Guild Wars 2

Hi,

I have LS3 episodes 4&5 locked. They require gems to play.

Even stranger I have episode 6 unlocked, but can not play it as I have not completed episodes 4&5.

Whats going on? Is it bugged? Do we have to pay to play LS now?

PS. I’ve just come back after a big break for PoF, and want to catch up on the story.

- Living Story is available for free for a limited time.

- If you don’t do the storyline during this time Anet will block uncompleted episodes from you.

- To unlock them again you must pay 200gems. It seems you have to pay 200gems per episode for a total of 1200gems if you miss the entire season.

- Storyline is no longer part of the core game but an extra part that Anet has now attempted to monetise, so it now punishes players who take breaks from the game. Unlike, dailies which allow you to pick up where you left off.

- Be aware, that if you log-in at the beginning of the season, miss the middle, and log in at the end that, you will not have access to the middle episodes without paying for them, either by converting gold or real money to gems.

- Have fun!

Episodes are free if you login during the months they’re active. Which is from the day it goes live until the next one comes out.
After that they have to be bought with gems. I believe it’s been like that since season 2.

what haishao said is very true and been this way since living story 2 . and the only way you can unlock it if your not played when it was offered before the new one . is to buy it with gems .

3 ways to buy with gems is gold to gems . or time card or your credit card .

myself I like gold to gems might be slow but it does save real world money for more important things in life

Are you sure you cannot play ep 6? Is it available in your hero panel’s story journal to activate? Otherwise you can try teleport to a friend who’s on the map… it won’t work for eps you need to buy, but unlocked eps should work.

onevstheworld.2419:

Are you sure you cannot play ep 6? Is it available in your hero panel’s story journal to activate? Otherwise you can try teleport to a friend who’s on the map… it won’t work for eps you need to buy, but unlocked eps should work.

I double checked, and you’re right I can activate Ep6.

Is it 200 gems for each Ep or 200 for all of LS3?

This is very sad system for new players. Anet should be ashamed of this obvious milking of players. If you have paid for HoT, it should include the whole storyline up until the next expansion.

You can purchase a bundle that will price-adjust for unlocked Episodes.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Living_World_Season_3_Complete_Pack

If you are only interested in the Story, you can read up on the Story in the Wiki, or watch any of a myriad of videos. WoodenPotatoes always does great recaps and play-throughs. This would be at no cost.

Or, if you would like access to the maps, as well, you can convert Gold to Gems and acquire Living World Seasons at no real money cost. The exchange is at a good rate right now. =)

Good luck.

Myst.9182:

onevstheworld.2419:

Are you sure you cannot play ep 6? Is it available in your hero panel’s story journal to activate? Otherwise you can try teleport to a friend who’s on the map… it won’t work for eps you need to buy, but unlocked eps should work.

I double checked, and you’re right I can activate Ep6.

Is it 200 gems for each Ep or 200 for all of LS3?

This is very sad system for new players. Anet should be ashamed of this obvious milking of players. If you have paid for HoT, it should include the whole storyline up until the next expansion.

Every company should be ashamed of themselves for charging money for products they spent money to produce. They should just chain their employees to their desks and stop paying them.

I mean, you refuse to collect a paycheck for your work right?

The funny thing is that ANet did offer you the chapters free of monetary charge. You turned them down.

The Living Story is basically GW2’s version of DLC. And just like DLC packs in other games it’s purchased separately.

I’m surprised they give it to anyone for free (I’m not complaining, just surprised). It seems like an odd system but I guess it’s a hold-over from Season 1 when each update was free to play but once that two week/one month window was over it was gone forever and no one could play it.

Ashen.2907:

Myst.9182:

onevstheworld.2419:

Are you sure you cannot play ep 6? Is it available in your hero panel’s story journal to activate? Otherwise you can try teleport to a friend who’s on the map… it won’t work for eps you need to buy, but unlocked eps should work.

I double checked, and you’re right I can activate Ep6.

Is it 200 gems for each Ep or 200 for all of LS3?

This is very sad system for new players. Anet should be ashamed of this obvious milking of players. If you have paid for HoT, it should include the whole storyline up until the next expansion.

Every company should be ashamed of themselves for charging money for products they spent money to produce. They should just chain their employees to their desks and stop paying them.

I mean, you refuse to collect a paycheck for your work right?

The funny thing is that ANet did offer you the chapters free of monetary charge. You turned them down.

LS is part of the expansion which is already paid for. Do you pay for your groceries and then pay for them again?

No I thought not…

Ashen.2907:

Every company should be ashamed of themselves for charging money for products they spent money to produce. They should just chain their employees to their desks and stop paying them.

I mean, you refuse to collect a paycheck for your work right?

The funny thing is that ANet did offer you the chapters free of monetary charge. You turned them down.

Every player coming back is a potential buyer of gem shop items. When people get punished for having RL, and therefore not being able to play in certain time windows, I can relate that they may just not bother coming back. I personally do not mind to pay for story, if I am so inclined. What I mind is pretty much mandatory content behind another pay wall.

Alternatively we can burn the returning players with our oh so witty sarcasm. I am sure that helps the game sell more stuff.

Myst.9182:

onevstheworld.2419:

Are you sure you cannot play ep 6? Is it available in your hero panel’s story journal to activate? Otherwise you can try teleport to a friend who’s on the map… it won’t work for eps you need to buy, but unlocked eps should work.

I double checked, and you’re right I can activate Ep6.

Is it 200 gems for each Ep or 200 for all of LS3?

This is very sad system for new players. Anet should be ashamed of this obvious milking of players. If you have paid for HoT, it should include the whole storyline up until the next expansion.

What’s sad is people want everything for free. It’s not part of the expansion, it’s DLC after the expansion that loyal customers get for free.

You can play Final Fantasy or WoW instead, and pay $15 a month whether there’s new content or not. This game doesn’t charge people playing for new content, but new content still costs money to create.

I really think people have no idea how much money it costs to run an MMO.

Myst.9182:

Ashen.2907:

Myst.9182:

onevstheworld.2419:

Are you sure you cannot play ep 6? Is it available in your hero panel’s story journal to activate? Otherwise you can try teleport to a friend who’s on the map… it won’t work for eps you need to buy, but unlocked eps should work.

I double checked, and you’re right I can activate Ep6.

Is it 200 gems for each Ep or 200 for all of LS3?

This is very sad system for new players. Anet should be ashamed of this obvious milking of players. If you have paid for HoT, it should include the whole storyline up until the next expansion.

Every company should be ashamed of themselves for charging money for products they spent money to produce. They should just chain their employees to their desks and stop paying them.

I mean, you refuse to collect a paycheck for your work right?

The funny thing is that ANet did offer you the chapters free of monetary charge. You turned them down.

LS is part of the expansion which is already paid for. Do you pay for your groceries and then pay for them again?

No I thought not…

LS is not part of the expansion. LS bridges the gap between expansions. It’s DLC, that loyal players are awarded for being loyal players.

Myst.9182:

Ashen.2907:

Myst.9182:

onevstheworld.2419:

Are you sure you cannot play ep 6? Is it available in your hero panel’s story journal to activate? Otherwise you can try teleport to a friend who’s on the map… it won’t work for eps you need to buy, but unlocked eps should work.

I double checked, and you’re right I can activate Ep6.

Is it 200 gems for each Ep or 200 for all of LS3?

This is very sad system for new players. Anet should be ashamed of this obvious milking of players. If you have paid for HoT, it should include the whole storyline up until the next expansion.

Every company should be ashamed of themselves for charging money for products they spent money to produce. They should just chain their employees to their desks and stop paying them.

I mean, you refuse to collect a paycheck for your work right?

The funny thing is that ANet did offer you the chapters free of monetary charge. You turned them down.

LS is part of the expansion which is already paid for. Do you pay for your groceries and then pay for them again?

No I thought not…

Unfortunately while Season 2 and Season 3 are effectively the first half of the plot for HoT and PoF respectively, they are not “part of the expansion”. They’re ultimately two separate releases, paid for by two separate means.

The Living World releases are DLCs that are temporarily free. Expansions are, well, expansions. You’re never paying for the Living World releases twice.

Myst.9182:

Ashen.2907:

Myst.9182:

onevstheworld.2419:

Are you sure you cannot play ep 6? Is it available in your hero panel’s story journal to activate? Otherwise you can try teleport to a friend who’s on the map… it won’t work for eps you need to buy, but unlocked eps should work.

I double checked, and you’re right I can activate Ep6.

Is it 200 gems for each Ep or 200 for all of LS3?

This is very sad system for new players. Anet should be ashamed of this obvious milking of players. If you have paid for HoT, it should include the whole storyline up until the next expansion.

Every company should be ashamed of themselves for charging money for products they spent money to produce. They should just chain their employees to their desks and stop paying them.

I mean, you refuse to collect a paycheck for your work right?

The funny thing is that ANet did offer you the chapters free of monetary charge. You turned them down.

LS is part of the expansion which is already paid for. Do you pay for your groceries and then pay for them again?

No I thought not…

No, it is not part of the expansion. Its pretty east to test this. If it has a seperate price tag then it is not part of the expansion.

When I buy ground beef in order to bbq hamburgers, at my local, grocery store I have to pay extra if I want buns, pickles, and so on…even if all of those things go together to make a hamburger.

But, again, ANet offered to give you the LS chapters for free. You refused the offer when it was made. Now, the free offer is over and the price tag is there.

jahas.6534:

Ashen.2907:

Every company should be ashamed of themselves for charging money for products they spent money to produce. They should just chain their employees to their desks and stop paying them.

I mean, you refuse to collect a paycheck for your work right?

The funny thing is that ANet did offer you the chapters free of monetary charge. You turned them down.

Every player coming back is a potential buyer of gem shop items. When people get punished for having RL, and therefore not being able to play in certain time windows, I can relate that they may just not bother coming back. I personally do not mind to pay for story, if I am so inclined. What I mind is pretty much mandatory content behind another pay wall.

Alternatively we can burn the returning players with our oh so witty sarcasm. I am sure that helps the game sell more stuff.

No one is punished for having a real life. People are offered a free reward for logging in for five seconds once every other month or so though. Not the same thing at all.

Im not sure that the game is going to make much money off of people who complain that free is too expensive for them.

Ashen.2907:

No one is punished for having a real life. People are offered a free reward for logging in for five seconds once every other month or so though. Not the same thing at all.

Im not sure that the game is going to make much money off of people who complain that free is too expensive for them.

I have 2 accounts, neither received a heads-up that I should login or I miss out. So you expect me to monitor every game I am playing for potentially having to log in. Your idea of RL is different than mine.

The fact that it was free tells me that they do NOT need to calculate with income from the LSx. But even if, I give you a little example:

I started on a US server before release. I moved to Europe in the meantime, due to friends in both worlds I kept the US account, and got another one to play with my EU friends. I talked several of my gamer friends into buying GW2, so we can play together. Most of them were rather active buyers on the gem store, also.

I had planned to update the US account from vanilla to PoF. Seeing that I will have to pay extra for the maps, I will unfortunately not be able to. So what Arenanet gets is a net loss from me alone. Needless to say that I will not bother talking anyone into joining, because all of us have RLs, and WILL miss yet another season.

I am not sure which part of “I do not mind to pay for story when I am so inclined” is difficult for you to understand. I did buy LS2 because of the story, when I had more money, and more time than now.

Punishing those who come back with a mandatory pay wall is a tricky thing. Especially in a game like GW2 that makes most money with in-game purchases. I am a retired CPA, so you guys and gals do not need to teach me how to make money. But when reading comprehension is such a problem, any discussion will be difficult.

What is the mandatory paywall? There is no mandate to purchase Living World Seasons to play expansions. No gate that keeps a player out of expansion maps/content, other than the cost of the expansion.

If one wished to be notified about Living World releases, or any other kind of releases, one need only sign up for the Official Newsletter. Or, if that proves difficult, the RSS feed for the main GW2 website.

Good luck.

Myst.9182:

Ashen.2907:

Myst.9182:

onevstheworld.2419:

Are you sure you cannot play ep 6? Is it available in your hero panel’s story journal to activate? Otherwise you can try teleport to a friend who’s on the map… it won’t work for eps you need to buy, but unlocked eps should work.

I double checked, and you’re right I can activate Ep6.

Is it 200 gems for each Ep or 200 for all of LS3?

This is very sad system for new players. Anet should be ashamed of this obvious milking of players. If you have paid for HoT, it should include the whole storyline up until the next expansion.

Every company should be ashamed of themselves for charging money for products they spent money to produce. They should just chain their employees to their desks and stop paying them.

I mean, you refuse to collect a paycheck for your work right?

The funny thing is that ANet did offer you the chapters free of monetary charge. You turned them down.

LS is part of the expansion which is already paid for. Do you pay for your groceries and then pay for them again?

No I thought not…

The expac is merely the wall behind the lw episodes if you played during tht time then you unlock them for free as you did with ep 6. Res youc an purchase for the very low price of 200 gems in case you missed them.

Ashen.2907:

Myst.9182:

Ashen.2907:

Myst.9182:

onevstheworld.2419:

Are you sure you cannot play ep 6? Is it available in your hero panel’s story journal to activate? Otherwise you can try teleport to a friend who’s on the map… it won’t work for eps you need to buy, but unlocked eps should work.

I double checked, and you’re right I can activate Ep6.

Is it 200 gems for each Ep or 200 for all of LS3?

This is very sad system for new players. Anet should be ashamed of this obvious milking of players. If you have paid for HoT, it should include the whole storyline up until the next expansion.

Every company should be ashamed of themselves for charging money for products they spent money to produce. They should just chain their employees to their desks and stop paying them.

I mean, you refuse to collect a paycheck for your work right?

The funny thing is that ANet did offer you the chapters free of monetary charge. You turned them down.

LS is part of the expansion which is already paid for. Do you pay for your groceries and then pay for them again?

No I thought not…

No, it is not part of the expansion. Its pretty east to test this. If it has a seperate price tag then it is not part of the expansion.

When I buy ground beef in order to bbq hamburgers, at my local, grocery store I have to pay extra if I want buns, pickles, and so on…even if all of those things go together to make a hamburger.

But, again, ANet offered to give you the LS chapters for free. You refused the offer when it was made. Now, the free offer is over and the price tag is there.

Anet changed the system

Anet has never made that clear and when I played I was someone who was avid on staying up to date. So you can surely empathise and see how annoying that is,

Normally, when Anet offers something for free, it will show a 0 gems. LS2 or 3 never did that, a least they didn’t before my break from the game. Which means that if they do that now it was added after I was away from the game.

In other words the system changed. What used to be free, is now free for a limited time.

Using your metaphor…

To use your metaphor, I ordered a burger, you/Anet gave me a meat pattie, yes, the most expensive and important part of the burger, but….

When I said. “Where is the rest?”

Your response is, “Well, the rest is extra. We only offered complete burgers for a limited time, if you missed it, thats your problem.”

Compare this with any other MMO/burger shop. No one else does it like that. It’s abnormal. So to expect people to say, “Oh thats alright, they gotta make money somehow,” is just being a bit silly and naive.

My conclusion

For me, I completed all the storylines and story modes I could. Story was and is a part of the core game. I completed all the achievements related to story. I don’t agree with this change to how storylines in the game is managed. It is unfair (even if you can’t see reason,) and it doesn’t reward players for logging in, it punishes returning players for coming back. That is a bad business model.

I left because I was sick of consistent bad decisions over the years from the dev’s. I come back, and the first thing I get is, “Now you must pay for the storyline of the game,” and I think, “Nothing has changed..”

It was always free for a limited time. You unlocked the ability to play the LS episodes for free if you logged in during the time frame they where available and current. LS2 was the exact same way, nothing has changed.

No change to Living World Seasons/Episodes as far as cost goes.

Living World Season 1 Episodes – free to those logging in while live.

Living World Season 2 Episodes – free to those logging in while live. Offered for 200 Gems each after they are live, or in a bundle at a 20% discount after the season is over.

Living World Season 3 Episodes – free to those logging in while live, banked for those who do not own HoT who log in while live. Offered for 200 Gems each after they are live, or in a bundle at a 20% discount after the season is over.

Living World Season 4 – same as above: Free while live, banked for those without Path of Fire if logged in while live. (Unless they announce some change, which would likely have been announced before PoF was offered for sale, just as they did with HoT.)

No individual Episodes are offered in the Gem Store ever; can only be purchased through the Gem Store as a bundle. Individual Episodes can only be purchased through the Story Journal at 200 Gems each (never shows 0 Gems).

Good luck.

Myst.9182:

Anet changed the system

Anet has never made that clear and when I played I was someone who was avid on staying up to date. So you can surely empathise and see how annoying that is,

Normally, when Anet offers something for free, it will show a 0 gems. LS2 or 3 never did that, a least they didn’t before my break from the game. Which means that if they do that now it was added after I was away from the game.

In other words the system changed. What used to be free, is now free for a limited time.

It never functioned like that and was always free for 2 weeks during Season 2 as we were told, and was free “until the next release” during Season 3, again as we were told.

We were also told – and it happened – that Living World releases unlocked automatically. No need to go to the story journal or gemstore and hit that Buy For 0 Gems button because it didn’t exist. This, too, was told to us and never new.

What they did change after releasing permanent LW releases – the timeframe between releases and period for getting releases for free (which increased in both cases) – we were told about on the official guildwars2.com website. That, and that Season 3 required owning HoT to play (but not to “bank” releases), but that too was told to us (see above link).

If you weren’t paying attention, that’s on you not ArenaNet. It was always free for a limited time.

Myst.9182:

Using your metaphor…

To use your metaphor, I ordered a burger, you/Anet gave me a meat pattie, yes, the most expensive and important part of the burger, but….

When I said. “Where is the rest?”

Your response is, “Well, the rest is extra. We only offered complete burgers for a limited time, if you missed it, thats your problem.”

Compare this with any other MMO/burger shop. No one else does it like that. It’s abnormal. So to expect people to say, “Oh thats alright, they gotta make money somehow,” is just being a bit silly and naive.

Comparing buying an expansion with the Living World is not how you put it.

It would be buying a burger and getting a burger, but on occasion they go “show up in the store and get a free drink just for showing up! Limited time only. If you show up late, you’ll have to buy the drink.”

If you’re going to use metaphores, do it properly.

Myst.9182:

- Living Story is available for free for a limited time.

- If you don’t do the storyline during this time Anet will block uncompleted episodes from you.

- To unlock them again you must pay 200gems. It seems you have to pay 200gems per episode for a total of 1200gems if you miss the entire season.

- Storyline is no longer part of the core game but an extra part that Anet has now attempted to monetise, so it now punishes players who take breaks from the game. Unlike, dailies which allow you to pick up where you left off.

- Be aware, that if you log-in at the beginning of the season, miss the middle, and log in at the end that, you will not have access to the middle episodes without paying for them, either by converting gold or real money to gems.

- Have fun!

One detail, but quite important detail, is wrong. You do not have to play the storyline during the episode’s “active period”. You have to log in.

As long as you log in to a character, you unlock the episode permanently. Load in to the game world, even for just a second, that’s all that’s needed.

Myst.9182:

Anet has never made that clear and when I played I was someone who was avid on staying up to date.

I’m afraid I have to agree with Ashen on this one.

Ep1 was a big deal, being the first significant bit of new non-raid PvE content since HoT launched. There was significant coverage of it (and LS3 unlock conditions) on Anet’s website, this forum, Reddit, and various Youtubers. In any case, LS2 had already set the precedence 2 years earlier (the main difference being there was no F2P/non-expansion accounts to need consider LS “banking” at the time).

Tanner Blackfeather.6509:

Myst.9182:

- Living Story is available for free for a limited time.

- If you don’t do the storyline during this time Anet will block uncompleted episodes from you.

- To unlock them again you must pay 200gems. It seems you have to pay 200gems per episode for a total of 1200gems if you miss the entire season.

- Storyline is no longer part of the core game but an extra part that Anet has now attempted to monetise, so it now punishes players who take breaks from the game. Unlike, dailies which allow you to pick up where you left off.

- Be aware, that if you log-in at the beginning of the season, miss the middle, and log in at the end that, you will not have access to the middle episodes without paying for them, either by converting gold or real money to gems.

- Have fun!

One detail, but quite important detail, is wrong. You do not have to play the storyline during the episode’s “active period”. You have to log in.

As long as you log in to a character, you unlock the episode permanently. Load in to the game world, even for just a second, that’s all that’s needed.

I would admit it felt like a bit of a joke, having to fork out roughly 350-400g to unlock the entirity of LS3. I took a break from the game after completing HoT, to then return and be forced to fork out for the next section of the story (which maybe should have just been included with HoT purchases, given the dissatisfaction people voiced in regards to the short-length of the expansion story, back when the expansion released)

There are already plenty of items and things to purchase from the Gem Store, which provides the ‘cop-out’ nature of being able to pay more real money to gain a variety of benefits. From great convenience items to all sorts of boosts and unlocks – there’s a feeling I get that I will never gain the money in the game to afford even a minor fraction of what’s for sale in the Gem store; combine that with the growing need for more gold, to perhaps finally afford crafting another legendary, buy materials for ascended crafting, a want to buy some skins and not have a character run around in rusty old armour, or for some players in the game (not me), purchasing raid runs for hundreds of Ectos, for mastery points and achievements they feel they will never get.

That is a harsh reality of the game, is it not? Having players pay for story (something which should be realistically free provided you bought the nearest expansion) just adds to that dissatisfaction, and I do think it’s the biggest contributor.

Animism.6849:

I took a break from the game after completing HoT, to then return and be forced to fork out for the next section of the story (which maybe should have just been included with HoT purchases, given the dissatisfaction people voiced in regards to the short-length of the expansion story, back when the expansion released)

They only require you to login once during the episode release time to unlock it forever. That takes 5 minutes of your time

maddoctor.2738:

Animism.6849:

I took a break from the game after completing HoT, to then return and be forced to fork out for the next section of the story (which maybe should have just been included with HoT purchases, given the dissatisfaction people voiced in regards to the short-length of the expansion story, back when the expansion released)

They only require you to login once during the episode release time to unlock it forever. That takes 5 minutes of your time

An unreasonable expectation. People can be busy in real life, unable to access a computer for a time, or not wanting to constantly update a game as a life task.

Its perfectly reasonable. If you take a long break from the game what is the big deal about having to put in 10-20 dollars, if you dont want to farm?

I was gone for nearly 7 months on a deployment recently and then had to wait nearly another 4 before i could play GW2 again, i see no problem having to pay a little bit of money to unlock content that was added after the expansion was released(or before in the case of LS2).

Then again, im used to also paying for and getting much smaller amounts of content for “DLC” than this game offers for free if you login during the time frame its available. They also advertise it as such, expecting anything different is on you, not them

Dante.1763:

Its perfectly reasonable. If you take a long break from the game what is the big deal about having to put in 10-20 dollars, if you dont want to farm?

I was gone for nearly 7 months on a deployment recently and then had to wait nearly another 4 before i could play GW2 again, i see no problem having to pay a little bit of money to unlock content that was added after the expansion was released(or before in the case of LS2).

Then again, im used to also paying for and getting much smaller amounts of content for “DLC” than this game offers for free if you login during the time frame its available. They also advertise it as such, expecting anything different is on you, not them

It’s essentially being penalised for not playing a game. Forget how they advertise it, again, people who aren’t currently playing the game for whatever reason, likely aren’t going to spend the time to update themselves on the game, be it logging in just to unlock these chapters or to look at advertisements.

Additionally; if you start paying real money to unlock these chapters, suddenly GW2 is becoming a pretty expensive game, given the rest of the gem store. I don’t think that’s the reputation Anet were aiming for?

Either make them permeantly pay-for, potentially improve the quality, and suffer the potential backlash of people claiming the value for money is not worth it. Or make Living Story free for all players who have the preceding expansion. Don’t put the Living Story on this awkward grey line.

Animism.6849:

It’s essentially being penalised for not playing a game.

It’s the opposite, it’s essentially rewarding loyal players. Those who actually support the game on a monthly basis get something extra for free.

Animism.6849:

It’s essentially being penalised for not playing a game. Forget how they advertise it, again, people who aren’t currently playing the game for whatever reason, likely aren’t going to spend the time to update themselves on the game, be it logging in just to unlock these chapters or to look at advertisements.

Additionally; if you start paying real money to unlock these chapters, suddenly GW2 is becoming a pretty expensive game, given the rest of the gem store. I don’t think that’s the reputation Anet were aiming for?

You certainly shouldnt be rewarded for not playing the game, which is what you seem to want. Its also not expensive at all. You can buy anything in the gemstore by farming, literally anything. You can make anywhere between 30-40 gold a day just by doing tier 2 and tier 3 fractals, probably more if you can do tier 4s if you have that mastery unlocked.

On top of that, if you want to be aware of updates you can subscribe to their little newsletter, and only have to login when they release a new LS episode, which correct me if im wrong please, was at most once a month? That hardly seems like a big burden to me to get stuff for free.

Dante.1763:

Animism.6849:

It’s essentially being penalised for not playing a game. Forget how they advertise it, again, people who aren’t currently playing the game for whatever reason, likely aren’t going to spend the time to update themselves on the game, be it logging in just to unlock these chapters or to look at advertisements.

Additionally; if you start paying real money to unlock these chapters, suddenly GW2 is becoming a pretty expensive game, given the rest of the gem store. I don’t think that’s the reputation Anet were aiming for?

You certainly shouldnt be rewarded for not playing the game, which is what you seem to want. Its also not expensive at all. You can buy anything in the gemstore by farming, literally anything. You can make anywhere between 30-40 gold a day just by doing tier 2 and tier 3 fractals, probably more if you can do tier 4s if you have that mastery unlocked.

On top of that, if you want to be aware of updates you can subscribe to their little newsletter, and only have to login when they release a new LS episode, which correct me if im wrong please, was at most once a month? That hardly seems like a big burden to me to get stuff for free.

So let me do your calculations for you. Let’s say 40g a day by doing T4 fractals. So I have to farm these daily for around a week, let’s say 7 days, averaging roughly around 30 minutes per set.
I have to farm this for 3 1/2 hours to unlock the season. The gems in real money, costs at most £10, although I haven’t checked the precise figures. It is more logical to pay for the LS with real money – which in these circumstances, I would call baiting.

If you want it your way, make it pay-for content for everyone and see how many people are angry over the quality and value? You shouldn’t reward people constantly for logging into a game, is Arenanet really that desperate for people and funding? I would doubt, but that’s what it infers.

Edit: Oh, and I don’t subscribe, or want to subscribe to any Newsletters of pretty much any nature. My email inbox already suffers enough.

Animism.6849:

So let me do your calculations for you. Let’s say 40g a day by doing T4 fractals. So I have to farm these daily for around a week, let’s say 7 days, averaging roughly around 30 minutes per set.
I have to farm this for 3 1/2 hours to unlock the season. The gems in real money, costs at most £10, although I haven’t checked the precise figures. It is more logical to pay for the LS with real money – which in these circumstances, I would call baiting.

If you want it your way, make it pay-for content for everyone and see how many people are angry over the quality and value? You shouldn’t reward people constantly for logging into a game, is Arenanet really that desperate for people and funding? I would doubt, but that’s what it infers.

Edit: Oh, and I don’t subscribe, or want to subscribe to any Newsletters of pretty much any nature. My email inbox already suffers enough.

Im very well aware of how long it takes to get the gold from farming. Its not baiting either, its up to the player on how they want to unlock the content, you arent forced to do either, you can login and get it for free while its available. The fact that you dont want to subscribe to the newsletter is again, your problem not Anets.

The fact that they reward loyalty by giving people rewards for logging in daily has been highly praised throughout this games life cycle so to is the ability to get the LS content for free, and only recently have i started to see anybody complain about this. You are among the first.

Edit: another thing, more and more games are rewarding people for logging in daily. In this new age games have to compete for populations because of how many other games are in the market. Its also why alot of games no longer do subscriptions.

Dante.1763:

Animism.6849:

So let me do your calculations for you. Let’s say 40g a day by doing T4 fractals. So I have to farm these daily for around a week, let’s say 7 days, averaging roughly around 30 minutes per set.
I have to farm this for 3 1/2 hours to unlock the season. The gems in real money, costs at most £10, although I haven’t checked the precise figures. It is more logical to pay for the LS with real money – which in these circumstances, I would call baiting.

If you want it your way, make it pay-for content for everyone and see how many people are angry over the quality and value? You shouldn’t reward people constantly for logging into a game, is Arenanet really that desperate for people and funding? I would doubt, but that’s what it infers.

Edit: Oh, and I don’t subscribe, or want to subscribe to any Newsletters of pretty much any nature. My email inbox already suffers enough.

Im very well aware of how long it takes to get the gold from farming. Its not baiting either, its up to the player on how they want to unlock the content, you arent forced to do either, you can login and get it for free while its available. The fact that you dont want to subscribe to the newsletter is again, your problem not Anets.

The fact that they reward loyalty by giving people rewards for logging in daily has been highly praised throughout this games life cycle so to is the ability to get the LS content for free, and only recently have i started to see anybody complain about this. You are among the first.

Except… I was forced to pay for the content. There’s no unlock option for someone who has been busy in real life. What happened to just playing a game Dante? You want me to read the Newsletters every week now too? I’m afraid I do somewhat despise that proposition.

I highly doubt your latter claim, and the point itself is in murky water. I would return you to my previous point about the outcry that would occur if the Living Story was a pay-for mini expansion – given the rampant complaints Anet received from both LS1, and the HoT expansion as examples. Too short, low quality, buggy, I believe were the common themes complained about. The fact it was free just mitigates the issue of what you are getting.

I’m happy the majority have it for free; but here I am having to pay for it, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt it was a bit of a scam given what I explained above in previous posts.

Edit: I would counter your point about the removal of Subscriptions, by the fact that most of it is moving to micro-transactions. GW2 is a prime example of this. Logging in daily is an irrelevent point to this.

2nd edit: You don’t have to defend Anet wholeheartedly also, constructive-criticism is useful in reviews. For example where you say that you think it isn’t baiting. Either you don’t understand my point, or you don’t understand the nature of baiting.

One method of obtaining the LS is far easier and more time efficient than the other, which is controlled by the gem price, set by Anet, and additionally indirectly through the relative value of gold.

Animism.6849:

Except… I was forced to pay for the content. There’s no unlock option for someone who has been busy in real life. What happened to just playing a game Dante? You want me to read the Newsletters every week now too? I’m afraid I do somewhat despise that proposition.

I highly doubt your latter claim, and the point itself is in murky water. I would return you to my previous point about the outcry that would occur if the Living Story was a pay-for mini expansion – given the rampant complaints Anet received from both LS1, and the HoT expansion as examples. Too short, low quality, buggy, I believe were the common themes complained about. The fact it was free just mitigates the issue of what you are getting.

I’m happy the majority have it for free; but here I am having to pay for it, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt it was a bit of a scam given what I explained above in previous posts.

Edit: I would counter your point about the removal of Subscriptions, by the fact that most of it is moving to micro-transactions. GW2 is a prime example of this. Logging in daily is an irrelevent point to this.

Except, you really werent, you chose the quicker option which was to purchase it with real money. Yes it takes longer to farm the gold to get it, but plenty of people do this which is why the expansions arent available for purchase with gems.

As to what happened to just playing a game? Its always been this way, except in the past you used to pay for a subscription thus giving the developer money every month regardless of how much you played so they could develop more content. In GW2 you dont have to give them a cent of your money aside from the cost to purchase the expansions(Which give you full access to the base game, which you dont have if you play for free), because you can farm gold and convert it to gems.

lets look at other MMOS on the market currently however, and the first release of this game.

In GW1 you paid for all the expansion(which yes where base games) and you paid full price for them regardless at release i believe it was either 40 or 50$, you also payed for Eye of the north(20$) too, and towards the end of that games lifecycle as a very populated game if you wanted the outfits they offered you had to pay for those too, much like you do in this one

ESO in its very early time as an MMO had a subscription(no longer is their a subscription) and paid for DLC, ontop of that if you play ESO on the console you have to buy the DLC for each different account on the console(PC users dont.) You do still have to buy the expansions and DLC however.

KOTOR online has a subscription still(optional) as well as paid DLC and expansions if you dont use that subscription option + their version of the gem store.

EVE online has a subscription(can play for free though its limited). If you play for free you have to pay for the expansions(of which there are currently over twenty, and more on the way).

Star Trek online required a purchase and a monthly recurring fee much like WOW does. It also has both “Seasons” which are free to subscribers, and expansions. On top of this, it has free to play with heavily limited access to items AND veteran rewards for total subscription time + a cash shop.

Final Fantasy XIV, much like WOW requires a subscription(has free content releases), has a cash store and full priced expansions.

Dante.1763:

Animism.6849:

Except… I was forced to pay for the content. There’s no unlock option for someone who has been busy in real life. What happened to just playing a game Dante? You want me to read the Newsletters every week now too? I’m afraid I do somewhat despise that proposition.

I highly doubt your latter claim, and the point itself is in murky water. I would return you to my previous point about the outcry that would occur if the Living Story was a pay-for mini expansion – given the rampant complaints Anet received from both LS1, and the HoT expansion as examples. Too short, low quality, buggy, I believe were the common themes complained about. The fact it was free just mitigates the issue of what you are getting.

I’m happy the majority have it for free; but here I am having to pay for it, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt it was a bit of a scam given what I explained above in previous posts.

Edit: I would counter your point about the removal of Subscriptions, by the fact that most of it is moving to micro-transactions. GW2 is a prime example of this. Logging in daily is an irrelevent point to this.

Except, you really werent, you chose the quicker option which was to purchase it with real money. Yes it takes longer to farm the gold to get it, but plenty of people do this which is why the expansions arent available for purchase with gems.

As to what happened to just playing a game? Its always been this way, except in the past you used to pay for a subscription thus giving the developer money every month regardless of how much you played so they could develop more content. In GW2 you dont have to give them a cent of your money aside from the cost to purchase the expansions(Which give you full access to the base game, which you dont have if you play for free), because you can farm gold and convert it to gems.

lets look at other MMOS on the market currently however, and the first release of this game.

In GW1 you paid for all the expansion(which yes where base games) and you paid full price for them regardless at release i believe it was either 40 or 50$, you also payed for Eye of the north(20$) too, and towards the end of that games lifecycle as a very populated game if you wanted the outfits they offered you had to pay for those too, much like you do in this one

ESO in its very early time as an MMO had a subscription(no longer is their a subscription) and paid for DLC, ontop of that if you play ESO on the console you have to buy the DLC for each different account on the console(PC users dont.) You do still have to buy the expansions and DLC however.

KOTOR online has a subscription still(optional) as well as paid DLC and expansions if you dont use that subscription option + their version of the gem store.

EVE online has a subscription(can play for free though its limited). If you play for free you have to pay for the expansions(of which there are currently over twenty, and more on the way).

Star Trek online required a purchase and a monthly recurring fee much like WOW does. It also has both “Seasons” which are free to subscribers, and expansions. On top of this, it has free to play with heavily limited access to items AND veteran rewards for total subscription time + a cash shop.

Final Fantasy XIV, much like WOW requires a subscription(has free content releases), has a cash store and full priced expansions.

No offence, but I don’t think you’re reading my points properly.

I didn’t purchase the LS with real money; I used gold because I didn’t want to pay real money just for it, and didn’t appreciate the baiting. With regards to the relative prices gems/gold, and the ‘free’ unlock method.

You’re completely missing the point I made about ‘just playing a game’ and avoiding having to also read about the game every week, in regards to advertisements, unlocking the content for free, and people who are busy in real life, etc.

I’m not sure what relevance explaining other MMO titles micro-transactions and subscription fees has?

Definitely go back and try to reread it, as much of that reply seemed nonsensical.

Animism.6849:

maddoctor.2738:

Animism.6849:

I took a break from the game after completing HoT, to then return and be forced to fork out for the next section of the story (which maybe should have just been included with HoT purchases, given the dissatisfaction people voiced in regards to the short-length of the expansion story, back when the expansion released)

They only require you to login once during the episode release time to unlock it forever. That takes 5 minutes of your time

An unreasonable expectation. People can be busy in real life, unable to access a computer for a time, or not wanting to constantly update a game as a life task.

If you are busy enough that you cant log in once per 2-3 months then why be mad about it. With this pace u will hardly finish se3 in less than a year.

Anet is kind enough to give you the ability to unlock something for free before making it a paid dlc instead of makimg it paid xlc from the start.

The most important thing for an MMO is active players, especially for one that relies on an in-game shop. It’s why they give the episodes away for simply logging in, regardless of if you’re eligible to play it. Oddly, they didn’t increase the price of the episodes with season 3, which could easily be double.

I wonder how’d they fair if the episodes were only free for those that purchased the expansion and the login requirement was replaced with simply that. It would encourage buying early on, since the price would effectively increase after each episode, so they’d be trading for higher box sales.

Animism.6849:

No offence, but I don’t think you’re reading my points properly.

I didn’t purchase the LS with real money; I used gold because I didn’t want to pay real money just for it, and didn’t appreciate the baiting. With regards to the relative prices gems/gold, and the ‘free’ unlock method.

You’re completely missing the point I made about ‘just playing a game’ and avoiding having to also read about the game every week, in regards to advertisements, unlocking the content for free, and people who are busy in real life, etc.

I’m not sure what relevance explaining other MMO titles micro-transactions and subscription fees has?

Definitely go back and try to reread it, as much of that reply seemed nonsensical.

No offense but when you put “Except i was forced to pay for it” and you didnt specify how you where forced to pay for it, and with what currency, i assumed you meant with real money, which is why i went on to explain what other MMOS where doing.

And as the person above me posted. the most important thing for an MMO is an active player base,

and as i also posted and this is my very hmmm…not moveable opinion, if you leave for an extended amount of time (3+ months for me), you as a player shouldnt really have a problem putting the bare minimum of 10$ to unlock a story and the maps that they come with, which offer a very good amount of rewards.

zealex.9410:

Animism.6849:

maddoctor.2738:

Animism.6849:

I took a break from the game after completing HoT, to then return and be forced to fork out for the next section of the story (which maybe should have just been included with HoT purchases, given the dissatisfaction people voiced in regards to the short-length of the expansion story, back when the expansion released)

They only require you to login once during the episode release time to unlock it forever. That takes 5 minutes of your time

An unreasonable expectation. People can be busy in real life, unable to access a computer for a time, or not wanting to constantly update a game as a life task.

If you are busy enough that you cant log in once per 2-3 months then why be mad about it. With this pace u will hardly finish se3 in less than a year.

Anet is kind enough to give you the ability to unlock something for free before making it a paid dlc instead of makimg it paid xlc from the start.

Pacing has nothing to do with the subject.

Please refer to previous comments as to why someone would be dissatisfied with the pay-to-unlock LS3.

Dante.1763:

Animism.6849:

No offence, but I don’t think you’re reading my points properly.

I didn’t purchase the LS with real money; I used gold because I didn’t want to pay real money just for it, and didn’t appreciate the baiting. With regards to the relative prices gems/gold, and the ‘free’ unlock method.

You’re completely missing the point I made about ‘just playing a game’ and avoiding having to also read about the game every week, in regards to advertisements, unlocking the content for free, and people who are busy in real life, etc.

I’m not sure what relevance explaining other MMO titles micro-transactions and subscription fees has?

Definitely go back and try to reread it, as much of that reply seemed nonsensical.

No offense but when you put “Except i was forced to pay for it” and you didnt specify how you where forced to pay for it, and with what currency, i assumed you meant with real money, which is why i went on to explain what other MMOS where doing.

And as the person above me posted. the most important thing for an MMO is an active player base,

and as i also posted and this is my very hmmm…not moveable opinion, if you leave for an extended amount of time (3+ months for me), you as a player shouldnt really have a problem putting the bare minimum of 10$ to unlock a story and the maps that they come with, which offer a very good amount of rewards.

Do you not recall the widespread dissatisfaction there was on the forums when HoT released? It was very low value for money, and things that should have been in the game (they said they would be), were not finished yet. After constant you-know-what promises.

Firstly – the detail was in the following line, and previous comments.

Secondly, a forced login (or should we say, incentivised?) does not bolster the overall playerbase, it merely fudges with the metrics to show a greater number of players attending to play the new content than is actual, as you can factually infer that a fair amount of people are just now logging in for this free ‘unlock’.

It is pretty obvious what my position is. Why should I have to pay for the story just for not logging in for a while? I bought the recent expansion. Take LS off the gem store, and leave it for the million other items.

What if someone had a job which took them away from an ability to login the game? Are they no-longer a good player of the game because they have a real-life to currently live? You shouldn’t have had to pay for that content Dante, although it makes no difference to me that you held no issue with paying for it.

Animism.6849:

What if someone had a job which took them away from an ability to login the game? Are they no-longer a good player of the game because they have a real-life to currently live? You shouldn’t have had to pay for that content Dante, although it makes no difference to me that you held no issue with paying for it.

Because as it was explained to you multiple times unlocking the LS for free is a reward for loyalty. Those loyal to the game get it for free, because you know those loyal players make the game alive and active, while those who leave need to pay -in gems- to get the LS. They could’ve done like other games and offer the LS only with money (DLC) instead they allow you to pay with in-game gold.

And it’s only one time login every 2 to 3 months, hardly unreasonable.

maddoctor.2738:

Animism.6849:

What if someone had a job which took them away from an ability to login the game? Are they no-longer a good player of the game because they have a real-life to currently live? You shouldn’t have had to pay for that content Dante, although it makes no difference to me that you held no issue with paying for it.

Because as it was explained to you multiple times unlocking the LS for free is a reward for loyalty. Those loyal to the game get it for free, because you know those loyal players make the game alive and active, while those who leave need to pay -in gems- to get the LS. They could’ve done like other games and offer the LS only with money (DLC) instead they allow you to pay with in-game gold.

And it’s only one time login every 2 to 3 months, hardly unreasonable.

So you are counting loyalty as the ability to login? Sounds… suspect.

Animism.6849:

So you are counting loyalty as the ability to login? Sounds… suspect.

Someone that will login has at least a chance of playing the game, see the latest gem store deals while someone who doesn’t even login won’t play and won’t see any of the gem store deals. It’s a business after all

At least get the facts straight. There’s no weekly newsletter (I wish); the newsletters are sent with the major releases, which are only every 2 to 3 months. It’s hardly a hardship to log into the game once every 2 to 3 months, and, I think, pretty generous to have the option to pay with the Gold-to-Gems exchange, which, by the way, is not controlled by ArenaNet, but by the players. It’s also not a hardship to spend ~$10.00 for content released over the course of a year (or two, if you want to count the time since Heart of Thorns released).

One can complain about be ‘forced’ to pay, but let’s not exaggerate the facts, yes?

Good luck.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

At least get the facts straight. There’s no weekly newsletter (I wish); the newsletters are sent with the major releases, which are only every 2 to 3 months. It’s hardly a hardship to log into the game once every 2 to 3 months, and, I think, pretty generous to have the option to pay with the Gold-to-Gems exchange, which, by the way, is not controlled by ArenaNet, but by the players. It’s also not a hardship to spend ~$10.00 for content released over the course of a year (or two, if you want to count the time since Heart of Thorns released).

One can complain about be ‘forced’ to pay, but let’s not exaggerate the facts, yes?

Good luck.

Gold is indirectly controlled by Anet.

I wouldn’t know about the number of Newsletter releases, since I am not signed up.

Animism.6849:

Dante.1763:

Animism.6849:

No offence, but I don’t think you’re reading my points properly.

I didn’t purchase the LS with real money; I used gold because I didn’t want to pay real money just for it, and didn’t appreciate the baiting. With regards to the relative prices gems/gold, and the ‘free’ unlock method.

You’re completely missing the point I made about ‘just playing a game’ and avoiding having to also read about the game every week, in regards to advertisements, unlocking the content for free, and people who are busy in real life, etc.

I’m not sure what relevance explaining other MMO titles micro-transactions and subscription fees has?

Definitely go back and try to reread it, as much of that reply seemed nonsensical.

No offense but when you put “Except i was forced to pay for it” and you didnt specify how you where forced to pay for it, and with what currency, i assumed you meant with real money, which is why i went on to explain what other MMOS where doing.

And as the person above me posted. the most important thing for an MMO is an active player base,

and as i also posted and this is my very hmmm…not moveable opinion, if you leave for an extended amount of time (3+ months for me), you as a player shouldnt really have a problem putting the bare minimum of 10$ to unlock a story and the maps that they come with, which offer a very good amount of rewards.

Do you not recall the widespread dissatisfaction there was on the forums when HoT released? It was very low value for money, and things that should have been in the game (they said they would be), were not finished yet. After constant you-know-what promises.

Firstly – the detail was in the following line, and previous comments.

Secondly, a forced login (or should we say, incentivised?) does not bolster the overall playerbase, it merely fudges with the metrics to show a greater number of players attending to play the new content than is actual, as you can factually infer that a fair amount of people are just now logging in for this free ‘unlock’.

It is pretty obvious what my position is. Why should I have to pay for the story just for not logging in for a while? I bought the recent expansion. Take LS off the gem store, and leave it for the million other items.

What if someone had a job which took them away from an ability to login the game? Are they no-longer a good player of the game because they have a real-life to currently live? You shouldn’t have had to pay for that content Dante, although it makes no difference to me that you held no issue with paying for it.

A position of, “why should I have to pay for a product that is for sale by a for profit company, which the company had to pay to produce,” isnt much of a position….or if it is I need to contact Ferrari about getting a new car.

ANet even offered the product for free.
They still offer it with no real money cost.

So they spent money to create a product. They then give you three options to get the product:
Option 1: free
Option 2: pay with play money, no out of pocket real money cost at all.
Option 3: spend real money.

And then you complain that paying real money is an option. Not mandatory, just one option of three.

Ashen.2907:

Animism.6849:

Dante.1763:

Animism.6849:

No offence, but I don’t think you’re reading my points properly.

I didn’t purchase the LS with real money; I used gold because I didn’t want to pay real money just for it, and didn’t appreciate the baiting. With regards to the relative prices gems/gold, and the ‘free’ unlock method.

You’re completely missing the point I made about ‘just playing a game’ and avoiding having to also read about the game every week, in regards to advertisements, unlocking the content for free, and people who are busy in real life, etc.

I’m not sure what relevance explaining other MMO titles micro-transactions and subscription fees has?

Definitely go back and try to reread it, as much of that reply seemed nonsensical.

No offense but when you put “Except i was forced to pay for it” and you didnt specify how you where forced to pay for it, and with what currency, i assumed you meant with real money, which is why i went on to explain what other MMOS where doing.

And as the person above me posted. the most important thing for an MMO is an active player base,

and as i also posted and this is my very hmmm…not moveable opinion, if you leave for an extended amount of time (3+ months for me), you as a player shouldnt really have a problem putting the bare minimum of 10$ to unlock a story and the maps that they come with, which offer a very good amount of rewards.

Do you not recall the widespread dissatisfaction there was on the forums when HoT released? It was very low value for money, and things that should have been in the game (they said they would be), were not finished yet. After constant you-know-what promises.

Firstly – the detail was in the following line, and previous comments.

Secondly, a forced login (or should we say, incentivised?) does not bolster the overall playerbase, it merely fudges with the metrics to show a greater number of players attending to play the new content than is actual, as you can factually infer that a fair amount of people are just now logging in for this free ‘unlock’.

It is pretty obvious what my position is. Why should I have to pay for the story just for not logging in for a while? I bought the recent expansion. Take LS off the gem store, and leave it for the million other items.

What if someone had a job which took them away from an ability to login the game? Are they no-longer a good player of the game because they have a real-life to currently live? You shouldn’t have had to pay for that content Dante, although it makes no difference to me that you held no issue with paying for it.

A position of, “why should I have to pay for a product that is for sale by a for profit company, which the company had to pay to produce,” isnt much of a position….or if it is I need to contact Ferrari about getting a new car.

ANet even offered the product for free.
They still offer it with no real money cost.

So they spent money to create a product. They then give you three options to get the product:
Option 1: free
Option 2: pay with play money, no out of pocket real money cost at all.
Option 3: spend real money.

And then you complain that paying real money is an option. Not mandatory, just one option of three.

Perhaps if you read the remainder of my previous posts…

Why do so many people jump into these discussions without reading the content properly?

Animism.6849:

Ashen.2907:

Animism.6849:

Dante.1763:

Animism.6849:

No offence, but I don’t think you’re reading my points properly.

I didn’t purchase the LS with real money; I used gold because I didn’t want to pay real money just for it, and didn’t appreciate the baiting. With regards to the relative prices gems/gold, and the ‘free’ unlock method.

You’re completely missing the point I made about ‘just playing a game’ and avoiding having to also read about the game every week, in regards to advertisements, unlocking the content for free, and people who are busy in real life, etc.

I’m not sure what relevance explaining other MMO titles micro-transactions and subscription fees has?

Definitely go back and try to reread it, as much of that reply seemed nonsensical.

No offense but when you put “Except i was forced to pay for it” and you didnt specify how you where forced to pay for it, and with what currency, i assumed you meant with real money, which is why i went on to explain what other MMOS where doing.

And as the person above me posted. the most important thing for an MMO is an active player base,

and as i also posted and this is my very hmmm…not moveable opinion, if you leave for an extended amount of time (3+ months for me), you as a player shouldnt really have a problem putting the bare minimum of 10$ to unlock a story and the maps that they come with, which offer a very good amount of rewards.

Do you not recall the widespread dissatisfaction there was on the forums when HoT released? It was very low value for money, and things that should have been in the game (they said they would be), were not finished yet. After constant you-know-what promises.

Firstly – the detail was in the following line, and previous comments.

Secondly, a forced login (or should we say, incentivised?) does not bolster the overall playerbase, it merely fudges with the metrics to show a greater number of players attending to play the new content than is actual, as you can factually infer that a fair amount of people are just now logging in for this free ‘unlock’.

It is pretty obvious what my position is. Why should I have to pay for the story just for not logging in for a while? I bought the recent expansion. Take LS off the gem store, and leave it for the million other items.

What if someone had a job which took them away from an ability to login the game? Are they no-longer a good player of the game because they have a real-life to currently live? You shouldn’t have had to pay for that content Dante, although it makes no difference to me that you held no issue with paying for it.

A position of, “why should I have to pay for a product that is for sale by a for profit company, which the company had to pay to produce,” isnt much of a position….or if it is I need to contact Ferrari about getting a new car.

ANet even offered the product for free.
They still offer it with no real money cost.

So they spent money to create a product. They then give you three options to get the product:
Option 1: free
Option 2: pay with play money, no out of pocket real money cost at all.
Option 3: spend real money.

And then you complain that paying real money is an option. Not mandatory, just one option of three.

Perhaps if you read the remainder of my previous posts…

Why do so many people jump into these discussions without reading the content properly?

I did read your prior posts. I have also been a participant in this discussion for some time.

Your prior posts, essentially, boil down to, “I dont feel that one should have to pay for this product that the company paid to produce.” There are some, “Anet,” somehow," forced me to buy the product," mixed in with some, “I chose to not get the product for free when offered so no one else should have that option,” as well as some, “its unreasonable for the company to offer the content at no out of pocket cost to players who are willing to log into the game once per quarter, for approximately 30 seconds.”

Edit: I wonder how Ferrari will take my request for a free car. I will need to make sure that they know that they will need to reimburse me for the time spent composing the request because its unreasonable that I be expected to spend a minute of my time to get an otherwise free product.