Boycott the Storage Update!

I separated "buying from the online store" from the "recent purchases" for a reason. By the latter, I meant the trilogy packs and later box games that include it. And you may not see it on your OLS since you have it, but they do INDEED sell it. Look under "Guild Wars 2008 Upgrade" for $4.99.


Fatuous thing to say, really. We're all well aware of that.

There's lots of things it is "to me."
1. I might like the upgrade at a price that doesn't make me feel like I'm being ripped off.
2. I might actually like GW and Anet and not want to see them fail as a company based on stupid business decisions.
3. I might feel entitled to my opinion, seeing as how I spent 300,000 years evolving the capacity for rational thought.


And that dichotomy is the problem. Either I pay too much and get ripped off, or I do without the upgrade that I would actually really like, and Anet doesn't get my money. That's lose/lose for both them and me.

And yet, they are encouraging just that.

And you the millionth customer that said what has already been said. ANet already knows that and I am sure they are aware of the pricing of old campaigns. If they still decided to price the slots that way then it is their call, not yours.

Maybe they feel that they can get more money if they price it higher and maybe there are enough customers who dont mind paying.

There still no valid reasoning to hate ANet for this. This thread is silly to the core. I can find dozens of items in their online store that are not worth the price. Big deal!

Maybe because people just want all that new storage for FREE!!!??? without paying and without even moving a finger, or you don't want that too? if not, I can charge you 10$ every time you read my posts, if you really want to pay for things that should be free.

Indeed, that's the way the storage should be from 2005.

Hey look! Anet is releasing $40 worth of purchasable content in this update!

Now move back a couple years and see what the $40 releases were then - FULL CAMPAGINS - massive tons of content and +2 character slots included!

This year... you know what... 4 tiny tabs of xunlai... for the same price.

Still not getting where it's all going?

It's apples to oranges, you don't need the storage to extend the storyline the way an expansion does.

If you check how much the older campaigns cost in their online store and compare them with outside prices. It will also be too pricey. How about their GOTY upgrade? Do you think they priced it right?

Should we start another boycott thread on that too?

That's the point! They are slowly making us getting used to that, so they will charge 20$ for 1 inventory slot in GW2.

Sarcasm -> Maybe they just must make GW1 and GW2 pay to play, add a monthly fee, and forget about all that tricks.

I'm rather certain someone did a cost based gains analysis by working up several simulations of projected sales and from those simulations they decided that at $10 ea pane they would sell X amount of ugrades to = Z profit.

I REALLY like the idea of $5 a pane, and I would buy all 4 at that price, HOWEVER perhaps the simulations did not show enough difference in higher sales from the lower price which means less profit, and YES they need profit they don't do this just for fun ya know. Heres an example so it is easy to understand that if they cut the price in half they would need to double their sale projections at the $5 to meet their goal based off of the $10 price/projection.

100 panes sold at $10 = $1000

100 panes sold at $5 = $500

200 panes sold at $5 = $1000

I'm sure they know that the $10 price irks people, they had to know it would Irk people going in, but they still expect to hit a sales $ number at that price even at the risk of pissing off a few folks. Like the small chart shows, at 1/2 the cost they would need double the sales, perhaps their numbers did not show the double sales possiblity based of off the current ACTIVE player base.

It is a risk reward manuver, of sorts, for ANet wich I hope pans out, but with someone elses money not mine.

Again with the stating-the-obvious thing. And I'll repeat, we're completely entitled to the opinion that they are MAKING THE WRONG ONE.

It's not a question of whether there are enough customers who don't mind paying. It's a question of whether there are more who would buy at a lower price point.

Look at the poll. The numbers are VERY close between "it's fair" and "the price needs to be lower." Consider that the Guru are generally the more hardcore/serious/obsessed players (discounting the trolls who seem to just post thrice daily for the sole purpose of telling us they don't play anymore, GW is dying, etc...). It would not be hard to imagine that the percentages would be even more skewed against the current price point among the normal player base.

If the number of slots sold to players at $10 is JUST ONE less than 50% of the number that would be sold at $5, then they are making less money than they could.

Who said anything about hate? You need to get your weltanschauung out of American politics. You can say someone is making a bad decision without hating them and hoping they die in a fire.

As can I. But this one specifically addresses what has been cited as a flaw in the game almost since its release.

Utterly ridiculous. IF (big "if" here, I don't believe it can happen, Anet is smarter than that) it happens, there'll be a massive exodus from GW1, including me. Thus ("proof by contradiction" in logic) they won't do it.

They're not slowly making anything at all. We have no idea what reasons the marketing department had to charge $10. Maybe (read my other posts for more ideas) they have the complete financial data of online store purchase, plus info about current MMO products, that "justify" such a pricetag.

I agree many of their newer pricings are more expensive now that ANet is a more established and successful company. Call it inflation or whatever you like.

But fighting over the pricing for storage slots is as stupid as fighting over their pricing for their GOTY upgrade. If you dont like the price, go buy a new account for $10.

@Targren: Stop playing the role of market research expert. They already hired someone to play that role. And depending on the research findings, which you have not done, it may very well support their case.

/notsigned for reasons listed above.


I'll probably buy them /shrug have to see when it's all implemented.
If I want it bad enough I'll get it.

Besides I just paid $20 from the ingame store to get a name change on one of my toons in EQ2.

It's all an option and business is business after all.

You may win an argument on a fansite discussion forum by stating this, but their job is directly on the line. They know the possible consequences of making the wrong decision, and they may well be doing it, but I don't think anyone here can infer that from their pricing and a poll that means very little.

At a basic level it is. It's called "business", you look at who buys at the price you set, not a those that don't (until these people that boycott show you that they are indeed a lot of people, here we've got nothing compared to the mass of the GW community). Then maybe you add special offers or lower the price.

But here I'll agree with you: if the poll was about the tabs being at $5 and a massive "yes" would be heard, then I'd consider that a clear message to Anet. (everyone would like things to be cheaper! but some people are reasonable in this thread and explain in nuanced terms why $10 seem a bit too much).

Ok. I'm hardcore/serious/obsessed and actually quite obsessed on being right on this topic. I'm going to use my 10 other Guru accounts (from different IPs of course!) to boost my option, and ask my friend to do the same. And then there are the trolls. What do you end up with? Numbers that mean nothing.

I believe that it's the impression some people make here, by their tone and choice of words. It's indeed subjective, yet I share this perception, for some.

This is my fear. The vast majority of players I've asked never buy extra char slots. At $10 they're just not worth it. But Anet sees their target market for those slots as the hardcore, so they never did lower the price. I'm afraid the same will happen with this.

Then there's nothing to fear. Anet will either change its offer, create a new offer or only make a return on investment on a longer period.

Over the 2 years I've been reading Guru, apparently a lot of people bought char slots (first because it was the only option, then because it was easier to manage their account, until accounts became cheap and XTH became fashionable), so I don't think our "understanding" is correct. Only Anet has the correct numbers.

It may be a missed opportunity, and if it is I hope Anet gets better marketing people (didn't see an ad for that on their website, or is it part of NCsoft?).

Wow, everyone is still crying like a little bitch over the optional storage?

Amazing.

Unless of course other people buy the tabs at $10 each. They really don't give a damn if they miss out on your money, if enough people buy them at $10 to make up for any extra sales they'd get by dropping the price. More than likely, they'll have the things up for $10 each for a while, and drop them after 6 months or so down to 2 for $10 to pick up everyone else who didn't want to pay that much. That is how they would maximize their profits here, which is the goal.

With all of knowledge of the true number of sales, ANet is far better at running their business than anyone here, period. You can hold the opinion that they're "doing it wrong" if you want, but that would mean you are of the superbly arrogant opinion that, without looking at any hard numbers whatsoever, you could run a business better than a group of people whose livelihoods depend upon it.

Interestingly Regina actually posted on her wiki talkpage this:

So much for $5 a pane!

That's a good quote to close this thread!

No, everyone isn't. If you'd bothered to read the thread instead of rushing in here to overstress that giant melon on top of your neck you'd have seen that only a tiny handful of people are being vocally upset about this.

/ just doin' my part to get the thread locked

What I see from this discussion is that a lot of people are resistant to, or don't understand, change.

4 years is a long time in the modern gaming market. Anet have the best of intentions in sticking to their non-subscription model, but as with ANY business it would be ridiculous - business suicide - to hold on for grim death to old business models without changing with the market.

It seems that micro-transactions are becoming a way of money making for games. There WILL be some pain transitioning from previous business models that we "bought on" to, to what is becoming the new norm.

In short: it's change. It's optional. It's not balance breaking. Change with the times people.

Mods. for the love of all things holy stick a fork in this thread.


Anything and Everything has been hammered to death.



Cronk

Checking in and this thread is STILL going?

Come on guys and gals, enough is enough, points have been reiterated plenty.

Close the thread. Pwetty Pwease

I'm really surprised so many people here have never heard of or seen DLC. All that's been happening is ANET has been implementing DLC - content or upgrade is semantics really since it's not fixing a bug. I have all 3 major consoles and DLC is probably the most common form of updates post-release. I'm not talking about new mini-campaigns like The Pitt or Anchorage, but even stuff like Bethesda's Oblivion add-ons/DLC (and yeah, they really milked some stuff there).

DLC is the future for just about all genres I'm pretty sure. Whether you like it or not is pretty irrelevant because enough people do spend money for it. I like DLC. In days old either somene made mods on their old time, or a company sold an expansion pack. That was about it. Now games have new content and features coming out all the time because there's a business reason to do so. It's not really a fire-and-forget anymore. If you don't like it, cancel your HBO and go subscribe to an MMO somewhere.

Don't close, it's a very important issue. The future of our game is at our hands!

DLC = Microtransactions = exactly what I'd HATE to see in GW/GW2. It's a VERY unfair selling model, with the LOWEST POSSIBLE value per $ spent.
It's an exact OPPOSITE of the Original GW Business Model which was about selling only BIG PACKAGES of content, which are COMPLETE high quality PRODUCTS.

Just think about it...
...so many people here that think $10 is a fair price for a small storage pane... and many people would probably be happy to pay $10 to get for example a new dungeon.
1 new dungeon worth $10? Of course not...

BUT IT'S ALL OPTIONAL - such a horrible argument. Whole campagins are also optional, but at least fairly priced.

But if you support this nonsense you may wake up in GW2 being a HELL of microtransactions, selling 10 small content packs $10 each instead of a big one for $40.

I've been gone from these forums for a long while - just came back for a visit - still seems to be a bunch of unhappy ppl unable to accept reality

I'll probably buy 2 panes - thinking about getting another account, which is most likely the exact response Anet had in mind

Off topic - I'm gonna hold my breathe until they un-nerf Veratas Sac - really

Zet

I'm largely against selling things that impact your gameplay other than through aesthetics. I have no problems with selling "costumes" or exclusive sets of armor: they only affect your appearance and nothing else. But something like the skill unlock pack is something I feel should be given to every player for free, since having all tools available to you is pivotal to a fully enjoyable PvP experience. Leave the progression in PvE.

I can understand a developer being in need of some extra cash. But players shouldn't feel punished if they're unable, nor want, to support them as such.

In regards to if I'm going to purchase the panes: meh, don't really care. Probably would if I started playing again, though...but even then I wasn't much of packrat.

1) most people seems to forget that WE PAY FOR THE GAME hence its not free to play. It is no subscription fees.

2) promising that Guild Wars will not become like all the rest of the mmorpg out there is not what we make ANet do, they made the promise themselves.

3) selling ingame usable items on online store is making Guild Wars like all the rest of the mmorpg out there

4) The marketing people at ANet RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO up, or they are trying to see if micro transaction will work, ANet is pushing this to see if it will be successful, if stupid players pay up, there will be more and more in game items for sale on the online store, making the game EXACTLY LIKE ALL OTHER MMORPG out there.

5) I am not saying ANet cannot make money with their game, but do it so the consumers won't feel cheated. NO BY TELLING LIES okay, it a simple theory, you tell your customers ahead what to expect honestly in details when they see the results they will be very happy. I remember there was a huge update earlier and we got it and its free and everyone thank ANet for a job well done and everyone is happy, because what we were told was what we got. But, now you told us theres a huge update without mentioning that it will be a pay contents, which a) is not what ANet usually do, infact you've never done this before, because ANet sells expansion pack. not ingame usable items, many players including me expected this to be free, because all this while this whole thing is being referred to as the April Update not the storage expansion pack, tell me what mmorpg ask its clients to pay for updating games? Or any other program for that matter? if i have to pay for windows updates i go broke, it does it everyday ....

6) once again, If you have made this an EXPANSION PACK like the BMP I'll buy 2 sets immediately, pre-order even, like i did the BMP.

7) so what was your marketing people thinking? test to see if these suckers will fall into the micro-transaction trap so that you may start selling more in-game items in the future?

lastly - no micro transaction, thanks you very much, I want things like the BMP, Expansion Packs not in-game items

I know it is poor form, but I am soooo close to invoking Godwin.

May as well use Murphy while we're here.

Pumpkin Pie has made a good point however. Hence Murphy should also be applied.

@Boneyard: Nice one with Godwin

24 pages of solid QQ. I just dont see what all the tears are for. as far as i can tell not all details are out there on this update. 10 dollars for a storage pane? little pricey me thinks. so ill most likely pass or maybe i wont.. i might get 2? not sure. ITS OPTIONAL. its up to me and you and everyone else.

Skill unlock packs have been around for a long time right? <serious question.
Was there a 700 post thread about the travesty and outrage over A-nets decision to do what they felt was in their best interest?

This is a very tired and sad thread. and im as guilty as the next for adding to it.

All i can say for certain is that A-net owes me nothing. not a god damned thing. i bought all the campaigns and they performed as advertised.(for the most part) I bought some extra chars they did what they were designed to do. I bought the BMP and guess what. You guessed it... it worked just like the little advertisement said it would. Everything ive purchased in store or on line has been precisely what i thought it would be.

but hey keep screaming about how this is sooooooooooooo EVILLLLLLLLL.
Im sure the board of directors are all gnashing their teeth and wringing their hands over people upset over what they do to keep their shit above water on the fiscal end.

Cronk

Hmm, I don't see much QQ - rather, I see a lot of boot-lickers /notsign and spamming - when the vote clearly shows 70-75% aren't impressed (not willing to spend $10).

My previous reply wasn't QQ - it was logic - why bother paying $10 for a page that only stores armor/weapons, when I can pay $10 for a new account with literally 15+ pages of storage for ANY ITEM.

On the server this is *CLEARLY* 1 versus 15 in terms of *BYTES* (yes, that's how they store thing - reason stacks are 250 in size).

Just bad business, no reason to charge so much for so little, when it's already obvious you can get much more for the same.

And to add, most seem to be pissed about the whole bait-n-switch involved here...

Well, just my IMHO. I think they would have made more money by selling for $5.

They are selling panes for the same price as a character slot. Won't make sense to most players I don't think.

Storage space is an account feature, not an in-game item. Hence I declare your post void and move for thread closure. :P

First how do you know my post was aimed at you? protest to much me thinks.

second you are absolutely welcome to purchase whatever you want. i dont think a net said you couldnt. the extra char is a much better deal i think. i like the convenience of the extra pane though. kinda nice.

third. wheres the bait and switch. i wasted 4 years getting a degree in marketing and we covered BnS, and i dont see it. unless i missed something. which i very well might have. they said a pane is 10 dollars. seems pretty straight forward.


Cronk

PS we didnt cover proper grammar in marketing. my apologies to the english language.

I would care about paying money for stuff in gw if it gave you an unfair advantage over a player that didn't pay...in this case I could care less.

i bought BMP. i bought all unlock skills. bought everything (except for additional character slot).

is that stupidity?

now that you mention it, yes, yes it is.

BMP was free for GWEN preorder.

Skills are free for those who are not lazy.

Questions?

It's an optional feature people...If you REALLY need space and you wanna spend 10 bucks for that extra space then by all means just buy it.

in b4 mod lock

LOL u talk like ur life revolves around GW

Preorder LOL you dont even know where im from. (we dont have airport and seaport, so no way to import anything to our country [j/k])

Free Skills if not lazy

Hey, wake up and get real Not all people are like you. Some people have real life

If you don't want to buy extra storage, so don't buy. But why force me who prefer to buy if Anet is giving me that option?

Its my option and I thank Anet for giving me options in this game.