Guild Wars 2

Zoul.1087:

What about all the people who bought the game in the last 2 weeks for $40? How is this fair for them at all?

The fanboy response to you would be along these lines: “Well, hurr durr, they paid for access to the game and they got access to the game at the time they paid, so there’s no problem.”

Wolfeng.3784:

Let me clarify 50$ for an expansion pack is totally fine for me. I will gladly pay that or even the $100 for the ultimate edition.

The problem comes when you are offering the base game for “free” for all those new players.

Now I’m not saying new players don’t deserve this kind of special (and awesome) treatment, but what about the older players?

What about the people that already own the game? What about the people that stayed with you guys for all this time? Don’t they deserve some kind of bonus too?

Here’s my suggestion, since the basic expansions already includes the base game, people that already own the game gains instead those characters slots on their account. *

This sounds reasonable, but after the sarcasm ANet gave us in response to the many complaint threads, I feel really stupid for ever playing the game in the first place. The way John Smith responded, I get the feeling that they must believe their core fans are a bunch of teenagers living on mommy and daddy’s dime. And when I realize this, I feel like an idiot. It’s a child’s toy. I’m an adult. This would be such a stupid purchase.

For existing players, it’s like we’re paying $10 for the expansion and another $40 just to be allowed to carry our existing characters etc. over to the expanded game. Our other option is to pay $50 for a second account that has access to the expansion.

(Now I just have to wait for someone to roll in and misunderstand me).

bulladin.7340:

$50 dollars isn’t a lot for a good MMO. I think I am going to pay for the $100 package since it a steal.

A steal? I don’t doubt it. You might misunderstand which role you play in this hypothetical, though.

Did you actually read OP? He said he’s quitting because of the sarcastic comment from John Smith. You appear to be off-topic.

FranzM.1298:

Don’t be stingy X)

I don’t think they would call it stingy—maybe they would use the word economical.

Kitsune.1902:

I don’t really understand. The instant I read the core game is included in the expansion, I felt disappointed. I knew the response from the majority of existing player community would be largely same. If it was clear to me within a second, I can’t possibly imagine it was unexpected to a.net either. If that’s the case, then why do this?

I think the normal – and to my opinion much more fair – way to do this would have been to drop the price of base game to – for example – $25, and lower the cost of all expansion options by the same amount. Current players would get $25 value for their existing game and have the expansion at reasonable cost. New players would not have to pay a dime more than they do now – since they’d get the game and expansion at the same cost. The people who bought the base game recently would not feel so complitely screwed over either – sure, they’d have paid more for the base game, but it shouldn’t be unexpected that the game goes on sale for the launch of expansion.

Is the extra $25 drawn from all current players really worth all the feelings of unfairness and disappointment this decision causes? Really what’s worst about this whole thing to me, isn’t the extra cost, but that feeling it leaves. That the purchase of original game was just obsolated, simply to milk a few extra coins from me.

This is really well expressed, and I think the majority of us agree with you. There is a vocal segment of the community that is aggressively ridiculing anyone who disagrees with the pricing, though.

shox.3971:

This arguing over $50 is pathetic, its a one time $50 you spend, and never have to again on this game. Half of the people complaining have spent easily over $100 on just gems, so why is $50 so unfair? They are charging people the same price as any other gaming company in this world today charges. Get over it, its $50. If that is too much money then either you don’t truly like this game enough to invest in it, or you should be making money instead of playing it.

Stop complaining about people complaining. It’s astounding, the indignation you feel, just because other people are expressing their discomfort with the bundling and pricing.

Those of us complaining aren’t complaining to you. You don’t need to respond to us at all. You’re essentially just trying to suppress opinions by ridiculing them.

xBrownZ.7360:

xBrownZ.7360:

Kenjiro.2671:

What happens to the players who just bought the game for only a few weeks?
Since the only cheapest choice was the heroic edition, I blindly bought it for $40.

Why didn’t A-net post a notice to new players who wanted to get the game? Something like “Heart of Thrones is going to be released soon! Do you want to wait until it is released to reap the benefits of our special offers?” or something along those lines.

I feel scammed because I had no clue you had to buy it (sorry for being a long time f2p mmo player) and I had no warning that this would’ve happened.

And if nothing is done about it, even a good quick buck was made, the reputation damage would outweigh it imo.

I’ll answer for AreaNet. “Don’t care, hahahaha.”

They have been replying with jokes, they think it’s funny they they hurt their current players.

I was both surprised and annoyed by the sarcastic response from John Smith

John Smith.4610:

InfinitytheSoulWarden.5963:

if you look at the world through the cold cynical eyes of economics

You rang?

I feel like I’ve been duped. I feel like he’s just saying “I know it’s unfair to current players, but guess what? That doesn’t really matter. This is what gets us ours.” It’s like all gem shop items: “ooh, look, shiny—all the other players are getting this, you see? you want this right?”

This game is essentially video poker and we’re all junkies.

yanipheonu.5798:

It’s embarrassing I even have to type typed this.

FTFY. Stop ridiculing people, learn to respect your elders. Yada yada yada. Maybe if you weren’t spending your parents’ money, you’d disagree with the pricing.

Kelnis.1829:

The amount of (perceived) slight you people think ArenaNet is engaging in is, honestly, hilarious. Though, I guess then we’d have threads saying it should be free instead.

Keep attempting to suppress opinions by ridiculing them.

Dead.5829:

Bought. Good deal for what you get.

Good deal?

And how!

Dead.5829:

The core game is included to get new people in. It’s not a kick in the face if you already have the core game. It’s a BONUS to friends, family, acquaintances you want to bring into the game.

There’s no sub, 50$ is fair for a AAA expansion with as much as HoT is giving us. If you want a better deal, buy the Ultimate edition for 50$ more that comes with some free stuff, a character slot, and… 50$ worth of gems.

Hey Dead.5829, I have a bridge on the Moon you might be interested in. It’s a real bargain.

xBrownZ.7360:

upsdn.5426:

In all the threads expressing ire about the pricing shown in the Gem Store for HoT preorders, I frequently see statements such as:

“Instead of looking at it as you’re being shafted, maybe look at it as being easier to get new people into the game. New blood is good, yes?”

Think about this for a moment. The HoT preorder options are only available in the gem store at this minute. And there was a little popup flag in-game that redirected me to the Gem Store page for HoT. There is no way that this is for new players. It’s for players who already have the game, and are playing it right now.

I can’t possibly be the only one who understands this.

I feel you, this is stupid. Especially, when a lot of their current players have sunk money into the GemStore. Then they pull this, not cool. The hype for HoT died today, let’s see what AreaNet does.

ANet chooses the things it limits in the base game very carefully so as to make gems a very attractive thing. Not enough bank space? Buy a bank upgrade! Not enough materials storage space? Buy an upgrade! Only 600-800 gems each. Sick of having to buy new mining implements for the long material grind? Get one of the unlimited use versions!

I feel like such a fool. Of course, to someone like me, fanboys say: “You paid for those things and you received those things. The deal was 100% complete. Your past gem purchases in no way entitle you to a discount on the expansion pack.”

DoAyari.2719:

It’s actually also in the site shop when you go to buy gw2 but you’re right.

It wasn’t in the site shop about an hour ago when I got on the forums to see if anyone was saying anything about it. But yes, now I see it in the site shop.

In all the threads expressing ire about the pricing shown in the Gem Store for HoT preorders, I frequently see statements such as:

“Instead of looking at it as you’re being shafted, maybe look at it as being easier to get new people into the game. New blood is good, yes?”

Think about this for a moment. The HoT preorder options are only available in the gem store at this minute. And there was a little popup flag in-game that redirected me to the Gem Store page for HoT. There is no way that this is for new players. It’s for players who already have the game, and are playing it right now.

I can’t possibly be the only one who understands this.

Dead.5829:

TrunkMonkey.7589:

Most of the long time players pay minimum $60 when the game came out. Now Anet wants us to pay $50 for the xpac (which includes the base game). Basically making long time players pay $110 for the SAME content as NEW players who pay just $50.

You seem to be a generous fellow. Instead of looking at it as you’re being shafted, maybe look at it as being easier to get new people into the game. New blood is good, yes?

It’s not being sold to new players. How does this escape all the people who are saying this? The products are in the gem store. There’s a little pop-up thing in-game that directs you to it. The only people this is being sold to are already established players.

TrunkMonkey.7589:

Most of the long time players pay minimum $60 when the game came out. Now Anet wants us to pay $50 for the xpac (which includes the base game). Basically making long time players pay $110 for the SAME content as NEW players who pay just $50.

Here’s the fanboy response to you: “But hurr durr, this is a free-to-play MMO. Hurr durr, you already got so much free content over the years, hurr durr. Just because you spent money on increased inventory and bank space and skins and finishers and stuff, hurr durr, doesn’t mean you’re entitled to complain about normal xpack pricing, hurr durr.”

For the record, I’m on your side.

Kenjiro.2671:

Also I find it very scammy that you allowed players to buy the game so close to the release of the expansion without letting them get the version with the expansion in the first place.

I agree, that was a very interesting choice on their part. You know, the choice to give us the middle finger.

SimenAaserud.3598:

Agree with CrimsonDX, price aint that bad. They are basically just giving away the core game to new players.

It’s being sold in the Gem Store. This is therefore not being marketed to new players. It’s for people who already have the game (the only way to access the Gem Store).

Khristophoros.7194:

latinkuro.7304:

Khristophoros.7194:

I am willing to pay $19.99 for an account upgrade that has the HoT content and includes a character slot. I am not interested in your products if you’re trying to scam me.

this is the kind of people that really makes me angry, blizzard has been robbing people for years…..

yet, you don’t wanna pay for a game that is b2p with NO sub !!!

Man, I hope the door hits you on your way out, really hard.

I’m just letting them know what I feel is reasonable as a customer. It’s called having a spine.

I’m so glad people like you exist, Khristophoros.7194. I will never understand fanboys. I hate myself for ever buying this game. We’ve been duped.

JakeG.9620:

I really believe in all my heart that it’s a bug I think they want to target new people right now, not the core gamers. Maybe we’ll get our pre-purchase in the course of this week or something?

If it were really a bug, I think we’d have already seen the famous yellow “There will be a new build available in 10 minutes.” Because this is all people seem to be talking about in game.

Before you pay $50-$100 for HoT at the in-game Gem Store, I implore you all to take a moment of silence and remember.

Remember Sam.

And, for the love of The Priory and all that is wise, remember Krewe Leader Dobbs.

Hold hope. Someday.

Taglor Anwamane.9468:

Semantically, Beorn is right. For all practical purposes, I’m with OP. There is no way I will pay full-game price for an expansion. I said long ago, 20, maybe as high as 30. But not 50.
This is downright insulting.

This sums up most of my feelings.

After seeing the expansion during the most recent beta, and knowing the bugs that have persisted in open world content since beta, I feel even worse about the pricing and the lack of an xpack-only option.

I feel foolish for ever playing this game.

Carbon Footprint.3421:

This isn’t for current players, only new players. They only care about new money not old money.

Then why is it in the gem store?

Seriously, kitten this. After playing the recent beta (the one I farmed SW and DT for 40 hours for a portal), there’s no way I’m paying $50 for it.

(Let alone $100 for ultimate… holy kitten—either the people who set the prices are delusional, or ANet has a really annoying base of p2w fanboys.)

… I’m especially not going to pay that much for it when the core game open world content has so many bugs in it. Sam, nuff said.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

edit: kitten filter doesn’t like “who” followed by words beginning with “re”

[Barely on topic:] Statements referring to the kitten filter always have me guessing whether the person posting actually typed the word “kitten.” Because, I mean, yes—it’s a kitten filter. But mad people sometimes get madder when they’re censored, and then it’s “kitten the kitten kitten filter.”

But yes, OP, do what Illconceived suggested.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

It’s returning other inscriptions at (what appears to me to be) the same rate. I haven’t had tried any rabids, though.

They supposedly “fixed” the drop rates on non-BLSK kits (the actual was previously much lower than stated in the description), but I don’t remember them mentioning the BLSK behavior

Thanks for letting me know. I’m sure nothing’s wrong with rabids in particular, and I really just experienced a run of bad luck.

Of course, if it happens the next time I salvage 20 exotics, I’ll be back.

• Previous experience: using a BLSK to salvage exotic lvl. 80 weapons with the “rabid” prefix, I’ve received a rabid orichalcum-imbued inscription 50-75% of the time. (I’ve done this many times, so I trust this figure).

• Fastforward: a few days ago, I salvaged 20 exotic lvl. 80 weapons with the “rabid” prefix, and received 0 inscriptions.

Ordinarily, hearing a report like this, I respond with RNG and probability. But given the previous inscription recovery rate using BLSK, a run of 20 failures is kind of extraordinary.

Before I go back to my usual practice of wasting salvage kits (and exotic weapons), I wanted to check whether anyone else has detected a decrease in inscription recovery. (In particular, I’m wondering about recovery of inscriptions that can’t be crafted or obtained another way—e.g. rabid, dire, soldier’s…).

Anyone else having exceedingly bad luck with this recently?

Did ArenaNet recently announce any changes to BLSK behavior or inscription recovery?

ZilentNight.5089:

In case you didn’t know, you can still get this event completed and the corresponding achievement item. Just wait for a new patch (10 min announcement) and park one of your characters at the way point. Download the patch and quickly log onto that character and wait till Dobbs gets to the way point and start the event chain. The event chain will bug out after it is completed once on that instance of the map.
Alternatively, in theory you may be able to pop a new instance of the map if you can max out one of them, will require nearly 150 people to organize this.
But much easier to do this when a patch is about to hit.

I read this in one of the posts from a couple of years ago and used it to get the item from Quinta. Scholar Breandan appears to be a complete impasse, though—I went to where his chain begins after the 5/26 patch, but his event never started. Instead there is a dynamic event called Clear Broken Spit… that is apparently impossible to conclude. It started while I stood by the nearby waypoint.

ZilentNight.5089:

And yes I totally agree the event should be fixed but in the mean-time this is a solid work-around.

Glad to see that I’m not the only person who doesn’t consider a solid work-around (which it is, and thanks for repeating it here for posterity [? I hope not]) the final word.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Lol. Considering the OP is over a month old, I would not expect the front page to have the same threads.

Google is your friend, however. Good luck!

You need not sarcastically mention Google [as if to suggest I didn’t bother to do the legwork myself]. My own post on this topic provides a link to a Google search of the forums for all posts mentioning the word “Dobbs.” (The link is available elsewhere in this thread). Please do let me know which of those posts includes a response from a developer.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

It doesn’t help to list all bugs in one thread, so the Sticky advises.

And, yes, there are threads on those issues, with Dev responses, right on the front page.

Good luck.

Please provide links to the relevant “dev responses,” if you’re going to make this statement. I see nothing on the front page. Several threads like this from the last few days exist, and none [that I can see] have responses from developers.

Otherwise you’re wasting everyone’s time by providing misinformation. Maybe don’t reply to people if you’re going to do that. It’s better not to reply than to misinform.

party buddy.4956:

see, I knew this would get buried, and the only responder is someone who is going for the most threads responded to achievement.

I have linked to your post in my own thread about his particular event. Hopefully this gets someone’s attention at ArenaNet, because there doesn’t appear to have been a response from ArenaNet on these topics. (*Despite what the person who replied before me stated, I have found only ONE reply from ANet staff—it was multiple years old, and only asked for clarification on what the bug was. No response after that.)

Here’s another recent forum post about the broken Dobbs event.

I have just linked to your post in a reply to my own post about another “Treasure Hunter”-related event that is impossible to complete.

Since these events have been bugged since beta, and since they are attached to achievements, it seems like they deserve priority over bugs related to new content.

If you read my thread, you’ll see there is an extensive history of posts about this and several other bugs—just no attention (or even an official word) from ANet about it. Kind of mind-boggling.

Here’s another recent forum post about an impossible-to-complete event tied to the “Treasure Hunter” achievement.

I’ll start documenting every time someone posts a relevant bug, so that these get more visibility. Clearly no one from ArenaNet has become aware of these bugs, as they have not been addressed in the years they have existed.

Starting in Legendary Dwarf Stance, using the elite skill (Rite of the Great Dwarf) and then immediately switching to Legendary Demon Stance re-fills the “profession-specific energy” bar to 50%.

Is this intentional?

1. Original bug variation (2012)

2. Still bugged, same variation (late Nov. 2013)

3. Event still bugged in March 2014, PRIOR to the feature pack (and prior to the bug documentation added to the Wiki entry in Oct. 2014).

4. Event still bugged (May 2014)

5. Event still bugged (also May 2014)

6. A post from Sept. 2014 immediately after the feature pack (obviously still bugged)

I hope this makes my (and others’) complaint about this event—and about the handling [lack thereof] of this bug—really clear.

-A thread showing a few event chains bugged including protect Dobbs —notice the trend that these event chains are tied to collections. On purpose?

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

The event in question is Protect krewe leader Dobbs as the krewe clears the excavation site . According to the wiki, the current bug has been around since 2014 (without the details, it’s hard to tell if the one reported in this thread is the same or different from one that was claimed to be fixed in May 2013).

1. My post links to the event already. The first word.

2. The current bug, while not exactly the same as previous bugs, nonetheless renders the achievement impossible the same as previous ones.

It’s not really necessary to reply, if you’re neither going to provide clarifying information, nor going to read the original post at all.

This event has been bugged for years (one way or another). And it’s REQUIRED for players trying to finish the “Treasure Hunter” achievement.

I’m not joking. Check out this search of the forums: people have been asking ArenaNet to fix this important dynamic event since 2012.

This isn’t the only impassable bug in the existing content, either.

I keep giving ArenaNet/NCSoft the benefit of the doubt on whether they care about player satisfaction and product quality. But to be honest, the evidence is all there: it’s all about what they can/can’t get away with. The original product isn’t finished or polished or even just working as intended, but they’re releasing new crap.

This topic will get buried by people talking about the expansion, about bugs with the recent round of patches, etc. None of these posts about this achievement ever get replies from ArenaNet staff. I wish I could get a sign that someone out there gives a $#!%, but maybe they just don’t.

Seriously, I know you guys have a work queue, but how are long-standing content-destroying bugs not a priority? 2012! That’s three years! How many minor bug fixes and tweaks have we seen since then? And an expansion now!

Chris Barrett.3280:

We’ve identified causes of most of the issues, and are working on moving fixes towards the Live game. I’ll update again when things are a little more settled. Patch notes should also call these things out if I’m behind those.

Thanks for your patience.

Thanks for being helpful and for updating us on progress.

Conditions: If your inventory is full and you have 25 Nightmare Essences and multiple Bandit Skeleton Keys, …

Bug: double-clicking the stack of Nightmare Essences will NOT generate a Greater Nightmare Key BUT it WILL decrease your stack of Bandit Skeleton Keys as if the combination had taken place.

I went through 8 Bandit Skeleton Keys before I realized what was going on. Any way I can get those back, or receive their equivalent in Bandit Crests? Not really fair that I lost currency/play-time equivalent items due to a bug.