEARS, its normal to pay a AAA game price, for ONLY that ?
I even bought GW2 itself for less than the “expansion” price like a week or two after his release…
Oh and btw, Anet scam... I mean… get enough money with the cash shop, dont worry for that.
So its not really like they need to scam.. i mean.. sell that “expansion” that expensive.

And, just look at what other mmo do for their “expansion”…

Please, stop be a blind Anet fanboy, stop alcool / drug, and wake up a bit.[/quote]

This was not my quote, I was replying to that quote in a manner similar to yourself. You’re actually quoting Frightlight.3796: there

EDIT: Is html broken all of a sudden? Quotes don’t work anymore…

Otokomae.9356:

Well this is the generation of people that feel entitled to having things for free or paying less too get more. Making a good game costs money as people that want this game too continue we should be happy to do what we can to keep it going.

So you probably haven’t been around very long. But paying less to get more has been a favorite thing of EVERY GENERATION EVER! No generation to come before “us” (most likely before “you”) has made paying more than something is a worth a thing of theirs.

lukejoe.1592:

Otokomae.9356:

Well this is the generation of people that feel entitled to having things for free or paying less too get more. Making a good game costs money as people that want this game too continue we should be happy to do what we can to keep it going.

So you probably haven’t been around very long. But paying less to get more has been a favorite thing of EVERY GENERATION EVER! No generation to come before “us” (most likely before “you”) has made paying more than something is a worth a thing of theirs.

Again, this was a quote from Frightlight.3796:, I don’t know why my name was attached to here. It seems that quotes are broken.

Gj Anet. you just lost paying customers. $50 for an expansion that doesn’t even give a new race or starter area.

You should have stuck with Living Story and ignored the small minority of whiners on the forums.

Fancy that eh..Cruising FB and a notification from DDO pops up. “We hope you’re enjoying the new class!”

Interesting…Research….

Seems they gave us VIP’s, i.e. anyone who’s spent money in any way on DDO, a new class for free. For free.

Seems that a relatively P2P kinda deal like DDO that’s been accused many times of being grabby is still being nicer to its paying customers (not timegated) than aNet is.

Sad. I prefer GW2, but I do like DDO, and if they’re going to be nice to me while aNet prefer distance and silence, well..

Otokomae.9356:

E Tan.7385:

Otokomae.9356:

Well this is the generation of people that feel entitled to having things for free or paying less too get more. Making a good game costs money as people that want this game too continue we should be happy to do what we can to keep it going.

I first apologize for my english.

But, you are a generation of people totaly blind and naive.
You pay a new AAA game ( meaning a REAL game, with 3-4years ( or more ) developpement ) just 10more $
( without saying that you can easyly find new game for around 40$ depending of the site where you buy the key. )

Actualy, the HOT expansion dont even provide 1/4 of what a GW1 expansion / stand alone was offering , and they were sold, like 20$ cheaper…
( even if they was sold as stand alone, they were still acting as expansion tho )
HOT is
- 3 pve maps
- Guild hall housing ( because thoses greedy cant even provide that “for free”, btw “for free” mean : paid with the cash shop, of nothing is done for free and dont worry the CS is a very good money income )
- 1 new class
- 1 specialisation per class ( compare to what they were able to with GW1, its just… nothing )
- 1 pvp mode with 1 map ( dat hard work ! )
- 1 mcm map… /yawn.

And now, you try to tell me that for that very (very) little content after THREE YEARS, its normal to pay a AAA game price, for ONLY that ?
I even bought GW2 itself for less than the “expansion” price like a week or two after his release…
Oh and btw, Anet scam... I mean… get enough money with the cash shop, dont worry for that.
So its not really like they need to scam.. i mean.. sell that “expansion” that expensive.

And, just look at what other mmo do for their “expansion”…

Please, stop be a blind Anet fanboy, stop alcool / drug, and wake up a bit.

This was not my quote, I was replying to that quote in a manner similar to yourself. You’re actually quoting Frightlight.3796: there

EDIT: Is html broken all of a sudden? Quotes don’t work anymore…[/quote]
companies imploy marketing tactics all the time to get the most out of the product. i literally thought for sure at the time playing gw1 waiting for gw2 to come out that guild halls would be included. after all they did scrap the next gw1 release for gw2. after 3yrs we finally get 1 new class. so much bickering over lack of quality content the first 2 yrs as they tried to implement a weekly or bi weekly ls. overall the game is good but the content lacks considering we are 3 yrs in. Tera online introduced there small expac for free (fate of arun). you also got an extra character slot with a new class(gunner) didnt pay a dime for it. Why? they depend on there cash shop for revenue. which the game and cash shop lacks in comparison to gw2 but if they can do that and gw2 makes us pay for guild halls which should have been in the core game from the beginning. At least my opinion anyway. To finalize we dont even have build template saver like most games do. a simple fix i would think since all you do is save it in the guild wars folder just like screenshots. thats how gw1 worked anyway. So yeah, 50$ is extreme

Reposting until we get some official word from Anet:

I got through the first few pages before I got all TL;DR.
No doubt my reply will be lost amongst the pages but I still want to get on my soapbox.
Charging your loyal old players full price for them to continue playing the game they have supported and funded over the past few years is wrong.

‘We included the core game as a free bonus to make it easier for new players to get into it.’ So you are giving new people a bonus, but not the people who funded the expansion? Bit of a slap in the face. Why should new players receive a bonus and your current players receive nothing but a forced decision to pay to continue playing the game they love?
I’ve been a bit bored of GW2 lately but I couldn’t wait for the expansion.
However after seeing the price, I am quite disappointed. Do you realise that a great portion of your player base is children and university students?

Yes, it isn’t a monumental amount to pay, but it is too high for those who have already forked out for the game. And to those who will say ‘at least it isn’t a sub game’, that is irrelevant to GW, no point in comparing unrelated games and their own payment systems. If it was a completely new game, then yes. But this is essentially just a DLC pack, with no benefits whatsoever. You are charging people $50 when it is not a new game for them, and there is not $50 worth of new content.

To those saying people are being crybabies or ‘If you don’t want to pay, don’t buy it’, we aren’t asking for it to be free. Just not the ridiculous price it is. There are times when the full game didn’t even cost that much (yes, I get they were sales) but we aren’t wanting to buy a whole new game and I don’t believe we should be forced to. We are either paying for 80% of a game we already have, or paying $50 for 20% extra content and no other benefits (rough figures ofc, just an example).

I honestly believe that the expansion should be purchasable as an upgrade for people with the existing GW2 game. I’m no economist or anything, but perhaps something around $20 to $30 dollars would be acceptable. With the size of your current player base, and the influx of new players that usually occurs during an expansion or upgrade, as well as the likely increase in gem purchases and such, I am sure you will still make a decent amount of money.
I also found it amusing that you have released a price, but not a release date or even a release window. Priorities, am I right?

After more than 80 pages in 48hrs, I think it is pretty evident that this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. I think it is time that an official comment on the matter is made by a member of ArenaNet. Not a comment in the middle of this thread, but an official response or even an acknowledgement. Unless I have already missed one, in which case, link plox.

If the price remains as such, along with the poor communication, I think you will see quite a few loyal players leave. It’s not a threat, just a statement.
I know I am now hesitant to stay, which means nothing, I am just a nobody, but it’s just an example.

If you got this far through my post, thank you and purple monkey dishwasher.

#walloftext #tl;dr

Since we are reposting. I feel like this is still important.

FIRST and most important:

- They falsely advertised the “expansion” making buy the game when it went on sale.
- Expansion is in fact the base game now. All those sales were useless and just generate extra money for Anet with no benefit to the person who bought.
- Their refund policy SO FAR, is deleting those accounts, losing all your progress, and even being unable to relink your GW1 account.

THATS SCAM! IF you can get behind a company that scammed hundreds of players with a false advertising campaign, go for it.

SECOND and not so important.

Even if the base game is free, there’s VALUE in it. And this VALUE is not reflected in the purchase of older players.

Don’t you dare say “you enjoyed 3 years of blah blah blah”. I (and many others) only began playing before the expansion was announced, anything I enjoyed is available for any new player.

If Anet wanted to make something good for new players, giving them extra value on their purchase, why is the same not being done to the people that already owned the game? Why is our money LESS VALUABLE?

THIRD and even less important.

Even if you say the base game is free, all we know for a FACT is that the base game is definatelly worth 50$.
Can we really REALLY be sure that the expansion is offering 50$ worth of content?
Can we REALLY be sure that the expansion isn’t being priced at 50$ just because the base game is included?

Considering how Anet scammed all those people in the first point, I don’t think we can trust the company anymore.

I know my “solution” is going to make the defenders of Anet laugh, but that’s the same thing other companies that went through this have done it, time and time again.

- Everyone that you scammed, everyone that bought the game since the expansion was announced should get Heart of Thorns for free. Upgrade those accounts. No stupid refund where you delte their account, just plain and simple, upgrade their accounts for the expansion.

Yes, you will lose money from those sales, but you brought this on yourself when you turned everything into false advertising.

- For the older players, we get to pay the 50$ you want. But since you want to offer the base game for FREE, since you’re adding so much value in that purchase, offer something of equal value.

Our money should not be worth less than that of another consumer.

Now as a final reply for those that would defend Anet.
All we want from Anet is to be treated equally as consumers. Right now our money holds less value, and that’s what driving everyone to “whine” as you say.

After re-thinking this whole thing for a bit Ive come to the conclusion that Anet sold beta access for 50 bucks, since thats the only reasonable explanation.

They wont be able to sell 2 mio copies of HoT at current financial situations all around the world at this price, not without a lot more content (like twice as much as they currently offer).

We have, however, seen beta access getting more and more valued over the last few years, so charging for the “privilege” of beta testing and getting a perceived headstart might be what’s making pre-purchase price 50 bucks.

Keep in mind, no release date, no finished in-depth content list, usually means it will take at least a few months until release of expansion. Makes about one or two months of beta testing, so it does make a sad kind of sense to price pre-purchase with beta access higher than release. Sad, because I remember a time when beta testing was more than just sneak peeking.

Ill just keep on waiting and see what will happen when release date is drawing near. I dont have time for beta access anyway, and not really interested in a title ^^

Yasi.9065:

After re-thinking this whole thing for a bit Ive come to the conclusion that Anet sold beta access for 50 bucks, since thats the only reasonable explanation.

They wont be able to sell 2 mio copies of HoT at current financial situations all around the world at this price, not without a lot more content (like twice as much as they currently offer).

We have, however, seen beta access getting more and more valued over the last few years, so charging for the “privilege” of beta testing and getting a perceived headstart might be what’s making pre-purchase price 50 bucks.

Keep in mind, no release date, no finished in-depth content list, usually means it will take at least a few months until release of expansion. Makes about one or two months of beta testing, so it does make a sad kind of sense to price pre-purchase with beta access higher than release. Sad, because I remember a time when beta testing was more than just sneak peeking.

Ill just keep on waiting and see what will happen when release date is drawing near. I dont have time for beta access anyway, and not really interested in a title ^^

i played headstart beta. didnt help one bit. the warrior targeting was so messed up it made me hate the class. or at least frustrated with it. i ended up sticking with the mesmer and loved it the 6 months in re rolled the warrior and now he is second most played out of my alts. with that said i could care less about beta. im willing to wait and have no problems missing beta. probly better when the real thing starts anyway. btw i am excited about tuesday. the way i like the mesmer now and the buffs they have. does get me gitty inside. along time coming. long time coming but now its here it will be great. so long as they dont break the warden and ileap again lol.

Hammersmash Ureface.2650:

Grav.3568:

AnClar.1304:

While I’m unhappy about the marketing surrounding HoT, I think peeps saying a lack of response from ANet for 3 days equates to ANet doesn’t care is, I think, a bit unrealistic.

Given Anet’s continuing inability to address issues from two years ago, are you really that surprised?

Yep. As I said, it took them 7 years to give us what they said would take 1-2. I’d say, check back in about, oh, a month, 3 perhaps.. A year? It certainly pays not to count with aNets clock…

When did they ever say it would be 1-2 years?

And GW2 didn’t take 7 years, it was 5. They announced it in spring 2007, which was the same time they began work on it. It was released just over 5 years later. And 5 years is a pretty normal time for MMO developement.

As unhappy as I am with the current situation, I’m not going to start spouting off totally inaccurate information to bash them. Use facts for that.

mrstealth.6701:

Hammersmash Ureface.2650:

Grav.3568:

AnClar.1304:

While I’m unhappy about the marketing surrounding HoT, I think peeps saying a lack of response from ANet for 3 days equates to ANet doesn’t care is, I think, a bit unrealistic.

Given Anet’s continuing inability to address issues from two years ago, are you really that surprised?

Yep. As I said, it took them 7 years to give us what they said would take 1-2. I’d say, check back in about, oh, a month, 3 perhaps.. A year? It certainly pays not to count with aNets clock…

When did they ever say it would be 1-2 years?

And GW2 didn’t take 7 years, it was 5. They announced it in spring 2007, which was the same time they began work on it. It was released just over 5 years later. And 5 years is a pretty normal time for MMO developement.

As unhappy as I am with the current situation, I’m not going to start spouting off totally inaccurate information to bash them. Use facts for that.

they actually said when i bought eye of the north that the beta was coming in summer. (there was a beta sign up thingy)

maybe they meant summer 5 years later, i had a joke with my friends who played, when they got excited early on, i would say mannnn guild wars isnt coming out till twentytwen (twen being a non existent number that sounds like ten/twelve/twenty that no one can say what it is)

phys.7689:

mrstealth.6701:

Hammersmash Ureface.2650:

Grav.3568:

AnClar.1304:

While I’m unhappy about the marketing surrounding HoT, I think peeps saying a lack of response from ANet for 3 days equates to ANet doesn’t care is, I think, a bit unrealistic.

Given Anet’s continuing inability to address issues from two years ago, are you really that surprised?

Yep. As I said, it took them 7 years to give us what they said would take 1-2. I’d say, check back in about, oh, a month, 3 perhaps.. A year? It certainly pays not to count with aNets clock…

When did they ever say it would be 1-2 years?

And GW2 didn’t take 7 years, it was 5. They announced it in spring 2007, which was the same time they began work on it. It was released just over 5 years later. And 5 years is a pretty normal time for MMO developement.

As unhappy as I am with the current situation, I’m not going to start spouting off totally inaccurate information to bash them. Use facts for that.

they actually said when i bought eye of the north that the beta was coming in summer. (there was a beta sign up thingy)

maybe they meant summer 5 years later, i had a joke with my friends who played, when they got excited early on, i would say mannnn guild wars isnt coming out till twentytwen (twen being a non existent number that sounds like ten/twelve/twenty that no one can say what it is)

I don’t recall anything like that. They had only started working on the game in May or so of 2007, and EotN was release in August of that year. There really wouldn’t have been anything to beta at that time. I don’t think they even had a newsletter signup at that point. It was a couple years before we started even getting hints of anything of the sort.

They were pretty clear that at the time of reveal, they had just started on the thing. So there wasn’t any expectation of even gameplay footage for a long time.

mrstealth.6701:

Hammersmash Ureface.2650:

Grav.3568:

AnClar.1304:

While I’m unhappy about the marketing surrounding HoT, I think peeps saying a lack of response from ANet for 3 days equates to ANet doesn’t care is, I think, a bit unrealistic.

Given Anet’s continuing inability to address issues from two years ago, are you really that surprised?

Yep. As I said, it took them 7 years to give us what they said would take 1-2. I’d say, check back in about, oh, a month, 3 perhaps.. A year? It certainly pays not to count with aNets clock…

When did they ever say it would be 1-2 years?

And GW2 didn’t take 7 years, it was 5. They announced it in spring 2007, which was the same time they began work on it. It was released just over 5 years later. And 5 years is a pretty normal time for MMO developement.

As unhappy as I am with the current situation, I’m not going to start spouting off totally inaccurate information to bash them. Use facts for that.

hmmm i dunno, some people are already looking a things from a lawsuit perspective. It won’t be too long till that happens.

Wolfeng.3784:

Since we are reposting. I feel like this is still important.

snip

- Their refund policy SO FAR, is deleting those accounts, losing all your progress, and even being unable to relink your GW1 account.

THATS SCAM! IF you can get behind a company that scammed hundreds of players with a false advertising campaign, go for it.

snip

I received a response to my ticket mentioning the the loss of progress with the refund (as I purchased GW2 on June 4 for myself and girlfriend):

“Every Edition of the Heart of Thorns Expansion comes with a free Guild Wars 2 Core game for those who do not already own Guild Wars 2. There will not be an available expansion version released that does not include the Core game for a lower price. However if you have recently purchased the core game, we can certainly offer you a refund (Note that we can only refund a Guild Wars 2 copy if it was purchased within the last 30 days). Please note that the code that you are requesting a refund will be permanently disabled. If you registered the code, all features, including game access, will be removed. If you haven’t used the code, the code cannot be registered. Additionally if you wish to repurchase the game or the expansion at a later time, you will be able to add the code to your account and pick up where you last left off so that you may not loose your progress.

If you understand and agree to the terms of the refund stated above, please reply with the following information below so that we may begin the refund process:

Your Guild Wars 2 purchase Order Number provided in the receipt of the purchase(s)
The e-mail address you used when making the purchase
If a credit/debit card was used: the last four digits (only the last four, please) of the card
If PayPal® was used: the invoice ID from your PayPal® payment history
If online banking was used, please make sure that you are contacting us from the e-mail address used to make the purchase
Your billing address including your zip code or postal code

Note: Paysafecard purchases cannot be refunded under any circumstances. If your game purchase was not made from our website, please contact the retailer you purchased the game from to inquire of a refund. It is not possible for us to refund a purchase made from another retailer.

We look forward to your reply.

Regards,

GM Eddy P
Guild Wars 2 Support Team
http://help.guildwars2.com/"

This doesn’t help me as I did not purchase the game from their site, however this is some good news for those who have purchased the game from the site within the last 30 days who are seeking a refund in order to purchase HoT and NOT lose any progress.

PS – sorry if this has been mentioned already as I have not read the entirety of this thread.

funkyazn.9062:

mrstealth.6701:

Hammersmash Ureface.2650:

Grav.3568:

AnClar.1304:

While I’m unhappy about the marketing surrounding HoT, I think peeps saying a lack of response from ANet for 3 days equates to ANet doesn’t care is, I think, a bit unrealistic.

Given Anet’s continuing inability to address issues from two years ago, are you really that surprised?

Yep. As I said, it took them 7 years to give us what they said would take 1-2. I’d say, check back in about, oh, a month, 3 perhaps.. A year? It certainly pays not to count with aNets clock…

When did they ever say it would be 1-2 years?

And GW2 didn’t take 7 years, it was 5. They announced it in spring 2007, which was the same time they began work on it. It was released just over 5 years later. And 5 years is a pretty normal time for MMO developement.

As unhappy as I am with the current situation, I’m not going to start spouting off totally inaccurate information to bash them. Use facts for that.

hmmm i dunno, some people are already looking a things from a lawsuit perspective. It won’t be too long till that happens.

A agree that there is likely a precedent for legal action. The information provided in the FAQ before the pre-purchase went up, along with the promotion of the game during that time, very likely falls under false advertisement laws.

sighs all this for a game for the love of the gods above you all are taking this way too far

AlexanderFalkor.4765:

sighs all this for a game for the love of the gods above you all are taking this way too far

It doesn’t matter what it’s for. It’s a company offering a “deal” that (with no notice) does not apply to all customers, and lying about perquisites in order to sell more copies.

AlexanderFalkor.4765:

sighs all this for a game for the love of the gods above you all are taking this way too far

False advertising or deceptive advertising is the use of false or misleading statements in advertising, and misrepresentation of the product at hand, which may negatively affect many stakeholders, especially consumers. As advertising has the potential to persuade people into commercial transactions that they might otherwise avoid, many governments around the world use regulations to control false, deceptive or misleading advertising. Truth refers to essentially the same concept, that customers have the right to know what they are buying, and that all necessary information should be on the label.

False advertising, in the most blatant of contexts, is illegal in most countries. However, advertisers still find ways to deceive consumers in ways that are legal, or technically illegal but unenforceable.

Yeah, when a company does something that is illegal in pretty much most countries, the consumers are the ones taking too far… way to go.

The original GW2 game was $59.95 and included a tremendous amount of content, it was a great value.

The cash shop/gem store allowed Arenanet to continue to develop the living world/living story content that was promised at launch while still turning a profit.

Well done.

On many occasions I have purchased gems for upgrades, last bits of gold I needed for crafting legendaries, etc… I even bought 2 Halloween outfits, 1 of which I don’t even care for or use, just to show some financial support to the game, it’s developers and the company behind it all.

In a eurogamer.net article linked in an earlier post titled, “It’s unlikely Guild Wars 2 will ever get an expansion pack”, Senior staff writer Robert Purchese talked with GW2 lead content designer Mike Zadorojny about not only expansions for GW2, but the games profitability.

“But what about making money? Guild Wars 1 survived on paid expansions, editions, add-ons, whatever you want to call them – are we to believe that the boxed sales of Guild Wars 2 and micro-transactions are enough to sustain such a large operation?”

“Yes,” responded Zadorojny. “It absolutely is enough.”
…
Mike Zadorojny concluded by assuring me it was “an extremely healthy environment”. “It’s not like there’s any problems in terms of cash flow,” he said. “These players have done their duty and we’re getting back to them by giving them this living world.”

Living world gave way to Living story, and instead of consistent content updates every 2 weeks it became every 2 weeks of each “Season” which was still plenty of content to keep the game fresh and the players happy and/or busy, but, after the last season of the Living Story content, Anet announced that they would be taking a break from producing Living Story content so that they could focus on a whole new official expansion.

As the months have passed with no new content to keep the game fresh, details on the Heart of Thorns expansion, and what it will consist of, in terms of content, have been scarce… my excitement has died down, for both the expansion and the base game itself, the lack of living story content has definitely had an impact on my enthusiasm.

I was totally ready to buy a 19.95, or even 29.95 expansion… but a 49.95 one, that seems like it might more resemble a well-polished 6 to 8 months’ worth of Living Story content nicely packaged with some gameplay updates and a new character class then a full-fledged expansion of the GW2 world, seems like it might be a little…. Pricey?

It just comes across, to me at least, like Anet stopped giving us the living world content we all bought into at launch, worked on a large chunk of it, repackaged it as an expansion and slapped a 49.95 price tag on it.

I love GW2, it’s a great game, I have enjoyed it immensely, but something just feels a little off with this expansion, the lack of details about included content, the lack of a release date and the lack of an option for existing players to purchase an account upgrade at a discounted price compared to the currently offered tiers.

It certainly doesn’t feel like any appreciation is being shown towards the many, many loyal and die hard players and fans that have made GW2 the incredibly successful game and community that it is.

mrstealth.6701:

AlexanderFalkor.4765:

sighs all this for a game for the love of the gods above you all are taking this way too far

It doesn’t matter what it’s for. It’s a company offering a “deal” that (with no notice) does not apply to all customers, and lying about perquisites in order to sell more copies.

but legal action its a bit extreme for a bloody game your lifes are in no way affected by their shady tactics