Veteran players given limited benefits?

The Following is a lot of reading on an issue that can be important to many, please read patiently and give your support if you're in agreement.

I've been a player to GW for 17 months now, meaning I've been playing since release here in Canada. However, this is the first time I've actually felt unsettled and compelled enough to take action on something I find a bit unjust.

For some time now myself and some friends have kept an eye over the different editions of GW and one thing hasn't added up to us. We took a look at Game Of The Year Edition which, for the same price as the original GW boxset, offers unlimited claimable items. For those of you unaware of the Game Of The Year Edition and what it offers you can get an idea by visiting:

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Guild_W...e_Year_Edition

Now, I understand some players might be saying to themselves "Who cares about a couple items I could easily find a replacement to" and in a way they're right, its not a big issue in the end but the concept of it is a bit of a bother to myself and my friends.

The Fact that newer players have editions that give them benefits that we not only DON'T have but at this rate never WILL have unless we decide to purchase a whole new edition of Guild Wars is a unfair way to treat the veteran players. I find it unpleasant to have to buy a whole new version of Guild Wars then Factions as well or have it merged into my current account going through Anet.

Granted we were given presents for when one of our characters turned 1 year old, but not everyone in the game is able or enjoys keeping a single characters for more than a year. This is a limiting award which to me was a dissapointment which support this issue.

Recently I contacted ANet asking why veteran players aren't given some sort of similar rewards, I quickly received a response informing me to post the issue on a Guild Wars website forum on their site. So here I am uncovering the issue to all players reading this. Weather you're not as prosperous as others in the game to buy items like this, or would enjoy it in pve or just as a fashionable item.

So I propose Anet take into consideration giving all veteran players a similar reward to right this wrong. Also, instead of granting the rewards on a character age basis, I propose they do it on an account age basis.

I would appreciate if any people supporting my ideas and cause state so, that way ANets devs who scout forums for new ideas can read this and understand how many players would like to see it done. I also welcome feedback on the idea.

I would also appreciate if maybe this idea could be stickied as a type of petition and/or redirected to a more appropriate forum.

Without new players joining, Anet cant make any money.

Without money, the servers will close.

Let the new players get cool stuff that gives them ZERO advantage.

Well the GOTY edition wasn't to reward new players, it was to celebrate GW winning the 2005 game of the year award.

Maybe there should be some sort of reward system in GW. City of Heroes and City of Villains will soon be introducing their veteran rewards program. For having an account active for 15 months you can get wings that flap and everything which is cool as you can actually fly there too (you also get other stuff every 3 months prior to and after that). I'm not real sure what sort of rewards GW could offer though.

Still no reason to give new players any more shit than what we got.

And Anet doesn't lose anything for giving veteran players the same stuff.

No profit loss?

Super super!

I know what you're saying about the GOTY edition celebrating that point, why not celebrate that with the players who actually helped the game in its success?

I totally agree with the Reward system though, its an aspect a lot of games have and I dont see it being too much to ask

lyra got it in one...new players>>>>veterans, if you have been playing for 17 months Anet knows they "have" you..they need stuff to excite new players to join so they can make more money.

Maybe we should think of a series of rewards and we get a new set every four months (applies retoractively of course). But we need some ideas for these rewards.

Maybe special armor or weapon skins. Like a vial that you could apply to existing equipment (similar to dye) and it would keep the stats but get a special veteran skin.

Veteran players do receive mini-pets at the 1 year mark. New players eventually become seasoned veterans and also earn the same stuff.

Sounds fair to me...

Understood from a marketing perspective, but they havent HAD me for 17 months, I've just had my account for 17 months. I've lost all interest in GW multiple times and switched over to other games, the reason I switch over to the other games again is because I'm given 1 monthfree or tons of vet rewards. As far as GW goes I come back because my guild needs me for gvg or I feel like talking to them once in a while (excuse the "me me me" examples.) So considering Anet has reserved the right to start charging monthly fees when they want roughly 6 months ago... I dont see any real persuasion to stay if and when they do.

well see that's the thing, veteran's arent the only ones who have made the game a success, the fact that a constant flow of new players is also what made this game so popular. Veterans are good, but without fresh blood, such veterans are not really useful.

The difference with having a veteran system in CoV and CoH is that you still have to pay for those, the idea in that is player retention, and frankly, you will want to keep paying customers and to do that you need to keep them happy.

Unfortunately, if they add in a veteran system here, it will purely be out of goodwill, nothing more.

Please read

GW isnt worth paying a monthly subscription thats for sure.

I can see where you are coming from but it will never happen. Money is the name of the game and vetran players only light up the dollar signs in Anets eyes when a new exspansion is due.

Meh.

So the new GOTY and the original game are the same price. What advantage do you have over the new player? A year of enjoying the game.

I think the that the mini-pet is enough. True, it's character based, not account based, but this means that you can get multiple presents per account. And many of the pets can be sold for good money, which you can put toward whatever you desire. What's not to like?

Another advantage veteran players have over new players? A whole bevy of unlocked skills, to start enjoying with your new heroes.

Some advice: You'll be happier if you concentrate on enjoying what you have, rather than imagining new injustices that need to be righted.

i have been playing the game 4 17 months i only got 1 mini pet if i kept the same chars 4 more then a year i would get bored with the game i play every day it would b really boring if i had all lvl 20 chars what am i 2 do sit around grotto all day??????

I couldnt agree and understand more, trust me. Guild Wars still offered minipets as previously mentioned, that was good will, as useless as they are they were still good will. So ok, lets look at it this way.

Attract new players with added features.....that works

Ignore older players and expect them to stick around when all the benefits are given to the newbies? We're paying customers too we'll be there for every expansion.

Why should non-subscription accounts be entitled to anything beyond the original advertised and packaged items? Not debating your proposal... just trying to follow your line of thinking...

What kind of reward system you got in mind then?

You'll need to elaborate a bit more so I can elaborate sorry, I'm having trouble understanding that.

The best, most simple and fair system I can think of is a mixture of what GOTY offers and what I've seen offered by SOE's Everquest 2.

A veteran reward system that offers different rewards after an account reaches a certain age. So for exmaple a player could type /claim and be given a selection of items he's been rewarded depending on his account's age. So, let's say for example, every 3 months of account age gets you a new item/weapon to select from for either each class or just generalized.

It could inspire more design your own weapon contests and also help keep players interrested in the game between expansions.

Nope, Paid customers, not paying.

Actually I was thinking about this thread more and more, and this particular idea is actually pretty sound. If Anet could find a way to incorporate player retention, then they could surely buy us over with each new chapter that comes out, and then they could focus alot more on getting newer players to join in the fun. I think that GW is going to hit it's peak sometime in the future, so its going to be something to consider.

I'm simply asking why one-time buyers of a given software title should be given additional items after the purchase is completed. After the point-of-sale, the transaction between buyer and seller is done. I'm trying to figure out why ANET needs to reward long time players if those players are not financing ANET any further.

If those long-time players are buying GW-expansions, then they are supporting GW and getting the new content they paid for. But why simply reward long-time users? To demonstrate good will?

Honestly good will doesnt hurt, they decided to do it for the minipets why not again, it'd definately please a lot of players keep them more interrested. Not to mention the good will is a safety net for later on if GW does implement monthly fees, at which point some people will be asking themselves "why bother paying" since they dont have much interrest in the game. I've asked numerous people their opinions on monthly fees and what they'd do. A lot of players wouldn't think twice about paying fees simply because the game holds nothing for them. A common view on the game is awesome for a free game but its less of a comparison to large MMOs and if they'd want to put themselves on that playing field (which you'd assume they would otherwise they wouldnt reserve the right to implement fees) they'd have to gain consumer interrest

In a game like Guild Wars, the point is that there is still a retention issue. If a rewards system would make the community happy, then it should at least be considered.

The way to look at it is that if the players are happy, then they will be there for both expansions every year. On top of that, they will probably buy an extra character slot or two (so it's now easy to keep a character longer term to use in future expansions) and they will refer their friends.

I doubt that A-Net looks at it as though "they already bought it so forget about them, let's focus on new players". They are smarter than that or they never would have made it this far.

They will not alienate their long-term players since they know that it is easier to get longer term players to buy the expansions than it is to generate a new sale (the same as in virtually any business model).

This is a good thread to throw some ideas in the air and then let Arena Net decide which way it wants to go. They get a lot of ideas from the community so it's better to be vocal so that they will have the opporunity to at least consider these options.

Joe

I agree with the above, though the rewards freebie items probably should not cross into collector's edition specialty gear. Otherwise, there will be no incentive in paying the extra cash to obtain the CE copies.

Umm, no it's definitly paying. Anet must still make us buy the next chapter. I doubt I will be getting nightfall (at least for a long while) because I take my time, I still have heaps to do in factions and a bit in prophecies.


Turning more on topic, I wouldn't turn down free stuff
But personally I don't feel because I've been playing for 16 odd months I should get free stuff. I mean if Anet needs to give out weapons etc with new chapters to keep the game alive with newcomers, I say go for it.
I mean the stats on them don't give an advantage, besides veterans will have rare skins mursaat hammers, magmas... etc etc.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and make an assumption, you're not actually going to use these will you? you just want them because people are buying the same product a year later and it has these additional items?

A bit of extra goodwill can't hurt - the more players who play, the better the game is for everyone. If some sort of reward for "time served" can be brought in, preferably based on account starting date rather than the age of specific characters, I'd be very happy. Not that I tend to delete characters, but as stated, some people do...

Everybody wants something for free. You want the items so bad, go buy the edition. Costs too much? Then don't buy it. Just like pre-order items, extra slots, unlock packs, expansions, etc.

How about being able to buy a relatively cheap key off the online store or something that gives you the bonus items. If it's cheap, Anet'll still make quite a bit of money and everyone's relatively happy that they have the choice to add it to their account.

m3h...

Stop whining. I bought the GOTY version and I doubt its any different from the normal version other than the additional items. Heck, I don't even know when I get this item! I hope it wasn't in my starting inventory. Cuz I probably sold it. The extra items mean nothing to me whatsoever. I bought the GOTY version because it was the only version available. GW is free of monthly fees and if you feel you're being neglected then you're free to find a new game. Or better yet...step away from PC gaming for a while. You don't want to become one of those hnl guys.

Here's what I'm having a hard time understanding:

You've had GW for 17 months, and it sounds like you've exhausted the content to the point that you're just not getting fun out of it right now. That's seems totally understandable. Assuming that you'll buy Nightfall, it's reasonable to assume that you'll play that for a while, and could potentially get bored of GW again in the couple months preceding Chapter 4. When Chapter 4 comes out, you may or may not buy it, depending on reviews, PWE's, etc.

Would getting a free weapon really change anything? Would it make you less bored of the content at the end of each chapter cycle? Are you going to suddenly feel a new passion to redo all the missions, because of your new Slingshot of the Magi? Given the nature of GW's balancing, I really can't fathom how a new item would revitalize my interest in the game for more than an hour or two, if my interest was already gone.

I understand it would be nice, and goodwill, and all of that. But is it really a dealbreaker for anyone here? Does the lack of free account birthday gifts really influence anyone's decisions to buy future chapters? Isn't that the bottom line?

I'm all for introducing a veteran's reward type of thing, but I would rather have it be the time that your acct was active, not how long you've been playing.

I think CoH/CoV/NCSoft did that just because we all left after I5 and ED... craptastic armor ftl.

I've actually ran that idea through my head, but it seems Anet puts very little if any effort into their store. They came out a bit late with the skill packs IMO and the extra slots only appeal to so many people. If they could implement bonuses like mentioned in the thread for a relatively cheap price I'm sure they'd see some happy faces and a lot of paying customers.

I see posts talking about account age and character age in months. Make the rewards based on hours played. If there are to be rewards for veterans, make it for Active accounts (or characters, if possible) over a certain age (# hours played). I am sure Anet can determine which accounts are active or not, not too sure about the characters.

Just a thought.

I find this whole thread funny actually.

Veterans? Hell even the people in the Beta couldnt be called veterans. The game is barely a year and a half old, if even that. Come back after playing it for 5 or 6 years and I'll gladly call you a veteran and say that you deserve something special for playing that long.

But you expect a reward for being here a year? Pssh. That just shows how bad your ADD is.

I see nothing in the new release editions that I as a veteren player would want anyway. The concept is that we have been in game long enough to be well compensated for time in game with any number of things. Plus add to that teh already numerous bonuses for preordering Prophacies, Factions, and Nightfall... well... thats 5 items right there... More if collectors editions as well... so yea... I see your point, but in reality is anything in that somethign one of your vetern character builds would use anyway? Prob not...

The Presents and Masks and holiday items are goodies that vetern players display all the time, but are they useful? NOPE... I have a Ithica Bow from preorder that I use for pulling, but little else... as it is not that great a bow. But it does help to have it on a presearing character in the beginning... you know how long it has been since I have graced presearing areas at all? Anywhere... ANYWHERE else, you got access to storage and then you got access to end game stuff from there for any new characters... That is the reward for vet players... Easy access to end game crafters and collectors.

In the end I think its a fair trade off... New people get middle grade weapons as bonus if they get the approprate package. and the people that have been here from teh beginning have storage access, and bonuses from preorders...

I don't know about you but I am one happy Guildie...

I am not so sure about that. The shield in the new release ed. is the same as victo's with tatic stat. I think personally that is very useful especially for pvp only char, this is because we're limited to 2 off hand, for spell caster I usually carry +12 energy, +27/-1 off hand and a shield to switch off when getting spike or against energy denial. Speaking about pre orders items, anyone found them useful? The only one I can think of is probably the spear.

I bought the GOTY edition only last week for the pre-order weapon skins alone. These pre-order weapons will be ultra-customizable once Nightfall's inscription system goes live. Imagine a 15>50 Nevermore Bow on your favorite ranger That bow skin is still one of the nicest available.

Might as well say if you had account before Game of the Year edition that you can buy the upgrade for 10 bucks. XD

why reward long time players...
because long time players are the ones who bring in their friends, ive seen old guildmembers quit and start some other games... now 1 player quits... his friends are wondering what games is he playing now... a good player may take up to 10 ppl with him to other games...
now we have 10 less players an perhaps missing some core players... thus begins the fall of the guild... some ppl will go to other guilds and some quit the game... now the friends of these ppl that were thinking about purchasing guildwars purchase the other game that these ppl jst bought... as they said gw got boring...

ive seen many guilds fall and every time some ppl transfer to other games... also in our guild we have many ppl who are playing other games on the side...

veterans are the ones who bring ppl into these games, their friends their relatives etc, they should be rewarded

/signed

Do you have the URL for the upgrade offer? I'll pass it onto my other buddies who are interested. I did pick up the full goty edition, but price wan't a real issue for me

ah and the shield for example is one id like to have... similar to jaqui aegis but while in stance... id say its one of the most useful since the hp 30 is always ...

mm.. i think id prefer sunreach over it but 50 k is alot so , this would be the next best thing, oh well back to farming geoffer´s bulwark