Guild Wars 2

Coulter.2315:

phys.7689:

Coulter.2315:

phys.7689:

Coulter.2315:

Erm as a company don’t they need to declare to the government what their profit margin is so they can pay tax? You guys are acting like “cost of creating HoT” has no number attached.. You can’t just say “sell for £25 and sell more than £35” they have set a cost of development and projection on sales per unit and clearly have found their projection on £35 is best for the company. They need to generate profit for their shareholders and pay tax and wages and cover costs of development – you can’t just ask them to charge less money and maybe more will be sold…

All these factors need to be worked into the cost of a sale and so slashing 30% off the price to customer impacts the profit margin and that makes the product less viable – remember by law they have shareholders, tax and wages to consider – not to mention company liquidity and future planning – Anet will also be publishing GW2 from now on. Thats a lot of responsibility and burden.

Everyone likes things cheaper, that doesn’t mean the thing you want can survive if it is…

firstly, my point still stands. In order to consider what you are talking about, you only have to look at raw production costs per customer, not costs of development. This product doesnt have a lot of those costs, especially if they can make people order from them, with a attractive price point and marketing.

for this type of good, especially the way they sell it now.

The initial cost per sale is very low. The main cost is development and standard running of the company. This doesnt really change much based on number of users
This is the type of product that is well matched with a strat that hits as many different customers as possible.

like say for example ; say im making a song to be sold via digital distribution on my website.
The costs are virtually the same whether i sell one song or 1 million songs

now, also imagine on average, the people who buy my song bring in 4 dollars more per month in watching youtube videos, and advertisements on my website.

In this situation, with a extremely low cost per sale, no inventory costs, and distribution costs, my best bet is to sell as many songs as humanly possible while still making the same, or more money.
so if i can choose between selling songs for 25cents at 4 million customers, or selling 100,000 at 10 dollars, i should choose the the 25cent price point.

now of course this is simplified, 25 cents would be unfeasible due to CC transaction costs, but point is, regardless of your development costs, the end result goal is to get as many customers and as much money as you can. You can actually achieve that a lot better with lower price points and still make more money.

Your words would have more weight if you knew more than a single number, £35. Since you don’t all your saying is “HoT’s publisher has chosen a price to deliberately lose them money, don’t ask how I know but let me tell you about my imaginary music which cost nothing, required no marketing to get 4M customers and had zero distribution costs.”

Im not saying the chose a price to deliberately lose them money, im saying now that we can see how this played out, we can see that most likely they chose the wrong price point.
They decided to charge on the upper teir of expansions (the only one i can name is WoW) with substantially less content in the purchase. Even wow had issues with that price point with more content offered.

Based on the backlash alone, you can tell you chose the wrong price point. People generally dont crazy unless the number you pick just seems wrong to them.

Im sure they didnt do it deliberately, deciding to go above average on your price point is always a gamble, they thought they were winning. I think they overestimated the current perception of anet and the product.

Now i fully concede its possible im wrong, its possible that 80% of the people who hot could have gotten at any price purchased, but from the information available that seems highly unlikely.

They can basically compare people who bought the first gw2 as a theoretical maximum (though its possible to go higher, but improbable) im fairly certain the current re adoption rate of HoT is not large. Might change when its in more stores, but i dont think you ll see numbers like last time, which had like 3 mil in the first few months i think? without a china release.

Short version; I think they made a bad guess, and could have made more money with a different package and marketing.

anyhow im sure they will still profit. They just wont profit as much, with as much good will (my opinion)

My point is we cannot see how this played out… NONE of us can see the sales figures.. Remember people typing stuff into the forums on this topic is a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of the player base, we just don’t know and asking for a price reduction because “they picked the wrong price” from your position of ignorance has nothing to stand on.

the only way to really test it, is to do more market research.
however, they actually got a ton of market research when they released the price, and it was fairly negative, not just here, but throughout various gaming sites/circles.

In general they take surveys, and they ask people
would you buy at X price?
would you buy at X-10 price?
etc.

The fact they added the char slot to prepurchase suggests that they were not hitting the expected sales points. And the negative feedback throughout the gaming community also suggests this.
Thats about as close as you can get in business to a suggestion that you have the wrong price point.
Your main demographic complains voiciferously, and you arent hitting your projected goals.

let me tell you again, a lower price point does not necessarilly mean less profits.

People make mistakes, the key is, i hope they learn from their mistakes.
The best thing they can probably do now, is over deliver on content. However, based on the info on the last 3 years, this will be difficult.

Hopefully the next expansion they offer is either cheaper or has more content, or the feeling on the live service goes up so drastically that people think its worth it to buy in early.
Part of the problem is the last like year of GW2 live service hasnt been too interesting for many people, often actually making them less satisfied. promises of cool live updates seem flat based on recent history.

Most of the complaints back then focused on the lack of a character slot while still charging that price. Many did not want to may out another $10 so they could play the new class. You’d notice that the issue relatively died down after they added the character slot.

Ayrilana.1396:

Most of the complaints back then focused on the lack of a character slot while still charging that price. Many did not want to may out another $10 so they could play the new class. You’d notice that the issue relatively died down after they added the character slot.

that should mean that the issue should come up again after the expansion’s released, because the free character slot was added as a prepurchase bonus only :I

Mirta.5029:

Ayrilana.1396:

Most of the complaints back then focused on the lack of a character slot while still charging that price. Many did not want to may out another $10 so they could play the new class. You’d notice that the issue relatively died down after they added the character slot.

that should mean that the issue should come up again after the expansion’s released, because the free character slot was added as a prepurchase bonus only :I

And?

We have no idea what will come at a later, date, and heck, maybe they will get something better. maybe in 6 month time, a new player to HoT, will get that player slot, and only play 30$. We can’t go with what if, we can onl go with what now. If now, you still feel the price is wrong for this type a game, that fine, after 136 pages, I am not sure anything we say now will help. I am happy for my ultimate package, and I hope the game is good. I missed being here at the start of gw2, but I feel lucky to be here at the start of the expansion.
What ever happen after game release will happen, be it the same offer or a different one, but I guess you decide here and now, which you want to luck out on.

Yeah, looking at this and the mess that is Daredevil, I am no longer happy with pre-purchasing HoT. I suggest you all do the same, or don’t buy it if you haven’t yet. Just rerolling means they can ignore the situation indefinitely. What do they care if Thief & DD is kitten at that point? They already got your money.

I would like to get a refund but I’ve already spent my 4000 gems and don’t know if they can still refund me.

I’m not even gonna buy it.

And don’t pre-purchase anything. That’s the most idiotic thing you can do.

Kolly.9872:

I would like to get a refund but I’ve already spent my 4000 gems and don’t know if they can still refund me.

I am in that boat too. so angry.

Kolly.9872:

I would like to get a refund but I’ve already spent my 4000 gems and don’t know if they can still refund me.

I was in the same boat. I got my $99 refunded and I am going to move on to a new game. I’m a happy camper.

Pre-purchase. Buy something before you even know if you’re going to like it.

Wut?

Open beta Battle Front next weekend gogogogo

Kolly.9872:

I would like to get a refund but I’ve already spent my 4000 gems and don’t know if they can still refund me.

Ouch! You could have gotten a whole AAA or two Steam sale games with that.

I’m ticketing for a refund today, and I suggest that everyone else feeling unsatisfied do the same. If you think better treatment is coming—especially with a whole new batch of players from the F2P transition for them to swindle—you are deluding yourself.

Agemnon.4608:

Kolly.9872:

I would like to get a refund but I’ve already spent my 4000 gems and don’t know if they can still refund me.

Ouch! You could have gotten a whole AAA or two Steam sale games with that.

Actually my problem it’s not the cost or money. I want a refund just to give a strong signal to the devs that cannot keep showing no interest in the thief class

Just reading this title made me laugh, if one class is going to change your idea of the expansion you shouldn’t have prepurchased anyway

lolitsage.2185:

Just reading this title made me laugh, if one class is going to change your idea of the expansion you shouldn’t have prepurchased anyway

I play all classes but thief is my main and the only reason I could keep playing this game.
So people who only playing this game for pvp shouldn’t buy the expansion since pvp is left behind wvw and pve?

This IS about the price. I’ve been patient with GW2; just before I purchased the expansion it was announced that GW2 would be free of charge to all newcomers. I feel that I’ve paid for the free newbies to enter GW2 and that I have received only basic items for the Ultimate edition of the EXPANSION. I was really surprised by the exchange rate and found that I’d paid 135.00 dollars Canadian instead of 99.00. Already feeling a little angry about the newcomers for free, I wonder if the GW2 team have lost their heads in egotistical bewilderment. Don’t we, the well-behaving and paying olde members of this game, deserve something? I’ve now read that we get a new player slot. But I get that with the game I’ve purchased. A new player is something. It’s ‘something’. SOMETHING is better than paying for an icon the GW2 art team drew in 15 seconds that gives you a new pair of shoulder pads or ?.

I’ve had to put up with a lot in GW1 and in GW2 many social problems, eg mean people, pushy people and bad people; problems that have been almost solved. I still get stalked sometimes. Why ? ; there are people who have magically discovered how to take advantage of players ingame. I’ve tried to complain with both positive and negative sides to aggressive issues. I’ve also tried to get in between aggressive players and victims which is terrifying; I cannot believe how stubbornly unkind many people are; they can’t be very young people, no, that does not seem possible; we all watch t.v., we all know the rules. (My old complaints.)

BUT now I’m bugged because the staff is beginning to sniff money for a living. Money isn’t everything and those of us who don’t have tons of money should be the people who are the wise acres trying to get ahead by being devious, mysterious, cunning, baffling and overly well-meaning.

My favorite part in GW1 used to be joining a group of people I’d never met before and roaming GW territory on a quest or mission. Many of the players ruined chance meetings by joining teams with people they already knew about and bothering them. That is stalking.

I hope the GW2 team gets wiser, because they already seem concerned.

I agree with the people who thought we should get an expansion price with our already paid for GW2. I don’t like being a fool but there are all types of people who can make you notice that you are one or think you won’t notice. I don’t want GW2 to be a mistake.

Please make your olde, now considerably poorer players feel welcome.

tintok.1542:

This IS about the price. I’ve been patient with GW2; just before I purchased the expansion it was announced that GW2 would be free of charge to all newcomers. I feel that I’ve paid for the free newbies to enter GW2 and that I have received only basic items for the Ultimate edition of the EXPANSION. I was really surprised by the exchange rate and found that I’d paid 135.00 dollars Canadian instead of 99.00. Already feeling a little angry about the newcomers for free, I wonder if the GW2 team have lost their heads in egotistical bewilderment. Don’t we, the well-behaving and paying olde members of this game, deserve something? I’ve now read that we get a new player slot. But I get that with the game I’ve purchased. A new player is something. It’s ‘something’. SOMETHING is better than paying for an icon the GW2 art team drew in 15 seconds that gives you a new pair of shoulder pads or ?.

I’ve had to put up with a lot in GW1 and in GW2 many social problems, eg mean people, pushy people and bad people; problems that have been almost solved. I still get stalked sometimes. Why ? ; there are people who have magically discovered how to take advantage of players ingame. I’ve tried to complain with both positive and negative sides to aggressive issues. I’ve also tried to get in between aggressive players and victims which is terrifying; I cannot believe how stubbornly unkind many people are; they can’t be very young people, no, that does not seem possible; we all watch t.v., we all know the rules. (My old complaints.)

BUT now I’m bugged because the staff is beginning to sniff money for a living. Money isn’t everything and those of us who don’t have tons of money should be the people who are the wise acres trying to get ahead by being devious, mysterious, cunning, baffling and overly well-meaning.

My favorite part in GW1 used to be joining a group of people I’d never met before and roaming GW territory on a quest or mission. Many of the players ruined chance meetings by joining teams with people they already knew about and bothering them. That is stalking.

I hope the GW2 team gets wiser, because they already seem concerned.

I agree with the people who thought we should get an expansion price with our already paid for GW2. I don’t like being a fool but there are all types of people who can make you notice that you are one or think you won’t notice. I don’t want GW2 to be a mistake.

Please make your olde, now considerably poorer players feel welcome.

Why didn’t you just buy the basic edition…?

I’m not gonna spend 45€ for a expansion that includes the vanilla content, since I already bought GW2 vanilla on 2012.
It doesn’t seem right, I mean new players get base game+expansion at the same price old players get only the expansion?
If it was half the price for players who already own GW2 then I would have understood and maybe have bought it, but at the moment it doesn’t look very appealing.
And 1 character’s slot surely doesn’t cover the overprice of the expansion, let’s not even joke about it.

Zeross.3576:

I’m not gonna spend 45€ for a expansion that includes the vanilla content, since I already bought GW2 vanilla on 2012.
It doesn’t seem right, I mean new players get base game+expansion at the same price old players get only the expansion?
If it was half the price for players who already own GW2 then I would have understood and maybe have bought it, but at the moment it doesn’t look very appealing.
And 1 character’s slot surely doesn’t cover the overprice of the expansion, let’s not even joke about it.

Exactly my thoughts. Although I like the general direction the game is taking, with it going f2p bringing new players into the community, the fact is THE PLAYERS THAT SUPPORTED THE GAME SINCE ITS LAUNCH ARE GETTING SHAFTED.

GW2 has been the best MMO I’ve played by far, with its unique story progression, constant world events, and the way it does PvP.
But this is just spitting in the face of those that allowed ANet to get to this point. Those that allowed ANet to hold off the “Free to Play” business model for 3 full years.

I’ll probably pass on the expansion. It’s just too much of a scumbag move.

Almeida.6458:

in my opinion PLAYERS THAT SUPPORTED THE GAME SINCE ITS LAUNCH ARE GETTING SHAFTED.

Fixed that for you.

I too am passing on the expansion, not because of some idea of it being a, “scumbag move,” because charging for the product you spent millions of dollars developing is not a scumbag move, but because the expansion doesn’t really have anything worth paying for IMO.

Zeross.3576:

I’m not gonna spend 45€ for a expansion that includes the vanilla content, since I already bought GW2 vanilla on 2012.
It doesn’t seem right, I mean new players get base game+expansion at the same price old players get only the expansion?
If it was half the price for players who already own GW2 then I would have understood and maybe have bought it, but at the moment it doesn’t look very appealing.
And 1 character’s slot surely doesn’t cover the overprice of the expansion, let’s not even joke about it.

Skyrim Legendary Edition for $40.

Expansion/DLC content $45

Skyrim basic edition originally sold for $60

So new players get everything for $40 when old players had to pay $105. Or even cheaper than that. What a rip off, right? /sarcasm

This has been the norm in the industry for quite some time…

And FYI, you’re not being charged for the core game of GW2. It’s free for those who purchase the expansion and apply it towards a new or F2P account.

Ashen.2907:

Almeida.6458:

in my opinion PLAYERS THAT SUPPORTED THE GAME SINCE ITS LAUNCH ARE GETTING SHAFTED.

Fixed that for you.

I too am passing on the expansion, not because of some idea of it being a, “scumbag move,” because charging for the product you spent millions of dollars developing is not a scumbag move, but because the expansion doesn’t really have anything worth paying for IMO.

Yes, I’m sharing my opinion on the matter. And as far as I’m concerned, yes it is a scumbag move. Of course they have to charge, but it wouldn’t kill their launch if either the previous owners of GW2 got a discount on the expansion, or there was an option to buy the expansion NOT INCLUDING THE CORE GAME.

Yes, this is a move that’s getting more and more common in the games industry. Still, it doesn’t make it any less of a scumbag move.

Almeida.6458:

Ashen.2907:

Almeida.6458:

in my opinion PLAYERS THAT SUPPORTED THE GAME SINCE ITS LAUNCH ARE GETTING SHAFTED.

Fixed that for you.

I too am passing on the expansion, not because of some idea of it being a, “scumbag move,” because charging for the product you spent millions of dollars developing is not a scumbag move, but because the expansion doesn’t really have anything worth paying for IMO.

Yes, I’m sharing my opinion on the matter. And as far as I’m concerned, yes it is a scumbag move. Of course they have to charge, but it wouldn’t kill their launch if either the previous owners of GW2 got a discount on the expansion, or there was an option to buy the expansion NOT INCLUDING THE CORE GAME.

Yes, this is a move that’s getting more and more common in the games industry. Still, it doesn’t make it any less of a scumbag move.

You can buy the expansion without the core game right now. It’s $50.

No game franchise has ever given discounts to existing players otherwise it would be no different than just marking it down completely to the lower price.

Ayrilana.1396:

Almeida.6458:

Ashen.2907:

Almeida.6458:

in my opinion PLAYERS THAT SUPPORTED THE GAME SINCE ITS LAUNCH ARE GETTING SHAFTED.

Fixed that for you.

I too am passing on the expansion, not because of some idea of it being a, “scumbag move,” because charging for the product you spent millions of dollars developing is not a scumbag move, but because the expansion doesn’t really have anything worth paying for IMO.

Yes, I’m sharing my opinion on the matter. And as far as I’m concerned, yes it is a scumbag move. Of course they have to charge, but it wouldn’t kill their launch if either the previous owners of GW2 got a discount on the expansion, or there was an option to buy the expansion NOT INCLUDING THE CORE GAME.

Yes, this is a move that’s getting more and more common in the games industry. Still, it doesn’t make it any less of a scumbag move.

You can buy the expansion without the core game right now. It’s $50.

No game franchise has ever given discounts to existing players otherwise it would be no different than just marking it down completely to the lower price.

Let me point you out to Elder Scrolls Online, for example, that on their move to f2p gave several compensations to existing players that would continue the subscription to “ESO Plus”, as well as compensation for everyone that had a subscription even if they wouldn’t continue with it.

Stating that “No game franchise has ever given discounts to existing players” is just spreading misinformation to suit your opinion on the matter.

Ayrilana.1396:

Zeross.3576:

I’m not gonna spend 45€ for a expansion that includes the vanilla content, since I already bought GW2 vanilla on 2012.
It doesn’t seem right, I mean new players get base game+expansion at the same price old players get only the expansion?
If it was half the price for players who already own GW2 then I would have understood and maybe have bought it, but at the moment it doesn’t look very appealing.
And 1 character’s slot surely doesn’t cover the overprice of the expansion, let’s not even joke about it.

Skyrim Legendary Edition for $40.

Expansion/DLC content $45

Skyrim basic edition originally sold for $60

So new players get everything for $40 when old players had to pay $105. Or even cheaper than that. What a rip off, right? /sarcasm

This has been the norm in the industry for quite some time…

And FYI, you’re not being charged for the core game of GW2. It’s free for those who purchase the expansion and apply it towards a new or F2P account.

Skyrim is not free to play and it’s a singleplayer game without microtransaction: 1/10.

Next white knight, pls.

Almeida.6458:

Ayrilana.1396:

Almeida.6458:

Ashen.2907:

Almeida.6458:

in my opinion PLAYERS THAT SUPPORTED THE GAME SINCE ITS LAUNCH ARE GETTING SHAFTED.

Fixed that for you.

I too am passing on the expansion, not because of some idea of it being a, “scumbag move,” because charging for the product you spent millions of dollars developing is not a scumbag move, but because the expansion doesn’t really have anything worth paying for IMO.

Yes, I’m sharing my opinion on the matter. And as far as I’m concerned, yes it is a scumbag move. Of course they have to charge, but it wouldn’t kill their launch if either the previous owners of GW2 got a discount on the expansion, or there was an option to buy the expansion NOT INCLUDING THE CORE GAME.

Yes, this is a move that’s getting more and more common in the games industry. Still, it doesn’t make it any less of a scumbag move.

You can buy the expansion without the core game right now. It’s $50.

No game franchise has ever given discounts to existing players otherwise it would be no different than just marking it down completely to the lower price.

Let me point you out to Elder Scrolls Online, for example, that on their move to f2p gave several compensations to existing players that would continue the subscription to “ESO Plus”, as well as compensation for everyone that had a subscription even if they wouldn’t continue with it.

Stating that “No game franchise has ever given discounts to existing players” is just spreading misinformation to suit your opinion on the matter.

Compensation is not the same as discount. If you look at your post, you’ll see you were talking about price. There’s no spreading of misinformation by me. Just you changing things around to suit your argument.

Zeross.3576:

Ayrilana.1396:

Zeross.3576:

I’m not gonna spend 45€ for a expansion that includes the vanilla content, since I already bought GW2 vanilla on 2012.
It doesn’t seem right, I mean new players get base game+expansion at the same price old players get only the expansion?
If it was half the price for players who already own GW2 then I would have understood and maybe have bought it, but at the moment it doesn’t look very appealing.
And 1 character’s slot surely doesn’t cover the overprice of the expansion, let’s not even joke about it.

Skyrim Legendary Edition for $40.

Expansion/DLC content $45

Skyrim basic edition originally sold for $60

So new players get everything for $40 when old players had to pay $105. Or even cheaper than that. What a rip off, right? /sarcasm

This has been the norm in the industry for quite some time…

And FYI, you’re not being charged for the core game of GW2. It’s free for those who purchase the expansion and apply it towards a new or F2P account.

Skyrim is not free to play and it’s a singleplayer game without microtransaction: 1/10.

Next white knight, pls.

Doesn’t matter. You complained that you’re being charged for the core game and the expansion content where new players get both for the same price. Same deal with Skyrim. I bought Skyrim for $60. If I were to get the expansion content, I would buy the legendary edition which includes the original game.

Oh. Insults also tend to make anything you say come off as less credible.

Ayrilana.1396:

Almeida.6458:

Ayrilana.1396:

Almeida.6458:

Ashen.2907:

Almeida.6458:

in my opinion PLAYERS THAT SUPPORTED THE GAME SINCE ITS LAUNCH ARE GETTING SHAFTED.

Fixed that for you.

I too am passing on the expansion, not because of some idea of it being a, “scumbag move,” because charging for the product you spent millions of dollars developing is not a scumbag move, but because the expansion doesn’t really have anything worth paying for IMO.

Yes, I’m sharing my opinion on the matter. And as far as I’m concerned, yes it is a scumbag move. Of course they have to charge, but it wouldn’t kill their launch if either the previous owners of GW2 got a discount on the expansion, or there was an option to buy the expansion NOT INCLUDING THE CORE GAME.

Yes, this is a move that’s getting more and more common in the games industry. Still, it doesn’t make it any less of a scumbag move.

You can buy the expansion without the core game right now. It’s $50.

No game franchise has ever given discounts to existing players otherwise it would be no different than just marking it down completely to the lower price.

Let me point you out to Elder Scrolls Online, for example, that on their move to f2p gave several compensations to existing players that would continue the subscription to “ESO Plus”, as well as compensation for everyone that had a subscription even if they wouldn’t continue with it.

Stating that “No game franchise has ever given discounts to existing players” is just spreading misinformation to suit your opinion on the matter.

Compensation is not the same as discount. If you look at your post, you’ll see you were talking about price. There’s no spreading of misinformation by me. Just you changing things around to suit your argument.

Because a compensation that has monetary value (in ESO case, the cash shop currency amongst other things) is abismally different from a discount (that has—you guessed it—monetary value), right?

If you want to discuss semantics, do it with someone else, buddy o/

I decided to buy it as it’s £29 on Amazon, but I really feel it’s overpriced even at that price point. If there had been other games out at this time I would have skipped it. For new players it’s a much better deal though, it’s just current players that got the shaft a little. £25 would have been reasonable IMO.

Ayrilana.1396:

Doesn’t matter. You complained that you’re being charged for the core game and the expansion content where new players get both for the same price. Same deal with Skyrim. I bought Skyrim for $60. If I were to get the expansion content, I would buy the legendary edition which includes the original game.

Oh. Insults also tend to make anything you say come off as less credible.

Insults? “White knight”? If you felt that as an insult, maybe that’s because you have a guilty conscience

By the way, the fault in your logic is very simple, my dear friend: GW2 vanilla was still sold at 25-30$/€ before becoming f2p.
It’s not like the game decreased its price over time, excluding the online cd key stores that aren’t always trustworthy.
Does that means Arena.net has to refund all the players who have bought the game? Obviously not.
But making pay the expansion without any sort of discount for old players and giving that sop of char’s slot, meh, isn’t very classy of them.

I make an example:
Blizzard, with WoW, made every expansion around 20-30$ (or €), but if you don’t have the vanilla game and the previous expansions you can’t play the new content.
What does that mean? That old players are, somehow, advantaged in buying just the expansion, but new players have to buy the whole package.. but the vanilla’s and old expansions’ prices drop every time.

Said so, my point of view on the matter is simple: I will not buy the expansion at day one, I will probably wait the price drops to what I think is a fair price for a expansion, and I don’t think I’m the only one to think that otherwise this topic wouldn’t have 7k replies.

Almeida.6458:

Ayrilana.1396:

Almeida.6458:

Ayrilana.1396:

Almeida.6458:

Ashen.2907:

Almeida.6458:

in my opinion PLAYERS THAT SUPPORTED THE GAME SINCE ITS LAUNCH ARE GETTING SHAFTED.

Fixed that for you.

I too am passing on the expansion, not because of some idea of it being a, “scumbag move,” because charging for the product you spent millions of dollars developing is not a scumbag move, but because the expansion doesn’t really have anything worth paying for IMO.

Yes, I’m sharing my opinion on the matter. And as far as I’m concerned, yes it is a scumbag move. Of course they have to charge, but it wouldn’t kill their launch if either the previous owners of GW2 got a discount on the expansion, or there was an option to buy the expansion NOT INCLUDING THE CORE GAME.

Yes, this is a move that’s getting more and more common in the games industry. Still, it doesn’t make it any less of a scumbag move.

You can buy the expansion without the core game right now. It’s $50.

No game franchise has ever given discounts to existing players otherwise it would be no different than just marking it down completely to the lower price.

Let me point you out to Elder Scrolls Online, for example, that on their move to f2p gave several compensations to existing players that would continue the subscription to “ESO Plus”, as well as compensation for everyone that had a subscription even if they wouldn’t continue with it.

Stating that “No game franchise has ever given discounts to existing players” is just spreading misinformation to suit your opinion on the matter.

Compensation is not the same as discount. If you look at your post, you’ll see you were talking about price. There’s no spreading of misinformation by me. Just you changing things around to suit your argument.

Because a compensation that has monetary value (in ESO case, the cash shop currency amongst other things) is abismally different from a discount (that has—you guessed it—monetary value), right?

If you want to discuss semantics, do it with someone else, buddy o/

There is a difference between a price discount and offering something such as a free character slot. There’s also a difference between offering an item at a direct discount versus the discount being in store credit.

Zeross.3576:

Ayrilana.1396:

Doesn’t matter. You complained that you’re being charged for the core game and the expansion content where new players get both for the same price. Same deal with Skyrim. I bought Skyrim for $60. If I were to get the expansion content, I would buy the legendary edition which includes the original game.

Oh. Insults also tend to make anything you say come off as less credible.

Insults? “White knight”? If you felt that as an insult, maybe that’s because you have a guilty conscience

By the way, the fault in your logic is very simple, my dear friend: GW2 vanilla was still sold at 25-30$/€ before becoming f2p.
It’s not like the game decreased its price over time, excluding the online cd key stores that aren’t always trustworthy.
Does that means Arena.net has to refund all the players who have bought the game? Obviously not.
But making pay the expansion without any sort of discount for old players and giving that sop of char’s slot, meh, isn’t very classy of them.

I make an example:
Blizzard, with WoW, made every expansion around 20-30$ (or €), but if you don’t have the vanilla game and the previous expansions you can’t play the new content.
What does that mean? That old players are, somehow, advantaged in buying just the expansion, but new players have to buy the whole package.. but the vanilla’s and old expansions’ prices drop every time.

Said so, my point of view on the matter is simple: I will not buy the expansion at day one, I will probably wait the price drops to what I think is a fair price for a expansion, and I don’t think I’m the only one to think that otherwise this topic wouldn’t have 7k replies.

So if I spout off an insult against you, and it offends you, then that must mean you have a guilty conscience. Yeah… makes a lot of sense.

It doesn’t matter what the original game sold for. Your complaint was that you felt you were buying the core game with the expansion which was wrong.

This isn’t WoW. GW2 and WoW have different business models. Anet stated there reasoning for why new players get the core game as a free bonus.

This topic as 7K replies because it’s a compilation of all threads related to this subject. If you feel that the number of posts in this thread is relevant then the people who want mounts deserve to have that addressed before the people in this thread.

Ayrilana.1396:

So if I spout off an insult against you, and it offends you, then that must mean you have a guilty conscience. Yeah… makes a lot of sense.

It doesn’t matter what the original game sold for. Your complaint was that you felt you were buying the core game with the expansion which was wrong.

This isn’t WoW. GW2 and WoW have different business models. Anet stated there reasoning for why new players get the core game as a free bonus.

This topic as 7K replies because it’s a compilation of all threads related to this subject. If you feel that the number of posts in this thread is relevant then the people who want mounts deserve to have that addressed before the people in this thread.

Is “white knight” a insult? Actually not, it’s a word that happens to describe your role in this topic, but it doesn’t insult you as a person since I don’t even know you.
I’m beginning to wonder if I’m biting a troll-bait with you, but I’ll gamble once again: the business model doesn’t mean there aren’t objective factors in a market.
GW2 doesn’t make you pay a monthly fee, but there are micro-transactions and you pay full price on the retail/cd key.
WoW has a lower price on the retail, but has a monthly subscription.
The difference in that is that Blizzard use a different system than ArenaNet to handle servers and players, but ArenaNet could have put a monthly subscription without micro-transactions and no one would have pointed a scandal.
They offer a different service, so players’ expectations are different.
The business model isn’t related to Hot’s price, that’s your assumption based on what Arenanet told about Vanilla+HoT for new players, but it doesn’t concern its own price.. it could have been 30$/€ or 50 for what we know.

Oh and btw: actually many videogames’ sites have written articles about this topic, about Hot’s price for old players, their reactions and stuff.
So, I’m sorry, but this whole situation has a bit more relevance than you think.

Said so, I said my opinion about this topic, it’s a +1 for those who started this, I hope Arenanet will think about it.
In case they will not, I will wait for a price’s drop.
Have fun Ayrilana, no hard feelings but for me it’s time to move on and do something else.

Zeross.3576:

Is “white knight” a insult? Actually not, it’s a word that happens to describe your role in this topic, but it doesn’t insult you as a person since I don’t even know you.

It’s frequently used as an insult on forums to demean a person rather than their argument. It’s never used as a compliment or at least not from what I have seen on these forums.

Since you’re done, and that I don’t feel like getting into this further, I’ll end it here as well.

So just to be clear. If I pre-purchase Gw2:HoT now, I’ll get a character slot since I purchased the game on release three years ago?

Well they just lost my money! There’s no way I’m paying full game price for an expansion to a game I have already purchased. That’s just pure greed on their part considering they seem to be making a decent amount off of in-game micro transactions. Going back to SWTOR.

RoninX.4025:

Well they just lost my money! There’s no way I’m paying full game price for an expansion to a game I have already purchased. That’s just pure greed on their part considering they seem to be making a decent amount off of in-game micro transactions. Going back to SWTOR.

Can i have your stuff pls?

I don’t think the content in HoT is enough to justify a price tag nearly double that of a standard game key.
I hate people that use examples of other games and mmorpgs and what they did. Yes they sold expansions that cost more than the original key. What was the result though? They killed off a large portion of their existing customer base but brought in new juicy players ripe for the picking (of money). This is the case in Elder scrolls online, because its launch was on so many levels a disaster, their expansion including a large subscription attached for relatively free was a great move for them.
As a company. As in profits.
But do we really want to see the same kind of treatment from Anet? Do we want to be shafted in GW2? I mean really? For the flagship of lets not be money hogging, gear hogging, skill based rather than $$ based game out there this is a devastating move towards insulting your current player base. It simply doesn’t make logical sense that players with a full game cannot purchase a lone expansion.
GW2, if you really want to shaft us existing players then you can get stuffed. I’d rather take this $50 USD and buy a fishing rod. At least for that i can buy hooks without having to rebuy another rod.

Remember that Gw2 has been bought for 5 million persons on those 3 years. Is that the current player base? No way, more like 1-2million of that 5 millions are the current player base.

So this anets move is not a punishment to the “current” player base, but a consequence of the punishment that those 4-3millions made to anet leaving the game and not playing.

The way that i see it, anet is doing the impossible to put people on its game. Cause the ones they had, left the game a long time ago. You cant punish someone is already gone. So there is no punishment to the “veteran” player base. there are very few veteran players actually playing, in comparison with people who has the game and could play.
The veterans (specially the ones in love with GW1 and in hate with GW2) punished anet leaving, and not viceversa.

with all these good update, I am happy more then ever. New balance was not bad. Even Thief got a good boost, and she is kicking butt better then before, and HoT not even out yet. Beta weekend going to be fun to try the raids, and I already can’t wait to see what comes next.

Silicato.4603:

Remember that Gw2 has been bought for 5 million persons on those 3 years. Is that the current player base? No way, more like 1-2million of that 5 millions are the current player base.

So this anets move is not a punishment to the “current” player base, but a consequence of the punishment that those 4-3millions made to anet leaving the game and not playing.

The way that i see it, anet is doing the impossible to put people on its game. Cause the ones they had, left the game a long time ago. You cant punish someone is already gone. So there is no punishment to the “veteran” player base. there are very few veteran players actually playing, in comparison with people who has the game and could play.
The veterans (specially the ones in love with GW1 and in hate with GW2) punished anet leaving, and not viceversa.

people not playing are not on these forums and won’t be the ones complaining about expansion pricing. So all their doing is shooting themselves in the foot losing current customers over F2P ones.
I’ve been here since the beta, playing on and off, the months that I did play though I ended up paying 20-40£ on average. I think it’s safe to say that they could have at least offered me a 10$ discount instead of that character slot as then I would have been more likely to buy HoT.

A discount for what, for enjoying the game for 3 years. You payed once, and that it, you do not want to pay again , or something. That all the hard work they put in for three years, and all the time to release HoT, should not be payed? 50$ us a small fee for a game expansion, and all the content we are getting, plus the added stuff down the line.

Ayrilana.1396:

Almeida.6458:

Ayrilana.1396:

Almeida.6458:

Ayrilana.1396:

Almeida.6458:

Ashen.2907:

Almeida.6458:

in my opinion PLAYERS THAT SUPPORTED THE GAME SINCE ITS LAUNCH ARE GETTING SHAFTED.

Fixed that for you.

I too am passing on the expansion, not because of some idea of it being a, “scumbag move,” because charging for the product you spent millions of dollars developing is not a scumbag move, but because the expansion doesn’t really have anything worth paying for IMO.

Yes, I’m sharing my opinion on the matter. And as far as I’m concerned, yes it is a scumbag move. Of course they have to charge, but it wouldn’t kill their launch if either the previous owners of GW2 got a discount on the expansion, or there was an option to buy the expansion NOT INCLUDING THE CORE GAME.

Yes, this is a move that’s getting more and more common in the games industry. Still, it doesn’t make it any less of a scumbag move.

You can buy the expansion without the core game right now. It’s $50.

No game franchise has ever given discounts to existing players otherwise it would be no different than just marking it down completely to the lower price.

Let me point you out to Elder Scrolls Online, for example, that on their move to f2p gave several compensations to existing players that would continue the subscription to “ESO Plus”, as well as compensation for everyone that had a subscription even if they wouldn’t continue with it.

Stating that “No game franchise has ever given discounts to existing players” is just spreading misinformation to suit your opinion on the matter.

Compensation is not the same as discount. If you look at your post, you’ll see you were talking about price. There’s no spreading of misinformation by me. Just you changing things around to suit your argument.

Because a compensation that has monetary value (in ESO case, the cash shop currency amongst other things) is abismally different from a discount (that has—you guessed it—monetary value), right?

If you want to discuss semantics, do it with someone else, buddy o/

There is a difference between a price discount and offering something such as a free character slot. There’s also a difference between offering an item at a direct discount versus the discount being in store credit.

Semantics!

It seems to me, and as a matter of fact to a lot of other people out there, that this so called “Expansion” costs nearly the same as the original game. I’m used to paying around €20 to €30 for expansions, not the price of a full new game.

This is rather lame coming from aNet.

Guys you could have saved up £1 a week since its announcement and bought it with that – you had plenty warning it was coming. You seem to be dramaticly ignorant of how expensive it is to produce MMOs. Its being sold at the same price as other MMO expansions and there is no monthly fee.

Really don’t see how you can be upset at being asked for £35 after 3 years of playing.

/age and tell me you haven’t had value for money.

I got a question, something I’m not really understanding from the buy page: Ultimate lists as giving a character slot.

But then the “learn more” says this:

If you registered your core Guild Wars 2 game before January 23, 2015 and register a pre-purchase serial code for Heart of Thorns any time before the expansion is released, you’ll receive a free character slot! Once you apply a pre-purchase serial code, you’ll be eligible for the slot regardless of where you bought the core game.

If the serial code you used to register the core game came from a retail vendor (rather than buy.guildwars2.com or in-game) and was applied to your account between January 23, 2015 and June 16, 2015, you’ll also be eligible for a free character slot if you apply a Heart of Thorns pre-purchase serial code before the expansion release.

All accounts that become eligible by July 9 will have their free character slot applied by July 10. Eligible accounts that are upgraded with a pre-purchase serial code after July 10 will receive their slots on a weekly basis after that.

So did they make it so that any pre-order gets a char slot, as long as the account was around before a certain date? And if so, what’s the point of the char slot on the ultimate edition?

I r confused.

Edit: Or was this only for super early pre-orders back in June/July??

Labjax.2465:

I got a question, something I’m not really understanding from the buy page: Ultimate lists as giving a character slot.

But then the “learn more” says this:

If you registered your core Guild Wars 2 game before January 23, 2015 and register a pre-purchase serial code for Heart of Thorns any time before the expansion is released, you’ll receive a free character slot! Once you apply a pre-purchase serial code, you’ll be eligible for the slot regardless of where you bought the core game.

If the serial code you used to register the core game came from a retail vendor (rather than buy.guildwars2.com or in-game) and was applied to your account between January 23, 2015 and June 16, 2015, you’ll also be eligible for a free character slot if you apply a Heart of Thorns pre-purchase serial code before the expansion release.

All accounts that become eligible by July 9 will have their free character slot applied by July 10. Eligible accounts that are upgraded with a pre-purchase serial code after July 10 will receive their slots on a weekly basis after that.

So did they make it so that any pre-order gets a char slot, as long as the account was around before a certain date? And if so, what’s the point of the char slot on the ultimate edition?

I r confused.

Edit: Or was this only for super early pre-orders back in June/July??

If you own the core game before the HoT expansion announcement, and apply the expansion code to your account before it goes live, you get a character slot.

If you bought the game from a retailer after the announcement of the expansion, but before June 16th, you’ll get a character slot if you apply the expansion code towards your account before it goes live.

Labjax.2465:

I got a question, something I’m not really understanding from the buy page: Ultimate lists as giving a character slot.

But then the “learn more” says this:

If you registered your core Guild Wars 2 game before January 23, 2015 and register a pre-purchase serial code for Heart of Thorns any time before the expansion is released, you’ll receive a free character slot! Once you apply a pre-purchase serial code, you’ll be eligible for the slot regardless of where you bought the core game.

If the serial code you used to register the core game came from a retail vendor (rather than buy.guildwars2.com or in-game) and was applied to your account between January 23, 2015 and June 16, 2015, you’ll also be eligible for a free character slot if you apply a Heart of Thorns pre-purchase serial code before the expansion release.

All accounts that become eligible by July 9 will have their free character slot applied by July 10. Eligible accounts that are upgraded with a pre-purchase serial code after July 10 will receive their slots on a weekly basis after that.

So did they make it so that any pre-order gets a char slot, as long as the account was around before a certain date? And if so, what’s the point of the char slot on the ultimate edition?

I r confused.

Edit: Or was this only for super early pre-orders back in June/July??

If you meet the requirements (listed above [Own core game pre-Jan 23, and apply a HoT serial code before Hot launch]), you will receive a bonus character slot, above and beyond any that may be offered with a particular edition.

One (total character slots) with Standard
Two (total character slots) with Deluxe
Two (total character slots) with Ultimate