expansions? prices?

anyone know if there will be an expansion for this game? when? and how much? they advertise it as a free game, but if they release a new expansion every 5-6 months kinda like everquest does, wouldnt u be paying out the same amount in the long run? i get 6 months of EQ for about 60 $, and if expanisions are 30-50 which im sure they will be, then im gonna be spending almost the same amout of money every 6 or so months...i hope this will not be the case.


also i read somewhere that u can play withotu the expansion, but what fun is that? im just wondering if im gonna need to shut down my EQ account compoletely, cause i cant afford 100-120+ $ every 6 or so months, im just not that rich.

Yes but as we all know, EQ also has expansions that come out on a regular basis and you have to pay to play so that ends up in the long run costing you way more.

If you have already read:
Quote:
No, there will not be a monthly subscription fee of any kind, anywhere in the world.
And for further refrence there was another article that said Guildwars Expansions fell under the same category.....

Yes but as with any Expansion it is not REQUIRED to play the original... You will be able to get Guildwars and play the heck out of it for months... put it down and return to it after 2 or 3 expansions have come out and STILL be able to play the original as it was. Only if you want to explore new areas will you HAVE to buy expansions... Now MAybe if they do a GW2 when and IF they change the entire game engine in the future you may be REQUIRED to buy an upgrade, but at that point thats a whole new game anyhow.

However this is all in the future... heck lets get through This official launch and see where it goes... I'm personally hoping that we may see no more then 2 expansions a year, if that. If done properly.. 1 a year is more then enough... But if an expansion is JUST to get a horse or just to do some other little thing as EQ was, and yet it still cost near $30 each time to upgrade AND they charges a monthly fee, well that was just stupid. that kind of gaming turned me off those in about 1 expansion. However I think the crew at guildwars has seen the MISTAKES the other MMORPGs have made and were inspired to try to do it better and show how it COULD be. I really believe that is the reason Guildwars even exists... And I think that it will show the market there are better ways to do this. I am looking forward to being a part of a new way of doing things for MMORPGs...

Ingram of Haz

Hehe.

Game + Monthly Fee + Expansion Pack (that separates you from others) vs. Game + Expansion Pack (that doesn't separate you from others)

You do the math.

ArenaNet has said that they plan on releasing an expansion every 6-8 months after Guild Wars is released. The expansions are supposed to have the same amount of content as the initial game(most likely in quests/areas/etc), and will be "competitively priced". The biggest difference between this and Everquests pricing is that with Everquest you had to buy the game, the expansions, and also pay a monthly fee. GW saves you the monthly fee, at $12 per month iirc. In addition, if you don't buy a GW expansion, you'll still be able to play with everybody who has- you just won't have access to the new content that has been added with the expansion. They've also said that they will balance everything so that if you're playing PvP, you won't be at a disadvantage from other players by not buying expansions.

ArenaNet just uses a more humane system. It's great, and yes, it's cheaper.

(EQ2 (since you are comparing it to that) will target 6 months for their expansions, and they will be priced at $50 each. That's obviously a losing deal).

The great thing about expansion packs is the game will never get boring because once just about everything is said and done we will be given more to do with the new expansion packs. For those who play less or are just a little slower then others they might not want the expansion pack because they still have a lot left to do with the game they have. It's really great how we are given the option to choose: to upgrade or not to upgrade.. that is the question!


About the price: I'd like to point out that expansion packs never cost as much as the original game cost. They are always cheaper. I don't think it would be much more then $30 and if it's every 6months I can live with paying an average of $5 a month for a game I'll be putting hours of game time into. Also the more people who buy the game the bigger and badder the game can be thanks to the sales profits the developers can invest into providing top quality service to us gamers.

considering the fact that they have stated that the expansion will contain as much content as the original i do not think this is a very safe bet. most expansions have nowhere near the content of the original. they have not made any other statements really about the pricing scheme other than it being their only source of income. i would just sit back until more concrete information is released before guessing about pricing..

sorry but here it is from the experts
it will be the same price as the original as this is a new *chapter* and not a standard expansion

QUOTE
How much will Guild Wars cost? How much will additional chapters cost?


Guild Wars will be competitively priced, comparable to the cost of other titles of its quality. The subsequent chapters of Guild Wars will also be priced at a level comparable to other games.
QUOTE

not expansions but games

Either way it won't be that big of a deal. I agree that there should only be about one expansion a year, but they don't ever do anything like that. We'll just have to see how everything goes.

i am hoping for 2-3 per year with the ability to pick and choose instead of a steady progression that says you have to have B before you can play C

you might like the content of one but not be enthusiastic about the other

Okay guys lets slow down here ... no need rushing and jumping on how much you are willing to pay per month ... It was a killer of me and FF11. Guildwars is free to play online. Yes expansions cost to buy ... common knowledge I thought ... the games dont appear from the magic gaming tree. $30 or $40 every 6 months isn't so bad considering what this game is offering, finally a place clans (guilds) can really try to wage war, free online mmo, amazing graphics, and a place where my guild can devise and plot and execute your doom ... I mean ... hehe ... I always get caught up in that one.

it simply is how many games you can afford to buy a year (my budget is tight) which forces me to say i WANT A-Z but i can AFFORD 3-4 of them

which means i get demos or betas or reviews before spending a penny

aside from OBLIVION i think from the betas i have been in guildwars will get first choice when the chapters come out

and if bills need to be paid when they come out it will still be available later

makes me think of the sims2. but atleast there expansions where cheaper then the original..lol


hate the fact we loose all the work we did in the beta

ingram ya got so far now ya back to beginning..lmao

it tis better to have betaed and lost than never to have betaed at all

i understand the tight budget (you haven't seen bills until you have kids), but for me it's a schedule that will keep my game time sporadic. the -0- monthly fee is prime for me because there will probably be weeks where i'll only be able to squeak in some time. i hated paying for time i wasn't using. GW gives me (from the beta's i've played) a great game that won't nag at me for money when i can't play. i'll still be able to get the expansions ON MY SCHEDULE, not forced to because i'll be screwed if i don't. everthing i've read (and i've been through most of it) shows that AN has (and continues to) put a lot of thought into the game, and a lot into into the marketing too. they got my vote when i preordered the final game, and similar votes from 5 friends (working on 6th...) too. if the expansions are as good as the initial game, we probably won't mind the price, but if they're mediocre, they certainly won't be as profitable (or as employed) as they'd like.

-Jerry

"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard,
sleep hard, grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em!" -Webb Wilder

It's clear that ArenaNet has given a lot of thought to how to price their game to get it to the widest possible audience. Look how they have structured the Weekend Events. First, the World Beta Event that everybody with a computer and telephone line could play. Then, the pre-orders, which for $10 got you a hours of gaming on the next 5 weekend events. Word of mouth is spreading like crazy. Last weekend, 250,000 people were playing. Even if half of them bought the $10 pre-order, that's over a million dollars, and the game's not even released yet. Figuring the game is going to cost the nice round figure of $49.95, ArenaNet will be rolling in bucks in a very short time. They don't have to charge people to play. They have a great game that's already a classic with a very devoted, hardcore fan base.

I'd simply like to point out that the pre-order is actually but a deposit. If you pre-order, the game will cost 39.95 as you have already paid 10.

Couldn't have said it better ... most games makes 80-90% of their sales in the first 2 weeks. The way that arenanet has planned this release is with extreme strategy and intelligence.

You made two misteks here - first like DEATH said, the price for the preorder will be substracted from the retail version, if you paid $10 for the pre-oder, ouy pay $39.95 for the game.
And this leads us to the second mistake - the preordes are actualy for free. ArenaNet didn't see one penny from all those pre-order deposits, it all stayed in the store.

not so because the preorder was sold as a separate item by itself with the option of a refund of the preorder price being subtracted from the retail if purchased from the same store that sold you the preorder

i bought my preorder and received a notice that the balance above my preorder box would be charged on shipment of the retail box

the store is a middleman and does not hold onto a penny

they purchase stock from the vendor and resell it they arent given it for free

EDIT

the preorder is also an admission charge for the BWE which by itself is a entertainment bargain per hour cost