Why all flashy things are in the gem store !? (Smells like P2W?)

[Rogue.4756]

Another " I want lots of stuff for very little effort" thread.

[whoeverxwins.1279]

Definitely look up what P2W means. GW2 does gemstore right, it's all fashion or a few QoL items. Nothing needed to win anything. If you really want the flash, you can even farm gold and exchange for gems. I'm broke, so if I want something (like the Shimmerwing skin recently), I do that. I do spend $10 here and there because I don't mind supporting the game. Devs gotta eat too.

 

If you want something in game, there's going to be a grind. It's not a big deal. As for no shinies in game:

 

Requiem set, not even much of a grind.


 

[tippolit.3591]

> @"smashgodlight.6584" said:

> Been playing the game since 2012 and it's the first time am feeling that Anet is trying to steal money out our pockets !

 

Stopped reading after the first sentence. Really, anyone who feels that way, move on and spare us the wall of text.

[Weindrasi.3805]

I disagree with the whole "fashion wars 2/skins are endgame" mentality.... because you really can't say having a flashy outfit is the same as having the highest stats on your character.

The gemstore skins are an option that don't contribute to the gameplay at all... other than making you feel _oh so cool_

The definition of pay to win.... is paying to win. If arenanet were offering Super Mega Ascended Armor with Ultra Raid Stats, only available on the gemstore. That's pay to win, because the players who pay are going to own raids/fractals. If they were offering PvP/WvW exclusive abilities on the gem store.... or mounts that can fly with no limits.... or magic weapons that apply a new condition. That's pay to win.

Offering fashion choices via the gemstore that in no way affect your stats or movement abilities... that isn't pay to win, no matter how much you wish to claim it. Being the coolest supermodel in Lion's Arch isn't "winning", it's just a nice ego boost.

 

Now, that isn't to say Arenanet doesn't have problems with the way it's doing things. There are problems. Namely, that because cool skins are all gem store exclusives; and because of how Ascended gear is tied to crafting/mystic forge/PvP rewards.... there aren't many good rewards for playing through PvE content. People want high stats, legendary items, and unique skins to be obtainable while they're out adventuring. WoW is an example of a game that does this really well.

 

Now, GW2 probably won't hit WoW's level of gear-and-skins-via-adventuring, because their business model is so different. But, Arenanet can DEFINITELY improve this area without compromising gem store sales.

[Dante.1508]

Its pay to look good its why legendaries grind died over night because legendaries aren't legendary any more..

[Kumouta.4985]

you don't even need to pay to be able to win fashion wars.

[Antycypator.9874]

P2W is when items in gemstore can make your character more powerful than others; when you can progres faster than people who don't spend their money. And as you can see, buying an outfit doesn't make you fight better or deal more damage. New jackal skin for 2000 gems won't make you travel faster than others.

[Etterwyn.5263]

> @"Kal Bhairav.6589" said:

> everyone is so Flashy these days, the one without any flashy stuff stands out now. lol

 

In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

 

In the land of legendaries, infusions, and auras, the blind man is king.

[Rasimir.6239]

> @"Taygus.4571" said:

> Idk about you...but I do 2 things in this game.

>

> Whatever i find fun at the moment...whether its good gold earning or bad. I don't play metas or fractals or raids for gold/reward. i just play them because I enjoy them.

> When I have enough gold to get something or work on something, its just a bonus. I don't grind for skins/ gemstore stuffs.

>

> An achieve/collection I've decided to work on, just for something to do.

Well said. That's exactly how I feel, and how I play this game.

 

> @"AlexxxDelta.1806" said:

> So you would play a fractal for the umpteenth time, having practically memorized everything about it, purely for the fun of it?

If I enjoy playing it, sure. Once I no longer enjoy it, I don't play it any more. One of the perks of playing for fun is that I rarely play any content in this game to the point where I'm forever sick and tired of it. Usually there's always something around that I haven't played in a while that is fun and refreshing to play again at some point. For example, I have played a ton of dungeons way back, to the point where I did get tired of them. I still know most of the paths and their mechanics by heart, and actually enjoy running them occasionally these days. I don't need any dungeon tokens, as I've collected all the skins I could ever want a long time ago and have thousands of each dungeon's tokens in my wallet, but that doesn't impact my enjoyment of dungeons.

 

> @"AlexxxDelta.1806" said:

> I guess that might be true for some people. I'd wager it's not for the majority. MMOs are reward-driven games, it's no accident game communities raise a stink every time they find certain content to be unrewarding. Or get up in arms when certain content is nerfed reward-wise.

That's where we're getting into guesswork territory. I agree that since many MMOs are primarily reward-driven, they attract a lot of players that get a major part of their enjoyment from rewards. Looking at the people that I play with, I'm not so sure about the reward-driven players being the majority of players in this MMO though.

 

A vocal part of the community does get up in arms about "rewards not worth it" all the time, but whether that is really a sign of them being the majority of players, or just a lot more vocal than those no as strongly reward-focussed, I have no way of knowing or even predicting.

 

RPGs and adventure games, unlike MMOs, actually aren't reward-driven all that often. My first RPG was one of the first parts of the Ultima series, back in the 80s when my dad bought his first apple II series computer. I've spent an incredible number of hours playing Ultima, Wizardry, Bard's Tale and other kinds of RPGs back before online gaming was a thing, as well as a ton of other single and multi player RPGs. To me, RPGs have always been about story, world exploration, developing characters. Rare loot was always welcome (not the least because most of those games had vertical progression, and better equipment meant having an easier time fighting baddies), but never the focus, at least to me.

 

To me this focus on rewards seems to be a more recent development, possibly because online gaming has moved more into the competitive sphere where it's less about the journey and more about pulling ahead of the player next to you. The fact that GW2 (to me) is much more focussed on cooperative gameplay and the activitiy you are playing rather than the carrot they're dangling in front of your nose is one of the main reasons I play this game over others.

 

A lot of games these days, including a lot of MMORPGs, are heavily reward focussed. GW2 is not. While this is a drawback for many players, it is one of its main selling point to me, and others I play with. Whether we are enough to keep this game afloat or not, time will tell. I sure hope we are, because GW2 does combine the best of both worlds, online gaming and RPG, for me.

 

Fun fact: GW2 is actually more rewarding to me than e.g. ESO or LotRO (to pick two games I have played a lot), because no matter what I do, I accumulate in-game wealth at a steady pace that lets me get whatever equipment I'd like to have for my character eventually. In LotRO on the other hand I once went an entire expansion raiding twice weekly and not getting the best-in-slot equipment for my character because it just wouldn't drop. In the end my whole raid got together and gifted me one of those, just to have their main healer actually be able to put out maximum heals.

[Henry.5713]

Even if you consider "Fashion Wars" to be the only thing that matters, we are able to freely trade gold for gems. More than you can say about a lot of different in-game currencies which are a much bigger pain in the ass. And the most flashy items aren't even being sold on the cash shop which makes them far more expensive or a huge grind in some cases.