Guild Wars 2

Many developers are adopting the current model GW2 is using. Buy the expansion and you will get all previous versions. Though this is a great deal for new players , but it feels like veteran players are getting highballed.

There is another way , a fair way , to appease all consumers and some developers are already doing it.

Its called discounts for owners of previous versions!

Insane I know right? How can it be enforced? Easily if you purchase through the game’s official website. Other deals could be , you buy the new expansion for the full price elsewhere , you punch in the registration key code and Anet notices you already own previous versions so they give you Gems.

GEMS for previously owned expansions and core game! Crazy right!? Do I have to bring up why many on the Anet team have left? Its a huge conspiracy that they just didn’t like the direction of GW2. They probably felt they failed their audience with HoT.

Call me cheap or whatever. Fact is I did buy both the core game and the expansion for full price and spent money in the Gem shop, and I do spend money on games that deserve it.

I just feel cheated out of my wallet on HoT because of the lackluster story , and what was really unlocked for buying it. Elite specializations? Not a lot of content. A couple armor skins behind a huge grind? Well thats just grind and not a lot of content.

Many core game changes were made that is in free to play which means we pretty much paid for an overhaul.

In conclusion , what I suggest would create better customer loyalty and fairness. Let us not go the way of Electronic Arts.

Seems to be a pretty common business strategy to focus on drawing in new customers. Veterans were so update and content starved that they were obviously going to buy the exapsion no matter what.
ArenaNet does not really need to hold veterans due to a lack of an actual subscription model. Most veterans already bought the most desired convinience items from the cash shop and therefor do no longer spend too much on gems.
New customers on the other hand do not only buy the game, they also invenst into the game further thanks to the need to acquire those convinience items from the shop and the lack of gold to trade for gems.
I don’t much like this strategy but it makes sense. The only way to stop this as a customer is to stop supporting them with your money.

Personally, I didn’t much like the price tag either. The lack of actual new content was what made me feel that way and not any discounts which might make the game I like more populated with players. Considering how cheap the game is and how much was included in the core version already I hardly felt cheated, though.

Still, with future expansions pretty much already firmed we might get a better deal as veterans at some point. They gave in and threw an extra character slot at us after the major complaining happened. We’ll see.

Even if they gave a discount, it’d only be $5, maybe $10 tops. With HoT pre-purchasing, they did give a free character slot for existing accounts, which is a $10 value.

The problem with offering discounts for 3rd party keys is that the game is already far cheaper through 3rd parties. Within weeks of pre-purchasing going live for example, official retailers already had it down to $34 on sale. Two months after HoT was released, the physical edition was being sold for $25.

Dead horse that the OP has opened to add to the dead horse thread they posted on and has sank beneath the waves.
A very strange dead horse at that since you can get the expansion for much less than $50 if you take 2 seconds to do an internet search.

I enjoy playing from the first moments of a new expansion, figuring out stuff with people for the first time. That’s easily worth $10-15 dollars to me. I suspect most people feel that way too.

Business strategy and fairness are 2 totally different things.

Company offer a discount for the “veterans” would be fair for sure, but they know that the majority of the current players would buy the expansion no matter or what, so why offer an discount?

They only problem I saw was that they didn’t give any bonus at all to the veterans while new players would get the core game for free, they should have given the extra character slot before all the “fecal storm” :P , that way players would have the illusion of a fair trade.

You can be greedy if you can deliver the content, but HoT was rreleased unfinished and underdeveloped with an extremely high price tag ; every aspect of the expansion felt rushed. I’m quite sure they got what they deserved with all the people that left the game.

Belzebu.3912:

Business strategy and fairness are 2 totally different things.

Company offer a discount for the “veterans” would be fair for sure, but they know that the majority of the current players would buy the expansion no matter or what, so why offer an discount?

They only problem I saw was that they didn’t give any bonus at all to the veterans while new players would get the core game for free, they should have given the extra character slot before all the “fecal storm” :P , that way players would have the illusion of a fair trade.

Again, companies do not have to provide bonuses to every player segment. Since the 90’s, companies have offered new customers exclusive deals. Keep in mind that the game went F2P well before HoT came out.

What bonuses are F2P accounts really getting? All that they’re getting is the removal of the restrictions which had minimal impact on their play experience. Besides, if existing players want the same deal, they can apply the expansion code towards a new account or a F2P account of their very own.

Xillllix.3485:

You can be greedy if you can deliver the content, but HoT was rreleased unfinished and underdeveloped with an extremely high price tag ; every aspect of the expansion felt rushed. I’m quite sure they got what they deserved with all the people that left the game.

That’s your opinion but I’m going to have to disagree with it.

I bought The Hobbit 1 for full price when it was released on blueray, then I bought The Hobbit 2 for full price when it was released. Now they sell all 3 movies for the price of nearly not even the same money as I payed for both of the movies. I want discount on the box with all 3 movies because I have all ready own 1 and 2.

Or Maby I should just be proud over that I all ready do own the movies and I have been able to watch them long before this box came to the stores.

Remember that the experience you have got from owning GW2 before HoT is something new players don’t get until now. Also with GW2 there are some stuff that is actually exclusive to players that haven’t played season 1.

I bought:
Guild Wars 1: Prophecies for $50
Guild Wars 1: Factions for $50
Guild Wars 1: Nightfall for $50
Guild Wars 1: Eye of the North for (whatever the price was… $25?)
Guild Wars 2 for $50
Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns for $50

What you’re asking is like saying that each Guild Wars 1 game should have gotten cheaper as they go, because “veterans…discounts”. Yea, I know, “Well, each GW1 game was a standalone”, yes, we’ve beaten this to death.

Guild Wars 2 was $50.
Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns is $50, but includes the base game.
“But I’ve already bought the basegame… waaa, I want discount or refund.”
The expansion is $50. Period. Yes, there was not nearly as much content as the base game, but a lot of stuff was involved. All the classes trait lines changed and specializations were implemented. This paves the way for future expansions because they will not need to readdress these things, hopefully, this means that future expansions will focus on content, not mechanics.

TL:DR: Get off your high horse.

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

Many developers are adopting the current model GW2 is using. Buy the expansion and you will get all previous versions. Though this is a great deal for new players , but it feels like veteran players are getting highballed.

It “feels like” but isn’t necessarily true. Therefore ANet needs to address the perception that veterans should be treated differently; they don’t actually have to change the model.

I think ANet made a tactical mistake by not offering veterans something to encourage them to buy the expansion — they don’t have to, but it’s better PR and encourages positive word-of-mouth. However, it doesn’t have to be a discount — the extra character slot is a great benefit: it’s a $10 value to the player, nearly free to ANet (since a lot of people weren’t going to pay the $10), and it’s something that new players won’t get.

UnitedChaos.8364:

I bought:
Guild Wars 1: Prophecies for $50
Guild Wars 1: Factions for $50
Guild Wars 1: Nightfall for $50
Guild Wars 1: Eye of the North for (whatever the price was… $25?)
Guild Wars 2 for $50
Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns for $50

Ignoring the idea of a discount and objections to the inclusion of the base game, what you list above seems to be the rub for a lot of people. A lot of people seem to think HoT had the smallest amount of content of all of the above. Even if HoT’s content exceeded GWEN, the price was higher. Seems like GWEN was more than $25, but it was available for less than $30 within a couple of weeks of release and within two months ANet was offering it at half price. There was criticism about its price to content ratio when it was released. Even adjusting for inflation, HoT was more expensive. Real or not, the perception that HoT was overpriced is out there and is something ANet has to consider. They almost certainly will do so and make whatever their metrics indicate is the best decision in pricing the next expansion.

Interesting assertions withou supporting facts present. Makes it hard for me to take anything in the post seriously. The core point would have been better made without commentary on the employment decisions of some developers or a reference to, “veterans,” as a whole rather than self or self and immediate friends who share an opinion.

UnitedChaos.8364:

Guild Wars 1: Eye of the North for (whatever the price was… $25?)
Guild Wars 2 for $50

The original prices in USD were $40 for EotN and $60 for GW2.

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