The business model is still garbage

The business model is still garbage

in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns

Posted by: McNinja.5417

McNinja.5417

While yes, it was nice for ANet to clarify what they would be doing for the next expansions, but they clearly failed to come up with a solution or even understand the actual issue – that is, that people don’t want to pay for things they already have.

Let’s assume that 3 years from now another expansion comes out, giving us, the core GW2, HoT, and Expansion2. What they should do pre-expansion is sell all three separately (to get the people who don’t pay attention; sorry but it works), sell all 3 as a bundle with the core and HoT discounted, and finally just sell expansion3 separately.

It’s not hard. It really, really isn’t.

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Posted by: Entenkommando.5208

Entenkommando.5208

Please explain it to me, because I just can’t get it in my head.

Where is the difference for you if the expansion-only would be the same price as the bundle will actually be?
It’s simply a good thing for newcomers.
And I’m 100% certain you will get a bonus as a veteran

R.I.P Kodasch Allianz [KoA]

All we wanted was a GvG.

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Posted by: thrag.9740

thrag.9740

I think its solid. The biggest reason I never tired wow was because of all the expansions I would need. But in all seriousness, who cares, it’s probably 3 years away lol.

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Posted by: Ricky.4706

Ricky.4706

ahh the wisdom of a waiting vet! i’m still going to wait a few, but feel much happier about my eventual purchase!

IBM PC XT 4.77mhz w/turbo oc@ 8mhz 640kb windows 3.1 hayes 56k seagate 20 meg HD mda@720x350 pixels

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Posted by: Morsus.5106

Morsus.5106

The base game is worth $10, and a Character slot is worth $10. While the FaQ is misleading, and that is a legitimate complaint, I’m getting my $50 worth.

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Posted by: Daddar.5971

Daddar.5971

I was angry and bitter about the initial offer, but the new deal is exactly what I needed to see. I just bought the ultimate edition. Call me a sucker, and maybe I am, but the business model unveiled today is a winner in my book.

‘Elite’ in all 9 professions. I take mediocrity seriously!

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Posted by: Manasa Devi.7958

Manasa Devi.7958

The last sale of the core game had it going for $10. That’s exactly the price of the character slot that veterans now get. So, equal value for both types of buyers has been achieved.

By the time the next expansion arrives, prices for the current bundle will probably also be much, much lower than they are now. As long as veterans keep getting something of approximately equal value as what they already have, it’ll be pretty much a fair deal for both veterans and newcomers.

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Posted by: quaniesan.8497

quaniesan.8497

Now they agreed to at least add a new character slot, I got nothing else to complain.

If ya no longer see me after this post,
it means THEY got me for " neg criticism in clever disguise".
Know that it has been fun and I love ya all.

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Posted by: Brother Dulfite.5793

Brother Dulfite.5793

I support the idea of getting more players in the game. It makes WvW more enjoyable, it makes dungeons more enjoyable with more people queue up for groups, it makes guilds less stale and filled with inactives (I, myself, have been one but won’t be come guild hall time). The more players in the game, the more enjoyable the game becomes. That’s how mmos work. Therefore, I’m willing to pay the same for content (part of which I already own) in order to make MY gameplay experience more enjoyable in the long run by having a player filled server.

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Posted by: Minae Iss.7054

Minae Iss.7054

The actual issue is not “people don’t want to pay for things they already have”. The actual issue is that people misconceive that they buy the core game again. They don’t. It’s a false idea. They buy the expansion alone.
The expansion will always be 50$ and they just want to get all the players on the same boat. This by giving all the older expansions and the core game as a gift to newcomers. (Who haven’t enjoyed all this content for the last 3 years ).

And yes as Dulfite says, it is important to get everyone in the same boat, since that makes for filled servers and more fun for everyone.

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Posted by: Ricky.4706

Ricky.4706

and don’t wait so long for expansions so the expansions don’t have to get so expensive. Anet has in fact done a ton of work …I can’t say for free…because of the gemstore, but i’m quite sure it didn’t get as much value for the amount of work put into it.

Plus it will stop that time limit stuff, not everyone has the luxury of attending every event and you end up selling them anyways …..further some events are forever closed …and those were fun too!!

bring the mercs and henchies back, so I can do the dungeons solo please :p

IBM PC XT 4.77mhz w/turbo oc@ 8mhz 640kb windows 3.1 hayes 56k seagate 20 meg HD mda@720x350 pixels

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Posted by: Entenkommando.5208

Entenkommando.5208

It’s so wonderful that all the people I was discussing with the last days are just happy now.

That’s everything a white knight could want

R.I.P Kodasch Allianz [KoA]

All we wanted was a GvG.

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Posted by: Ricky.4706

Ricky.4706

we’ve loved anet for a very long time, we’ve been there …and done that.

IBM PC XT 4.77mhz w/turbo oc@ 8mhz 640kb windows 3.1 hayes 56k seagate 20 meg HD mda@720x350 pixels

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Posted by: Entenkommando.5208

Entenkommando.5208

we’ve loved anet for a very long time, we’ve been there …and done that.

Yet you didn’t want to believe us that you should simply trust them ^.^
They never hardly disappointed us in the past.
And let’s hope they never will.

R.I.P Kodasch Allianz [KoA]

All we wanted was a GvG.

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Posted by: Wolfeng.3784

Wolfeng.3784

No.

They have perfectly listened to the community, the problem was people were paying for something and not getting something for free, while another group got.
That was the value/money discussion.

You failed to see the real scope of the issues raised by the community.

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Posted by: Random.4691

Random.4691

we’ve loved anet for a very long time, we’ve been there …and done that.

Yet you didn’t want to believe us that you should simply trust them ^.^
They never hardly disappointed us in the past.
And let’s hope they never will.

The question you should be asking yourself is, would this have been the result if we had listened and kept our mouths shut ?

YW for being loud and obnoxious, enjoy your character slot.

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Posted by: Ricky.4706

Ricky.4706

I do trust them, to listen when something really bugs us. They always made mistakes since forever…been there done that …they love us too! :p

if you stay quiet, they keep moving, they are very fast paced!

IBM PC XT 4.77mhz w/turbo oc@ 8mhz 640kb windows 3.1 hayes 56k seagate 20 meg HD mda@720x350 pixels

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Posted by: Entenkommando.5208

Entenkommando.5208

The question you should be asking yourself is, would this have been the result if we had listened and kept our mouths shut ?

YW for being loud and obnoxious, enjoy your character slot.

Well ok I should specify this…I totally agree with the right to complain about things.

But imo there was absolutely no reason to call HoT a complete desaster or things like this at that point.
And definitly this complete blind hate against everything was not justified. People acted like a mob in the middle Ages who blindly burned down anyone who was accused to be a witch.

R.I.P Kodasch Allianz [KoA]

All we wanted was a GvG.

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Posted by: Angelica Dream.7103

Angelica Dream.7103

The question you should be asking yourself is, would this have been the result if we had listened and kept our mouths shut ?

YW for being loud and obnoxious, enjoy your character slot.

\
No we made this happen. Thanks everyone for supporting this effort.

It is time to to be gracious winners and play the game.

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Posted by: Random.4691

Random.4691

Yes some did, some of us didn’t even receive a single infraction because we stuck to our guns without flinging poop at one another.

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Posted by: DaShi.1368

DaShi.1368

While yes, it was nice for ANet to clarify what they would be doing for the next expansions, but they clearly failed to come up with a solution or even understand the actual issue – that is, that people don’t want to pay for things they already have.

Let’s assume that 3 years from now another expansion comes out, giving us, the core GW2, HoT, and Expansion2. What they should do pre-expansion is sell all three separately (to get the people who don’t pay attention; sorry but it works), sell all 3 as a bundle with the core and HoT discounted, and finally just sell expansion3 separately.

It’s not hard. It really, really isn’t.

It is problematic because it will inflate the price of the latest expansion. Despite what some people here have said, there is a cost for offering core GW2 (and any past expansions) for “free.” This cost will be passed to the consumer. The cost is the lost revenue for selling those games individually.

If we assume that HoT is $50 on its own, then by giving away core GW2, Anet is losing whatever revenue that they would have received from selling the core game. For example, if the core is valued at a price of $10, then they lose $10 of revenue for each sale of HoT. Most investors would jump ship on a company that was giving their products away with no plan to recoup the loss.

And on the surface that may be how it looks. In reality, they make up this cost by increasing the price of the expansion. It’s similar to how Microsoft sells the Xbox at a loss. They make up the revenue from the sale of the individual games, which are priced higher to compensate for that loss. Anything else is bad business. In addition, by offering the Xbox below cost, they increase their pool of potential buyers and maintain a competitive advantage against their rival. The risk is that people will buy the Xbox, but wait to buy the games after their price has declined (or don’t buy their flagship games that clearly up-priced), so MS won’t really recover the loss and will see reduced revenue.

Now people are quick to point out that the amount of content announced for HoT doesn’t seem to justify kitten price tag. It is very likely that Anet is trying to recoup the loss on core GW2 sales by a high expansion price tag. However, what is troubling is that their method requires people to pay the same price regardless of whether they have the game or not. This is where Anet’s behavior stands out as egregious by the community. It’s like having to pay for another Xbox each time you buy a new game for it. Anet can say as many times as it wants that $50 is the price of HoT and core GW2 is free, but anyone with some business sense knows better.

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Posted by: XYLUM.7286

XYLUM.7286

I don’t really think that saying they will be packaging the core game, as well as any preceding expansions, with any future expansions constitutes “Business Model Clarification”.

It’s more just a statement that they plan to package all existing Guild Wars 2 content with any future expansions.

A would think that business model clarification would be more along the lines of explaining why offering an upgrade only option for long standing account holders that would prefer to just purchase the new expansion for their existing accounts, and purchase any additional character slots they may want or need, separately and at their own discretion, is not something that ArenaNet is willing to do… and why.

Sure, adding an additional character slot to the lowest tier pre-purchase offer is certainly better then offering nothing, but, if they are unwilling to provide an upgrade only option and a reduced price, then I think the package should consist of 2 separate game keys, one for the Heart of Thorns expansion, and one for the core game.

If the only purchase options that are available package the new expansion with a copy of Guild Wars 2, then the purchaser should be able to do as they chose with their additional copy of Guild Wars 2, short of selling it.

Maybe the purchaser would like to create an additional account for PVP only characters, or to try other character/race combinations out on before committing to these builds on their primary account, or maybe they would like to have that additional core account so that they could let friends and/or family members see for themselves what an awesome and engrossing game Guild Wars 2 is.

This could possibly, and most likely, lead to new players and Arena Net customers, I can’t see that being a bad thing.

The reality is that customers are purchasing a PACKAGE, because that is the ONLY way that they are allowed to purchase a copy of the expansion.

Withholding one of the primary components from that package simply because the customer already owns one of the items in question is…. a raw deal.

Again the additional character slot offer is a move in the right direction, and is exactly what some customers want. I, on the other hand, do not need an additional character slot as I have already purchased additional character slots for my account a while back in anticipation of the new expansion and the new character class that becomes available with it.

Ultimately I would prefer to have an upgrade only option, but if that is not possible then at least all of the items included in the bundle that I purchase… should be included. Whether I choose to use the expansion key on the new account included in the bundle or on my existing account should be entirely up to me.

One might argue that this would create Guild Wars 2 accounts that can’t be upgraded without purchasing another bundle that includes yet another copy of Guild Wars 2 and my response to that would be two fold:

1. Additional copies of Guild Wars 2 are a good thing for Arena Net, not only do they mean more potential gem store purchases for account bound items and services, they also increase the total number of copies sold which looks good in print and at investor/shareholder meetings.

and

2. None of this would be an issue, from any perspective, if existing account holders had the option to simply purchase an account upgrade to Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns.

Maybe by the time Heart of Thorns launches an upgrade only option will become available and all of my arguments will be nullified, except for those that pre-ordered, and in my opinion, got a raw deal. I guess only time will tell.

-Anthony

(edited by XYLUM.7286)

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Posted by: IndigoSundown.5419

IndigoSundown.5419

This thread hinges on a fundamental belief that the cost of a new expansion would be lower if the previous stuff was not bundled in. This belief is mistaken. What’s actually happening is that the core game (and in future old expansions) is essentially becoming F2P — but are still tied to a purchase to prevent endless free accounts to RMT abusers and other potential abusers.

Since this expansion is priced similarly to other expansions, the real issue should be “does what the expansion offer justify the assigned price.” I plan to use the same criteria going forward.

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Posted by: Ricky.4706

Ricky.4706

i’m waiting for the upgrade vs expansion debate to play out, … it could mean an additional copy of the core guildwars game too. i am ok though, because i feel the vets were recognized by anet. if i can get an extra copy of the game too, i wont be angry at that! depends on everyone’s reasoning and negotiating skills though! So far i’m having to bet on anet, dunno if everyone understands the argument enough to present it right…i’m not upset so i can’t complain. -goes into lotus position-

my current amusements are the crying white knights that called the vets entitled…classic!

IBM PC XT 4.77mhz w/turbo oc@ 8mhz 640kb windows 3.1 hayes 56k seagate 20 meg HD mda@720x350 pixels

(edited by Ricky.4706)

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Posted by: Genei.7502

Genei.7502

by including a character slot the deal is balanced. giving players an extra copy of the game has a lot of abuse risks. this is the best thing Anet could do.

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Posted by: Ricky.4706

Ricky.4706

oh come on, you have to admit, it would still be a fun debate to watch. -in Q voice-

IBM PC XT 4.77mhz w/turbo oc@ 8mhz 640kb windows 3.1 hayes 56k seagate 20 meg HD mda@720x350 pixels

(edited by Ricky.4706)

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Posted by: minbariguy.7504

minbariguy.7504

I honestly don’t mind them packaging all previously existing content and expansions with any new expansions that come out.

I have found myself passing on games simply because the barrier to entry was too high when I realized how many expansions I would have to purchase to be current. I think this will help foster a healthy population as the game ages.

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Posted by: XYLUM.7286

XYLUM.7286

Wow, I see so many people parakeeting that $50.00 is the cost of the HoT expansion alone, and that the free copies of Guild Wars 2 core game are just a special gift to newcomers … and I wonder if these people still believe in Santa Claus.

Saying that the $50.00 price tag is for the expansion alone, and that the core game is being given away free to make it easier for new players to get in on Heart of Thorns without having the price of the core game stand in their way… is what you call damage control, putting a fresh spin on something that is generating heavy backlash in hopes of changing people’s perception of the situation.

The guy inferring that GW2 is becoming F2P, but is being tied to a purchase to prevent endless new accounts and abuses… is another attempt at a fresh spin… even if it is a really silly one, I actually laughed out load when I read it.

I love Guild Wars 2 just like everyone else here, and think Arena Net created a fantastic MMO that is one of the best values in gaming.

That being said, my love of the game and my perception of reality are not mutually exclusive.

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Posted by: Ricky.4706

Ricky.4706

@minbariguy.7504 that would then be the upgrade path …the expansion path would generate more revenue while allowing the user to pick and choose. so it really is ultimately a corporate decision as to how they want to evolve, but it should be made clear to avoid confusion.

IBM PC XT 4.77mhz w/turbo oc@ 8mhz 640kb windows 3.1 hayes 56k seagate 20 meg HD mda@720x350 pixels

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Posted by: weskay.9217

weskay.9217

I’m still not impressed by the price and value of the product. I still feel like in the long-term, veterans will be the ones consistently getting shafted. Lets say there are 4 expansions in GW2’s lifetime. If you are someone that played from the get-go, you’ll have spent $50 on the base game, now $50 on this expansion, $150 on the future expansions. That’s $250. Someone brand new coming into the game at the fourth expansion only pays $50 for all of the games/expansions? It’s a fantastic deal for new players, but veteran players will continuously get shafted. I feel strongly that the base game + expansion should differ from the expansion alone.

www.vanquishing.enjin.com

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Posted by: Aidenwolf.5964

Aidenwolf.5964

I’m still not impressed by the price and value of the product. I still feel like in the long-term, veterans will be the ones consistently getting shafted. Lets say there are 4 expansions in GW2’s lifetime. If you are someone that played from the get-go, you’ll have spent $50 on the base game, now $50 on this expansion, $150 on the future expansions. That’s $250. Someone brand new coming into the game at the fourth expansion only pays $50 for all of the games/expansions? It’s a fantastic deal for new players, but veteran players will continuously get shafted. I feel strongly that the base game + expansion should differ from the expansion alone.

Pretty much this.

Buy To Play Guild Wars 2 2012-2015 – RIP
Unlucky since launch, RNG isn’t random
PugLife SoloQ

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Posted by: Ricky.4706

Ricky.4706

well there ya go, that is the debate! is hot an upgrade, or is it an expansion. if it’s an upgrade, then it’s all inclusive….if it’s an expansion, then there should be 2 keys for 2 products.

Disclaimer – I’m not debating, this was more like a thought exercise…i’m not angry …i’m happy anet loves me! I love them too and want them to stay in business without suffering

IBM PC XT 4.77mhz w/turbo oc@ 8mhz 640kb windows 3.1 hayes 56k seagate 20 meg HD mda@720x350 pixels

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Posted by: TurtleofPower.5641

TurtleofPower.5641

I think this is basically what has happened:

They’ve switched to selling Living Story.

That really is the whole plan if you think about it. That’s why HoT has low content and they’re saying you can’t get future updates without it.

The biggest problem is they weren’t just direct about what their plans mean.

You have to read between every line to realize this whole thing should be called Living Story Season 3 + Future Update Pass.

That’s what they’re really doing but they’ve made a mess presenting in a way that sounds a lot more ambitious than it is. Maybe they’re trying to market as something more spectacular sounding with this expansion label. But personally, my problem is still… LS has been punctually released but the majority of the releases are lackluster.

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Posted by: Leablo.2651

Leablo.2651

This thread hinges on a fundamental belief that the cost of a new expansion would be lower if the previous stuff was not bundled in. This belief is mistaken.

Strawman. The argument was never what the cost “would” be for a standalone expansion, we have no way of determining that without access to internal sources. It is what the cost should be. And that hasn’t changed. No matter how convoluted the argument to fit your narrative, it will not change the fact that a small expansion should not cost $50 for someone who already has the core game.

And it doesn’t help HoT that Anet is already saying that future expansions will include all previous content. Was that another miscalculation on their part or yet another promise to be broken when it’s convenient? At any rate, this announcement only further reinforces to me that HoT should not be purchased. HoT itself is not exciting, costs too much, and by Anet’s/fanboys’ own arguments, it will be free anyway when the next expansion comes out. Anet just delivered the best argument they could to make me not purchase HoT.

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Posted by: weskay.9217

weskay.9217

XYLUM.7286 has the rest of my argument covered regarding the option to either upgrade or buy the package.

www.vanquishing.enjin.com

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Posted by: MashMash.1645

MashMash.1645

While yes, it was nice for ANet to clarify what they would be doing for the next expansions, but they clearly failed to come up with a solution or even understand the actual issue – that is, that people don’t want to pay for things they already have.

Let’s assume that 3 years from now another expansion comes out, giving us, the core GW2, HoT, and Expansion2. What they should do pre-expansion is sell all three separately (to get the people who don’t pay attention; sorry but it works), sell all 3 as a bundle with the core and HoT discounted, and finally just sell expansion3 separately.

It’s not hard. It really, really isn’t.

They would argue they are not making you pay for things you already have.

Think of it this way. If they removed the free base game offer, you would still be paying $50.

Do you understand this concept? Take away all the “free” stuff, and you, me, Obama, the Pope, the lizard people in the center of the earth, the aliens, the FBI van sitting outside your house – we all pay $50. That’s what the xpac costs. All the other stuff is meaningless. You are not paying again.

They could have avoided all this hoohaa by simply having the xpac on it’s own at $50. I actually think they should have done this.

But it’s less incentive for new players – it’s a carrot for them to buy in.

Now, you might not like the price. But it is what it is. It’s $50. Personally, even with the free char slot, it still seems pricey for the lack on content info I’ve seen. I’m still waiting till they’ve shown all they are going to – then I’ll decide.

Pre-Ordered HoT | Recently started to get what I paid for – may spend $$$

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Posted by: Ricky.4706

Ricky.4706

I think this is basically what has happened:

They’ve switched to selling Living Story.

That really is the whole plan if you think about it. That’s why HoT has low content and they’re saying you can’t get future updates without it.

The biggest problem is they weren’t just direct about what their plans mean.

You have to read between every line to realize this whole thing should be called Living Story Season 3 + Future Update Pass.

That’s what they’re really doing but they’ve made a mess presenting in a way that sounds a lot more ambitious than it is. Maybe they’re trying to market as something more spectacular sounding with this expansion label. But personally, my problem is still… LS has been punctually released but the majority of the releases are lackluster.

I can’t agree with this, i’ve seen it play out from the beginning. I do believe they wanted to create a model that was self sustaining through the gem store. Making those events are a lot of work and overtime for them, remember they get into stories, models , voice acting …it’s not just a quick thing – to really be effective in the debate you really have to understand both sides so you know where there is freedom to negotiate. if x amount of players didn’t even log on, they didn’t buy from gem store and didn’t support the game….yet if they log on 3 years later they get the events for free…that’s not a good business model. They can catch up by buying past events. That is legit, i made it a point to log on…i am still a real fan …and now feeling like a loved one again , so i got it free! but i digress.

IBM PC XT 4.77mhz w/turbo oc@ 8mhz 640kb windows 3.1 hayes 56k seagate 20 meg HD mda@720x350 pixels

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Posted by: weskay.9217

weskay.9217

After reading the business plan, unless you want the expansions much earlier and/or want the exclusive items that the expansions might offer, there is no reason to buy the expansions til the very last one for those that feel shafted. Spend $50 on each expansion now which will lead to hundreds of dollars spent or spend $50 on the final expansion and get everything. There needs to be more incentive to purchase each expansion individually. They need to offer upgrade-only options or something to make it worthwhile to purchase the expansions as they release rather than at the end.

www.vanquishing.enjin.com

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Posted by: Ricky.4706

Ricky.4706

well thats why I suggested not taking so long to release them, to keep them low priced. They were able to make those elaborate events pretty quick, it should be easy to road map, those that want to pvp, don’t need those expansions, the pve’rs will want them.
pvp’rs will want finishers and skins / stuff to show off in the ring or in wvw. wvw’rs are also likely to be pve’rs as well because of ascended items and legendaries. Although you have focused wvw / pvp’rs as well.

IBM PC XT 4.77mhz w/turbo oc@ 8mhz 640kb windows 3.1 hayes 56k seagate 20 meg HD mda@720x350 pixels

(edited by Ricky.4706)

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Posted by: XYLUM.7286

XYLUM.7286

Genei.7502
by including a character slot the deal is balanced. giving players an extra copy of the game has a lot of abuse risks. this is the best thing Anet could do.

What sort of abuse risks?

I can’t really think of anything, let alone anything that would justify denying existing players the copy of Guild Wars 2 that they pay for when they purchase any of the the BUNDLES that are the ONLY purchase options available at this time.

I personally don’t think that providing a character slot in lieu of the copy of Guild Wars 2 that is bundled with the Heart of Thorns expansion, in all of the available packages, necessarily makes the deal “balanced”.

Some people, like myself, have already purchased additional slots in anticipation of the expansion, also character slots can be purchased with gems and as needed…

Agreeing to give existing account holders that purchase Heart of Thorns a character slot shows that Arena Net is listening, and that they are willing make some concessions.

I respect that.

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Posted by: Ayrilana.1396

Ayrilana.1396

I’m still not impressed by the price and value of the product. I still feel like in the long-term, veterans will be the ones consistently getting shafted. Lets say there are 4 expansions in GW2’s lifetime. If you are someone that played from the get-go, you’ll have spent $50 on the base game, now $50 on this expansion, $150 on the future expansions. That’s $250. Someone brand new coming into the game at the fourth expansion only pays $50 for all of the games/expansions? It’s a fantastic deal for new players, but veteran players will continuously get shafted. I feel strongly that the base game + expansion should differ from the expansion alone.

You do realize that this has been frequently done with games and their expansions, right? It’s a rather high pay wall to expect a new player to have to maybe $100 just to play this game or to pay $150 after the next expansion. Veterans players are not getting shafted here either before the announcement today or after. Were you upset when the game went to $10 and thus “devaluing” the your game as you paid much more than that?

Your game has not been devalued as you have gotten to enjoy it for so much longer than new players. If you feel that prices should remain static for all time then you’re going to be very disappointed in this game and out in the real world.

The business model is still garbage

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Posted by: Ricky.4706

Ricky.4706

i think in the future, the way to avoid this confusion, is to sell the core game, and the new buyer gets 1 coupon they can redeem for the expansion of their choice. The core game can stay valued at 39.99 and expansions can be anything up to 39.99 in price.

this would be probably be good for anet too so they can plan their projects by budgets vs expansion prices. the good old fashioned way actually, i can do x amount of work for x amount of money, and project that i can recoup those expenses in x amount of time with x amount of sales. anything from the gem store after that is the additional income.

IBM PC XT 4.77mhz w/turbo oc@ 8mhz 640kb windows 3.1 hayes 56k seagate 20 meg HD mda@720x350 pixels

(edited by Ricky.4706)

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Posted by: Zhaneel.9208

Zhaneel.9208

What should concern fans is the fact that they refuse to sell future expansions separately from the core game at a lower price than the combined version. There wouldn’t have been nearly as much anger from the community if they had just done that to begin with.

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Posted by: Ricky.4706

Ricky.4706

but that’s not being sneaky, they have been transparent about being a next generation of mmo – this involves taking risks in different models. unfortunately the perception of the bundle has devalued the core game and made it look free to play. The fact ncsoft has placed a value for it as stand alone on amazon, shows that was not their intention.

IBM PC XT 4.77mhz w/turbo oc@ 8mhz 640kb windows 3.1 hayes 56k seagate 20 meg HD mda@720x350 pixels

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Posted by: Ayrilana.1396

Ayrilana.1396

What should concern fans is the fact that they refuse to sell future expansions separately from the core game at a lower price than the combined version. There wouldn’t have been nearly as much anger from the community if they had just done that to begin with.

Except the previous expansion and core game will have no bearing on the newer expansion’s price.

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Posted by: echo.2053

echo.2053

What should concern fans is the fact that they refuse to sell future expansions separately from the core game at a lower price than the combined version. There wouldn’t have been nearly as much anger from the community if they had just done that to begin with.

“In the future, if we release further Guild Wars 2 expansions, we plan to offer all of the prior expansions, the core game, and the latest expansion for one single purchase price. "

directly from their announcement – don’t count on it. Wont you be pumped for a $100 base price to buy core+hot+ xpac

just seems silly they wont offer just the xpac for a reduced price while maintaining this deal for the newcomers.

Bender the offender – Proud violator of 17 safe spaces –

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Posted by: Zhaneel.9208

Zhaneel.9208

What should concern fans is the fact that they refuse to sell future expansions separately from the core game at a lower price than the combined version. There wouldn’t have been nearly as much anger from the community if they had just done that to begin with.

“In the future, if we release further Guild Wars 2 expansions, we plan to offer all of the prior expansions, the core game, and the latest expansion for one single purchase price. "

directly from their announcement – don’t count on it. Wont you be pumped for a $100 base price to buy core+hot+ xpac

just seems silly they wont offer just the xpac for a reduced price while maintaining this deal for the newcomers.

As far as their business plan goes, it is frustrating that they would insist on doing everything the hard way. There was generally a lot of positive hype and interest in HoT and it’s just baffling to me that they keep using these shady tactics to promote their game.

The refunds they offered are a start though. Doesn’t affect me personally, but it is something. I hope (but don’t really believe) that they will be more transparent in the future.

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Posted by: Stochastic.1398

Stochastic.1398

I agree with OP, as a new player I find the idea of having to buy both expansion and base game absurd. It needs to be 10$ discount.

In my case I am getting screwed over harder then the vets since I bought the game from Amazon a couple weeks ago and I have no recourse.

ANET doing this is saying: The base game you payed for now has no value, pay for this new game at full price(which you already own most of) or be left behind.

I sort of now wish I bought ESO instead, while this base game is fun I don’t feel like paying an additional 50 USD.

My only option is to wait for the price to drop but if it does I am going to suspect a new expansion will be coming out and so I will wait to buy it based upon this experience.

I won’t stop playing but I won’t be buying anything from the gem store, will also probably check out SWTOR again.

The business model is still garbage

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Posted by: RavenRecoil.6103

RavenRecoil.6103

I love this business model. I don’t care if they include the core game and 5 expansions to a new player. It keeps the game community alive. Everyone can play the same content and together. There won’t be anyone feeling they need to spent a lot of cash to “catch up”. And no one will be left out because they didn’t purchase that expansion. It does not bother me I am getting the core game and expansions over again. Because to me its all digital so big whoop! I would imagine its going to be $50 for each expansion regardless of how games they include.

I am a hardcore casual player at best!!
Always up wind from my prey. I want them to smell my farts!

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Posted by: Ricky.4706

Ricky.4706

what if anet made the core game 49.99 and gave new buyers a free copy of hot.

would that be a bad deal ?

IBM PC XT 4.77mhz w/turbo oc@ 8mhz 640kb windows 3.1 hayes 56k seagate 20 meg HD mda@720x350 pixels