Guild Wars 2

This is my argument for why an expansion should have been offered separately. Before buying this game two months ago, I did some research and read the faq on the upcoming expansion HoT. In the faq, it is implied that the expansion would be offered separately.

After HoT is available for pre-ordering, they changed the faq.

Before they changed the faq:

Q: Do I have to own Guild Wars 2 to play the expansion?
A: Yes. Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns is an expansion to Guild Wars 2 and not a stand-alone campaign, and therefore it requires the base game to play.

After they edited it:

Q: Do I have to own Guild Wars 2 to play the expansion?
A: Yes, but Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns includes the Guild Wars 2 core game.

It’s obvious what they pulled.

I was honestly considering buying gems to attain some outfits but now I will no longer be spending a single penny on this game. I do admit that I got the game for 10$, which is a great deal and I will be playing the heck out of the base game to get the most out of my 10$.

I’d like to see people try to defend this.

TL;DR: 2 months old customer already lost trust in the company.

They’re already defending it. And the opinion of a hamster isn’t going to make them feel less self-righteous about being so eager to throw down $50 on what is probably about a $30 expansion (for those who were suckered into buying the game before the HoT release)

Not much to argue with that. Scum move and certainly one of the reasons people don’t take the:

“But the core game is free for new customers. The expansion is worth 50,-$ !”

argument seriously.

Kind of sad, since much of this distrust and outburst could have been prevented with just a small amount of customer loyalty and foresight.

Squee.7829:

They’re already defending it. And the opinion of a hamster isn’t going to make them feel less self-righteous about being so eager to throw down $50 on what is probably about a $30 expansion (for those who were suckered into buying the game before the HoT release)

True,but this amount of negative pr right during E3 might.

The funny thing is I really liked the game and might have been willing to shell out 50$ for the expansion if they didn’t include the free base game with it. I get that a company has to make money so the pricing doesn’t bother me. Their way of doing business does. Like what is a new customer suppose to think after experiencing this?

It seems they are completely focused on gaining new customers with little thoughts towards older loyal customers. I was only a two month old customer and this happened already. Beware.

Try contacting support with your concern. If your purchase was recent enough, they may be able to do something for you.

Nah man. I’m not trying to get a refund. 10$ is a great deal and I will make the most of it. The base game is awesome.The goal of this post was to let people, especially the ones bent on defending the company, know what type of company they are really defending. I feel many people did not know about this and are too focused on the price of the expansion.

So if they split the expansion from the core game and offered them separately, and you noticed:

HoT: $49.99
HoT+GW2: $59.99

… what then? They were advertising GW2 for HoT at a $10 price tag. They could have avoided half of these complaints by simply keeping that difference. Whether HoT actually offers $50 worth of content is another question.

This reaction was predicted here months ago when people were asking for content to be bundled for free. I can only assume ArenaNet’s marketing team also expected this, and considering they could have easily avoided it, it must be intentional. But what for? It’s all a distraction.

This is how ArenaNet operate. This is not the first time they have said one thing and done another. Ascended gear was another huge debacle. They sold the game prior to release as easy to obtain max stats and hard to obtain skins. 3 months after release they suddenly change their song and dance, they add ascended and say it was always meant to be in the game even though the entire endgame is balanced around exotics. Then there is the hotly debated No-grind philosophy from their manifesto, of course as the game goes on they add more and more grind. Want ascended armor? Grind to 500 crafting and events for material! Want ascended accessories? Grind dailies! Have alts or want a different spec? You better believe you’re going to be grinding!

I’m sure there are more instances of them saying one thing and then doing the exact opposite, but I don’t remember them off hand. All that matters is ArenaNet is not a company you should take at face value. Always take whatever they say with a grain of salt and in the end you’ll still be surprised at how monumentally they screw something up

Hamster, my hat is off to you, sir. It took me a little over a year and a half to see this company for what it was. My only regret is that i didn’t see it sooner, but dat honeymoon phase…

Distaste.4801:

This is how ArenaNet operate. This is not the first time they have said one thing and done another. Ascended gear was another huge debacle. They sold the game prior to release as easy to obtain max stats and hard to obtain skins. 3 months after release they suddenly change their song and dance, they add ascended and say it was always meant to be in the game even though the entire endgame is balanced around exotics. Then there is the hotly debated No-grind philosophy from their manifesto, of course as the game goes on they add more and more grind. Want ascended armor? Grind to 500 crafting and events for material! Want ascended accessories? Grind dailies! Have alts or want a different spec? You better believe you’re going to be grinding!

I’m sure there are more instances of them saying one thing and then doing the exact opposite, but I don’t remember them off hand. All that matters is ArenaNet is not a company you should take at face value. Always take whatever they say with a grain of salt and in the end you’ll still be surprised at how monumentally they screw something up

Yes and now they’re making ascended stronger >>

Healix.5819:

So if they split the expansion from the core game and offered them separately, and you noticed:

HoT: $49.99
HoT+GW2: $59.99

… what then? They were advertising GW2 for HoT at a $10 price tag. They could have avoided half of these complaints by simply keeping that difference. Whether HoT actually offers $50 worth of content is another question.

This reaction was predicted here months ago when people were asking for content to be bundled for free. I can only assume ArenaNet’s marketing team also expected this, and considering they could have easily avoided it, it must be intentional. But what for? It’s all a distraction.

Yes it is intentional. What for? For money.

I would suggest that you redirect your anger at the bean counters and corporate admin at NCSoft…….I doubt that Anet, especially the devs and programmers had anything to do with setting the price or how to release/prerelease the expansion.

Just go play the game and have fun. By release you can get a good solid 90 hours of great play for 40 bucks which tops just about any game out there.

So no one has ever bought multiple games on steam and have them cost less combined a year later? Like honestly, this isnt new. Right now you can buy civ 5 complete for like $20 and it comes with expansions, so do all the people who bought the original game for $50 have a right to be kittened off because its cheaper now than what they paid?

I dont care if people are mad at anet or not (and like someone said its most likely some marketing manager at ncsoft, not the anet devs, that did this), but this is not a new marketing strategy, and every single developer out there does it (well again, their marketing team does), so get used to it or find some new hobbies imo.

Sizer.5632:

So no one has ever bought multiple games on steam and have them cost less combined a year later? Like honestly, this isnt new. Right now you can buy civ 5 complete for like $20 and it comes with expansions, so do all the people who bought the original game for $50 have a right to be kittened off because its cheaper now than what they paid?

I dont care if people are mad at anet or not (and like someone said its most likely some marketing manager at ncsoft, not the anet devs, that did this), but this is not a new marketing strategy, and every single developer out there does it (well again, their marketing team does), so get used to it or find some new hobbies imo.

You completely missed my point. I am not arguing about the price. They have the right to price it at whatever.

Alright, I’ll bite.

You’re claiming that NCSoft did customers wrong by offering the base game months in advance of the HoT release for 83% off while not mentioning that said base game would be included in HoT in a “stand alone expansion” model. Then you are using this as justification for demanding a reduction of the price for the expansion for players who already own copies of the base game. Is that right?

You might actually have HAD a case for moral outrage if the sales had happened a week or two before expansion release. That isn’t much time to get anything done or learn a lot about the game, but in this case the sales happened MONTHS in advance.

You have said yourself multiple times in this thread that you enjoy the game, play it a lot, and plan on continuing to play it a lot in the future. You have had a chance to level up and gear characters while prices have been quite a bit lower than normal. If you’re a smart player you’ve had chances to learn the game and the economy, earn gold to make investments in preparation for the expansion which (if you guessed correctly) should make you more than enough gold to completely offset the entire $50 for the expansion, and then some.

Let us look at another aspect of this. Say a new customer bought the game at $10 and DIDN’T like it after all. Finding that out at $10 is a whole lot better for the consumer than finding it out at $50 or $60. Inevitably, there were people who fell in that category during these past sales, so putting it on sale by that much almost certainly cost NCSoft some money.

Finally, I know many of my guildies and other people in the game bought multiple extra accounts at that $10 price, with no intention of playing them except to log in daily for the log in rewards and as cheap extra space. ALL of my guildies who did so were happy with their decision, none have ever expressed any regret.

In short, considering the above points, I don’t know how it is possible to continue taking the position that NCSoft cheated their customers with those sales unless you’re not very bright, or cynically assuming a false stance in a shameless attempt to extort an unjustified reduction in price of the expansion.

Cheers.

Mods please merge this.

Squee.7829:

They’re already defending it. And the opinion of a hamster isn’t going to make them feel less self-righteous about being so eager to throw down $50 on what is probably about a $30 expansion (for those who were suckered into buying the game before the HoT release)

Sad, but true if some of the comments I’ve read are any indication. The MMO community really is a strange thing at times. . . .

A Hamster.2580:

Yes and now they’re making ascended stronger >>

Not according to this thread https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Ascended-Gear-Anet-please-fix-this. As stated by the big smiley man Colin Johanson. Ascended armour and weapons stats will be changeable from the next update patch.

warbignime.4610:

Mods please merge this.

You really want to be a mod don’t you.

OT, yeah the Ninja edit of the FAQ is bad. I’m sure a lot of people saw the sale as a good time to get the game ready for the Xpac, hell I even convinced a friend to get the game as it was so cheap. An I told him there is an xpac coming out. It says you need the base game to play it. So he got it there an then. He was planning on waiting till the Xpac came out to see if there was a deal.on the base game and Xpac.

Vercinorix.3021:

Alright, I’ll bite.
You might actually have HAD a case for moral outrage if the sales had happened a week or two before expansion release. That isn’t much time to get anything done or learn a lot about the game, but in this case the sales happened MONTHS in advance.

Except the misinformation encouraging people to buy the game (on sale or at full price), as it was required for the expansion, was there until just after the expansion was released for sale with the game bundled in. Getting use out of the product or not, it was mis-sold. And let’s face it, if you’re in your first day/week/month of an MMO and you’re suddenly hit with the choice that you were overcharged or you have to have your account deleted to get a refund and then re-buy the game for that expansion you were drawn in by… that’s not a good impression and will probably result in no expansion being bought, or the refund being taken and the ex-new player leaving the game and quite annoyed with the company.

That mis-information was up while the sales were on; and even without a sale on, that mis-information was there saying that you’d need to buy the base game to be able to play the expansion. There were even sales through other merchants closer to the time to celebrate the upcoming expansion (not their fault I’m sure, how were they to know?), and people bought those because they’d been told something by Anet that wasn’t actually true.

Where this falls on the scale of “accidental PR and sales catastrophe” to “malicious scheming and moneygrabbing”, I don’t know (I doubt it’s at the far end of the latter though); but regardless of that – it’s happened and people have been affected by it.

Vercinorix.3021:

You might actually have HAD a case for moral outrage if the sales had happened a week or two before expansion release.

There was one within last month, was it not?

I got it on sale a month and two days before the prepurchase release. Like Hamster, I don’t want a refund, and was explicit about that in the support ticket I submitted. The reason I feel cheated is because ArenaNet made me feel like I would need to purchase the base game to be able to play HoT, so I did. Their FAQ explicitly stated that the base game would be required, which is not an out and out lie but doesn’t really pass the smell test.

To compound the matter, I received two replies from my support ticket and my subsequent reply, and BOTH of them seemed automated and did not address my concerns at all, but rather stated that I would not be eligible for a refund.

Before I defend this, please tell me when the first version was posted, and when the revised version was first posted, because at some point the decision was made to include the core game in the HoT xpack, It could be possible it was not made on the day the xpack was announced

It was changed the day the ad went up in the store, I believe. Sorry, but they knew well before the actual day they started selling that they were going to include the base game for free.

A Hamster.2580:

TL;DR: 2 months old customer already lost trust in the company.

Welcome to Tyria.

BrotherBelial.3094:

warbignime.4610:

Mods please merge this.

You really want to be a mod don’t you.

OT, yeah the Ninja edit of the FAQ is bad. I’m sure a lot of people saw the sale as a good time to get the game ready for the Xpac, hell I even convinced a friend to get the game as it was so cheap. An I told him there is an xpac coming out. It says you need the base game to play it. So he got it there an then. He was planning on waiting till the Xpac came out to see if there was a deal.on the base game and Xpac.

LOL, I like how you rant over a simple sentence. There’s a mega thread go post there.

You know that ‘simple sentence’ is part of their contract agreement, right? You bet people ranted. Ghost editing after someone signs and agrees to buy something tends to kitten people off.

can ANET be accused of “bait and switch” ?

Nah. Been with GW2 since the beta, and I don’t feel betrayed, but then I’m not a child that starts crying when other people get gifts.

Instead, I’m happy for them. You should try that, it’s kinda the mature thing to do.

Venture out in the real world a bit. You’ll soon notice all the “first buyer/signup gets X!” stuff. it’s actually entirely normal and not scummy at all.
The complainers really don’t seem to get out much.

azizul.8469:

can ANET be accused of “bait and switch” ?

Nope, because you still need the core game to play HoT. That’s not changed at all. What has changed, is that they’re now essentially done “selling” the core game, now that HoT is going to be available in the near future. What they’ve done now is offer the core game as a bonus when you purchase HoT, if you dont already have the core game.

A Hamster.2580:

Nah man. I’m not trying to get a refund. 10$ is a great deal and I will make the most of it. The base game is awesome.The goal of this post was to let people, especially the ones bent on defending the company, know what type of company they are really defending. I feel many people did not know about this and are too focused on the price of the expansion.

You played a current Gen mmo for 2 months at the whopping cost of $10.

My second account is a $10 account and I use it to farm laurels which makes a substantial profit in t6 mats. A solution to your problem would be to use the expansion purchase as a new account which would come with a new game and hot while leaving your 2 month old account to farm laurels. Upgrade it – if you want – when hot inevitably goes on sale in the future.

Distaste.4801:

This is how ArenaNet operate. This is not the first time they have said one thing and done another. Ascended gear was another huge debacle. They sold the game prior to release as easy to obtain max stats and hard to obtain skins. 3 months after release they suddenly change their song and dance, they add ascended and say it was always meant to be in the game even though the entire endgame is balanced around exotics. Then there is the hotly debated No-grind philosophy from their manifesto, of course as the game goes on they add more and more grind. Want ascended armor? Grind to 500 crafting and events for material! Want ascended accessories? Grind dailies! Have alts or want a different spec? You better believe you’re going to be grinding!

I’m sure there are more instances of them saying one thing and then doing the exact opposite, but I don’t remember them off hand. All that matters is ArenaNet is not a company you should take at face value. Always take whatever they say with a grain of salt and in the end you’ll still be surprised at how monumentally they screw something up

A Hamster.2580:

This is my argument for why an expansion should have been offered separately. Before buying this game two months ago, I did some research and read the faq on the upcoming expansion HoT. In the faq, it is implied that the expansion would be offered separately.

After HoT is available for pre-ordering, they changed the faq.

Before they changed the faq:

Q: Do I have to own Guild Wars 2 to play the expansion?
A: Yes. Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns is an expansion to Guild Wars 2 and not a stand-alone campaign, and therefore it requires the base game to play.

After they edited it:

Q: Do I have to own Guild Wars 2 to play the expansion?
A: Yes, but Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns includes the Guild Wars 2 core game.

It’s obvious what they pulled.

I was honestly considering buying gems to attain some outfits but now I will no longer be spending a single penny on this game. I do admit that I got the game for 10$, which is a great deal and I will be playing the heck out of the base game to get the most out of my 10$.

I’d like to see people try to defend this.

TL;DR: 2 months old customer already lost trust in the company.

Thanks for sharing your opinions. At this point a vast multitude of players feel the same way. Wether Anet admits to their fault and corrects it is entirely out of our hands. We did the best thing we could as a rational-minded community: we spoke out against the buy options and refused to hand over payment until better options are presented.

Ardenwolfe.8590:

You know that ‘simple sentence’ is part of their contract agreement, right? You bet people ranted. Ghost editing after someone signs and agrees to buy something tends to kitten people off.

People use words like ghost editing so glibly.

Things in games change. FAQs are changed when they change. That’s how the world works.

Clearly the original plan was to make it two sales. There were probably people in the management for and against the plan and they discussed it. They made a decision. As time went on, one side gathers more backers and they decide to make the change.

When the change is made, the FAQ has to be changed.

You can call that a Ghost Change, but in reality it’s just changing the FAQ to fit the facts.

Anet needs to refund people for the entire period of time since that first fact went up, but editing a fact to make it accurate?

Call it what you want, but it’s done all the time and the only time anyone has a problem with is is when it changes to something they don’t want to hear.

Vayne.8563:

Ardenwolfe.8590:

You know that ‘simple sentence’ is part of their contract agreement, right? You bet people ranted. Ghost editing after someone signs and agrees to buy something tends to kitten people off.

People use words like ghost editing so glibly.

Things in games change. FAQs are changed when they change. That’s how the world works.

Clearly the original plan was to make it two sales. There were probably people in the management for and against the plan and they discussed it. They made a decision. As time went on, one side gathers more backers and they decide to make the change.

When the change is made, the FAQ has to be changed.

You can call that a Ghost Change, but in reality it’s just changing the FAQ to fit the facts.

Anet needs to refund people for the entire period of time since that first fact went up, but editing a fact to make it accurate?

Call it what you want, but it’s done all the time and the only time anyone has a problem with is is when it changes to something they don’t want to hear.

Always love it when facts are recognized

Honestly the OP does have a point. They tell players you need to own GW2 to get the expansion and then offer it for free on the pre-order. True he had two months to play and I’m not sure if he got the game when it was on sale for $10 but this sudden change in requirement isn’t playing by Hoyle. Bad form ANet. Bad form.

A Hamster I would hold off doing anything rash until late next week and see if ANet comes up with a plan to “fix” this or not.

I actually feel like your post has some overlaps with a point made by this person: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/Wooden-Potatoes-reviews-the-preorder/first#post5169947

There’s so much focus on brand new players that relatively new players and older players alike are getting pushed to the wayside. Retention is just as if not more important than bringing in brand new blood. If the new blood doesn’t want to stick around, what’s the point?

I hope Anet do address this because it’s a real shame this kerfuffle has left you feeling this way, OP. As a GW1 player, this is the opposite of how I’d want newer players to feel in GW2

warbignime.4610:

BrotherBelial.3094:

warbignime.4610:

Mods please merge this.

You really want to be a mod don’t you.

OT, yeah the Ninja edit of the FAQ is bad. I’m sure a lot of people saw the sale as a good time to get the game ready for the Xpac, hell I even convinced a friend to get the game as it was so cheap. An I told him there is an xpac coming out. It says you need the base game to play it. So he got it there an then. He was planning on waiting till the Xpac came out to see if there was a deal.on the base game and Xpac.

LOL, I like how you rant over a simple sentence. There’s a mega thread go post there.

Sure like you post in every thread that has nothing to do with that thread you ask a mod to merge it. The mega thread is about price + vets not getting the core game for free as they are paying the same price. This is about the Ninja edit of the FAQ that miss lead people in to getting the core game sooner who thought they where getting the better deal. If you read a thread or two, you might see the difference.

Vayne.8563:

Ardenwolfe.8590:

You know that ‘simple sentence’ is part of their contract agreement, right? You bet people ranted. Ghost editing after someone signs and agrees to buy something tends to kitten people off.

People use words like ghost editing so glibly.

Things in games change. FAQs are changed when they change. That’s how the world works.

Clearly the original plan was to make it two sales. There were probably people in the management for and against the plan and they discussed it. They made a decision. As time went on, one side gathers more backers and they decide to make the change.

When the change is made, the FAQ has to be changed.

You can call that a Ghost Change, but in reality it’s just changing the FAQ to fit the facts.

Anet needs to refund people for the entire period of time since that first fact went up, but editing a fact to make it accurate?

Call it what you want, but it’s done all the time and the only time anyone has a problem with is is when it changes to something they don’t want to hear.

So you think.telling.people.right up till the day after pre drops that they need to buy GW2 to play HoT is fine? Have 2 sales with in a few month of each other to get people.in to the game, who may or may not have waited for HoT to come out before spending there money on GW2. You think this is fine and ANet as a company have done nothing wrong? I know you normally defend ANet, but surely this must even seem a bit off to you.

BrotherBelial.3094:

warbignime.4610:

BrotherBelial.3094:

warbignime.4610:

Mods please merge this.

You really want to be a mod don’t you.

OT, yeah the Ninja edit of the FAQ is bad. I’m sure a lot of people saw the sale as a good time to get the game ready for the Xpac, hell I even convinced a friend to get the game as it was so cheap. An I told him there is an xpac coming out. It says you need the base game to play it. So he got it there an then. He was planning on waiting till the Xpac came out to see if there was a deal.on the base game and Xpac.

LOL, I like how you rant over a simple sentence. There’s a mega thread go post there.

Sure like you post in every thread that has nothing to do with that thread you ask a mod to merge it. The mega thread is about price + vets not getting the core game for free as they are paying the same price. This is about the Ninja edit of the FAQ that miss lead people in to getting the core game sooner who thought they where getting the better deal. If you read a thread or two, you might see the difference.

Vayne.8563:

Ardenwolfe.8590:

You know that ‘simple sentence’ is part of their contract agreement, right? You bet people ranted. Ghost editing after someone signs and agrees to buy something tends to kitten people off.

People use words like ghost editing so glibly.

Things in games change. FAQs are changed when they change. That’s how the world works.

Clearly the original plan was to make it two sales. There were probably people in the management for and against the plan and they discussed it. They made a decision. As time went on, one side gathers more backers and they decide to make the change.

When the change is made, the FAQ has to be changed.

You can call that a Ghost Change, but in reality it’s just changing the FAQ to fit the facts.

Anet needs to refund people for the entire period of time since that first fact went up, but editing a fact to make it accurate?

Call it what you want, but it’s done all the time and the only time anyone has a problem with is is when it changes to something they don’t want to hear.

So you think.telling.people.right up till the day after pre drops that they need to buy GW2 to play HoT is fine? Have 2 sales with in a few month of each other to get people.in to the game, who may or may not have waited for HoT to come out before spending there money on GW2. You think this is fine and ANet as a company have done nothing wrong? I know you normally defend ANet, but surely this must even seem a bit off to you.

I never said it was fine. Anet is offering refunds to people who bought it recently though. One guy on reddit got a refund on the core game (or upgrade to HoT for the difference in price) and didn’t lose his progress in the process. Customer service helped him out.

Now if Anet weren’t willing to help people out, you’d definitely have a point. But have you noticed since March, they haven’t offered the $10 sale. That’s probably because they were deciding that to do.

Honestly, I’m ignoring certain posters on these forums after this. There’s only so many times you can explain common sense before you realize it’s a waste of time.

That said, yes: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/Wooden-Potatoes-reviews-the-preorder/first#post5169947

Some people do get it and understand why the community is a little peeved. Even some of the most fanatical get it.

Thank God.

The rest? It just makes more sense to skip over their posts from now on. But I do thank the majority of the community for seeing there’s a problem. And the YouTube commentators. And the various gaming websites. And . . . well . . . just about everyone else.

Vayne.8563:

BrotherBelial.3094:

warbignime.4610:

BrotherBelial.3094:

warbignime.4610:

Mods please merge this.

You really want to be a mod don’t you.

OT, yeah the Ninja edit of the FAQ is bad. I’m sure a lot of people saw the sale as a good time to get the game ready for the Xpac, hell I even convinced a friend to get the game as it was so cheap. An I told him there is an xpac coming out. It says you need the base game to play it. So he got it there an then. He was planning on waiting till the Xpac came out to see if there was a deal.on the base game and Xpac.

LOL, I like how you rant over a simple sentence. There’s a mega thread go post there.

Sure like you post in every thread that has nothing to do with that thread you ask a mod to merge it. The mega thread is about price + vets not getting the core game for free as they are paying the same price. This is about the Ninja edit of the FAQ that miss lead people in to getting the core game sooner who thought they where getting the better deal. If you read a thread or two, you might see the difference.

Vayne.8563:

Ardenwolfe.8590:

You know that ‘simple sentence’ is part of their contract agreement, right? You bet people ranted. Ghost editing after someone signs and agrees to buy something tends to kitten people off.

People use words like ghost editing so glibly.

Things in games change. FAQs are changed when they change. That’s how the world works.

Clearly the original plan was to make it two sales. There were probably people in the management for and against the plan and they discussed it. They made a decision. As time went on, one side gathers more backers and they decide to make the change.

When the change is made, the FAQ has to be changed.

You can call that a Ghost Change, but in reality it’s just changing the FAQ to fit the facts.

Anet needs to refund people for the entire period of time since that first fact went up, but editing a fact to make it accurate?

Call it what you want, but it’s done all the time and the only time anyone has a problem with is is when it changes to something they don’t want to hear.

So you think.telling.people.right up till the day after pre drops that they need to buy GW2 to play HoT is fine? Have 2 sales with in a few month of each other to get people.in to the game, who may or may not have waited for HoT to come out before spending there money on GW2. You think this is fine and ANet as a company have done nothing wrong? I know you normally defend ANet, but surely this must even seem a bit off to you.

I never said it was fine. Anet is offering refunds to people who bought it recently though. One guy on reddit got a refund on the core game (or upgrade to HoT for the difference in price) and didn’t lose his progress in the process. Customer service helped him out.

Now if Anet weren’t willing to help people out, you’d definitely have a point. But have you noticed since March, they haven’t offered the $10 sale. That’s probably because they were deciding that to do.

So what you are saying, through customer support this player was essentially able to get a HoT version at reduced cost because he already owned the core game?

Wierd, it’s almost as if that was one of the main arguments people had versus anets current pricing policie. Now if only they made this process less of a hassle for the entire player base, say through the option of offering the HoT expansion without the core game?

Cyninja.2954:

So what you are saying, through customer support this player was essentially able to get a HoT version at reduced cost because he already owned the core game?

Wierd, it’s almost as if that was one of the main arguments people had versus anets current pricing policie. Now if only they made this process less of a hassle for the entire player base, say through the option of offering the HoT expansion without the core game?

^^
This.

Within 30 days you can be refunded..

Vayne.8563:

BrotherBelial.3094:

warbignime.4610:

BrotherBelial.3094:

warbignime.4610:

Mods please merge this.

You really want to be a mod don’t you.

OT, yeah the Ninja edit of the FAQ is bad. I’m sure a lot of people saw the sale as a good time to get the game ready for the Xpac, hell I even convinced a friend to get the game as it was so cheap. An I told him there is an xpac coming out. It says you need the base game to play it. So he got it there an then. He was planning on waiting till the Xpac came out to see if there was a deal.on the base game and Xpac.

LOL, I like how you rant over a simple sentence. There’s a mega thread go post there.

Sure like you post in every thread that has nothing to do with that thread you ask a mod to merge it. The mega thread is about price + vets not getting the core game for free as they are paying the same price. This is about the Ninja edit of the FAQ that miss lead people in to getting the core game sooner who thought they where getting the better deal. If you read a thread or two, you might see the difference.

Vayne.8563:

Ardenwolfe.8590:

You know that ‘simple sentence’ is part of their contract agreement, right? You bet people ranted. Ghost editing after someone signs and agrees to buy something tends to kitten people off.

People use words like ghost editing so glibly.

Things in games change. FAQs are changed when they change. That’s how the world works.

Clearly the original plan was to make it two sales. There were probably people in the management for and against the plan and they discussed it. They made a decision. As time went on, one side gathers more backers and they decide to make the change.

When the change is made, the FAQ has to be changed.

You can call that a Ghost Change, but in reality it’s just changing the FAQ to fit the facts.

Anet needs to refund people for the entire period of time since that first fact went up, but editing a fact to make it accurate?

Call it what you want, but it’s done all the time and the only time anyone has a problem with is is when it changes to something they don’t want to hear.

So you think.telling.people.right up till the day after pre drops that they need to buy GW2 to play HoT is fine? Have 2 sales with in a few month of each other to get people.in to the game, who may or may not have waited for HoT to come out before spending there money on GW2. You think this is fine and ANet as a company have done nothing wrong? I know you normally defend ANet, but surely this must even seem a bit off to you.

I never said it was fine. Anet is offering refunds to people who bought it recently though. One guy on reddit got a refund on the core game (or upgrade to HoT for the difference in price) and didn’t lose his progress in the process. Customer service helped him out.

Now if Anet weren’t willing to help people out, you’d definitely have a point. But have you noticed since March, they haven’t offered the $10 sale. That’s probably because they were deciding that to do.

If that’s what you want to think fine. I won’t tell you to think otherwise, but I do not have that blind faith in a company.

A Hamster.2580:

TL;DR: 2 months old customer already lost trust in the company.

I think the players who recently bought the game are the ones that best show how poor of a move it was.

We have topics with the small cat-like argument that “ohoo, you have been playing the game for 3 years and got a lot of free content for it, so you should pay whatever now”.

That’s already a ridiculous argument, since what we are discussing is the price of HoT, not of the core game; but someone who began playing the game two months, or even 3 or 4 months ago, got what, exactly?

Living World Season 1? Nope, gone. Living World Season 2? Nope, have to pay extra for it. Changes to Lion’s Arch? Nope, was already destroyed.

Do the players who bought the game recently get to play a decent, unbroken personal storylne? Nope, it was broken a few months ago and they still have not fixed it (“when it’s ready”, as always).

Do they get to experience the game without the ugly NPE pack (that was created for the China release, a release that is dead)? Nope.

Honestly, everyone who bought Guild Wars 2 this year should just quit the game in disgust after the HoT pricing move. They are the ones who have been hit the hardest by this whole mess.

Yesterday I bought a dress in Crossroads for $35 today I walked past and they had the same dresses on the discount rack for $20. Its all about timing and though you may not think timing is fair its the way of the world. Did I go into Crossroads and demand a $15 refund because in 24 hours they changed the price of the dress ? No I didn’t because as already stated its all about timing. This world is going to deal you a lot of crap if you are always looking backward and complaining about a price you paid being reduced or extra bonuses thrown in.

Vercinorix.3021:

Alright, I’ll bite.

You’re claiming that NCSoft did customers wrong by offering the base game months in advance of the HoT release for 83% off while not mentioning that said base game would be included in HoT in a “stand alone expansion” model. Then you are using this as justification for demanding a reduction of the price for the expansion for players who already own copies of the base game. Is that right?

Yes I am making that claim since the old faq seems to imply that the base game would not be included for free with the expansion. No I am not using this to justify a reduction of the expansion. As stated earlier, I believe Anet has the right to price the expansion at whatever.

Once again, I am not arguing about the price.

Vercinorix.3021:

…

In short, considering the above points, I don’t know how it is possible to continue taking the position that NCSoft cheated their customers with those sales unless you’re not very bright, or cynically assuming a false stance in a shameless attempt to extort an unjustified reduction in price of the expansion.

Cheers.

I’m sorry but you wasted your time writing all of that, which is mostly filled with assumptions anyway. You sort of missed my point because I would have been completely happy with the expansion being 50$ but not including the free base game. That would mean they stuck by what was originally written in the old faq.

Zefiris.8297:

Nah. Been with GW2 since the beta, and I don’t feel betrayed, but then I’m not a child that starts crying when other people get gifts.

Instead, I’m happy for them. You should try that, it’s kinda the mature thing to do.

Venture out in the real world a bit. You’ll soon notice all the “first buyer/signup gets X!” stuff. it’s actually entirely normal and not scummy at all.
The complainers really don’t seem to get out much.

If you don’t feel betrayed, that’s fine. Some people like to stand up for themselves and not be in denial when their trust in a company for years is shaken.