Guild Wars 2

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

To clarify: $50 is the price of the expansion. We included the core game as a free bonus to make it easier for new players to get into it.

I think that’s good marketing for new players, but bad marketing for existing players. It’s going to provide existing players a reason to look for alternatives.

Nihlus.9724:

I don’t understand all the negativity in this thread.

Let me start off by saying that it is perfectly within your right to think that the expansion is overpriced. Anyone criticizing anyone else for that belief is being a jerk. It is a perfectly reasonable plan to either not buy HoT due to the price or to wait for a price drop before buying it.

However, what is not reasonable is to assume you are entitled to anything that is not on the tin. The expansion is $50. Period. You are not entitled to any kind of discount, bonus, or second GW2 key just because the expansion comes with the core game for new members. You are not entitled to anything from HoT just because you’re an established GW2 player. The only thing you are entitled to are the things that are listed for the price they are listed. If you don’t think they’re a good value, then don’t buy them. Or wait until the price is lowered to the point where you feel it’s a good value. I personally will be playing HoT day one.

Also, consider World of Warcraft. Warlords of Draenor costs $49.99 too, and that has subscription fees ontop of that. WoW also grants you all the previous expansions if you buy the latest. But it used to not always be that way. So anytime a new player would come along, they’d have to buy the core game and several expansions just to get caught up. It was ridiculous.

Anet including the core game with the expansion is a kindness and convenience to new players, and it makes smart business sense. It is not an excuse to try and wheel and deal a lower price for yourself. People getting the core game for free now does not detract from the joy and value you’ve gotten out of playing GW2 up to this point. So please stop acting like Anet has kitten in your cereal.

Only unlike GW2, WoW actually had huge amounts of content in their expansions so you COULD buy them slowly.

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

To clarify: $50 is the price of the expansion. We included the core game as a free bonus to make it easier for new players to get into it.

So what “free bonus” do all of your current loyal fans get?

Nothing.

You shafted your entire playerbase to make a quick buck and can’t even admit to it.
Disgusting. On top of that you even made it worse by insulting the time and money people have invested into this game by “giving it away for free”. Ridiculous.

It’d be super nice if you thought of your current loyal fans (assuming they still are) as nicely as you do new players.

I was on the fence about heart of thorns. Anet made the decision for me with it’s pricing. No thanks far too expensive, the features listed thus far don’t come close to justifying the cost of a new game. Anet got greedy, just playing semantics by claiming the expansion includes the core game free.

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

To clarify: $50 is the price of the expansion. We included the core game as a free bonus to make it easier for new players to get into it.

I agree with what Black Box said earlier. You’re really pricing this as if we’ll get just as much value out of Heart of Thorns as we did out of the base game? What compelling reason do I have to purchase your product when I could buy a relatively new AAA game for the same price?

Seriously, what the hell? I’m almost impressed how quickly you’ve managed to reverse my opinions on your company. Guess I’m not giving you the money I’d set aside, lol.

As it was shown in other threads, you even edited your own news. This is completely PATHETIC Anet.

The core game is included as a “free bonus?” Well, that’s amazing. No really, that’s great. I’m glad to know that I won’t have to buy the core game in order to purchase HoT. Especially since I already have it. Especially since there are three core games in my home (mine, my fiancee’s, and my stepdaughter’s). So glad to know I’m getting such amazing bonus content for $150. Plus another 20 bucks, since my fiancee and I already have 8 character slots and will need another one for the Revenant. I was at least expecting $30 for each, you know, like pretty much every other expansion for every other game out there. But $50 each for the standard expansion? Times three? I know what we’re not getting for Christmas this year.

Congrats, ArenaNet. You put the competition to shame for so long, only to do the same kind of raw deal we expect from EA when it comes to expansions. And now that I know what to expect in future expansions (we still have 4 more elder dragons to take on, after all), maybe it’s time to start shopping around for a different MMOm since ANet seems to have stopped caring about the things that set them apart from other developers.

EA-Net.

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

To clarify: $50 is the price of the expansion. We included the core game as a free bonus to make it easier for new players to get into it.

Nice PR. Wonder if anyone will believe it…

Even if it was somehow true, $50 is a rip-off for how little we are getting in this expansion.

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

To clarify: $50 is the price of the expansion. We included the core game as a free bonus to make it easier for new players to get into it.

I see like it’s the other way around: $50 is the price of the game, and you included the expansion as a free bonus. It’s a great deal for new players, but only for them.

The Beta wasn’t even good. The game is like 3 years old in the midst of newer more immersive games, which are are practically at decent prices. The expansions costing like 50 bucks? seems overly pricey for a failed impression on beta. Hell steam is running mega deals I rather spend 50 bucks there get better gaming experience.

They do it at every chance.
NPE.
HOM.
Legacy Gemstore skins.
Now this.

They have a giant marble sculpture of a middle finger in their lobby that we paid for. All employees every morning bend and rest their forehead on it in hopes of inspiration on how to screw vets over next.

50$ and not even one slot? I’ll pass, thanks.

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

To clarify: $50 is the price of the expansion. We included the core game as a free bonus to make it easier for new players to get into it.

Are you kidding me?! Some of us bought the collector’s edition for a good hefty buck. Your $50 includes no features like free slot or anything for the old players that already have the core game, forcing them to PAY MORE to get said benefit.

No matter how you look at it, people who have been buying the core game until now, including from stores like Gamestop and what not, are getting ripped off. People who own the game get NO benefit from the $50 purchase.

Which part of “those who already own the core game do not want the core game in the pack” is ANet failing to understand. Instead of doing that, you could as easily offer a free character slot instead to the people who already OWN the game.

This seems more aimed at new players, rather than those who already have the game. Thoroughly disappointed and disgusted after waiting so long for this.

So if we already own the game. We are literally paying full price AGAIN, for a third of the content from the base game…… If. Even a third…. I really hope they take at least one thing there veteran audience says to heart and ’re think there Bull kitten price.

Screwing over loyal customers in the hopes of acquiring new customers, GG

From all the info given so far about the game, I personally don’t feel like it’s worth $50.

That and some of the decisions they’re making:

- Recent news of the difference between ascended and exotics becoming 5% instead of 10%. I never liked your decision in implementing it in the first place, increasing it further… ha… if that wound finally sealed up for me, you’ve managed to rip it open and spry extra bit of salt on it.

- Holding sales a of couple times, selling the game for ~$10 to attract a crowd. Then putting up kitten for the expansion with the core game for “free”… yeah… brilliant move (sarcasm). The only way you can escape this one is by saying, “Oh yeah we only did this for E3, here’s the expansion w/o the core game”, and even then… why not hold yet another sale having gw2 for $10 and the expansion for $20-$30. The way you’ve done it now is just sleazy, even if you later on release a core-less expansion bundles.

Feel free to infract/ban me, that will just nail the coffin of me not ever buying it.

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

To clarify: $50 is the price of the expansion. We included the core game as a free bonus to make it easier for new players to get into it.

That’s a complete JOKE! This small amount of content in no way justifies $50.00. What world are you people living in?

hazenvirus.8154:

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

To clarify: $50 is the price of the expansion. We included the core game as a free bonus to make it easier for new players to get into it.

Is the free core game its own separate key?

nope. if you use the upgrade on an existing account, the core game goes poof.

basically, if you already own an account, you pay the same and get less.

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

To clarify: $50 is the price of the expansion. We included the core game as a free bonus to make it easier for new players to get into it.

Yeah, sorry, but I can buy entire games that I don’t already have for $50.

50?….. I was fully hyped for this expansion. After 2 Years something months of supporting it. Absolutely killed my hype. Asking us to pay 50 dollars so they can bundle it in with the base game for new players….. 3000+ hours. 7 level 80’s , full Asd. Kudzu. Tons of dedication. This is a slap in the face.

Just to add. Yes I see it’s a good price for new players and sounds fair in that case. But for us, veteran players, it sounds very disappointing and looks like what we paid for the core game was just trashed. Really VERY VERY VERY disappointed. -_-

bad way to treat your loyal players ANET, baaaaaddd way…….

So I have to pay new players account? ô.o

As an existing customer, I feel simply passed over. And don’t want to forget that there is no Characterslot for the new class. Costs around 10 bucks. That are 60 Bucks (about 55€ for an Addon+Characterslot).

Without a release date a bad style is to offer something simple, too.
So we have do understand Anets catchphrases that there is nothing more nothing but a load of HoT air.
/disappointed once more

I understand and agree that it is a great concept and price for new players…but what about people that have been playing the game for a couple years. You just lost any players that were planning to come back to the game for the expansion. There were so many people that had left the game and then got back on the hype train for the expansion and are immediately going to balk at the fact that they have to buy the game all over again. And then, you have the people that bought the game recently because they heard about the expansion and assumed that they would need the core game to experience the expansion, now they are faced with the idea that they are going to have to buy a game that they already paid for in the last couple months all over again…

Phat Stackage.5329:

Nice way to treat all the players that just bought your game recently

Seriously unfair, I finally convinced my girlfriend and another friend to pick up the game since it was only $40. Now they release this and I find out they could have got the game free. What a big “kitten you”.

xitsLuisx.2480:

What about people who got the game last week? They wasted their money and could have got the game for free… ?

Perhaps they can file a support ticket. Anet has been responsive to such things in the past. It’s no guarantee, but worth a try.

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

To clarify: $50 is the price of the expansion. We included the core game as a free bonus to make it easier for new players to get into it.

LOL Ok have fun selling that

What about people who got the game last week? They wasted their money and could have got the game for free… ?