Guild Wars 2

CureForLiving.5360:

Also it doesn’t seem like ANet will be gating open world PvE content, so these chapters won’t be mandatory purchases to access area A, or get to PvP map B. If this was the case though then I’d be against it since this would force people to have to buy it.

Well, I see the LS2 as a “test drive” for A-Net to introduce the “micro-addon payment transaction” model. If it works for A-Net then I am sure there will be more of this in the future (in 6-12 months) when it is mostly accepted by the player base and then new maps, open-pve-content, could also be gated with this in the future.

I do not have a problem to pay for an add-on. But in the end, my experience shows, that micro-transactions tend to become more expensive than buying a “complete” add-on.

Greetings.

Zok.4956:

I do not have a problem to pay for an add-on. But in the end, my experience shows, that micro-transactions tend to become more expensive than buying a “complete” add-on.

Greetings.

Hopefully once a season is all wrapped up they’ll have deals, like being able to buy the entire season for less than it would cost to buy all the chapters individually, specials, etc etc.

Test.8734:

Calys Teneb.7015:

What is the problem with people having choices? Not everyone feels the same way you do and will enjoy this.

Because I’m thinking DEEPER than “OMG so cool” or “OMG so NOT COOL”.

It’s IRRELEVANT if you will buy it or not. It’s irrelevant if YOU like it or not. REGARDLESS, this will have a huge impact on the game: it will drive ArenaNet from making more OPEN WORLD content, which is actually something in which GW2 has been VERY slowly improving, to focus on STORY steps. It will ALSO make it less likely that ArenaNet will make a REAL expansion, instead of selling bit-sized content and lottery tickets for weapons.

Are you telling me I can CHOOSE to play the open world CONTENT that ArenaNet will NOT make and/or polish because they’re focusing on the content that gives them MONEY, aka the story steps? That I can CHOOSE to buy the EXPANSION that ArenaNet will NOT make because they’re trying to get money from those story steps?

NO?

So, YEAH. Less talk about so-called “choices”, PLZ.

you could “choose” to login during the update and get it for free.. and since you took the time to make 3-4 posts of hate about it in half caps in the forum, you surely have time to login the game a few times during LS season 2

It’s a bit off-topic for now but I think I’m going to keep a list of links to topics where people predicted content bundles for a discounted price, so that when it happens and people are raging that they were ‘tricked’ into spending more and Anet screwed them over I can remind them that we all saw it coming from the start.

Zok.4956:

CureForLiving.5360:

Also it doesn’t seem like ANet will be gating open world PvE content, so these chapters won’t be mandatory purchases to access area A, or get to PvP map B. If this was the case though then I’d be against it since this would force people to have to buy it.

Well, I see the LS2 as a “test drive” for A-Net to introduce the “micro-addon payment transaction” model. If it works for A-Net then I am sure there will be more of this in the future (in 6-12 months) when it is mostly accepted by the player base and then new maps, open-pve-content, could also be gated with this in the future.

I do not have a problem to pay for an add-on. But in the end, my experience shows, that micro-transactions tend to become more expensive than buying a “complete” add-on.

Greetings.

Guardian with good credit rating LFG… lol

i worry more about the fact that 200 gems cost that much rather then the cost per chapter, if it was about €2,- for 200 then yes but it adds up quite fast with that ridicules price tag.

Zok.4956:

CureForLiving.5360:

Also it doesn’t seem like ANet will be gating open world PvE content, so these chapters won’t be mandatory purchases to access area A, or get to PvP map B. If this was the case though then I’d be against it since this would force people to have to buy it.

Well, I see the LS2 as a “test drive” for A-Net to introduce the “micro-addon payment transaction” model. If it works for A-Net then I am sure there will be more of this in the future (in 6-12 months) when it is mostly accepted by the player base and then new maps, open-pve-content, could also be gated with this in the future.

I do not have a problem to pay for an add-on. But in the end, my experience shows, that micro-transactions tend to become more expensive than buying a “complete” add-on.

Greetings.

I really hope they don’t go down that route.

I don’t mind them charging for previous Living Story releases, especially if the alternative is to never get them at all, but I really wouldn’t want them to start charging for all new maps. It’s hard to say where exactly I draw the line and I’m not sure it’s an entirely rational opinion but it’s what put me off microtransactions for a long time (and still does put me off most games that use them). I feel like you pay full price for a ‘starter pack’ game and then to actually be able to play it you have to keep on paying out.

Of course that’s not really the case here because you do get a full game for the box price, which many people were able to sink thousands of hours into even before the living story came out. But I think if I was a potential new player looking at getting GW2 3 or 4 years down the line the idea that I’d have to buy the game and then buy all these maps and (possibly) races, professions etc. separately would put me off even starting.

Well some of you guys here have to realize 200 gem is not just 2.50$ , its 20 gold also.If you don’t want to spend your money on this game ; just play it , get some gold and convert it to gem thats all.

Klmor.1250:

Well some of you guys here have to realize 200 gem is not just 2.50$ , its 20 gold also.If you don’t want to spend your money on this game ; just play it , get some gold and convert it to gem thats all.

with this kind of grind and Anet making grind and farms the only way to get gold in a respectable time, playing this game isn’t gonna grant gold.

Klmor.1250:

Well some of you guys here have to realize 200 gem is not just 2.50$ , its 20 gold also.If you don’t want to spend your money on this game ; just play it , get some gold and convert it to gem thats all.

They have been nerfing gold drops little by little, if most players only convert gold to gems instead of buying them, watch how fast the exchange rate goes up. Anet has to make money, but looking at the way things are currently, you can play for free, and never buy anything. That said, how can they stay afloat?

The 200 gems is $2.50 USD so don’t complain argument makes no sense whatsoever.

People complaining about is are ‘active’ or at least active enough to log in on the forums so also active enough to log in to the game. That means that for those people it’s 0 gems.

So why do they ten complain? Not because they don’t want to pay 200 gems because they are not going to have to but because they want the best to the games and that also means new and returning players and then it’s never about 200 gems. It’s more. Every two weeks he is gone it adds another 2,50.

Is a pay-wall of a max of 65 dollar a big problem for a year? Not if it’s an expansion of some sort. But the problem here is that it’s likely not an expansion, so people are less willing to spend money on it however it’s part of the story and there are many rewards locked behind it so while not an expansion and so less willingness to pay it is something people do want. Meaning the pay-wall of lets say 30 dollar might indeed be a reason for them not to come back / start.

Thats why I have suggested to simply sell a service of 200 gems to unlock all previous episodes. Now then the “The 200 gems is $2.50 USD so don’t complain argument” would make sens, now it does not.

The only problem, is that you can’t buy 200 gems only. The minimum amount you have to buy is $10 worth of gems.

I think there are 2 very important things to keep in mind thoughout this discussion.

1. The status quo for active players has only improved. In the past we would get content, play it temporarily, and then it would be gone forever. Inaccessible. Now we will be able to go back and replay it any time for free. Active players should rejoice.

2. The implementation of this plan to charge 200 gems ($2.50 USD) for past episodes means that Anet must ensure a quality experience worthy of the price tag. If an episode is poorly made, or contains little content and little satisfaction, then new players will be less likely to purchase it, and Anet will make less money. This directly incentivises Anet to produce good content.

The main concern, really, is new players a year from now. They will be faced with purchase decisions between $40 and $60. Point #2 means that their money will likely be well spent, and as others have postulated, Anet could/would likely make package sales as a discount for whole seasons.

Also, as answered in my other thread, what you are unlocking when you log in or pay 200 gems is for the instanced story content and story rewards. Open world will always be available to everyone, new and old, for free, whether they log in or not.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/lwd/Will-maps-be-part-of-the-episodes/first#post4101080

nexxe.7081:

The only problem, is that you can’t buy 200 gems only. The minimum amount you have to buy is $10 worth of gems.

This is true. It’s a business trick used in order to increase their profits (I presume). So if you wanted to only buy one or two episodes, you would have some gems left over. I suppose you would just have to save them for later, convert them to gold, or spend them on something else. Maybe a bag slot?

People are mostly concerned about how much this will cost in the long run to someone a year from now. Say they were just joining GW2 in the middle of season 3. They would look back and have to pay $50-$60 for season 2 (if they wanted the entire thing) and any they missed in season 3. The fact that you cant buy less than $10 of gems at a time becomes irrelevant at that point.

they can make the gems more attractive if the price is just as attractive, a 1/1 ratio would make buying gold more attractive then the 1/0.8 ratio.

sorudo.9054:

they can make the gems more attractive if the price is just as attractive, a 1/1 ratio would make buying gold more attractive then the 1/0.8 ratio.

yeah this part is just kittening stupid.. “hey guys spend real money on gems and convert them to gold to help gw2.. but we gonna do you up the kitten by taking 20% of your hard earned cash for doing so”.. and they wonder why people don’t covert as much

So Players will wait, or be new, and they will ask other players whether the content is worth purchasing, or they will come here to see if it’s worth buying.
Looking around these forums I see a lot of, anger, mistrust, tons of threads about failure to communicate or to fix or balance, and I’m wondering why anyone coming here would ever buy it? Whether it’s good or not.
I think I would have started with a huge communications effort here in the forums first.

Tumult.2578:

So Players will wait, or be new, and they will ask other players whether the content is worth purchasing, or they will come here to see if it’s worth buying.
Looking around these forums I see a lot of, anger, mistrust, tons of threads about failure to communicate or to fix or balance, and I’m wondering why anyone coming here would ever buy it? Whether it’s good or not.
I think I would have started with a huge communications effort here in the forums first.

problem is there is next to no communication from the devs in the forums except for cookie cutter “salesperson speak” (you know what I mean.. lines like “we are really looking forward to you guys seeing what we did” or “we think this will be the best patch ever”..etc etc)

what the community really wants is some back and forth communication (or “discussion”) and maybe some crumbs of information.. this is the only mmo I have played where the devs basically ignored the forums mainly (except to respond to compliments or close threads).. most other games the company was very interactive with its customers.

now there will always be flamers who hate on everything and will never be happy, and you cant do much about them. But even non-trolls and regular players base will start to get angry or irate when they love the game and feel their input is being ignored.
I love the game and hated LS S1 and seen in the forums very little response to feedback on the LS unless its some fanboy gushing and the devs replying to give themselves a pat on the back

but for new players there is so much to love about GW2
-no trinity
-much kinder social atmosphere than WoW
-you can easily get to lvl 80 and have exotic gear within 2-3 weeks of starting
-the great lore (which I feel LS has very much ignored and put in scarlet from nowhere…which is my main issue)
-the ability to dodge in combat based on skill and timing and not some algorithm

but mainly some players are upset because we love the game and want it to be the best it can

Tumult.2578:

I think I would have started with a huge communications effort here in the forums first.

they did.
a few months ago they held a CDI (collaborative development initiative) thread specifically about Living Story and how to improve it for season 2.

at the time, the same cynical folk who always complain and wouldn’t be happy unless they got to personally vet every development decision Anet made, stated it was simply a PR move…………..it wasn’t. Season 2 was changed as a result of that discussion.

we’ll see if it was good enough (the fact that the installments will be permanent is already a guarantee of improvement).

Once players fall behind in Living World Content, they are not going to pay to come back/catch up, that’s the danger! I haven’t seen anything in Living World content released yet, that’s worth paying for.

Sola.7250:

Once players fall behind in Living World Content, they are not going to pay to come back/catch up, that’s the danger! I haven’t seen anything in Living World content released yet, that’s worth paying for.

I strongly suspect that people won’t need to purchase episodes for any reason other than the rewards. The story will be up on youtube within hours of each release, and the devs have stated that the episode you unlock is all instanced story content with specific rewards tied to completing it. Open world stuff will remain freely available to everyone.

For anyone having trouble envisioning this, imagine Southsun for a moment. Imagine you can fast travel there any time. Whether you were there when Southsun was first added is irrelevant. Now imagine there’s a green star story instance in the middle of the map. You can walk up to it and enter an instance and complete a personal story quest. That instance would only be available to you if you were there when it was added, or if you paid the 200 gems. You complete it and win a teddy bear backpack skin. The end. If you don’t care about teddy bears, then you don’t have any real reason to pay 200 gems. The cutscenes would be up on youtube, and the open Southsun map is already available to you.

Think of it this way: Pay 200 gems (or 20g?) for a backpiece you missed+you get a story mission. Much better deal than everything else in the gem store.

The good thing about this, is you don’t have to pay for each episode. You can choose and select which mission you want to do.