When is Anet going to really cash in on Fashion Wars with black lion armor skins?

[Rangerdeity.5847]

We have seen very very minimal new armor skins since launch, a couple per expansion and a few special ones for legendary armors. But we dont get the seasonal new skins like we do for weapons in the black lion chests. I get it Anet doesnt work for free, so do the work and I will buy so many keys my dead grandma will beat my ass for wasting my own money.

[Trise.2865]

More lootbox gambling, you say? Hard pass.

[crepuscular.9047]

This is my suggestion, **TOTALLY** willing to pour my cash in to get it and unlock more outfits

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/61093/idea-a-gem-store-item-to-turn-outfits-into-armor-skin

 

still have 50 locked outfits, and i'm refusing to buy them because I cannot use parts of them


[Just a flesh wound.3589]

The gemstore fashion wars has shifted to Mountfits at several thousand gems for a full set. Mounts are probably much more profitable than the Armors at 700 gems each.

 

 

 

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"Rangerdeity.5847" said:

> We have seen very very minimal new armor skins since launch,

We have had many new armors, considering how complicated they are to make. Most recently, two new sets with differences across the races/genders that came with LS4.4

[Eloc Freidon.5692]

They'd really cash in if they made everything cheaper. Its been proven demonstrably that selling digital goods for dirt cheap makes more players into payers.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Except Mike O'Brien pretty much stated the opposite; hence, why we now have 2000 Gem Mount Skins.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"Eloc Freidon.5692" said:

> They'd really cash in if they made everything cheaper. Its been proven demonstrably that selling digital goods for dirt cheap makes more players into payers.

 

As @"Inculpatus cedo.9234" said, Mike O'Brien says the data in GW2 (and for other games) is more nuanced. Turning players into payers generates less income than selling expensive premium items to those willing to shell out more. It's an economy of scale: they can't churn out enough dirt cheap items to sell to enough people as fast as they can turn out fancy skins that only have to be bought by a small fraction of players. This turns out to be true in other industries as well, not just digital realms.

[Ashen.2907]

> @"Eloc Freidon.5692" said:

> They'd really cash in if they made everything cheaper. Its been proven demonstrably that selling digital goods for dirt cheap makes more players into payers.

 

True, but selling a hundred thousand units at $1 each is less revenue than selling ten thousand units at $15 each. Merchants need to find the sweet spot for pricing.

[Just a flesh wound.3589]

> @"Eloc Freidon.5692" said:

> They'd really cash in if they made everything cheaper. Its been proven demonstrably that selling digital goods for dirt cheap makes more players into payers.

 

They’ve already said that they don’t make enough money by selling cheap items

 

>....What our data shows is that higher-priced flashy individual items can work, and lower-average-price-per-item bundles can work, but lower-priced individual items generally don’t generate meaningful revenue to support the game. And the whole point of these items is to support the game.....

 

(Full quote in spoiler)

 

 

 

 

[Mike-OBrien-ArenaNet](

)

Hi,

As I wrote in my previous response, it’s been a wonderful challenge to support all Living World and Live content development for a game of this size, for five years and counting, purely through the sale of optional microtransactions. We laid out our guiding principles for GW2 microtransactions in March 2012 and we've held true to them ever since. My motivation is to continue to stay true to those principles while also continuing to fund Live content development. I recently apologized for our missteps with the Mount Adoption License. Still, mount skins are purely cosmetic, thus in many ways an ideal embodiment of our goal to support the game with optional microtransactions.

 

Most of us have two relationships with the GW2 gem store. One relationship is that of a customer: we purchase things when we want them for ourselves and agree with how they’re bundled and priced. Another relationship is that of an interested party: we know that ArenaNet funds Live development through the sale of gems for cash, and we enjoy playing new content like today’s release, so we hope that the gem store does well enough to keep supporting content development. We might say, “I wouldn’t buy that!”, but if enough people buy it that it supports ongoing Live development, we’re still happy.

 

Mount skins are style items, and style items have some unique challenges. They’re subject to individual taste, so except for the very flashiest items, individual style items will have limited sales. Also, GW2 isn’t setup to support an enjoyable experience of browsing through a large catalog of style items, so players tend not to do that. What our data shows is that higher-priced flashy individual items can work, and lower-average-price-per-item bundles can work, but lower-priced individual items generally don’t generate meaningful revenue to support the game. And the whole point of these items is to support the game.

 

GW2 is a content-rich online world with no monthly fee, so it’s a great overall value, with microtransactions doing the heavy lifting of funding continued development of the game. It shouldn’t also be our goal to have the lowest-priced microtransactions. In that case, the only logical outcome would be that we could afford to make less content than other developers, and I think that’s not what any of us are looking for. I love our current pace of content development and I hope we can support it for a long time to come.

We’re all in this together. It’s obvious in your posts that you’re thoughtful and motivated to see the game do well. You balance between loving the game and not always agreeing with how gem store items are bundled or priced. That’s fair. We have a commerce team that lives that dilemma every day. We’re all doing our best for the long-term health of the game.

 

Thank you all for your passion, and again, thank you for your continued support of Live development.

~ MO

 

[Danikat.8537]

> @"Ashen.2907" said:

> > @"Eloc Freidon.5692" said:

> > They'd really cash in if they made everything cheaper. Its been proven demonstrably that selling digital goods for dirt cheap makes more players into payers.

>

> True, but selling a hundred thousand units at $1 each is less revenue than selling ten thousand units at $15 each. Merchants need to find the sweet spot for pricing.

 

This situation is probably a bit different for GW2 than most games, because of the gold to gems exchange. Where normally those cheap items would tempt players to spend money in this case it would probably just tempt them to convert gold. So, potentially good for the in-game economy but not a great source of income for Anet.

 

I normally buy gems with real money but if I only need another 100 or so I'm more likely to convert gold to get them than buy more with real money, just because it's easier and unless the exchange rate is crazy-high it's usually not expensive either.

[mindcircus.1506]

> @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > @"Ashen.2907" said:

> > > @"Eloc Freidon.5692" said:

> > > They'd really cash in if they made everything cheaper. Its been proven demonstrably that selling digital goods for dirt cheap makes more players into payers.

> >

> > True, but selling a hundred thousand units at $1 each is less revenue than selling ten thousand units at $15 each. Merchants need to find the sweet spot for pricing.

>

> This situation is probably a bit different for GW2 than most games, because of the gold to gems exchange. Where normally those cheap items would tempt players to spend money in this case it would probably just tempt them to convert gold. So, potentially good for the in-game economy but not a great source of income for Anet.

>

 

You dont understand how Gold to Gems works.

 

[mindcircus.1506]

> @"Rangerdeity.5847" said:

> We have seen very very minimal new armor skins since launch, a couple per expansion and a few special ones for legendary armors. But we dont get the seasonal new skins like we do for weapons in the black lion chests. I get it Anet doesnt work for free, so do the work and I will buy so many keys my dead grandma will beat my kitten for wasting my own money.

 

The point you were trying to make gets lost when you start off with a statement that is not aligned with reality.

 

We got Four (and a half) full sets with PoF. We just got 1.5 full sets with the last LW map, and in the meantime while upping the number of in-game achievable armor pieces, Arenanet has offered less of them for Cash in the Gem Store.

In fact since the release of PoF I dont think the Gemstore has seen a single new full armor set.

 

Is this not exactly what the community asked for? The full armor sets as ingame rewards?

[Linken.6345]

> @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > @"Rangerdeity.5847" said:

> > We have seen very very minimal new armor skins since launch, a couple per expansion and a few special ones for legendary armors. But we dont get the seasonal new skins like we do for weapons in the black lion chests. I get it Anet doesnt work for free, so do the work and I will buy so many keys my dead grandma will beat my kitten for wasting my own money.

>

> The point you were trying to make gets lost when you start off with a statement that is not aligned with reality.

>

> We got Four (and a half) full sets with PoF. We just got 1.5 full sets with the last LW map, and in the meantime while upping the number of in-game achievable armor pieces, Arenanet has offered less of them for Cash in the Gem Store.

> In fact since the release of PoF I dont think the Gemstore has seen a single new full armor set.

>

> Is this not exactly what the community asked for? The full armor sets as ingame rewards?

 

Gemstore never had full armor sets, it never will have that either since they started doing outfits that sell like hot cakes.

[mindcircus.1506]

> @"Linken.6345" said:

> > @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > > @"Rangerdeity.5847" said:

> > > We have seen very very minimal new armor skins since launch, a couple per expansion and a few special ones for legendary armors. But we dont get the seasonal new skins like we do for weapons in the black lion chests. I get it Anet doesnt work for free, so do the work and I will buy so many keys my dead grandma will beat my kitten for wasting my own money.

> >

> > The point you were trying to make gets lost when you start off with a statement that is not aligned with reality.

> >

> > We got Four (and a half) full sets with PoF. We just got 1.5 full sets with the last LW map, and in the meantime while upping the number of in-game achievable armor pieces, Arenanet has offered less of them for Cash in the Gem Store.

> > In fact since the release of PoF I dont think the Gemstore has seen a single new full armor set.

> >

> > Is this not exactly what the community asked for? The full armor sets as ingame rewards?

>

> Gemstore never had full armor sets, it never will have that either since they started doing outfits that sell like hot cakes.

 

I have a half dozen gemstore armor sets like Strider's, Krytan, Primeval.

By my count there have been 7 "sets" of each weight.

 

[sorudo.9054]

lately they pretty much force the outfit thing, even while they know they work not as well as GW outfits where headgear is shared and lose from the rest.

i suspect that if they ever add another GW armor it's gonna be a flawed GW2 outfit yet again.

[Obtena.7952]

> @"Rangerdeity.5847" said:

> We have seen very very minimal new armor skins since launch, a couple per expansion and a few special ones for legendary armors. But we dont get the seasonal new skins like we do for weapons in the black lion chests. I get it Anet doesnt work for free, so do the work and I will buy so many keys my dead grandma will beat my kitten for wasting my own money.

 

That is just not being honest. We have lots of armor skins since launch.

[Danikat.8537]

> @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > > @"Ashen.2907" said:

> > > > @"Eloc Freidon.5692" said:

> > > > They'd really cash in if they made everything cheaper. Its been proven demonstrably that selling digital goods for dirt cheap makes more players into payers.

> > >

> > > True, but selling a hundred thousand units at $1 each is less revenue than selling ten thousand units at $15 each. Merchants need to find the sweet spot for pricing.

> >

> > This situation is probably a bit different for GW2 than most games, because of the gold to gems exchange. Where normally those cheap items would tempt players to spend money in this case it would probably just tempt them to convert gold. So, potentially good for the in-game economy but not a great source of income for Anet.

> >

>

> You dont understand how Gold to Gems works.

>

 

What about it am I misunderstanding?

[Hyper Cutter.9376]

> @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > @"Linken.6345" said:

> > > @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > > > @"Rangerdeity.5847" said:

> > > > We have seen very very minimal new armor skins since launch, a couple per expansion and a few special ones for legendary armors. But we dont get the seasonal new skins like we do for weapons in the black lion chests. I get it Anet doesnt work for free, so do the work and I will buy so many keys my dead grandma will beat my kitten for wasting my own money.

> > >

> > > The point you were trying to make gets lost when you start off with a statement that is not aligned with reality.

> > >

> > > We got Four (and a half) full sets with PoF. We just got 1.5 full sets with the last LW map, and in the meantime while upping the number of in-game achievable armor pieces, Arenanet has offered less of them for Cash in the Gem Store.

> > > In fact since the release of PoF I dont think the Gemstore has seen a single new full armor set.

> > >

> > > Is this not exactly what the community asked for? The full armor sets as ingame rewards?

> >

> > Gemstore never had full armor sets, it never will have that either since they started doing outfits that sell like hot cakes.

>

> I have a half dozen gemstore armor sets like Strider's, Krytan, Primeval.

> By my count there have been 7 "sets" of each weight.

Also they've been making outfits since launch, the early ones (cook, pirate, witch, winter, etc) were town clothes back before the wardobe became a thing and town clothes either became outfits, became tonics (then eventually outfits), or became armor.

[Rangerdeity.5847]

> @"Obtena.7952" said:

> > @"Rangerdeity.5847" said:

> > We have seen very very minimal new armor skins since launch, a couple per expansion and a few special ones for legendary armors. But we dont get the seasonal new skins like we do for weapons in the black lion chests. I get it Anet doesnt work for free, so do the work and I will buy so many keys my dead grandma will beat my kitten for wasting my own money.

>

> That is just not being honest. We have lots of armor skins since launch.

 

how so? the ratio of weapons/armor is vastly and undeniably in favor of weapons.

[Obtena.7952]

> @"Rangerdeity.5847" said:

> > @"Obtena.7952" said:

> > > @"Rangerdeity.5847" said:

> > > We have seen very very minimal new armor skins since launch, a couple per expansion and a few special ones for legendary armors. But we dont get the seasonal new skins like we do for weapons in the black lion chests. I get it Anet doesnt work for free, so do the work and I will buy so many keys my dead grandma will beat my kitten for wasting my own money.

> >

> > That is just not being honest. We have lots of armor skins since launch.

>

> how so? the ratio of weapons/armor is vastly and undeniably in favor of weapons.

 

What does armor skins have to do with weapon skins or your claim we have had 'minimal' armor skins since launch? Do you actually KNOW how many armor skins we have had since launch?

[Tzarakiel.7490]

> @"Rangerdeity.5847" said:

> > @"Obtena.7952" said:

> > > @"Rangerdeity.5847" said:

> > > We have seen very very minimal new armor skins since launch, a couple per expansion and a few special ones for legendary armors. But we dont get the seasonal new skins like we do for weapons in the black lion chests. I get it Anet doesnt work for free, so do the work and I will buy so many keys my dead grandma will beat my kitten for wasting my own money.

> >

> > That is just not being honest. We have lots of armor skins since launch.

>

> how so? the ratio of weapons/armor is vastly and undeniably in favor of weapons.

 

Because weapons don't have to be changed to fit 5 races x 2 genders x 8 (on average) bodyshapes. You only make weapon skins once and then resize it according to character height.

[Rangerdeity.5847]

> @"Tzarakiel.7490" said:

> > @"Rangerdeity.5847" said:

> > > @"Obtena.7952" said:

> > > > @"Rangerdeity.5847" said:

> > > > We have seen very very minimal new armor skins since launch, a couple per expansion and a few special ones for legendary armors. But we dont get the seasonal new skins like we do for weapons in the black lion chests. I get it Anet doesnt work for free, so do the work and I will buy so many keys my dead grandma will beat my kitten for wasting my own money.

> > >

> > > That is just not being honest. We have lots of armor skins since launch.

> >

> > how so? the ratio of weapons/armor is vastly and undeniably in favor of weapons.

>

> Because weapons don't have to be changed to fit 5 races x 2 genders x 8 (on average) bodyshapes. You only make weapon skins once and then resize it according to character height.

 

Thats nice but the devs ARE being paid yes? and Im not asking them to do this for free am i? I am suggesting they make cash shot exclusive armors similar to the cash shot exclusive weapons and outfits.

[Dante.1763]

> @"Rangerdeity.5847" said:

> > @"Tzarakiel.7490" said:

> > > @"Rangerdeity.5847" said:

> > > > @"Obtena.7952" said:

> > > > > @"Rangerdeity.5847" said:

> > > > > We have seen very very minimal new armor skins since launch, a couple per expansion and a few special ones for legendary armors. But we dont get the seasonal new skins like we do for weapons in the black lion chests. I get it Anet doesnt work for free, so do the work and I will buy so many keys my dead grandma will beat my kitten for wasting my own money.

> > > >

> > > > That is just not being honest. We have lots of armor skins since launch.

> > >

> > > how so? the ratio of weapons/armor is vastly and undeniably in favor of weapons.

> >

> > Because weapons don't have to be changed to fit 5 races x 2 genders x 8 (on average) bodyshapes. You only make weapon skins once and then resize it according to character height.

>

> Thats nice but the devs ARE being paid yes? and Im not asking them to do this for free am i? I am suggesting they make cash shot exclusive armors similar to the cash shot exclusive weapons and outfits.

 

They are much harder to make, take way more time to do, and dont sell as well as the outfits, which is why they dont make armor skins any more. On top of that, most players agree theyd rather be able to get armor from doing in game activities over paying for them with gems.

[Liewec.2896]

and this expansion was especially disappointing for armour.

they all looked like a jumbled mess of cloth, and all extremely similar.

look at light armour for example, we have:

[Jumble of cloth 1 (spearmarshal)](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:Spearmarshal%27s_armor_(light)_human_female_front.jpg "Jumble of cloth 1 (spearmarshal)")

[Jumble of cloth 2 ("elonian")](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:Elonian_armor_(light)_human_female_front.jpg "Jumble of cloth 2 ("elonian")") which is just spear marshal with different textures and tiny tweaks

[boring MMO starter gear? (Elegy)](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:Elegy_armor_(light)_human_female_front.jpg "boring MMO starter gear? (Elegy)") looks like the generic dull set you get on starter characters in other MMOs.

[boring MMO starter gear...wish shiny bits! (Requiem)](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:Requiem_armor_(light)_human_female_front.jpg "boring MMO starter gear...with shiny bits! (Requiem)") it's Elegy armour with added nonsensical particle effects and a bit of retexturing...

then there is Bountyhunter, Funery and warbeast, all of which are a mismatch of "nope".

 

what happened to the Anet that gave us the Winged set?

can we even pretend that [this](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/b/b0/Elegy_armor_%28light%29_human_female_front.jpg "this") is even in the same class as [this](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/f/f1/Winged_armor_human_female_front.jpg "this") which came many years earlier!?

heck, even the [sTARTER SET](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/e/ea/Apprentice_armor_human_female_front.jpg "STARTER SET") looks better than the armours they make now-a-days, when they rarely make them...

what went wrong?!