Season 2 may not be a full sized expansion, but it is at least story based DLC. It is very different than the cosmetic or booster stuff the gem store normally holds, so thinking of it the same as all of the other gem store stuff, it not being honest about the nature of Season 2. I believe that Season 2 should be considered a mini expansion due to it having additional story and game play elements in it.
A player can play Season 2 without unlocking it by playing inside a Season 2 instance created by someone else. But this does not mean that the story and game play content are free. It just means that the content is behind a sort of soft paywall. One that can be somewhat subverted. It is still however something someone had to have paid for, especially if one doesn’t know people who got it for free.
Of course in the context of Mike O’Brien’s statements he does say “What should you have to already own so that you are allowed to buy the new expansion pack?” It is true that you don’t have to own Season 2 to buy the latest expansion pack, so there is only one thing to buy if you want the latest expansion pack.
He, however, also provides a question prospective players could ask, “Should I buy the base game and also every single expansion?” The answer to this question is not, “there is only one thing to buy.” The answer to this second question is you buy HOT, and you can optionally buy Season 2 to get the bridge content between the original and expansion story.
My biggest problem is Mike O’Brien talks about all of the content you get with a single purchase. By saying “there is just one thing to buy” he implies that buying HOT gives you the complete experience. He, however, ignores the fact that even after streamlining the buying process, there is still this thing called Season 2 and that buying HOT leaves out that portion of the content. He emphasizes what is included in the purchase price without mentioning the thing that is left out, and can be purchased separately.
Now you did catch me. He doesn’t have a direct lie. But he dances around how much content they released, and how they simplified purchasing without mentioning Season 2. Of course they wouldn’t want to mention Season 2 as a complicating factor to your purchase decision when they talk about how simple buying in is. And they wouldn’t want to mention how there is additional paid content in addition to the past and future ‘free’ (included in base price) content they release.
Season 2 is just such a little nagging counterpoint to everything he says in that announcement that it feel less than honest. I guess they always want to only talk about the good. It is marketing. It is to be expected.
