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

I'm not suggesting they now take away your abilities to make any team you want though.

Oh, sweet lord. I'm not blocking anyone. Just because I suggest that you might have sounded a little pompous is no reason to throw a 13-year-old-girl pity party.

There's not enough money in the world to convince me to go back to school. I needed a Master's to do what I wanted and that's all I got.

It would be nice to hear from someone at Anet now as to whether they did foresee the problems that Mercs seem to have created.

Did they realise it would unbalance the types of heros teams you could use? And if they did why did they allow the price of it to be so high, as to create the situation where some people just cannot afford to keep up.

To this day i think Anet have done all they can to keep players happy in the best ways they can, but sometimes they come up with nice ideas that just seem to be poorly thought out.

That's something they should definitely try to fix.

Pity it's too late to do a good fix for the concept and make the Mercenary Heroes exact clones (skills, weapons, runes, and insignias, as well as looks) that can't be changed on other characters, with everything about them only ever changing when the actual character does (ie, the Merc only updates on that registered character's logout).

I don't see a problem. Only people who are dissatisfied with the pricing.

ANet is smart enough not to get into this heated debate at this time.

....seriously??? Are you an epic troll or is this really what this discussion has devolved into?? It seems like no one here understands what this argument is about at all..

This is the most inappropriate analogy i have ever heard in my life. Anet released the game with the understanding that is was FTP (after retail cost for actual game/expansion).

So to apply this to your epic hamburger analogy: Anet sold hamburgers, they were all the same, and all had a one time only cost. It was understand by the customers that after they bought this hamburger, they would not be expected to buy more ketchup and lettuce and mustard for other extra fees. There was no such as thing as bigger or jucier or more condiment-full hamburgers. We all spent the same money on the hamburgers, and we all got the same hamburgers. Then Anet starting offering hamburger containers to help people hold and eat their hamburgers. These containers cost a small extra fee but did nothing to alter or enhance the hamburger, they simply added convenience to those who chose to buy them. Then later, anet started selling napkins. You didn't need the napkins to eat the hamburger, and other people who bought napkins surely did not have any advantage or any change at all in the quality or content of their hamburger. Then, suddenly, Anet realized they had sold all these hamburgers, and then a few chicken sandwhich expansions, and a plate of eotn egg rolls. Now people were enjoying all these delicious meals they had, but anet wasn't making any more money. So, Anet decided they would add some customizability to their hamburgers for a fee. People could dye their buns, mustard, ketchup, patties or anything different colors. They could also buy little flags to stick inside of their hamburgers. All of these payable additions were nice and nifty but did not change the actual content or quality of the hamburgers. They were all still the same size, with the same condiments, with the same ingredients, with the same flavor and taste. Now, suddenly, Anet decided they were going to be really nice and allow people to customize their hamburgers with 7 special toppings. For everyone, you could choose 7 servings of toppings from the servings of toppings available. There were 3 servings of tomatoes, 3 servings of fries, 2 servings of horse radish, 2 servings of coleslaw, etc ,etc. Great, now you can mix and match and make your hamburger with 7 servings from those provided. But then all of sudden, Anet opened an exclusive VIP buffet, where only those you payed an extra fee could go. This buffet allowed them access to 7 servings of tomatoes, 7 servings of fries, 7 servings of horse radish, 7 servings of coleslaw, etc ,etc. Now, suddenly, all hamburgers were not equal or possible to made equal without paying. The guy who didn't pay was left with limited options for toppings, while the guy who forked out some green got to make any combination he wanted. Now, things were not right. Some people wanted more horse radish because they loved horse radish, but were still limited to 2 servings. Other wanted 4 servings of coleslaw and 3 servings of fires. This was not possible without paying extra fees. Now, people found that unless they payed they could not potentially have the same kinds of hamburgers(in content/quality/taste/flavor) as the people who payed more. But wait a second- when we bought these hamburgers, anet said we wouldn't have to pay anything extra to have a better hamburger. We were ok with rinky dinky food coloring and flags sticking outta people's hamburgers who payed, but now that paying extra money could allow you to have more options and abilities to make new/other/better hamburgers, something was wrong. People who payed anet would flout around with their 7 horse radish stacked and their 7 layer fries hamburgers while the rest of the players who didn't pay had to settle with their simple burgers with 3 stacks of fries or 3 stacks of horse radish. It was just not fair that certain players were able to experience all the different delicious tastes and flavors of an incredible number of hamburger combination, while the rest were left with the same plain old limited combinations. The people who payed would make wonderful combinations of burgers and take pictures of them and post them on the internet. All the other scrubs would look in wonder at all the juicy delicious tastes they would never experience. And thus, here we are. Some people are arguing that the payed-buffet combinations don't necessarily taste better than the next normal burger. However, they are completely missing the point. The point is that the payed-buffet players have access to different flavors and tastes that the rest of the people don't. Whether some people arbitrarily think these flavors taste better than other normal-buffet burgers is irrelevant. The advantage is in the unlimited possibility of flavors that the people who payed get to experience, while the people who didn't pay are limited in the flavors they will ever taste.

I'm confused now. I didn't ask for a party. Yes I do. It seems from day one of GW or as I remember DLC was everywhere else to some degree and Anet had the idea of a new campaign ever year-ish as there way of not following that model. Then somthing hapened and where seeing all this DLC spawn up. Just my view of it. I'm proably wrong.

Any who I'll stick to my guns and support them till I find some other game I give my money to. I like his game and community. Till then they have me hooked. And wiat to buy what else the toss my way because at the end of day it just a game. Real lives aren't being saved or people dieing. Just people enjoiying a game someone created.

So entertain me Anet I have money to spent.



Wow novawhiz! Do not know what to say..... Just refreshed and BAM! Need a TL DL. I'm reading it over and over to be sure.

I had lots of fun reading this one....lol

Anyhow I agree its bout the premise that GW was sold under the pretense that there would be no advantages...yet they have faulted on that pretense.

I eagerly await someone to retort that analogy...lol

Aye 'tis an epic read.

And for an analogy it's the best i seen, kudos to you Novawhiz.

Honestly, if you carry any one of the analogies in this thread to its logical end, it'll result in something insanely ridiculous.

Nova showed that. It was fckin' hilarious, but still silly.

Really, no one here should be speaking of "logic".

Somebody get the Hamburglar up in this bitch!


In all seriousness...

When we first played GW, we were promised a game different than other MMOs in playstyle and philosophy.

One of the areas that GW was different from other MMOs were that players would not have to excessively grind for advantages or pay real money for advantages. The creators built their philosophy with the intention that players would quickly be able to reach the metagame and play on a very standardized level playing field.

The appeal was that GW would be accessible without such exclusive and arbitrary features like grinding for armor/stats/gear/weapons or paying for in game advantages just make the game worthwhile to play.

Expansions were released and they became normative features of Guild Wars. Everybody quickly knew that the metagame would include the latest expansion campaign. People accepted the fact that expansions offered new features that definitely gave advantages over others who did not have those campaigns, BUT were ok because they are such a normalized, non deviant form of business according to the original philosophy of the founders.

With an expectation that EotN would be the last standard, popular feature, people remained and played GW. Now, people feel betrayed because the service ANet provides offers is different from what we were once promised. Instead of harmless features like weapon skins or costumes, people are now buying superiority in the form of in game advantages.

Instead of keeping the metagame at EotN, players will now have to buy all campaigns PLUS Merc heroes or they are not at the standardized apex of GW. EotN should have been kept as the metagame.

Where does it end?

Do people not see how the philosophy of GW has changed since many of the original staff have parted?

You say "they would not be expected to buy more ketchup and lettuce and mustard for other extra fees". Nobody is "expected" or "forced" to buy anything, mercenary heroes isn't anywhere near the same level as RTM DLC in all the other f2p MMO:s. And for the hamburger analogy: the "7 coleslaw" hamburgers have existed from the very beginning. First you needed 7 friends who also loved coleslaw and had it with them and then you had fun together and ate your coleslaw-topped hamburgers. Then they added toppings, and you could just eat your hamburger with guy who also had picked "3 coleslaw". Then the VIP buffet comes and you would really like to go there to try, but you can't because you have to pay to get there. Then you come to hamburger forum to whine that you want hampurger with coleslaw only, because coleslaw only-hamburgers give you more variety in taste than good, balanced tasting hamburger with all the toppings (no onion please, it's like assassin heros).

Mercenary heroes can't do anything new besides looking your existing heroes. I've heard rumours that some M in acronym MMO stand for multiplayer, but I assume it's not the way, because everybody is supposed to buy mercenaries and solo their way through everything with 7 mesmer heroes. I say this again: this is like arguing with pirates. Some of them have good arguments about information being free and so on, but most of them just want everything free and yell "RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOing ANET IS RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOING GREED SHIT WHY AM I SUPPOSED TO PAY FOR CONTENT RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO"

To refute your shitty argument entirely, I'll gladly pay for extra content in GW1 as long as it does not infringe upon the philosophy of buying in game advantages.

This isn't about requesting free content or being stingy and cheap. It's about giving an exclusive group more powerful options solely because they paid money.

If they made WIK, Hearts of the North, and Cantha: Winds of Change into mini campaigns that offered no advantages in player ability or income source, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

You are wrong. Good day.

And what if they'd add even more missions and quests, along with advantages in player ability and income?

Like, say, a new campaign such as Nightfall?

Where does this insane notion that add-ons shouldn't offer advantages come from? Add-ons priced like the mercenaries better damn well should offer some advantages for the money they're charging. They just shouldn't be game breaking advantages, which the mercs aren't.

No, they expected you to buy a $50 expansion every 6 months to stay competitive.

And, what you bought still is free to play - you don't need to buy merc heroes to play.

But if you do buy them, your game is better.

Analogies are limited in scope - in this case I was explaining to you why you can't have merc heroes - because you didn't buy them, which seems to be a concept you weren't understanding.

The rest of your post is just saying that if a burger chain start offering extra bacon or extra sauce or whatever for their burgers they need to retroactively put it on all the burgers you ate and are going to eat.

In fact your hamburger chain is still selling the same hamburger - actually the default hamburger is even better.

Your analogy was highly entertaining, without a doubt. Unfortunately, it's also lacking a key component - mainly, that in the GW burger buffet, the chefs not only allow, but encourage the diners to swap ingredients among themselves... and even provide a central place for said swapping to take place.

Diner A who has extra tomatoes hooks up with Diner B who has extra cheese and lettuce and they in turn hook up with Diner C who has all kinds of horseradish - and between them, A gets his horseradish, B gets tomatoes, C gets cheese & lettuce, and they decide to pool their fries & onion rings as well.

This debate, like the one that preceded it and was closed, comes down to convenience. Some diners are paying for the convenience of selecting their ingredient preferences directly from the chefs, and others don't want to pay for that convenience and are QQ'ing that they aren't given it for free - even though the chefs have provided a way for them to still get their chosen ingredients free.

You want the convenience of not having to party up with someone in order to have the flexibility to run your custom builds? Pay for it. You DO have a method to explore those custom builds, you just don't like the inconvenience of it. Me, I didn't like the inconvenience of having to chase down skills in areas of the campaigns I hadn't yet gotten to... so I bought skill packs. The convenience was worth it to me... others don't mind the slower pace of capping skills slowly.

Personally, I won't be buying the merc packs. It's not in my budget, and it holds zero interest for me. I like supporting ANet with my purchases, when they're something I can see myself having a use for... this latest addition isn't something I see myself having a use for, and I see nothing about it that is advantageous to me to make it worth spending the money on.

At last we get to the crux of the argument: Mercs will make my stuff worth less.

What do your stacks of ectos and armbraces get you? Nothing but cosmetic changes for epeen.
Max armour can be bought in Kaineng for 1 platinum.
Max weapons drop from monsters.


The (insert ridiculous merc team here) may farm ectos quicker than a normal HH team, but what actual advantage do they gain in GW?

More money to buy party / alcohol? - Nothing but a cosmetic title.
Easier vanqing - Nothing but a cosmetic title.
Easier GWAMM - Nothing but a cosmetic title.



FWIW, I haven't tried the "make a PvP character / merc / delete character" thing, but if that does work, then that is outside of what I would consider the spirit of mercs to be: Mercs should only be available from PvE charaters.

Is HH hero/henchmen? Nobody does that anymore.

So the difference is you can have more of some profession - the advantage (in terms of raw speed) of that is debatable and while in some circumstances (I can think of Shadow Form tank/spike teams) it might exist, circumstances are bound to change.

The PvP character/merc/delete works.

But that wouldn't stop multiple merch heroes of the same profession - many people have storage mules. And leveling in Guild Wars is quite fast.

Or would stop the complains since you could still field one more of whatever profession.

@ Quru - I don't get where all this talk about us wanting free Merc's is coming from. I haven't seen one person asking for free Merc's.
We have seen a problem within the game where it has made things unbalanced (yes i know balance is a tricky thing and alot isn't already) and given people far more options to do things than others.
All anyone has said is it's seems to be wrong and against Anets policy on content. We have thought about this and offered solutions that we think are viable.
The only people to mention free Mercs seem to be the folks that have already bought them. Perhaps this might be down to the fact you wish you hadn't and are trying your hardest to stop any leveling of the playing field, which would make your bought advantages more "worth it"........ just a thought.

it will never end. At the 6th year i'm sure there going to release some sort of DLC or just content, then some sort of WoC outfit (you know Cantha/Faction style) and FoeFire (if they get that far).

I'm sure most of us see Anet has changed. going down 15+ pages it's starting to repeat. Plus, i don't recall, when they release the storage panels in the past, there was a tread like this. same burger just served differently.

So in the mean time i'll have my burger well done with the works! Like a FiveGuys burger! oh man might get one for lunch today!

The Foefire is 11 years after the War in Kryta.
I wouldn't expect that ever in Guild Wars.

This is pretty much the stupid old "lolwhocaresaboutPvE" argument. Same could be said for a 100000-100000 holy damage jesus sword that is PvE only: you can kill anything in one hit (special function: can damage Vengeful Aatxes) and clear any area in minutes. What does it matter that you can do this, it's only PvE. In the end, it's all for cosmetic titles and cosmetic rewards. There is no actual advantage to having 1000k over 1k. Ridiculous argument.

Best post in a good while, made even better by being one paragraph, kudos!

Anet policy on content is content is never paid?

Anet policy on content is content never gives an advantage?

This is all a question of opinion on what is content - if you think merc heroes are content like campaigns are content, then all this argument goes away and the only to complain is price. If you don't think it is content then you get all pissed that you need to pay for in game advantages-

<~~~ mentioned it
<~~~ has not bought the packs
<~~~ will not be buying the packs now or in the future

Not only do I not see that they add any sort of advantage or edge which cannot be duplicated in-game in one form or another, but I do not find what they DO offer (custom appearances of heroes) to be something I consider "fun," or in any way adding to my game experience.

What I do see, and about the only thing I see, is people QQ'ing because a matter of convenience is not being offered to them for free, and/or QQ'ing because other people are willing to pay for a more convenient method of team building.

Is it a bigger pain in the ass to find someone to party up with who will equip themselves and their heroes exactly as you want so you can have that magical imaginary 8 mesmer/necro/rit team that will allow players to mystically roll through elite areas in 15 minutes? Absolutely.

Is it impossible? Nope. The tools are there already... people just don't like the fact that there is a new tool, a more convenient tool, which they are expected to pay for.

I'm unhappy that I can't get an undedicated Kuunvang just by picking up a copy of Factions: Collector's Edition at GameStop or on Steam. I can't find a legitimate copy of it for sale anywhere. So in order to get an undedicated Kuuny, I have to save the gold I earn in-game and try to find someone selling one I can afford. Or I can risk my real world cash on a CD key on Ebay that I have no way of knowing for sure is legit, at a price higher than what I paid for the last fifteen games I've bought.

The fact that I don't like the options open to me is not the same thing as not having the options.

yeah i know. i just smiled when john told Wartower "a story they(Anet) like to tell somehow" Youtube WarTower It's about 19 mins in. And the key word he said was "like" so it could just be text for all i know some day and not real playable content.

doh! edit FTW. who knows they could make it something like the BMP. Content "we pay for" if we want to see it. Again who knows.

To me the games are games and contain content thats linked inherently with the game. Content also applies to anything they add to the game i.e. WiK(storyline/playable content), Fire Imp(purchasable upgrade content).
Things like skill changes are not content but game updates(to keep things from going stale)

This is my opinion, yours may differ. That is the great thing about people we all have our own opinions that interpret things differently(makes for some good discussions).

@TheGizzy - Because we are all different, people think that some things are just handy others think that it's a step too far in the wrong direction. You are entitled to think that way but there are quite a few of us who think otherwise. Again we are not asking for free Merc's we are asking for the situation that has been created to be addressed in some way. Only Anet can make the decisions we are just using our knowledge and ideas to suggest things. We just feel this is an important issue if you do not that is your prerogative.

Here's a realistic suggestion for all the people who are not pleased with any change that occurs in GW (including payed-for advantages): take it or leave it. (And shut up.)

You didn't realise that a MMO, unlike other games, changes over time? You still haven't comprehended that it's ANet's game and they can do as they please? Then get a clue.

No, you cannot ask for a refund. You got your money's worth and then some, over all these years. To claim otherwise would be shitty ungratefulness.

Play the game if you still want to. Don't, if you don't. Whining isn't changing anything.

My 2 cents is that it may be by a small margin, but Merc slots are still on the "wrong" side of the line as long as there is not an in-game option to achieve the same thing.

It does not really matter much in itself (the advantage is after all probably not very big, and only comes into play if you go solo), but the symbolic value should not be underestimated, expecially now that we are entering GW2 marketing phase. I mean, what is the most common retort to people dissing GW's B2P business model saying it just means you have to use the cash shop to stay competetive? You guessed it; "There are microtransactions, but they are COSMETIC or CONVENIENCE only. Apart from the chapters/expansion packs of course." Clear cut and no ifs or buts.

Now, after mercenary heroes, this claim is no longer true. What does this mean for potential customers' will to buy GW2 and fans' zealousness in talking about GW2 to friends? One can only hope that the effect is negligble, although I fear the ripple effects could be noticable. Personally I can say that I would be way more confident marketing GW2 to my friends if ANet had consistently and forever stayed on the no-endgame-gameplay-advantages-in-shop side of the line.

There is a difference between that which is demonstrable and that which is an opinion.

There are many things in life I find unfair. I'm entitled to hold that opinion. I'm even entitled to complain about it. That does not mean that I am actually entitled to the thing I find unfair to become fair by my personal definition.

The world changes constantly based on opinions being expressed and action being taken on the part of those who share an opinion. We do this by voting, by revolution, by initiating change in some small or large way. To have an effect, we need others to agree with us that our ideas about how things should change are right... power in numbers and all that.

As yet, I've not seen one argument, not one, offering any demonstrable reason why this current issue needs some different sort of resolution. Many others agree. If you want to see things change - in this case, see ANet do something about it - you need to convince people there's a problem, that the problem needs to be fixed, and hopefully show a way to fix it.

That is not happening.

The onus is actually on you, and those who hold the same opinion as you, to prove that there is a problem and that the problem needs to be addressed. That's how change is effected.

As yet, you haven't done that, either.

As yet, all the arguments against MH boil down to "I don't like the options available, they owe us other options." As yet, no one has proven an advantage provided by MHs that cannot be duplicated via other means in-game. As yet, no one has offered a compelling reason for ANet to change anything, or for those who are either pro-MH, or neutral-MH to "side" with those who are anti-MH.

Until those things change, nothing else can or will.

I don't have the MH packs, I will never buy the MH packs... in theory, I'm in the perfect position to be swayed to one "side" or the other. I've seen nothing presented that comes even close to swaying me to the "side" you represent. If you want things to change, you have to work to change opinions... and most people need to see a compelling reason, first.

Is 11 years really all that long in Guild Wars? Isn't EotN like a decade after the events of the first game.

Wait....are you saying that you can do 2 hours or under FoW/UW runs with the normal 7 heroes? I haven't seen that yet. From what I hear, that's only possible with the MH.

Let me know if I'm wrong. I'd love to see a screenshot.

The Searing happens in 1070 AE.
The War in Kryta happens in 1079 AE.

3 campaigns, an expansion and some added content totals 9 years.
The events in Eye of the North occur 8 years after the Searing.

I can barely do FoW period, and I've never done the UW.

If it takes you and 7 mesmers to steamroll FoW/UW in under two hours, you can still duplicate that effect by hooking up with other players and/or their heroes and running the builds.

The effect - a fast run of FoW using builds designed for 7 mesmers or whatever - thus CAN be duplicated. The QQ'ing is that it can't be duplicated via the method a few prefer. It CAN be done, they just don't like the paths open to them to do it.

This is actually very similar to the skill packs, which is why I don't understand why THAT isn't griped about as well. The instant I bought the skill packs, every skill in the game became instantly available to me through skill trainers or tomes. I bought it because I did not like the other method of accomplishing attainment of those skills - capping. So I paid for the convenience of an easier method.

You can come up with some ultimate uber build for 8 identical professions on a team... and you can use it where you like... by hooking up with other players interested in doing the same. So it CAN be done.

Some are paying for the convenience of doing it by themselves without having to go through the hassle of finding other people. Some choose to not make the same investment (me included).

It does not change the fact that the end result can be duplicated... it just means people don't like the METHOD by which it can be duplicated, and aren't willing to pay for it to be otherwise.

I totally respect that this is the way you feel about it; I'd like to just tell you one cool thing about it that I've found:

It's actually pretty awesome having one of my most favorite alts travelling alongside me now. Sometimes during combat, when I pan the camera around, and see my favorite alt nuking the crap out of something, I take a moment and go "woo!!" like a schoolgirl.

Not only is that favorite alt of mine in my party now, but I got to dress her up in 15k (gogo granite citadel) before I merc'd her, so she's mad stylish too. I only spent 10 bucks on the whole thing, and I think I'm gonna get that 10 bucks worth of fun out of it, for sure.

I don't know much about getting nuts with crazy metagame powerbuilds or whatever... but the fun factor of having a beloved alt in the team is something that I'm enjoying a lot.

GW's model was BUY to PLAY. That was what attracted lots of ppl to GW. It is the reason lots of us love it.

The small microtransactions have moved GW away from that model, let's say by an inch. The MH have moved it even further from that model, but now by a foot. Will the next micotransaction move it another foot or possibly a yard?

B2P (buy to play) was one of the greastest aspects of GW. If I wanted to play a P2P (pay to play) game I probably would not have chosen GW. The MH are simply a sign of GW changing its philosophy from B2P to a hybrid B2PP2SC (buy to play...pay to stay competitive). In the future who knows it might change its model a full on P2P. It affects all GW players, which is why it's such an issue.

If you don't mind GW changing to a P2P model...that's fine...that works for you. It however does not sit well with me. I don't want to purchase GW2 and then 2 years later find out that I have to pay to play. Then when I ask for a reason, they say "Well we've been moving towards it for years....didn't you notice? No one ever complained so we assumed the community was okay by it." or simply just not reply, which seems to be the usual.

The MH in my mind are just the breaking point to where I have to say something. I feel that I need to voice my concern now b4 it's too late. As a passenger should I not tell the driver as soon as they take a wrong turn or should I wait until they go 100 miles in the wrong direction?

You heard wrong. There is no advantage for using MH, how can there be? If there is then ANet would not put it in their store.

Too many false claims and speculations on this thread without actual proofs.

Didn't it shift to "B2PP2SC" when Guild Wars: Factions was released?

Prophecies-only accounts weren't competitive anymore, you had to buy a $40 box to stay competitive.

Also, I am not convinced that MH's -- either just 1x or a wide array of them -- are required to "stay competitive".

While I haven't even played the game since the update, I'll still add my two cents. I think the ability to have more of one profession than is offered by the default hero lineup is pretty much a vanity/quirk choice of players, not something that should make the game easier for people who choose to go that route.

If the game is made easier by having more than the default available number of one profession in a group, then that says to me that there is a balance issue that needs to be addressed by the live team.

I think selling the mercenary heroes was the right thing to do by ANET. They have, IMO, the second best MMO out there, and while that 'other' company is raking in Scrooge McDuck cash every month, ANET is probably getting a little strapped for cash as they work to make GW2 the best it can be.

There's a screenshot in this thread of just that happening.....and I know you've seen it.

Well, first of all, it's not 7 mesmers. Second of all, are you actually suggesting that just because a team or two players may be able to do it faster, it's not an advantage?

If you start from a level playing field (2 players, each with 7 heroes), and then add MH to the picture, one of those players can suddenly clear elite areas by himself in a respectable amount of time.

How is that not a paid "advantage". One of them can do something the other can't.....for a price....

I can see where that would be an attraction for a lot of players... I don't have alts that I play, though. I have a bunch of storage toons that are loaded up with stuff. I did bring a few of them up to lvl5 so I could do the Canthan New Year quests with them, but other than one I was going to use as a Survivor (pre-title change) they've not gotten any other play time. The Survivor is now storage as well.

But I could see where if I were going to start playing another profession or something, I would possibly want my much-loved main toon along for the ride. Just probably not enough to be willing to pay for it. *chuckling*

My friend Missy bought the packs. She turned one of her toons (that I play "with" frequently) into an MH and brought it along when we were adventuring on one of her other toons. It was a good giggle and a bit mind-bending to see "her" twice in the same party under different names. I kept wanting to open trade with the wrong one. LOL

I don't set out to change people's opinions, they are their own. All i do is state things as i see them and people can then take from that what they wish. Tbh if you cannot see the advantage from having them then that's ok, either you will or you won't. This is a discussion on the subject not a way to persuade people to join sides, jeez can people not talk these days without someone try to push ideas on to others.