Curse

bhavv · Mar 04, 2011, 11:50 PM // 23:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by go cubs

So really, this is just a donation to an old game and they are being gracious enough to give me something in return??

Lol, dont get me wrong, I love the game, no problems with it. I would be happy with the idea of it was a reasonable price but shit, $45 for 8 slots? I want to support Anet and I am usually happy for buying certain things like storage if I need it and Im glad it supports the game. But I cant pull myself to thinking how expensive that is. $10 for 1 char slot is a little over the top.

For the same low price that allows you to create a new char you can make a char your hero....hmmm wut?

So basically, you completely dont understand that the point of microtransactions is not the cost of what you are paying for, but a way for the game to make money like other MMOs do with fees to keep the servers running through offering you something for the money you put into the game.

If people cant understand this, and simply attach the cost of the microtransaction to whatever they are getting for it in the game, then you would really be much better off playing a game that charges you $10 a month instead.

The purchase is completely optional. There is nothing about mercenaries that would make you disadvantageous without them in the game.

Its not a requirement to play the game, its simply a privilege that you can pay for if you want it, and understand what microtransactions actually are.

Pay £29.99 for 8 character slots and play the game for another year? That seems worth it to me. Or would you rather that the game had never had any microtransactions and simply shut down its servers 2 years ago instead? Or that they started charging you fees to be able to log in and play like WoW does?

SonicTHI · Mar 04, 2011, 11:50 PM // 23:50

Waay overpriced as are most things in the store. But hey if enough people are dumb enough and/or wealthy enough to pay such prices why not milk em.

At least they could have given one merc slot to people that own all 3 campaigns + eotn or something like that but as it is its just another feature that got lost to the cash shop.

Now for me it aint that big of a deal since i m mostly done with GW1 but it seems microtransactions have infested ArenaNet and it looks like its only gonna get worse in GW2 where you ll apparently be paying for consumables so you ll be able to have the look you want on your armor. Not to mention most probable level cap increases and gear creep with expansions so you can do it all over again.

Greedy bastards. Well still the least greedy ones of the bunch. For now... at least.

bhavv · Mar 04, 2011, 11:55 PM // 23:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by SonicTHI

Waay overpriced as are most things in the store. But hey if enough people are dumb enough and/or wealthy enough to pay such prices why not milk em.

Greedy bastards. Well still the least greedy ones of the bunch. For now... at least.

Or maybe you simply dont understand how much MMOs cost to run. It has nothing to do with greed or milking money out of people. Anet is a business, they have wages to pay, families to feed, and MMO servers to maintain.

Tell me one single MMO that is cheaper to play than GW with as much content?

If you cant stand microtransactions, then you should either be playing a fee based game instead, or single player ones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SonicTHI

its only gonna get worse in GW2 where you ll apparently be paying for consumables so you ll be able to have the look you want on your armor.

So a free to play MMO with no fees cant offer visual only stuff for sale through microtransactions? What do you want instead of that, fees?

go cubs · Mar 05, 2011, 12:29 AM // 00:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhavv

So basically, you completely dont understand that the point of microtransactions is not the cost of what you are paying for, but a way for the game to make money like other MMOs do with fees to keep the servers running through offering you something for the money you put into the game.

If people cant understand this, and simply attach the cost of the microtransaction to whatever they are getting for it in the game, then you would really be much better off playing a game that charges you $10 a month instead.

The purchase is completely optional. There is nothing about mercenaries that would make you disadvantageous without them in the game.

Its not a requirement to play the game, its simply a privilege that you can pay for if you want it, and understand what microtransactions actually are.

Pay £29.99 for 8 character slots and play the game for another year? That seems worth it to me. Or would you rather that the game had never had any microtransactions and simply shut down its servers 2 years ago instead? Or that they started charging you fees to be able to log in and play like WoW does?

Of course I realize that the money goes to support the game. But this is not the way to go about getting donations from players. They are selling an item in the store, this item should be a fair price.
If this were a charity I might expect them to sell $50 pies or something like that. But it isn't, this is a business, if they want to attract customers they need to have a good product with a fair price.

Tbh, I just think it's stupid, I would gladly buy 8 slots for $25 and I'm sure many others would as well. When I saw that they were gonna sell em I was thinking they'd sell at $5 per slot so about half what it is now. I would have been glad to pay that price, so it's not like I'd b complaining if they released em at that price.

If they really wanted to sell them for $45 they should have done what they do with costumes, sell them for the first month cheap, then have them be normal price.
Although tbh, it seems like they will do it the opposite way, sucker in as many as they can until the birthday then have a sale and get the rest....which is a pretty good idea, lol

TheGizzy · Mar 05, 2011, 01:03 AM // 01:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by SonicTHI

Now for me it aint that big of a deal since i m mostly done with GW1 but it seems microtransactions have infested ArenaNet

Infested? Other than changing out which costumes are available - appropriately so, since they're based on additions to the lore, the last new microtransaction category added to the store was in 2009. How does that constitute an infestation?

pingu666 · Mar 05, 2011, 01:36 AM // 01:36

its not really a micro transaction if it costs more than the game(s) costs to buy new, from amazon.

supporting a software company is ok, and ill do it when i can, have a bunch of indie games for example

, but the stuff in the store is overpriced.

SonicTHI · Mar 05, 2011, 01:51 AM // 01:51

@bhavv
Maybe YOU dont know how much MMOs cost to run on life support or economics and business in terms of "sell to more people for less" and how to keep your customers happy.
And apparently you also have no clue what F2P and B2P is and how GW was originally designed to do all those things you so wonderfully described without an ingame store.

I have spent my fair share of money in the ingame store for things i believe i got a good deal on so yes i m fine with certain MT when i feel they are reasonably priced and not something ripped from the game just to make money (Bioware DLC ie) or specifically engineered to make a continuous drain on your wallet like consumable items otherwise unobtainable ingame. And I absolutely hate monthly fees. Guess why i stuck with GW for the last 6 years?

Microtransactions have a very thin fine line that each person defines for them self so dont go bitching at people who cant or dont consider something a worthwhile investment of their hard earned money.
In my case instead of wasting 45$ on some mercs for a game i barely play anymore i can go get a new game that is gonna last me at least a month. Also for example: EOTN didnt cost that much.

And i m gonna say it again just for you in my sarcastic way

:
Greedy bastards. Well still the least greedy ones of the bunch. For now... at least.

A11Eur0 · Mar 05, 2011, 02:15 AM // 02:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riot Narita

You only need 1 free char slot.

You use it to roll PvP char whatever profession you want, and register it as a mercenary. Then delete the char and do it again, as many times as you need.

So...one mercenary slot, reroll a necro 8 times, I get 8 available extra necro heroes? I don't think that's the way it's supposed to work.

Apparently it does, so that cuts it down to $55 IF I want to use PVP-only characters. It also means I don't get access to elite armor (unless I unlock it for PVP use), correct? So what's the point other than having 7 heroes of the same profession?

The flexibility is there, but if you want to make your mercenaries special, you need to shell out even more $$$. Otherwise your mercs are just carbon copy drones.

One more thing...reading the wiki and seeing the quotes...first one listed: "Your[sic] Dead!"

For the love of all things...you people at Anet are making how much money? And you let something so utterly retarded pass? I guess I'll wait until you fix both the prices AND your monumental grammatical bed-shitting before I give you some cash.

bhavv · Mar 05, 2011, 02:22 AM // 02:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by SonicTHI

@bhavv
Maybe YOU dont know how much MMOs cost to run on life support or economics and business in terms of "sell to more people for less" and how to keep your customers happy.
And apparently you also have no clue what F2P and B2P is and how GW was originally designed to do all those things you so wonderfully described without an ingame store.

I am aware of FTP vs BTP, and of Anets original business model.

What we saw was that the expansion only model didnt work for GW. After the 3 campaigns and expansion, there was pretty much nothing more that could be added without further ruining the game and spreading the player base out even more. The B2P expansion only model failed a long time ago, and Anet had to change to microtransaction because they arent putting out anymore expansions for the game.

Other games that sell quests and expansions for money sell very little content for a significantly more value than a full expansion of GW costs. If you havnt played DDO yet, you get a small quest pack that takes about 30 mins - 1 hour to complete for around 1/3 of the cost of a full GW campaign, which is hardly as good value as what you get from this game.

And I think that most customers are very happy with the 7 hero update. Its a very small number of people who are so unpleasable that they feel the need to blast the idea of optional mercenaries in the cash store.

I have no problem with microtransactions that only provide a visual benefit, and the majority of people playing this game dont either. Its really not as big a problem as a few people are making it out to be on these forums.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SonicTHI

Greedy bastards. Well still the least greedy ones of the bunch. For now... at least.

So feel free to go and make an MMO that has absolutely no fees, microtransactions, or income of any kind except for the initial purchase price, and keep it alive and as well supported as GW has been for almost 6 years.

Qing Guang · Mar 05, 2011, 02:27 AM // 02:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhavv

Tell me one single MMO that is cheaper to play than GW with as much content?

I can't tell you an MMO, but once again I bring up my LoL example. As an online multiplayer game it still needs balancing and server maintenance, and Riot's been great about constantly updating the game (there have been 3 new champions released and some fairly important changes made since I started playing just a few weeks ago). AND it's completely free to play, unless you want skins or are too lazy to earn the IP to get your champions - and those are more reasonably priced than most of what you can get in GW's shop. And yet somehow, they're able to keep running the game.

Also, you're failing to take into account that more people might be willing to get things in GW's cash shop if they weren't so expensive. I would have gladly bought a makeover pack and mercenary hero slots if they were better priced, and I know many others would have as well.

But hey, they'll keep charging us higher prices so long as there are people willing to pay them.

Imaginos · Mar 05, 2011, 07:15 AM // 07:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by SonicTHI

Now for me it aint that big of a deal since i m mostly done with GW1 but it seems microtransactions have infested ArenaNet and it looks like its only gonna get worse in GW2 where you ll apparently be paying for consumables so you ll be able to have the look you want on your armor. Not to mention most probable level cap increases and gear creep with expansions so you can do it all over again.

Greedy bastards. Well still the least greedy ones of the bunch. For now... at least.

Yes and this makes me seriously consider not buying GW2.

More microtransactions that aren't micro are going to come. It's the NCSoft way it seems.

Bristlebane · Mar 05, 2011, 07:22 AM // 07:22

I rather pay a no-monthly-fee game with optional microtransactions,
than a pay-to-play where those fees are baked in and forced down on you every month.

Lasai · Mar 05, 2011, 07:35 AM // 07:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bristlebane

I rather pay a no-monthly-fee game with optional microtransactions,
than a pay-to-play where those fees are baked in and forced down on you every month.

Or pay a monthly sub to SOE and still see the best costume art, mounts, and fluff items go to their phony RMT sales card packs or cash store anyway.

Bristlebane · Mar 05, 2011, 07:54 AM // 07:54

Looking how much a typical Pay-to-play game costs, it's usually around $13-15/month depending on if you pay 1-6 months ahead.

5 years of Guild Wars at $13/month would have then costed you $780.. and that is excluding the cost of the game itself (you don't get them for free from monthly-pay games either).

Now for that $780, what could you have done with that money instead.. and is the occational $10-30 in the ingame such a big deal considering how how money you saved anyway?

Second, for the countless of hours you spent playing Guild Wars, what else would you do in your free time? Watch movies, go to the bar, go shopping, gym, ..., ... basically everything costing you money. Instead let's be fair and try pick free alternatives you would do in the last 5 years .. go out in nature? pick flowers? play the guitar?

Whiplashr · Mar 05, 2011, 11:59 AM // 11:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhavv

Or maybe you simply dont understand how much MMOs cost to run. It has nothing to do with greed or milking money out of people. Anet is a business, they have wages to pay, families to feed, and MMO servers to maintain.

Then they should have done a better job of managing their finances and releasing GW2. It's not my fault if they are struggling right now.

GW was originally released and billed as a free to play (monthly) game. I am glad you are happy to sit back and let them turn it into something else, and gladly hand over more and more money to them, and rationalize about it all day... but I'm not going to do that.

Quote:

Tell me one single MMO that is cheaper to play than GW with as much content?

Irrelevant. That is not what this game ever was. It's not what it started as, or was billed as.

It's changed, and continues to change. In ways that screw the end user. You are rationalizing.. hard core.

Quote:

If you cant stand microtransactions, then you should either be playing a fee based game instead, or single player ones.

Or I can point out that a company put out a game on a promise of free to play, new expansions every 6 months.. and then totally abandoned that model just two expansions in.. and started a sequel that won't truly allow me to continue my work on my existing chars (Hall monument crap is worthless).

It's sad the way this game changed the way it has since release, but even sadder to watch people bend over backwards to support and encourage their greedy bullshit.

If they have money woes, they should have done a better job of managing their business, or got GW2 out by now. It's not my problem. I was sold a game as a certain setup, and now they want to keep changing that, and trying to grub more and more money. They have betrayed the initial honorary "contract" between they and their customers.

It's wrong. I'm sorry you are happy to accept it, but I'm not.

please spare me your rationalizing.

makosi · Mar 05, 2011, 12:09 PM // 12:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by pingu666

can you access merc's on a low level character?. thats a pretty big advantage for early content

I can confirm that you can use mercs at low levels. My lvl 3 mules can acquire 3 lvl20 mercenaries in Kamadan.

That would make the lengthy process of getting to the mainland of Elona a helluva lot quicker and easier for Elonian-born characters.

thelessa · Mar 05, 2011, 02:16 PM // 14:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bristlebane

I rather pay a no-monthly-fee game with optional microtransactions,
than a pay-to-play where those fees are baked in and forced down on you every month.

I totally agree, you do not have to buy anything from the store if you don't want to, these micro transactions let them keep the game free to play for us and it allows them to update the game for free. It is not like they are selling weapons or armor via the store.

inscribed · Mar 05, 2011, 03:40 PM // 15:40

The way I see it, I hadn't spent any money Guild Wars since EOTN released back in, what, 2007 or 2008? I don't have any problem spending 30$ now on an extra character slot and the 3 pack merc heroes, especially considering how much time I've spent playing and enjoying this game over the years.

ogre_jd · Mar 05, 2011, 03:56 PM // 15:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by makosi

I can confirm that you can use mercs at low levels. My lvl 3 mules can acquire 3 lvl20 mercenaries in Kamadan.

That would make the lengthy process of getting to the mainland of Elona a helluva lot quicker and easier for Elonian-born characters.

Only if you don't mind having Koss, Dunkoro, Melonni, and/or Talkhora underleveled, of course. (same reason why, despite used to love having a Dervish Hero in my party at all times, I never used MOX for anything other than making the trip to Boreal Station for max armor and the EotN itself for Gwen)

Of course, once you hit the Isles, Keys and Blacktide, it's good - though not nearly as much of an advantage since you're already L15 or so.

Essence Snow · Mar 05, 2011, 04:41 PM // 16:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by makosi

I can confirm that you can use mercs at low levels. My lvl 3 mules can acquire 3 lvl20 mercenaries in Kamadan.

That would make the lengthy process of getting to the mainland of Elona a helluva lot quicker and easier for Elonian-born characters.

What about in presearing or Cantha? Are ppl able to use lvl 20 merch heros in pre to breeze through the new quests or anywhere n the game for that matter?