Originally posted by Bladestrom Sub or Cash shop with all content free to play - what's your choice (or are you one of those that wants everything in life for free)
Many other games generate content that stays in the game once released.
The only reason to do it the way they did is so they could put money on it and get the people who forever reason weren't there to pay.
Anet knows that a few will get mad and say screw it, but what do they lose....a sub?
They already got the box price....anything else is just bonus.
There is no reason for this content to be temporary other than to make money in a game where one of the biggest selling points was pay once....enjoy forever.
And the most awesome thing about "pay once... enjoy forever" is that the publisher only needs to listen to you until you have paid. After that, your opinion doesn't really matter unless you are one that regularly sinks additional money into the game. If you play and don't continue to pay, there is zero reason to listen to you. If you leave, that's just less burden on their hardware infrastructure.
It's interesting how different companies go about getting you to login. Marvel Heroes gives you all kinds of boosts for just taking a sec. to log daily. Even being able to pick a free character at points.
I think logging into GW2 is simplicity itself since you can have the launcher remember your password so it's so much easier. I wish more games did that. STO does it IF you use their ARC launcher.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Originally posted by Bladestrom Sub or Cash shop with all content free to play - what's your choice (or are you one of those that wants everything in life for free)
Who doesn't want everything in life for free?
Silly...
Who is Silly, the man who is happy to cover the costs of his entertainment, or the idiot who ignores the cost and wants to play free - and then complains even though they can in fact play for free!
Silly indeed.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
back in my day devs made expansions and charged for them and it was never thought of as money grabbing, it was more content people could enjoy. Now if a game provides extra services and charges people are all up in arms about it.
casuals ... Its actually nice to see devs not catering to the casuals for a change.
Originally posted by Nefarion84 That is right, if you've been away from Guild Wars 2 for a bit, dont bother going back because if you didn't log in during their events they will now be charging you 200 gems per piece of content that you missed. If yur a casual who is going back, congratulations, you are now a second class citizen in Tyria. How does it feel?
Ya, F those guys...
.. Who cares that (for years) you didn't have access to the old content at all. It was all temporary, and if you missed it, you missed it. Who cares that you can gain access to the old content using in-game gold, or that you don't really miss anything outside of the story.
How dare they try and make money on their game. Shameful.
If they were forcing you to pay money for stuff, I'd understand this. But they aren't. There's nothing forcing you to play old content, and they've offered a service by keeping it available to players who've missed it.
To this day you STILL don't have to pay anything but the box price to enjoy this game. I've played it off and on for years (sometimes taking months off to play other stuff), and I haven't spent a dime on the game. I missed a couple episodes of the living story (there's only a couple available to even buy at this point), and I just used ingame gold to unlock the ones I wanted.
Some people just need things to complain about I guess.
Originally posted by Bladestrom Sub or Cash shop with all content free to play - what's your choice (or are you one of those that wants everything in life for free)
Who doesn't want everything in life for free?
Silly...
Who is Silly, the man who is happy to cover the costs of his entertainment, or the idiot who ignores the cost and wants to play free - and then complains even though they can in fact play for free!
Silly indeed.
You my friend need to get a grip... read what I said... do not infer something into it...
I don't know about you, but if you asked any random person on the street... would you like everything in life to be free... they'd say yes.
Originally posted by Bladestrom Sub or Cash shop with all content free to play - what's your choice (or are you one of those that wants everything in life for free)
Who doesn't want everything in life for free?
Silly...
Who is Silly, the man who is happy to cover the costs of his entertainment, or the idiot who ignores the cost and wants to play free - and then complains even though they can in fact play for free!
Silly indeed.
You my friend need to get a grip... read what I said... do not infer something into it...
I don't know about you, but if you asked any random person on the street... would you like everything in life to be free... they'd say yes.
It's is indeed a silly question.
You wanted to make an argument out of it.
Get a grip.
The thing is (assuming we're still talking about real money), everything after the box price in GW2 IS free. it still is.
The content this thread is complaining about can be bought using ingame gold. Not to mention that all a person has to do to avoid spending even that much is to log in once during the month the content gets released. They don't even have to play it, they just literally have to log in for a second, then log off and play it later.
Earning gold in this game isn't even that hard if you are actually playing the game. Mobs (specifically champions) / world bosses drop insane amounts of loot, that can be sold for gold / converted to ectos. Dungeons drop (base) at least 1g each run, which nets usually around 2+ g a run. And each dungeon has multiple runs you can do.
I'm afraid your friend is right. People are literally complaining about a cost 'option' (please note the word option), for free content. Yes, FREE content. They do not have to pay anything for it. And yet they are still complaining.
Yes, they do charge 200 gems for the episodes you missed, it's a huge step up from previous model (where if you missed it, you missed it and no way to experience it again).
Paying is completely optional, you can read the wiki to get up to speed to where the story goes and continue doing it where it is now. Even more, you can group with someone that has the episode unlocked and do the whole thing with them for exactly 0 gems if you want to experience the story this way.
Everything in the open world, like the dry top and the silverwastes area, along with all the new events in those areas and everything that drops in the open world and all changes made to the game world (Fort Salma and other places attacked by the mordrem) are unlocked for free without having to pay.
So, basically, if you go back after a year or more, the only thing you really miss and can't get without paying is some extra achievement points and the mawdrey backpiece (you need the rewards from the story to craft it which I think you can't get if you do them in someone else's instance, unless you have that step unlocked and are on that step already), and the carapace and luminescent (which are basically the same but one glows blue) shoulder pieces if you miss the step you're on right now.
You can also unlock them by playing the game, 200 gems are currently roughly 32g. You get about 2g for each dungeon run (which could take as little as 10 mins if you get a speed run group for some of them) + whatever drops on them. If you do want to pay, though, $10 (less than a month's sub in other games) is enough to unlock all the releases of season 2 part 1 (4 releases).
Yes, they do charge 200 gems for the episodes you missed, it's a huge step up from previous model (where if you missed it, you missed it and no way to experience it again).
Paying is completely optional, you can read the wiki to get up to speed to where the story goes and continue doing it where it is now. Even more, you can group with someone that has the episode unlocked and do the whole thing with them for exactly 0 gems if you want to experience the story this way.
Everything in the open world, like the dry top and the silverwastes area, along with all the new events in those areas and everything that drops in the open world and all changes made to the game world (Fort Salma and other places attacked by the mordrem) are unlocked for free without having to pay.
So, basically, if you go back after a year or more, the only thing you really miss and can't get without paying is some extra achievement points and the mawdrey backpiece (you need the rewards from the story to craft it which I think you can't get if you do them in someone else's instance, unless you have that step unlocked and are on that step already), and the carapace and luminescent (which are basically the same but one glows blue) shoulder pieces if you miss the step you're on right now.
You can also unlock them by playing the game, 200 gems are currently roughly 32g. You get about 2g for each dungeon run (which could take as little as 10 mins if you get a speed run group for some of them) + whatever drops on them. If you do want to pay, though, $10 (less than a month's sub in other games) is enough to unlock all the releases of season 2 part 1 (4 releases).
Right you are and the part I highlighted you actually don't need to do the story for, can get from the zone that's open to al!!!l
Yes, they do charge 200 gems for the episodes you missed, it's a huge step up from previous model (where if you missed it, you missed it and no way to experience it again).
Paying is completely optional, you can read the wiki to get up to speed to where the story goes and continue doing it where it is now. Even more, you can group with someone that has the episode unlocked and do the whole thing with them for exactly 0 gems if you want to experience the story this way.
Everything in the open world, like the dry top and the silverwastes area, along with all the new events in those areas and everything that drops in the open world and all changes made to the game world (Fort Salma and other places attacked by the mordrem) are unlocked for free without having to pay.
So, basically, if you go back after a year or more, the only thing you really miss and can't get without paying is some extra achievement points and the mawdrey backpiece (you need the rewards from the story to craft it which I think you can't get if you do them in someone else's instance, unless you have that step unlocked and are on that step already), and the carapace and luminescent (which are basically the same but one glows blue) shoulder pieces if you miss the step you're on right now.
You can also unlock them by playing the game, 200 gems are currently roughly 32g. You get about 2g for each dungeon run (which could take as little as 10 mins if you get a speed run group for some of them) + whatever drops on them. If you do want to pay, though, $10 (less than a month's sub in other games) is enough to unlock all the releases of season 2 part 1 (4 releases).
Right you are and the part I highlighted you actually don't need to do the story for, can get from the zone that's open to al!!!l
Actually I think you do need the story for those (I say I think because read it on the official forums, still haven't finished the story myself). From what I've read the two ways to get the carapace armor is by finishing the story in the current release, or buy from the vendor for 1000 bandit crests, which you could get from events in the area without having to do the story (the crests, that is), but the vendor doesn't carry the actual carapace shoulders until you've finished the story (or so I've read).
And for the luminescent ones you need all three carapace shoulders (light, medium and heavy), so you'd need to finish the story for that one as well.
Actually I think you do need the story for those (I say I think because read it on the official forums, still haven't finished the story myself). From what I've read the two ways to get the carapace armor is by finishing the story in the current release, or buy from the vendor for 1000 bandit crests, which you could get from events in the area without having to do the story (the crests, that is), but the vendor doesn't carry the actual carapace shoulders until you've finished the story (or so I've read).
And for the luminescent ones you need all three carapace shoulders (light, medium and heavy), so you'd need to finish the story for that one as well.
Nope, just checked on alt I haven't done story with. Carapace shoulder box for 1000 tokens and 1 gold. Lumi I'm pretty sure you can get as well without story....
To me the problem is not the 200 gems fot the LS chapters for sure, with the current in-game economy just doing the daily will bring you enugh money to unlock them.
But sorry, im bored of using the same skills for over 2 years. Nothing has changed. End-game is poor. It's a farm based game that sure oriental market will like. I remember last time i logged in was just to check the new dry-top zone...just to discover that the 1st npc on your road was a vendor listing the materials u had to farm....erm...collect for the new weapon skin.
This game survives for one reason only in my opinion. It reflect that society that thinks that "appearing is more important than being".
I'm bored of new skins, i want something able to hook me for months due to its difficulty, even and specially, if it requires long time to reach it and it doesn't ask me to repeat the same boring farming everyday.
I was seriously considering to purchase this game. But after reading all of the fans of the game state the obvious without anything concrete to remain playing, I have have decided to give this game a pass. Obviously the business model the company had for the game has changed since release. In order for ArenaNet to get a return on their development costs, they've had to make changes. Originally their plan before the game was released was to have copies of the game and shop items continue to sell as they continued to develop new content.
This year the game has gone on sale four times. The price of the game was reduced and then half price sale is on now. Right now is the lowest you can purchase the game until Nov 9, 2014. That tells me they aren't doing too well especially given they merged everyone into a mega-server earlier this year. Coupled with charging for content missed tells me the company, ArenaNet is in trouble. If things went as planned from release they wouldn't have to do that. The problem is that less people are playing the game than the company anticipated. Some refer to this as a failed game.
What I personally see is that the company wants people to play their game how they want the people to play it. They don't open it up to everyone's play style. The MMO with the most players is the one that allows players to play with many different ways and many things to do. This game has things locked down where you can't do things as freely as you can with other MMOs in the genre. This game was given the highest marks of any MMO released in the last few years by the media yet people aren't flocking to play it because it doesn't have a lot of things to do as other MMOs available today. It also lacks a lot of features that are in other MMOs by default.
Well what does Anet do different then from all other companies?
ArenaNet focuses on development of content instead of making the game better. Instead of adding features and opening up game play for more people that like different styles to play an MMO, they focus on changing and adding content. The model isn't working well for them as can be seen by the number of new players to the game and the players leaving the game. The model that ArenaNet uses is something that a whiteboard discussion would convince someone would work. However in actual implementation is not a good model because the base game stays the same.
If you compare the actual different types of things you can do in Guild Wars 2 against other MMOs which have a lot more players you find that Guild Wars 2 is lacking in many areas. None of them are being addressed by ArenaNet. They keep talking about content to try to keep players interested in staying with the game instead of gaining new players. The model they use just doesn't work in the business of MMOs. If they want to gain new players, open up the game play and allow people to play how they want to instead of how the company decides the players will play it. A few years ago when ArenaNet had their internal discussion about how the game should be with dynamic events, no holy trinity, they believed that people had fun by helping each other and it didn't have to do with the "way" people helped each other. In following this belief, they didn't include lots of things in the MMO they were developing because they believed it wasn't necessary to have fun. This led to a game that is locked down by the game developer to give players a way to play "their" way instead of "your" way.
Guild Wars 2 does not have:
1. Mounts - ground nor flying
2. Housing
3. Farms to grow things to assist in crafting items
4. In-game macros
5. Add-on support or full customization of the UI
6. No follow command for full multi-boxing game play - they have restrictions and rules against this style of game play.
Other MMOs are either adding support for these or already have them. With ArenaNet their beliefs are holding them back from gaining new players because they want to have a game that "_they_" believe is fun instead of what the majority of "_people_" playing MMOs believe is fun. That's the fundamental flaw in their thinking. They are thinking of their game in terms of them instead of the general public.
TL;DR ArenaNet is thinking of themselves with Guild Wars 2 instead of everyone else in the world that likes MMOs.
Your list is simply a reflection of what you want in a MMO. Housing would be great, but the rest is irrelevant rubbish, macros lol, next it will be talent reduction to 'streamline' spell rotations. What Arenenet are doing is adhering to their own vision, sone wobt like it but at least tgry are not trwating their gane like its a bucket if mini games. Secondly the game is doing fine, you don't hire extra devs if you are losing money or are in containment.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Originally posted by Bladestrom Your list is simply a reflection of what you want in a MMO. Housing would be great, but the rest is irrelevant rubbish, macros lol, next it will be talent reduction to 'streamline' spell rotations. What Arenenet are doing is adhering to their own vision, sone wobt like it but at least tgry are not trwating their gane like its a bucket if mini games. Secondly the game is doing fine, you don't hire extra devs if you are losing money or are in containment.
Yeah I was thinking the same. He is just making up a list of features he likes and criticizes that Anet isn't catering to him.
Spiced up with a lot of "the majority wants..." and "other games have this so they are doing far better"
The usual case of not having any access to official numbers of gw2 or any other mmo but that isn't a reason not to make up random baseless claims cause this is the internet.
I'm not afraid to tell trolls what they [need] to hear, even if that means for me to have an forced absence afterwards.
P2P LOGIC = If it's P2P it means longevity, overall better game, and THE BEST SUPPORT EVER!!!!!(Which has been rinsed and repeated about a thousand times)
Common Sense Logic = P2P logic is no better than F2P Logic.
Originally posted by Bladestrom Your list is simply a reflection of what you want in a MMO. Housing would be great, but the rest is irrelevant rubbish, macros lol, next it will be talent reduction to 'streamline' spell rotations. What Arenenet are doing is adhering to their own vision, sone wobt like it but at least tgry are not trwating their gane like its a bucket if mini games. Secondly the game is doing fine, you don't hire extra devs if you are losing money or are in containment.
Yeah I was thinking the same. He is just making up a list of features he likes and criticizes that Anet isn't catering to him.
Spiced up with a lot of "the majority wants..." and "other games have this so they are doing far better"
The usual case of not having any access to official numbers of gw2 or any other mmo but that isn't a reason not to make up random baseless claims cause this is the internet.
You missed the point all together. The list was just an example. It's what the company is doing that matters. They are not extending the game. They are simply adding and removing content. There are a lot more things that they could be adding to the game to make it appeal to a more broad customer base. That's the point.
With ArenaNet sticking to their own vision to what they believe is fun in their game, they will miss out on having more customers play their game. The game isn't doing fine at all based on what they are doing to try to get more income. They are hurting.
You missed the point all together. The list was just an example. It's what the company is doing that matters. They are not extending the game. They are simply adding and removing content. There are a lot more things that they could be adding to the game to make it appeal to a more broad customer base. That's the point.
With ArenaNet sticking to their own vision to what they believe is fun in their game, they will miss out on having more customers play their game. The game isn't doing fine at all based on what they are doing to try to get more income. They are hurting.
In one corner we have Prepared.
In the other corner we have NCSoft.
NCSoft just fired people across all of its West business, 60 people were laid off on Carbine alone.
All of its West business except... Arenanet.
NCSoft is ruthless and quick to act.
And here it is, Arenanet, a company that grew from 150 people at the beginning of GW2 development into a 250 people studi by the time GW2 released to 350+ people nowadays, was left untouched.
But Prepared here knows Arenanet is hurting...
Currently playing: GW2 Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
You missed the point all together. The list was just an example. It's what the company is doing that matters. They are not extending the game. They are simply adding and removing content. There are a lot more things that they could be adding to the game to make it appeal to a more broad customer base. That's the point.
With ArenaNet sticking to their own vision to what they believe is fun in their game, they will miss out on having more customers play their game. The game isn't doing fine at all based on what they are doing to try to get more income. They are hurting.
In one corner we have Prepared.
In the other corner we have NCSoft.
NCSoft just fired people across all of its West business, 60 people were laid off on Carbine alone.
All of its West business except... Arenanet.
NCSoft is ruthless and quick to act.
And here it is, Arenanet, a company that grew from 150 people at the beginning of GW2 development into a 250 people studi by the time GW2 released to 350+ people nowadays, was left untouched.
Ah gaia hunter is spreading misinformation again... anet had 300 people when gw2 launched... they then had 350+ as of january this year... we don't have any numbers more recent than that...
Let's try to keep the information accurate people... i know some of you are big fans of the game but distorting the truth isn't helping anyone...
Here's a nice review from this month on glassdoor.com
I worked at ArenaNet full-time (more than an year)
Pros
The people at ArenaNet have a dedication and drive that is very hard to match in the industry. They seek out the top talent and setup a culture to share knowledge and grow the people around them.
I have worked with some of the most intelligent and caring people at ArenaNet. Everyone took pride in their work and had no problems helping each other out or staying late to finish their work. A lot of the people at the company have loyalty for those around them. People stay at ArenaNet out a sense of loyalty to the game they helped make and a belief in the product.
I have worked at big company's like Nintendo, and Microsoft and I can honestly say ArenaNet was one of the first places I felt welcome at. Designers, Programmers, Artists, and QA were all friendly and more than willing to sit down and meet the new guy. There were groups that always got to together for lunches and held nightly gaming sessions. People were always willing to include you into their evening or weekend plans. I have made some good friends at ArenaNet I will hold onto for a long time.
Cons
ArenaNet has become a toxic environment where people are worked to their breaking points and then told to keep working. The number one problem that seems to be plaguing ArenaNet is burn out and fatigue. People are often asked to work 10 to 12 hours a day and often to come in over the weekends. Another factor leading to the constant burn out and fatigue is re-scoping of the releases. Teams will work for weeks and months on content for releases only to have everything change a month before the content is launched. This requires the teams to redo a majority of the work for the release while still trying to meet the original deadline.
ArenaNet has also become a political cesspool. People are being locked into positions not because of a lack of skill or talent, but because they don't suck up to the right people. I have seen employee's with glowing recommendations from their teams get passed over for employee's who can barely do their job because of who they were friends with at the company. The people who actually do the work are too valuable to let them advance, but then the incompetent people make all the business decisions. Management is often ready to scapegoat their people as well. They make all the decisions, but take none of the blame when things go wrong.
I also wanted to talk about is the talent. Like I mentioned above, the talent at ArenaNet is great and there are a ton of dedicated people. The downside of all of this is: The good people are leaving the company. The politics and overworked environment have caused quite a few people to leave. Almost everyone who helped make Guild Wars and helped launch Guild Wars 2 are gone. You now have a company that trusts analytics and data over people's intuition or that listened to their community. People feel like their complaints are not being heard and many feel frustrated in their lot at the company.
Also be prepared to make way less money that almost any other studio in the area. This company was competitive for the games industry about a decade ago. Unless you are an Artist or a Programmer expect to be paid about 30% less than any other studio in the area.
<p nomargvert="" notranslate="" "="" data-truncate-chars="100">My advice to Management: Start listening to the people underneath you. Let the employees have a stake in what they create again and you might start having a successful product again. Let HR actually defend the employee's from upper management and keep the political bull out of the business.
Originally posted by A1D3N stop crying, if u dont like it dont play it,
QFT, played for about 3 months, never been back
Hear hear, quit back in November 2012.
Just another glorified dress up game. A shame that there will never be another game like Guild Wars. Gotta get in on that sweet sweet renminbi rather than release a good game.
Ah gaia hunter is spreading misinformation again... anet had 300 people when gw2 launched... they then had 350+ as of january this year... we don't have any numbers more recent than that...
Let's try to keep the information accurate people... i know some of you are big fans of the game but distorting the truth isn't helping anyone...
Here's a nice review from this month on glassdoor.com
I worked at ArenaNet full-time (more than an year)
Pros
The people at ArenaNet have a dedication and drive that is very hard to match in the industry. They seek out the top talent and setup a culture to share knowledge and grow the people around them.
I have worked with some of the most intelligent and caring people at ArenaNet. Everyone took pride in their work and had no problems helping each other out or staying late to finish their work. A lot of the people at the company have loyalty for those around them. People stay at ArenaNet out a sense of loyalty to the game they helped make and a belief in the product.
I have worked at big company's like Nintendo, and Microsoft and I can honestly say ArenaNet was one of the first places I felt welcome at. Designers, Programmers, Artists, and QA were all friendly and more than willing to sit down and meet the new guy. There were groups that always got to together for lunches and held nightly gaming sessions. People were always willing to include you into their evening or weekend plans. I have made some good friends at ArenaNet I will hold onto for a long time.
Cons
ArenaNet has become a toxic environment where people are worked to their breaking points and then told to keep working. The number one problem that seems to be plaguing ArenaNet is burn out and fatigue. People are often asked to work 10 to 12 hours a day and often to come in over the weekends. Another factor leading to the constant burn out and fatigue is re-scoping of the releases. Teams will work for weeks and months on content for releases only to have everything change a month before the content is launched. This requires the teams to redo a majority of the work for the release while still trying to meet the original deadline.
ArenaNet has also become a political cesspool. People are being locked into positions not because of a lack of skill or talent, but because they don't suck up to the right people. I have seen employee's with glowing recommendations from their teams get passed over for employee's who can barely do their job because of who they were friends with at the company. The people who actually do the work are too valuable to let them advance, but then the incompetent people make all the business decisions. Management is often ready to scapegoat their people as well. They make all the decisions, but take none of the blame when things go wrong.
I also wanted to talk about is the talent. Like I mentioned above, the talent at ArenaNet is great and there are a ton of dedicated people. The downside of all of this is: The good people are leaving the company. The politics and overworked environment have caused quite a few people to leave. Almost everyone who helped make Guild Wars and helped launch Guild Wars 2 are gone. You now have a company that trusts analytics and data over people's intuition or that listened to their community. People feel like their complaints are not being heard and many feel frustrated in their lot at the company.
Also be prepared to make way less money that almost any other studio in the area. This company was competitive for the games industry about a decade ago. Unless you are an Artist or a Programmer expect to be paid about 30% less than any other studio in the area.
<p nomargvert="" notranslate="" "="" data-truncate-chars="100">My advice to Management: Start listening to the people underneath you. Let the employees have a stake in what they create again and you might start having a successful product again. Let HR actually defend the employee's from upper management and keep the political bull out of the business.
Dude, ANet had 250 people at launch and went over 300 then 350. They ACTUALLY posted about it. But people just need to look at your post history and everything will be clear.
You missed the point all together. The list was just an example. It's what the company is doing that matters. They are not extending the game. They are simply adding and removing content. There are a lot more things that they could be adding to the game to make it appeal to a more broad customer base. That's the point.
With ArenaNet sticking to their own vision to what they believe is fun in their game, they will miss out on having more customers play their game. The game isn't doing fine at all based on what they are doing to try to get more income. They are hurting.
In one corner we have Prepared.
In the other corner we have NCSoft.
NCSoft just fired people across all of its West business, 60 people were laid off on Carbine alone.
All of its West business except... Arenanet.
NCSoft is ruthless and quick to act.
And here it is, Arenanet, a company that grew from 150 people at the beginning of GW2 development into a 250 people studi by the time GW2 released to 350+ people nowadays, was left untouched.
But Prepared here knows Arenanet is hurting...
These "experts" are hilarious, i mean, NCSoft releases numbers, theres so much official info around and they you have gems like Prepared and Cefetdldk guy come in (and some others, but seems they have shut up now as they cant really say anything any more) and shill away.
Comments
Who doesn't want everything in life for free?
Silly...
And the most awesome thing about "pay once... enjoy forever" is that the publisher only needs to listen to you until you have paid. After that, your opinion doesn't really matter unless you are one that regularly sinks additional money into the game. If you play and don't continue to pay, there is zero reason to listen to you. If you leave, that's just less burden on their hardware infrastructure.
It's interesting how different companies go about getting you to login. Marvel Heroes gives you all kinds of boosts for just taking a sec. to log daily. Even being able to pick a free character at points.
I think logging into GW2 is simplicity itself since you can have the launcher remember your password so it's so much easier. I wish more games did that. STO does it IF you use their ARC launcher.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Who is Silly, the man who is happy to cover the costs of his entertainment, or the idiot who ignores the cost and wants to play free - and then complains even though they can in fact play for free!
Silly indeed.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
back in my day devs made expansions and charged for them and it was never thought of as money grabbing, it was more content people could enjoy. Now if a game provides extra services and charges people are all up in arms about it.
casuals ... Its actually nice to see devs not catering to the casuals for a change.
Ya, F those guys...
.. Who cares that (for years) you didn't have access to the old content at all. It was all temporary, and if you missed it, you missed it. Who cares that you can gain access to the old content using in-game gold, or that you don't really miss anything outside of the story.
How dare they try and make money on their game. Shameful.
If they were forcing you to pay money for stuff, I'd understand this. But they aren't. There's nothing forcing you to play old content, and they've offered a service by keeping it available to players who've missed it.
To this day you STILL don't have to pay anything but the box price to enjoy this game. I've played it off and on for years (sometimes taking months off to play other stuff), and I haven't spent a dime on the game. I missed a couple episodes of the living story (there's only a couple available to even buy at this point), and I just used ingame gold to unlock the ones I wanted.
Some people just need things to complain about I guess.
You my friend need to get a grip... read what I said... do not infer something into it...
I don't know about you, but if you asked any random person on the street... would you like everything in life to be free... they'd say yes.
It's is indeed a silly question.
You wanted to make an argument out of it.
Get a grip.
The thing is (assuming we're still talking about real money), everything after the box price in GW2 IS free. it still is.
The content this thread is complaining about can be bought using ingame gold. Not to mention that all a person has to do to avoid spending even that much is to log in once during the month the content gets released. They don't even have to play it, they just literally have to log in for a second, then log off and play it later.
Earning gold in this game isn't even that hard if you are actually playing the game. Mobs (specifically champions) / world bosses drop insane amounts of loot, that can be sold for gold / converted to ectos. Dungeons drop (base) at least 1g each run, which nets usually around 2+ g a run. And each dungeon has multiple runs you can do.
I'm afraid your friend is right. People are literally complaining about a cost 'option' (please note the word option), for free content. Yes, FREE content. They do not have to pay anything for it. And yet they are still complaining.
A few details to add here.
Yes, they do charge 200 gems for the episodes you missed, it's a huge step up from previous model (where if you missed it, you missed it and no way to experience it again).
Paying is completely optional, you can read the wiki to get up to speed to where the story goes and continue doing it where it is now. Even more, you can group with someone that has the episode unlocked and do the whole thing with them for exactly 0 gems if you want to experience the story this way.
Everything in the open world, like the dry top and the silverwastes area, along with all the new events in those areas and everything that drops in the open world and all changes made to the game world (Fort Salma and other places attacked by the mordrem) are unlocked for free without having to pay.
So, basically, if you go back after a year or more, the only thing you really miss and can't get without paying is some extra achievement points and the mawdrey backpiece (you need the rewards from the story to craft it which I think you can't get if you do them in someone else's instance, unless you have that step unlocked and are on that step already), and the carapace and luminescent (which are basically the same but one glows blue) shoulder pieces if you miss the step you're on right now.
You can also unlock them by playing the game, 200 gems are currently roughly 32g. You get about 2g for each dungeon run (which could take as little as 10 mins if you get a speed run group for some of them) + whatever drops on them. If you do want to pay, though, $10 (less than a month's sub in other games) is enough to unlock all the releases of season 2 part 1 (4 releases).
What can men do against such reckless hate?
Right you are and the part I highlighted you actually don't need to do the story for, can get from the zone that's open to al!!!l
Actually I think you do need the story for those (I say I think because read it on the official forums, still haven't finished the story myself). From what I've read the two ways to get the carapace armor is by finishing the story in the current release, or buy from the vendor for 1000 bandit crests, which you could get from events in the area without having to do the story (the crests, that is), but the vendor doesn't carry the actual carapace shoulders until you've finished the story (or so I've read).
And for the luminescent ones you need all three carapace shoulders (light, medium and heavy), so you'd need to finish the story for that one as well.
What can men do against such reckless hate?
Nope, just checked on alt I haven't done story with. Carapace shoulder box for 1000 tokens and 1 gold. Lumi I'm pretty sure you can get as well without story....
To me the problem is not the 200 gems fot the LS chapters for sure, with the current in-game economy just doing the daily will bring you enugh money to unlock them.
But sorry, im bored of using the same skills for over 2 years. Nothing has changed. End-game is poor. It's a farm based game that sure oriental market will like. I remember last time i logged in was just to check the new dry-top zone...just to discover that the 1st npc on your road was a vendor listing the materials u had to farm....erm...collect for the new weapon skin.
This game survives for one reason only in my opinion. It reflect that society that thinks that "appearing is more important than being".
I'm bored of new skins, i want something able to hook me for months due to its difficulty, even and specially, if it requires long time to reach it and it doesn't ask me to repeat the same boring farming everyday.
ArenaNet focuses on development of content instead of making the game better. Instead of adding features and opening up game play for more people that like different styles to play an MMO, they focus on changing and adding content. The model isn't working well for them as can be seen by the number of new players to the game and the players leaving the game. The model that ArenaNet uses is something that a whiteboard discussion would convince someone would work. However in actual implementation is not a good model because the base game stays the same.
If you compare the actual different types of things you can do in Guild Wars 2 against other MMOs which have a lot more players you find that Guild Wars 2 is lacking in many areas. None of them are being addressed by ArenaNet. They keep talking about content to try to keep players interested in staying with the game instead of gaining new players. The model they use just doesn't work in the business of MMOs. If they want to gain new players, open up the game play and allow people to play how they want to instead of how the company decides the players will play it. A few years ago when ArenaNet had their internal discussion about how the game should be with dynamic events, no holy trinity, they believed that people had fun by helping each other and it didn't have to do with the "way" people helped each other. In following this belief, they didn't include lots of things in the MMO they were developing because they believed it wasn't necessary to have fun. This led to a game that is locked down by the game developer to give players a way to play "their" way instead of "your" way.
Guild Wars 2 does not have:
1. Mounts - ground nor flying
2. Housing
3. Farms to grow things to assist in crafting items
4. In-game macros
5. Add-on support or full customization of the UI
6. No follow command for full multi-boxing game play - they have restrictions and rules against this style of game play.
Other MMOs are either adding support for these or already have them. With ArenaNet their beliefs are holding them back from gaining new players because they want to have a game that "_they_" believe is fun instead of what the majority of "_people_" playing MMOs believe is fun. That's the fundamental flaw in their thinking. They are thinking of their game in terms of them instead of the general public.
TL;DR ArenaNet is thinking of themselves with Guild Wars 2 instead of everyone else in the world that likes MMOs.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
Yeah I was thinking the same. He is just making up a list of features he likes and criticizes that Anet isn't catering to him.
Spiced up with a lot of "the majority wants..." and "other games have this so they are doing far better"
The usual case of not having any access to official numbers of gw2 or any other mmo but that isn't a reason not to make up random baseless claims cause this is the internet.
*Sighs*
What a shame.
(Directed to the OP)
I might get banned for this. - Rizel Star.
I'm not afraid to tell trolls what they [need] to hear, even if that means for me to have an forced absence afterwards.
P2P LOGIC = If it's P2P it means longevity, overall better game, and THE BEST SUPPORT EVER!!!!!(Which has been rinsed and repeated about a thousand times)
Common Sense Logic = P2P logic is no better than F2P Logic.
You missed the point all together. The list was just an example. It's what the company is doing that matters. They are not extending the game. They are simply adding and removing content. There are a lot more things that they could be adding to the game to make it appeal to a more broad customer base. That's the point.
With ArenaNet sticking to their own vision to what they believe is fun in their game, they will miss out on having more customers play their game. The game isn't doing fine at all based on what they are doing to try to get more income. They are hurting.
In one corner we have Prepared.
In the other corner we have NCSoft.
NCSoft just fired people across all of its West business, 60 people were laid off on Carbine alone.
All of its West business except... Arenanet.
NCSoft is ruthless and quick to act.
And here it is, Arenanet, a company that grew from 150 people at the beginning of GW2 development into a 250 people studi by the time GW2 released to 350+ people nowadays, was left untouched.
But Prepared here knows Arenanet is hurting...
Currently playing: GW2
Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
LMFAO pwned.
Ah gaia hunter is spreading misinformation again... anet had 300 people when gw2 launched... they then had 350+ as of january this year... we don't have any numbers more recent than that...
Let's try to keep the information accurate people... i know some of you are big fans of the game but distorting the truth isn't helping anyone...
Here's a nice review from this month on glassdoor.com
I worked at ArenaNet full-time (more than an year)
Pros
I have worked with some of the most intelligent and caring people at ArenaNet. Everyone took pride in their work and had no problems helping each other out or staying late to finish their work. A lot of the people at the company have loyalty for those around them. People stay at ArenaNet out a sense of loyalty to the game they helped make and a belief in the product.
I have worked at big company's like Nintendo, and Microsoft and I can honestly say ArenaNet was one of the first places I felt welcome at. Designers, Programmers, Artists, and QA were all friendly and more than willing to sit down and meet the new guy. There were groups that always got to together for lunches and held nightly gaming sessions. People were always willing to include you into their evening or weekend plans. I have made some good friends at ArenaNet I will hold onto for a long time.
Cons
ArenaNet has also become a political cesspool. People are being locked into positions not because of a lack of skill or talent, but because they don't suck up to the right people. I have seen employee's with glowing recommendations from their teams get passed over for employee's who can barely do their job because of who they were friends with at the company. The people who actually do the work are too valuable to let them advance, but then the incompetent people make all the business decisions. Management is often ready to scapegoat their people as well. They make all the decisions, but take none of the blame when things go wrong.
I also wanted to talk about is the talent. Like I mentioned above, the talent at ArenaNet is great and there are a ton of dedicated people. The downside of all of this is: The good people are leaving the company. The politics and overworked environment have caused quite a few people to leave. Almost everyone who helped make Guild Wars and helped launch Guild Wars 2 are gone. You now have a company that trusts analytics and data over people's intuition or that listened to their community. People feel like their complaints are not being heard and many feel frustrated in their lot at the company.
Also be prepared to make way less money that almost any other studio in the area. This company was competitive for the games industry about a decade ago. Unless you are an Artist or a Programmer expect to be paid about 30% less than any other studio in the area.
Hear hear, quit back in November 2012.
Just another glorified dress up game. A shame that there will never be another game like Guild Wars. Gotta get in on that sweet sweet renminbi rather than release a good game.
Dude, ANet had 250 people at launch and went over 300 then 350. They ACTUALLY posted about it. But people just need to look at your post history and everything will be clear.
Paid shills are soooooooooooo last decade rofl
These "experts" are hilarious, i mean, NCSoft releases numbers, theres so much official info around and they you have gems like Prepared and Cefetdldk guy come in (and some others, but seems they have shut up now as they cant really say anything any more) and shill away.
Guys find some honest work.