Merus

Guild Wars 2

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I came back to GW2 3 months ago after almost 2 yrs hiatus upon hearing about Heart of Thorns. In re-familiarising myself with the game, I spent a considerable amount of time figuring out what items in my bank were useful/worthless. To my sorrow, I was painfully reminded that I was a precursor away from completing my Twilight zzzz (I have all other components).

I'm in a small, mainly aussie guild with roughly 5 active members on any given night (all returning/preparing for the expansion). We spend most of our time getting achievement points (for the sweet sweet skins), spvping, or getting gold (i.e. silverwastes/world boss train). Holler if anyone is interested.

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So pre-orders have started for Heart of Thorns: base price is $50.

 

I'm not paying that. Guess I'm done!

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So pre-orders have started for Heart of Thorns: base price is $50.

 

I'm not paying that. Guess I'm done!

 

Yeah, I'm miffed by the price-point as well. The GW2 subreddit is up in arms about it, so I'm hoping maybe something good will come of the outcry.

lol who am I kidding.

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Why is $50 outrageous?

 

I don't play Guild Wars 2, but I know it doesn't have a monthly fee. Fifty bucks doesn't seem that ridiculous to me. Unless the game also blocks content behind microtransactions and whatnot, but I'm fairly sure it doesn't? Then again, I don't play it, like I said.

 

I am just asking out of curiosity here.

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I think most people are annoyed by the prices because there's no upgrade version of the expansion, meaning you get the core game no matter what and suspicion points to its inclusion driving up the price point.

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Ahh okay. I am familiar with this kind of frustration.

 

Question has been answered! Ignore me now.

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NO TWIG I SPENT THIRTY MINUTES WRITING THIS ENJOY IT

 

There's several different frustrations, actually. Some people feel like they've been cheated because now the core game has been discounted to free, which is kind of silly to me. (It's also the logical end-point of a trend - the game's gone on sale for $10 multiple times.)

 

Some people feel like they've been victims of a bait and switch, because the messaging before this was that the core game was required for the expansion, so they bought the core game. Now it's not.

 

For me, it's an expansion at the price of a full game. It's actually kind of small - most of the changes that have been announced are evolutions on existing systems, and certainly welcome, but they don't change the core of the game the way, say, a Diablo expansion does. We know there's only one new region, which unless it's significantly bigger than the game's existing regions, is only going to be a handful of zones. Loot's not changing much. A few new skills for each class are being added, but you can only use them if you build your character a certain way. I would pay $30 for an expansion of the scope offered, but $50 is a different proposition because then I start thinking about actual new games that I could be playing instead.

 

My feelings might change after launch, if it turns out the Heart of Maguuma is genuinely significantly larger than the other regions of the game, but knowing ArenaNet well at this point I can guarantee they're going to drop the ball on at least a third of their promises.

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I dunno, maybe I'm just overly sympathetic to the model here but I think that paying $50 three years ago and then another $50 now for an MMO that I get unlimited playtime for is a pretty slick deal. People raised the same level of ire for Destiny, but I just considered that game's season pass to be a one-time fee to subsidize all of the DLC and non-paid updates that evolve the game in a more progressive manner over time. Similarly, while they did promise a living story from the beginning of GW2 I think that they deserve some credit for having not only stuck to their promise in terms of story content but also major technical/mechanical updates and that asking me for another $50 to let them keep going is reasonable.

 

Then again, I am attributing a little more unspoken meaning to this pricing format but it just seems to me that a company that's consistently delivering new content and updates can't just keep doing that forever unless they have some infusions of cash flow. Also, this isn't to say I'm without complaints. GW1 delivered more characters slots with each expansion, I don't really know what makes that a premium offering this time around. Also, I'm not stoked about $50 and would not have minded it being cheaper despite thinking they're not asking for more than they deserve.

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Oh yeah, the other complaint was from people who expected a character slot because GW1's campaigns included a character slot. GW1's campaigns were standalone, so I don't think this argument holds up, personally.

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I didn't play GW1, so I don't have a reference there, but I think if they if they keep the story/event patch rate they hit at the end of the living season I'm okay with the cost. 

 

I mean, $50 seemed more than fair for the game up until the Scarlet stuff. I would assume that whatever they launch with will continue to be built on throughout the year? 

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On expansion pricing: thinking about it further, it reminds me a little of Ratchet & Clank, in a way. Like, I'm buying the new Ratchet & Clank sight unseen, and they'll probably ask $50 for it (well, in Australia $80) and I'll gladly pay that, because previous Ratchet & Clanks have been great games and they press all my buttons. Sure, they're a bit samey in places but what I want out of them they do well.

 

I think the problem I'm having here is that the expansion is essentially asking me to separate my love for the potential of Guild Wars 2 from the reality of Guild Wars 2 at this moment. 

 

but I think if they if they keep the story/event patch rate they hit at the end of the living season

 

I don't know if they did, is the thing. After the end of season one, they went on a hiatus for about 6 months with I think one major update three months in that brought in the traits system (which they are removing tomorrow), had two months of episodes, two months hiatus, another three episodes ending on a dumb cliffhanger, the Christmas update, and then the last episode which set up Heart of Thorns instead of concluding. Like, say what you will about Scarlet and the spotty writing but at least that storyline ended properly. (I think they mostly erred in introducing Scarlet too early, I think because of concerns that the start of the story didn't seem to be building to anything.

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Response from Anet about the expansion fiasco: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/pre-purchase-community-address/

 

Firstly, appeasing their longstanding players with a free character slot is something, but is it enough? At the very least, if I decide to get the expansion, it will definitely only be the standard edition.

 

Secondly, Anet's willingness and openness to offer refunds for those whom were genuinely mislead is commendable and noteworthy. I respect and appreciate that (even if it doesn't apply to my situation).

 

For the record, I'm ok with Anet's stance on how they intend to handle future expansions: "In the future, if we release further Guild Wars 2 expansions, we plan to offer all of the prior expansions, the core game, and the latest expansion for one single purchase price."

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now with two char slots the $100 package is sort of a deal if you ever spend any money on the game! 

 

also, the new ascended mystic forge this is awesome. i have like 5 ascended chests i never opened! 3 weapon, 2 armor.  goddamn t6 blood is going to to go through the ROOF. time to cash in those laurels! 

 

ENGI BACKPACKS GONE!? 

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Speedy Kits got combined with another trait, now it's called Streamlined Kits.

Jesus that Lion's Arch jumping puzzle is a hell of a thing.

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I'm trying this out since it's free now, I'm Jutranjo.8326 on Fissure of Woe (maybe this is the server name?), on EU. Do I need to be on the same server as someone else to group with them? Free accounts can only make characters on one server.

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"server" only matters for 1 of the 2 PvP modes, "world vs world"

 

all players are in one big mega server that shards based on population density. it's pretty easy to merge into the same shard, unless you or they are in a capped map. (people force the maps to cap around a lot of events)

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I played this ages ago, but didn't get that far. Is everyone now sporting max level demigods clad in gleaming armour, or can I join in as a level ~25 scrub?

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You probably won't see the expansion content for a while but overlevelled players get scaled down and I'm always up for visiting jumping puzzles and cool secrets (and come the expansion, playing level 30 content for silver doubloons for a shiny hammer).

There are plenty of cool things very low level players can do. Half the world bosses are in starter zones, most of the mini-dungeons are reachable... Honestly half your time's probably going to be spent working out how your character works with the new systems.

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You can easily join! There isn't really a gear treadmill. it's more about stuff you think looks good.

 

gear power: blue, green, yellow (rare), orange (exotic), pink/purple (ascended / legendary).

 

exotic is the functional cap for most people, and when they patch in new content/events the gear is always rare or exotic, and you just want it for the appearance, which you can paste over your regular gear.

 

getting the pinks can be a lot of work, or something to work on in your down time, and the cost is pretty high for what amounts to 5% stat gain. like an exotic chestpiece would cost you ~2.5 gold, but the ascended would be like 150, plus you'd need to crafting pre-req that is pretty expensive at first.

 

like merus said, the game is also structure where people are always in the low level zones.

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