Guild Wars Microtrans. and Promos

It not about funding servers and updates.

It is, like every single other business, about maximizing profit. Spending money on running serves and updates is investment on means of production, not goal. It is important that players understand it.

Fo this end, sane company will find a way to get as much profit from playerbase as possible. I guarantee you, something that would "just" support servers is ulikely to happen, because even with pure intentions of making great game for players, company needs money to grow and hire bigger team.

I would pay for extra hero slots!

It will take a long time until GW2 so extra content would be welcome! Thinking of unlocking small parts of Tyria previously unmapped, with some quests and special gear. Given all effort put into balancing, this would be peanuts and I would gladly pay for every update

LoL. If you really believe GW1's microtransactions are helping fund GW2 development then... they just win your money

Seriously, it's obvious that the costs to develop a whole new game as massive as GW2 are greatly larger than the revenue they're able to generate right now, but you should keep in mind it's an entirely new project, a new investment that will get paid for from it's own sales.

It's nothing more than draining the dying cow.
Microtransactions mean we're not getting our money's worth. We're not getting quality content that would be worth real money.

If you like to pay the price of 1/4th of a new full campagin (or 100% of a full campagin's price today) for what's worth like 1-2% of a full campagin's content, do so. Or if you feel your money will help them deliver a better GW2 faster, go on and donate by pruchasing 200 makeover credits or other stupidity. They should reward you with a stupid title like "I donate ($500)"

Because the only time companies try to make more money is when they're not making enough. Right...

I paid for the wintersday costumes, but I dont feel like doing that again.

They want my money? Its cool because this is what bizz is all about. Just bring me something Id pay for.

As said before, extra hero slots would be awesome. Maybe another Bonus Mission Pack for more lore goodness.

Hero slots are not likely to happen. This would give you an advantage over the player who didn't purchase one. ArenaNet never adds anything to the game that does that.

Anything sold in the store will always be a vanity item or a shortcut item (skill packs).

Even if the money only goes to help pay for the Live Team, it's enough.

For the life of me, I can not understand why a character slot costs the same as a storage pane. You get more storage from a character slot, and it can be played on! Even if you use it as a PvP mule, you can play with the storage full and not have an issue! This needs to change. We need to see $5 storage panes.

Why does it need to change? If you think character slots are better, then buy character slots.

I suspect the reason you are complaining, is because you DO understand why storage panes cost what they do. Panes are about convenience, not raw storage space. You want that convenience, but you don't want to pay for it.

first your probably right, no matter how much people have ask or wanted a full party of heros, i too would be surprised if it happened even though im on the side that wants them

second, what or how do you consider it an advantage? other then making the game possibly easier or being able to do the elite areas alone with a full hero party. your still at a disadvantage compared to a human party because you cant abuse the PvE skills with a full hero party like you could with a human party and unlike the enemy AI, the hero/hench AI dont scatter when taking AoE damage.

third your wrong. not everyone has a full set of weapons you get using the /bonus command in game. you either had to have a pre-order key and/or a certain version of prophicies to get some or all of them. so with your theory of advantage, wouldnt that be an advantage to someone? so your statement of, ArenaNet never adds anything to the game that does that, would be wrong.

I don't spend money on GW anymore since the storage upgrades. With the 10 bucks Anet asks for 2 costumes, I bought a mini expansion for Borderlands, The Secret Armory of General Knoxx.

Just look at the difference of content offered for the same price:
http://borderlands.wikia.com/wiki/Th..._General_Knoxx

My money goes to creative softwarehouses that offer both quality and quantity. Anet is no longer on that list for the time being.



There was a time I would have bought 4 extra hero slots instantly, but now I wonder why, to play the same content over again once more.

I don't think he's wrong...

If you have a full team of heroes, you have an in-game advantage over people who only have 3 heroes + 4 henchmen. Because Heroes > Henchmen. If A-Net charged for extra heroes in your party, the only way to get that advantage would be to pay up.

/bonus items on the other hand, do not offer anything better than what you can get in game from collectors, weaponsmiths or drops. They just have different skins. Paying real money for them grants no in-game advantage.

So you like crap like Securom on your computer?

That's the price we pay for piracy. I bought it online through steam and everything works tip top.

Point still stands, their 10 bucks' content makes Anet look like uncreative moneybags.

Yeah. I'd like to see this happen. Even charge more dosh for rare pets like $20 for green and $15 for gold, $10 - purple, etc. The perfect money sink for kids who are so keen on feeding the corporation (erhh... I mean ... help their beloved hardworking poor devs). I wish those useless minis would sell like hot cakes and GW2 would have rivers of cash inflow.
Actually I'd love to see lots of useless crap sell for absurd price tags ("mini"? transactions) because I like to know suckers are paying for their stupidity. Makes me feel better, that's all ...

PS: I am serious. Sarcasm never crossed my mind

what about for those people who grind a perma pre character? or starting a new character. u have instant access to max damage weapons for you and your heros compared to a new player who wont have that access and has to grind and save to get max weapons.

then theres also the pvp unlock packs too. someone who has the ability to pay cash to unlock skills would have an slight advantage over someone who has to grind for gold or faction to unlock skills untill that person can unlock the necessary skills to run whatever build is the flavor of the month

wait, what? you consider borderlands a piece of quality?

You are confused about what is "convenience", and what is an "in-game advantage".

All of those things you mentioned are conveniences, not in-game advantages. If you paid real money, you got them quicker, that's all. If you didn't pay, you could still have it all - it just took you longer.

What we're talking about here, is paying for extra hero slots in your parties. Now that WOULD be selling in-game advantages - if there was no way to get them, besides paying real money. And that was Darcy's original point: A-Net sells cosmetics and shortcuts... not in-game advantages. Selling ingame advantage is A Bad Thing, and they are unlikely to start doing it. And I agree.

Yeah KUDO'S to GW!

After all they have done or left undone, what else would we have to rant about?

So My Costume is OFF to GW and its staff. I have played for over 3 years now and my internet connection costs me 80 bucks a month and my game is free to play..as long as I play my 80 bucks for my internet connection..or sit at Dunn Tire store for the hotspot.

Woot its free.


Well I did buy 5 Prophecies Campaigns for Nick so..

Woot its free.

If GW said, they needed money or they would shut the servers off.. I'd Say, here my Fity!!

Ok everyone.. Antee Up!!

Again

KUDO's GW!! Great Game! I am going to buy 10 copies of GW2 just watch me...

You know I don't like all this talk of GW and F2P and microtransactions.

First GW is NOT a F2P game. I did pay for it, I purchased all the chapters and the GWEN expansion! I cannot praise ArenaNet enough for using the business model for GW and hopefully GW2. They realized the kind of game that they were building and determined that it didn't warrant a subscription or microtransactions.

If you think about it, GW is basically a "online only Diablo" (as far as design, access, teaming up, etc.). ArenaNet came from Blizzard, they helped create Diablo so using that model is not a stretch.

I also don't have a problem with the "promo's" that ArenaNet does with the online store. If I want to have a cool costumer or more char slots, I'll pay for them. As long as those items don't give anyone an unfair advantage, then fine. If a person wants to change their characters appearance or their char name, its nice that there's that option.

But I don't consider those things microtransactions.. "microtransactions" and "dlc" are dirty words.. and I'm afraid that the gaming industry as a whole is moving to that. And frankly, it pisses me off. We're getting games that have less content, cost more, then months after release, "magically" dlc is made available via "microtransactions".

I only hope ArenaNet sticks to their guns and follows the same model with GW2. The only change I would make is to NOT make the individual chapters stand alone games. That only seperates/confuses your player base. So for GW2, each chapter would be an expansion and the base GW2 would be required.

There's a distinct difference in buying advantages and buying cosmetics. So far, all of the micro transactions are purely cosmetic. What everyone is asking for is advantages, like hero slots and what not. Adding such advantages in return for money would be a huge blow to the integrity of the game.

One may argue that the extra pane blurs the difference, and I'll grant that point. Space is money, after all. However I think the "advantage" is very very muted.

edit: oh heh. This point has been made already. should've looked at how many pages this had.

Hey, we could all be paying $25 for a horse in another game.

Funny, that's exactly the same thing some people said when GW was released.

I see alot of talk about microtransactions sustaining the game or keeping it alive. While I dont think this is true, it does supplement some income and give Anet an idea of how interested the base players are.

The way I see it, a F2P game is only sustainable(ie profitable) if you have at least one expansion pack per year. I wouldnt be surprised if ANet were simultaneously working on expansion packs for GW2, so we might even see the first expansion in about a year. Keep in mind I have no facts to back this up, just a hunch. Many of my in game friends would be happy to spend 50-100 bucks a year for expansions vs a monthly charge. I guess we can only wait to see if microtransactions will play a larger role in GW2. They are still keeping to thier word that GW2 will be F2P.
http://www.guildwars2.com/en/world/faq/#five

Im more than happy to buy a few cosmetic extras to show my support for a game I play almost daily.

The money isnt in the razor its in the blades.

I still do not like the trend.

There is still no single free costume in the game. Except the old festival head gears.
Cool stuff was rare drops and vanity armor before. Now the cool stuff "drops" for money in the store.

So what about GW2? The supposed best stuff is reserved for the store there, too? But it is optional, as usual. Let's see how far "optional" can go!


I won't get the cool things in future.
Some people will always buy item shop stuff, see Blizzard's 25$ horse.

"Premium" items come at amazing prices. Guild Wars 1 cost around 50 bucks initially, the trilogy by now can be obtained for some 10-20 AFAIK.

The price for the vanity costumes is approximately in this range. Think this makes GW either have an unbeatable bang for the buck or costumes really expensive.


I will wait for GW's 5th birtday, and if they then sell the White Mantle Knight's Armor as well, then I am afraid for GW2 and the future. I would probably itch so much for some costumes that I will rather deinstall and stop playing the game before falling for the "it's only a few bucks" crap over and over.

/agree with Longasc

I tottaly support microtrans to keep a game if:

- It does not make the buyers overpowered
- It can be used to save time
- It has reasonable prices

Theres a lot of things that GW player base would glady pay for ANet...its just a matter of asking them..

I honestly don't see why it's a big deal. Same crying went on when SOE put in the Station marketplace. You buy Station cash with real money and then buy the fluff stuff. It's an option. Nothing wrong with options as far as I can see. I dearly love appearance only armor and am glad the costumes are in the store. Will I put the costume on the toons that have elite armor? Probably sometimes. And yes it is only a few bucks. Same as saying let's go to the movies or buy the pay per view on the cable it's only a few bucks. So I've entertained myself with a few bucks. /shrug

They are still releasing new hats for the people who don't want to pay in the online store. There is no benifit from the costumes aside from ascetics, and the "coolness" factor is completly subjective. As long as there's new items that are being released that are either free or cost a sum and have no effect on the game, I fail to see why people are should remain upset. After all, if they really wanted the items from the online store they should pay for it.

A typically American (or classical economics) way to look at it, but there is good research out there that proves this just isn't the case. It's possible to overwhelm people with options to the point that they are uncomfortable or make poor decisions.

A thought experiment may help you understand why people hate microtransactions in particular. Suppose Guild Wars added an item broadly considered desirable that costs $1,000 to the online store. Would you be irritated when you encountered an owner of that item in-game?

To a lesser degree, that's how the people that hate microtransactions feel when they see something that costs $10 in the online store.

It boils down to a question of how you think loot should be allocated in these games. Some people think they should be able to buy what they want. Other people want a world where they can completely shed RL considerations such as money. There's no way to reconcile these competing viewpoints; the disagreement is fundamental.

Ugh, another useless costume update. And to think, I almost became interested again when this "viral campaign" began. Thanks, but no thanks Anet.

This is why I hated this sort of transaction from the moment of the release of the first costume pack. As I said in threads previously - If Anet only has to release half-assed sets of armors to grab your money, why be innovative? Why make an effort? Purchasing this ridiculous micro-transaction will only mean they thought it was a success, and they'll do it more. If you want my money, make another expansion pack (with unique armor models) or it's simply not worth it.

Be careful Longasc

It seems like you have a brain and know how to use it, a lot of people on this forum doesn't like that and will call you bad things.

Yet, these same people probably have no problem throwing $10 at Ronald MacDonald or the Burger King and get nothing tangible except hundreds of calories.

The difference is that when I go to a star restaurant, I don't expect to see a Macdonald's burger served on my plate.

If you get anything less than a plate of sauteed green beans at a "star restaurant" for $10 then you aren't really eating at one. Are ya?

Except that other restaurants offer a nice menu for those 10 bucks like I posted earlier in this thread.

Actually... It is. The term F2P is a reference not to initial purchase but ongoing fees. Though yes, you initially shelled out X amount of your local currency, you don't need to pay monthly fees for the game, so is considered to fall into the F2P category.

I'll preface this by saying, as others have, that I have absolutely zero problem with ArenaNet finding ways to help fund their development. I've sunk a decent amount of money into copies of the game and bits of merchandise for this reason.

That all said, I have my concerns about these costumes.

A PCGamer Article sums up my first point nicely. This quote in particular:

Throwing these costumes in the store and leaving it at that feels like a poor use of resources. The whole purely aesthetic costume concept lends its self perfectly to things like veteran rewards, tournament rewards... and so on. It's a great opportunity to strengthen your community at next to no cost. Some are given out to fansites for give-aways or contests which is great step that we appreciate hugely (details coming soon), but there's a lot more that could be done.

With every new costume introduced, set aside 5 that you give to notable individuals with some design alterations or additional branding to make them stand out. When a guild wins a tournament give those players each a slightly altered costume of some kind, like a uniform for their core players. Just examples, but you get the picture - micro-transaction material should be more than just PlayNC store fodder. You've already put in the leg-work to make the costumes, and for a bit more thought and a days extra work for an artist you could do a lot to increase their impact.

From a psychological point it also makes them much more appealing. They aren't just being made to rake in money, they are also being made to reward members of the community. So they put them on sale too, who cares?

My second issue is with ArenaNet's sincerity with these micro-transaction additions; how much effort has gone in, and how much they really contribute to either side.

These costumes are rather nonchalant dip into micro-transactions, and I'm not sure what their reasoning is. If Guild Wars 2 is to rely heavily on micro-transactions then it will be a whole different playing field (far more infrastructure around micro-transactions), and any experience gained from this dabbling will be worthless - assuming this is for testing purposes. It had occurred to me that perhaps the costumes were just a way to fund the live team's operations, but I doubt it's even paid the salary of one junior staff member. It still helps with funding I suppose, but if it's funding you are after then there are much stronger ways of going after it.

How about this: Instead of using highly priced trivial aesthetic items (usually found for cents in an item store) as the basis of your micro-transaction dabbling, use real content. Package all of the 'Guild Wars: Beyond' content into individual DLC packages and sell them for $10 each, and give the costumes as a sweetner. Actual gameplay content would be a lot more attractive to a much broader audience, giving you a stronger business case for dedicating resources to it.

So long story short: I haven't bought all of the costumes because the whole thing feels half-assed. Don't get me wrong, the costumes look great, it's the implementation that bothers me. I can't help feeling that much greater things could have been achieved for all sides, had the thought and effort been put into it.

I've wondered this too, and I think I mentioned in this thread or another on GWG that I was curious as to why in the recent Linsey interview she didn't say "free update" a million times.

Regardless, my theory is that the infrastructure was just gone for making BMP type additions after the one BMP. They moved just about everything over to GW2, which was originally intended to be out by now. If they had not been so quick to ditch GW1 for GW2 content development, I too believe that they could have really done a lot more to gain income from the long tail. My only logical conclusion is that they really thought GW2 would "destroy" the GW1 fanbase to the point where any further content development on GW1 would be harmful to the bottom line.