Guild Wars 2

Animism.9803:

Yes and they have opened pre-orders for the game, why? It’s one big fat no from me at the moment.

Because E3, and because why not? Do they really need a reason…

andreic.4679:

I’m never pre-purchase a game before so I dont know how this work,if anny one could help my with this I would be relly happy

If i pre-purchase HoT from http://buy.guildwars2.com/store/gw2/en_IE/html/pbPage.heartofthorns?cid=90:5::::eu:6
will I get game box with standard purchase or onli a promo code to unlock game for my acc?

The purchase is digital, so no boxes… retail pre-purchases will probably become available at some point if that is what you prefer.

You (pre-)purchase the expansion you get a serial that can be used either to create a new account that has access to both GW2 as it is now and HoT when it launches or used to upgrade you existing account through the link below so your current account will have access to heart of thorns when it launches.

https://register.arena.net/content/code

Animism.9803:

This is GW2, we expect more, we are not receiving that.

Except that we can’t actually prove or disprove this claim in any way…. How much story content will there be at launch? What is the depth and amount of the “challenging group content”? How many maps will we have added total? How many unique events or mechanics will HoT add? Guild Halls alone are content that nothing like any previous content.

You know what CoD is like, and make a shallow comparison based on incomplete facts about HoT. The way I see it we are getting way more than CoD gets as DLC for one of their iterations already. You can’t compare maps in a shooter to GW2 maps at all.

SirDrygan.1823:

Anyways, even with 2 maps, it just like the Living story maps Drytop and Silverwaste. And we get that for free! (at least that’s what we think).

You are implying ArenaNet should give 50$ worth of content that is applicable for every player by saying WvW and Guild Halls are irrelevant. This is of course an impossible equation.

And you say even with two maps, for starters Verdant Brink is much bigger than either Silwerwastes or Dry Top and we do not know if there are more PvE maps than the two we have seen parts of, more than likely yes. In the core game a region consists from 4-7 zones or maps. and we know that one of the Guild Hall maps is near the edge of Maguuma Wastes (Silverwastes & Dry Top) implying that HoT maps are not necessarily part of Maguuma Wastes region.

There is also “challenging group content” that is not the same as open world content, as per Colin’s semi-recent post (though you have to read between the lines for this)

Animism.9803:

Crise.9401:

Machiavell.7396:

Pretty much yes… Amount of content compared to base game is so low that 45 euro feels like buying yet another CoD.

CoD, which ironically costs more than that…

And CoD’s DLC prices and content? The similarity and difference?

How is HoT similar to CoD DLC please elaborate… CoD DLC is nothing compared to HoT. Please pay attention to the post quoted before replying. I was asking that person how can one draw a parallel between HoT and CoD, they are not comparable at all.

Or are you implying HoT is nothing more than a rehashed cashcow like CoD is.

Machiavell.7396:

Pretty much yes… Amount of content compared to base game is so low that 45 euro feels like buying yet another CoD.

CoD, which ironically costs more than that…

Uncertain expansion… it is not any more uncertain than GW2 for its pre-purchases, I would argue less so. Regardless, your post makes it sound like there is a chance that the expansion could get canned.

Well, in theory you are right and if it does ArenaNet is responsible for reimbursing those who paid for an undelivered product (this is no kickstarter after all). So unless ArenaNet files for bankruptcy (which is arguably far less likely than before GW2 was released) there is very little chance of us loosing the money for the purchase we make.

We don’t owe ArenaNet, but they don’t owe us either they are free to decide on the price of their goods (or in this case them and NCSoft most likely) just as much as we are free to either buy them or not.

SirDrygan.1823:

I do not feel that opening 1 map.

Not that I necessarily disagree with you, but this whole HoT = 1 map is just factually incorrect. HoT = 1 region would be correct though (regions in the base game are from 4-7 maps).

We already know there are at least two PvE maps (Verdant Brink and the other one from specialization live streams) + 2 maps for guild halls and a WvW borderlands map. And that is likely not all of them.

I am indifferent about my purchase… I would never say no to additional value, but ~1,500 hours on the clock in the base game 50$ doesn’t seem steep at all.

If this controversy causes action from ArenaNet, good… if not, that is also fine.

It means it will not be available as an upgrade like digital deluxe / heroic edition is now in the game store ie. post launch.

Oh my god… this post is priceless in more ways than one :P

MashMash.1645:

And that in itself is a HUGE problem. They want us to buy into this not great deal, yet have told us barely anything about it. It’s basically gambling.

Which is why pre-orders or in this case pre-purchases are a really bad idea and you shouldn’t partake in the practice if you have any reservations such as those.

Jordo.5913:

When pre-purchasing the game through the official website or through select retailers, there are four available tiers.

Heroic Edition ($49.99 USD)

Heroic Edition did not exist at launch, the pricing changed when they introduced that… the pricing at launch was as below:

The Guild Wars 2 Collector’s Edition retails at $149.99 MSRP, the Digital Deluxe at $79.99 MSRP and the Standard/Digital Edition at $59.99 MSRP.

https://us.ncsoft.com/en/news/press-releases/guild-wars-2-pre-purchase-now-live.php

Firebaall.5127:

Solutions:

1) Every expansion package, including the $50 option comes with at least 1 character slot.
2) Every preexisting account that upgrades to the expansion is given a key code for an additional copy of the base standalone game.

I agree with this, but I don’t think they will do it… at least not number 2, because they probably want to eliminate new purchases of the old SKU associated with the base game (ie. they don’t want to create new keys for the base game anymore).

hapvis.7059:

In this pre-purchase event, new players get FREE GW2 core but old players get nothing.
Is it some kind of punishment for the players have GW2 core no matter how long they have this game?

It is not punishment for existing players but incentive for new players. The way people should look at this is that MSRP for HoT would be 50$ regardless whether they included the base game for new players or not.

You are being asked to buy HoT for 50$ not the base game + HoT for 50$, so if you think HoT is worth 50$ buy it, if not don’t.

Jordo.5913:

Shifu.4321:

To put it into perspective, the cost of HoT is equivalent to 3 unlimited harvesting tools, 1 outfit, and 1 hairstyle kit.

Think about that.

HoT is going to have less story, less maps, no dungeons, and about 1/3 of the original games total content.

Yet, costs the same amount of money as the original game at launch.

Think about that.

Original game was 59,99 at launch as far as I recall… and where is your source on that estimation of content in HoT we know next to nothing about the extent of PvE content at this point.

ZeftheWicked.3076:

Try europe where it costs the same but in euros – 1/3 more expensive…

Because in EU digital goods have VAT. US prices don’t show taxes and their taxing of digital sales is different from ours. Sure it sucks but 1/3 more expensive is not entirely accurate either.

Gaile Gray on reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/3a46s4/preorders_for_heart_of_thorns_are_now_live/cs966l5

Take that as you will, but I see it as this being a permanent change.

https://register.arena.net/login?redirect=%2Fcontent%2Fcode

http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/3a46s4/preorders_for_heart_of_thorns_are_now_live/cs96lfu

This is currently the only official statement on the issue. For refunds in general, see here: https://help.guildwars2.com/entries/27697743-Refunds most of that will apply to this instance as well.

Trust me it will

The Guild Halls look awesome and not only that the trailer was really well done, can’t wait for Friday. This is also something people should read: http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=36174

Zappix.7928:

And this foolish move along with shafting the Vet players has most likely cost them and the share holders $$$$$$$$.

It might, but you don’t know that and neither do I…. the forums represent a small subset of the community, now if this subset represents the community as a whole then I don’t argue on the subject. However, ultimately only ArenaNet and NCSoft known how HoT is selling and/or if this community outcry is a vocal minority or something to actually pay attention to.

InfinitytheSoulWarden.5963:

The only arguments supporting the price ive seen is

1. $50 is standard for MMO DLC

2. $50 is not that much

seriously those are the only 2 arguments and are easily beaten back by arguing logic.

Let’s add a third argument to that list then… ArenaNet and by extension NCSoft are businesses responsible first and foremost to their shareholders (and people who want to argue semantics, ANet is a subsidiary of NCSoft) and if you think for a second it is solely on ArenaNet’s discretion on how the Expansion Pack is priced and sold you are most likely pretty far off the mark.

elkirin.8534:

I did not see it as too bad but saying that is apparently not allowed.

Typical forum mentality on display there…

http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/3a46s4/preorders_for_heart_of_thorns_are_now_live/cs96lfu

For those that this price actually stinks, the above comment is worth linking to… for everyone else, tough luck vote with your wallets then.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/3a46s4/preorders_for_heart_of_thorns_are_now_live/cs96lfu

They are not leaving the customers that recently purchased the core game at 40$ without a means of recourse. It is just the entitled people who bought and have played the game for a long time that are out of luck.

Is their pricing a great deal for veteran players, hell no… is it something to be all broken up about, also definitely a no. HoT is not a required purchase to keep playing after all.

I don’t agree on the price controversy as whole, I think 50$ is a fair price for an expansion if they deliver enough content.

But I can agree on the fact that their messaging and the actual purchase offer live now are contradictory, if not strictly technically, but definitely in practice.

T raw.4658:

It’s a rip off at the current price point for what you get. You look at other MMO expansions and they are much beefier than what HoT is.

You may very well be right, but the jury is still out on that one… we don’t know the total number of maps in HoT (although now we can do some math Verdant Brink + “Map Shown during specialization reveals” + 2x Guild Hall maps, that based on their statements seem like more or less small to medium sized zones, but I doubt that is all) nor do we know anything about their “challenging group content” or how much story content there will be (it is going to be hard to gauge it anyways with the lack of levels even if they had said something about it).

upsdn.5426:

Dead.5829:

Bought. Good deal for what you get.

Good deal?

And how!

It is a good deal compared to the deluxe version on the same page (and who can see themselves spending money on gems), not so good for people who just bought the core game though. The way I see the 50$ price tag of the new base game is 10$ for Guild Wars 2 40$ for HoT.

For someone who bought the core game at launch, while I can certainly see the controversy, I am not going to be all broken up about it. Especially after checking my /age. If HoT has 40-50 hours of brand new content (not counting hours spent replaying said content) I am quite content with my purchase if not it is going to sting a bit and make me re-evaluate my purchases in the future but for me if they achieve $1 per hour content ratio I am quite satisfied with this price.

Edit: also bought the ultimate version… even if I am mainly talking about the base version above.

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?

No it is not… it is a single key you redeem on your account that changes the SKU associated with it.

As long as they deliver at least 50 hours of brand new content I am with OP, otherwise it stings a bit… I think if they achieve at least dollar an hour content ratio any price is fair for the expansion.

Carbon Footprint.3421:

For the rich/desperate suckers who want to waste the money just to be in the beta.

Well, it will be 50$ at retail as well when it actually comes out, so it is not like you are saving money by waiting it out either.

Regina’s answer basically confirms this… the MSRP for the expansion is what is listed on buy.guildwars2.com for your region right now. (and likely also that there will be two retail versions the base one and “deluxe” one).

I find it unlikely that they would give any solid dates… perhaps pre-purchases (and/or betas) and at most something vague like “coming for the holidays” or whatnot. I think even that is being too optimistic.

Remember that this is not ANet exclusive event thingy (as in they are part of that whole PC Gamer thing at E3), based on that alone I would temper expectations somewhat.

If they want to make a splash they could do it, but it seems rather mixed/contradictory messaging from what we have been given up until now.

Being a test with no NDA attached at this stage of development, they aren’t going to throw people in the thick of it.

These tests seem to have a clear specific purpose on their end, ie. they probably have stuff set up to collect certain kind of metrics and data, that wouldn’t be there on live. Since this beta was open doors in terms of coverage it makes sense they set up the tests so that they can get useful data out of it without making it seem like the game is completely broken at the same time (hence why no new traits system was in I am guessing for example, if it would have even been possible to include it selectively, see below).

Also, due to how they are conducting these betas inside the live client I am guessing that places certain restrictions on things. They probably have QA testers on a separate client under doing tests under NDA as per usual.

Beta times are set up for ArenaNet, they just happen to be in the US so obviously it favors the US players.

Events like this will always be scheduled when they have people in office, so unless there is separate times for different regions assume that the times will always be skewed in their favor.

Tarsius.3170:

Crise.9401:

I like the tomes as a mechanic, however, I also fully support the idea of turning them into signets and bringing tomes back as a separate fleshed out elite specialization at a later date.

Only courage is a signet, wrath is a shout

Same difference really, in both cases the current clumsy tomes will become something that work with traits while the possibility of having a tome specialization that can have proper synergy and be re-designed more freely if necessary rather than shoehorning them as is into some existing category.

I like the tomes as a mechanic, however, I also fully support the idea of turning them into signets and bringing tomes back as a separate fleshed out elite specialization at a later date.

This is a win win, regardless of whether you like tomes as they are or not, because as an elite spec tomes can be made into something more than a gimmick while vanilla Guardians can get two powerful skills out of to replace their gimmicky versions in the mean time.

I kind of get where the people of the same mindset as the OP in this topic are coming from. However, having to re-unlock skills with hero points that are given to character based on that specific characters progress related its level and skill challenges completed might be the only real way they can implement migration to this system realistically.

They probably don’t have the data about how a character unlocked a specific trait or skill. Whether a trait was unlocked through exploration or a trait guide. There is no way to put a value on time invested anyways, and without the data about trait guide usage (because storing such data at least on such long term on the off chance it might be necessary is wasteful) it is impossible to make a more accurate migration than what I outlined above.

And even if there was a way to exactly refund the costs, there is always a point after which any in-game investment should be considered non-refundable because of the impacts sudden surges of in-game resources have on the economy.

In short there is no way they can retain any players current investment 1:1 with reasonable effort because the new system is so different and a migration path that is only ever used once should not be overly complicated.

Personally, I would rather see them have the freedom to design new systems as they please rather than be overly concerned about the transition and have that limit their possibilities to design new systems.

People are probably going to frown on me for saying this, but I actually like the possibility of having a single API key for more than one the services I use on my account.

Until every app can be granted meaningful separate privileges (the account api is the only authorized API we have right now, correct?) there is no real reason to have separate API keys for every application, other than malicious apps and possible per app throttling. However, the API really doesn’t nor should it ever allow much malicious behavior (and chances are by the time user realizes the app is malicious the damage would be done).

From developer point of view, this change has no real positives… assuming you are already conceptually familiar with OAuth2 and/or have a working implementation you can use. But for developers new to all of this it will lower the barrier to entry, which I think (correct me if wrong), is the goal here. This eliminates the need for writing or using “middleware” style code by being single API secret that is stateless in that it does not expire or have different types.

Ticket: 1457484

5 days old, not a peep.

What exactly is happening regarding skill points… I mean I have an almost full stack of them in my bank right now.

The way it seems is you want hero points to be a finite currency per character, so if I spend my skill points on a character that doesn’t yet have all traits (but has all skills) and let them sit as accumulated skill points on that character what will happen to them vs holding on to this stack until the changes go live.

Also, there has been some seriously mixed messaging regarding which part of these changes are HoT exclusive and which will be share with the base game (aside from the obvious bit about elite specializations).

Regarding this mixed messaging, and I quote, “We were told specifically these were features to come in preparation for Heart of Thorns.” So what is the actual official statement on this.

Also, what about racial skills… will they also be subject to being assigned a skill type as the other typeless skills do, or do they perhaps get a type of their own (this would suck, no need to make them even weaker, that said racial skills need a pass of some description because some of them are far more utilitary or plain stronger than the rest… yes take root I am looking at you and then I glance towards my power suit.)

Gaile Gray.6029:

Iason — I am not sure about the answer to this. As pdavis and mtpelion point out, the wallet is account bound and does not have a limit. So I’m curious why you feel a second storage option is needed.

For instance for parents playing together with their children. Technically I guess your ToS implies that the parent should buy an entirely separate account for the minor (and depending on the age or likely commitment to the game this is of course appropriate), however, if the explicit purpose is to play together with your child (and by together I mean on the same computer, not as in together in the game) this can be impractical and reliance purely on the account wallet inconvenient.

Also, on a more general note, it does help to deter impulse purchases, ie. the account wallet is at times too convenient, it makes splurging on a whim quite easy. Or in other words a separate storage makes saving easier.

Eidolonemesis.5640:

You know, the more I see wrong with this patch and the hatestorm of comments that has come along with it, the more I think someone malicious on the Anet developer team made these bugs happen on purpose and thought it funny. Think about it… Most of these bugs have nothing to do with what was actually changed.

The tinfoilhat is strong in this one… you’d have to be very upset to be willing to loose your job over this. The current employment landscape hardly lends itself for protests that involve getting yourself fired. If you have watched the old GDC panel ANet had you’d know that nothing goes into the game without a clear record being made, so as soon as they had fixed few of these issues they’d probably see a pattern if there was one.

Odyssey.2613:

Another possibility, and IMO a more likely explanation, is under paid/over worked staff, absolutely inept internal testing team(which I’ve heard is outsourced), coupled with lazy department heads, along with limp wristed CEOs that don’t demand high standards.

About their quality assurance, they have both smaller in-studio team of QA personnel and a larger outsourced QA team if I recall correctly.

Echo.3741:

Re-zone with the items in your inventory to convert them to the new itemtype.

Cheers, now to hope this also fix the bday scrolls as well… hey we can hope.

YourFriendMarvin.4127:

Did they fix this yet or is it still possible?

Nothing has been said, but as has been pointed out in this topic while it is commonplace it is not entirely guaranteed either. I wouldn’t go chasing this though, there is no saying how they will handle this… either way it is damage control going forward.

The only thing that has been officially fixed is the vendor problem as per recent addendum to the patch notes.

Odyssey.2613:

That’s not what I was referring to. If you recall, the NPE/China release patch was riddled with numerous bugs as well. To the point, it felt like a beta for the upcoming game.

Fair enough, that being said… there seems to be something in common between that update and this (ie. two major separately developed revisions of the game being “merged” into live, then it was the China release and now it is quite clearly bunch of the HoT stuff).

I find it very difficult to believe anyone at ANet was expecting this, though they must have seen something because it was delayed once, which makes it even more puzzling. Some unforseen complications must be at play here related to merging different development versions together. There is no way these kind of issues (well the HoM issue might have as that is a very dated system that is likely not linked to anything but the live servers, but all this other shenanigans no way) would ever have passed even the most lax of QA passes if they were happening on their development or stage clients.

Mister TaCo.8135:

have you seen this patch? They need to just revert to previous build and continue “polishing” this update. Can’t imagine what the update would’ve been like if they released it last Tuesday.

If I had to guess, the complications came as a byproduct from moving from development environment to live, otherwise there is no way any self-respecting developer would approve a patch to be pushed out the door in a state like this.

It seems pretty clear that their HoT changes and live changes have begun to merge from the degree of “useless” changes in the dat file of the game today, whether this was intentional or not no one but them know. Regardless though, quite clearly something has to have gone wrong big time. Sure, bugs get through some times even from the best developers. But this patch is on a different level, as in it is in a worse state than most of the beta versions of GW2 we got to play pre-launch.

Odyssey.2613:

This patch, along with the NPE/China release should have never, never, never went live. If I performed like this at my work, they would fire me.

Well, when it comes to NPE it is subjective matter because we are talking about intentional changes (although 1 spamming through tutorial is boring as ever), but I completely agree that the most recent patch as it is now should not have gone live.

rodadams.5963:

I had 4 Gifts of Exploration in my bank from many months back. With today’s change on WvW, I’m finishing mapping on other characters. However, the new Gifts of Exploration do not seem to be stacking with the old ones. Is this intentional? It’s rather annoying to have a second bank slot taken up for these long haul items.

Same deal as with many of the blacklion consumables, chat codes and/or item texts have changed. if you have a stack of old items splitting said stack will “convert” the old items to the new one, however, even then you will be left with a single copy of the item with an old chat code that there is currently no way to fix.

Delune.4817:

Plus get rid of this new stability nerf kitten.

That is definitely not going to happen, even if they rollback the patch… which they should do ASAP if it is something that they are considering. The stability changes were intentional and made public knowledge when they first showed Revenant to us. So whatever their game plan is for getting through this the stability changes would come back sooner or later.