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ArenaNet clarifies Cash Shop
kefkah
Member UncommonPosts: 832
in Guild Wars 2
ArenaNet community manager, Rubi tried to clarify the cash shop issues tonight on Facebook.
Comments
"Second, take into account the gem/gold trading system. Everything that is in the store will basically be available for gold with this system – so it doesn’t really matter what is in the store, as it is also available for players who play and don’t want to spend additional money. Hope that helps! ~RB2"
So it really doesn't matter if the cash shop sells items of power.
Hey, he left the door open, not me.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
wow, i sense a backlash incoming from some folks. "-so it doesnt really matter what is available in the store."
I've got the straight edge.
I wouldn't miss this for the world...
But most people will still go with what they think they know rather then read the facts for themselves.
Currently playing- SWG PreCU & GW 2
Have tried WoW, AoC, & Vanguard, SWG:NGE, GW, LOTRO & SWTOR
Best MMO: SWG
Worst MMO: SWTOR
uh lol. The forum will explode at any moment I am pretty sure. But really? All those cute vanity type clothes you could only get in GW1 via the shop will be available in game also? Cool unless I must sell my soul grinding gold for an evening dress in which case not cool.
Everything in the shop is available in game isn't equal to everything in the game is available in the store. Before people blow up too badly.
One of life's lil hand grenades
and how is this a bad thing?
I'm going with Mike o Briens comments that they will be testing the cash shop very carefully in the coming betas.
Play for fun. Play to win. Play for perfection. Play with friends. Play in another world. Why do you play?
*sigh* They should have left this alone until they could show some of the items in the cash shop. Now people will jump on this and do exactly what you said Kyleran. I guess Rubi is new to this whole PR thing.
It's impressive how dumb community managers can be. It's so easy to twist those words to read them like: we will sell sword of pwnage +100 it's not even funny. Really you would expect something more from ppl who manage the community >.>
really though it just adds to the hype they are building for launch.
I've got the straight edge.
They can easilly burn. Oh it will be glorious on official forums. ANet really don't know how bad it will be. I already feel pity for mods.
This is what happens when you hire a fangirl to work for the community.
Everyone knows fangirls screw up everything.
I never ceased to be amazed by game studios' lack of wisdom in announcing features like this. Do they think this is the first time a game has announced a cash shop? You never, never ever leave any ambiguity or doubt in your fans minds when busting out something like this. No clarifivcation should have been necessary as full details should have been available down to the last gold peice. Did they not run this past some of their gamer mates and think "yeah some folks may take issue with the way this sounds so we better hit it up with full reassurances and details".
Perhaps they thought that since TERA and EVE (will)have similar systems that this would go right under the radar.
Which makes no sense as as in those games you will be able to accumulate enough secondary currency to effectively play for free, thereby saving you money.
Which brings me to:
GW2 will have no sub so folks will have no issue with it. Hey, it was in the other game, wasn't it?
Yes it was but that was a different game. It was online co-op. GW2 will be an MMO and we as players know that MMOs cost money to run. It follows that Anet may pursue the GW2 cash shop with a bit more zeal than they did in GW1.
I have no stance personally as it's their game and they need dollars but it's just a shame to loose all the good momentum Anet had with their PR. They have enjoyed a somewhat, let's say, elevated position since the ToR launch. You would think they would have handled this better.
There is NO miracle patch.
95% of what you see in beta won't change by launch.
Hope is not a stategy.
______________________________
"This kind of topic is like one of those little cartoon boxes held up by a stick on a string, with a piece of meat under it. In other words, bait."
Before anyone posts, they really should read the full thread on the explanation of the Cash Shop and Gems
I feel this is a great system, regardless of whether or not there is a +10 Might potion for 5 minutes for 5 gems or 50 gold, I can either pay it up front, or play the game for a few hours and earn it.
And since all Armor and Weapons are equal in strength, You can spent 100 dollars getting them and play for 1 hour, I can play 5 hours and buy the exact same items. If you play 5 hours and still pay that 100 dollars, good for you, you just got the same exact item that I just got without spending 100 dollars. And in structure PVP only the skillful survived regardless of how much you spend.
And they also have Glory as PVP currency , Karma as currency and those items you won't be able to buy with real Money, only participation in the game earns you those.
So to all those that is against it without any justification, just go and educate yourself before you make a fool of yourself.
http://www.thetyrianorder.com/home/m/2850070/article/638922
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
Everyone who reads that already knows that Arenanet said they won't sell items that give an advantage like the uber sword of pwnage. The only people who will blow it out of proportion are those who dislike cash shops altogether and want to yell about it while fully knowing what was meant by the statement.
Many wil interpret this as meaning that as long as the sword of pwnage was available for gold then it would be OK to be in the shop. It's a minefield basically.
There is NO miracle patch.
95% of what you see in beta won't change by launch.
Hope is not a stategy.
______________________________
"This kind of topic is like one of those little cartoon boxes held up by a stick on a string, with a piece of meat under it. In other words, bait."
i dont think it's coincidence that this comes out the week prior to the beta nda lift. the new press articles and videos will quickly move this topic down the list in disscussion forums.
I've got the straight edge.
To all those that is afraid of +100 pwnage, you do understand that the cash shop only has
Flaming skin for that +100 pwnage you can buy anywhere else or this Super looking cool awesome skin for that +100 pwnage sword you have from that other merchant over there.
All items are equal in strength , already stated multiple times, confirmed by developers multiple times, every lvl 80 gear is the same in power, but if you want to pay $50 to look different than your friendly neighborhood Elementalist you can, but you will not be able to buy Armor or Weapons that is more powerful than everyone else.
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
I'm mostly out of ire on this issue, so I'm just going to say that it does matter. It really does.
(Obviously I'm directing that at the quote, not you, Kyleran!)
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
~Albert Einstein
Pretty much
I might get banned for this. - Rizel Star.
I'm not afraid to tell trolls what they [need] to hear, even if that means for me to have an forced absence afterwards.
P2P LOGIC = If it's P2P it means longevity, overall better game, and THE BEST SUPPORT EVER!!!!!(Which has been rinsed and repeated about a thousand times)
Common Sense Logic = P2P logic is no better than F2P Logic.
Many will interpret it however the hell they want because
1) Half will blindly defend the game no matter what
2) The other half heard "cash shop" and started frothing at the mouth and screaming "OMG P2W GG KTHXBYE"
OK, So I kinda fall in the first half. But guardedly. Anet's earliest posts on the cash shop model said they wanted something like what LoL does, and I think that's one of the few games that really nailed how to make a successful yet fair shop. On the other hand, there's always room for something to sneak by. But I'll worry about that when I see what's in the shop, and I'm frankly not really concerned that they'll do p2w stuff. Their statements thus far (even this one, poorly written as it is) seem to indicate that's the last thing they want.
I totally agree with you.
So...the logical conclusion is that they are being ambiguous intentionally. Which is what has been bothering me all along. They KNOW a lot of people aren't going to like it once they see the whole picture.
It bugs the heck out of me that they continue to market this completely from the in-game player's point of view...and completely ignore the other side of the issue...that literally everything in the entire economy can be bought with real money, and must therefore be worthless in order to avoid offering an advantage (extremely easy to acquire, strictly cosmetic, whatever). I don't think it's going to work quite that way. "It's all cosmetic" is a pretty lame and incomplete excuse...we're talking about the entire in-game economy here.
They are clearly going to sell advantages, either they'll be in the shop or you'll be able to get some valuable / worthwhile stuff in the AH. Either way...they will continue to explain those advantages away by calling them "time-savers" or "convenience" items... as if a temporary advantage is okay, regardless of how long it lasts.
If nothing in the game provided any advantage or value...nobody would buy anything, and clearly ArenaNet needs people to make use of the cash shop on a regular basis. It's ALL going to be about creating communal value (community need) for the items in the cash shop, and they'll do it in a multitude of complex, well-masked ways.
And they tried to call companies who charge a flat fee for the whole life of their game sleazy. LOL
We know gear specifically won't be sold on the cash shop. At least for now. I think the most worrisome thing right now is what are the "convenience items". If convenience items are things like pots that boost the rate of loot, karma, glory, or influence that are used to get gear, than these things do add up to a power boost in the long run. It does seem like they are going that route (look at the CE/DE temp items) so I'm hoping that it's so minor it doesn't really matter. I'm a supporter of the cash shop and want to spend money on cosmetic things to support Anet, but if I start seeing "convenience" items that actually translate into power boosts in the long run I don't think I'm going to be spending money on the cash shop if this is the case.
If ArenaNet stated "we won't sell a sword of pwnage" people would ask "but an axe?" or "but an armor of *try harder nex time, bitch*?".
If they stated "we sell scrolls that give you 10% exp gain boots for 1 hour for $5 and this and this armor skin" people would state "they are hiding all the good stuff until after the prepurchase".
No matter how ArenaNet tried, it could only fail with this kind of community. Not stating anything - they are hiding it. Stating "we won't sell pwnage items" - so, do they understand the same thing under "pwnage" as I do? Everyone has a different understanding anyways. And if they gave you a full list, people would either not accept it's the full list, or "it's the full list - for now. They can still change it after the pre-purchase".
If they said "we will disclose the full list on April, 6" (before the weekend) people would be like "not even a full week, how can we decide in so little time?". If they would promise not the change it before release, people would be like "but after?".
At the point that enough people decided they *deserve* some cash shop info right now, ArenaNet had "lost". There is no way to satisfiy a community that decides to take everything negative. Instead of being glad they released *some* info, or that repeatedely stated there won't be something unfair, that you can get everything through ingame gold etc., people try to beat the other guy for the worst possible scenario.
I'll wait to the day's end when the moon is high
And then I'll rise with the tide with a lust for life, I'll
Amass an army, and we'll harness a horde
And then we'll limp across the land until we stand at the shore
I think you're devaluing cosmetic items. Games like League of Legends prove that players will spend a decent amount of money to reskin their toon and make it stand out.
As to convenience items...I keep hearing rumors of xp boosters, which seem to freak people out. I don't get that. Yay. That dude hit max level a whopping 10% faster than I am. So...who cares? I get there a day or two later than he does. Levelling isn't a race, unless you're going for a world first achievement. I suppose there's people that care about that, but I doubt it's that many.
Other possible ideas for "convenience items" (these are all my own hypotheses) would be things like a summonable mailbox, repair station, etc. Again, could speed up levelling and dungeoning a bit, but I can't see where it gives any player an unfair gameplay-based advantage over another.