Curse

gojensen · Jan 15, 2007, 10:34 AM // 10:34

Hm, why is monthly payments bad... if it is a choice?

It's my understanding that GW is using this scheme in the Asian countries. Just like WoW does all over the world. What if ANet/NCSoft decided to let you buy a "special" edition of GW which was cheap but cost something like US$10/month to play... BUT you would then get access to all chapters "free" (or a very minor upgrade fee like with WoWs update). This would be good for PvPers I think (as they then could just "play on" as they would with say WoW)... but I would have to be an option, because I like paying the big bucks for the collector's edition and playing when I feel like...

To me monthly payments are like "oh no, I have to play because if I don't I won't get enough playtime for my buck

" But as an alternative/option I think it would be good...

The Abbott · Jan 15, 2007, 10:49 AM // 10:49

IMO this a complete load of tosh, anyone who thinks Guild Wars is dying is merely at the end of their honeymoon period with the game,, I have over 8 new friends who bought prophecies around christmas and all of them intend to purchase the new expansions... do you REALLY believe in all of the guild wars world i am the ONLY guy who has pushed GW to all his friends? no way...

alot of people seem to assume ANET only make money from their current expansion... lol... the way I see it, Guild Wars should be going on *newcomers* cash for along time,

gojensen · Jan 16, 2007, 11:59 AM // 11:59

Re. that. Something I've been wondering, Anet said they've sold 3 million GuildWars... But which? Is that 3 million Prophecies? Or 3 million total for all "chapters"? Since they treat each as a seperate game I think they should tell us sell-thru numbers for each aswell... because if they have only sold 3 million of TOTAL, that would probably mean that they have 1 million players that have bought each chapter (give or take some thousands that only have 1 or 2...)

Big_Iron · Jan 16, 2007, 03:20 PM // 15:20

I'm in total agreement. Guild Wars can not survive with the current business model.

I'd much rather Anet work on one expansion a year and one or two major updates to existing campaigns. I've said in other threads and I'll say it here, I'd be more than willing to pay $10-$20 for a major update (like SF) and $50 for one expansion a year. Things like expanded storage and so on, I'd be happy to buy as well.

Loviatar · Jan 16, 2007, 05:25 PM // 17:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by gojensen

Hm, why is monthly payments bad... if it is a choice?

It's my understanding that GW is using this scheme in the Asian countries. Just like WoW does all over the world. What if ANet/NCSoft decided to let you buy a "special" edition of GW which was cheap but cost something like US$10/month to play.....

wrong...........just wrong

as officially explained they have to take into account the vast popularity of internet cafes over there.

they are paying by the hour of time played NOT BY THE MONTH

they also can go into a store, buy the game, and have unlimited use as well with no extra charge

@woody...............we have heard that from before chapter 1 was released.......proven wrong so far

Big_Iron · Jan 16, 2007, 05:32 PM // 17:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loviatar

@woody...............we have heard that from before chapter 1 was released.......proven wrong so far

I hope so Loviatar. I love playing GW and would hate to see it go away.

ischuros · Jan 16, 2007, 08:02 PM // 20:02

I read the first page, and bit of thesecond, so please excuse me if this has been stated:

In your original post you said that the topic on the IRC, about Guild Wars dying has been talked about for quite awhile. If so, why hasnt Guild Wars died. And another thing, ghost towns, there is already a simple solution to this, at the very core of the game. Guild Wars is built around guilds, players join them, and play the game together with guild mates. This concept was further built on with the introduction of Alliances. Anet must ahve realised that, yes, some towns/mission outposts will become ghost towns, so they made the 'guilds' bigger, allowing a wider player base to help out with your mission and quest. I was previously in a stand alone guild, and we recently joined an alliance. In the past few days,I managed to get one of my characters ascended, with help from members in my alliance. If people complain about ghost towns, and then state that they are in one man guilds, the answer is obvious, find a guild you like and join it. It may take a while, I was hopping around for around a year before I got into my current guild, and it is great. The community outside of the game can also help. i used these forums here (the guild ones at least) to find my guild.

And so, for you, like me, who cant reall be bothered to read alot of long posts, I will sumarise:

Guild Wars is not dead, whatever your IRC has to say
Guilds mean you dont need to form a PUG in ghost towns
ANet saw the ghosting of towns (:P) in advance and allowed Alliance to be formed.

And whatever you may say, ANet are the people who ultimately what is going to happen to the game, and they are probably the best people to deal with problems they may foresee.

Kate Soulguard · Jan 16, 2007, 10:24 PM // 22:24

Heya!

I read the first few pages also, and I would like to honor Rustjive's request for some suggestions! I thought of a few things that people might be willing to pay for. Some of them are probably impractical, true.

1) PvE skillset unlocker for campaigns not in your account.

It would be nice if, after purchasing this unlocker, a Skill Master NPC would allow you to purchase any normal skills from those campaigns that you do not own. That way, people who are on a budget and cannot afford to spend another $50 on the next chapter, but who want to have the benefit of the skills that chapter offers, are more likely to do so. What to do about elite skills from other chapters, I'm not sure. That's a tough one, since you have to capture them from elite creatures and they wouldn't show up in legacy campaigns. Someone will think of something there!

2) Character appearance manager.

Buying this appearance manager would activate an Edit button that would display in the bottom right corner of the screen once you log in and see your character roster. Just click the character, click Edit, and you would see the that page of the character creation screen where you were able to set the height, complexion, face model, hair type, and hair color.

3) A dance tool!

Holy cow, this may be a really dumb idea. Okay, I've always wondered what it would look like if my monk did those crazy assassin dances. Sell a customized tool that, for a modest price of $9.99 or something, unlocked all of the dances (both genders please) for your characters. Then the player could double-click on the dance tool and pick the dance from a little box. There may be some animation / modeling issues that I'm not aware of, naturally. And if a tool isn't practical, design some extra switches in the chat box that give access to the dances.

4) A Mini-Me Pet!

Make a customized, dynamic mini pet that looks like the player herself, replete in the armor the character is currently wearing. That would be kind of crazy, and I bet people would pay a little extra for that.

5) Xunlai Armor Locker.

Xunlai upgrade that allows two or three sets of armor PER CHARACTER to be stowed.

6) Xunlai Dye Locker.

Xunlai upgrade that allows dyes to be stowed seperate from normal inventory, just like materials.

7) Xunlai Auctioneer!

Why not! Rather than jack with auction houses and auction merchants, how about designing an Auction tab that can be purchased and applied to your Xunlai agent? If you want to sell something, drag it to a slot on your auction tab and give it a price. (More on descriptions later.) If you have a stack of items that you drag to a slot on the auction tab, you should be able to specify the cost per either unit OR per stack if you want to sell stackable items piecemeal. This will allow people to buy materials from you in whatever quantity they need. Things in your Auction tab could automatically populate in the Trade section of the Search feature for the zone you're standing in. Last, provide buyers who use the search feature a way to automatically buy from you if they agree to your buy price.

Language barriers between buyers and sellers? Ahh, here's an idea: As for descriptions... The description should be *automated* so that common sales terms could be supported in any language that GW supports. That would allow for dynamic language localization so that sellers and buyers who speak different languages can still perform a trade. The nomenclature for item descriptions is already localized for every language that GW supports, isn't it? Well if it is, this shouldn't be too hard to implement! And with enough refinement, this could really add some spark to the GW economy.

8) Undercut ebay farmers.

Players take some risk when they buy GuildWars crap on ebay. Rather than nerf skills and change AI behavior to counter professional farmers who sell GuildWars stuff on Ebay, ANet should get out there on ebay, see what the farmers are selling, figure out what people will pay for it, and then undercut those professional farmers by selling the same stuff themselves for less money. Farmers sell 200k for $10? ANet should consider selling the same thing for $8. See what I mean?

Okay so there's my two cents! I hope I haven't rehashed stuff that was already suggested. Have a great day!

Kate Soulguard

Tactical-Dillusions · Jan 17, 2007, 03:26 AM // 03:26

My suggestions and ideas which could gain Anet alot of cash and every idea is optional and doesn't provide a bonus to those who buy them through the shop.
There's also various ideas for expansions etc thrown in, both new and old.

I suggest a hobby/crafting/tradeskills expansion pack.
All the people that want to do the stuff from "other MMORPG's" will get it, Anet gets more money without even making new areas and best of all IT DOESNT CHANGE ANYTHING FOR PVE OR PVP BALANCE.
Anet could play it smart too by adding in new skins for weapons and armour which can only be created with materials gotten from mining etc.

What a sense of adventure there is to be had from roaming the land (and clearing it too of course!) and looking for a good spot to drop your next survey probe to check for the presence of minerals.
Believe me, mining is an awesome experience in an online game, so long as it's done right.
The long adventures to find that elusive "mega deposit" is what drives you on.

IF mining we're to be introduced, i'd advise Anet to go test out Entropia Universe, if that still exists, lol. The coding and system behind that is brilliant.
You don't go looking for the dots on your radar or "jump in that pool because there's a gold node in there usually".
It's more random but requires a great deal of players judgement and studying of the terrain, or else you lose cash from wasted materials.
You'd get just enough minerals and gems to break even but eventually you'd find a huge deposit that takes 30 minutes to dig up and you almost wet yourself with excitement.

"Forming UW mining group, invite self"

Free $$$ Anet, free $$$.....

************************

Another idea or two before i wrap this up would be a pet expansion pack for level 20 rangers (edit, all characters). In that pack you get all pets that are in Guild Wars. Ability to swap pets when needed, especially since different animals have different stats.

Player housing with additional storage. Though i have no opinion on the housing thing. That not my own personal wish but i respect the wishes of others, especially when it doesn't harm anything.

Elite auras for non-PvP. I wanna glow green when i choose to and will pay $1 for it.

Unlock all quests to make them repeatable. I miss lots of quests and feel sad that my character can never go back and relive those happy days.

Guild Wars art and posters. I'd seriously consider buying these.

Guild wars bosses head trophies. EVERY monster with an aura will unlock a trophy (except presearing because that wouldn't be fair, unless Anet provides a way to warp back and kill them).
The trophy page would look like the skills page. Perhaps make trophies tradeable? Players would return to the older areas to kill bosses.

Random idea thrown in, yeah wrong forum but i know Anet will read this thread - remove the loading screens when zoning. This will remove some of the feeling of the world being chopped up into zones.
Half life anyone? That's chopped up but the world still feels connected and there's only a pause in the action when zoning.

Respawning monsters for those who choose to, if members of your party have selected not to have monsters respawn, then they won't.
This is for the hardcore grinders with a taste for blood.

Pet armour (eye candy only?).

Perhaps time to start advancing Guild Wars technologically? WTS 16-27, 15>50, req 8, furious musket of dwarfslaying.

Rebuilding of Ascalon. Tree planting, masonry... i don't know, build on that idea (excuse the pun, i'm off to bed soon :P ).

Open PVP/PVE areas where people gank and be ganked and guilds battle for control of outposts/objectives.
Logging out will return a player to the neutral safe town to prevent spawn camping. No death penalty in this mixed zone of carnage.
If the player cap is reached for that zone, you can choose to go in a queue.
Alterac valley anyone? Yeah, you can flame me, but you know it works.

night night.

Thallandor · Jan 17, 2007, 04:39 AM // 04:39

You cant be making microtransactions for a game that you no longer play or is bored of playing.

No sense throwing more money in a sinking boat.

A balanced game only has that much replayability, and when playing a game turns into frustration instead of having fun it cease to become a game.

_____________________________
playing something else thats fun

Teger · Jan 17, 2007, 04:44 AM // 04:44

oh my! GW only has a couple million people who own 1 or more campaign, ALL of its campigns were voted for GotY in at least one major industry publication, AND if you do the math, if a person buys all the campaigns (which almost ALL competitve pvp players do), then Anet makes as much money off of them per year as blizzard does per person per year in WoW.

Please, STOP WITH THE STUPID "Gw is dieing omg!!!11!!!!eleven!!!1! Only I can save it!!!!1111!" THREADS.

.defekt · Jan 17, 2007, 05:00 AM // 05:00

Teger. You're an idiot. Did you even read the OP?

fenix · Jan 17, 2007, 05:11 AM // 05:11

Rust, the problem with making a post like this, is that 99% of the people who will reply do not understand that Guild Wars is a PvP based game. So straight away the replies are going to be uninformed and wrong. What the other problem is, is that because all the replies are from PvErs, they do not know the situation in PvP, which is what this thread is all about.

In terms of PvE, it would seem that Guild Wars gets better and better. But being a PvP game, that is simply not the case. More and more of the top PvP players are quitting, because Anet are not improving the game where they should, and GvG seasons are becoming slower and slower with less reward for competing.

Another thing about this, is that ALOT of people are just not reading the OP, so their opinions are based on incorrect assumptions. Micro-payments would improve the game because at the moment Guild Wars is going to run out of steam and be dead within 2 more chapters. This is simply because too much is being introduced too quickly, and it is becoming more attractive to play games that move at slower paces in terms of new content.

Markaedw · Jan 17, 2007, 06:11 AM // 06:11

For the sake of new readers, here is the sum-up:

Right or wrong: people are starting to believe (hence this thread and the dozen or so others) that the "every six months" is stretching the company resources to thin. If so, this could eventually doom the game.

Right or wrong: people are starting to believe that the only way to "save the game" is to slow down the release schedule and include more content per game. Since the "every six months" is required to maintain payroll, that could present a problem.

Right or wrong: people are starting to believe (hence this thread) that selling in-game content will solve the above problem and "save the game".

Assuming we are right: to do this the in-game store will expand it's inventory to include option content and that we players will buy the stuff to maintain profits during development downtime.

Let's use my account as an illustration:

3 slots, $9.99 per slot $29.97
Prophecies Goty upgrade $4.99
total content upgrade $34.96

That's just about the total of another game.

Dr Strangelove · Jan 17, 2007, 08:39 AM // 08:39

PvE is rolling along strongly, not even noticing any problems.

PvP seems to get more and more dead every time I look at it. I don't believe extra money from players is going to fix anything, high end PvP is plagued by elitism, a steep learning curve, heavy time requirements and high requirements just to get started. All this combined means it's almost impossible for a new player to start high end PvP. Anet has been trying to drum up more interest with events lately, and I've read some comments by Gaile about getting rid of rank discrimination, but I'm not sure if that's going to be enough. Perhaps UAX for PvP characters would help take away some of the intital barrier?

From the population in the lower end arenas, namely RA, there's clearly a large number of people interested in PvP, but somewhere along the line in the battle isles, everyone gets bored and frustrated with grind and an inability to get into groups.

ischuros · Jan 17, 2007, 10:30 AM // 10:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by talon

Rust, the problem with making a post like this, is that 99% of the people who will reply do not understand that Guild Wars is a PvP based game. So straight away the replies are going to be uninformed and wrong. What the other problem is, is that because all the replies are from PvErs, they do not know the situation in PvP, which is what this thread is all about.

Yes PvP may be a more major part in GW than in most MMORPGs, but that dosn't mean it is entirely PvP based. Take Nightfall for an example. It di not add anything new to PvP, except Hero Arenas, which are a tie in to a PvE mechanic. PvP is a major part of GW, but i'd say the balance btween pvp and pve, the importance of it to GW, is roughly 50/50. It is a hybrid game, one born of the need for a PvP MMO, but also including PvE as a major part.

Some people have been saying that the price for a years subscription (plus game) to WoW, or most MMOs, is the same as buying all chapters in a year for GW, but let's do the math:

25 euro for WoW, plus one month free
15 euro a month x 11 = 165

165+25=180 euro

Two chapters for GW @ 45 euro each = 90 euro

hmmm, 90 euro does not equal 180, in fact it is half of it.

Now, i dont know why this was brought up in this thread, but anyway.

And, each chapter has a year long development cycle. With no engine to make, or redo, it would be very easy to make a quality game, especially with an experienced team. Since ANet onlymakes money from sales of the game, they need to make sure sales of their games are high. To do this, they need a large influx of cash, releasing games on a six month cycle would ensure this, and would make sure they can support the servers and make patches and improvements to the game.

fenix · Jan 17, 2007, 12:29 PM // 12:29

15 Euro a month?! In Australia it work out almost exactly the same cost for WoW per month as it is GW every 6 months.

Yes, Guild Wars is both PvE and PvP, and to be honest, is slowly becoming more and more based only on PvE (as this is where Anet make their money). This is part of the problem, Guild Wars wasn't designed as PvE only, but at the current rate PvE is going to be the only content worth playing.