Curse

felinette · Jul 27, 2006, 07:16 PM // 19:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by gamecube187

And what about the people that didn't even know GW existed when the collectors edition came out?

Tough luck. I wasn't playing GW when Prophecies came out so I never had the opportunity to buy the CE. Big deal. That's the appeal of CE's--you get a version of the game that not everybody has. If they were going to sell an unlimited amount of CE keys, then they wouldn't have called it a CE.

Quote:

Also, there are STILL collectors editions being sold and "cheapening the uniqueness" of having collectors edition.

There is a limited number.

Quote:

Plus, since there are so many people that want it, why not have Arena Net make profit off it?

That's not a good argument. If many people wanted to buy greens in the game, does that mean Anet should do it and make a profit off it? Of course not.

Quote:

Oh, and it would be AT LEAST $5 to $10 more to upgrade your account to collectors edition than just buying it when it first came out, that way it would be better just to buy the collectors edition from the start.

But again, it's a collector's edition. That means there should be a limited number of collector keys. As I said in my post, a compromise would be to sell a CE key at FULL price--that'll limit it to those folks who really, really must have the CE items and are basically willing to pay for another copy of the game to get them.

Quote:

A CE is just an upgraded copy so I think its fair to get to buy the upgrade a bit later when you are sure you want to play the game still.

No, a CE is supposed to be a limited-availability version of a game. That's why it shouldn't be made available to everyone.

Note that I don't own the CE of either game. I'm not arguing against this because I have a CE and would be pissed if they made it available to everyone, but because CE's are supposed to be limited.

Arwen Shiningstar · Jul 27, 2006, 07:59 PM // 19:59

I have a quick comment on the storage issue. Isn't buying a new character slot exactly the same as buying more storage. To be honest I have 2 accounts that's 12 slots (6 on each account). I have one of each character and all the rest of the slots are pvp characters that I use for STORAGE! I plan on buying another slot too so I can have at least 2 storage characters on each account. Do I have an advantage? I guess I do. Is that "buying" storage you bet! So why not just sell the storage. Character slots = storage. I don't see why everyone is arguing over the storage thing. Heck with my 2 accounts I get 2 storage vaults too. Why does this seem fair and buying storage seems unfair?

Ashleigh McMahon · Jul 27, 2006, 08:15 PM // 20:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trvth Jvstice

Why do people keep saying it would be unfair to some players if people could buy special skins, or special (customized) weapons?

Because it gives them an advantage, there should be no advantages in guildwars as it is a "balanced" game( Don't take this literally, as I know some points in the game, ie: alliance battles, others get advantages).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trvth Jvstice

If they had the $50 to buy the game in the first place, they should have the cash to buy something from the GW store. And, if the person is a kid, they'd just tell whoever bought the game for them to buy the item from GW. As long as the item isn't unbalancing to the game, there shouldn't be a problem

Some 'kids' get the game as presents, and the matter isn't usually not enough cash, it's the fact Plaync doesn't accept paypal, it disables alot of people from paying using a trusty billing system, as most people don't like putting billing info online, and paypal is by far the safest online money income/outcome utility.

Quote:

Oh, and it would be AT LEAST $5 to $10 more to upgrade your account to collectors edition than just buying it when it first came out, that way it would be better just to buy the collectors edition from the start.

But really, I bought the collectors edition for the physical aspects(mousemat, cloth ritualist picture ect).. not just the fancy as/rt dance. Maybe some people would, but why would you pay 10$ for a special dance? I'm not saying it's bad, but you'd have to be pretty 'wanting' it to buy them for 10$.

Also I totally disagree with providing a Kuunavang on that CE code. Kuunavang was provided as a comiserations gift as Anet under-predicted the ammount of CE's needed to meet demand.

Ashleigh

ElinoraNeSangre · Jul 27, 2006, 09:42 PM // 21:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arwen Shiningstar

I have a quick comment on the storage issue. Isn't buying a new character slot exactly the same as buying more storage. To be honest I have 2 accounts that's 12 slots (6 on each account). I have one of each character and all the rest of the slots are pvp characters that I use for STORAGE! I plan on buying another slot too so I can have at least 2 storage characters on each account. Do I have an advantage? I guess I do. Is that "buying" storage you bet! So why not just sell the storage. Character slots = storage. I don't see why everyone is arguing over the storage thing. Heck with my 2 accounts I get 2 storage vaults too. Why does this seem fair and buying storage seems unfair?

That's exactly what I was thinking.

On the other topics, people buying gold for real cash isn't all that much different than someone farming all day to get gold - the main difference is that the person buying the gold with cash worked an actual job for it (or their parents did).

The problem I see, though, is that the number of people who can farm all day long really isn't enough to disrupt the economy (bot farmers aside obviously). A lot of people play GW because it *can* be played casually. I'm a fairly "casual" player and I'm sitting on 114k of hard earned gold (at least, until my monk hits endgame and gets 15k

).

The number of people who buy in cash? My god. It could be endless. It would a) completely wack out the economy, and b) cheapen the really cool stuff for those who worked for it. If I saw every tom dick and harry running around in 15k and they can't even figure out how to tank properly, I'm going to feel pretty crappy that I don't have any 15k yet and I've been playing for 6 months. The point of the neat stuff really is bragging rights - to say "I worked my butt off." It's like getting a blue ribbon or a gold medal - would it mean anything if everyone could come in and buy one themselves? No. And buying gold just leads to that same feeling.

Alternately, though, I also have a day job and bills - the least of my worries is how l33t I look on a video game, and I might worry a bit about anyone who doesn't think the same.

lord_shar · Jul 27, 2006, 10:31 PM // 22:31

Like I mentioned in the other thread, the whole purpose of an online store is to generate revenue. If ANET only sells items that have almost zero customer demand (cups, mouse pads, T-shirts, etc...) then they will make almost no money, and the whole online store excercise becomes pointless from a business perspective. For ANET to survive long term, they must meet customer demands or go out of business.

Which would you choose?

What I want to see being sold online:
-regular and CE-keys: These have real world demand. They cost ANET nothing to generate, yet many like myself are willing to shell out $70+ per key. Mouse pads, T-shirt, and cups won't command these kinds of selling prices, but game keys (especially CE keys) will sell like you wouldn't believe. This also solves the normal problems associated with shipping, inventory management, etc...

-cosmetic changes: anything alters the character's appearance physically. This gives zero PvP/PvE edge, so why not take generate income from customer cosmetic preferences? Cosmetics is a booming real world industry, and ANET can make their own market with GW-cosmetics.

-name changes, physical model changes, hair/eye color changes, etc... : If it can be automated and generate significant income, ANET will write customized coding to do this. See cosmetic changes above.

-emote enhancements: people will pay real world money for this. They cannot be earned in game as of the present patch. Emote enhancements provide no PVP edge. Therefore, no game play imbalance would occur if such an enhancement were buyable online. The "people feeling left out" (or jealousy) factor mentioned above can easily save and buy these eye-candy enhancements later, but it won't make them better arena combatants.

What shouldn't be sold
-gold: this should rightfully be earned. People shouldn't be able to buy their way through the game, whether by running, Droks armor at L1, etc...

-armors: like other game items, these should be earned, not purchased outright. Otherwise, you will see L1 pre-searing characters with maxed out armors and weapons

-dyes, mods, weapons, ecto's, etc... anything tradable. Selling such items would definitely disrupt the established game economy and undermine those who have invested real time into acquiring their in-game items.

In Short, ANET can sell whatever they want, but if we willfully tell them not to sell what customers want, then we'd be guilty of giving them self-serving advice at the cost of their business.

ducktape · Jul 27, 2006, 11:59 PM // 23:59

Boy am I pissed, I typed this all up and then hit submit and it said invalid thread specified, and now I had to type it all again

Anyways

I read all the posts in the "what would you like to see in the guild wars store" thread and I saw concern about being nickel-and-dimed to death to get new features we want (features = more storage, hairdresser, auction house)from the Guild Wars Store. Here are some thoughts I had on the issue:

Would I buy a feature in the Guild Wars Store if it meant I wouldn't have to wait for a new chapter to be released to get it? Yes, because I would pay to get something without having to wait. I would be paying a premium to get it early, because I would be paying extra for something that ends up being free if I had waited for the new chapter containing that feature to arrive. That would be my choice to pay extra to get it faster, so that's fine with me.

Would I buy a feature in the Guild Wars Store as an alternative to buying a new chapter that has that feature, either because I could not afford the whole new chapter or because I was not interested in anything else introduced with that chapter? Yes, because then I am saving money by purchasing that feature but not having to buy a whole chapter. For example, if I only have prophecies but I want the material storage that comes with factions and do not like factions, would it be nice to have the option of adding material storage to my prophecies account for $10 instead? Yes, that way I wouldn't feel like I had to spend money on stuff I don't want, and only pay for stuff I did want. I do have prophecies and factions, so that's not an issue to me, but I forsee this issue arising at some point with a new chapter.

Would I buy a feature in the Guild Wars Store if they said it would never be available as content in a new chapter, whereby purchasing it from the Guild Wars Store would be the only way to ever obtain it? Maybe, but either way I would feel like it was extortion. If I feel like a business is extorting me, I might purchase something I want very badly, but it would be very unlikely that I would feel like giving them money on other occasions, no matter what the reason.

Additional Sidenote: Selling in-game items in the store
In the other thread, I saw a lot of people angry at the idea of selling in-game items (mini-pets, town clothes, hats, etc) in the Guild Wars Store. Customizing the items you purchase so that they can only be used on your account seemed like the solution, since it would prevent damage to the economy, but people were still angry; they did not want to feel left out if they did not have the cash to purchase an "extra". I say people are already left out, with no remedy, for most of these items, like coke items, pre-order items, special event items, and collector's edition items. Not all of these items are available to everyone due to region (coke items) time (pre-order and special event items) or available copies and production problems (collector's edition items) so you really can't get them all. Do you live in America? No coke items for you, unless you buy the game on e-bay. Were you not able to use your preorder during the 24 hour headstart that was Tengu day? No Tengu Mask for you. Did your retailer screw up your collector's edition preorder and reserve you a standard edition instead, or did you take the standard edition instead of going without the new guild wars for 2-3 weeks? No kunavang mini-pet or backup dancers for you. Even if you did manage to get all these things, you would have had to purchase the game three times and have never missed the last day of any special event. It seems more fair to let people choose to pay extra to obtain special items for their collection if they so choose, and if the rest of us get lucky by getting a certain game edition or never missing the last day of any event, good for us, the stuff is free that way.

Additional Sidenote: Paying in the Guild Wars Store
Not everyone has a credit card, and if they do, they might not feel comfortable shopping online with it. Please accept PayPal and other similar online payment methods that are trustworthy and widely accepted. Even better, offer Guild Wars Store Cash cards in retail stores, for example someone could pick up a $5, $10, $20, or $50 card and enter the code on it at the Guild Wars Store to add that amount to their Guild Wars Store credit. Then they can feel safe shopping online, or be able to pay without a credit card, or be able to get Guild Wars stuff as a gift from friends and loved ones. I know if I could get my friend a $20 card he could use it to buy a couple character slots and he would want to play more often, and he would enjoy the gift. The easier it is for people to shop in the Guild Wars Store, the more likely they will be to purchase things from it.

gamecube187 · Jul 28, 2006, 12:55 AM // 00:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ashleigh McMahon

But really, I bought the collectors edition for the physical aspects(mousemat, cloth ritualist picture ect).. not just the fancy as/rt dance. Maybe some people would, but why would you pay 10$ for a special dance? I'm not saying it's bad, but you'd have to be pretty 'wanting' it to buy them for 10$.

Also I totally disagree with providing a Kuunavang on that CE code. Kuunavang was provided as a comiserations gift as Anet under-predicted the ammount of CE's needed to meet demand.

Ashleigh

I don't think you understand what I am saying when I say buy collectors edition. When I say buy collectors edition, I mean literally buy it with the box and everything (and then we would pay for the shipping of course). When I say $5 to $10 more I mean this

Normal edition is $50
Collectors edition is $70
The addition to get collectors after you already bought the normal would be at least $5 to $10 more than collectors itself, in the long run, to discourage people to pay for it after it already came out.

So, if you bought normal, that is $50, plus the addition of collectors, which would be $20 plus AT LEAST $5 to $10 extra for buying collectors edtion after it is already made (unless you buy it from the store within a week or two after it comes out, then there won't be the extra fee just because its like buying it directly form the store). Then, after that, you have to pay shipping for the non-in-game stuff (the box and all the extras in it).

Accually make the extra "late" fee $10 to $20 more. That way it is like paying $80 to $90 for a collectors if you buy it late, thus it still gets a few more people to do it, without making it no longer "rare", since the high extra price would make some people not want it.

And about the kunavang, that is by far the coolest minipet around. The other ones can't even compare to its coolness (I dunno, maybe its just the fact that its part of the collectors edition that makes me like it

). I would really like to at least have the chance to have a minipet as cool as kunavange, but there is no way, at least without getting the collectors edtion, which I already explained above. I was suggesting the ability to get kunavang, but only be able to buy it if they decide that they won't sell the collectors edtion.

BTW, I don't really see why people are saying that the ghost dancers and collectors editon things similar shouldn't be bought in the store or something, because I see them pretty often. I don't see how they are "rare", because they seem pretty comon to me... that would mean that a lot of people have collectors edtion, so why not let more have it, since there seems to be so many that have it anyway.... It just doesn't seem "rare" to me, at least in-game (in the real life stores is a different story)....

Russell.Crowe · Jul 28, 2006, 01:59 AM // 01:59

At this point I would like them just to get it up and working so I can buy slots for this weekend.

LumpOfCole · Jul 28, 2006, 02:12 AM // 02:12

Directsong Paks should make themselves RIGHT at home in the Guild Wars store, or at LEAST easy-to-follow links in the store to the right places on the Directsong.com website. More people should be made aware of the awesome song paks that are available.

T Lo · Jul 28, 2006, 03:04 AM // 03:04

Guild Wars is such a balanced game, that even if ANet sold gold, it would still be balanced.

you can always farm for money, and it's actually very easy. Getting the cash for a set of the FoW armor (which I don't think looks good, personally) wouldn't take you but a few days of effort. Why shouldn't ANet be the one to offer to spare you the time spent grinding for it?

the only way to get rid of "illegal" gold farming is to make it legal. Think back to the days of prohibition. The SECOND that it was legal to sell alcohol, every mafia disintegrated, or moved on to different areas of crime.

Legendary Necromancer · Jul 28, 2006, 03:11 AM // 03:11

I want a devourer plushie!

...

...

...What?

bart · Jul 28, 2006, 03:46 AM // 03:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by beanerman_99

Thats pretty much all I think the store should offer. Like you guys said above me In-game items=HUGE no no.

But imagine the money Anet will be making by selling rare items through this store. Players who shy away from ebay because they don't know how/don't trust will definitely be attracted to buying their uber gear without having to spend time farming. It would also put an end to botting as ppl don't have to buy gold anymore. I do however think that this approach is short term as ppl tend to get bored of items that are easily obtainable.

If Anet is having short term financial problems then this is the way to go but if Anet is looking long term (ppl continue to buy chapters, farm, blah blah blah) then "In-game items=HUGE no no"

scrinner · Jul 28, 2006, 04:03 AM // 04:03

I really think an Upgrading option to Ce should be available for those that didnt have a chance of getting CE

threedices · Jul 28, 2006, 04:35 AM // 04:35

How about side contents?
Those not enough to get into a standalone product but still worthy to some players, such as a SEPARATE CONTINENT of GAME ARENAS.
I'd like to pay some to play the dragon or snowball arenas again whenever. Maybe instead of regional servers, keep only the international for the game arenas, or just separate language districts but still plays together.

Maybe also give non-maximizable titles (goes on and on, so doesn't affect the kind of big deal title) for wins in each arena.

DirectSong should definitely goes into the store, too.

The Whakka · Jul 28, 2006, 08:31 AM // 08:31

i think its funny how this is one of the first things you see in this thread

Quote:

This is not a discussion thread. Please do not post any back-and-forth arguements on why you believe this is or is not a good idea. Leave your suggestions of wants and do not wants. If someone wants to create another thread discussing in a reasonable manner any other aspect of this thread and your opinion on why it should or should not be done please do so.

and then every other five posts you are doing the thing it says not to. are you special? sry but i just dont get it. theres another thread we just went through this on. plz tell me if im wrong or missing something.

Stockholm · Jul 28, 2006, 03:03 PM // 15:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by gamecube187

I don't think you understand what I am saying when I say buy collectors edition. When I say buy collectors edition, I mean literally buy it with the box and everything (and then we would pay for the shipping of course). When I say $5 to $10 more I mean this

Normal edition is $50
Collectors edition is $70
The addition to get collectors after you already bought the normal would be at least $5 to $10 more than collectors itself, in the long run, to discourage people to pay for it after it already came out.

So, if you bought normal, that is $50, plus the addition of collectors, which would be $20 plus AT LEAST $5 to $10 extra for buying collectors edtion after it is already made (unless you buy it from the store within a week or two after it comes out, then there won't be the extra fee just because its like buying it directly form the store). Then, after that, you have to pay shipping for the non-in-game stuff (the box and all the extras in it).

Accually make the extra "late" fee $10 to $20 more. That way it is like paying $80 to $90 for a collectors if you buy it late, thus it still gets a few more people to do it, without making it no longer "rare", since the high extra price would make some people not want it.

And about the kunavang, that is by far the coolest minipet around. The other ones can't even compare to its coolness (I dunno, maybe its just the fact that its part of the collectors edition that makes me like it

). I would really like to at least have the chance to have a minipet as cool as kunavange, but there is no way, at least without getting the collectors edtion, which I already explained above. I was suggesting the ability to get kunavang, but only be able to buy it if they decide that they won't sell the collectors edtion.

BTW, I don't really see why people are saying that the ghost dancers and collectors editon things similar shouldn't be bought in the store or something, because I see them pretty often. I don't see how they are "rare", because they seem pretty comon to me... that would mean that a lot of people have collectors edtion, so why not let more have it, since there seems to be so many that have it anyway.... It just doesn't seem "rare" to me, at least in-game (in the real life stores is a different story)....

Collectors Edition is meant to be manufactured in a small % of the total product, and when you buy anything as a Collectors edition you pay for the future value as a collectible. If the CE later on is rerelesed the value of the original CE goes down, while it is supposed to go up as a collectible.
If A-Net makes the CE or the separet contence avalible in the game store they are telling ppl who bought the Original CE to go F_ _ K them selfs.
CE is meant to be hard to get a hold of, other vise its just another game box. I say if you don't have it, start looking for it, some collector might sell it to you for a profit.

lyra_song · Jul 28, 2006, 03:18 PM // 15:18

Perhaps they could sell CE upgrade keys in limited amounts?

Stockholm · Jul 28, 2006, 04:27 PM // 16:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by lyra_song

Perhaps they could sell CE upgrade keys in limited amounts?

That would be (to use a GW favorit) a scam.
Limeted to how many? you? or anyone that wants one? CE is allready limeted, thats the point with CE edition.

lord_shar · Jul 28, 2006, 05:45 PM // 17:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stockholm

Collectors Edition is meant to be manufactured in a small % of the total product, and when you buy anything as a Collectors edition you pay for the future value as a collectible. If the CE later on is rerelesed the value of the original CE goes down, while it is supposed to go up as a collectible.
If A-Net makes the CE or the separet contence avalible in the game store they are telling ppl who bought the Original CE to go F_ _ K them selfs.
CE is meant to be hard to get a hold of, other vise its just another game box. I say if you don't have it, start looking for it, some collector might sell it to you for a profit.

GW CE-editions are not true collectible items, since using the packaged CE-keys render them useless and non-transferrable to other "collectors." The term "Collectors Edition" is just a marketting label... It could have easily been called "Enhanced Edition" or anything else to boost sales.

Re-releasing a CE-edition would not be unprecedented... ANET had to manufacture a second run of Factions-CE due to gross underestimation of initial demand and pre-orders.

All I want is a choice to purchase Prophesies-CE, which is a chance I never got. I know that getting the whole box probably isn't likely, which is why I would settle for a CE-key at $70 full retail price. I plan on paying the exact same amount that the initial package was offered at. Therefore, how are those who actually purchased Prophesies-CE being "cheated?"

ANET is sitting on an untapped gold mine -- if they want the large cash infusion, all they have to do is sell what customers like myself want. We are willing to pay for the product at $70+ per key, and some of us want multiple units. Good luck getting this out of T-shirts, mouse pads, tooth paste, etc...

samcobra · Jul 28, 2006, 08:02 PM // 20:02

I say guild wars cashes in on what ebay has been doing already and sell.....

RANK! Thats right, pay like a certain amount of money for each rank point, making the amount dependent on the amount of fame needed to reach that rank. Since rank practically does not affect gameplay in any way, other than discrimination while setting up teams, guild wars can take this opportunity to sell rank!

As an estimate to prices, it only has to look to current bids on ebay for already ranked accounts.