I also will not be paying that price for the expansion. Existing players should be able to purchase separately, like in game or something and get a character slot as well. Even the old guild wars expansions came with a character slot, they were able to be played as stand alone campaigns as well. I have been playing since Beta and pre purchased as soon as it was available. I am not about to pay as much for an expansion as someone else does for both without even a character slot thrown in unless you pay even more. Its a ripoff for anyone who already owns the base game.