Curse

DarkKnight · Mar 15, 2011, 04:05 PM // 16:05

Finally i can run 8 W/Mo with Echo Mending!!!!! Now ill never die!.... on the real though yes this is overpriced and yes this is an "advantage" but... If you cant find a way to complete anything you want without having 7 necro heroes your doing something wrong and in a game that is 100% instanced what real advantage is gained? Some dude youll never meet or talk to can clear a vanq 10 min faster then you? So What...

bookworm438 · Mar 16, 2011, 01:31 AM // 01:31

TBH, i can see why they are adding all these microtransaction items to the cash shop. I don't think Guild Wars is pulling in the profit it use to. They have to have some way of keeping up with server costs. I mean they are a business. Their number one objective is to earn a profit.
However, that does not mean I like the way they are going about it. And the guy who thinks adding a profession to the store is "fair game" should be fired. Now, adding a profession along with new content i.e. some-what of a mini-expansion I can see, for the right price.
Regardless, regardless of how minuscule the affect is, the mercenaries do affect gameplay. Unlike skill packs, which you can obtain all the skills in game, mercenaries you have to buy. Thus starts the whole "pay-to-win" business.
I really hope they don't carry this "well technically it doesn't break out philosophy" over to GW2.

zwei2stein · Mar 16, 2011, 07:52 AM // 07:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by bookworm438

Unlike skill packs, which you can obtain all the skills in game, mercenaries you have to buy. Thus starts the whole "pay-to-win" business.

You kinda do have to pay to obtain all skills in game ... but you get lots of other content bundled with it. Even classes, heroes and whatnot.

Kaleban · Mar 16, 2011, 06:31 PM // 18:31

The Merc Pack problem is two-fold:

1. WAAY overpriced. But that is probably because...

2. It gives an in-game advantage.

Let me explain. The reason they made it that pricey is either they acknowledge it gives an advantage in game OR their revenue analysis department is a bunch of idiots. When most new games on the market cost the same, that's quite a stretch.

So its overpriced, yes and gives an as yet undefined advantage, yes. My solution in hindsight would have been:

1. Make the Mercenaries cosmetic. Meaning you could import your character's likeness and name overwriting an existing Hero, but keeping the original Hero's primary profession. Think Gwen is annoying? Then you can import your hulking Warrior's "skin" overwriting Gwen's appearance, and have a beefy Mesmer.

2. Make the cost MUCH less, the full pack should have been in the neighborhood of $10 to $15, and would have been justified if the above notion were fulfilled. The cheaper it is, the more people will buy it, so the profit evens out.

To be honest, a LOT of the extra content through the NCSoft store is horribly overpriced for what it gives, especially when you consider that some things like storage panes and extra character slots are more expensive than just buying an entire new account.

As to those who claim that the advantage of Mercenaries is minimal, you're missing the point. Mercenaries give a player more options than other players who don't have them. The advantage could be minimal or massive, but the amount is irrelevant. Its the same concept as if ANet had sold weapon "upgrades" through the NCSoft store that gave players who purchased it the option to dual wield hammers or swords. This would result in a damage increase, that players who did not purchase it would be at a disadvantage. It may be as little as 1%, but its still unfair.

And before you claim the false pretense of buying or not buying one of the campaigns, remember that those represent the "base game" which is all of the content. Buying Mercenaries is simply the option to alter the party balance makeup and does allow a player to fine tune better builds.

Especially considering the Mesmer and Dervish buffs so recently, and when you consider some classes are much better as Heroes than others, its quite obvious that the Mercenaries upgrade gives an in game advantage. How much depends on the player and the builds, but as can be seen from videos and pics, not to mention the mechanics of speed clears as applied to build theory (DoA Trenchway for example), its clear that having 5 or 6 Mesmers for example can be overpowering.

Ghull Ka · Mar 16, 2011, 08:03 PM // 20:03

I'm loving this so far.

So far, I've only bought one slot. Leveled a necromancer, put it in granite citadel 15k (green+green+blue, f'n sexy) and merc'd it. Rockin' 4 copies of Discord now.

Things don't die any faster than when I had only 3 copies of Discord. At least I don't notice things dying any faster. But hey, I got more necros than you do, so nanny nanny boo boo.

J/K haha. I like the merc though, the 15k armor and the emo girl haircut beats the crap out of Cynn.