I think a lot of the arguments about the pricing are forgetting to take inflation into account. Spending the same amount of money, even 5-10 years ago is not the value it would have today. Based on the numbers I’ve seen others throw around, for 2006 (nightfall and factions) $50 is 2015’s $58.68 () – full game, full game price. For 2007 (Eye of the north) $40 is 2015’s $45.64 – not that far off from Heart of Thorn’s price.
I’m also guessing that the expansion might end up like the first deluxe upgrade and also be put directly into the gem store for an equivalent amount of gems so you can “purchase” the base expansion by trading gold for gems rather than giving Anet money directly. If this is the case, it would be the boon to vets that many feel is missing and likely why the base expansion won’t come with an extra character slot; it may not be announced yet to keep the gem market from going haywire as players scramble to farm and horde in preparation.
I’ve never agreed with the economical arguments that “you could have done something better, so you lost ‘x’ amount”. That sort of envious deficit thinking leads to jealousy (and jealous whining), in my opinion. New players are getting the game and everything that comes with it. I don’t think people who paid for the game with one of the sales weeks ago have been ripped off by this announcement – they have been playing the game for a while now.
Cosmetic digital stuff with preorder/prepurchase is nothing new. It’s a shame they’re cutting corners by not having a box set with physical goodies, but it also focuses sales directly to them which means a greater share of profit – I’ve always read that box sales generate only a sliver of revenue to the developer.
Will I get it? Likely not as a prepurchase as I don’t particularly care about a title and beta access, but I will probably get it closer to launch, when I know I will need to if I want access to the new areas.