Selling In-Game Advantages (The Great Debate Over Mercenary Heroes)

Actually, you can. It's part of the Factions Platinum Edition.

Sure, but did they do it with a team composition that can ONLY be done with combinations of Primary professions (and which wouldn't work just as well, for those who don't track the maths with spreadsheets and such, with said professions as a secondary) that are not possible with the standard Heroes?

They should just open up the old henchmen as heroes now. That way people can run more than 2 or 3 of a class without having to pay for the merc pack. It shouldn't be too hard, I'd imagine. All the character models are already there. Make them available early on in the Tyrian and Canthan campaigns so new toons don't have to start in Elona just to get early access to heroes.

Nice catch. I was unaware of the fact that the BMP in included in the platinum edition. I suppose its still worth pointing out that the online non-online retail way of getting it is with the Platinum edition... and if you already owned factions and prophecies there'd be no reason to buy it except for the BMP, which can be obtained separately and for less money.

That would be a pretty big F.U. to the people that already spent money on merc heroes...

Let's face it... the merc heroes are far from necessary. If you want to buy them because you want to save a few minutes/seconds with some in-game activity, go ahead. The time differential between using 7 in game heroes and using 7 heroes with some/all of them mercs seems pretty low, if it exists at all.

Just adding another rit and mesmer hero to round out every class to 3 heroes each is a pretty big F.U. to the people that already bought mercs, since its those two classes who are simultaneously the most powerful and the most rare in PvE.

Personally, I think it'd be a good idea to provide a continuous number of in-game heroes. What I mean by that is for each hero profession to have 3 heroes. For example, the Warrior, Ranger, Monk, Necromancer, Elementalist and Dervish professions all have 3 heroes, while the Mesmer, Assassin, Ritualist and Paragon professions only have 2 heroes available. What I suggest is to add 1 hero for each of the 4 professions with only 2 heroes. Then you can cap off the profession limit per player to 3 heroes of the same profession, leaving mercenary heroes purely cosmetic. It accomplishes the goal that they intended to accomplish while leaving it balanced for everyone regardless of whether or not they want multiple copies of themselves as heroes. Thoughts on this?

EDIT: I just noticed something similar to this was already suggested.

I have a full merc pack, and I still think it's a great idea to add a few more heroes ingame. Make it an even number for each profession.

Firstly, people really need to stop talking about 7 necro. That's only one of the astronomical number of possibilities that having any combination of heroes grants.

I suppose, although I believe that only the third is actually a legitimate counterargument. The first two are more incidental.

Also, the argument that "you could do it already anyways" doesn't work. Look at all the positive feedback from 7 heroes being first announced, then released - a lot of people have a really hard time finding other people to play with. How is it legitimate at all to compare the strength of a 7 hero party to having 8 people in your group? As for dual accounting, you're basically going in with a party of 7.5 instead of 8 that also requires you to actually own a second account with all the chapters you need that has a PvE character that's gotten as far as you need. Not everyone has that.

(There's also the fact that heroes play some bars far better than 99.9% of human players, but that's kind of incidental too.)


Anyway, back to my post:

Questions!

1. How significant an advantage would make people start questioning a microtransaction? If we're arguing about the minor effect of things, the buyable option to have a second secondary profession probably wouldn't make much of a difference in the long run, right? What about axes that do 6-30 damage?

2. For people who feel fine with spending money because they feel like GW is a very good value in terms of fun per cost, is the marginal amount of fun for the cost of, say, a $45 mercenary hero pack worth it, objectively? Try to avoid postpurchase validation.

Do you consider the introduction of Mercenary Heroes to be an unfair game advantage for those with excess real-life money or an aesthetic fan-service that benefits many of the game's players (or both)? Explain.

No, I don't. An 8 man Necro party, or Mesmer party can steamroll PvE as easily as a mixed party containing multiple professions. They're not doing anything I can't do in a mixed lineup, except maybe doing it a tad quicker. Not an issue.




Are teams consisting of 7 heroes of the same profession consistent with the game's themes and/or felt values? Why or why not?

I'm not sure what the games theme(s) and/or "values" are supposed to be. There is nothing traditional about Guild Wars. The difference between 7 AI Mesmers and 7 Human Mesmers is human hands on the keyboard and mouse. Prior to this introduction, same profession parties were clearing areas.



Do you believe that this is a "trend" that the Live Team and Anet may continue to follow in the future? In your opinion, is that a good or bad thing?

Again, I'm not sure what you mean by trend. If it's to imply that Merc heroes are, indeed, a gameplay advantage, I suppose people will argue it is. I don't, so no, I don't feel it's a trend. I've said in the past that my personal line in the sand is distinct competitive advantage. Should the time ever come (which I don't think it will) that we see Exclusive Swords in the store that deal 15-30 dmg, Dervish armor with an AR of 80, or exclusive skills, all that can be used in PVP as well, then you annihilate any sort of balance this game ever had. It is, without any doubt, a gear based game only available to cash users.


Profit is obviously always a concern for any for-profit business. However, over the years many game companies have added features to games specifically for the benefit of their fans, whether for monetary gain or not. What do you believe is the primary motivation for the addition of Mercenary Heroes - profit, fan service, or a mixture of both?

Definitely both. The idea of having AI companions that were other characters on an account was floated in another game (I don't recall which) some time ago. It's a desirable idea, which leads to income.

Does the addition of Mercenary Heroes change your opinion on the direction of the future of the company; namely - Guild Wars 2? If so, in a positive or negative way?

Neither. I can't base this one introduction in GW1 as to what effect it would, or would not, have on GW2. If GW2 is loaded in content and has some cosmetic luxuries in a store, I'm all for it. If GW2's content becomes a system like LotRO, or DDO, my opinion will change and chances are I'll stay away from it. We'll have to wait and see. As it stands right now though, I'm looking forward to GW2 based on the information available.





You want to know what milking really is? Peek your head into SOE's Freerealms and you'll know what real milking is. And the sad thing is, that game is supposedly designed for kids.

Why 8 people party then?

Compare a party with 1 player with 3 heroes and 4 henchmen with a party with 2 players and 6 heroes.

I play with a friend because it is FUN to play with a FRIEND! Not so much to play with a STRANGER, although sometimes it is fun to mess with STRANGERS, since that is how you turn STRANGERS into FRIENDS. On the other hand when I go watch a movie/play football/have a meal, I go with friends not strangers.


1 player in a full human party needs to play its bar. 1 player in a 7 hero party needs to play its bar and do all the aggro, and spread the heroes out of AoE, and manually cast skills that heroes can't use properly, pre-prot, pre cast spirits, etc. I've to tell you it isn't fun managing my bar and at the same time micro 1 hero back to cast frozen soil out of range enemy AoE and then tell it to come back.

Why do people keep insisting that somehow finding a party of 8 players is somewhat a skill that needs to be rewarded and someone going with a party with AI is a lazy bum?

If 8 fully customizable skill bars are overpowered and make the game to easy that is because the skills are overpowered and the AI is dumb, it isn't because heroes are overpowered.

You don't solve that by only allowing players that play with at least 1 other player to be entitled to customize their party.

You solve it by nerfing the power of skills and fixing AI.

When those things happen we can talk about them.

If the mercenary pack was simply allowing to use more heroes of the same profession, I wouldn't buy it.

I bought it because I enjoy to have some of my characters running around in my party.

It is worth $45? Hardly.

The simple fact that is sometimes worth to bring more than 2-3 of the same profession than some other profession is simply a reflection of the game imbalances and differences between profession powers.

Yes, the players that buy the Merc Pack are at an advantage simply for the obvious reason that they can get more heroes of a single profession. The only drawback to that is that they have to have a character of that profession (although they could just make a PvP char).

The game was fine the way it was before. The only time that more than 2-3 of a single profession was used in a team build is for SCs which require PvE skills for almost all builds, meaning players were needed. It wasn't like there were areas that REQUIRED 4+ heroes of the same profession.

I believe that ANet just did this for the money. They knew players would think it would be cool to see their other characters that they spent money on to make them look good in a party. That plus the cost shows this. It's not worth $45 to see 7 (or 8 in 12-man areas) heroes that look like your characters in your party.

The only benefits that I see for the players with the merc pack (as far as gameplay is concerned) are:
1. More team build possibilities, giving players an advantage by using real money (which I HATE when other MMO games do that, Archlord for example).
2. Players can now do 12-man areas with just heroes. For this ANet conveniently (sarcasm) made it so that if you wanted to do this, you had to either go in with 11 people in the team (you+7 heroes+3 merc heroes) or spend another $25 to fill that last slot with another merc (or could you get the 3 pack+1 for only $30?). This also supports the argument that ANet released this to get money.

However, I know that the game does not require these mercs so I don't really care about them. Also, I know that other players will buy these and as long as the money goes to improving GW2 (and hopefully speeding up the progress on it) I don't truly care too much about them.

That is wrong. No player is allowed to use more than 7 heroes. Not even in Urgoz/Deep.

I see them as cosmetic, but undoubtedly many people ran out to buy them for homogenization. Even so, the impact on the game seems dubious.

Those two examples do break the game because they are doing the impossible. There is no way for anyone to have two secondaries or get an axe with higher damage. On the other hand, it's entirely possible to have a team of homogeneous professions and was easily done with just one other human player (for most professions, at least). I saw screen displaying a human team of eight paragons clearing UW. This is not a new concept, or one that breaks the game rules.

Giving heroes/mercs access to PvE skills would be where I draw the line.

Micro-transactions are a business model. If you support the early stages of it, you have no one to blame when you find yourself having to pay an extra $.99 every time you want to start a new level/area of the game.
If the business model is supported by consumers, it will become pervasive. If it is not supported, its growth will be greatly diminished, and the trend will hopefully die.

I think almost all of the "micro transactions" thus far have been minor in game impact.

I have the bonus weapon pack and the fire imp now this gives me a definite advantage at the start of the game, no doubt about it.

But it soon evens out and later in the game just lets me easily equip heroes.

I think the jury is still out on whether mercs give that much of an advantage.
There are many fine builds out there and players have been using multiple accounts for ages.
Also 2 players can do pretty much what 7 heroes can as we can effect take the same 3 heroes each and one players heroes gets a name change.

If I had the money I might do it but to be honest I am more concerned with the next gw game not minor gripes about this one.

Merc heroes do not give an in game advantage.

I bought the 8 pack, i played around with a bunch of the combos.

I ended up using 3 rit heroes only because I am lazy. I am telling you what i run now is not better than a balanced build using only the heroes you get with the game.

I went through a full party of mesmers. It stinks. I was using Vizunah's Square HM to test. I ended up with the equivalent of the 3 Necro's, 2 mesmer's and 2 rit builds that everyone is using anyways.

SF heroes didn't do much for obvious reasons. I tried a full party of Spirit Rift heroes. That was decent, but not as fast as the n/me/rt build. Heroes don't use DwG well at all, so i ran clamour of souls on the heroes. Didn't work that well, and clunky as all heck.

Now if i tried long and hard enough, i might be able to find some area where i get some sort of advantage. But for generel pve, there is no added play advantage.

Now, getting to stare at a lot of attractive women instead of staring at zhed, razah and master of whispers, that is worth every penny.

The BMP packs free weapons and the fire imp from the goty give more of an advantage than the merc heroes. That imp is crazy good.

1. I don't like items that are not acquired once, and that give clear advantages that are not available to the rest of the players in any way.
For example, a shop with a catalog of weapons with exclusive properties, impossible to find or replicate in any way in-game, that you must buy one by one, or if the consumables were GWShop items not available for free in-game.
That I would not accept.
Fortunately, I don't think they'll ever do that.
Even with the heroes, you can still make a party with humans if you really want a full party of necromancers. And the PvE skills and the slightly higher IQ of the average players easily makes up for the reduced reaction time.

2. It's only worth it if you buy the whole pack. One by one they are way to expensive. In €, their cost is less than half when you buy the whole pack.
I recommend to buy the big pack, or none at all.

I think the important point here is mercs are still weaker than players. A tertiary profession would make you strictly superior to other players, same for higher damage weapons. Mercs just expand your options solo.

I don't think many people are really concerned about the in game advantage. 95% of those complainers are noobs who think 8x discord is the best build in the world, ignore them. 3x rits or mesmers is a conceivable advantage, but you aren't likely going to be able to quantify that it is measurably faster or stronger than just putting a necro or ER ele in their place to do a similar job.

The main complaint is restricting options. Plenty of people play guild wars simply for the fun of making different builds. For example, I would love to run 6x ranger r-spike or 8x PI mesmer knockdown spam. Is it strictly stronger than a balanced build? Almost certainly not, but I'm still a bit miffed at not being able to play around with them without paying.

Undoubtedly.

The reception to this could well be the first step to those things happening. Unfortunately, people seem to not mind that implication.

Last time I checked, it was also impossible for one person without mercenary slots to take four mesmer heroes and three rit heroes.

Is one kind of impossibility being made possible by a microtransaction somehow more legitimate than another?

Having more options that are otherwise unavailable is an advantage. I'm not seeing how this is actually debatable.

But how is this different from buying a new campaign though? The guy without EOTN would not have profession-agnostic PvE skills, can't acquire cons except through player trading, and miss out on certain heroes.

It's not impossible to have a homogeneous party, it was only that one human player could not do this. All that's changed is it now takes one fewer human to accomplish, and it's arguably much worse.

There are technical limitations with seven heroes, such as flagging and the obvious difficulty in managing targets, which still makes having a human partner attractive. I think of them as safety valves ensuring this as a legitimate update and therefore doesn't set a dangerous precedent. They were not reckless about this implementation and I think understanding that is the difference between those that accept and those alarmed or offended by the option.

Because the debate isn't as black & white as stated. If it was, as Daesu said, then the players with EotN have a leg up on those that do not. Those that only have Factions, or Prophicies, are gimped against those who have Nightfall. Therefore, any player who does not own the complete collection of Guild Wars chapters is, in fact, gimped and must spend money to complete the collection. If we're going to make the debate that black and white, then this entire game has nuances of advantages everywhere that shift the apparent balance of power. If we're against such things, we should have said our Goodbyes a long time ago.

But that's not what's really being debated here. It would be silly to do so. The real debate is whether, or not, the store options provide severe game balance issues that would ultimately decide the players ability to succeed, or not succeed, in the content they are involved in. Merc heroes don't guarantee any more, or less success in FoW as a regular heroes.

Take a F2P game like Flyff, which has been around for ages now. Those who use the Cash Shop are at a significant advantage against those who do not when it comes to more powerful weapons and armor, content, and experience gaining. As a result, any competitive play is swayed not by any skill, but by those who have cashed in to "gear up".

Guild Wars doesn't have anything remotely close to this. Merc heroes don't change it. Afterall, PvE, according to most, even in HM, is easy and could be done blindfolded, given the proper planning and build layouts, even in the most challenging areas.

As I said, if GW ever adds items that clearly offer exclusive power ups (skills only available in the store, increased armor, more powerful weapons) I'll be the first to flip off Anet and say, "Thanks for the memories". If I want to play a cash gear game, the market has tons to choose from. Those things are the real advantage. Especially in PvP. We're not anywhere near that stage and there aren't any signs that stage is coming.

I'd like to feel that we're all pretty much on the same page. That really, it's ok, to have an in-game store. Just keep it cosmetic. Add all the costumes and pretty flair you want. It doesn't hurt anyone. Go beyond cosmetic and into the gear, then you truly erase the term "Balance" from the game...for good.

I made an account just to clarify that NCSOFT is NOT ARENA NET

If i remember correctly Arena net is only a part of NCSOFT and that Arena net is, for the most part, not like NCSOFT at all.
I for one dislike NCSOFT.. but i love Arena net.

Arena net (the maker of GW and GW2) is an amazing company and one of the best, if not THE best mmo company, ive ever seen. NCSOFT however, not so much.

This was posted due to someone saying something about NCSOFT being money grubbing people..

this may be true

but Arena net is not.
Far far from it actually.

No personal impact, since the game is instanced. Had ANet kept the three Hero limit, but allowed Mercenaries to take Hench slots, I'm sure the outcry would be much worse. As it is, a player with Mercenaries may Vanquish areas faster or missions easier, but its a small time advantage only usually and I can't see it affecting overall gameplay.

I personally am against P2P DLC content, as to me it always feels like unfinished content that is released after the game goes gold to be able to make holiday or other release deadlines. I am amazed that anyone would pay USD$45 for a Merc pack, that's the price of a whole new game! Had the Merc Pack been a feature in a new expansion, I would have bought it, but with the game as old as it is along with a dwindling player base, that's just too much money for anything other than a full expansion/sequel. That being said, Mercs are both a small advantage for gameplay and vanity, but overall has no actual effect on the playerbase at large, since most if not all content can be completed in roughly the same amount of game time with H/H and now 7 Heroes.

I've always found that the game's "values" are totally dependent on the player, and similar in concept to the personal storylines in GW2. How a player plays is up to the individual, for example a Mesmer player could take 7 Mesmers in the party, role-playing it as Norgu's understudies or something. In the end, the profession and skill system are simple a way to codify a way to kill enemies and defend the player, how its done is up to the individual, from balanced to "lameways."

The move to "micro-transactions" is definitely a trend that many software developers, both game related and otherwise are following because of the low overhead cost to profit ratio. As long as there is profit to be made it won't stop. Whether its a good thing is dependent on the perception of the user base in regards to the cost/benefit ratio. For example, a game series like the Elder Scrolls are incredibly moddable, with an active modding community. Bethesda also releases some DLC from time to time, which usually incorporates new base models, scripting functions or other fresh content that the mod community can then expand upon. So they include play content as well as upgrades (the Horse Armor mod was ridiculously overpriced though at first).

The Merc Pack on the other hand is adding a small but noticeable pay to play advantage to an MMO, and is horrendously over-priced, as is most of the stuff available through the online store. If ANet wants to retain credibility as a games developer, they need to get their pricing under control, as its been shown time and time again in various economic circles that a lower price with greater distribution always generates more profits, longevity and brand recognition than trying to gouge with high prices in the short term. The DLC trend can be a force for good game development and replay value, but its a fine line. In the end, what is really the difference between selling advantages through the store and a player buying gold from bot farmers? The only difference is where the money goes, the morality or ethics of these types of transactions are identical.

Absolutely profit, as are most of the offerings on tap at the online store. ONE storage pane for $10? ONE costume for $7 to $10? A SINGLE name change for $15? ONE character slot for $10? IMHO the pricing is mind blowingly over the top, especially when one considers that the price of individually bundling several of these items together is significantly more than just buying an entire new account.

Its always a crapshoot on how game companies will interpret market research and sales numbers. Look at a game like WoW, a huge and addicted playerbase that keeps growing despite the games age and outdated graphics, which actually contributes to its popularity because it doesn't need quad core processors and parallel video cards. Their extras are pricey mainly because of the large, open world, its persistent state and other reasons. Guild Wars being instanced as it is largely is a contributing factor to its lesser popularity, such as lack of world PvP and other options.

The addition worries me that ANet is "drinking its own kool-aid" or put another way, believing its own hype. I've seen the GW2 previews (I particularly like the Thief skills preview lol), and have high hopes, but NOT if half the game is P2P DLC released simultaneously with the game itself. DLC is the wave of the future, but it has to be presented in a rational way. $10 per DLC is NOT a "micro-transaction" unless you're describing what you get for said $10.

Let me put it this way, you can go out and buy all four campaigns for USD$40 or less. Is a single Xunlai storage pane worth the same in terms of gameplay value as all of Prophecies? Is a vanity item like the Merc Pack worth more than the entire game?

I would venture to say no. My hope for DLC in GW2 is that any options are SOLELY cosmetic, as anything else would cast serious doubt for me on ANet's treatment of its playerbase. To me, expensive DLC feels like EA releasing a new Madden game every year, with little to no changes except which overrated player is on the tin. Smoke and mirrors basically, sleight of hand marketing, or for those who've seen the new Tron movie, "This year we put a 12 on the box!"

Most of the professions have an odd number atm, don't need more than three of any, in most cases no more than two.

i don't use merc heroes, and as far as i've seen and heard there's no real advantage anyone gets aside from aesthetics. i think microtransactions were a bug step in the wrong direction for the game, but obviously the money is needed and you gotta do what you gotta do.
if you want to run the most gimmicky 7 hero setup in pve, honestly i don't see a reason for you, me, or anyone to care. "values" in a video game sounds a little ridiculous to me, and if there was ever a time for the game to preserve "values", that time is looooooong gone.
i'm almost certain that the microtransaction trend will follow into guild wars 2. whether it's sooner or later in the game, there isn't a doubt in my mind.
7 heroes do make finishing up the hall of monuments a hell of a lot easier in preps for guild wars 2. mercenary heroes do not.

On the other hand you have Anet people stating things like the following.
This seems to address the concerns you voice and I share as well.

Does statements like this prevent Anet to go ahead in a future time and change their policy?

No, but then it is up for the consumers to make their choices with their wallets. I seriously doubt that if Anet went that route we could do anything else then find another game to play though since there is people that are ok with such practices.

I have 2 counter arguments to this (even though this quote wasn't direct to me).

First 2 players playing together could already do this - I know, 1 person couldn't and 1 person still can't unless they bought at least 2 merc slots (or most likely 1 3 merc pack) but it didn't break the game in the sense 4 mesmer heroes or 3 ritualist heroes were already possible in the game.

Second, the only reason this argument is brought up is due to the fact these heroes are the most useful at the moment. No one is complaining they can't bring 4 paragon heroes without mercs.

The biggest advantage of merc heroes is that in fact a new character starts with them, but oddly few people complain about this.


Although this can hardly be the case for a soon to be 6 years old game

A person doesn't have to buy 8 merc slots though. A 3 merc pack is $20 and right there you get most the long term advantages - you can have 5 rits and 5 mesmers and 6 of any other profession.

I agree the price is high but on the other hand these are mostly luxury upgrades.

Now, years later it is possible to buy these games cheaper.

For myself, having played for over 7000 hours of guild wars, the luxury of having 4 extra panes (and it was possible to buy those panes at a much cheaper price) is indeed worth more than buying prophecies (after all I already had it ).

I think it is mostly a technical/financial thing though. If we look around many companies that sell DLC use a point system, which allow to have cheaper micro transactions.

Ah ok thanks.

^This

Release more Heroes. Easy fix.

I bought the merc pack for cosmetic reasons. There is no harm in adding more heroes to balance things out.

You can't limit the number of hero professions a player can take with them. The limit would be six heros of the same profession. Because with pre merc heroes, two players could easily take three Necro, Ele, or Ranger heroes each. That set the standerd of six heroes of the same profession. Limiting heros per player would be unfair to the solo player.

Well, Furling, you did now summarize it, but not in the right way.

The statements of discussion are, shortly:
1. Merc's are too expensive to be taken serious (see 2 and 3 for strengthening)
2. Merc's are morons due to AI (especially if you love melee, like me)
3. Merc's do not pose a advantage in speed you couldn't accomplish with the normal heroes

Thus they're overally purely cosmetic, a money waste and something of the caliber buying=advantage, which people that play an everyone-is-created-and-playing-equal-regardless-of-spend-money game, which Guild Wars was and promised to be, loathe.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the merch micro transactions.

However I still think that if they were to do it "the old ANet way" they would:
- offer 1 or 2 free merch hero slots for everyone
- sell the rest in a pack of 3 or something at the price they sell 1 one (really over priced - to get all you have to pay the full price of a new game - excuse me??)

None. I never bought them, the 7 hero combinations are OP enough that I don't see the reason why 7 necros would gain me anything tbh.

Question for ANet: PvE content rebalance any time soon?

Not at all. In fact it's far less so than the ability to buy character slots which allows you to run zaishen quests 9 times instead of 8 times - getting you cool heavy eq bags and what not.

Same with storage space. So if you ever were to argue what's giving more advantages in game for purchasing something I'd order thing like:
1. buying a second gw trilogy account (cheaper than the merch pack btw)
2. buying skill packs/campaigns
3. buying more storage
4. buying more alts
5. buying the imp stone for Pre
6. possibly other
... and then I'd put buying merch heroes.

Are 2 human discord teams ok? Does it matter you want to play all para or all ele or all rt or all necro in a team as long as you don't have to play all speed clear sins?

If it's optional it's ok. And it is.

Merch heroes are a trend from ever since Proph launched with extra character slots for sell. It's the same thing since GW exists.

Isn't this obvious?

To allow players that love their alts to play with all their alts in the same party. And that is as awesome as the ability to buy more alts and try more professions.

I feel these questions are asked in such a biased tone.

Not at all.

However as most ANet "micro" transactions they are way over priced. Selling 2000 pixels on a costume for $10 is already overpriced and I bought some to support ANet since they've given me so much fun with a game I played 4-5 years!

But going forward I decided to stop supporting ANet's insane prices for such things, so I did not buy last costume packs, nor did I buy the merch packs. These are things that should cost $1-$3 not $10-$30. So I think they should fix their pricing if they want to continue getting my money going on.

I have only bought one costume pack out of all. I might buy a merc slot if it weren't for the ridiculous price, not everyone lives in the US and 10 bucks for such a dumb thing is a rip. i feel like im donating to anet's collection tin when i buy anything from the online store

My opinion

* What kind of impact have you personally seen or felt stemming from the introduction of Mercenary Heroes?
Actually not really much, i vanquished already with a couple of friends. If we want 6 necroes you could put them all togheter, or add only 1 friend to your party and give him the builds. The point is if you have good connections with other players willing and able to do the same thing you want to. If you havent got that the mercenary addition is a solution to this (in my view).

* Do you consider the introduction of Mercenary Heroes to be an unfair game advantage for those with excess real-life money or an aesthetic fan-service that benefits many of the game's players (or both)? Explain.
1. Heroes can not be used in PvP, in this way i cannot see how this is unfair.
2. You already have 7 heroes at your disposal instead of 3.
3. You have paid additional money for this slightly type of advantage.

The only slight disadvantage is that you cannot solo everything with your fancy party setup in mind. If you have friends however this addition isnt that kind of strong addition.

* Are teams consisting of 7 heroes of the same profession consistent with the game's themes and/or felt values? Why or why not?
Yes, You could already form the same team you have in mind with only 1 pug/alliance. Or 8 people. Only the cooperation of other made it harder to achieve.


* Do you believe that this is a "trend" that the Live Team and Anet may continue to follow in the future? In your opinion, is that a good or bad thing?
I dont mind other people having it. As long the additions do not give you weapons or armor higher then PvP i feel fine about it.

Profit is obviously always a concern for any for-profit business. However, over the years many game companies have added features to games specifically for the benefit of their fans, whether for monetary gain or not. What do you believe is the primary motivation for the addition of Mercenary Heroes - profit, fan service, or a mixture of both?

both

* Does the addition of Mercenary Heroes change your opinion on the direction of the future of the company; namely - Guild Wars 2? If so, in a positive or negative way?


Not really, guildwars 2 is in my opinion a complete different game with a slight history and mechanics of the previous one. Guildwars 2 have to prove on its own. And i am confidend with the history of GW1 they will make a great game of gw2.

I don't like what GW have become.I was promised I don't have to pay to play the game the WAY I wanted to.And those who pay won't have any in-game advantage over me.Merc packs are definitely an ADVANTAGE(the question is:How advantageous are they?).I want spirit's strength marksman + channeling minion bomber + communing ritualists.ANET:"GTFO(go buy yourself merc pack).You have only bought the demo(according to prices set for those packs)".It would have been cosmetic feature if we receive 3rd mesmer and 3rd ritualist heroes or they give away 1 merc.More than 3 heroes of same profession is just for e-peen.
P.S."All campaign" argument is total BS.Campaigns(BMPs in less degree) are not "cosmetic feature" but actual GAMES.

There's nothing in this game that cannot be done without Mercenary heroes. If DoA HM can be done without Mercenary heroes, I can't imagine anything where mercenary heroes are _NEEDED_. I'd like to buy at least one mercenary hero slot to use as necro, but that's because I simply adore necroes, not because I want in-game advantage with 5 necros in my team and concept of heroes is in my opinion one of the unique things in GW.

You really should go browse other games' cash shops - including subscription games'. The GW shop is mostly standard pricing. And the costumes are $6.99, by the way.

People forget that there can only be 7 heroes in a team, regardless of how many mercenary heroes you have. If you have 7 necro heroes, that means you have 0 mesmers and 0 rits. It is a trade off.

A growing fear of what's to come.

It is definately more than cosmetic. I would use "advantage" loosely though as that word does not exactly depict the real issue well. They allow ppl to have more options, hence giving them more "playable content" than those w/o. The actual increase of effectiveness that they give is minimal compared to the increase in options.

I feel that no they are not. Since the game has had an ongoing theme of attempted balance, allowing such is a step in the wrong direction.

I fear that it is going to be an ongoing trend. This is my major concern, my major issue with this whole deal. Although this was minor, it did break the proverbial ice. Now that they have done what they said they wouldn't....What's next? Maybe the next cash shop "advantage" won't be so minor. Who knows how far they will stray from what made GW so attractive from the start.

I am very perplexed with the econmics of the addition. Ofc the primary motivation was monetary gain.....I however am baffled with the pricing of the addition. The relative cost of the merch heros is really skewed. I stoutly believe they would have profited much more had they priced them better.

Yes it does/did. Like I mentioned above, I fear that they might stray further from the model which attracted me to GW from the start. I am now more hesitant to purchase GW2 due to their change in philosophy.

WHile I am sympathetic to the "the price is too high" argument, it's important to remember that prices in the online store are generally not set by a-net. NCSOFT, as the publisher, gets final say on those things. At this point, it's hard not to notice that the merc 8 pack costs more than the GW complete collection, even in the online store. Anet and the live team can work hard to give us the upgrades we ask for (and merc heroes has been asked for more or less since the beginning) but the price isn't necessarily something they even get input on. The prices will be set wherever the publisher thinks is the highest they can charge and get people to actually pay. At the current rate, there's no way I would buy the merc 8 pack, but a 3-pack seems a tad more reasonable (though still more than I would really want to pay).

So let us, once and for all, put an end to the "the price is too high" debate. The only way that point can be made effectively to the publisher is by NOT buying the upgrades. However, since many have already bought them, the message is clearly that the price was NOT too high. Price setting isn't done in such a way that you choose a price that more people will be happy with, it's done in such a way that maximizes your profits.

The real discussion should focus only on whether these upgrades somehow give unfair advantages to those that buy them over those that don't. Since heroes can not be used in any direct competition between players (such as PvP) I maintain that any advantages are minimal, and are not unfair. You could, after all, see similar advantages is a variety of ways (owning more campaigns than another, having more real life time to play, indifference of guild sizes, or intelligence at making builds... the list goes on). I see no reason to be concerned with the future direction of GW1 at the moment, and merc heroes don't give me any new reason to be concerned with the direction of GW2 (I already had plenty of things to be concerned with anyway... but have decided to give anet the benefit of the doubt.)

So what if they have content, at the end of the day it's an advantage over someone else.

If two players join Guild wars Nightfall at the same time and one also buys the Bonus Mission pack simultaneously, the one with BMP can get max weapons as soon as he reaches kamadan, for no in-game monetary fee and without needing to trade. Is that not an advantage over a new player who's going to have to go buy/trade/find a new weapon instead?

BMP gives an in-game advantage too...but it's fine because it's content?

So if Mercenary hero's came with an in-game quest like the bonus mission pack, people wouldn't be complaining?

Mercenary hero's are still content, they're just not story content, and if having story content slapped onto a purchase is the difference between whining & acceptance the devs could easily slap a quest on it.

"Buy Mercenary heroes and take the quest from -insert- npc in any major city. The quest requires you to collect 1 steel ingot. We put some dialogue in there about Gwen and Thackeries secret night life. " That's content right?

Mercenary heroes are content.
People complained about the BMP too, but the BMP is also content, playable content that also gives you BMP weapons...which are also content

Oh dear me.

Players who bought the Collectors Edition also have an advantage, I don't free weapons when I type in /bonus. I'm not going to go cry a river though.
My Assassin doesn't have a fancy CE /dance but that's life. Those /bonus weapons and the CE dances iare all content and /bonus is an in-game advantage. It's stuff you get for free in-game because of what you physically paid for. Who's crying about /bonuses though now?

If you cry just because theres an advantage in-game because of real money being spent, you have to cry for more then mercenary heroes. People ask for Pre-order bonuses for games which is about spending money at a certain time, and if those give in-game advantages everyone is cool with it, but if the advantage is through the digital store it's a problem.

I don't understand that the deal is.


Do you get a weapon for typing in /bonus?
If no, guess what your missing out because of not paying for something
If yes, you paid for that advantage.
Can you get a new toon a max level weapon which has a skin not available otherwise by running through a mission that takes 6 minutes, with said toon being the one to complete that mission? No? You didn't pay for that advantage and that's been there before Mercs, if Yes, you paid for that so why complain now?
Did you buy Nightfall? Well I bought Factions, why are you getting free customizable henchmen for spending money, and I don't? You bout merc Heroes, well I bought Nightfall, Q_Q you get to make your alts travel with you, and I don't.

Puh lease this is ridiculous if Content is all it takes to make people stop crying, they could've made it so that you also gain access to a new map, that takes 15 minutes to beat and add the end you get merc heroes, charge 40 bucks and call it an expansion.

I think I'll go pick up a 40 dollar pre-paid card today and go buy some merc heroes.

There is no more advantage in someone buying merc heroes than there is if someone bought EoTN or Nightfall and another person bought Factions or prophecies.

What competitive advantage do Mercenaries give, they can't be used in PvP? What someone can speed through an area faster than you can? Well a team of humans can speed through an area faster than both of you, and if you want to get more specific the guy who bought Factions has access to Save Yourselves and can protect his whole team and the guy who bought Prophecies cannot.