sugestion..PayShop

ok, im going to sugest this as a way for both a net to make extra cash and keep the game not go p2play.

i saw this and how it works on a free game caled maplestory, and it works reasonably well.

the idea is that you purchace points for use with the payshop with real world cash....
the shop is available in each majour town like lions arch and armoon oasis ect.
each store has items that are buyable with a certain amount of points, call em Soverigns.
the shop NEVER sells in game cash.
the shop sells cosmeticaly altered armours, hand held items, cosmeticalt altered wepons ect.
all stats are based on the best available for that area (so droknard forge pay shop armour matches the sets available in droks forge armoureres list)
theres the Dye item function, wich allows you to use the same system that is currently being used to set up your guild cloaks.
however, you dont just buy a bottle of dye, you buy the service that dyes the item.
only customised items can be dyed.
payshop will not buy items it has not sold to you, back from you. (so no going out and collecting 5 sets of collectors armours and selling to payshop.

so, you can buy different items that look different from whats normaly available.

everyone that is currently in the game will get one free dye job per account, that is, 4 items of armour can be dyed for free, once, per account and no more unless you want to pay for them in Soverigns.


now, while i ready the flameproofing, i want to explain the reasoning.
we want the game to keep going, right?
we dont want them to make it p2play in the later stages, even thoguh they say Never. (it has been known for companies to u-turn later on in things)

so....you can play the game totally without ever buying anything from the shop, but if you are the type of person that has to have all the different 15k arouns ect, this will get you collecting.

all items would be no-drop, no-trade. maybe give an extra bag for your Shop items, or storeage.
maily, it would be mostly appearance stuff....like players that used to buy fds just cause they look cool..they could spend a bit of real cash and have that just out of the newb area then if they wanted....

and a-net could make a little extra cash..

*ducks int flameproof hut to wait*

worst... idea... ever...

Well, the problem is that, though it makes sense financially, publicly it'd be a bad idea, since Cash-only items would lead quickly to player disillusionment with Arena.net's stance on making it a level field for everyone. (Even if it is just for better looking armor. Imagine if people could buy the Phoenix emote for five bucks!)

The only way the would make it a pay 2 play is if they let everyone on the same map instead of their own private copy needing the extra bandwidth.

This would only work if they offered services like.. for example, the ability to change your face, hair, skin color, hair color, etc.
But only once per toon..
Ok, so you want to game to survive, but this won't be necessary due to the imminent release of GW:F. Maybe if Anet gets extremely desperate in the future. But not for many many years.. with more and more chapters being released.

all you are doing is making an in game ebay.

i will buy that fissure armor for 25 dolars and pay 15 dollars for a black dye job ..........oh wait........can i get a peaco*k plume for the helmet...........only 5 dollars extra?..........great.......wait......can i dye it chartrease?........with pink stripes?
.................25 extra for apalling taste in colors?..........do it

/worst idea yet of 06

This isnt the only game that its been in Ragnarok online on some private servers has a system similar to this where you donate x amount of money and get items cash for donating to the server even though it was fun I dont believe it would work for gw. Its in a sense a built in ebay where older players can still pretty much buy the gold with real cash to deck out thier chars in the best stuff money maker or not its a serious fun killer in a game like this.

This idea would break ArenaNet's stance of equal playing field if this was offered as a ingame gold sink it might work (as in buyable appearance upgrades, Hair changing, and others of the sorts). ArenaNet also said in the begining they would never make the game pay to play. If ArenaNet offered stuff like T-shirts, hats, Keyboards, and other stuff now thats something that would be worth buying =).

/signed

I like this idea rewarded for playing not paying to be rewarded.

/not signed

are you on a.nets payroll by any chance.
the gold sink version has been mentioned in many old posts and from certain rumors i think we may see some elements of it in ch2.
+imho i think a.net would lose more than it would gain by going p2p because a large portion of the gw community is there because its free and don't mind buying the extra chapters as it is in all practicality a full new game.i think a lot of players would leave because they don't want/can't pay sub charges.

/not signed

to the OP, it seems like your resoning behind this is mostly for finacial purposes. If anet releases to new expansions per year, that comes to about $6.50 per month(if the expansions are $40 each).

So if you buy an expansion when it comes out, it basicly is a cheap pay to play game(yes it is much cheaper than games like WoW).

On top of that, as the games playerbase becomes larger(by including more countries) anet will reap more revenue.

Anet has even said it is possible to update graphics to keep up with current game standards.

So at this point logically for them to 'need' to start charging monthly fees would mean they're player base isnt large enough to support the costs.

Currently the player base is large enough to support the costs, if the player base starts shrinking there must be either a much better game or the game has gotten the fun nerfed out of it.

Either way any MMO with a dieing/dead player base isnt worth playing imo.

/not signed

I stopped playing Gunbound for a reason. GW doesn't need to become Gunbound, where any kid with access to his parents credit card has all the best gear and looks the best.

/not signed

Maplestory is ass. 'Nuff said.

I like it, even though i wouldn't use it. Though, yes it could be a little exploited. Basically people get a run to forge, and get the armour there for a bit of cash or whatever from the payshop thing, without needing any in-game cash apart from about 2-3k.

ok, im not on a-net payroll (though being an 'advisor, i would soo like to be that)

fissure ect armour, not avalable in shop...real firey dragon swords ect, also not available.
to be frank, anyhting that is available in the game and gets sold to e-bayers, again...not available in shop.

maybe i need to explain a bit better....

so, here i am, i just got out of pre sear, im gaging to go out there and do stuff....i got my full set of collectors armour and a few quested wepons, but i notice something....i look like everyone else. i have to jump up and down or wave like a madman to get my friends to see *ME* in the cround.

i like my collectors armour, but im told...each set other than the Fabled 15k sets look the same...*pouts*

whats a girl to do? answer, go buy a new set in Ascalon PayShop.
so, i talk to the vendor and get offered things i can do....
i can pay for any set of armour i have equipped to be hand dyed by a profesional dye merchant...oooh, i can have a full set of dyed armour i the shade that i want, without spending a fortune on silvers and blacks *grins*
[the interface for dyeing armours consists of the same style of dye as the guild cloak interface...with an additional button called {add silver}..this alows for any shade you can make with the dark/light slider, and including the silver button makes for metalic shade possibilites]

not good or individual enough? ok, i can instead purchase a set of *handcrafted* armour.
this has the same stats as the normal armour avalable at ascalon crafters corner.
but..i can choose each item of armour from a 'template' set.
so..i like the elementalist style tops...*click*
i like the long velvet skirts of the mesmers...*click*
the boots that the necro galls wear..*click*
and the ranger one haded glove thing...*click*

now i just have to choose....leather/velvet/fur/cloth/net... for each item....and it comes in the standard shades that class collectors armour comes in.
and bingo....i have just made my own personal armour set, i can trade it in with the payshop for a trade-in Soverign value towards my next set in Lions Arch, but i cant get in game cash for it, i cant sell it to another shop, nor trade it to another player.

all tis would need would be a little tweeking and some code, since the armour templates are already in the game...it would be like alowing all armour *styles* to be used by all classes....no new armour needed, just textures for the pre-existing templates.

same with wepons.....alow for you to make wepons in any style (other than ghostly and the much sought after stuff like firey/icy dragon swords and chaos axe/shield.

see items like that, the 15k a part armours ect, they need to be kept as the special items they are.
but being able to have a nice staff like one you might have goten in a quest that, lets be honest, would you use an item of weponry simple cause it looked good, but had totally naff stats and was like slapping the enemies with a wet fish, compared to a decent but normal looking weopn?

same goes with the wepons....each items would only have the stats available as the same as the area its being sold in, so theres still incective to get to better areas like Droks.

yeah, you could also include the hair and face shop...unlocking all hair styles and colors for both femail and male, so you culd have any class hairstyle and any class color.
unlock all faces and skin shades for both sexes and to all classess....so there could be pasty-skinned dead looking warriors ^^ perfect for those that might want. for whatever reason, to be a warr/necro and call themselves a deathKnight hehe

im not sugezsting the best stuff be available to buy with real worlrd cash, but lets face it..if theres players that are up to buying items for their looks on e-bay, that means theres an exploitable nich that the game creaters could use to give us what we want and at same time tet them what they want..cash lol

and as to runing to droks for payshop armour, they do that anyway, just with the 1.5k stuff for arsing about in arena lol...why not make them pay real cash for the privelige?

since everyone seems to say that the *best stuff* is the expensie 15k per chunk armour, and those appearances would NOT be available to the payshop (come on, i want to keep them special as you do...) how would it be that bad letting a kiddie with daddys credit card make an absolute fool of himself by jut taking the standard shapes he likes then dying it all black and thinking he is cool?
we know he is just a dork with goth and headbanger fixation ^^

and you lot are forgetting something....nothing other than the standard patchup balance issues are going to be done to the game (vanilla guildwars) after factions comes out....
in essance....nothing new, unless you want to buy the next chapter, and the next, and the next....
i guess you might as well just consider factions the new versuon and shift everything to there, providing your rich enough to get all your characters ran to wherever and make sure their accended....and then deleat the game and just rely on factions....thent he next chapter after that...
but i like to sugest stuff to keep even old farts like me that havent assended yet happy...

are your fingers tired after that?

what you are forgetting (or never knew) Anet has stated that there will never be an ingame PAYPAL (or equivalent) which will put the person on a vey tight budget at a disadvantage to the *fat wallet*

since appearance is important to PVE someone pulling out their parents credit card (or their own) and getting fancy customized armor when others cant afford the same but want it is a very real community divider.

/not only no way but way the h no

/notsigned

kids that can have access to their parents credit card and buy rarest items and expensive armos will be like

"you noobs i have fissure armor, i wont die, I HAVE FIERY DRAGON SWORD, MOVE OUT OF MY WAY. DO WHAT I SAY" yep..

reminds me of that option in KO (Knights Online) right at the very top, you theres a pay shop implemented in the game, why pay for a game with no monthly fees to spend more money on pixels and bits, might as well go EBAY.

how many times did i have to say this...

fissure armour is NEVER for SALE.
fiery dragon sword is NEVER for SALE....

there would also be a few quests fro the peeps with no cash to pay for the points that you could do and get the points once per account (though the exp ect would be there for anyone that wanted to do the quests....

gees....somone sugests somethng you have to pay to look good, and its screaming city, but its fine for folk to buy e-bay ecto and shards to look similarly cool...
(cept in the eyes of the game makers, who say elua ect)

i mean, we cry we want more cosmetic changes, but you wont even consider paying a small amount to get them implemented...im not talking spend 50 quid and get a set of droks armour to match fissure here, people, im saying spend a tenner and get something like 5k points...
say wehn i dye job costs 50points per item and an armour make costs 100points per items, a tenner would go a long way....

and i would certainly prefer to pay a tenner now and again for somethng i keep, compared to a tenner every month to play a game for maybe 10 hours
cause i have to look after my mother, or go to work or do silly things like...sleep and eat and travel to work.

so what if johhny richtwat spends 50 quid on making his char look like a total prat...
its not going to make him a beter player....
and whats the problem in looking different....makes the game a little more interesting when you cant tell at a glance what a persons armour is, oh wait...you only care about armour in pvp, right.....*sarcasme*

so, maybe paying for stuff with real worls cash wont work, but whos to say it cant be altered to in game cash...oh, but then the guys that pay for gold are tops AGAIN....

I don't like this idea much on principle, but it seems a necessary evil considering the fact that it is basically already this way if you know where to buy stuff. Better that the money goes to Anet rather than some random farmer who we all hate.

so people ebay you wanna be just like them and buy items than not staight gold? i say thats not to far away than wanting to buy gold itself.

Yeah! You told him! You know, whatever it was you said.

NO

this has been shot down before and is one thing that Anet will not budge on

ebay is bad enough without making one ingame)

i can hear it now

*since Anet lets you pay cash for ingame items Ebay is just one little step further*

No, with respect turning this game into ebay-lite is not a good idea. It does look like the OP is suggesting the KO model (which I had the displeasure of playing not so long ago - rudest forums and buggy/awful/amateurish gameplay), which is another bad idea.

Some of the armour combos do sound good though, although this might go against Anets policy of appealing to the lowest common denominator when it comes to armour...And generally having rubbish armour for the males.

Technically, you can already pay cash for unique items and abilities, in the form of the Divine Aura, pre-order packages, and coke items. If you want an indication that Anet can accomplish these things without unbalancing anything, then you already have it.

Of course, those're special promotions, and AFAIK, they're actually free themselves, barring the Aura, in that the difference between paying for the game alone, and the game with a pre-order package is $0.00.

If Anet did begin selling items, in a sense, I'd imagine it'd be co-sponsered promotions, where you buy products from other companies, get an unlockable key to put into your account, due to the sheer simplicity and appeal to the public. It works for mp3 download crap at least o_o </purely speculation, absolutely no verified aspect of truth to it at all>

Anyway, to be honest, if it was like Maple Story, I wouldn't care at all either way. The things you could buy in Maple were purely aesthetic. Weapon and armor masks you could wear over your actual armor to change your appearance, special emotes, and toys like the holiday items already in GW. It'd be nice if you could get such content for free as it is, but meh, a company's gotta do what they've gotta do. Better than a subscription fee at least.

So, wait... what was your argument? I don't really see one in there, just kind of a love of the status quo for its own sake.

The idea is pretty simple here. We all hate farmers. Even the friend I have who has indeed bought gold in the past hates farmers. Trouble is, he hates grinding more, and GW gold is dirt cheap. $5 gets you like 100k or something. That's a low enough price to make alotta people forget their principles. So, the way to get rid of farmers is to severely undercut them. Why deal with those nads when you can give Anet $5 and become a millionaire?

I don't hate farmers ? Why all the farmer hate ?

Well, farmers are good people to hate on principle because they, as some have been complaining in this thread already, give an advantage to people with enough money to throw into something like this. We all hate that because we play games to escape from the world where our life sucks because we are poor.

The thing is, GW stuff is cheap, even without Anet's help. There isn't really any disadvantage to speak of, because I, an unemployed person, could easily afford around 100 plat if I cared enough to go buy it.

why do you keep bringing up subs like we alrdy pay them.how many ppl need to tell you a.net has stated time and again,almost everytime this subject comes up,that they will not start charging subs.i think its pretty clear your on to a loser here,nice try but time to quit and think of a new idea.

and on e-bay again i think its about time a.net got stuck into tracing the sellers and end this once and for all,some how(/shrugs).if its possible for them to watch our in game chats surely there must be some way of seeing large 1 way transactions(just a guess i don't know if there is).

Have you ever played whack-a-mole? The War on Drugs isn't working, either.

ok, ok..so no, we dont pay real world cash...

so find something that dosent involve the 24/7/360 players getting everything like it does now, and the e-buyers who just go buy the gold.ecto/item to make them get the stuff they want.....

somethng like....give in game soverigns for every bonus and mission compleated per character, per account.....and it works once, so if you constantly redid simple easy misisons and bonus, it would only give out the reward once per character, no matter how you re-ran it.

right now, theres no real way to get *different* looking armour unless you ether e-buy or farm like a bible-belter with a Hoe fixation, or are one of those payers that is trying to beat the korean 50 hour deathplay limit.

i want some way to be able to get my customised hand made armour.
i want my dye shop, with the option to add silver dye, and the light/dark slider.
i want to be able to go in and say...'why, hellow there, my good tailor friend...i have here 100 shiny Soverins, will that buy me a full set of handcrafted armour? why thats wondefull, i always knew that all that hard work and strategy and finished bonuses would come in usefull..ill have the whole set in darkest red velvet, please.'

true, i *would* have thought that a company that wants to make money, would have thought of it by now, but meh..if it used some of the responses from this thread as sourcing, its no wonder they think were all satisfied with grinding like worn out ball bearings for enough ecto, shards ect for a full set of the damn15k armour to look exactly like everyone else...

ummm..............

were you aware that Gaile has noted long ago approves of, and hopes to be able to (maybe not chapter 2) supply what she calls *TOWN CLOTHES* by various quests, buying (good gold sink) for the people who would like to dress up for a stroll through lions arch or whatever.

i personally would like to toggle between run and the presear walk of the people walking around outside

yes, i remember that...
i also remember reading about the fact that no new content baring the balance updates would be added to Vanilla GW,
and that un-accended character are not alowed access to chapter2, so even if they added town cloths in chapter3 (where again, i doubt the un-acended are welcomed, and the equvelent of chap2 accended char are told where to get lots to)...i would only have access to with a chap3 account.

i would hope that smart Devs would get at least some usefull info from the part about using the existing meshes for all the armours of all the classes and alowing folk to get each chapters own armour re-made to be what you like, even if its anoter classes armour style.

...maybe i should remake the thread as....fasheonable armour shop for those who do bonuses?

diablo 2, its free multiplayer servers have been up and running without fees for years.

yes, well i have that, but im waiting for diablo3....
(and i was never that enchanted with the different armours for the femail chars on it even wheni loved it)

50 bucks per game.... over 1million sold
http://forum.photics.com/viewtopic.php?id=404&p=1

50 x 1,000,000 = 50 million
obviously it would be less than that because it was sold 2nd or 3rd party, but even then...40 million would be alot to support a team and the servers. I say leave the whole p2p idea out and keep it like the original box and design of the game it...."FREE online PLAY" nuff said