Guild Wars 2

Just as the title says:

There are occasionally suggestions by players that GW2 would do better if it was subscription-based and alot of players are rightfully against this. (Because in the end it would cause more harm than do good.)

But what if the players were given the choice to voluntarily support ANet and GW2 with a small monthly donation?

Why do you think that money is the problem?

Kurogami.9210:

But what if the players were given the choice to voluntarily support ANet and GW2 with a small monthly donation?

It’s called “Buying Gems”.

This kind of thread pops up every once in a while. What makes people think anet needs a charity system when they have a shop full of junk, gimmicks and quircky knick-knacks you can buy if you really want to give them money?

I’m not saying that it is necessarily a problem, But if they had more money they could theoretically hire more staff, which might might lead to faster completion of content, possibly better quality because they have the manpower to test their stuff before release, etc.

After all, one of the main problems many players address is the small amount of content they get until HoT gets released, and many bugs that seemingly never get resolved. But that’s just my guess.

More staff, means more wages, means more expensive production costs.

What they need is competent management. Look at how much content was created during the Living Story, and then tossed away. What a huge waste of resources! Do they not plan ahead? Why isn’t the Twisted Marionette a permanent addition to Lornar’s Pass? Why did they remove the Molten Facility, and completely break it apart for Fractals? Same for the Aetherblade dungeon. Broken apart for Fractals, thus destroying the original flow of the dungeon and drastically shortening it. The original creator must feel heart broken.

Is there no planning involved with this? Does management just bounce from one idea to the next, with no one drawing out a straight course that ensures that nothing goes to waste?

Take the Crown Pavilion for example, or the new Lion’s Arch. Yeah, it’s a great idea that things change. But they could have added all that content in an empty spot of the world, rather than an existing location, and it would have increased the size of the world.

And what of the Zephyr Sanctum? That place is not connected to anything, and we only go there once a year. What a waste of resources! It’s smack down in the middle of nowhere.

Or what about Super Adventure Box? They have one release where they get negative feedback, and the project is immediately aborted, never to be heard from again. If you start something, bloody well commit to it!

This is what Anet needs. They don’t need more money. They need someone competent to lead the projects. And perhaps they already have too many incompetent project leaders already, and need to toss some of them out.

Draw out a clear course that ensures that nothing goes to waste, and stay the course. Don’t create a ton of amazing content, and then delete it a few weeks later. Will we ever be able to fight Scarlet on board the Breach Maker ever again? Probably not. But apparently we CAN replay parts of the living story…. just not the conclusion of the story. What a mess!

Did none of the management think at the start of the project: “You know what, we should probably make sure this doesn’t go to waste, and make sure people can replay it all”?

I dont think money is their problem. Organizing how to spend money in the right ways is the issue

First, it’s “a lot” and not “alot”.

Second, there is no cash flow problem for ANet and GW2. Misguided direction from from leadership is the culprit.

I think it should be optional. Eso is getting HUGe amount of flack on their subs but you can play with a sub and without a sub and access teh same content. The subs are rewarded with ingame store currency and have minal bonusses . The equivalent would be to a permananet heroes banner. And think this would not be a bad idea. I would sub if its my choice but would stop playing if it is a forced sub.

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

Does management just bounce from one idea to the next, with no one drawing out a straight course that ensures that nothing goes to waste?

Evidence suggest yes.

Kurogami.9210:

Just as the title says:

But what if the players were given the choice to voluntarily support ANet and GW2 with a small monthly donation?

Buying some gems every month is patronage you can use….

Players can buy gems on a regular basis if they want to help Anet out. An optional subscription sounds awfully like going in the direction of VIP passes.

Well, I know that people can support ANet by buying Gems, that’s why this isn’t a
‘ANet should do this…’ kind of thread, but a ‘What would happen if…’ thread.

I know that there is hardly any point in discussing these kinds of questions because there are too many things that would affect the results….so, nevermind.

1. Patreon is for individuals, not companies. They would not be allowed to use it.
2. ANET is not short of money. It has never been a problem.

If it was even possible to ANet have a Patreon, it would be a nice way to measure the number of dumb people that plays the game, because you would have 2 options:
1 – give $10 to ANet by Patreon and get nothing back and ANet actually only gets $6 (the rest stay with Patreon)
2 – give $10 do ANet by Gem store and get gems back and ANet get the whole $10.

Guess what would be the dumb option.

Just buy $15 dollars worth of gems every month and there ya go lol, isn’t that the same thing than a voluntary sub

phokus.8934:

First, it’s “a lot” and not “alot”.

Second, there is no cash flow problem for ANet and GW2. Misguided direction from from leadership is the culprit.

Pot calling the kettle black.

And to the OP – I support a ethereal/goth band on Patreon. It’s a pretty solid way of supporting an artist. Anet is too big for something like that, besides they have a robust cash shop full of juicy items we don’t really need yet purchase anyways.

phokus.8934:

First, it’s “a lot” and not “alot”.

Second, there is no cash flow problem for ANet and GW2. Misguided direction from from leadership is the culprit.

You only needed one ‘from’ in that sentence.

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

Did none of the management think at the start of the project: “You know what, we should probably make sure this doesn’t go to waste, and make sure people can replay it all”?

That all is a design decision. Nothing of it has to do with the amount of money. Like at least phasing things out to have some sort of real time environment going on is something that has been pretty interesting. In my opinion, I really dislike the new NPE. The original progression system felt really natural and realistic. That part of the game at it’s core is changed forever. If I played this version of the game in the betas and such I might have reconsidered buying the game all together. That’s a lot more disappointing than something that was intended to be temporal.

And sure, the impersistent system made people loose out on certain pieces of content and they were unable to tell the story effectively when people missed the gaps. But to me that time in the game was way more exciting than the staticness of the persistent system. It at least felt like the game was unique in its kind. And sure I missed some events. but the game world was in motion. like a virtual RPG group get-together MMO-wise.

Sure, you can’t replay it anymore. and it might seem like a waste. But I’m not that sad about the story having moved on from that and am definitely able to appreciate the merit of that system looking back.

ANet has a producer, they don’t need patrons. Neither the producer (NCSoft) nor Anet would want to cede any control to patrons. If patronage is not about gaining some kind of say about outcomes, then it is not worth expending the money. Stick to the established business model, you’ll be better off.

Patreon and kickstarter projects make companies look like they are begging and amateurish. Anet wouldn’t need to do this since they have NCsoft.

Anet makes millions off of the gem store, they don’t, and never have needed money. They are very good at making money.
However, they act like a young company, they have split priorities, and they prototype every concept they have until one of them works out, then they go in that direction hoping that they can fit some lore into it without breaking existing lore and destroying continuity.

They have bigger issues than money, money has never ever been an issue for Anet.

As much as I would enjoy more ways to support ANet, Patreon would not be the way to go. I believe one of the stipulations of using Patreon is that donators have to receive some sort of exclusive benefits or goody of some sort, which would not sit well with people.

Never going to be a Patron….even if ANET has one…..

Arenanet are not a charity.

Want to give them money, buy gems.

Definition of Patron…..

noun
1.
a person who is a customer, client, or paying guest, especially a regular one, of a store, hotel, or the like.
2.
a person who supports with money, gifts, efforts, or endorsement an artist, writer, museum, cause, charity, institution, special event, or the like:

So we are all Patron’s really.

Cash shops are kitten, even the fair ones like a-nets are kitten of gaming.

P2P – 100% power goes into game’s quality and content, because that’s the one and only thing that makes the sale. High quality = sales. (and yes that’s the reason so many P2P failed – they didn’t provide solid enough quality).

Cash shop – taking stuff that would otherwise be ingame and putting it behind a paywall makes the sale.

Constant struggle between what goes into base game (because players will flee if it’s neglected) and what goes into cash shop (because money).

Vix.6730:

phokus.8934:

First, it’s “a lot” and not “alot”.

Second, there is no cash flow problem for ANet and GW2. Misguided direction from from leadership is the culprit.

Pot calling the kettle black.

And to the OP – I support a ethereal/goth band on Patreon. It’s a pretty solid way of supporting an artist. Anet is too big for something like that, besides they have a robust cash shop full of juicy items we don’t really need yet purchase anyways.

post from phone and you’re comparing apples and oranges.

phokus.8934:

Vix.6730:

phokus.8934:

First, it’s “a lot” and not “alot”.

Second, there is no cash flow problem for ANet and GW2. Misguided direction from from leadership is the culprit.

Pot calling the kettle black.

And to the OP – I support a ethereal/goth band on Patreon. It’s a pretty solid way of supporting an artist. Anet is too big for something like that, besides they have a robust cash shop full of juicy items we don’t really need yet purchase anyways.

post from phone and you’re comparing apples and oranges.

The point is you didn’t need to correct their spelling. It was quite rude and condescending towards the OP, isn’t nice when it happens to you, is it? Besides, how do you know the OP wasn’t using a phone either?

Back on topic:

ArenaNet has a few ways to get money, other than in-game purchases. Don’t forget there’s also hardware and merchandise available to buy as well, such as Guild Wars 2 mice and mouse mats, posters, and of course, the adorable plushy Rytlock. I think ArenaNet are far from needing public funding!

Kurogami.9210:

Just as the title says:

There are occasionally suggestions by players that GW2 would do better if it was subscription-based and alot of players are rightfully against this. (Because in the end it would cause more harm than do good.)

But what if the players were given the choice to voluntarily support ANet and GW2 with a small monthly donation?

Games with a subscription have their most valuable items hidden behind actual content, not put on gem stores.
Games with a subscription offer more character slots, more inventory space, more bank space etc by “default”.
Games with a subscription do not have RNG lotteries (with gem store currency)
Just to name a few of the benefits of a subscription.

So… you want to have a sub without the benefits of a sub? Why?