suggestion regarding living story pricing

suggestion regarding living story pricing

in Living World

Posted by: zaced.7948

zaced.7948

recently i’ve tried to convince some people to check out gw2 and while they were surprised they could get the core game for free when purchasing the expansion (not f2p with the limitations) they were reluctant when i told them they had to buy the living world seasons seperately as they obviously weren’t around.

therefore i would suggest lowering the price of those with time. like any dlc from other games drops in price over time the older living story seasons should see a price drop. i thought about the whole thing and indeed those seasons might be a reason for somebody to not decide playing guild wars because of fractured content that has to be bought seperately. however, i do like the system very much as it is, it’s very generous anyway but i would like to see some more incentives for players to actually purchase them as new players when the seasons are already a bit … well .. seasoned

that could be something like a price drop of 20%-30% once a new season is released or finished (f.e. season 3 would make season 2 cheaper) until they at some point fade out into being very cheap in a distant future (f.e. 4 years from now season 2 would cost pennies). that thought came to me when i realized that over time as more seasons are released the price for the complete package goes up and up. perhaps in a few years (and i hope very much gw2 is still thriving in a few years) it might already cost quite a sum. this depends on how pricing is done with the new expansions but an example:

4 years from now, expansion every 2 years, expansions have to be bought and every expansion gives the core game for free (i don’t expect anet to make a previous expansion f2p once a new one is released), perhaps with a slight price drop on the previous expansion:
HoT, let’s say 25$
expansion 2, let’s say 35$
newest expansion 50$
season 2: 18$
season 3: 18$
season 4: 18$
season 5: 18$

that would accumulate to 164$ if would want the whole package at once.
i could see how that could discourage somebody from wanting to start the game late into it’s life cycle.
while a cumulative price drop on the seasons and bundle deals with the expansions (“buy the new expansion now and get the last season for free”) wouldn’t cut that much into what anet could earn from them (let’s be honest, most people playing get them for free and at least in my assumption the amount of veterans is far larger than that of new people) but portray a picture (i don’t wanna say give the illusion) of the game being slightly less heavy priced when we consider future releases.

f.e. with a price drop of 20% per new season when season 5 is released the prices would look like that:
season 4: 14.4$ (instead of 18)
season 3: 11.5$
season 2: 9.2$

with 30%:
season 4: 12.6$
season 3: 8.8$
season 2: 6.1$

while this would still accumulate to 145$ (or 138$ @ 30%) and the overall price drop for the whole package would be around 10-15% the individual price of the seasons in the gemstore would be much more inviting to purchase them and may convince new players to actually go for older seasons which might not be as relevant any more.

it’s just an idea i had, what do you think of it? pls discuss.

suggestion regarding living story pricing

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Posted by: Ayrilana.1396

Ayrilana.1396

You can buy the episodes with in-game gold by converting it to gems. No real world money necessary.

The only content locked are the achievements, including any rewards tied to them, and the ability to start your own story instance. Players can join the story instances of those who have access.

suggestion regarding living story pricing

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Posted by: zaced.7948

zaced.7948

i am very well aware
that’s not the point, tho. i was talking about the money investment IF bought with gems bought with money. a new player may not have the gold or not want to spend his gold on the living story and would rather be incentivized to buy some gems to get it.
it’s not about availability or how to circumvent the purchase but about pricing models.

suggestion regarding living story pricing

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Posted by: Randulf.7614

Randulf.7614

I personally find the system OK as an in game player. Every person I’ve spoken to about joining the game or playing beyond the PS has baulked at buying the seasons in between.

I don’t really know what the answer is, since I’m OK with the system (well I’m used to it now, so it doesn’t bother me is more accurate), but I’m a dedicated player so my perspective is different and biased. The current model, does seem to be offputting to new players. I guess only Anet will know how offputting since they have the metrics for purchasers.

For ref to the OP – Anet stated that each previous expac would be included for free with the purchase of the new expac as well as core.

suggestion regarding living story pricing

in Living World

Posted by: zaced.7948

zaced.7948

I personally find the system OK as an in game player. Every person I’ve spoken to about joining the game or playing beyond the PS has baulked at buying the seasons in between.

I don’t really know what the answer is, since I’m OK with the system (well I’m used to it now, so it doesn’t bother me is more accurate), but I’m a dedicated player so my perspective is different and biased. The current model, does seem to be offputting to new players. I guess only Anet will know how offputting since they have the metrics for purchasers.

For ref to the OP – Anet stated that each previous expac would be included for free with the purchase of the new expac as well as core.

that’s an important information i didn’t know. if the expacs include previous expacs then the price would be a lot less offputting. i’m biased myself regarding this, since as an active player i get the living story for free anyway but i try to put myself in the shoes of people who don’t.

suggestion regarding living story pricing

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Posted by: Inculpatus cedo.9234

Inculpatus cedo.9234

Yes, for new players down the road, the cost of ‘admission’ would be only fifty dollars, plus whatever Living World Seasons will cost. Plus, as noted above, their cost can be mitigated by using in-game Gold to acquire them.

Here’s the announcement:

Business Model Clarification

We want to be clear about our business model for future expansions now that we are approaching our first paid expansion for Guild Wars 2. We believe that to keep the game dynamic and vibrant with a constantly growing community, it should be as easy as possible for new players to get into Guild Wars 2. 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.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/pre-purchase-community-address/