Is gw2 going down the path of heavy microtransactions

[Dawdler.8521]

> @"LucianDK.8615" said:

> You dont pay anything for the warclaw, its just a feature of path of fire, so your argument is completely invalid.

Not to mention p2w still imply you *win*. People on warclaws dies all the same to better/more enemies, guilds or zergs.

 

[Ashen.2907]

> @"LucianDK.8615" said:

> You dont pay anything for the warclaw, its just a feature of pat4h of fire, so your argument is completely invalid.

 

I said nothing about paying for the warclaw. I responded to your statement about paying for something else though.

[XenoSpyro.1780]

Quoting Twister : "It's already here."

[Ashantara.8731]

As long as only cosmetics are being offered at the Gem Store, I believe we will all be fine. ;)

[Astralporing.1957]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> As long as only cosmetics are being offered at the Gem Store, I believe we will all be fine. ;)

And this way of thinking is exactly the reason why gemshop's gotten so bad in the recent years. Because we have our expectations set _really_ low.

 

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"Astralporing.1957" said:

> > @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > As long as only cosmetics are being offered at the Gem Store, I believe we will all be fine. ;)

> And this way of thinking is exactly the reason why gemshop's gotten so bad in the recent years. Because we have our expectations set _really_ low.

 

I believe you misunderstood my statement. I meant to express that cosmetics aren't p2w, so as long as that's the case all is good.

[Astralporing.1957]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > @"Astralporing.1957" said:

> > > @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > > As long as only cosmetics are being offered at the Gem Store, I believe we will all be fine. ;)

> > And this way of thinking is exactly the reason why gemshop's gotten so bad in the recent years. Because we have our expectations set _really_ low.

>

> I believe you misunderstood my statement. I meant to express that cosmetics aren't p2w, so as long as that's the case all is good.

I understood you. And i said that it's still really low expectation, that opens way for Anet to do some really unpleasant things with the gemshop.

I mean, the gemshop still isn;t p2w, but it is now in a much worse state than it was originally. Anet keeps pushing the boundaries over and over again, and players give in almost every single time. There have been only two cases when the players tried to stand their ground - flamekissed armor debacle (when Anet caved in), and the Mount Licenses, where the end result wasn't as clear. And considering all the changes that gemshop went over during that time, that was simply not enough.

 

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"Astralporing.1957" said:

> I mean, the gemshop still isn;t p2w, but it is now in a much worse state than it was originally. Anet keeps pushing the boundaries over and over again

 

Ah, you mean the frequency in which they release "useless" items (i.e., skins), or the quality? Or were you referring to things like the packages that contain only partially interesting stuff?

 

> and players give in almost every single time.

 

I don't know about you, but these days I really only buy from the Gem Store what I find useful or like visually, and that hasn't been as much lately, I admit (especially the outfits are getting more and more absurd as they don't fit into the game's design anymore).

[ZeftheWicked.3076]

My theory: it's not about gemstore it's about not losing players.

 

If one place is THE farm map, others will be ghosttowns. A new player or a casual player who's not into farming 24/7 goes to experience content and it's deader then core necro in PvE. Word spreads and false rumors emerge about game being dead, in decline, maintenance mode incoming etc. Needless to say, a self-fullfilling prophecy, sales can decline, playerbase shrink and the real death of game is sped up over totally trivial reason. A-net clearly wants us to rotate maps, be at multiple spots over time, rather then camp one place all the time.

[Astralporing.1957]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > @"Astralporing.1957" said:

> > I mean, the gemshop still isn;t p2w, but it is now in a much worse state than it was originally. Anet keeps pushing the boundaries over and over again

>

> Ah, you mean the frequency in which they release "useless" items (i.e., skins), or the quality? Or were you referring to things like the packages that contain only partially interesting stuff?

All of the above, with the added bonus of more and more rng stuff.

 

Prices are higher, more and more stuff is obtainable through packs or rng options and not directly,, more rng options in general, discounts are worse (compare this year to the previous one, for example). Some types of things are now only obtainable through gemshop (mount skins - exactly zero obtainable through normal gameplay). Quite often it seems that content releases revolve primarily around monetizing them with gemshop, not around what would be needed/desirable for the game (notice, for example, how the ascended cooking is impacted by having 2 gemshop garden plots?).

And every now and then Anet introduces something new, that pushes past the current limits (mount licenses were not the first case, nor the last). And usually it sticks.

 

[Magnus Godrik.5841]

No its definitely not P2W. But it does irritate on the massive amounts of skins that are in the gem store. They are doing better at putting more in game well at least for weps and armor.

[Fueki.4753]

Considering how over-performing some (if not most or all) of the PoF-elite specs are, the game arguably is P2W.

After all, you pay for the expansion to have a better chance at winning with an over-tuned elite spec.

[Swagger.1459]

> @"MisterDapper.5984" said:

> So I wanted to give my two cents based on what I know from fellow farmers. Since Istan got nerfed again and it's most likely a waste of time to farm now. Are we going to see the same thing happen to Silverwastes? Since that's one of the few meaningful ways to make gold. It seems like NCsoft/Anet is just going to cater to people with real world money and credit cards. While all the farmers and people who make gen 1 legendaries are just going to leave the game. In turn that'll have a significant impact on the economy. I don't want to see this game die off, but that's the uneasy feeling I'm getting. Please be respectful in the comment section, thank you.

 

My 2 cents for you...

 

I’ m going to sum up your post... “Anet nerfed my farm spot, but I want all my game stuff for free so it’s not fair.”.

 

You apparently don’t know what p2w is, unless I’m missing some item on the gemstone that gives me a statistical advantage over another player?

 

Funny you make it seem like micro transactions are a bad thing, would you rather Anet charge us a monthly fee or pass to play gw2 too? You worry about the game dying but are actually complaining about the micro transactions that help to fund future game development? Like what???

 

And seriously, do you think businesses run on free and by giving away everything for free? We pay for everything else in life, so what makes you think this company should hand you everything on a free platter? Do you call up pc companies and ask for a free new computer too? How do you think your internet service provider would react to you complaining about them changing a fee to get internet access?

[Locce.8405]

I am not a big fan of microtransactions, but for the most part I find the way the GW2 gemshop is implemented acceptable.

If you want to keep a game running with regular new content and stuff like that you have to get regular income from that game. Yes, sometimes it might compromise the artistic vision, but that's basically capitalism for you. However, there are a few things that don't look so good:

 

- GW2 with its plethora of skins for everything generally does a good job avoiding the "default guy" problem. A point to criticise in that regard are mount and glider skins: since they are so visible in the game there should be a less indirect way to get at least a couple of those through gameplay, maybe some sort of wardrobe unlock reward for story meta achievements or something like that.

- Keeping an eye on the gold to gems exchange rates can do wonders for your wallet if you regularly see something in the shop that tempts you. However, the pricing of mount skins does seem to be a bit high, especially with the lower price for random rolls potentially luring you into much larger spendings than anticipated, making them less affordable through gameplay means, at least if you only want a couple of skins from each pack.

- Black Lion Chests. Yes, you can get a "free" key every week and more if you regularly do map completions with new chars, but if you put desirable exclusive items in there that are only available for a limited amount of time that looks a bit shady and gambling-y. The fact that you can often buy these items for lion statues later doesn't help much when "later" means "roughly half a year later" and the only currency you can buy them with comes from partaking in this game of chance.

- The supply drops. Per se they are a neat idea, but the concept is tarnished by the fact that in two of two cases so far they came with access to mount skins not available by other means until a later date. It seems the only rational reason for that is to entice more people to buy the supply drop for early access to those mount skins. That's not a good look.

 

Mind you, compared to many other games GW2 still looks pretty good even with these flaws, but I think it's a good idea to keep an eye on these things.

[Calistin.6210]

It's not quite there yet but not that far from getting there. Also I do understand companies need to make money but I swear some people make it out like they would all go belly up without a cash shop....and that just not the case for **B2P**.

 

Anet be like:


 

 

Some people be like:


 

 

 

 

[ZeftheWicked.3076]

> @"Locce.8405" said:

> I am not a big fan of microtransactions, but for the most part I find the way the GW2 gemshop is implemented acceptable.

> If you want to keep a game running with regular new content and stuff like that you have to get regular income from that game. Yes, sometimes it might compromise the artistic vision, but that's basically capitalism for you. However, there are a few things that don't look so good:

>

> - GW2 with its plethora of skins for everything generally does a good job avoiding the "default guy" problem. A point to criticise in that regard are mount and glider skins: since they are so visible in the game there should be a less indirect way to get at least a couple of those through gameplay, maybe some sort of wardrobe unlock reward for story meta achievements or something like that.

> - Keeping an eye on the gold to gems exchange rates can do wonders for your wallet if you regularly see something in the shop that tempts you. However, the pricing of mount skins does seem to be a bit high, especially with the lower price for random rolls potentially luring you into much larger spendings than anticipated, making them less affordable through gameplay means, at least if you only want a couple of skins from each pack.

> - Black Lion Chests. Yes, you can get a "free" key every week and more if you regularly do map completions with new chars, but if you put desirable exclusive items in there that are only available for a limited amount of time that looks a bit shady and gambling-y. The fact that you can often buy these items for lion statues later doesn't help much when "later" means "roughly half a year later" and the only currency you can buy them with comes from partaking in this game of chance.

> - The supply drops. Per se they are a neat idea, but the concept is tarnished by the fact that in two of two cases so far they came with access to mount skins not available by other means until a later date. It seems the only rational reason for that is to entice more people to buy the supply drop for early access to those mount skins. That's not a good look.

>

> Mind you, compared to many other games GW2 still looks pretty good even with these flaws, but I think it's a good idea to keep an eye on these things.

 

They would make heaps of money if the gems were not overpriced. League of Legends, a game that's certainly not the cheapest in terms of it's skins, got a fair amount of my real life money, because i found their offers far more acceptable. In GW2 it's always gold to gems for me, because price of gems irl money is just unacceptable for me.

[EmmetOtter.8542]

> @"Ashen.2907" said:

> > @"LucianDK.8615" said:

> > > @"Cuks.8241" said:

> > > Farming gold only inflates the price of gems on the exchange. It does not affect the revenue.

> > >

> > > Warclaw is pay 2 win. But it is limited to expansion not gem store. Can't really decide but I think in the long run it will reduce the influx of players to the game mode just because the first experience for new players was made worse.

> >

> > I see it as an incitament to buy pof to be on even footing with others. Its absolutely not pay2win when everyone have it.

>

> Isnt an, "incitement to buy," something that affects interactions in a competitive game mode pay to win?

>

> Would a weapon sold in the shop that grants a 100% boost to dps stop being pay to win if everyone bought it in order to not fall behind the competitive power curve?

 

With that argument you could claim that anything whatsoever, including the base game, is p2w if someone pays money for it. As well as anything else someone might spend money on to improve their gaming experience. Oh you bought a mmo gaming mouse? P2W!

 

Anet isn't a charitable order of monk-programmers leaching off free wifi. And neither are the players. We want new content with exciting new features and some amount of power creep is expected by those players. And if anet doesn't deliver, they will lose customers.

 

There's a big difference between a Double Damage gem-store sword that anyone can buy in 2 seconds and an entire expansion you will spend months, maybe years playing but provides some new features with a little bit of power creep.

[Locce.8405]

> @"ZeftheWicked.3076" said:

> They would make heaps of money if the gems were not overpriced. League of Legends, a game that's certainly not the cheapest in terms of it's skins, got a fair amount of my real life money, because i found their offers far more acceptable. In GW2 it's always gold to gems for me, because price of gems irl money is just unacceptable for me.

 

Yeah, that's always a delicate balance and one that is contingent on the customer's ability to farm gold ingame. Set the gem price too high and too many people will just exchange their ingame gold to buy what they want. Set the gem price too low and too many people will be unhappy that they have to farm gold for too long for the equivalent of a paltry sum of money, feeling it goes too far in the direction of p2w, even if it is just about cosmetics and quality of life stuff. But no matter what price you set there will always be _some_ people on either side of this equation.

Personally, I try to find a balance between buying gems for gold and throwing in a bit of money to support the continued development of GW2, because it serves both my conflicting interests: to be able to keep playing GW2 for quite a while to come and to be able to eat irl. ;)

[Shortage.5427]

> @"Henry.5713" said:

> I understand that it can be annoying if your favorite (and most likely the most rewarding) farming content ends up being removed or nerfed but this is hardly done to create cash shop revenue.

>

> To be honest, we are the ones who are to blame here. It can be a little tricky to predict the almost ridiculous farming environment we end up creating around certain content. Just think about it for a bit... Remember AB multiloot? Remember CoF1 dungeon farm? Both became almost a science in the end which turned either into content that was far more rewarding than anything else at the time and certainly more rewarding than ArenaNet ever intended - to an almost game breaking degree.

> This is also the very reason why they decided to go with a daily system for Fractals and weekly raid rewards. It is the reason why Open World content needs to be looked at once in a while. Having everyone focus on a single thing is simply not healthy for the game in it's entirety.

 

there is literally nothing to P2W, are you even playing the game?

[Zynk.9015]

They went down the "heavy micro-transaction" route, imo, when they announced f2p years ago. Or perhaps it was before that when they included the gem shop at release. Oh, that's literally every other active multiplayer game currently on the market, my bad...

 

That being said, I highly doubt they are going to overnerf farming. The craziest farm nerf I've seen recently was to the aquatic fractal, and that was a very unique exploit in the game that not everyone could do because it required a large organized group and the spoils had to be divied up by a middleman or the GM.

Overall, the game benefited from that particular nerf because that fractal got reworked to make it actually challenging, the boss fight got new mechanics, and the farmers are out again finding new methods to bring in that sweet, sweet coin. I think the farming community this game has is one of the most exciting aspects of it. The cross-map coordination some of these groups pull off is mind-boggling, and it's not going away anytime soon.

[MisterDapper.5984]

> @"Zynk.9015" said:

> They went down the "heavy micro-transaction" route, imo, when they announced f2p years ago. Or perhaps it was before that when they included the gem shop at release. Oh, that's literally every other active multiplayer game currently on the market, my bad...

>

> That being said, I highly doubt they are going to overnerf farming. The craziest farm nerf I've seen recently was to the aquatic fractal, and that was a very unique exploit in the game that not everyone could do because it required a large organized group and the spoils had to be divied up by a middleman or the GM.

> Overall, the game benefited from that particular nerf because that fractal got reworked to make it actually challenging, the boss fight got new mechanics, and the farmers are out again finding new methods to bring in that sweet, sweet coin. I think the farming community this game has is one of the most exciting aspects of it. The cross-map coordination some of these groups pull off is mind-boggling, and it's not going away anytime soon.

 

[deleted]

[asterix.9614]

Definitely