Bought Game in 2012 -- Want Reduced Prices on Expansions

[Just a flesh wound.3589]

> @"Alledzebu.1037" said:

> In regards to the topic at hand, i really wouldn't go as far as to say that they ''punish old players'' i can't really blame this player's stance tho, after all, the game was advertised as a ''one time purchase'' that any further content down the line would be free, _that is a fact that everyone in this thread seems to blatantly ignore_, so it's no surprise to me this player expects compensation in some shape or form...

>

> Just to be clear, i agree with many of the counterpoints and i don't mind having to get the short end of the stick if that spells prosperity for this game and its community, however i can't truly blame people being mad and feeling...how should i put it? "_entitled_", since they were promised something and they didn't uphold such claims in the end, without even the slightest compensation...

>

> Those are my two cents and have a nice day everyone...

>

 

They said you can buy the game and then play for free, that is, there won’t be a monthly subscription. They never said future content would be free.

 

 

[Bloodstealer.5978]

> @"Ardenwolfe.8590" said:

> Um . . . you didn't support the company. You left. You want to discuss how much money we who stayed paid into the gemstore for various items instead? I can assure you, for most of us, it's _a lot_ more than one-hundred and ten dollars. And that doesn't include the expansions.

>

> Otherwise, welcome back to the game. ;)

 

As much as that's loyal and decent of you (I too have invested lots of money.. and time into the game since pre-launch) that is a choice thing that is not forced on you. Purchasing the game is the investment, the support and is what the business model is primarily designed around. The gemstore is added extra.. much needed no doubt but its optional as is purchasing expansions. That said if players choose not to buy expansions then they stand a chance of being left behind and placed at a disadvantage.. but that again is the choice put to us all, they have still supported this game by purchasing the core product.

Just because we choose to spend money in the store does not mean others have not supported the game.. so your counter is in fact moot.

[Blude.6812]

Should be 50-75% discount for anyone that bought the game in Year 1

[Ardenwolfe.8590]

> @"Bloodstealer.5978" said:

> Just because we choose to spend money in the store does not mean others have not supported the game.. so your counter is in fact moot.

 

Quite the opposite actually. If you're not here, and playing the game, you're not supporting it. That was kind of the point. Asking for a discount, when veterans stayed and invested time and money into said game and got no such discount, makes the point far from moot.

 

In fact, it was a huge sticking point when this discussion first aired. So much so, ANet went out of its way to correct it in other ways. So, you see, that's exactly the counterpoint. If players don't stay, and invest time and money into said MMO, those MMOs die. It's quite common knowledge that free-to-play games make their investments back with their particular store items. ANet's latest quarterly reports, especially after the mount contract controversy, more than support what I'm saying.

 

Case in point: I bought Warhammer Online, City of Heroes, and Hellgate London. Under your theory, I 'supported' those games even after I left them in less than three months. Did my absence continue to support those games? Given that they're all dead and gone, I suppose that's asked and answered. I guess my initial box purchase 'support' wasn't enough, was it?

 

But that's another topic again.

 

[rrusse.7058]

> @"DieN Cry.4890" said:

> Its poor business practice to go that game you payed 60 dollars for we're gonna make free and kitten you guys for buying early we're all about the new players kitten the old

 

 

Maybe it’s not the best feeling in the world that you payed ‘X’ and this player payed ‘Y’ and could be seen as poor business practices, but is worse by far to cut off potential new players just because it’s not fair.

 

New players are any online games life’s blood. Without them we will slowly become a small community of old vets until the game inevitably dies.

 

[zealex.9410]

I dont think any mmo does this kind of stuff. Games release at a price and kver time the price drops.

[zealex.9410]

> @"DieN Cry.4890" said:

> Its poor business practice to go that game you payed 60 dollars for we're gonna make free and kitten you guys for buying early we're all about the new players kitten the old

 

Game's not free. It has an extented trial but the game is very much a b2p. Also ppl who bought hot at launch paid 50€ and now 30€ for pof. While u can today pay like 60€ and get both.

 

Should i feel scammed that a product (an mmo) had the audacity to release expansions and lower its price for said expansions?

[Just a flesh wound.3589]

> @"Alledzebu.1037" said:

> In regards to the topic at hand, i really wouldn't go as far as to say that they ''punish old players'' i can't really blame this player's stance tho, after all, **the game was advertised as a ''one time purchase'' that any further content down the line would be free**

 

It took me a bit to find this but here is a [March 20, 2012 blog post from Mike O’Brien](https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/mike-obrien-on-microtransactions-in-guild-wars-2/) where he says that additional content won’t be free.

 

>We believe in microtransactions because they fund ongoing development of the game in a very straightforward and open way. You, the customer, get to decide how much money you spend on the game after launch, based on how compelling it is to you. You get a complete and playable game no matter what, but we think **we can provide additional content and services that you’d be happy to pay for.** And when you pay for them, you help fund our support of Guild Wars 2 in a way that benefits all players of the game.

[Ardenwolfe.8590]

Exactly. Thank you, Just a Flesh Wound. Proof trumps opinion every time.

[Obtena.7952]

Damn, the punishment of having access to play this game since launch ... SOO harsh. Why do I do this to myself? :bawling:

 

I can't help but feel that the people that complain about the price have no perspective whatsoever on the entertainment value vs. the time they spend. It works out to pennies an hour for people that are invested in it. If a person haven't gotten to the point of pennies/hour to play this game, then I have to question the (seemingly bad) reason the OP purchased an expansion for it. Clearly someone that values their money so little should be more aware of the value they get from a game THE SECOND TIME AROUND. Makes me think there isn't something missing in that story like "_actually, I really like the game and it's worth the money, but I'm cheap AF and think I'm entitled to whatever I want for whatever price I'm willing to pay_."

[Umut.5471]

But we get expensive selection of dyes per character every year as old players :)

I have 1.5k+ gold worth of special dyes thanks to these. Maybe they can add special and cool looking outfits as well for the sixth birthday.

[ImTasty.2163]

> @"DieN Cry.4890" said:

> I bought the game initially when it first came out for the whopping price of 59.99. I didn't play long because the group I was playing with moved on to something else. But recently a new group of friends decided to try the game out and they bought the Path of Fire DLC for 29.99. I hopped back on with them thinking that there must be a lower priced upgrade option for players who had the audacity to support the company at the release date or even a reward for being one of the early players who forked over 60 dollars. That is not the case at all I must pay the full price for the game meaning that in order for me to get the full content on the game I will have to have invested 110 dollars compared to the brand new player who only pays 50. Why would you mock the players who invested early, it is beyond me.

 

You aren't being punished. These type of entitlement posts make absolutely no sense. You bought the game 5 years ago and you are now complaining because someone else paid a different price. You had 5 years to play the game before them.

 

The only person mocking anyone is you mocking yourself with such a silly post.

[Tren.5120]

> @"Ardenwolfe.8590" said:

> Um . . . you didn't support the company. **You left.** You want to discuss how much money we who stayed paid into the gemstore for various items instead? I can assure you, for most of us, it's _a lot_ more than one-hundred and ten dollars. And that doesn't include the expansions.

>

> Otherwise, welcome back to the game. ;)

 

The game has no subscription, so your logic isn't really strong here... This isn't the Battle.net forums.

[IndigoSundown.5419]

> @"Tren.5120" said:

> > @"Ardenwolfe.8590" said:

> > Um . . . you didn't support the company. **You left.** You want to discuss how much money we who stayed paid into the gemstore for various items instead? I can assure you, for most of us, it's _a lot_ more than one-hundred and ten dollars. And that doesn't include the expansions.

> >

> > Otherwise, welcome back to the game. ;)

>

> The game has no subscription, so your logic isn't really strong here... This isn't the Battle.net forums.

 

Paying a sub fee is not the only way to support a game. Players who do not play are not going to buy gems, change gold for gems bought by other players, or boost login/concurrency numbers -- all of which either directly or indirectly support the game.

[Ardenwolfe.8590]

> @"Tren.5120" said:

> The game has no subscription, so your logic isn't really strong here... This isn't the Battle.net forums.

 

Oh really? Mike O'Brien said, "We believe in microtransactions because they fund ongoing development of the game in a very straightforward and open way. You, the customer, get to decide how much money you spend on the game after launch, based on how compelling it is to you. You get a complete and playable game no matter what, but we think we can provide additional content and services that you’d be happy to pay for. **And when you pay for them, you help fund our support of Guild Wars 2 in a way that benefits all players of the game.**"

 

Gee . . . seems like my logic is supported by the president of the company.

 

[GrubySzymek.1362]

Bois, OP clearly left the thread, what's there to discuss anymore? ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯

[Sithis.3564]

The OP has left this topic overwhelmed by the response.

 

/close

[MachineManXX.9746]

> @"eldrjth.7384" said:

> I think the players who bought the base game should have at least some lasting benefit from it compared to those who get it later. So even the extra char slots are given to those who have bought the expansions only? seems to be the case after further reading of the thread: if you buy HoT you get everything that is included in the base game. That imo is not the right move. What if you got the base game+all expansions you get all 9 character slots but if you didnt get the base game you only get 5? that to me seems a decent enough difference to reward the early players and not drastically affect the late comers.

 

What makes you think you need to be rewarded? You bought a product, you either used, or did not use the product. What entitles you to anything more? This train of thought boggles my mind.

[Bloodstealer.5978]

> @"Ardenwolfe.8590" said:

> > @"Bloodstealer.5978" said:

> > Just because we choose to spend money in the store does not mean others have not supported the game.. so your counter is in fact moot.

>

> Quite the opposite actually. If you're not here, and playing the game, you're not supporting it. That was kind of the point. Asking for a discount, when veterans stayed and invested time and money into said game and got no such discount, makes the point far from moot.

>

> In fact, it was a huge sticking point when this discussion first aired. So much so, ANet went out of its way to correct it in other ways. So, you see, that's exactly the counterpoint. If players don't stay, and invest time and money into said MMO, those MMOs die. It's quite common knowledge that free-to-play games make their investments back with their particular store items. ANet's latest quarterly reports, especially after the mount contract controversy, more than support what I'm saying.

>

> Case in point: I bought Warhammer Online, City of Heroes, and Hellgate London. Under your theory, I 'supported' those games even after I left them in less than three months. Did my absence continue to support those games? Given that they're all dead and gone, I suppose that's asked and answered. I guess my initial box purchase 'support' wasn't enough, was it?

>

> But that's another topic again.

>

 

Except this game is not F2P its B2P and always has been.

Your reply to that particular poster was nothing to do with being absent from the game. It was about them not supporting the game just because they purchased it.. when in fact that is the whole point of their business model.

The beauty of GW2 is that it allows for players to buy in and then take leave safe in the knowledge that if/when they return they can pick up where they left off without having to play catchup with gear trains etc. When they make that initial purchase of the game they have supported the business model, which aides future development. Additionally players are invited if you like, to make purchases from the gemstore to further support the development of the game, but there is no "you must now buy from the store". If you never purchased a thing again you have still supported this game and you are entitled to play it.

 

As for requesting discounts.. yes I remember the furore that came up when it became evident that loyal players were having to pay a price above that of new players, which to me is wrong, but iirc ANET did react to it and pushed out an extra toon slot or something in order to appease somewhat. Then again, many older products get discounted or perhaps offered as part of upgrades etc as part of a marketing strategy so in the end I guess we all kinda won a little bit. As far as I can remember it was never said future expansion of the game would be free, but this game did offer a heck of a lot right out of the box and free content going updates so paying for an expansion seemed justified to me.. but they could of handled it better for sure, and still everyone who has purchased this game has supported it, some more than others and that was the point I was making tin counter to your point.

 

As for your purchase of other games that have since hit the skids.. well that comes down to more than just your purchase of the game, it comes down to the quality of it, the company decisions behind it and how it fared against growing competition in the industry... GW1, GW2 proved that a B2P model can exist successfully. Box sales are its bread and butter, expansions fall into that but like the gemstore everything is a choice put to us, its for ANET to put as bigger carrot out there and make the game as tempting as possible in order to keep it moving forward rather than the alternative... so far it has managed to do that, with a few bumps along the way. Perhaps other companies/titles should take note and try to do better.

[mindcircus.1506]

You seem to have a problem understanding the difference between "not rewarding" and "punishing".

That said, this conversation is about two years old and brings nothing new to the table.

[Oldirtbeard.9834]

Because that's the way it is in a normal MMO business model, the reason the two expansions are still sold as seperate entities is because you do not need one to play the other (they are more like GW1 campaigns in that regard).

 

One thing you haven't mentioned or discovered yet is the additional 10 to 20 dollars for each Living World Season. That right there is scummy because in order to even play them you need to have bought the corresponding game/expansion. In the industry standard content patches are included with the corresponding expansion or game in MMOs for example season 2 should be bundled with the game and season 3 with Heart of Thorns. Personally I think Heart of Thorns should include both of the previous seasons because quite frankly it was rediculously light on story content.

 

Thankfully this is irrelevant to my wife and I because I was around to unlock it for free while it was current. For a new player though it is pretty crumby.

[Obtena.7952]

I think I will spend some time punishing myself today and play GW2 for a few hours. Oh the horror.

[Menadena.7482]

> @"Bloodstealer.5978" said:

> Except this game is not F2P its B2P and always has been.

 

The infuriating thing about that is it gets judged by critics and potential players as a F2P. I really wish anet had never said it was F2P, do a 6 month trial or something if you have to, but just do NOT say it is F2P (especially in conjunction with cutting the features for the free version). The moment you do it gets judged on that basis because people will not look at the full paid version in judging it.

 

I do not even look at F2P games (except ones for my phone) when downloading a new game as that is a large (and mostly awful) market segment. The same for subscription games for reasons everyone knows. B2P is a small segment and has lots of appeal. Basically you know you are getting a professional game but one without a sub attached to it. I have 0 idea why anet would give up such a valuable commodity for gw2.

[Bloodstealer.5978]

Actually I Sub for two other MMO's, one for 12+ years the other for around 6 years and they are still the best MMO's I have played aside from GW2, both have F2P options which I think lend something to those sub based games.

With GW2 the only real difference I see between B2P accounts and F2P accounts are that F2P tend to be more alt accounts used for mass farming, whereas B2P or main accounts actually play the game more or less as it was intended. That said I agree, I wish ANET had left it to be purely a time based trial account, maybe then the game wouldn't of become so infested with farm rats.

[Obtena.7952]

I had a hell of a punishment session today ... but I made it. Can't wait for tomorrow's self-inflicted pain. Those pennies it cost me to play the few hours I got into today ... I hope I can afford to get my groceries this week.