Guild Wars 2

Oneabove.4167:

Before I start writing this I must say that the question is directed to ANet.

The new expansion frankly leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Meanwhile I can afford to buy it and prepurchase and probably will do soon I want to explain some things and ask some questions. The GW2 base game price was: 50 usd/ 60usd/ 80usd. The GW2 plus HoT is now 45 eur/ 75 eur/ 100eur. Providing the fact that there are a tremendous amount of players that bought the game at the before mentioned prices I totally disagree with the marketing strategy that you adopted and I will explain why. A veteran who really loves GW and played probably through the whole series has to take out of his pocket another at least 45 eur for expansion pack, a player that has been loyal to you since a long long time and which seems now you don’t give a kitten about. Yet the new players that pay 45 eur will have access to content valued at 90 eur if we do a simple math and ofc scale it with the Deluxe, Ultimate, OP edition or w/e.

In addition to this both the old and the new player wouldn’t be available to have this really basic things:

1. Showing up his own name tag on the HUD (really ANet? Sorry but I’m a programmer and I know for sure that this is not a big deal.)
2. Dueling system that should have been available for ages.
3. More dungeon content.
4. A bit of a revamp of the drops since it takes literally ages to build a legendary.
5. More variety in build development.

And the list can still go on but I want to point out basic features only. Now to wrap it up:

Why do we have this expansion and this outrageous marketing strategy and no listening to what players do actually want?

Actually the base game price was 59.99$ for base and 79.99$ for deluxe. I don’t remember the price for the CE, but i know it was higher then 100$. Compared to the price for HoT right now, it is, tho not by much, cheaper. Whether you think the price it is now is worth it is all on you to decide.

As for the additions you mentioned:
1. I guess it would be nice, but it would have to come with a way to disable that because i personally don’t like it when you walk around with your name tag above your head.

2. Dueling has been brought up couple times, but its not something thats missing because its not something that HAS to be there, some people i’m sure would like it, but its not essential in the least as far as i know. So while it would be nice to have this as a feature , doesnt mean it “should” . Oh but i do think you can duel in spvp maps if you set them up or something like it, not rly sure about all that.

3. I would love to see more dungoen content, but the dungeon team was disbanded, we still have to get more information about the hard content that they ahve mentioned before, but it was stated that it didnt apply to open world bosses like the Wyvern we’ve seen in demo’s so i’m hoping that when we get more information about it, there will be some instanced group content like dungeons, tho i’m sure they’ll have another name for it. But until they reveal more information about it we can’t be certain what the hard content is reffering too

4. this was actually talked about, something about map reward bonuses, its been quite a while since the blogpost (https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/a-legendary-journey/) But it has been mentioned, i hope you find what you seek in there

5. I guess the elite specs will bring some more variety but i’m not sure that’s what you’re looking for ^^

Chameleon Dude.1564:

Paul Ella.2037:

You do have a choice of using SMS or the Authenticator and it is optional, but we encourage you to make your accounts more secure and to say thanks you get a free mini mystical dragon.

Win/win!!

I wouldn’t call that a win/win situation. I don’t have a mobile (or for Americans, cell) phone. I also don’t want a phone call to my landline in the event that someone’s trying to access my account, due to personal reasons. All I’m reading here is that there’s another unobtainable item in the game for me. I appreciate what you’re doing to make things more secure for the less savvy members of the playerbase; but tying an item to the system is a bit silly.

Oh well. As much as I love this game, it’s never been very completionist friendly, so I guess one more gap won’t hurt.

You can use the desktop authenticator, which doesnt require a phone of any kind.

Dolphin.2574:

And what if someone doesn’t have a Smartphone?
How do they get the Mini?
I would be quite surprised that ANet would now be segregating rewards to the haves and have nots outside the game.

there is a desktop authenticator so even ppl without smartphones can still get it.

Yes, prepurchasers of HoT get the “Maguuma Trailblazer” title

Tskales.2804:

Diovid.9506:

Greedy for making a high quality buy once, play forever game with free updates and a payed expansion? Got it.

Greedy for charging for something we’ve already paid for.

dsslive.8473:

Ye hell, why even pay for internet, they should jsut give it to us for free!! /s

Every prodecut costs money to produce, get over it

You’re hysterical.

Nobody is expecting a handout.

Isn’t that basically what you said tho? “We should jsut be able to download the expansion” Kinda sounds to me like you want it a product for free. I could be wrong, maybe you meant something else, but thats how it came across to me. Feel free to clarify if it meant something else.

Also they’re not charging you for something you alrdy payed for, the base game is free , it does not affect the cost of the expansion whatsoever. Even without the added basegame for new players, it’d still be $50

Tskales.2804:

Easily the lamest move Anet has made to date.

We should be able to just download the expansion, but no they have to be greedy.

Ye hell, why even pay for internet, they should jsut give it to us for free!! /s

Every prodecut costs money to produce, get over it

You don’t get the base game as an exisiting player, which is what it says. When prepurchasing HoT, NEW players will get gw2 as a free bonus to make it easier for them to come into the game, vets dont, since they alrdy have the game. It’s a bonus for anyone new to the game, vets get a character slot.

i doubt it, the base will mostly likely remain the same, sure there may be a tweak here or there, but overall not that much will change.

Linken.6345:

But your not the only thing that have been presented to us is the announcement trailer and there we see, what I have stated hammer wielder probabely engineer staff wielder ranger

And a rifle medium armor guy most likely thief.

As i have said before, the guy with the rifle is very likely not an elite spec teaser. Why do i say so? let me repeat what i wrote earlier:

The guy with the rifle is an off focus random dude amongst 2 other npcs, the focus in that shot goes from the sylvari (in heavy armor with shield/sword) to that dragon thing. Now look at every single other spec teaser in that trailer. All of them are the main focus and show of their weapon in action. None of them are off focus amongst other random dudes.

Is thief rifle a possibility? sure anything is, since nothing is announced yet. However the announcement trailer does not present any proof, it’s not evidence of anything, unlike it was for mesmer /engi/ranger who all got their time in the spotlight.

What we do have is recent datamining whih has alrdy shown to be parts correct (the ele eite spec picture that was datamined and the warhorn) that is actual evidence. Does it make it fact? no it doesnt. But treating an off-focus npc in that trailer as evidence of anything other than a medium guy with a rifle (like , lets say engi) is kinda stretching it.

No one is claiming anything as fact, people are just speculating based on things that were found/datamined. And nothing of it all points to rifle. That’s why people are coming across as being sure its staff (even tho they’re stil not stating it as fact) because off all the things found the only evidence that ahs been found has pointed to staff.

But sure, it could be rifle, then again it could be any weapon, nothings officially announced yet, and i’m sensing you don’t really care about anything otehr than keeping the argument going even if it means grasping evey last straw out there.

Have fun with that i’m jsut going to wait and see what the thief will be getting, no point arguing about it since at this point in time its prolly alrd set in stone, whatever weapon it is.

Linken.6345:

oh that staff wielding picture you found could be a revenant, do revenant wield a staff oh yes they do

sebradle i guess next your going to say that the one sporting a hammer and drones can be a warrior

There is a clear difference between the two parts, one is a random dude amongst other guys, he isnt even the main focus, the sylvari dude is. The other guy has the screen all for himself and is showing off what he can do, just like all the other specs the trailer gave a look at.

Linken.6345:

sebradle.7034:

CodeHavoc.7926:

1) Data mined info is not gospel, Anet can change anything at anytime. (As seen with tempest)
2) Teef maybe getting rifle seems more themed with an infiltration type class.

What seems to more thief themed is entirely your opinion and not gospel.

All most people in the pro-staff crowd are saying is that there is more concrete (data-mined) evidence that supports thief getting staff while there is zero actual evidence that shows thief will get rifle. All the pro-rifle crowd can conjure up is their opinions on what they feel anet is thinking and the perpetuation of the one unique weapon per an elite spec myth.

And the announcement video were we see a medium guy wielding a hammer and a medium guy sporting a rifle and already know last medium guy will get staff.
But then again same video shows a staff that looks like a spear being wielded aswell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOUk2y0K2m8

Look 01:04-01:09 and tell me that looks like a staff.

To be fair, all elite spec teasers were shown in their own right in action. Engi bashing wolves with his hammer and flying turrets, mesmer with her shield and wells, etc

The medium guy with rifle shows up amongst 2 other random npc’s, shows of nothing at all unlike the others. Honestly he looks more like a random npc (just like the other 2) as part of the trailer than a teaser of a spec to come. It’s not like he had a definitive thief vibe.

There is way too much hope put on what looks to be an npc. Compare that footage to all the actual elite spec teasers in that trailer.

Cronomancer is my obvious favorite as a mesmer main

tho second place is defiantely tempest, followed by dragonhunter and reaper a bit further behind.

I think a musical mesmer themed specialisation could be fun.

Give her a warhorn, add some conjured weapons in the form of various instruments and spread the joy (and pain) with musical tunes

Would be the perfect way to introduce the Minstrel.

Dont really have any more detail (sorry for that) but thought it was a fun concept to share anyway, even if its not a full one.

Sonja Teh Trapper.7012:

well i am in a guild that mostly solo an has about 47 members. but most have not been around or are in other guilds. plus most of our members have not played in a year or so. getting a guild hall sounds easy but with only 3 members that i know of that are active it be tough to get our guild hall for hot i am thinking. as for the missions that a guild has to do how can u know when members are available? i seem to be the only active at times rest are either in wvw, pvp or out solo exploring. i know my question seems silly in some ways. but i do not lfg much for help. an how can u know when its your guilds day for a bounty, trek or challanges? these are all going to be interesting to me if i ever get to try an get a bounty reward done in my guild

Usually guilds have a guildsite where they post the times/dates for upcoming events (guildmissions etc) or even use the guild panel to announce stuff (you can leave a message to the guild.

Some guilds even have a kind of poll to ask the players what time/date is preffered by its members. It’s really all in the hands of the guild to decide how they communicate with eachother and let others know of whats going on.

I’m definately looking forward to trying it out after watching the stream, looks like a really fun weapon and the overcharges seem pretty cool.

Astralporing.1957:

Palador.2170:

ronpierce.2760:

It came out as an ascended weapon with the other elite specialization weapons. Normal skins are datamined as skins or white items. It’s the same way we knew about Warhorn Ele. Plugging your ears and going lalala doesn’t really change what they added to the games files… :/

Question: Did the datamined files also include a staff for the Druid? We know they’re getting staff as their weapon, so it makes sense that it would be included. No need to hide it, right? Or was there only one staff, the one assumed to be for the Thief Elite?

There were two staves, none of which looked druid-like.

the other staff looks very similar to the one the revenant was wielding in the HoT trailer, only difference is the spikey part on the top but that could be an effect that happens when it “activated” instead of sheated. (the top thing opening and putting the spikes outward)

you can mix and match

While not weapons, the tempest did get shouts, just like the reaper, showing that anet has no problem giving the same type to more than one spec.

The fact that there hasnt been anything doubled yet doesnt really say anything at all. actually, knowing that the warhorn that got datamined in the exact same batch as the thief staff only makes it more likely.

ofcourse nothing is officially announced, but i wouldn’t exctly say the chances are any different than they were before there were even any spec announcements to begin with.

Caithe, Tybalt and ofc the wonderful Anise

Oh and little Taimi

there will be weekends announced, know as beta weekend events, that will let you playtest some of the Hot parts, like the revenant, one of the new zones, etc.

These weekends will be announced before hand and are the only times you have acces to the beta.

You bought a PRE-purchase, the HoT content will become available to your account once its released.

BunjiKugashira.9754:

What the hell is that thing? It looks too long to be a dagger + it has a guard.

it’s her hand ^^

Druid hasn’t yet had his official info release so all we can say with certainty is that we’ll have a staff and be called druids. Other than that it’s waiting for more information to come.

There will be no higher tier than ascended , ever, all new armor in HoT will have the same stats but all kinds of different looks to chase.

So no worries you’re bifrost will be perfectly save and still be awesome.

(waiting for HoT to get my bifrost too finished everything over a year ago but rng hates me when it comes to precursors :p )

Behellagh.1468:

dsslive.8473:

skowcia.8257:

They said they would do balance patch every 2 weeks right after specialization changes.. A patch should be yesterday. How i can take them serious at this point?

oh did not know about that, maybe the balancing just isnt ready to release yet? you cant force it.

Well as I said I don’t think that’s true but a rumor started with hope it’ll get repeated enough that people like you would assume it’s true and possibly join them in bad mouthing the company. One of the oldest tactics to sway public opinion.

well anyone is free to post a source, i don’t really care enough to go find it myself.

Whether there should have been a patch or not, doesn’t really matter. If not, then well no patch happened none was announced so, no harm no foul. If there was supposed to be a patch, it got delayed, big deal, obviously something wasn’t ready to be released. And forcing an unfinished balance patch to go through would only make things worse instead of having a little bit of patience and have things fixed (if they need fixing) properly.

Also, on badmouthing, there’s really nothing to be accomplished there, you really just ome off as whiny and nobody likes that :p Have something to say, say it respectfully and constructively (unlike the current warhorn storm )

skowcia.8257:

They said they would do balance patch every 2 weeks right after specialization changes.. A patch should be yesterday. How i can take them serious at this point?

oh did not know about that, maybe the balancing just isnt ready to release yet? you cant force it.

Wwefan.4982:

Emm elite specs are not connected to masteries its hero points that unlock them.

ye the skills and traits are, but are the skins you get also through that system? from what i read (and i’m completely possible to be wrong coze my memory isnt that great^^) it seemed as if the skins will be unlocked in a similar way to masteries by playing the elite spec, could be wrong tho , but thats the impression i got :p

Azel.4786:

Laraley.7695:

Starfleck.8392:

I’m excited for more storms! hehe

Seems like the only people excited about wh are the ones who would like to call storms.

Go count how many skills already alow ele to do that.

Exactly, I seriously don’t understand why there is a minority that is excited with the prospect of playing the exact same style for another long period (until a new spec is made) – possibly even in a dumbed down format with a likely mechanic that promotes not using your class mechanic, but just attune camping.

i’d love to see the numbers on this saying people who like the warhorn are in a minority. Also, since you alrready know the exact playstyle it will give mind giving us some insight in the spec? i mean they haven’t revealed anything about it yet but you seem so knowledgable.

seriously tho, can we please wait on judging the gameplay of the new spec till we actualy have some information on it?

They didn’t say anything about a patch, so i don’t know why you were expacting one.the whole “every 2 weeks” was for living story which is done now (atleast until HoT) it didnt reffer to anything else, balance patches will be released when they’re ready.

the skin can only be goten by completing what i assume is a mastery track bound to each specialization, but once unlocked it will be like any other skin and free to use on all characters through the wardrobe system.

So no worries , your warrior will be able to use the chronomancer shield.

Raif.9507:

dsslive.8473:

And as i responded to you earlier, i believe, you are free not to use it, there is still more to enjoy from the new spec

but it doesnt mean warhorn is a bad addition, just not what some people would have wanted or were hoping for .

Looks are one of the most important things about my characters and i have plenty characters i have use a weapon because it looks great with the overal look even if its not the best weaponset the burdens of creating the perfect look ^^

Anyhow, can’t wait to find out what the weapon will offer and the spec in general.

Any addition is good, but it has to be a something worthwhile for it to be healthy for the game. Adding content for the sake of adding content isn’t good if it isn’t something that is worthwhile. It becomes a waste of resources if it isn’t something used.

That said, we need to actually see Tempest before it can be said that it isn’t something worthwhile.

Well yeah, but like you said can’t call it not worthwile without seeing what it does. And not liking whats added doesnt make it a worthless addition, either, unless ofc there is a universal agreement that it sucks.

Raif.9507:

dsslive.8473:

the fun of a weapon comes from its skills and how its used. .

Subjective, I like looking at my weapon too and if it doesn’t visually appease me (skin wise and animation), I won’t use it even if it’s OP and has interesting mechanics. I wouldn’t use focus till I could make Anomaly as I just couldn’t stand the eyesore that most of the foci are to me.

I don’t mind the handicap though, the more challenge the better. I will agree that we need to wait to see what it offers though, but I can say that there’s an 80% chance I won’t use it solely based on that.

And as i responded to you earlier, i believe, you are free not to use it, there is still more to enjoy from the new spec

but it doesnt mean warhorn is a bad addition, just not what some people would have wanted or were hoping for .

Looks are one of the most important things about my characters and i have plenty characters i have use a weapon because it looks great with the overal look even if its not the best weaponset the burdens of creating the perfect look ^^

Anyhow, can’t wait to find out what the weapon will offer and the spec in general.

skullfaerie.7203:

dsslive.8473:

Well if i was expecting weapon x instead of weapon y , i’d be bit disappointed too (the burdens of datamining :p). And ye there are many posters that dont like the warhorn and are expressing that , but its a fraction of the playerbase. Most likely they’ll get over it since you’re not forced into the weapon.

Personally i like the warhorn as a weapon and find it very fitiing for a “tempest” spec, but reality is that until i know more about the entire spec i can’t judge whether it will be good or not.

People weren’t excited for mesmer shield either till they saw what it brought.

By that very same logic, the people expressing that they like the idea of the warhorn are only a fraction of the playerbase as well- an even smaller fraction, in fact. So, I don’t see your point with this particular argument.

As for shield- that is again in a totally different league. A shield always had the potential to be fun and interesting (imo). The warhorn, not so much. And the mesmer got an exciting-looking shield in addition to their exciting new skills, just in case there was any doubt. The ele…. well… the warhorn we’re getting doesn’t appear to be breaking any moulds for the weapon. It looks like someone took a horn and squeezed Decoden whipped cream all over it. Is that ugly thing meant to make the warhorn more appealing?
So far, the teaser gives me zero reason to believe this will be good. But, naturally, I reserve full judgment until after all is revealed. I just have little to no hope that anything could compensate for the actual weapon being a warhorn.

Never said that those who like it weren’t just a fraction too my point is that claiming “most/all/majority” hate it, is a non-argument because there are no statistics backing it up, in general its rly non-sensible argument (for both sides to use btw) and adds no real value to any discussion about it.

Warhorn has as much potential to be fun as a shield, subjective opinions aside, the fun of a weapon comes from its skills and how its used. Which this one piece of art doesnt really show and will hopefully be shown during the actual reveal. There are some really nice warhorn skins, tho i do agree, from the datamined picture, not a fan of the specific ones the ele’s get from their spec, then against i dont like the look of the chronomancer shield either. (i like the shield revenant supposedly will get for its elite spec much better looking )

I’ve always liked the warhorn as a weapon (can’t wait for them to add it to the mesmer -my main- in some hopefully awesome spec) i just dont rly play any of the professions that have them as a weapon atm, do like the ranger warhorn tho , but dont play ranger much. The big question is will the warhorn on ele be good/awesome, or the opposite, and we’ll get that answer later this week.

Hidori.3472:

Simplicity.7208:

ANet: “We saw how the elementalist was lacking in the support category, so for their elite specialization, we’ve decided to address this. The warhorn will bring much needed healing and condition cleanses to the elementalist which should help with their sustain. Meanwhile, since the thief is lacking in the melee weapon department, we’ve decided to address this by making their elite specialization a melee staff. This should help compliment the thief’s multitude of 1200 range weapons and lack of a solid melee option.”

“much needed healing and condition cleanses” on an ele? yea right

Could you please provide a link to that source? Or did you just make up the quote?

It’s obviously made up xD

Laraley.7695:

Did I ever say majority? No. I said ‘’a lot of people hated the idea’’ which is true. And there is a lot of people disappointed now. Good thing they care about lore more than the actual gameplay.

The “majority” thing wasnt just a response to you but most posters who dont like it that talk about how most ppl dont like it, so apologies for that, got slipped into it i guess but point still stands just slightly less relevant to yours. Ofcourse there will be people who are disappointed, there will always be people that are disappointed.

Well it is hard to judge the gameplay decision about it when we haven’t seen any gameplay of it, we know nothing of what it will offer. So can’t really judge something we so far know nothing about yet.

And choosing a weapon that fits the spec is important, “lets make a sniper elite spec and give it a shield!” bit of an exageration but the point still stands.

Bio Flame.4276:

The wishful thinking is strong with this one….

Not so much wishful thinking, just not judging what i know nothing about. I’ll save my opinion on this spec till i’ve seen the stream and read the blog. Till then its hard to be negative without some actual information.

skullfaerie.7203:

Seems to me that the negative opinions do outweigh the positive ones- taking into consideration that many of the ‘positive’ voices are still expressing disappointment, but take a ‘well, let’s wait and see’ or ‘maybe this can be good (but I have only meh ideas as to how)’ mentality, rather than outright excitement, which appears to be rare.

edit: formatting

Well if i was expecting weapon x instead of weapon y , i’d be bit disappointed too (the burdens of datamining :p). And ye there are many posters that dont like the warhorn and are expressing that , but its a fraction of the playerbase. Most likely they’ll get over it since you’re not forced into the weapon.

Personally i like the warhorn as a weapon and find it very fitiing for a “tempest” spec, but reality is that until i know more about the entire spec i can’t judge whether it will be good or not.

People weren’t excited for mesmer shield either till they saw what it brought.

Laraley.7695:

Gaile Gray.6029:

I really encourage y’all to turn into Points of Interest on Friday on our Twitch channel. They’ll be showing the warhorn and skills and all that good stuff, and then you can better get a view of how it works as the Elementalist’s elite specialization.

Will they also tell us why no one bothered to visit the ele forums and figure out there are so many people who hate the idea of warhorn? I would like to know that.

probably because its more important for the weapon to fit the spec or they know that the few ppl being unhappy with warhorn do not represent the majority of the community but just a fraction of the forumgoers which is already just a small fraction of the people who play the game?

Dont like warhorn? that’s fine, you dont have to use it to enjoy the new specialization but claiming that the “majority” hate warhorn because some are voal about it isnt exactly correct. Feel free to pull up the numbers that state that those who hate warhorn far outnumber those who love it, tho.

Obviously Anet saw the warhorn more fitting for an elite specialization to do with calling up storms (judging from the name “tempest” ) than something like sword. It’s definately a thing in lore with a famous horn called stormcaller.

There will always be people unhappy about something, there is no fixing that. So they decide what fits the specialization that they made instead of forcing themselves to the few vocal people who dont rly represent the majority. Tbf, its hard to get a real grasp of what the majority think about something when a lot of people dont even post or even visit the forums. After all, those unhappy with the weapon can still enjoy the other parts of the specialization with other weapons, one isnt forced into the warhorn.

Sword will probably come at some point, when new specs are announced.

Daroon.1736:

Lots of really interesting responses and to be honest I am fairly surprised.

It would appear that the only contentious issue is the ‘suspension’ of the core game account when expansions are released. If you take this away from the proposal, what we are left with is a discussion about pricing that ignores the main benefit that this model achieves, namely that all active players of the game have access to all the content available.

Obviously at the moment this is an emotive subject when applied to GW2 and HOT, so to try and bring some objectivity to the discussion, please allow me to alter the the context of the question slightly:

When Guild Wars 3 is announced, how would a $15 subscription model with a major expansion release every 30 months affect your decision to buy the game and why?

If gw3 were to be subscripstion based i would not buy it. When i buy a game i dont want to keep paying to keep acces to it.

As to the earlier question:
The idea for a lower price for vets but a getting your account banned if you dont buy the expansion is a big no and the outcry would do more harm than the cheaper expansion cost would be able to offset.

Ofcourse it would be great if it was only €15, hell it’d be awesome if it was free. But games cost money to develop and i have no problem paying for that development if i like what i see. After all even if the price is that big a deal, you can always wait for the inevitable sale down the road. I have prepurchased the expansion, the deluxe edition, yes its bit pricey, but i like what the game is bringing so for me its worth the money.

Dont worry they should return at some point

to put it simply you are NOT buying the basegame again, the expansion is what costs $50 , just the expansion. To make it easier for new players to get into it, the base game is given as a free addition. It does NOT influence the price of the expansion.

Knowing that, whether its worth it or not is for you to decide. You can always wait for the inevitable price lowering that comes with the expansion being out for some time and buy it then or not.

I think Minstrel for mesmer could work with giving it warhorn and conjured weapons. Kits dont sound very magical, so i’d think conjure skills would fit great in conjuring all different type of musical weaponry

4 Core legendaries, 1 elite specialization legendary and the future will most like follow the same with 1 elite spec legendary added for each elite spec

Emtiarbi.3281:

I can see a Fan weapon added to the game.

- Mesmer using Fan as the art in the Profession section
- Elementalists using fan to control the elements like Avatar Kyoshi
- Thief using a Fan in a Geisha assasin style -

Sadly there is already a Fan skin for focus weapons so i doubt it will be added as a seperate weapon type

Anet didn’t lie to you to “get your money” , you just failed to read what was said.

The prepurchase gives acces to Beta Weekend Events, not stress tests, not closed betas, not ALL beta’s, just Beta Weekend Events, like the revenant test this weekend (tho its more a precursor to real Beta Weekend Events)

“Beta Weekend events” is not the same as “All Beta’s” , its an important thing to remember

The tutorial maps have always been with other people

Now the other people will just be from servers other than your own

well, yeah, there is no “veteran’s discount”

everyone has to pay the same price for the new expansion, as is with every game that has expansions.

Well, people who don’t buy the expansion will be playing the same game they have for the last 3 years, with a new borderlands map and a new pvp mode- stronghold.

dsslive.8473:

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/upcoming-heart-of-thorns-closed-beta-tests/

Astralporing.1957:

Seera.5916:

The precedent had been set for closed betas being short hours on one day during the week.

Nope. The first beta was specifically a stress test (and was advertised as one beforehand). As such, it could hardly be a precedent for other betas. There is however a different precedent set – the betas for the core game. And you know what? They were weekend-long events.

Check the link in the above post and tell me how it was specifically advertised as a stress test despite it clearly saying closed beta?

The only test so far that was advertised as stress test was the wvw borderlands one.

thrag.9740:

Seera.5916:

thrag.9740:

dsslive.8473:

thrag.9740:

The portal beta was in no way advertised as a stress test as far as I can see. It was advertised as a beta. Why would people assume it was a stress test?

Can anyone find me where it was called a stress test? All I can find is the original post:
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/claim-your-spot-in-the-next-heart-of-thorns-closed-beta/

No it wasnt advertised as a stress test, so far the only stress test advertised was for the new wvw map.

But previous closed beta’s (announced as closed beta) should have given you an idea of what this one would be like. Here – https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/upcoming-heart-of-thorns-closed-beta-tests/ – was the very first closed beta announcement, a closed beta that was very short amount of time during the day. It was no different with the closed beta for which you could farm for a portal.

When there is clear precedent of what a closed beta is, i hardly see how this is even in the slightest “deceiving”.

How can you talk about precedent when your comparing a beta you get into through a random drawing to a beta you farm a rare drop for?

Because the precedent they were talking about wasn’t related to how the participants were chosen.

The precedent had been set for closed betas being short hours on one day during the week.

Sure. Or you can phrase it as "the precedent had been set for closed betas which you get into through random selection being short hours on one day during the week.

If stuff changes, you should expect different results. After all, in mmos, one of the best known precedents is, that actively working towards a goal should give better results than passively working towards it. So why would players expect a rare drop they farmed to be equivalent to random email selection?

Whether the method of obtaining a beta invite changed or not has no influence on what a closed beta actually is. It is not Anet’s fault you talked yourself into believing this closed beta would be special and be longer than the last one. They didn’t deveive anyone. They have no control in what you tell yourself something will be if you disregard the precedent set for it.

They chose the hours because they have to be hands on to get as much information as possible. This wasnt a marketing event, this was testing. Thus they need to be there working on it, thus it needs to fall during the time they work. It’s as simple as that.

thrag.9740:

The portal beta was in no way advertised as a stress test as far as I can see. It was advertised as a beta. Why would people assume it was a stress test?

Can anyone find me where it was called a stress test? All I can find is the original post:
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/claim-your-spot-in-the-next-heart-of-thorns-closed-beta/

No it wasnt advertised as a stress test, so far the only stress test advertised was for the new wvw map.

But previous closed beta’s (announced as closed beta) should have given you an idea of what this one would be like. Here – https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/upcoming-heart-of-thorns-closed-beta-tests/ – was the very first closed beta announcement, a closed beta that was very short amount of time during the day. It was no different with the closed beta for which you could farm for a portal.

When there is clear precedent of what a closed beta is, i hardly see how this is even in the slightest “deceiving”.

They’d ahve to completely redesing every zone, so the gliding wont break the map. They werent designed with it in mind, so i highly doubt it will happen.