Curse

ducktape · Apr 18, 2008, 05:16 AM // 05:16

For anyone who didn't catch the other thread here on guru, Target was selling GW:Eye of the North for $9.99 for about 6 weeks and then suddenly changed the price to $29.99 and set the game as 'discontinued.'

Turns out that GW:EN is not technically 'gone', you just may have to buy this new GW:Platinum instead, which is GW:Prophecies bundled with GW:Eye of the North. It just came out within the past day or so and is currently selling for $49.99.

Seeing as you can usually get Prophecices for $20-29 depending on where you shop, what do you all think of the price of the Platinum edition and the idea that Eye of the North might not be purchasable by itself anymore, unless you go to the in-game store?

*Gem* · Apr 18, 2008, 05:21 AM // 05:21

Well I checked two places here in the UK (amazon.co.uk & .game.co.uk) both are selling EOTN seperatly at about £15.

Maybe it is just for that store?

Lawrence Chang · Apr 18, 2008, 05:22 AM // 05:22

I guess it's part of Anets' strategy of making more money by forcing buyers to pay for two games. It can also be to clear up some confusion, as GWEN isn't really a stand alone game.

wetsparks · Apr 18, 2008, 05:24 AM // 05:24

It has nothing to do with ANet, NCSoft does all the selling to stores and then the stores do whatever they want to do.

ducktape · Apr 18, 2008, 05:31 AM // 05:31

Well, all the targets in the target region (not just district) where I work have discontinued the stand-alone copy of Eye of the North, so it's definitely not just the one store. For something so general as a video game, it's hard to imagine that only one part of the country would get rid of a game and the other parts of the country would continue to carry it. It is very likely that target in general will stop carrying the game in its original version, maybe not all at the same time but probably within the same financial quarter.

I am bad at maths, isn't 15 british dollars worth like 27 american dollars these days?

Good point about the change possibly being to clear up confusion about needing other GW games to play GW:EN. I personally think it would suck to just have the choice taken away from you because you have reading comprehension and other people do not, but I am not a game publisher so oh well :P.

EDIT: I'm sure other people on guru work at other places (best buy, gamestop, etc) that sell video games and sell GW games, and am very curious to see if their companies are discontinuing the plain GW:EN as well. Perhaps anyone from other brands of stores could chime in with what their company is doing with the game?

*Gem* · Apr 18, 2008, 05:36 AM // 05:36

It works out at around $30 I believe.

I agree that It may be due to the confusion.

Elder III · Apr 18, 2008, 07:55 AM // 07:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by ducktape

For anyone who didn't catch the other thread here on guru, Target was selling GW:Eye of the North for $9.99 for about 6 weeks and then suddenly changed the price to $29.99 and set the game as 'discontinued.'

Turns out that GW:EN is not technically 'gone', you just may have to buy this new GW:Platinum instead, which is GW:Prophecies bundled with GW:Eye of the North. It just came out within the past day or so and is currently selling for $49.99.

Seeing as you can usually get Prophecices for $20-29 depending on where you shop, what do you all think of the price of the Platinum edition and the idea that Eye of the North might not be purchasable by itself anymore, unless you go to the in-game store?

I'm overseas at the moment, so I don't know about Target discontinuing GWEN. However, Guild Wars Platinum has been on sale for months. It was available in several stores over the winter in NY for $45-55. Yo

DivineEnvoy · Apr 18, 2008, 09:03 AM // 09:03

In Canada, Futureshops sell Eye of the North for 9.99 Canadian dollars while selling the Platinum version for 59.99 Canadian dollars.

As we all know, Eye of the North is an expansion, and it requires the ownership of one of the campaigns to actually play it. Normally, when a gamer goes out to check out video games in local retailers, they would only purchase one game at a time and try that game out. In this case, I'm guessing that Eye of the North is not new player friendly. In related to this, it is not surprising that Eye of the North may not have been as popular as average campaigns were, and the reduction in price is probably a sign for that.

Now then, not trying to offend any retailers here, but gamers are usually more resourceful in comparison to retailers in local retail stores. For example, when I was about to purchase Factions in my local retail store, I asked the person who worked in the game department about Factions-related features, and he replied to me that Factions require the previous campaign in order to play the game. As we all know, Factions is a stand-alone game; it even say so on the box. My point is that retailers have to manage more than one video game at a time, and there are times when they would make mistakes. Consequently, it seems to me that you might have jumped to conclusion a little early there.

Etta · Apr 18, 2008, 09:06 AM // 09:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by ducktape

british dollars

I loled at this. Maths isn't the only thing you're bad at.

Game is selling EOTN for £9.99.
http://www.game.co.uk/PC/RolePlaying...-of-the-North/

Ctb · Apr 18, 2008, 12:54 PM // 12:54

Quote:

I guess it's part of Anets' strategy of making more money by forcing buyers to pay for two games.

No, it's part of a common sense strategy of not wasting resources by producing something very few people need...

It cuts production costs.

GWEN has been out for some time now and was available as a stand-alone boxed product for all of that time for people who couldn't or wouldn't buy it online, but already had a campaign. Most of the people who had a campaign and wanted the expansion have GWEN already, so it makes sense to eliminate the extra boxed product.

Doesn't really effect anything. The only people impacted will be anybody who can't/won't purchase it online and already has, or doesn't want Prophecies. I seriously doubt there are enough of those people around to cost-justify continuing to produce a boxed GWEN product separately.

It's just common sense. I don't have access to their raw sales and production data, obviously, but I can't imagine there's much demand for just GWEN or Prophecies, anymore.

captain_carter · Apr 18, 2008, 01:06 PM // 13:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by ducktape

15 british dollars

*cough* POUNDS *cough*

As far as I am aware GW: Platinum has been out and available since the release of EotN. A statement that the release date on amazon.co.uk provides evidence for.

ducktape · Apr 18, 2008, 02:47 PM // 14:47

Hmm, I have never seen Platinum edition in any other stores like best buy, gamestop, etc, but then again it's not like they have a reserved spot on a shelf where you can notice "hey a game goes here but it's out of stock right now". Since I had never seen it before in any kind of store and had not heard anyone talk about it, I figured it was new.

Yes I know british money is called pounds. In america pounds are a measurement of weight, it feels weird to call money by that term so I call it british dollars instead. It's the only currency I do that with. Sue me.

I guess I can see the point about lowering production costs if not many people are buying it in the stores, but as far as I know there are still a lot of people outside of the USA who can't buy things from the online store even when they want to. It seemed kind of like a kick in the head to make them buy the game as a bundle from stores if the plain GW:EN product is discontinued from the publisher and not just discontinued at certain retailers. That's what I'm really wondering, what is the extent of the discontinuation of the standalone game?

cebalrai · Apr 18, 2008, 03:44 PM // 15:44

The Circuit City near me has odd pricing...

Prophecies: $49.99
Factions & Nightfall: $39.99
GWEN: $16.99
Platinum (Proph + GWEN): $39.99

DarkWasp · Apr 18, 2008, 03:49 PM // 15:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by cebalrai

The Circuit City near me has odd pricing...

Prophecies: $49.99
Factions & Nightfall: $39.99
GWEN: $16.99
Platinum (Proph + GWEN): $39.99

Yeah, i'm totaly going there to buy just proph.

Hahaha thats great.

ogre_jd · Apr 18, 2008, 04:03 PM // 16:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by cebalrai

The Circuit City near me has odd pricing...

Prophecies: $49.99
Factions & Nightfall: $39.99
GWEN: $16.99
Platinum (Proph + GWEN): $39.99

Eh. Chain stores rarely reprice old, existing stock 'til they toss it in the bargain bin.

Mork from Ork · Apr 18, 2008, 04:04 PM // 16:04

It may also be a Taget policy rather than NCSoft - our local target store only sells new games and dvds for a limited time. After that they just don't order anymore.

Ctb · Apr 18, 2008, 04:33 PM // 16:33

Quote:

The Circuit City near me has odd pricing...

They're always like that. When Diablo 2 came out in Battle Chest form years ago they had Diablo 2 alone for $50, and the Battle Chest (D2, Diablo, and a strategy guide for each) for $39.99. I wound up with two copies of Diablo, but that's a small price to pay for paying less for more stuff o_0

Toxage · Apr 18, 2008, 04:40 PM // 16:40

Arena Net bundled Prophecies with GWEN because they are in a desperate for funding.

By forcing players to purchase an expansion, they get more money.

Ctb · Apr 18, 2008, 04:59 PM // 16:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toxage

Arena Net bundled Prophecies with GWEN because they are in a desperate for funding.

By forcing players to purchase an expansion, they get more money.

You just live in your own little world, huh?

Tell you what. I'll give you one chance to post ANY evidence at all of this claim before I start openly mocking you for being utterly silly.

Toxage · Apr 18, 2008, 05:09 PM // 17:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ctb

You just live in your own little world, huh?

Tell you what. I'll give you one chance to post ANY evidence at all of this claim before I start openly mocking you for being utterly silly.

Have you been living under a rock?

1) Bonus Mission Pack - 4 Missions for $10? Desperate cry for help.

2) Server Lag - Arena Net was forced to use lower quality servers, due to lack of funds and couldn't afford the higher end ones.

3) Arena Net can't afford to keep even a few people working on Guild Wars. How bad does a company have to be to not afford a FEW employees?

4) Character slots. Arena Net denied customers character slots so we would be forced to use in game store to purchase them.

Open your eyes.