I recently filed a refund request for gems, based on my complete dissatisfaction with the product and the handling of the event. I was denied my refund, because I had spent the gems already. I’ll be honest too; it was on chests. However, I have not spent all of the gems, but the GMs made it clear that I was not eligible for a refund.
With that in mind, I would like to voice a concern. The holiday events that have taken place on GW2 thus far have both included as their primary gem store accolade, an item that you purchase mostly with real money. This is a problem for one obvious reason; the items offer the player a slim opportunity to hit the jackpot, and receive rare items. It’s essentially gambling, and there’s no way to say otherwise. Honestly, I find this tactic very reprehensible. If you’re somebody like me, you have a hard time walking away from “the table” so to speak. I’m sure you understand what I’m saying. I would very much like my concerns to be heard by whoever is organizing these gem store events. It’s very underhanded, and takes advantage of a particular weakness that many people have. It’s not that they’re breaking any rules per se, but it’s simply immoral and greatly damages the appearance of the company as a whole.
I had asked the GM if my character could be rolled back to remove any items I had received, but they will not do it. I suppose I understand, but I don’t understand why my remaining gems aren’t eligible for refund. I will never spend another dollar on the gem store until the team rethinks their money making techniques for these events. I’m disgusted, and I’m certainly not alone in that regard.
I was told by the GM to take my complaint to the forums, so that’s what I’m doing. My suggestion is to rethink the business tactics and morals being employed through the BLTC, namely on special events. If I could offer a more specific suggestion, it would be that perhaps these rare items could be offered to purchase for a more substantial sum than other items. The chests could still remain I suppose, but they need to offer value to the player through whatever other items they drop.
Thank you.
Edit: I wanted to add something that somebody had suggested to me. If Arena Net feels that this system is what they want to continue to stick with, I would suggest a clearer advertising campaign on the event itself. You are straight up gambling when you do this, and I think it would be much more acceptable if it was made extremely clear to everybody that this is what they’re doing. I made a joke to somebody that you should have to be a certain age to participate, since it’s gambling. It’s actually not that farfetched if you think about it.
An important thing to consider as well is that younger people can also get ahold of gems with cash through the cards sold at stores. Because of this, the argument that somebody would have to have a credit card to participate thus assuming they’re of appropriate age does not apply.
