I have 3 accounts for GW2 (myself, son, wife) and I think one of them was bought at the discounted $30 bux or whatever. So, in the nearly 3 years since release I have paid $150'ish (not counting gem purchases), a whopping ~$4 a month...for 3 accounts. I fail to see how Anet is greedy here. All purchases beyond the box are voluntary (actually so is the box).
If my family was playing a sub' based game I would be dropping over $500 a year (~$45/mo) on sub fee's alone, not counting the box purchase. To me, GW2 value is hard to beat.
I just pre-ordered HoT for all of us, a standard ed', deluxe, and ultimate for $235 I think? If that lasts us another 2-3 years of gaming that is a great deal!
Obviously everyone has their own financial situations and concepts of cost to value, which is fine. But to me, if you look at the big picture, even $50 bux for this xpac is hard to beat. Think about it, that is $4.16 per month if you got minimum 1 year of return on it. Sure, I would have loved to pay for just the xpac @ $30-$40 and not "pay again" for the base game, but it is hard to complain because of the long term investment.
It seems pretty comical that people think Anet is "forcing" you to pay $50 bux or is being greedy with xpac costs. They are not forcing anyone to do anything...don't like it? Then don't buy it. Pretty simple.
But what do I know, I just have a "cushy desk job" and apparently don't work for a living
Good post Sir! I agree with everything except the cushy desk job...I'm retired and my career is having fun now.
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
They did the right thing, that's all I'm going to choose to remember about this. Onto more details about the rest of the Specializations and "challenging group content"!
"...we have to remember that GW2 never has had a subscription. This box price will go a long way to further enrich the game with content after launch."
The game has been out more than 2.5 years. 2.5 years that you could have been playing without paying another dime. 2.5 years where new content was developed and delivered FOR FREE.
I see the $50 as part appreciation for past content, part paying for the expansion. If you hated everything in the past 2.5 years I don't see why you would want to buy the expansion anyway. And if you absolutely must have it for cheap, wait for the inevitable sales and prices drops, ... in six months or so.
That's fine but I see it differently. The original game was marketed as B2P and all those updates were part of that purchase.
So this notion of paying for those updates (already given) through an overpriced expansion doesn't work for me.
I don't think this is fair at all.
They made a commitment to release new content, but they never said to what extent. GW2 has had more QOL improvements and enhanced features that has elevated it than any other MMORPG I can think of. Thanks to their massive pool of resources of 350+ team.
they have stumbled a long the way. we all know the living story really was not strong at all, but they tried a ton of stuff and at the end of S2 they found their strides. The destruction of the capital city is without a doubt the most world altering in-game non-expansion, non-game-overhaul live update ever.
They have went multitudes of above and beyond. they could have just released 1 or 2 updates a year and called it a day. instead they had an insanely ambitious plan of trying to update every 14th day. No, the purchase price was the game you launched with. everything after that, bleeds NCsoft and Anet. Development is insanely expensive and the team working on GW2 is shockingly large.
Most people are completely ignorant of how expensive and difficult game development is.
I was the only person standing in my Gamestop waiting for this... the rest of the people were Madden. I got my big ol statue and went right home. Then this.
When I first bought Guild Wars 2 the whole package was new, exciting and enticing. I received a whole new world to immerse myself in and many cool things to explore. I too without hesitation grabbed the Collectors Edition of GW2 and it was one of the best game purchases I've ever made.
The same can't be said for this expansion. The prices are similar to what I payed for the base game way back when but it doesn't offer anything close to the value or entertainment the original game did when it launched. This means for me the expansion pack is over priced and the inclusions do nothing to entice me to open my wallet either.
The lack of subscription doesn't help me justify the price either. It's the business model ANet chose and I'm sure they are making enough money without it from people like me buying gems and stuff on their store in return. It's not a factor when I consider the value I get from Guild Wars 2 for me, it's no different to the value I get from reading this website which also lacks a subscription.
Originally posted by GeezerGamer I like the game, I've enjoyed it on and off since launch, however, this expansion is not exactly lighting a fire under my feet to get this one at release.
You are an old geezer if you remember that commercial! Ha. (I remember it too) I'm not much of a content hog so this looks fine to me. If it lacks substance when It releases and I play for a month or so, I will judge it then. My son won't play betas because he doesn't want to ruin the surprise of what the game entails, so I am going to try his method and I am not going to look to deeply into what is upcoming and just let it come naturally.
I don't mind the price so much as I can't stand the lack of actual content. I would pay a great deal of money for a significant land mass and content increase. I did it all within half a year initially and they haven't really added much since. I have no idea how people convince themselves to play this game after they done every de and heart. With only cosmetic rewards and a crazy grind for those cosmetic rewards. There just isn't much character building left.
Not really anything IN the expansion if everything has been released... I'll just wait till it drops to $10.. not like the game will be any different in a year from now anyways.
I'm a little surprised that I find myself siding with those critical of Arenanet's decision. I really like GW2. But ultimately they have made some decisions that I'm still a bit put off by. The living story updates are one of them. I can't speak for everyone, but for myself the living story is just not appealing. It feels far to much to me like the personal story post lvl 30. It feels like I'm walking in on someone else's story. I really wish that the content creators would have focused less on this temporary content, rather than the actual world itself. Just imagine how much more they could have done with dynamic events. Or even changing up the WvW maps. Or filling in more of the game world(though to be fair they did do a little of this).
In the first Guild Wars, the expansions literally doubled the size of the game world and so I had little problem justifying paying the cost of the full game to buy them. And that was on top of the additional missions and skills and classes and extra character slots. The content you were paying for was undoubtedly worth the cost. Simply giving us 3 new maps, and now a character slot, simply doesn't scale well enough to justify another $50. Especially after I have already spent so much money on their cash shop and I know I am hardly alone. 3 maps in the maguma jungle area for $50? Where is cantha? Where is elona? At this rate, it will be another 5-10 years before we see any of those places again, let alone any new places not already on the map in GW1. And at least another $250-$300 to open up all of either cantha or elona if this expansion is any indication. 5 to 6 times what it cost to open them up in the first game when they first came out.
I'm not cheap. I have already put a few hundred $ into my GW2 characters, but the cost of this content is really out of proportion to the expected investment and I just can't support this further. If they bring the cost of the expansion down to be reasonable for the content on offer, then perhaps I'll come back. For now me and my wallet will be taking a break from supporting Arenanet.
I'm a little surprised that I find myself siding with those critical of Arenanet's decision. I really like GW2. But ultimately they have made some decisions that I'm still a bit put off by. The living story updates are one of them. I can't speak for everyone, but for myself the living story is just not appealing. It feels far to much to me like the personal story post lvl 30. It feels like I'm walking in on someone else's story. I really wish that the content creators would have focused less on this temporary content, rather than the actual world itself. Just imagine how much more they could have done with dynamic events. Or even changing up the WvW maps. Or filling in more of the game world(though to be fair they did do a little of this).
In the first Guild Wars, the expansions literally doubled the size of the game world and so I had little problem justifying paying the cost of the full game to buy them. And that was on top of the additional missions and skills and classes and extra character slots. The content you were paying for was undoubtedly worth the cost. Simply giving us 3 new maps, and now a character slot, simply doesn't scale well enough to justify another $50. Especially after I have already spent so much money on their cash shop and I know I am hardly alone. 3 maps in the maguma jungle area for $50? Where is cantha? Where is elona? At this rate, it will be another 5-10 years before we see any of those places again, let alone any new places not already on the map in GW1. And at least another $250-$300 to open up all of either cantha or elona if this expansion is any indication. 5 to 6 times what it cost to open them up in the first game when they first came out.
I'm not cheap. I have already put a few hundred $ into my GW2 characters, but the cost of this content is really out of proportion to the expected investment and I just can't support this further. If they bring the cost of the expansion down to be reasonable for the content on offer, then perhaps I'll come back. For now me and my wallet will be taking a break from supporting Arenanet.
Wait a couple months and the price will come down. For huge fans of the game like me I'm ok paying the $50, it's not that much of an investment for anything in todays economy. It's super cheap entertainment!
edit: I just paid $59.99 for the Witcher 3 and played about 25 hours and quit. The same with Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
Can anyone even give a good reason for why current owners of the base came shouldn't be allowed to buy the expansions separately? Pretty much every other MMO gives consumers this choice. They could have easily priced the base game at $20, the expansion at $40, and a packaged deal of both at $50.
This way brand new players would feel enticed to buy the packaged $50 deal as it would save them money in the long run. While current owners of the base game won't feel like they're being charged higher than the industry norm for an expansion. Yes $10 isn't much of a difference, but it's more about the principle of the matter. They're not giving consumers the option of anything but a bundle. It's like a cable company only allowing you to buy a bundle that includes all premium channels, when you're really only interested in basic cable or certain channels.
ANet has mentioned wanting to include all past content into a single box purchase going forward. They could've just done like The Secret World in the future, which offers an Ultimate Edition which includes all content while still allowing the option of purchasing just the base game and any additional content piecemeal.
Playing - FFXIV, ESO Played - FFXI, WoW, Lineage 2, Guild Wars, Aion, SWToR, LotRO, GW2, TERA, Rift, ArcheAge, TSW
Can anyone even give a good reason for why current owners of the base came shouldn't be allowed to buy the expansions separately? Pretty much every other MMO gives consumers this choice. They could have easily priced the base game at $20, the expansion at $40, and a packaged deal of both at $50. This way brand new players would feel enticed to buy the packaged $50 deal as it would save them money in the long run. While current owners of the base game don't feel like they're being charged higher than the industry norm for an expansion. Yes $10 isn't much of a difference, but it's more about the principle of the matter.
ANet has mentioned wanting to include all past content into a single box purchase going forward. They could've just done like The Secret World in the future, which offers an Ultimate Edition which includes all content while still allowing the option of purchasing just the base game.
"We want to be clear about our business model for future expansions now that we are approaching our first paid expansion for Guild Wars 2. We believe that to keep the game dynamic and vibrant with a constantly growing community, it should be as easy as possible for new players to get into Guild Wars 2. For Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns, we didn’t want the core game’s price to be a factor in a new player’s decision to begin playing Guild Wars 2. In the future, if we release further Guild Wars 2 expansions, we plan to offer all of the prior expansions, the core game, and the latest expansion for one single purchase price. We are committed to our players and believe we remain the single best value in the MMO space. We set out on this journey to challenge the conventions of MMOs, to knockdown the barriers to accessibility, and to fulfill the promise of what online worlds should be. In the process, the best community in gaming came together in Guild Wars 2. It is to our community—past, present, and future—that we are committed. Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to seeing you in game."
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
Can anyone even give a good reason for why current owners of the base came shouldn't be allowed to buy the expansions separately? Pretty much every other MMO gives consumers this choice. They could have easily priced the base game at $20, the expansion at $40, and a packaged deal of both at $50. This way brand new players would feel enticed to buy the packaged $50 deal as it would save them money in the long run. While current owners of the base game don't feel like they're being charged higher than the industry norm for an expansion. Yes $10 isn't much of a difference, but it's more about the principle of the matter.
ANet has mentioned wanting to include all past content into a single box purchase going forward. They could've just done like The Secret World in the future, which offers an Ultimate Edition which includes all content while still allowing the option of purchasing just the base game.
"We want to be clear about our business model for future expansions now that we are approaching our first paid expansion for Guild Wars 2. We believe that to keep the game dynamic and vibrant with a constantly growing community, it should be as easy as possible for new players to get into Guild Wars 2. For Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns, we didn’t want the core game’s price to be a factor in a new player’s decision to begin playing Guild Wars 2. In the future, if we release further Guild Wars 2 expansions, we plan to offer all of the prior expansions, the core game, and the latest expansion for one single purchase price. We are committed to our players and believe we remain the single best value in the MMO space. We set out on this journey to challenge the conventions of MMOs, to knockdown the barriers to accessibility, and to fulfill the promise of what online worlds should be. In the process, the best community in gaming came together in Guild Wars 2. It is to our community—past, present, and future—that we are committed. Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to seeing you in game."
So they don't want their world content to be gated behind multiple piecemeal purchases? That works for a brand new player, as they'll get all content in a single purchase. But current players will keep having to make expansion purchases going forward, so there will always be a purchase accessibility barrier for a segment of content going forward. It doesn't really change anything for current players/owners other than charging them a higher price for an expansion.
Playing - FFXIV, ESO Played - FFXI, WoW, Lineage 2, Guild Wars, Aion, SWToR, LotRO, GW2, TERA, Rift, ArcheAge, TSW
I'm a little surprised that I find myself siding with those critical of Arenanet's decision. I really like GW2. But ultimately they have made some decisions that I'm still a bit put off by. The living story updates are one of them. I can't speak for everyone, but for myself the living story is just not appealing. It feels far to much to me like the personal story post lvl 30. It feels like I'm walking in on someone else's story. I really wish that the content creators would have focused less on this temporary content, rather than the actual world itself. Just imagine how much more they could have done with dynamic events. Or even changing up the WvW maps. Or filling in more of the game world(though to be fair they did do a little of this).
In the first Guild Wars, the expansions literally doubled the size of the game world and so I had little problem justifying paying the cost of the full game to buy them. And that was on top of the additional missions and skills and classes and extra character slots. The content you were paying for was undoubtedly worth the cost. Simply giving us 3 new maps, and now a character slot, simply doesn't scale well enough to justify another $50. Especially after I have already spent so much money on their cash shop and I know I am hardly alone. 3 maps in the maguma jungle area for $50? Where is cantha? Where is elona? At this rate, it will be another 5-10 years before we see any of those places again, let alone any new places not already on the map in GW1. And at least another $250-$300 to open up all of either cantha or elona if this expansion is any indication. 5 to 6 times what it cost to open them up in the first game when they first came out.
I'm not cheap. I have already put a few hundred $ into my GW2 characters, but the cost of this content is really out of proportion to the expected investment and I just can't support this further. If they bring the cost of the expansion down to be reasonable for the content on offer, then perhaps I'll come back. For now me and my wallet will be taking a break from supporting Arenanet.
Wait a couple months and the price will come down. For huge fans of the game like me I'm ok paying the $50, it's not that much of an investment for anything in todays economy. It's super cheap entertainment!
edit: I just paid $59.99 for the Witcher 3 and played about 25 hours and quit. The same with Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Actually the smart money would be to simply wait till they release a few of these expansions and then buy it, saving yourself a couple hundred dollars in the process. Anyone interested in getting the most content for their money is only going to be encouraged to skip buying expansions till after they can then get several at once for the same $50.
I will be amused if the unintended consequences end up with this decision losing them money as a result. Though in reality I am sure enough people will simply throw money at them uncritically. So in the end those of us smarter about this will save hundreds of dollars as a result of being patient.
Can anyone even give a good reason for why current owners of the base came shouldn't be allowed to buy the expansions separately? Pretty much every other MMO gives consumers this choice. They could have easily priced the base game at $20, the expansion at $40, and a packaged deal of both at $50. This way brand new players would feel enticed to buy the packaged $50 deal as it would save them money in the long run. While current owners of the base game don't feel like they're being charged higher than the industry norm for an expansion. Yes $10 isn't much of a difference, but it's more about the principle of the matter.
ANet has mentioned wanting to include all past content into a single box purchase going forward. They could've just done like The Secret World in the future, which offers an Ultimate Edition which includes all content while still allowing the option of purchasing just the base game.
"We want to be clear about our business model for future expansions now that we are approaching our first paid expansion for Guild Wars 2. We believe that to keep the game dynamic and vibrant with a constantly growing community, it should be as easy as possible for new players to get into Guild Wars 2. For Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns, we didn’t want the core game’s price to be a factor in a new player’s decision to begin playing Guild Wars 2. In the future, if we release further Guild Wars 2 expansions, we plan to offer all of the prior expansions, the core game, and the latest expansion for one single purchase price. We are committed to our players and believe we remain the single best value in the MMO space. We set out on this journey to challenge the conventions of MMOs, to knockdown the barriers to accessibility, and to fulfill the promise of what online worlds should be. In the process, the best community in gaming came together in Guild Wars 2. It is to our community—past, present, and future—that we are committed. Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to seeing you in game."
So they don't want their world content to be gated behind multiple piecemeal purchases? That works for a brand new player, as they'll get all content in a single purchase. But current players will keep having to make expansion purchases going forward, so there will always be a purchase accessibility barrier for a segment of content going forward. It doesn't really change anything for current players/owners other than charging them a higher price for an expansion.
Umm...welcome to B2P. What you described is kind of how it works.
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
My biggest issue with the GW2 expan is that I really do not have a idea of what it will be in it..... ie dynamic content? still not sure what it will be... Plus no cart slot????? What is up with that?? I have 12 lvl 80 toons in GW2 and I have to much invested in any to delete .... so the force me to buy a slot after paying $50 for the expan that I really have no idea of even how many new maps or even chapters in the story....... Wrong..... that will not work for me; I do not have a problem with of the coast of it .... it's just the unknown content. Anet did not handle this very well at all so I as a big fan of GW2 just will have to wait to see if it will be worth it when it is released. Anet needs to remember there are a lot of good games out that we can play and they need to provide us with a reason to continue to play GW2
Can anyone even give a good reason for why current owners of the base came shouldn't be allowed to buy the expansions separately? Pretty much every other MMO gives consumers this choice. They could have easily priced the base game at $20, the expansion at $40, and a packaged deal of both at $50. This way brand new players would feel enticed to buy the packaged $50 deal as it would save them money in the long run. While current owners of the base game don't feel like they're being charged higher than the industry norm for an expansion. Yes $10 isn't much of a difference, but it's more about the principle of the matter.
ANet has mentioned wanting to include all past content into a single box purchase going forward. They could've just done like The Secret World in the future, which offers an Ultimate Edition which includes all content while still allowing the option of purchasing just the base game.
"We want to be clear about our business model for future expansions now that we are approaching our first paid expansion for Guild Wars 2. We believe that to keep the game dynamic and vibrant with a constantly growing community, it should be as easy as possible for new players to get into Guild Wars 2. For Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns, we didn’t want the core game’s price to be a factor in a new player’s decision to begin playing Guild Wars 2. In the future, if we release further Guild Wars 2 expansions, we plan to offer all of the prior expansions, the core game, and the latest expansion for one single purchase price. We are committed to our players and believe we remain the single best value in the MMO space. We set out on this journey to challenge the conventions of MMOs, to knockdown the barriers to accessibility, and to fulfill the promise of what online worlds should be. In the process, the best community in gaming came together in Guild Wars 2. It is to our community—past, present, and future—that we are committed. Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to seeing you in game."
So they don't want their world content to be gated behind multiple piecemeal purchases? That works for a brand new player, as they'll get all content in a single purchase. But current players will keep having to make expansion purchases going forward, so there will always be a purchase accessibility barrier for a segment of content going forward. It doesn't really change anything for current players/owners other than charging them a higher price for an expansion.
Umm...welcome to B2P. What you described is kind of how it works.
The point is that their rationale for why they're not allowing piece-meal purchases doesn't jive with how it works.
Playing - FFXIV, ESO Played - FFXI, WoW, Lineage 2, Guild Wars, Aion, SWToR, LotRO, GW2, TERA, Rift, ArcheAge, TSW
Comments
Good post Sir! I agree with everything except the cushy desk job...I'm retired and my career is having fun now.
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
They did the right thing, that's all I'm going to choose to remember about this. Onto more details about the rest of the Specializations and "challenging group content"!
I don't think this is fair at all.
They made a commitment to release new content, but they never said to what extent. GW2 has had more QOL improvements and enhanced features that has elevated it than any other MMORPG I can think of. Thanks to their massive pool of resources of 350+ team.
they have stumbled a long the way. we all know the living story really was not strong at all, but they tried a ton of stuff and at the end of S2 they found their strides. The destruction of the capital city is without a doubt the most world altering in-game non-expansion, non-game-overhaul live update ever.
They have went multitudes of above and beyond. they could have just released 1 or 2 updates a year and called it a day. instead they had an insanely ambitious plan of trying to update every 14th day. No, the purchase price was the game you launched with. everything after that, bleeds NCsoft and Anet. Development is insanely expensive and the team working on GW2 is shockingly large.
Most people are completely ignorant of how expensive and difficult game development is.
now all haters can leave and go hate on other game
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/pre-purchase-community-address/
I was the only person standing in my Gamestop waiting for this... the rest of the people were Madden. I got my big ol statue and went right home. Then this.
But the game never held up IMO like HOTN and GW1.
When I first bought Guild Wars 2 the whole package was new, exciting and enticing. I received a whole new world to immerse myself in and many cool things to explore. I too without hesitation grabbed the Collectors Edition of GW2 and it was one of the best game purchases I've ever made.
The same can't be said for this expansion. The prices are similar to what I payed for the base game way back when but it doesn't offer anything close to the value or entertainment the original game did when it launched. This means for me the expansion pack is over priced and the inclusions do nothing to entice me to open my wallet either.
The lack of subscription doesn't help me justify the price either. It's the business model ANet chose and I'm sure they are making enough money without it from people like me buying gems and stuff on their store in return. It's not a factor when I consider the value I get from Guild Wars 2 for me, it's no different to the value I get from reading this website which also lacks a subscription.
You are an old geezer if you remember that commercial! Ha. (I remember it too) I'm not much of a content hog so this looks fine to me. If it lacks substance when It releases and I play for a month or so, I will judge it then. My son won't play betas because he doesn't want to ruin the surprise of what the game entails, so I am going to try his method and I am not going to look to deeply into what is upcoming and just let it come naturally.
Not really anything IN the expansion if everything has been released... I'll just wait till it drops to $10.. not like the game will be any different in a year from now anyways.
I'm a little surprised that I find myself siding with those critical of Arenanet's decision. I really like GW2. But ultimately they have made some decisions that I'm still a bit put off by. The living story updates are one of them. I can't speak for everyone, but for myself the living story is just not appealing. It feels far to much to me like the personal story post lvl 30. It feels like I'm walking in on someone else's story. I really wish that the content creators would have focused less on this temporary content, rather than the actual world itself. Just imagine how much more they could have done with dynamic events. Or even changing up the WvW maps. Or filling in more of the game world(though to be fair they did do a little of this).
In the first Guild Wars, the expansions literally doubled the size of the game world and so I had little problem justifying paying the cost of the full game to buy them. And that was on top of the additional missions and skills and classes and extra character slots. The content you were paying for was undoubtedly worth the cost. Simply giving us 3 new maps, and now a character slot, simply doesn't scale well enough to justify another $50. Especially after I have already spent so much money on their cash shop and I know I am hardly alone. 3 maps in the maguma jungle area for $50? Where is cantha? Where is elona? At this rate, it will be another 5-10 years before we see any of those places again, let alone any new places not already on the map in GW1. And at least another $250-$300 to open up all of either cantha or elona if this expansion is any indication. 5 to 6 times what it cost to open them up in the first game when they first came out.
I'm not cheap. I have already put a few hundred $ into my GW2 characters, but the cost of this content is really out of proportion to the expected investment and I just can't support this further. If they bring the cost of the expansion down to be reasonable for the content on offer, then perhaps I'll come back. For now me and my wallet will be taking a break from supporting Arenanet.
Wait a couple months and the price will come down. For huge fans of the game like me I'm ok paying the $50, it's not that much of an investment for anything in todays economy. It's super cheap entertainment!
edit: I just paid $59.99 for the Witcher 3 and played about 25 hours and quit. The same with Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
Can anyone even give a good reason for why current owners of the base came shouldn't be allowed to buy the expansions separately? Pretty much every other MMO gives consumers this choice. They could have easily priced the base game at $20, the expansion at $40, and a packaged deal of both at $50.
This way brand new players would feel enticed to buy the packaged $50 deal as it would save them money in the long run. While current owners of the base game won't feel like they're being charged higher than the industry norm for an expansion. Yes $10 isn't much of a difference, but it's more about the principle of the matter. They're not giving consumers the option of anything but a bundle. It's like a cable company only allowing you to buy a bundle that includes all premium channels, when you're really only interested in basic cable or certain channels.
ANet has mentioned wanting to include all past content into a single box purchase going forward. They could've just done like The Secret World in the future, which offers an Ultimate Edition which includes all content while still allowing the option of purchasing just the base game and any additional content piecemeal.
Playing - FFXIV, ESO
Played - FFXI, WoW, Lineage 2, Guild Wars, Aion, SWToR, LotRO, GW2, TERA, Rift, ArcheAge, TSW
From Pre-Purchase Community.
"We want to be clear about our business model for future expansions now that we are approaching our first paid expansion for Guild Wars 2. We believe that to keep the game dynamic and vibrant with a constantly growing community, it should be as easy as possible for new players to get into Guild Wars 2. For Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns, we didn’t want the core game’s price to be a factor in a new player’s decision to begin playing Guild Wars 2. In the future, if we release further Guild Wars 2 expansions, we plan to offer all of the prior expansions, the core game, and the latest expansion for one single purchase price. We are committed to our players and believe we remain the single best value in the MMO space. We set out on this journey to challenge the conventions of MMOs, to knockdown the barriers to accessibility, and to fulfill the promise of what online worlds should be. In the process, the best community in gaming came together in Guild Wars 2. It is to our community—past, present, and future—that we are committed. Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to seeing you in game."
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
So they don't want their world content to be gated behind multiple piecemeal purchases? That works for a brand new player, as they'll get all content in a single purchase. But current players will keep having to make expansion purchases going forward, so there will always be a purchase accessibility barrier for a segment of content going forward. It doesn't really change anything for current players/owners other than charging them a higher price for an expansion.
Playing - FFXIV, ESO
Played - FFXI, WoW, Lineage 2, Guild Wars, Aion, SWToR, LotRO, GW2, TERA, Rift, ArcheAge, TSW
Actually the smart money would be to simply wait till they release a few of these expansions and then buy it, saving yourself a couple hundred dollars in the process. Anyone interested in getting the most content for their money is only going to be encouraged to skip buying expansions till after they can then get several at once for the same $50.
I will be amused if the unintended consequences end up with this decision losing them money as a result. Though in reality I am sure enough people will simply throw money at them uncritically. So in the end those of us smarter about this will save hundreds of dollars as a result of being patient.
Umm...welcome to B2P. What you described is kind of how it works.
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
The point is that their rationale for why they're not allowing piece-meal purchases doesn't jive with how it works.
Playing - FFXIV, ESO
Played - FFXI, WoW, Lineage 2, Guild Wars, Aion, SWToR, LotRO, GW2, TERA, Rift, ArcheAge, TSW