Curse

Marc Grahamsworth · Aug 22, 2005, 01:29 AM // 01:29

http://www.gwbbs.com.cn/Fansite_Friday_55.html

I was just reading the Fansite Friday from the Chinese GW site, Guild Wars Zhung Guo, and Gaile Gray says:

"...to appeal to gamers who prefer to play without purchasing the game we also include time-cards that will allow a specific number of game hours."

I must be missing something because I don't quite see how this would work since does that imply that Chinese customers would have to continually purchase time-cards forever or is it sort of like paying back the cost of the game with installments? I would've thought buying the game outright would've been more preferable (although I guess the good thing about going this way is if you don't like Guild Wars in the first month you've wasted less money). Also anyone know why China is getting this special treatment?

chris_nin00 · Aug 22, 2005, 03:48 AM // 03:48

What the hell are time cards?!?!?!?!

Marc Grahamsworth · Aug 22, 2005, 04:58 AM // 04:58

Indeed, I guess that's what needs to be asked :P. I'm *assuming* they're similar to what you can purchase for Worlds of Warcraft here in Australia (basically you purchase credit to play for a month or whatever - a bit like how you recharge credit for pre-paid mobile phone accounts).

nic0008 · Aug 22, 2005, 10:10 AM // 10:10

U are correct time cards are pre-paid cards.I 2 live in aussie.But my mum is from thai and they to have time cards for lineage 2 and also ragnarok ect.So yes time cards are pre-paid cards.Some may last for 1hour and even up to 1year

Onito · Aug 22, 2005, 11:36 AM // 11:36

So, they require these kinda cards from chines ppl to be able to play GW?
Why should the chinese ppl be treated diffrent then the rest of the world?!
that sounds kinda weird,....

Sciros Darkblade · Aug 22, 2005, 05:23 PM // 17:23

Ok, listen up you n0000bs. In China, MMORPGs are like a full-time job. There's sweatshops where people just play MMOs and monitor bots and blah blah blah and so they have time cards to clock in and out. DUUUUUUUUH.

Hoyt · Aug 22, 2005, 05:45 PM // 17:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sciros Darkblade

Ok, listen up you n0000bs. In China, MMORPGs are like a full-time job. There's sweatshops where people just play MMOs and monitor bots and blah blah blah and so they have time cards to clock in and out. DUUUUUUUUH.

Ummmmm, yeah....ok.
No, I'm pretty sure that's not what they mean.

Here's my take on it:
Let's say majority of players in China don't have access to residential high-speed internet so they use internet cafes for high speed access.
These cafes probably offer pre-installed versions of GW on house systems that each user logs onto with their individual account info , i.e the time card system.
This time card is used as a temporary license that expires when time is used up – and/or also lets the user buy more time as desired.

Anybody that actually knows the facts feel free to correct me or fill in the blanks.

itsover · Aug 22, 2005, 09:43 PM // 21:43

Here's what I think...

Time-cards are similar to pre-paid subscription cards that are available for other MMORPGs. These subscription cards include codes that allow the user to play for a certain number of months. But since GW does not have a monthly fee, time-cards would instead allow a user to create an account and demo the game for a fixed number of hours. The user will have to purchase the time-card at a fraction of the game's price and download the GW client. If the user likes the game, he/she will have to purchase the game itself or get another time-card, whichever is deemed more economical.

You guys are laying down too many stereotypes on your assumptions.

Guillaume De Sonoma · Aug 22, 2005, 10:52 PM // 22:52

I would say that time cards are like minutes on a cell phine or something. If you don't want to spend 50 dollars on a game why not use these time cards which are the equivelent of renting a gw account so you may see weather or not you like the game and don't waste a lot of money.

Marc Grahamsworth · Aug 23, 2005, 12:50 AM // 00:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoyt

Ummmmm, yeah....ok.
No, I'm pretty sure that's not what they mean.

Here's my take on it:
Let's say majority of players in China don't have access to residential high-speed internet so they use internet cafes for high speed access.
These cafes probably offer pre-installed versions of GW on house systems that each user logs onto with their individual account info , i.e the time card system.
This time card is used as a temporary license that expires when time is used up – and/or also lets the user buy more time as desired.

Anybody that actually knows the facts feel free to correct me or fill in the blanks.

Actually this probably sounds like the most logical reason. I'm not quite sure what the quality of the broadband network is or what percentage of the population can afford access to it in China, although it would make sense. I was just wondering why everyone else had to pay full price and China had an extra option - this could be the reason.

Thanks for everyone's input

.

EchoSex · Aug 23, 2005, 01:11 AM // 01:11

Why would you want time cards for a game that has no monthly fees.. It's only $50.

conker · Aug 23, 2005, 05:41 AM // 05:41

lol ya agreed with echosex but timecards are useful in WoW if u want to try it out and not pay more then normal game price