Edit: I added other streamer opinions.
WP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUtMGS3ezLI
BO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edSCWmsZyjI
DT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeQDr6eoA-M
MM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B1LhVBNFyE
EO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw4XDuM4n38
Jebro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UkDFUXqXZo
XKrieg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjAKaYIc0pI
I will focus on BO as he was the first to release when I did the first post.
I got 9 point out of his video, so I’m gonna try to respond to all of them.
These deals are amazing for new players
Yes they are: all of them.
The issue is that they are horrible for existing player
The standard is a rippoff.
The deluxe only come with digital goodie and the famous slot.
The ultimate wins hands down thank to one thing: the 4000 gems.
So for existing player the better deal is the costly one.
Anet don’t want to have to deal with playerbase with either HoT or Core GW2, so no too two license instance
I do think he have a valid point here.
But how every other MMO deals with people not having an expansion and Anet can’t ?
I’m genuinely interested there.
We haven’t seen all the content of HoT (PVE more exactly)
I agree on that too. So let’s wait & take a decision after.
We are not forced to pre purchase right now & we can still vote with our wallet later on.
What’s the reward for playing the game as an existing player
To me, this is a non issue.
Current existing player decided to play the game & enjoyed it.
Newcomers didn’t, it’s their choice. Thus for me it’s off-topic regarding the current situation.
WOW example
I really like this example because everyone is milked the same way.
Mind you as Oct 2014 Blizzard offered all previous expansions to owner of the base game & put the new expansion at 50$ (correct me if I’m wrong).
For all players that owned all the expansions they got rewarded with reduction on the store from Blizzard as loyal customer.
To me this is good customer relation (& I loathe blizzard normally).
Anet adopted the opposite direction; they gifted newcomer & say no no to existing player.
To me this is really bad customer relation.
cashshop revenue
I don’t recall exactly but seems like the average revenue on the cashshop is 4$ per player per year.
Here a link; https://www.superdataresearch.com/blog/mmo-arpu/
I’m not completely sure of the source so take it with a grain of salt.
He is totally right to point toward whales.
But here that’s what’s my personnal experience:
I’m a whale as I spend up to 50$ on cashshop per month.
Right now, I’m in utter disgust of how Anet treated existing player and I’m seriously thinking about leaving.
I have no proof of that but I would think that most whales are really dedicated player more than newcomer at least.
I don’t think that I’m the only whale that this issue has seriously upset.
This issue could be a major whale drawback for Anet.
Character slot precedent
Really good point considering Anet past on the matter.
Add to that: players begged for the character slot in this topic :
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/Character-Slot-for-Heart-of-Thorns-Merged
Yet it only get introduced in the last two versions which only the last one is interesting for existing player.
ANET ninja edit of FAQ
I don’t think that Anet ninja edit of the FAQ right before the annoucement is good commercial practice by any mean.
They should have clearly stated a plan about this during the announcement in order to come out clean.
This just amplify the flash sell at 10 $ & makes what’s follow worst.
Add to that the current official answer that even if you bought the game 2 months ago at 40$;
– You have to pay HoT at 50$ without any compensation
or
– Ask for a reimboursement, update & loose all your progress.
Physical collector
No physical collector: yes that sucks.
TDLR
Now what I think Anet have always been very bad at handling communication.
It happened countless time to have player wishes totally misinterpreted.
The last one that upset me was the NPE as I have been playing the game since launch.
But there were plenty over mild instance that I can’t recall right now.
Where it’s start to really hurt is :
– The FAQ edit & flash sells
– The ultimate being the only decent deal for veteran while newcomers get an heck of a deal.
– The slot denied behind the ultimate version or 10$ possible suplementary bucks.
– The recent existing player not allowed to keep their progression or forced to buy the expansion full price.
All of these make a lot of stomach at once, thus the outcry.
This is by far Anet biggest blunder to date.
That’s just my 2 cents on the issue. Feel free to post.
(edited by papry.8096)