GW1 micro-transactions business model

Those costumes were added just now they're receiving quite heavy critique. Good. But remember that sadly GW1 has turned into a microtransactions game quite a long time ago, and the new costumes are the least serious offenders of them all! (all they do is show everyone seeing you that you're dumb enough to spend real $$ on some pixels, they don't have any prestige value or anything like that.)

There has been much worse stuff being sold for a long time, and while a little more subtle than the great bulk of free-to-play mmos GW still sells actual advantages for real $$.
Even something as seemingly completely innocent as the character makeovers are much more serious advantage givers than most realize, from saving 100s of hours and millions of gold on characters remade because of stupid looks (many people did that) there is an actual PvP advantage coming from playing the smallest possible character model - many players click to target. It matters for those who would like to PvP with their favorite characters they have spent so much time and resources on, so they don't want to sacrifice another character slot to make another one of the same profession.
And on top of that you can buy them and remake your character in a way that IS possible to recreate on a new character, thus hiding the fact you bought them from the public - exact opposite of the costumes which just shout "look at me I RMT!!"

Lots of other stuff come in the middle, like the BMP offering a significant economy advantage - when you can spawn infinite perfect weapons you never need to buy any weapons (for example 'a channeling staff' to use) expect when you want a very specific skin. Or another thing, the /bonus weapons and fire imp summoner, which ruin PreSearing as much as perma SF is ruining post.

That's ofcourse *nothing* compared to the Biggest Killers of the good old and fair for everyone GW's original business model -- the unlock packs and direct ingame currency sales in the form of free ZKeys for owners of multiple accounts (XTH, thankfully dead).

Even when the unlock packs seem just a lame cheat for bad or lazy players as they grant what can be obtained through normal active gameplay in 2-3 months. Even though no player with a brain ever needs them, you should look at them in a different way - compare 2 players that got new GW accounts, both interested in playing lots of PvP, but one of them refusing to buy unlocks since he knows he can earn them himself. Not only the one who bought his UAX has a good headstart in finding a low-end PvP guild, if both players play for a long time with similar results, by the time one has unlocked everything through gameplay, the Anet-RMT lamer who bought his UAX has made over 2 MILLION GOLD worth of Z-Keys!

You have to keep in mind that GW's microtransactions are far far far worse than the ridic costumes, and that if they're popular there's a high chance GW2 will be designed based upon them entirely.

In the business world, it is very competitive. Right now, most games like GW require a subscription, so it becomes a competition as to which business model would yield the most profit.

If ANet's profits dont buck up, GW2 may end up like tabula rasa.

Look at Aion, at $15/month, each of its player contributes $180/year. Sure, they add content more often than GW so their cost is probably higher, but so are their earnings. If the GW free-to-play model is a losing business model, then NCSoft may very well dump it.

I guess if it works well in GW1, we'll see "cosmetic-microtransactions" much sooner in GW2. Sad thing!

They gave up on producing content and when you don't produce content, then what else are you going to (over)charge for?

They're now the equivalent of a browser-based, 2D RPG. Get used to it.

I am not being flippant with what I am going to say. Just so that's understood. I truly do not understand why this is a problem. It's the same with the Station Cash Store in EQ2. There is a portion of the community that is always upset about it. They sell potions, furniture, fluff pets for your house or pets to follow you around. I just don't see why anyone cares about it. I've heard the story over and over about the haves and the have nots. It's not game breaking and it's not expensive either.

Indeed. Also World of Warcraft charges for gender/race change and rare miniatures, City of Heroes also has "costume packs" that they sell. Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying its alright for ArenaNet to do so just because the "other guys" are doing it, but it certainly makes more sense considering those 3 games have a subcription fee where Guild Wars does not.

A thought I've posted on Ravious' blog:

It’s actually funny that people should complain about these things in GW: Anet do it because they know that they can afford it financially, as people will pay more than the required development time, while they can’t spend the same resources on free content without jeopardizing their future plans. But the extra money benefits Anet which will do updates that will benefit those that paid … and those that didn’t (like me!). So it’s almost a win-win (buyer gets his art/cosmetic, non-buyer gets something from free updates in the future), if it weren’t for potentially tempting Anet into moving its games into the “cosmetic” direction, rather than core gameplay. But I believe that gameplay is one of their core values and they’ll never, ever relinquish that!

They wouldn't be making new content for Guild Wars, in something large like EOTN or SF. You really need to let it go, GW's time is over and it's time for GW 2. Only thing we'll be getting are updates as big as Dhuum was.

Guild wars meets Ogame

Charging 25% of the cost of a full priced expansion for a really small ingame shiny, is not a Micro-transaction. Please do not call these payments Micro-transaction, as there is NO WAY they can be classed as that.

^ /win thread.
Thank you Aleta, it is good to see the light of reason here in Guru sometimes.
The costumes are pleasant looking, you retain your armor/runes ect....
I'm getting them both!!
I purchaced the BMP, loved it!
Toon slots...oh yeah!
I didn't need the skill pack, but if it were offered sooner in the game..of course!
These are things that enhance the individuals gaming experience, I like nice looking things in a game, it makes me happy...why would I play a game otherwise?

Someone else expressing the same opinion as you is not "reason".

Try not to be so self-important.

Please, do elaborate on this statement.
I am interested to know why this very nice thing being offered by a business is an issue for some players?
All I have seen so far is the cost being thrown around?
If you feel it is something your not willing to invest in (these pretty pixels) then, why the deep discussions against it?

And this is why Micro transaction ruin the game. That game being the PVE game thats sole purpose is to collect nice looking things that other dont have. This is a form of competition, therefore BUYING a unique looking item IS buying an game advantage in this context.

The argument isnt wether you like it or not, of course you do, lots of people dont mind competing with others by "buying" thier way to the top, just look at all the gold sellers and buyers. For example no one could craft this costume, theres no other way to get it other than to pay for it. This isnt as harmless as it may appear to be on the surface. This is without a doubt buying an advantage in the game and it has its consequences.

Hmmm...I must not be of the same callibur of player as you then.
I buy the costumes to look at, in my own leisure in my guild hall...or being silly in a mission with friends. (usually armorless, but this is better!)
I don't feel the urge to 'compete' with anyone with my 'shinies', why would you?
(They aren't usuable in PvP is my understanding, and that's the only competitive part of GW?)

Then would you rather pay a $15/month subscription instead?

ANet's last release was GWEN on Aug 2007. Between then and the time when GW2 will be released is a span of 3+ years. Now stop and think for a while. How do you think they should get by while maintaining their servers, and paying their staff?

At the same, they have to prove to NCSoft that they are still competitive with their no-subscriptions business model.

Paying $9.99 for two costumes is the equivalent of buying gold from gold-sellers.

Its paying real world money for an in-game cosmetic "advantage" just like paying real money for some guy's Crystalline Sword.

I was under the impression that was against the EULA, and the spirit of GW. Looks like I was wrong. The lure of money is strong, I'd really have liked to be a fly on the wall during the meeting in which the price of two costumes was discussed, I'm pretty sure Satan was present...

As GW is not about better armor, but about prettier armor, you actually have a point there.

1. I prefer to have stuff for free.
2. If obtaining things for free isn't possible, I prefer them offering content that I can purchase in a traditional store.
3. The only thing that interested me to the point of buying it and that wasn't offered in a traditional store were additional character slots. Having just deleted a bunch of guys that I NEVER play, thus gaining a few free slots, there was absolutely no need for me to purchase the additional slots. In a game that is currently so heavily centred around one main guy, those 8 slots that come with the purchase or all 4 games are MORE than sufficient.


Having said that, I really don't mind micro-transactions. Everything that they offered was complete fluff, thus stuff I can live without nicely. Even if they started offering content that wasn't just fluff, that wouldn't matter much. I stopped actively supporting GW with the purchase of Nightfall (or maybe it was the additional char slot?). The only reason why I have GWEN is because I received it as a gift - I had no plans on purchasing it otherwise. Which means if content that provided an advantage was offered in the store - I would look at the game and re-evaluate if playing without this content made sense.
If it wouldn't - I wouldn't buy it.
I'd quit.

I also did not buy the costumes because they dont offer any real advantage in PvE other than looks. I dont really mind micro-transactions because they tend to be optional anyway.

It is still CHEAPER for a game be funded by lots of optional mini fluffy features that you can buy in the store, than having to pay a subscription.

It is funny that people are ok with the expensive WoW/Aion monthly subscriptions but not ok with the cheaper and optional mini offers in their online store.

Waits for GW2 and full details to be looked over. When those surface we'll really know what direction Anet/NcSoft have moved towards
I guarantee that GW2 will have a 300%+ increase in the amount of things that can be purchased in a micro transaction method. What it will come down to once again is; are any game play features being left out? will it all be strictly cosmetic? and the quality of cosmetics built into the game already and what is being offered for money, comparative?

Hey Fril. What you posted is fair enough, but I don't agree with it.

Let us think about the situation of the person who partially enjoyed the game because trash like microtransactions didn't exist in it. It is similar to me enjoying a magazine because it isn't full of ads. Yes I can skip over the ads, but it still annoys the crap out of me. What about the situation where this same person hasn't enjoyed a single update in years and sees no benefit of said profits? What is this person supposed to think? I don't agree with microtransactions and I don't see the benefit of them for anybody but Anet.

I'd also like to address the people saying "Anet has to make money" again. Don't you think they thought of this when they came up with the no monthly fees model?!? Microtransactions isn't a way to make money. Microtransactions is a way to SUCK more money out of the community at the expense of game integrity.

I doubt these are the same people.
My guess is that the people who are really anti micro's are mostly the people who wouldn't go near a subscription based game.

Sure they have. And the solution was micro transactions.

Or did you really think their solution was to strip naked and beg for money on the streets?

Then these people are not being realistic (i.e. they probably decided to be selfish and simply shut down their brains) and did not think through how a company can survive for 3+ years between releases, by giving everything away for free.

Not really. A $15 a month subscription at WoW entitles you to constant updates, a support team that usually responds within an hour, constant and vigilant class balancing, new frills that are free (Mohawk grenade lawl) and more. If WoW charged $9.99 for every single thing that they offer, as GW does, no one would be playing WoW because no one could afford it, realistically speaking.

See above. The marginal cost of monthly subscriptions is evened out by the utility granted. WoW's model offers so much more for the money spent than does GW micro-transactions. However, the reason I went with GW over WoW is precisely because I can't stand monthly fees for a game, nor do I like micro-transactions (for example, I bought none of the DLC for Oblivion, even though each one took more work than the costumes and cost less, I was still against it on principle).

A business is going to charge as much as it can while retaining the most people, I think ANet's "micro model" is just being tested to see how many chumps and suckers are out there so that they can refine it for GW2. Which means all you players who bought the costumes are nothing more than lab rats to ANet devs.

No, we didn't shut down our brains, we believed what we were told, that ANet would release $49.99 expansions every six months or so, which, while not a monthly subscription, comes close. It was six of one, half a dozen of the other basically. The difference was more psychological than anything, added to the fact you could still play without the new expansions, but you couldn't play the new expansions.

Whereas in a game like WoW you get the expansions as part of the monthly fee (well, content update, how they rope people into buying Burning Crusade or Lich King or the new one I don't know, I had roomies who were addicted to the game, literally, maybe there's crack cocaine embedded in each box?).

In any case, ANet changed its business model, or as I said, is testing the micro model on the GW playerbase. GG guinea pigs!

If people had shown ANET they would not buy such items when they were first offered, they would have quit right then. Apparently the feed back they got was that people were willing to buy, so we now see more releases.

A.Net isn't giving stuff away for free.
We "pay" with our continuous interest in the franchise and company. They'll bank on everything that they do for free now when they offer their next game.

And you would get more updates if you pay a subscription but since you did not, then you wont get that. You cant take the state of the game now, ASSUME that you paid a subscription, and say see, not enough updates, their fault!

Then you should ask them to go for a subscription model or play Aion or WoW. If you dont like to pay this and that, then go make your own game or something.

I think it is fair for them to ask for some money to get by for 3+ years in between releases.

$50/6 month is not even close to the revenue Aion gets per player. You said that you did not shut down your brains but for some reason, you couldnt even do simple multiplication: 12 X $15/month = $180 per year, while $50/6mths = $100 per year, that is almost twice the difference, not even close!

Furthermore, it is cheaper for Aion to make some content here and there over 6 months than to release a full campaign every 6 months. I can tell you that if ANet's no-subscription business model turns out to be a losing venture, then NCSoft would do something about it.

How are they going to get paid over the 3+ years in between releases? Server maintainance, upkeep, staff pay, etc. for free for 3+ years?

I assumed we'd get the updates they said they would give, within the time frame they gave. Nothing more, nothing less. You're making bad assumptions.

[quote/
Then you should ask them to go for a subscription model or play Aion or WoW. If you dont like to pay this and that, then go make your own game or something.[/quote]

Oh okay, so the solution to anyone who doesn't like one small aspect is to go make their own MMORPG. Got it. Or how about this, I voice my dislike of the feature and perhaps they realize their folly and make a change?

Right, because ANet is struggling right now, those poor, poor devs.

GW: Prophecies - April 2005
GW: Factions - April 2006
GW: Nightfall - October 2006
GW: Eye of the North - August 2007

So for the last two years the only thing they've been able to come up with is Xunlai storage, Character makeovers (which is just a pay-to-use character creator that preserves the name and associated details), and two costumes?

If that's the case then they've got maybe one guy, the janitor working on ALL content. ANet already has a customer placation, I mean relations department, they don't need mindless shills defending them from the evil Forumites... lawlz

I simply said, since you refused to pay for a subscription or pay for any micro transactions, and want everything cheap or free, then you should make your own game then you can play it for free.

And dont forget that most of their resources are tied to GW2 development. So, should they release that for better GW1 updates?

Just because you like a pair of costumes and are too cheap to pay for them, doesn't imply that they do this out of pure evil.

I didn't say GW was exactly the same revenue stream model as Aion or WoW, I said it came relatively close, given that GW was billed as a no-subscription, semi-yearly expansion installment model. I can do simple math, you fail at simple logic and remembering what ANet claimed GW was. Lol.

So you're saying that its 3+ years between releases? Can you do simple addition? If what you said were true, it would be the years 2014 right now. ANet pays for everything off of the PROFITS made by selling the game, duh. That's how companies make money, they put out a product, and hopefully their income forecasts match up with sales. Those that don't fail. Since ANet is still around, its a safe bet to say that the profit they made from selling their product has enabled them to remain in business.

Duh.

When they said no subscription did they promise no micro-transactions also? Or did they promise that they will live off grass growing on the side of the road before they ask money from you?

I said 3+ years between releases. When was GWEN released?

If you have no idea how business works, you shouldn't claim otherwise, because you look like a fool.

Again, simple math:

GW: Prophecies - April 2005
GW: Factions - April 2006
GW: Nightfall - October 2006
GW: Eye of the North - August 2007

Proph to Factions - 1 year; Factions to Nightfall - 18 months; Nightfall to EoTN ~ 10 months. EoTN to now - 2 years, 4 months.

Right, I can see how you'd infer 3 years between releases... /sarcasm

Just as a hint, game companies predict their sales and revenue streams, and make their products around what they can expect to make.

Which is why Diablo 2 kept getting free content updates and patches even several years after LoD was released. Like I said, until you understand how a business functions, perhaps you should not comment on things of that nature?

And why should this be our problem?
If they were stupid enough to choose a business model that isn't working, then I guess the kids of A.Net's employees won't be getting a visit from Santa this year.

Well, it shouldn't. The ads aren't for you (companies have to run to pay people, ads are a part of our modern societies now), skip them and then the following remains:

That it's time to move on, until something better comes (be it GW2, D3, SC2, STO, SWTOR, TSW, etc.). My feeling is that it's not impossible that you'll be surprised by GW1 in 2010.

Lots of people benefit from it. Art gives joy and the price tag doesn't remove that. Some people love it, some hate it, some don't see the point. But it's wrong to say that it doesn't "benefit" anyone. It'd be like saying that the stamps and papers used by Anet to send their xmas cards didn't benefit anyone but them!

The world has changed since they started. GW2, the size of the studio, the competitors, the gaming and MMO market, etc.

Yes it is. As I was saying it's actually putting some RL money value on cosmetic in order to provide for free the non-cosmetic. The extreme of the reasoning behind my previous post is the following: PvP doesn't bring substantial revenues (I know that many PvPers did buy quite a lot of char slots, unlock packs etc.) compared to how many resources it requires. So instead of deciding to drop the unprofitable and focus on where they could make the most money, Anet decided to try to keep the PvP side and start charging more from the PvE side, via content that people have been more or less requesting, or at least will be buying. And from all I read, these costumes are making people quite happy.

Sure, you're not happy (but I've seen you happy only VERY rarely :PPPP ). But you know that not everyone can be. But if you're still here on Guru, it probably means that you'll give Anet a(nother) chance, as you don't have to pay a fee.

Side-note: these minipayment contents sound very similar to the wave of "reenlistment" campaigns we can see in various MMOs (WAR, Champions) or Aion's refer a friend, MMO Companies need to have sustained interactions with customer and this is how Anet is able to make some money. And when I see the GW2 artbook and trailers, I believe this money is in the right place (I think you don't to a certain extent).

I'm actually glad to see micro transactions. To me, that means anet is still devoting time and resources to gw, keeping us occupied with shiny things until gw2, and nailing down the business model to use on gw2. $10 costumes? Character makeovers? Name changes? Fine.

How they make money isnt any of mine or your concern. The concern with the player is the game. If the game must be comprimised to make money then so be it, I choose not to play those games.

Fortunatley with GW it doesnt really matter anymore, still I think its unfair to ruin the game like that for newer players but whatever. What im concerned about is GW2. Will we be able to compete in the game by how we play? or by how much we spend?

If they add these sort of things at the end of a games life cycle I wouldnt mind, but if they start the game off like that, count me out.

You can always be trusted to make an outrageously stupid comment. Perhaps it helps them keep the game running. A company that finds what they were trying do isn't working and doesn't change fails, it's that simple.

Once again, if GW dies, that's our problem because ...?