Guild Wars 2

Lustre Of Havoc.9173:

What this address says to me:

Veteran players have to pay full price for an expansion every time.
New players will always have the cheapest deals.

Thanks, ANet. Been with you for over 10 years and gave you money for the in-game stuff you release now and then. Instead of rewarding us, you just laugh at us and make us pay more. I can feel the love. I don’t need any more character slots. If I wanted more, I can just buy one with in-game money.

So to sum it up: You want to pay 50$ for the core game and get every expansion in the future for free, because then everything before will be included for new players?
How could someone find a flaw in this logic?

This still doesnt address the future issue of waiting 12 years and getting all future existing expansions for the price of the core-game of its launch price.

Anet, you are running into a red zone.

You are better off locking the core game, and only allow access to areas of what you paid for. If HoT is just as big as gw2 core, then players should be stuck in the maguuma period.

The core game should stop being sold as a bundle because its making the true price of the expansion 10 -5 USD for veteran players, but advertised as another core launched game for 50 USD.

IT SHOULD BE [A + B = A + B ], [NOT A+B = C. Where A = C]

A = gw2 core game
B = HoT’s “core”
C = gw2 core and HoT “core”

Its simple. Smarter people worked on gw1. More art driven worked on Gw2. Greed is a kitten.

Still gonna wait it out.

Because I can still buy brand new games and get DLC that is roughly 45% to 50% the size of the base game for $15 to $20.

Thanks anet, preordered.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/Character-Slot-for-Heart-of-Thorns-Merged/first

All of this could have been avoided had they just listened to the sound logic and advice given by veteran players. I said in the thread if it a character slot didn’t come with the x-pac that my Asura warrior would eat one of her Greatswords. Crisis averted.

All comes down to the cost:content ratio. Therefore I will not be prepurchasing since there is nothing to show how much content will be in the expansion.

Lustre Of Havoc.9173:

What this address says to me:

Veteran players have to pay full price for an expansion every time.
New players will always have the cheapest deals.

Thanks, ANet. Been with you for over 10 years and gave you money for the in-game stuff you release now and then. Instead of rewarding us, you just laugh at us and make us pay more. I can feel the love. I don’t need any more character slots. If I wanted more, I can just buy one with in-game money.

The alternative is a system that generates more people running around who can only participate in a portion of the game – something that divides the population and makes the game less fun for those doing end game content (where we always need more people to play with – eg healthy population).

It may seem weird – especially if you start trying to draw strange analogies to non virtual products (as Ive seen some try to do the past few days) – but if you look at it from the big picture perspective of what is best for the health of the game (something we all should care about), it really does make a lot of sense.

This really was the best course of action they could take and kudos to Anet for getting this out today. It really needed to be addressed sooner rather than later so we can get back to talking about fun stuff again (yay Guild Halls).

How will the additional character slot work if I preorder at GameStop or Amazon tomorrow? I really want the boxed edition, but I’ll order it digitally to get the character slot though. It’d be a shame to have to go without the box though

Miku.6297:

Gaile, so what happens to the people that pre ordered the more expensive additions because they wanted ONE character slot for the expansion?

I bought one of the pre-orders that had a slot because I wanted the character slot and figured I might as well get other stuff… Now that the char slot is free, makes me feel a little different about the value of the pre-order.

They will make new races playable in the future and probably won’t be giving a character slot for those.

So save it for later.

Thank you for making my last 10 years of GW loyalty justified. It’s sometimes rocky, but it shows that you guys are still human. A hard condition to maintain under corporate overlords with a fiscal bottom line, however, one that should be maintained at any cost. As this whole debacle has highlighted terribly clearly.

GG.

Iason Evan.3806:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/Character-Slot-for-Heart-of-Thorns-Merged/first

All of this could have been avoided had they just listened to the sound logic and advice given by veteran players. I said in the thread if it a character slot didn’t come with the x-pac that my Asura warrior would eat one of her Greatswords. Crisis averted.

Well, a character slot doesn’t come with the xpac, unless you pre-purchase it

Thank you Gaile, purchasing right now!

I’m as intensely happy now as I was angry before. I hope A-Net sees a HUGE surge in sales. They made a mistake, they listened, and they did the right thing. That’s the hallmark of a company I WANT to support.

Thank you Arena Net.

I shall be pre-purchasing tomorrow.

BolkovonHarnfeldt.1372:

Amlodhi Ilmarinen.4083:

Fernling.1729:

I don’t think Anet should be praised for this. They could have proactively offered this, but no, only when suffering backlash do they make changes. They refused to listen to the people months ago about including a character slot. They are only now including one as damage control.

Yeah, how dare they correct their mistakes!

It’s not about not correcting their mistakes, it’s about what it tells about them, making the mistakes in the first place (and what that tells about how you view your players). It’s kind of sad that their standing probably will be better now, because of correcting that mistake (although I think it still falls short of what it ought to be: not tied to pre-purchase), than if they had offered a fairer deal from the start.

Sometimes its better not to apologize and still be able to hold the actions accountable otherwise they would have said sorry we didn’t have guild halls from the beginning. Amongst other mistakes. They can only fix so much without running themselves in the ground. I’m happy with what they did and who knows what holds in the future.

Morsus.5106:

How will the additional character slot work if I preorder at GameStop or Amazon tomorrow? I really want the boxed edition, but I’ll order it digitally to get the character slot though. It’d be a shame to have to go without the box though

You HAVE to pre-purchase from Best Buy or Gamestop. You have to pay in full. If you pre-order you don’t get any of the bonuses, including Beta Access or the exclusive Title.

You will get the code on your receipt, and you must apply that code to your account before HoT launch. If you don’t, raise hell with the retailer and let them know you are pre-purchasing, not pre-ordering. It’s really hit or miss on whether those Gamestop employees know anything, most of them have a “deer in the headlight” look when i ask them about a game.

One character slot only if we pre-purchase before launch.

Sorry still not good enough, the price need to be lowered! HoT still does not have enough content to justify the $50!!!

Sometime, it is the smallest thing that matters. I am glad the voice of community is heard.

Perhaps one more couple of questions, Gaile.
If I wait to get the game in a box or that I can’t buy it during the pre-purchase, do I still get a character slot if I have already an account ? And does a new player would still get the core game ?

A clarification would do wonder. Thank you in advance.

Well to me it still is to much expensive on the expanshion so i will prolly dunno how long stick to the base.

This is an appropriate and fair resolution to the issue. It’s just a shame it took such an amount of drama to wring out what should’ve been the initial pitch. Oh well, it’s a win for the consumer – and a proof that Anet aren’t completely enslaved to NCSoft’s bottom line, which is a very good thing to be reassured about.

As a veteran player who makes new characters very slowly (Just my necro main with my guard and engie alts) I’m kind of thinking “lol, what am I going to do with all these extra slots?” Maybe I should make a bunch of Charr who all have names and appearances that are weird plays on My Little Pony. (Warbands are Magic, meat-sack!)

Orochimaru.4730:

One character slot only if we pre-purchase before launch.

Sorry still not good enough, the price need to be lowered! HoT still does not have enough content to justify the $50!!!

well it should just run as long as the new players are getting their ‘free bonus’

Everyone complained about Veteran players not getting anything. ANet gave back to the community after reviewing all of our generous feedback. Now people are complaining because of 2 extra slots overlapping for Veterans who purchased a Deluxe/Ultimate package.
Can’t you guys just be happy and be quiet? Seriously. It’s like you’re looking for something to gripe about.
What will be next? I can only wonder.

Those who are arguing about cost:content, I’m positive there is still a while to wait before HoT is released. Be patient. Just because the option to prepurchase is available, does not mean you have to prepurchase right this second. I am keen to see what else ANet shows us in regards to the xpac, but I don’t want them to spoil parts of it that I would prefer to see for myself, for the first time, when I play it. Some people actually like anticipation in games, especially when they trust those who created them.

Lastly, thank you, ANet!

Still quite a bit upset. here is a few reasons why:
1. Anyone who just recently bought a deluxe edition or higher now has a less of a value for their money. Expecting plenty of others to agree with this. Can’t you guys just admit ya gone and goofed the different packages?
2. The word play on this post regarding the faq page is hugely downplaying the details.

“Some read the FAQ as us urging players to buy the core game now, in preparation for the expansion release. This was not our intention and amendments made to the FAQ following the announcement were a good-faith attempt to clarify this misinterpretation. "

That FAQ abolutely urged players to buy the core game in preparation for the release and the ammendment was of course “misinterpreteted” considering you guys were quiet about what your real intentions were for nearly a week. Again, cant you guys just say you gone and goofed up?

3. Despite these and all the other goof ups this past week, you still have avoided one of the main concerns of the community. THE PRICE. its clear by the majority of the reactions here that a 50 dollar price tag too high. For a third time, some more communication on your part can fix this. Let us know what were getting. If you belive this to be a fair price show us why.

TLDR: Anet you need to communicate better with your community. Your going to continue to alienate your followers otherwise.

This was a very nice read. Thank you guys for the address and the changes. It will surely mean a lot to many people.

Thanks, whoever did this either at ArenaNet or NC Soft.

Orimidu.9604:

All comes down to the cost:content ratio. Therefore I will not be prepurchasing since there is nothing to show how much content will be in the expansion.

This is where I’m at. I was never one way or the other about a character slot. For $50, since I already own the core game, I’ll wait to see of the expansion’s material is actually worth that price.

Nothing has changed for me.

So I still don’t don’t get a reverent slot with HoT? This is unfortunate. Sorry. I’m neither paying more, nor grinding out a new slot to access something I just would have paid 50$ for.

Looks like I will neither pre-purchase or purchase HoT.

Thank you so much! I was always planning on prepurchasing, but I was unhappy about the lack of a character slot as it meant I’d actually pay $60 for the expansion if I wanted to have access to all of its features including the Revenant. Now I am entirely happy to prepurchase and will be doing so very soon.

Again thank you! <3

I’d just like to say thanks to for listening for the community – vets getting an extra character slot, new players getting the game is pretty much the sweet spot!

Ok, finally Anet answers, and does it in a reasonable and honest way. You were a bit slow, but you did the right thing, so, get my respect.

I’ll support the company again now, and yes, I’ll consider purchasing some of the pre-purchase versions.

Thank you for listening to us and bringing a solution to the table!
I will be honest saying that I still believe that the price is a bit high for what we know so far about HoT, but lets hope that the content will be more than we think! ^^

Good, we get a slot. Seriously, no sarcasm, no underlying message. We got something for our dedication.

As a recommendation to Anet, from now on, if you’re going to dispense with accessibility issues as your business model, prepare future releases to have vet bonuses per pieces of the game already owned; or, provide a stand alone option.

Otherwise we’re going to go round and round every time a new expansion comes out.

Nevertheless, good to see a response. Now we can all go back to getting ready to be turned into newbies for 12 hours as of the 23rd. (Skill/trait changes, so new builds to research.)

Thank you Anet, I feel you have done an excellent job responding to us today. You effectively covered all my complaints about the trait reword, and now vets get their bonus for buying the expansion too.

The only thing left on my mind is, will we be forced into only open world pve for elite specialization unlocks, or will you find a way to encourage a “play how you want” mentality for progression. Either way, I feel good about you guys now, and I will happily preorder now. Great job, please keep up the good work.

Also new dungeons.

Thank you very much! I’m happy to pre-purchase now!

101 pages later to all the nay-sayers :P Thanks again ArenaNet!

This is really great and I really appreciate this being done. <—Key point.
That being said…I’ve bought all the slots I want. I ordered the Ultimate and already got another to try the new class or an elite spec.

It just seems kind of redundant to add an “additional character slot” to something that already gives me an “additional character slot”. I really don’t need or want this as it was something that was really already part of a package deal. I understand the rushed manor of this announcement but the people this benefits the most are the ones to get the base version. I’m sure others are more than happy to get free slots it just seems redundant and it bothers me.

To be honest I would’ve much rather seen this:

The ability to purchase any one account upgrade for free (800 gems or less) in the gem store one time has been given to players who had an active account prior to X date and have pre-purchased HoT.

This way the reward is customized to every player’s needs which actually makes people feel better about getting what they want out of this expansion and therefore more likely to buy it (or feel better about doing so).

Again, just some wishful thinking from a guy who spent 100$ and already had a new character slot. Thanks.

The problem was never about the price: it was about the game value and worth to pay for anything. Again: the game value is not impressing like Orimidu said. The worth of the game is insulting: examples… stealth, immobilizing bug, Instant kill, burst, invisible bug, resetting time, bunker builds performing/out-performing zerker builds, having no requirements for challenge play, no requirement for skill-spam only 1-2 key=Win, no effort,no-hard work: Instant skillsLow Skills for high damage, Instant Kill with pressing only 1 key… so many more

As long you continue to refuse to resolve problems, i will continue to refuse to invest in your game.

" Those who ignore history are bound to repeat it "

" Be Careful Who You Share Your Weaknesses With. Some People Can’t Wait For The Opportunity To Use Them Against You "

" Invest in solutions, not in problems "

I think Anet really did a good job with the new offer.

It will likely not satisfy the people who simply find the $50,- price to high and Anet still has to proof them why the price above what the market does is justifiably. (Like start behaving as a B2P game in stead of a cash-shop game, and let us know that new approach) but other than that they should have solved all other issues people had with the package.

Anet, you did a really good job!

Castaliea.3156:

This is really great and I really appreciate this being done. <—Key point.
That being said…I’ve bought all the slots I want. I ordered the Ultimate and already got another to try the new class or an elite spec.

It just seems kind of redundant to add an “additional character slot” to something that already gives me an “additional character slot”. I really don’t need or want this as it was something that was really already part of a package deal. I understand the rushed manor of this announcement but the people this benefits the most are the ones to get the base version. I’m sure others are more than happy to get free slots it just seems redundant and it bothers me.

To be honest I would’ve much rather seen this:

The ability to purchase any one account upgrade for free (800 gems or less) in the gem store one time has been given to players who had an active account prior to X date and have pre-purchased HoT.

This way the reward is customized to every player’s needs which actually makes people feel better about getting what they want out of this expansion and therefore more likely to buy it (or feel better about doing so).

Again, just some wishful thinking from a guy who spent 100$ and already had a new character slot. Thanks.

Yea perhaps gems in the future, so you can decided what you want to buy!

To be honest anet. I was thrilled to see the option to pay for the expansion, but seeing the core game included made me re-think the company"s motive.

I understand we have families to feed, but this current problem you are having will drop your loyal foundation of players you gave rise to in the awesome experience in guild wars 1 franchise.

You already dropped countless servers from not delivering a title worthy of guild wars, and currently attempting to implement your corrections through a paid feature. What more can the players expect? There is already no option to have dual professions, no option to change professions at will.

Must i remind your company started the train of dual profession in mmo? I dont know what to say other than guild wars 2 is equivalent to every other mmo out there now. Just a washed up idea blending into the mainstream flavor of rpg.

Reason i come back to this game from multiple rage breaks is because i look at the odds of playing a free chinese import vs a game on my shelf with no subscription fee.

Dont move this post.

Thanks… I just pre-purchased.

I was one of the players who didn’t actually flip out from the pre-purchase controversy, but I understood everyone’s complaints and withheld from pre-purchasing myself.

Having said that, I think this Pre-Purchase Community Address is a great step forward for arenanet, showing that they both want to showcase their increasing communication with the fans and HoTs ability to grow moving forward.

Their ‘favoritism’ towards new players was purely unintentional miscommunication and offering a new character slot for veterans to make this crystal clear is perhaps unnecessary but greatly appreciated.

Being a huge fan of the game, I just wanted to say THANKS ANET.
You just got one more pre-purchase from me.

I have to say I am very impressed with GW2 !
You have listened to your community feed back and taken steps to solve this divisive issue
Having spent over 9000 hours in GW1 and over 2000 hours in GW2
This is our alter life
Thank You for Great Games!

Gaile Gray.6029:

As we mentioned in several posts on the forums and in various other media, we have been reading and gathering your feedback about the Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns pre-purchase.

Please see this blog post for new information on the Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns pre-purchase.

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts!

So now you guys are in a positive reconsider mode, could you please also reconsider releasing a CE and announce that tomorrow?

Miku.6297:

Gaile, so what happens to the people that pre ordered the more expensive additions because they wanted ONE character slot for the expansion?

I bought one of the pre-orders that had a slot because I wanted the character slot and figured I might as well get other stuff… Now that the char slot is free, makes me feel a little different about the value of the pre-order.

This, i bought the ultimate day 1 because i love this game, but, i don’t know what to do with another char slot because i like to have 1 per professions and i have 8+1 from the ultimate atm

Is there another option for those who don’t need it?
I’ll still love this game with 10 char slot if not

Orimidu.9604:

All comes down to the cost:content ratio. Therefore I will not be prepurchasing since there is nothing to show how much content will be in the expansion.

It’s not about cost:content ratio, it’s about cost:playtime ratio

Well I’m certainly glad those who were only concerned about the lack of a slot got that. As well as the refund policy was sorted out in a more appropriate manner.

Unfortunately, I’m still left really really confused on Anet’s “vision” of where this game is going now. They say they’re ultra focused on getting the new players and will keep offering them free prior games… ok. What does that mean to everyone part of your current community? We can’t be new players again so it’s odd to say we’re like an afterthought.

As for what I’ve seen of HoT… the main story content is sounding like a couple more extensions of Dry Top and so forth… I’m a little confused what I’m paying $50 for. Yes you included some BIG feature updates, but they’re feature updates. It’s gameplay I’m worried about because I’m not buying games to idle in Lion’s Arch like some of your playerbase does. I’m concerned about where the level of new content is at, so I’ll have to wait to see what you’re truly doing there for kitten price tag.

I just pre-purchased the 50$ option of HoT, even if it’s a great deal for the 100$ with the 50$ gems worth for only half the price.