Guild Wars 2

Wesley.4590:

Best possible fix for the situation, good job

No, the best possible fix was giving the equivalent of a character slot in terms of GEMS
that way, customers can decide what is best for their account (altoholics will obviously just purchase an extra slot with the additional gems from pre purchase, others will spend it on whatever)

That is a 100% everybody wins scenario.
Slots are meaningless to a lot of people, but hey, can’t complain, free is free

Isven.2165:

Astralporing.1957:

Isven.2165:

Voreo Sabrae.5416:

I don’t feel misled, i payed for the Physical C.E at launch and have gotten my moneys worth.

Having a tapeworm also doesn’t hurt.

What one has to do with the other?

GW2 pre-purchase affair apart: you may not feel misled, but the facts will state otherwise.

Which facts?

Linken.6345:

ArmoredVehicle.2849:

The way Gw1 and the expansions worked it was perfect. I understand that with HoT there may not be a new starting area and the core game is essential but still nothing prevents them from offering different priced bundles to cater to everyone.

Instead they toy with people’s minds and wallets. Wanting more sometimes ends up getting you less.

You dont seem to understand it at all mate, hot is a 80 expasion there wont be a starting area at all.

Thanks for the correction missed that detail. Doesn’t justify the price tag though. EotN was a lvl20 expansion too and neither came with any other base game nor 45€ back then.

And I’m not your mate.

Well, this goes back to what I was writing about back 6 days ago in a different thread (that got then merged into the whole ‘feedback bundle’)

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/HoT-preexisting-accounts/first#post5158553

I suggested adding gems as veteran bonus, for the reasons that I think have been pretty clearly brought up in this current thread. I won’t repeat the whole thing here, anyone interested can easily follow the link. I’d like to point out too, that temporary crazy discount to bolster sales ($10) doesn’t necessarily reflect the more longtime value of the product (as of writing this, the base game goes for standard price of $20.85 on amazon, with ‘you save $19.14’ with list price of $39.99. Cheapest third party links on amazon go for about $20 with shipping included.. and on official site of course the base game no longer exists). To me this suggests the base game at present is valued at roughly $20.

I think the practical worries about paying for the product beforehand, can be mostly addressed by waiting for the beta impressions of people who feel more confident about the offer. I expect we have fairly good footage well before the launch day. That’s not to say that I’m happy about the ‘bonus’ being there for pre-release buyers only – I’m not.

What comes to the clarification of future pricing plans, I think it was explained clearly enough in the blog. The way I read it is basically, the cost of the original game (when it was released) as well as the expansion (right now), are both for the access to the game up till such time that the next new expansion is released. For the base game, that time is now. For HoT it’s in some unspecified future day.

Yes, you can keep on playing the older version without extra expenses, but obviously it’s not a very viable long term solution – because you’ll fall behind the state of the game in many ways. In case of HoT I’d assume it would mean you stop getting the living world chapters for example – although I could not be 100% certain of this.

I believe it all boils down to, whether you expect to ‘get your money’s worth’ before the next expansion hits the shelves. The only somewhat reasonable alternative to ‘pay up or move on’, would be to wait up for discount – but that would likely mean less value in form of missed character slot (although I personally don’ t have use for it), and possibly being required to purchase missed living world chapters separately (if they continue in HoT only, with a system similar to season 2).

The automatic refund policy I believe is very fair solution. It was important that it is too, in my opinion, because of the sudden change in the pricing and bundling plan – but I think the solution covers it in the best possible reasonable way. I’m glad to see that one, even though it doesn’t affect me personally in any way.

Overall I believe some sort of response to the huge negative feedback was absolutely necessary, and in some parts I believe the blog post (clarifying the business plan) and changes (refund policy) covered the issues quite adequately. On the other fronts (‘veteran discount’), I feel it fell short of what I expected, in both value ($10) and application (pre-buy only).

SkiTz.4590:

Wesley.4590:

Best possible fix for the situation, good job

No, the best possible fix was giving the equivalent of a character slot in terms of GEMS
that way, customers can decide what is best for their account (altoholics will obviously just purchase an extra slot with the additional gems from pre purchase, others will spend it on whatever)

That is a 100% everybody wins scenario.
Slots are meaningless to a lot of people, but hey, can’t complain, free is free

Still wrong, a cheaper price would be the best solution. That way your choice to spend them on gems, char slot or you know….something more important in your life.

I would surely pick the last option since money don’t exactly grow on trees.

Gomssi.7246:

Eventually, Anet will have to reduce the price to -20 dollars (PAY to VETERAN PLAYERS ONLY) + character slots + some amount of gems + some bank tab/crafting bank/character bag slots + a separate copy of CORE, then charge new players 100 dollars for Core, and 50 for HoT.

Then this will stop, I deleted my wall text earlier because I know someone will get bottom-hurt and start name calling. Thank you all for complaining and keep it going, because I really want more free stuff that I didn’t ask for.. but hey, free is good

No, I’m pretty sure most people would be happy if they just dropped the price to 20 dollars for people who own the game already. They don’t even need to give a character slot imo. And keep the 50 dollars bundle for newcomers.

They’re just talking bullkitten in the community address. They’re saying HoT isn’t stand-alone, not like the campaigns of the previous game (Prophecies/Factions/Nightfall) were. It’s like Eye of the North, which they called an expansion. Well guess what, those campaigns cost the same each time, which was about 40ish (?) at launch, because they were stand-alone. Eye of the North however, was way less, 20 dollars, just because you already needed one of the previous campaigns before you could play this one. There were packs out there in which you could a campaign + EotN. Those cost more, because it included ‘base’ + ‘expansion’.

50 dollars for a half of the maguuma jungle and some extra story quests is not worth the price of a full game at all. Going to compare to EotN again… We got a whole bunch of extra maps, 18 dungeons, heaps of skills, extra heroes,… for 20 dollars.

Linken.6345:

Destai.9603:

Look ArenaNet, I get that you’re in damage control mode and it was a very tactical move. Yet, you’ve still not done the right thing and made the character slot available for any preexisting account. Instead, you do the wrong thing and make it a prepurchase bonus. That’s not a veteran reward and I’m not prepurchasing because of this.

I really hope you guys can learn to listen before making some decisions. Your history says otherwise.

See you later after expasion when the price is cut to what you deem it worthy and then you still have to buy another slot to play revenant bud.

For all you can tell, that can be sooner than you think… by the way you talk I’ll assume you pre-purchased the expansion, I mean you cant even be sure of the content you’ll get, dont even know all the new features that will be implemented IF they get implemented and yet you fed this system with your money.

No one even knows if you get a month worth of content.

I might end up paying more on the official release, but at least I’m paying for a “finished” product that I can see and evaluate. I’m not buying promisses, not here, not in anything in my life.

How can people be so blind and easily manipulated is behond me…

Amaris.9135:

Gomssi.7246:

Eventually, Anet will have to reduce the price to -20 dollars (PAY to VETERAN PLAYERS ONLY) + character slots + some amount of gems + some bank tab/crafting bank/character bag slots + a separate copy of CORE, then charge new players 100 dollars for Core, and 50 for HoT.

Then this will stop, I deleted my wall text earlier because I know someone will get bottom-hurt and start name calling. Thank you all for complaining and keep it going, because I really want more free stuff that I didn’t ask for.. but hey, free is good

No, I’m pretty sure most people would be happy if they just dropped the price to 20 dollars for people who own the game already. They don’t even need to give a character slot imo. And keep the 50 dollars bundle for newcomers.

They’re just talking bullkitten in the community address. They’re saying HoT isn’t stand-alone, not like the campaigns of the previous game (Prophecies/Factions/Nightfall) were. It’s like Eye of the North, which they called an expansion. Well guess what, those campaigns cost the same each time, which was about 40ish (?) at launch, because they were stand-alone. Eye of the North however, was way less, 20 dollars, just because you already needed one of the previous campaigns before you could play this one. There were packs out there in which you could a campaign + EotN. Those cost more, because it included ‘base’ + ‘expansion’.

50 dollars for a half of the maguuma jungle and some extra story quests is not worth the price of a full game at all. Going to compare to EotN again… We got a whole bunch of extra maps, 18 dungeons, heaps of skills, extra heroes,… for 20 dollars.

THANK YOU

Someone that actually has an open mind around here.

OP Greedy, wants something for nothing – really? Why the hell would they just give you something for no reason? This request has nothing to do with pre purchase.

Simulator.4687:

“For Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns, we didn’t want the core game’s price to be a factor in a new player’s decision to begin playing Guild Wars 2. 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.”

So if your a veteran of the game, bought GW2, pre-purchased the Heart of thorns expansion, you get to pay twice as much as someone just buying heart of thorns. and the same goes for any other expansion? so a veteran not only pays twice as much but all they get is one character slot extra? that is one hell of an expensive character slot. should get at least 5. which is the amount you get in GW2. WHICH WE PAID FOR.

Let me reword this for you, because you’re missing a massive point here:

So if your a veteran of the game, bought GW2 2-3 years ago, pre-purchased the Heart of thorns expansion, you get to pay twice as much and play twice as much as someone just buying heart of thorns. and the same goes for any other expansion where you get to pay 3 times as much and play 3 times as much? so a veteran not only pays twice as much and plays twice as much but all they get is one character slot extra and multiple years of playing the game? You should get at least as many as the now “new” players will get during the next expansion when that is released.

Regh.8649:

Linken.6345:

Destai.9603:

Look ArenaNet, I get that you’re in damage control mode and it was a very tactical move. Yet, you’ve still not done the right thing and made the character slot available for any preexisting account. Instead, you do the wrong thing and make it a prepurchase bonus. That’s not a veteran reward and I’m not prepurchasing because of this.

I really hope you guys can learn to listen before making some decisions. Your history says otherwise.

See you later after expasion when the price is cut to what you deem it worthy and then you still have to buy another slot to play revenant bud.

For all you can tell, that can be sooner than you think… by the way you talk I’ll assume you pre-purchased the expansion, I mean you cant even be sure of the content you’ll get, dont even know all the new features that will be implemented IF they get implemented and yet you fed this system with your money.

No one even knows if you get a month worth of content.

I might end up paying more on the official release, but at least I’m paying for a “finished” product that I can see and evaluate. I’m not buying promisses, not here, not in anything in my life.

How can people be so blind and easily manipulated is behond me…

I totally get not wanting to purchase something that you don’t agree with or don’t have the full disclosure of. The “One month” of content is, however, not measurable. Perhaps one person plays 18 hours a day and another plays 10 a week – one month of content for those two players means two very different things.

If you aren’t SURE you’ll get $50 worth of play time out of it, either don’t buy it ever or wait until it’s released. But kittenting on people who know, regardless, that they’ll get that time out of it is counter productive – although I get the sheep style metaphor you’re going for. It’s our money and our decision.

Regh.8649:

Linken.6345:

Destai.9603:

Look ArenaNet, I get that you’re in damage control mode and it was a very tactical move. Yet, you’ve still not done the right thing and made the character slot available for any preexisting account. Instead, you do the wrong thing and make it a prepurchase bonus. That’s not a veteran reward and I’m not prepurchasing because of this.

I really hope you guys can learn to listen before making some decisions. Your history says otherwise.

See you later after expasion when the price is cut to what you deem it worthy and then you still have to buy another slot to play revenant bud.

For all you can tell, that can be sooner than you think… by the way you talk I’ll assume you pre-purchased the expansion, I mean you cant even be sure of the content you’ll get, dont even know all the new features that will be implemented IF they get implemented and yet you fed this system with your money.

No one even knows if you get a month worth of content.

I might end up paying more on the official release, but at least I’m paying for a “finished” product that I can see and evaluate. I’m not buying promisses, not here, not in anything in my life.

How can people be so blind and easily manipulated is behond me…

No I havent prepurchased yet, want to know why? No I tell you anyway.
Becouse they havent said you have to buy it right this second or its gone forever,
I have time to wait for more information and decide if its worth it to me.

As long as I buy it before release and apply my code the day before it launches I get the same as average Joe that bought it 3 days ago.

1 char slot is a drop in the ocean for some people who can afford to use game gold.

Slash the prices and it’s business.

ArmoredVehicle.2849:

SkiTz.4590:

Wesley.4590:

Best possible fix for the situation, good job

No, the best possible fix was giving the equivalent of a character slot in terms of GEMS
that way, customers can decide what is best for their account (altoholics will obviously just purchase an extra slot with the additional gems from pre purchase, others will spend it on whatever)

That is a 100% everybody wins scenario.
Slots are meaningless to a lot of people, but hey, can’t complain, free is free

Still wrong, a cheaper price would be the best solution. That way your choice to spend them on gems, char slot or you know….something more important in your life.

I would surely pick the last option since money don’t exactly grow on trees.

Oh obviously price cut is the best solution, but thats also the most unrealistic solution lol. Not even a remote chance anet LOWERS the price.
Character slot can be worked into each account EASILY from anet’s side, with minimal monetary loss, but a direct LOSS Of $$ by dropping the price is a gigantic NO.
Guaranteed, that was not even an option on the table when anets higher ups discussed how to deal with this mistake.
$50 is pretty standard and most of the community was not crying about the price anyways.

Randulf.7614:

So just like all pre-purchase schemes then?

It’s exactly what marketing teams are paid to do, promote and push a game ahead of a launch using exclusives. Conan did it, TSW did and does it, Lotro does it, Diablo 3 did it. The list goes on.

As a “day 1 veteran” (which is meaningless anyway), I have not felt misled at any point on this.

Except that a couple years ago, you could use ArenaNet as an example of a developer that wouldn’t stoop to this type of tactic. After the gem shop fiasco, that ArenaNet is no longer a thing anymore.

StinVec.3621:

ScribeTheMad.7614:

Jordo.5913:

Miku.6297:

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

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

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

So save it for later.

That’s fine, a new race without a new class is pointless (imo) as by then I’ll have leveled any available classes beyond a point I’ll be willing to start over. And race change is one thing they have said simply can’t be done.
I realize plenty of people will feel differently so I don’t mean to try to speak for everyone, but I feel a new race should always come at the same time as a new class (though new classes by themselves are fine), really give you something to get into besides replaying an existing class just to look different.

If you are interested in a point of view regarding playable race versus a new profession, I get into my view on that topic at the start of this post.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/Why-I-may-not-buy-HoT/5022371
Just if you have any interest in seeing that scenario from the point of view of someone who would prefer a new playable race to a new profession.

Yeah, I realize some people can do that (create a bunch of the same class with just a new race), but for me if there’s not some pressing difference (like a perfectly matched racial skill) I won’t necessarily create another of the same class just for a new race, and I don’t usually bother with both genders either.
A new class I’ll create no problem with an existing race, because race is just aesthetic in most cases, whereas I may or may not create a new race by itself.
But to each their own, I respect that some people don’t see the value in what we know to be coming so far.

Frankly, only people with more money than brains pre-purchase anything. I have never done that…not for software, not for hardware (reserve your iPhone bullkitten is ridiculous). Essentially you are getting, except for the Gems and the slot, some Barbie-dressup stuff to pretty up your cartoon.

Really? Now, if they gave me something useful (infinite upgrade extractor, for instance, or an awesome ascended weapon of my choice) then maybe.

I’ll wait until the dust settles…until I read about the new maps and the “verticality” of it (I hate jumping puzzles, so not really a draw for me). I will wait until I see that the patches have slowed down and the cycle goes back to some semblance of order.

Voreo Sabrae.5416:

I don’t feel misled, i payed for the Physical C.E at launch and have gotten my moneys worth.

Same, I have two C.E.s at launch and a lot of money in the gemstore. I have never personally once felt misled by Anet. I also have thousands of hours in the game, my husband has comparable time as well.

The only misleading aspect of this, imo, is the way it was originally marketed to NEW players as being not a stand alone and needing the core game to play it. This was the only time they misled. And they rectified that.

This does not affect me as a veteran player, but you must realize Anet uses the term “Veteran” to mean anyone playing before HoT’s release. This is an arbitrary word. If you want something for “veterans” in the true sense of the word, that would be the kittenty birthday gifts et al.

Anyone feelind misled by this, in the context of the OP, is delusional. This, HOWEVER, does not mean that I don’t wish that they did do more to make veteran players feel snazzy. The re-releasing of content and skins that used to achieve this is great for new players, but makes people who grinded kitten out the first time for the prestige feel rather shafted. That is a seperate issue that does NOT belong in the HoT subforum.

Gaile Gray.6029:

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

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

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts!

Thanks for that, Gaile. ANet got it way wrong initially, and this is the correct response. Well done for getting it right in the end, guys.

misterman.1530:

Frankly, only people with more money than brains pre-purchase anything. I have never done that…not for software, not for hardware (reserve your iPhone bullkitten is ridiculous). Essentially you are getting, except for the Gems and the slot, some Barbie-dressup stuff to pretty up your cartoon.

People pre order games, and systems, so they have it at the earliest possible moment. This doesn’t mean we’re stupid, it means we can afford kitten and want kitten now. These are not always good purchases (See god of war 3, final fantasy 13-1, etc) however it is the cost of being a gamer that likes things now. If you want to be more frugal with your money and wait until others have played things that is up to you, but we all don’t want to be the second guy through the game – we want to be the first. ;P

SkiTz.4590:

ArmoredVehicle.2849:

SkiTz.4590:

Wesley.4590:

Best possible fix for the situation, good job

No, the best possible fix was giving the equivalent of a character slot in terms of GEMS
that way, customers can decide what is best for their account (altoholics will obviously just purchase an extra slot with the additional gems from pre purchase, others will spend it on whatever)

That is a 100% everybody wins scenario.
Slots are meaningless to a lot of people, but hey, can’t complain, free is free

Still wrong, a cheaper price would be the best solution. That way your choice to spend them on gems, char slot or you know….something more important in your life.

I would surely pick the last option since money don’t exactly grow on trees.

Oh obviously price cut is the best solution, but thats also the most unrealistic solution lol. Not even a remote chance anet LOWERS the price.
Character slot can be worked into each account EASILY from anet’s side, with minimal monetary loss, but a direct LOSS Of $$ by dropping the price is a gigantic NO.
Guaranteed, that was not even an option on the table when anets higher ups discussed how to deal with this mistake.
$50 is pretty standard and most of the community was not crying about the price anyways.

Not just the monetary loss, it would be a gigantic mistake because of all the bad blood it would bring from people who bought it already. Of course the price will eventually go down, but not yet. I’d expect no significant price cuts until christmas sales.

Angel.6085:

MiniEquine.6014:

Let me reword this for you, because you’re missing a massive point here:

So if your a veteran of the game, bought GW2 2-3 years ago, pre-purchased the Heart of thorns expansion, you get to pay twice as much and play twice as much as someone just buying heart of thorns. and the same goes for any other expansion where you get to pay 3 times as much and play 3 times as much? so a veteran not only pays twice as much and plays twice as much but all they get is one character slot extra and multiple years of playing the game? You should get at least as many as the now “new” players will get during the next expansion when that is released.

Exactly.

ScribeTheMad.7614:

StinVec.3621:

ScribeTheMad.7614:

Jordo.5913:

Miku.6297:

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

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

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

So save it for later.

That’s fine, a new race without a new class is pointless (imo) as by then I’ll have leveled any available classes beyond a point I’ll be willing to start over. And race change is one thing they have said simply can’t be done.
I realize plenty of people will feel differently so I don’t mean to try to speak for everyone, but I feel a new race should always come at the same time as a new class (though new classes by themselves are fine), really give you something to get into besides replaying an existing class just to look different.

If you are interested in a point of view regarding playable race versus a new profession, I get into my view on that topic at the start of this post.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/Why-I-may-not-buy-HoT/5022371
Just if you have any interest in seeing that scenario from the point of view of someone who would prefer a new playable race to a new profession.

Yeah, I realize some people can do that (create a bunch of the same class with just a new race), but for me if there’s not some pressing difference (like a perfectly matched racial skill) I won’t necessarily create another of the same class just for a new race, and I don’t usually bother with both genders either.
A new class I’ll create no problem with an existing race, because race is just aesthetic in most cases, whereas I may or may not create a new race by itself.
But to each their own, I respect that some people don’t see the value in what we know to be coming so far.

Thank you for taking the time to read it and for also leaving an open-minded reply regarding it. I fully understand that many would even prefer there to still be one race (human) and wish more time was spent releasing many more professions. I personally feel that all of the professions are pretty well represented in GW2 and there is not much room left for growth in that direction without massive changes to the existing ones. I think ANet also felt that way regarding professions, hence why we see the adjustments being made to the existing ones with masteries and elite specializations and Revanant filling a final blend of existing professions with a new twist. May be a topic for a different thread now, but I wonder if Revanant will be the last profession under this new progression system, and future professions will simply be expanded capabilities of all the current (+rev) professions instead of entirely new ones. If so, perhaps they will turn toward playable races in future updates/expansions and players that desire more than we currently have will finally see their additions. Time will tell. In the meantime, I hope you thoroughly enjoy the Revenant profession and all of the masteries/specializations. They do seem interesting.

Angel.6085:

misterman.1530:

Frankly, only people with more money than brains pre-purchase anything. I have never done that…not for software, not for hardware (reserve your iPhone bullkitten is ridiculous). Essentially you are getting, except for the Gems and the slot, some Barbie-dressup stuff to pretty up your cartoon.

People pre order games, and systems, so they have it at the earliest possible moment. This doesn’t mean we’re stupid, it means we can afford kitten and want kitten now. These are not always good purchases (See god of war 3, final fantasy 13-1, etc) however it is the cost of being a gamer that likes things now. If you want to be more frugal with your money and wait until others have played things that is up to you, but we all don’t want to be the second guy through the game – we want to be the first. ;P

The problem is that by pre-ordering, you take away incentive for companies to make good, complete, optimised games. Instead we get lousy stuff like Assassin’s Creed: Unity and other bug-ridden titles, not to mention Early Access and how it’s used as an excuse to sell betas at full price and then abandon them.

Gaile Gray.6029:

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

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

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts!

The arguments still stand.
- The expansion should be available separately at a much lower price.
- Character slots should be included in the expansion. This is the standard in games.
- Veterans should not have to pre-purchase to get the slot. Slots should be included in the separate expansion.

Edit: Fixed bad wording and clarified last row.

More than happy to pay the $50/£35 price for the expansion, as it pays for the ongoing content updates (though if the core game is included again doesn’t that mean I should get another 5 slots?? not just the one that i’d need to even use the new class)

But are you planning to do a gem store deluxe upgrade? So that if i want the bonuses later I can get them for gems?

Loaf.8079:

Gaile Gray.6029:

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

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

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts!

The arguments still stand.
- The expansion should be available as a standalone at a much lower price.
- Character slots should be included in the expansion. This is the standard in games.
- Veterans should not have to pre-purchase to get the slot.

you are not getting anything else. Face it, whatever arguments you have left are falling on deaf ears at this point.
Just so everyones clear, they have absolutely no intention on giving customers an additional character slot in the future expansions (if any) they plan to release..
What you saw is what you will get. The only reason anet is doing this right now is because of the FAQ disaster. That was absolutely poor planning on their side. The rest however, is a business decision.
If you didn’t like the $50 dollar xpac with no character slot, too bad. Because thats what it most likely will be in the future. Good luck with your arguments lol

‘For our long-standing fans and loyal players, we would like to say thank you and show our appreciation’

By coercing us into buying in advance of knowing the content fully, so we can get the underwhelming peace offering of a character slot when everyone buying HOT should be getting that at the MINIMUM anyway?

#casually polishes pitchfork

One thing I forgot to mention in my posts is that Anet is ok giving refunds to those who bought the game for a meager 10$ and at the same time they forgot who bought the game for almost 5 TIMES that price 3 years ago.

What do you say to that Anet. As a company you seem confused how to treat your customers. The solution was very simple yet you opted to go for more profit.

Treat everyone equally then and give a refund to 2012 customers when they buy the expansion.

Amaris.9135:

Gomssi.7246:

Eventually, Anet will have to reduce the price to -20 dollars (PAY to VETERAN PLAYERS ONLY) + character slots + some amount of gems + some bank tab/crafting bank/character bag slots + a separate copy of CORE, then charge new players 100 dollars for Core, and 50 for HoT.

Then this will stop, I deleted my wall text earlier because I know someone will get bottom-hurt and start name calling. Thank you all for complaining and keep it going, because I really want more free stuff that I didn’t ask for.. but hey, free is good

No, I’m pretty sure most people would be happy if they just dropped the price to 20 dollars for people who own the game already. They don’t even need to give a character slot imo. And keep the 50 dollars bundle for newcomers.

They’re just talking bullkitten in the community address. They’re saying HoT isn’t stand-alone, not like the campaigns of the previous game (Prophecies/Factions/Nightfall) were. It’s like Eye of the North, which they called an expansion. Well guess what, those campaigns cost the same each time, which was about 40ish (?) at launch, because they were stand-alone. Eye of the North however, was way less, 20 dollars, just because you already needed one of the previous campaigns before you could play this one. There were packs out there in which you could a campaign + EotN. Those cost more, because it included ‘base’ + ‘expansion’.

50 dollars for a half of the maguuma jungle and some extra story quests is not worth the price of a full game at all. Going to compare to EotN again… We got a whole bunch of extra maps, 18 dungeons, heaps of skills, extra heroes,… for 20 dollars.

This. This is exactly my issues.

I didn’t want any freebies or refund.
I want a game worth $50.
Based on what they have shown us lately, there does not seem to be enough content to justify the price.
I would happily pay $50 if you can show me it’s worth it.
But at this stage, we don’t even have a release window, let alone a good idea of content, other than a few main features.
I’d be paying double what I paid for the full game, for less than half the content.

Nor does it make sense to charge people, who already own the core game, full price when this is not a standalone game. I still stand by the point that there should be a full price for new players to GW2 completely, and an upgrade to the core game for those of us who already own.

But thanks for addressing some of the issues, I guess.

How come this is called adressing? Adressing will be make the xpac sold seperately with like half of the price.

Amaris.9135:

Gomssi.7246:

Eventually, Anet will have to reduce the price to -20 dollars (PAY to VETERAN PLAYERS ONLY) + character slots + some amount of gems + some bank tab/crafting bank/character bag slots + a separate copy of CORE, then charge new players 100 dollars for Core, and 50 for HoT.

Then this will stop, I deleted my wall text earlier because I know someone will get bottom-hurt and start name calling. Thank you all for complaining and keep it going, because I really want more free stuff that I didn’t ask for.. but hey, free is good

No, I’m pretty sure most people would be happy if they just dropped the price to 20 dollars for people who own the game already. They don’t even need to give a character slot imo. And keep the 50 dollars bundle for newcomers.

They’re just talking bullkitten in the community address. They’re saying HoT isn’t stand-alone, not like the campaigns of the previous game (Prophecies/Factions/Nightfall) were. It’s like Eye of the North, which they called an expansion. Well guess what, those campaigns cost the same each time, which was about 40ish (?) at launch, because they were stand-alone. Eye of the North however, was way less, 20 dollars, just because you already needed one of the previous campaigns before you could play this one. There were packs out there in which you could a campaign + EotN. Those cost more, because it included ‘base’ + ‘expansion’.

50 dollars for a half of the maguuma jungle and some extra story quests is not worth the price of a full game at all. Going to compare to EotN again… We got a whole bunch of extra maps, 18 dungeons, heaps of skills, extra heroes,… for 20 dollars.

No.. I’m pretty sure if Anet PAYS players to keep playing HoT would be the best solution. *(this is sarcasm)

EOTN was 40 dollars (iirc, its been quite the while, i am not entirely convinced that its 20 bucks). If you wait a year or two, while most people have finished the game got all the items and dlc (questionable but it should have some), you can probably buy the game for 20 dollars or less. Up to you man.

I use to buy 5 oranges for 1 dollar… why am I paying 1 dollar for 2 now a days….
lets not compare the 4.25 minimum wage of the 90s to today’s 8.75 dollars.
Why can’t I buy a bmw m3 anymore for $37,000.00… its possible in the 90s?
I am just suggesting a few ideas why its not 20 dollars, but its just what I think…

I’d say 40 is a very good price for the expansion alone with NOTHING extra added on, again my opinion. They are asking $50.

40 dollars of 2007 is pretty close to the 50 of 2015… I am not saying its perfectly fine.. but its not catastrophic either.

rhodoc.2381:

How come this is called adressing? Adressing will be make the xpac sold seperately with like half of the price.

You and a lot of people have a very unrealistic view of how commerce works. The issue with veterans not getting equal value compared to new players, that was an issue which was logical to be combative about, while disagreeing with the price is not.

The price a company sets for their retail value isn’t something that is going to be negotiated because you don’t happen to like the price. In any open marketplace, if you don’t like the price of something, you have 2 choices, either say “oh well, it is what it is” and buy it, or to just not buy it. It’s very simple.

The only realistic expectation of a lower price will be when eventually they run a promo with a lower price, a year or two down the road.

I kind of think having the full package deal is a little bit unfair to people who have been playing since day one. I pre-ordered GW2 collectors edition (for physical I had to go through a third party ie Gamestop) because I loved Guild Wars and wanted to continue supporting. As HoT is not a stand-alone game, I don’t know if its fair to shut out those who were “unfortunate” to have bought the game ages ago, been the first ones out there playing through, and now are forced to pay more for a second copy of the game just to get the expansion.
Given that the majority of players already have the game, why is it not an option to just purchase the expansion especially if we already have the core game?

LordDefiant.5296:

I kind of think having the full package deal is a little bit unfair to people who have been playing since day one. I pre-ordered GW2 collectors edition (for physical I had to go through a third party ie Gamestop) because I loved Guild Wars and wanted to continue supporting. As HoT is not a stand-alone game, I don’t know if its fair to shut out those who were “unfortunate” to have bought the game ages ago, been the first ones out there playing through, and now are forced to pay more for a second copy of the game just to get the expansion.
Given that the majority of players already have the game, why is it not an option to just purchase the expansion especially if we already have the core game?

Agreed.

Had they asked the same price but without the core game there would have been a big chance for me to shut up and just buy it.

They screwed up badly this time.

I don’t have a problem with new customer deals, just like I don’t have a problem with Steam sales, though I can’t see how someone would be for one and against the other.

I’m not against pre-purchase, just like I’m not against Kickstarter or similar sites, but I don’t get how someone could be for one and not the other.

I consider all of these things normal and part of how things work. I also consider “loyal customers” to be people who give Anet money — whether through purchasing the xpac or buying gems (and more than a one-time buy of $10 worth).

So, I’m not shocked with the current arrangement. I’m also not shocked that to get a character slot, you have to either spend gems or prepurchase the xpac or upgrade your edition.

Yea i am not buying it at all at 49$ with the little amount of content this gives that is locked to a area it’s just not worht the price i will wait for a price drop i payed less than that for the core game – 39$

For the life of me I still can’t figure out what the whining is about. I bought the game years ago and have played a ton, now I’m buying the expansion. New players that buy the expansion get the core as well as incentive to help strengthen the game.

Wait… are you really complaining because you think someone else is getting something you’re not? Is your enjoyment so dependent on what others get as opposed to what you yourself gets? You really care that someone gets the core now without the years of play you’ve had already?

Sometimes our species disappoints the heck out of me.

ArmoredVehicle.2849:

One thing I forgot to mention in my posts is that Anet is ok giving refunds to those who bought the game for a meager 10$ and at the same time they forgot who bought the game for almost 5 TIMES that price 3 years ago.

The difference being that the people they’re offering refunds to are the ones who can legitimately claim that they were misled by ANet into buying a copy of the game that they didn’t need to buy, and wouldn’t have bought if ANet had told us up front about their intent to release a full bundle (instead of explicitly saying the exact opposite).

I have such an account. I bought because of what ANet said, and I was utterly furious that they were going back on that. The amount, large or small, was utterly irrelevant. They misled me; I’m pleased they’ve realised they need to make good.

I also have an account from launch day. I’ve had two years’ good play from it, and spent far, far less on doing so than I would have on, say, playing WoW over the same period. I can question their pricing of the HoT bundle. And in common with others I would have preferred to see a separately-purchasable expansion. But both are business decisions, and we’re perfectly at liberty not to take our custom elsewhere. I don’t see that ANet owe me, you or anyone else a single penny of money we spent before HoT.

Destai.9603:

Look ArenaNet, I get that you’re in damage control mode and it was a very tactical move. Yet, you’ve still not done the right thing and made the character slot available for any preexisting account. Instead, you do the wrong thing and make it a prepurchase bonus. That’s not a veteran reward and I’m not prepurchasing because of this.

I really hope you guys can learn to listen before making some decisions. Your history says otherwise.

The character slot is an incentive to pre-purchase. Pre-purchasing helps ANet by giving them an influx of guaranteed money now with less “will they or won’t they” in the future. It’s a quid pro quo. You pre-purchase, they give you an extra slot, everyone wins. New players get the core for free instead of the extra slot. They also don’t get the years of play you’ve already had in the game either.

I think this update accidentally buffed the “Sense of Entitlement” trait too much. It needs a nerf.

OP is allowed to feel this way, not even a day ago some of you were fighting for what you believed in, myself included. You think you would have learned something about respecting other peoples opinions and stances.

If OP feels this is not good enough, that is perfectly fine for him to feel this way, some of you need to stop being hypocrites.

Bryzy.2719:

Roo.2037:

I agree, “veteran player appreciation” would be if they gave vets a slot regardless of when they upgrade, not only if they decide to buy a cat in a bag. It’s a test of faith if anything.

Finally, another person who actually gets what I’m saying.

Oh, we get what you’re saying. We’re just not sure what part of it is “misleading”. They are telling us exactly what’s up: loyalty slot with preorders only. We understand that. Just as we understand your own point. The question is, you said Arenanet is misleading us: so tell us where.

Flatley.1620:

Hmm. I’m not sure “misled” is the right term. It’s all there in the faq – the point I want to make is that the extra character slot is only given if you pre-purchase. Whether that’s fair or not is personal opinion.

Exactly.

The reason for the loyalty slot is because of all the negative reactions veterans had over the whole “paying the same price as new players who are getting a free GW2 thrown at them”. Arenanet’s reply was to give us something for free. Something that may not equal the full value of GW2 itself, but brings the cost of the expansion down closer to what people expect to pay for expansions.

This is what the loyalty slot is doing. No more, and no less. The expansion itself remains what it was before this addition. Anyone who preorders knows this going in. Anyone who chooses not to preorder also knows this. Our choices are EXACTLY the same as before – preorder, or don’t – with the only change that longtime players are getting acknowledged with a small gift.

So, we are NOT being misled. We are being given a gift for our whining. The most misleading thing here right now is this thread’s title.

Only problem is when all their friends are off in HoT and they decide to buy HoT then, they will be back to complain how they didn’t get a character slot. Just you wait and see.

I would say it is more of an incentive to pre-purchase. Could they have done more ? Of course. Is this a fair compromise ? For some it obviously is.

I’m still not convinced that the expansion will be worth the price tag so I’ll wait a while long before I decide to purchase or not to purchase. I am happy that they admitted to their mistake, and though its still a marketing sceme to attach it to pre-purchase, I don’t personally feel they owe it to use for not purchasing.

Do we know what deals will be out at launch? If not, then this thread is rather ridiculous. What’s worse? Not only does this seem like ANet saying they can be bullied, but it’s not going to change anything when they try to fix it.

Actually all the griping would put a company with a spine in a bad situation to. If their gamers threw a fit over not having something they very well may have been adding in the future, how could they ever add it without those hissy fit throwing gamers thinking their whining worked?

Bought the original at release, I’ve come and gone and come again like many others.

Whether or not the following would salvage their rep or not I do not know, but perhaps it could help.

I won’t be pre-purchasing the expansion currently packaged as they.
I might be swayed by a package that is simple the Expansion, for a reduced price ofc, with a free char slot, consdiering a brand new class.

They’ve potentially lost a ton of revene due to this mistake, even if you’re offering a product for a reduced price, it’s a product that more will endorse

Seems quite simple

Anet appreciate veterans only if they pre-purchase. So, this appreciation is not what it looks like.

yes so basically if i buy hard copy but no pre-purchase i get kitten no slot nothing ?

Oh, for crying out loud…. how did I miss this?

Simulator.4687:

So if your a veteran of the game, bought GW2, pre-purchased the Heart of thorns expansion, you get to pay twice as much as someone just buying heart of thorns. and the same goes for any other expansion? so a veteran not only pays twice as much but all they get is one character slot extra? that is one hell of an expensive character slot. should get at least 5. which is the amount you get in GW2. WHICH WE PAID FOR.

The Standard Edition of Heart of Thorns costs $50. Five character slots also costs $50.

You therefore believe that an expansion with thousands of man-hours put into its development should be free. You believe that five of an existing item that has been in the code since GW2’s own launch should be granted to you, devaluing the worth of the actual product you are buying.

You were given five character slots, one bank tab, and one allotment of materials storage when you bought GW2 in the first place. (Gem Store value: $67.50 U.S.) How much did you pay for the game, then?

Those “5 slots + 1 bank + 1 materials” are already free. YOU got them free when you bought GW2. Newcomers get them free when they buy HoT. These two things cancel each other out.

What you SHOULD be comparing is the core GW2 content against the $10 “loyalty slot”. While that still is a huge disparity, at least $40 is much closer to the price we expect to pay for an expansion (these days, they’re usually $35).

For a game with no subscription fee and no mandatory cash shop purchases, that sounds like a fair deal. Depending, of course, on the content of HoT.

Meaning, in the end, the same choice is presented as in my previous post: You get it, or you don’t.

Then order it? The base game is a free additional, so you will get the expac and they are giving an extra char slot now. You aren’t paying extra, so no issue really

They have also stated all expacs will be offering core and previous expacs for free going forward, so this is very much engrained into their business model going forward.