Anet's profits depend entirely on how desirable these gems are. They will ensure that people want them. It is the nature of the beast.
Not entirely. The cash shop has the potential to be very significant, but keeping the average user happy has the potential to be just as significant or even more so because of sales of expansion content.
/math on
For lack of any better numbers, let's use the ones in that Puzzle Pirates article I keep referencing, which says that about 95% of people don't use the shop and the other 5% average $50 per month.
For a hypothetical one million players (could be any number), if 95% only buy a $60 yearly expansion, that's 57 million in revenue.
If the other 5% buy a $60 yearly expansion and also spend $50 per month in the cash shop, that's 33 million in revenue.
Definitely worthwhile to keep both groups happy.
Except its very very rare for an xpansion to have a 1 to 1 conversion rate. That being everyone who purchase the first game also purchase the expansion.
It's irrelevant to the calculation unless the two groups have different retention rates.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it."-Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
Regarding GW2, Mike O'Brien, the founder of the company
Btw founder: O'Brian is 1 out of 3 founders. The other 2 founders went to work at NCwest to control the production of GW2, ArenaNet was almost independent at that time. Not even a year later both left the company under mysterious circustances. Jeff Strain, who was the visionary and is generally awesome, took like a dozen employees with him and started a new company, Undead Labs. With a different publisher. 2nd guy left 1 month later and now works on TERA (!). The old PR guy quit at the same time. NCwest was hit by layoffs, and control has been back with NCsoft ever since.
So, yeah... ArenaNet can promise all sorts of things, but the publisher gets to call the shots in the end. Especially when NCsoft owns ArenaNet. Just saying.
But hey..there absolutely no cause for concern whatsoever.
It's not like the company has revised ther description of the shop once or twice......oh wait.
WEll, it's not like they have been trying to price gouge the potential custoemers for the CE...oh wait.
It's not like there are no questionable items in the game for advantage......oh wait.
hmm
How excited are you about TSW, knowing that the game will have a box fee, subscription fee and a cash shop. Especially when you have a prime example of the nickel and diming that goes on in the AoC and AO cash shops?
Anet's profits depend entirely on how desirable these gems are. They will ensure that people want them. It is the nature of the beast.
Not entirely. The cash shop has the potential to be very significant, but keeping the average user happy has the potential to be just as significant or even more so because of sales of expansion content.
/math on
For lack of any better numbers, let's use the ones in that Puzzle Pirates article I keep referencing, which says that about 95% of people don't use the shop and the other 5% average $50 per month.
For a hypothetical one million players (could be any number), if 95% only buy a $60 yearly expansion, that's 57 million in revenue.
If the other 5% buy a $60 yearly expansion and also spend $50 per month in the cash shop, that's 33 million in revenue.
Definitely worthwhile to keep both groups happy.
Except its very very rare for an xpansion to have a 1 to 1 conversion rate. That being everyone who purchase the first game also purchase the expansion.
It doesn't have to be a 1 to 1 conversion in order for it to be profitable. The first GW has sold over 6 million copies across 3 campaigns.
I didn't say that, but in order for the model cali used to be true it does. Now if say only half of those who buy the first game are intrested in the expansion, then the cash shop users are generating more profit then the box sales.
Now just because the cash shop is generating more profit doesn't mean there not also making money off box sales as well.
I've always said cash shop companies walk a line that is allowed by that user base and that line is to make as much money off the cash shop while not completly pissing off those who don't. When you say its ok cause I have faith your telling them ok push a little more.
I'd personally have alot more faith if Strain was still there.
Anet's profits depend entirely on how desirable these gems are. They will ensure that people want them. It is the nature of the beast.
Not entirely. The cash shop has the potential to be very significant, but keeping the average user happy has the potential to be just as significant or even more so because of sales of expansion content.
/math on
For lack of any better numbers, let's use the ones in that Puzzle Pirates article I keep referencing, which says that about 95% of people don't use the shop and the other 5% average $50 per month.
For a hypothetical one million players (could be any number), if 95% only buy a $60 yearly expansion, that's 57 million in revenue.
If the other 5% buy a $60 yearly expansion and also spend $50 per month in the cash shop, that's 33 million in revenue.
Definitely worthwhile to keep both groups happy.
Except its very very rare for an xpansion to have a 1 to 1 conversion rate. That being everyone who purchase the first game also purchase the expansion.
It's irrelevant to the calculation unless the two groups have different retention rates.
Show me a frequent Lotro cash shop user who doesn't purchase every xpac.
I can show you a lotro player who doesn't purchase every expansion.
2. It may be that the gold was already there, however, the item of value being traded for was not. If in the day of GW2's infant life, you go out and earn say 100G. How much Gold is in the economy contributed by you? (Answer 100G) Now, I purchase 100G worth of Gems and trade it with you.
You now have 100G in gems and I have 100G. So what happened. How did we just double the economy?
...
You didn't. The gems have no value in the game economy. They only transfer gold and allow access to items in the store. No vendors will take your gems. You can't purchase any buffs with gems. They're non-currency in game, only used for store access.
Buy trading that gem, you did not lose anything of value.
We both in essence have 100G
Now: I'll give you this. Its not known how easy it will be to liquidate the gem, but it IS currency. It's one part of a currency system and they will be spawned from nothing.
You're actually wrong... you are out the 100g. You no longer have the 100g, you have gems that you cannot spend in the game. Try it... go find a vendor somewhere, anywhere, that takes gems. You won't be able to. Gems only provide store access.
Regarding GW2, Mike O'Brien, the founder of the company
Btw founder: O'Brian is 1 out of 3 founders. The other 2 founders went to work at NCwest to control the production of GW2, ArenaNet was almost independent at that time. Not even a year later both left the company under mysterious circustances. Jeff Strain, who was the visionary and is generally awesome, took like a dozen employees with him and started a new company, Undead Labs. With a different publisher. 2nd guy left 1 month later and now works on TERA (!). The old PR guy quit at the same time. NCwest was hit by layoffs, and control has been back with NCsoft ever since.
So, yeah... ArenaNet can promise all sorts of things, but the publisher gets to call the shots in the end. Especially when NCsoft owns ArenaNet. Just saying.
Last I heard Undead Labs is now contracted for i think its 2 Xbox games published by MS. I often wonder myself what went on at NcWest that prompted these two to leave during the production of GW2. Esp for Tera. when its a sub based game and thats why they left blizzard.
Strain with MS makes sense in a way, he can keep the dlc stuff to content only more along the lines of his 'vision'
Anet's profits depend entirely on how desirable these gems are. They will ensure that people want them. It is the nature of the beast.
Not entirely. The cash shop has the potential to be very significant, but keeping the average user happy has the potential to be just as significant or even more so because of sales of expansion content.
/math on
For lack of any better numbers, let's use the ones in that Puzzle Pirates article I keep referencing, which says that about 95% of people don't use the shop and the other 5% average $50 per month.
For a hypothetical one million players (could be any number), if 95% only buy a $60 yearly expansion, that's 57 million in revenue.
If the other 5% buy a $60 yearly expansion and also spend $50 per month in the cash shop, that's 33 million in revenue.
Definitely worthwhile to keep both groups happy.
Except its very very rare for an xpansion to have a 1 to 1 conversion rate. That being everyone who purchase the first game also purchase the expansion.
It doesn't have to be a 1 to 1 conversion in order for it to be profitable. The first GW has sold over 6 million copies across 3 campaigns.
I didn't say that, but in order for the model cali used to be true it does. Now if say only half of those who buy the first game are intrested in the expansion, then the cash shop users are generating more profit then the box sales.
Now just because the cash shop is generating more profit doesn't mean there not also making money off box sales as well.
I've always said cash shop companies walk a line that is allowed by that user base and that line is to make as much money off the cash shop while not completly pissing off those who don't. When you say its ok cause I have faith your telling them ok push a little more.
I'd personally have alot more faith if Strain was still there.
I'm not OK with most cash shops. I'm OK with ANet's cash shops. For now, I don't see anything gamebreaking and when I do, I will be the first to say so.
One thing about ANet is that not only do they have a cash shop in GW1 that is completely optional but they are also very receptive to feedback from the community and are pretty serious about it. So if there is anything gamebreaking, I have a feeling that it will be either removed or changed.
But hey..there absolutely no cause for concern whatsoever.
It's not like the company has revised ther description of the shop once or twice......oh wait.
WEll, it's not like they have been trying to price gouge the potential custoemers for the CE...oh wait.
It's not like there are no questionable items in the game for advantage......oh wait.
hmm
How excited are you about TSW, knowing that the game will have a box fee, subscription fee and a cash shop. Especially when you have a prime example of the nickel and diming that goes on in the AoC and AO cash shops?
TSW is not on my rader.
I have no point of reference in AoCs Cash shop other than what I've read in these boards
But it was the AO cash shop that drove me from my favorite game.
And that is really as far as I will go on that topic in this thread.
But hey..there absolutely no cause for concern whatsoever.
It's not like the company has revised ther description of the shop once or twice......oh wait.
WEll, it's not like they have been trying to price gouge the potential custoemers for the CE...oh wait.
It's not like there are no questionable items in the game for advantage......oh wait.
hmm
How excited are you about TSW, knowing that the game will have a box fee, subscription fee and a cash shop. Especially when you have a prime example of the nickel and diming that goes on in the AoC and AO cash shops?
TSW is not on my rader.
I have no point of reference in AoCs Cash shop other than what I've read in these boards
But it was the AO cash shop that drove me from my favorite game.
And that is really as far as I will go on that topic in this thread.
I can respect that. In reference to those AO links earlier in the thread, keep in mind though that ANet is not Funcom, so you can't use one as reference to the other.
But hey..there absolutely no cause for concern whatsoever.
It's not like the company has revised ther description of the shop once or twice......oh wait.
WEll, it's not like they have been trying to price gouge the potential custoemers for the CE...oh wait.
It's not like there are no questionable items in the game for advantage......oh wait.
hmm
Which items exactly? Just curious because i have still yet to see anything.
How are they price gouging for the CE. Its something extra that if you feel is worth it you buy it, if you dont feel its worth it you dont.
Advantages yea i guess, exp boost is an advantage, its also in game not just cash shop
they've always stated cs was similar to gw1 which it is besides the gem -> gold
there was an example of questionable items earlier in this thread.....I am not saying they are the lynch pin....just raise and eybrow for me.
The price gouging is what they are doign to the EU paying customer. They are charging way more than the difference.
Gauging EU customers is pretty standard practice now, isn't it? Their justification for the EU price was a bit wierd to me. Then again, I'm not familiar with the prices of international shipping and distribution so I can't really say anything about it.
Except that NCSoft is responsible for the publishing. ANet is the developer. Whatever issues you may have with EU prices, should be communicated to NCSoft.
Edit: On a personal note, this is why I never buy CE's. They are generally overpriced and I rarely have use for the stuff they contain.
How are they price gouging for the CE. Its something extra that if you feel is worth it you buy it, if you dont feel its worth it you dont.
they've always stated cs was similar to gw1 which it is besides the gem -> gold
CE and DE has an elite skill you can only get from those editions. Normal eds, you don't start with an elite skill, again a WvW win conflict. There's also Influence and PvP reward boost in those editions. I don't really care about the price, it's the fact that an elite skill in what was supposed to be a fair PvP focused game series is only obtainable in CE or DE.
The cash shop was not similar to the GW1 cash shop the majority of players had because the cash shop crap was added after the game died.
Anet's profits depend entirely on how desirable these gems are. They will ensure that people want them. It is the nature of the beast.
Not entirely. The cash shop has the potential to be very significant, but keeping the average user happy has the potential to be just as significant or even more so because of sales of expansion content.
/math on
For lack of any better numbers, let's use the ones in that Puzzle Pirates article I keep referencing, which says that about 95% of people don't use the shop and the other 5% average $50 per month.
For a hypothetical one million players (could be any number), if 95% only buy a $60 yearly expansion, that's 57 million in revenue.
If the other 5% buy a $60 yearly expansion and also spend $50 per month in the cash shop, that's 33 million in revenue.
Definitely worthwhile to keep both groups happy.
Except its very very rare for an xpansion to have a 1 to 1 conversion rate. That being everyone who purchase the first game also purchase the expansion.
It's irrelevant to the calculation unless the two groups have different retention rates.
Show me a frequent Lotro cash shop user who doesn't purchase every xpac.
I can show you a lotro player who doesn't purchase every expansion.
Actually, if anything, what you're saying shows that the non-shop users are the ones the company needs to worry about.
If we imagine that the number of shop users is fixed and if they have 100% retention and if the amount of money they spend is also fixed, then their amount of generated revenue is constant.
In this scenario, it makes sense to do whatever is necessary to hold on to as many non-shop users as possible. If everyone buys an expansion, you get 57 million. If none are retained, then you get nothing. It will end up being something in the middle. The point is that these are the people who you can't afford to piss off by making a shop P2W.
We can challenge these assumptions if you want, but I don't know that we have to drag out this hypothetical example with made up numbers based on Puzzle Pirates revenue. It was just an example to show that expansions make the non-shop users a very significant presence and that ArenaNet is not entirely dependent on a cash shop.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it."-Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
European countries are free to create their own AAA MMO's any time they want to start.
They'd even be free to price gouge the American/Eastern markets too!
If not, well it's a two player market.
Thats funny that you say this because the first Guild War was actually more successful in Europe then anyplace else. Germany in particular bought more copies of the first game then any place else.
How are they price gouging for the CE. Its something extra that if you feel is worth it you buy it, if you dont feel its worth it you dont.
they've always stated cs was similar to gw1 which it is besides the gem -> gold
CE and DE has an elite skill you can only get from those editions. Normal eds, you don't start with an elite skill, again a WvW win conflict. There's also Influence and PvP reward boost in those editions. I don't really care about the price, it's the fact that an elite skill in what was supposed to be a fair PvP focused game series is only obtainable in CE or DE.
The cash shop was not similar to the GW1 cash shop the majority of players had because the cash shop crap was added after the game died.
It has been stated time and time again by the developers that racial elite skills and the CE/DE elite skill will be weaker than class elite skills. The CE/DE skill is mostly flavor and if you're going to use it instead of a class elite, you're probably gimping your character.
The rest of the stuff is one time use abilities. Hardly overpowered.
How are they price gouging for the CE. Its something extra that if you feel is worth it you buy it, if you dont feel its worth it you dont.
they've always stated cs was similar to gw1 which it is besides the gem -> gold
CE and DE has an elite skill you can only get from those editions. Normal eds, you don't start with an elite skill, again a WvW win conflict. There's also Influence and PvP reward boost in those editions. I don't really care about the price, it's the fact that an elite skill in what was supposed to be a fair PvP focused game series is only obtainable in CE or DE.
The cash shop was not similar to the GW1 cash shop the majority of players had because the cash shop crap was added after the game died.
In no way or form does it say you can use that elite skill at level 1. you dont unlock the slot for your elite skill until level 30. and if its anything like "the hounds of bathazar" or however you spell it, or any other racilal elite for that matter it will be for show.
the other 2 i can see your issue but im fine with them the way the game is set up. if it was like Aion for instance and gave you abyss points, or any other game with PVP gear that has PVP % on them i would be worried
Source on the devs repeatedly saying the CE elite skill is an underpowered version of racials please? Never seen that one before.
Wouldn't really trust in their word anymore, considering on the PC gamer interview about microtransactions/gems they try justifying that stuff because GW2 is oh so like a F2P game, except you pay for it and make up various excuses. They don't mention the paying part though. One of their big excuses is that we gotta play together because we're friends, but friend A doesn't play often! What can we do but add gems and microtransactions?! I thought scaling down/sidekicking fixes that.
Source on the devs repeatedly saying the CE elite skill is an underpowered version of racials please? Never seen that one before.
I haven't seen any confirmation that the Deluxe Edition Elite skill is an underpowered version of a racial, it seems a speculation. It's certainly not going to be more powerful than another elite. It might just be a modified version of Hounds of Balthazar but to give one wolf. http://www.guildwarsinsider.com/gw2-human-elite-skill-hounds-balthazar/
Everyone says racial elites cannot be used in Structured PVP but I can't seem to track down the original quote that says that. If that is the case, it makes sense that the Mistfire Wolf would not be allowed in Structured PVP either.
I did find this which speaks to the power level of the racials themselves.
The most recent trailer showed us GW2's five races. Does each race have unique abilities, and how important will they be when choosing a character?
Eric Flannum: Each of the five races has unique skills available to them. Our philosophy behind the design of these racial skills is that they are slightly weaker than equivalent skills determined by profession. While they may be less powerful, the racial skills capture the flavor of each race and provide additional options for the player. For example, a human playing a profession that normally doesn’t have a good way of dealing with conditions could take the “Prayer to Kormyr” racial skill, which removes a condition but is a fair bit weaker than comparable skills provided by a profession specializing in condition removal. By doing this, we hope to give the various races access to skills that make them feel unique without making them overpowered when played as a particular profession.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it."-Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
Source on the devs repeatedly saying the CE elite skill is an underpowered version of racials please? Never seen that one before.
Wouldn't really trust in their word anymore, considering on the PC gamer interview about microtransactions/gems they try justifying that stuff because GW2 is oh so like a F2P game, except you pay for it and make up various excuses. They don't mention the paying part though. One of their big excuses is that we gotta play together because we're friends, but friend A doesn't play often! What can we do but add gems and microtransactions?! I thought scaling down/sidekicking fixes that.
side kicking and down scaling does not fix that. It just allows you to play with friends.
The cash shop allows you to buy conveniences. It's just an added luxury. For most people it defeats the purpose of the game. Fast forwarding through the dynamic events, serves no purpose. Only if all you are about is WvWvW at lvl 80.
But you can level to lvl 80 by strictly doing WvW.
They are only doing what they did in GW1. You bought skill packs which was took hundreds of hours. Nobody cared, because the fun and challenge of the game, was to collect those skills. Same here. buying experiences boosts, and whatever... it has no hindering on the player.
All this is, is people who care about what other people do with their time and money. If they started focusing on themselves, then maybe they wouldn't sound like such unhappy gamers who complain about the most silly things:(
Doesn't matter how much gold you have. You can't do shit without supply. Do your research next time.
Not really roadblock, your side is going to want to hold/keep supply objectivies anyhow(to upgrade keeps, rebuild doors etc).
His point still stands, someone who buys gems with $ and trades to gold can buy more Seige weapons, thus a advantage without any "in-game" progression or play.
Its funny watching all the people with GW2 sigs race to white knight any thread/post that may even be a "Slight" negative towards the game.
Funny, mostly I see them racing to correct the vast amount of misinformation and the idiots who are spewing it without a thought for doing any research on their own. /shrug Guess I just don't perceive the responses the same way you do. I left my under the bridge dweller goggles on my desk. Shucks.
Guess we'll all just see how it comes out in the wash. Personally, I'm not convinced that Anet will ruin their game by being less than stringent with their cash shop. But time will tell.
Comments
Not you.....so bye
But hey..there absolutely no cause for concern whatsoever.
It's not like the company has revised ther description of the shop once or twice......oh wait.
WEll, it's not like they have been trying to price gouge the potential custoemers for the CE...oh wait.
It's not like there are no questionable items in the game for advantage......oh wait.
hmm
It's irrelevant to the calculation unless the two groups have different retention rates.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." -Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
Btw founder: O'Brian is 1 out of 3 founders. The other 2 founders went to work at NCwest to control the production of GW2, ArenaNet was almost independent at that time. Not even a year later both left the company under mysterious circustances. Jeff Strain, who was the visionary and is generally awesome, took like a dozen employees with him and started a new company, Undead Labs. With a different publisher. 2nd guy left 1 month later and now works on TERA (!). The old PR guy quit at the same time. NCwest was hit by layoffs, and control has been back with NCsoft ever since.
So, yeah... ArenaNet can promise all sorts of things, but the publisher gets to call the shots in the end. Especially when NCsoft owns ArenaNet. Just saying.
Hype train -> Reality
How excited are you about TSW, knowing that the game will have a box fee, subscription fee and a cash shop. Especially when you have a prime example of the nickel and diming that goes on in the AoC and AO cash shops?
I didn't say that, but in order for the model cali used to be true it does. Now if say only half of those who buy the first game are intrested in the expansion, then the cash shop users are generating more profit then the box sales.
Now just because the cash shop is generating more profit doesn't mean there not also making money off box sales as well.
I've always said cash shop companies walk a line that is allowed by that user base and that line is to make as much money off the cash shop while not completly pissing off those who don't. When you say its ok cause I have faith your telling them ok push a little more.
I'd personally have alot more faith if Strain was still there.
Show me a frequent Lotro cash shop user who doesn't purchase every xpac.
I can show you a lotro player who doesn't purchase every expansion.
You're actually wrong... you are out the 100g. You no longer have the 100g, you have gems that you cannot spend in the game. Try it... go find a vendor somewhere, anywhere, that takes gems. You won't be able to. Gems only provide store access.
Oderint, dum metuant.
Last I heard Undead Labs is now contracted for i think its 2 Xbox games published by MS. I often wonder myself what went on at NcWest that prompted these two to leave during the production of GW2. Esp for Tera. when its a sub based game and thats why they left blizzard.
Strain with MS makes sense in a way, he can keep the dlc stuff to content only more along the lines of his 'vision'
I'm not OK with most cash shops. I'm OK with ANet's cash shops. For now, I don't see anything gamebreaking and when I do, I will be the first to say so.
One thing about ANet is that not only do they have a cash shop in GW1 that is completely optional but they are also very receptive to feedback from the community and are pretty serious about it. So if there is anything gamebreaking, I have a feeling that it will be either removed or changed.
Which items exactly? Just curious because i have still yet to see anything.
The "Youtube Pro": Someone who watches video's on said subject, and obviously has a full understanding of what is being said about such subject.
How are they price gouging for the CE. Its something extra that if you feel is worth it you buy it, if you dont feel its worth it you dont.
Advantages yea i guess, exp boost is an advantage, its also in game not just cash shop
they've always stated cs was similar to gw1 which it is besides the gem -> gold
TSW is not on my rader.
I have no point of reference in AoCs Cash shop other than what I've read in these boards
But it was the AO cash shop that drove me from my favorite game.
And that is really as far as I will go on that topic in this thread.
there was an example of questionable items earlier in this thread.....I am not saying they are the lynch pin....just raise and eybrow for me.
The price gouging is what they are doign to the EU paying customer. They are charging way more than the difference.
I can respect that. In reference to those AO links earlier in the thread, keep in mind though that ANet is not Funcom, so you can't use one as reference to the other.
Gauging EU customers is pretty standard practice now, isn't it? Their justification for the EU price was a bit wierd to me. Then again, I'm not familiar with the prices of international shipping and distribution so I can't really say anything about it.
Except that NCSoft is responsible for the publishing. ANet is the developer. Whatever issues you may have with EU prices, should be communicated to NCSoft.
Edit: On a personal note, this is why I never buy CE's. They are generally overpriced and I rarely have use for the stuff they contain.
European countries are free to create their own AAA MMO's any time they want to start.
They'd even be free to price gouge the American/Eastern markets too!
If not, well it's a two player market.
CE and DE has an elite skill you can only get from those editions. Normal eds, you don't start with an elite skill, again a WvW win conflict. There's also Influence and PvP reward boost in those editions. I don't really care about the price, it's the fact that an elite skill in what was supposed to be a fair PvP focused game series is only obtainable in CE or DE.
The cash shop was not similar to the GW1 cash shop the majority of players had because the cash shop crap was added after the game died.
Actually, if anything, what you're saying shows that the non-shop users are the ones the company needs to worry about.
If we imagine that the number of shop users is fixed and if they have 100% retention and if the amount of money they spend is also fixed, then their amount of generated revenue is constant.
In this scenario, it makes sense to do whatever is necessary to hold on to as many non-shop users as possible. If everyone buys an expansion, you get 57 million. If none are retained, then you get nothing. It will end up being something in the middle. The point is that these are the people who you can't afford to piss off by making a shop P2W.
We can challenge these assumptions if you want, but I don't know that we have to drag out this hypothetical example with made up numbers based on Puzzle Pirates revenue. It was just an example to show that expansions make the non-shop users a very significant presence and that ArenaNet is not entirely dependent on a cash shop.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." -Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
Thats funny that you say this because the first Guild War was actually more successful in Europe then anyplace else. Germany in particular bought more copies of the first game then any place else.
Their best customers are the one their gouging.
It has been stated time and time again by the developers that racial elite skills and the CE/DE elite skill will be weaker than class elite skills. The CE/DE skill is mostly flavor and if you're going to use it instead of a class elite, you're probably gimping your character.
The rest of the stuff is one time use abilities. Hardly overpowered.
In no way or form does it say you can use that elite skill at level 1. you dont unlock the slot for your elite skill until level 30. and if its anything like "the hounds of bathazar" or however you spell it, or any other racilal elite for that matter it will be for show.
the other 2 i can see your issue but im fine with them the way the game is set up. if it was like Aion for instance and gave you abyss points, or any other game with PVP gear that has PVP % on them i would be worried
Source on the devs repeatedly saying the CE elite skill is an underpowered version of racials please? Never seen that one before.
Wouldn't really trust in their word anymore, considering on the PC gamer interview about microtransactions/gems they try justifying that stuff because GW2 is oh so like a F2P game, except you pay for it and make up various excuses. They don't mention the paying part though. One of their big excuses is that we gotta play together because we're friends, but friend A doesn't play often! What can we do but add gems and microtransactions?! I thought scaling down/sidekicking fixes that.
I haven't seen any confirmation that the Deluxe Edition Elite skill is an underpowered version of a racial, it seems a speculation. It's certainly not going to be more powerful than another elite. It might just be a modified version of Hounds of Balthazar but to give one wolf. http://www.guildwarsinsider.com/gw2-human-elite-skill-hounds-balthazar/
Everyone says racial elites cannot be used in Structured PVP but I can't seem to track down the original quote that says that. If that is the case, it makes sense that the Mistfire Wolf would not be allowed in Structured PVP either.
I did find this which speaks to the power level of the racials themselves.
http://www.incgamers.com/Interviews/250/guild-wars-2-developer-interview/1
The most recent trailer showed us GW2's five races. Does each race have unique abilities, and how important will they be when choosing a character?
Eric Flannum: Each of the five races has unique skills available to them. Our philosophy behind the design of these racial skills is that they are slightly weaker than equivalent skills determined by profession. While they may be less powerful, the racial skills capture the flavor of each race and provide additional options for the player. For example, a human playing a profession that normally doesn’t have a good way of dealing with conditions could take the “Prayer to Kormyr” racial skill, which removes a condition but is a fair bit weaker than comparable skills provided by a profession specializing in condition removal. By doing this, we hope to give the various races access to skills that make them feel unique without making them overpowered when played as a particular profession.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." -Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
side kicking and down scaling does not fix that. It just allows you to play with friends.
The cash shop allows you to buy conveniences. It's just an added luxury. For most people it defeats the purpose of the game. Fast forwarding through the dynamic events, serves no purpose. Only if all you are about is WvWvW at lvl 80.
But you can level to lvl 80 by strictly doing WvW.
They are only doing what they did in GW1. You bought skill packs which was took hundreds of hours. Nobody cared, because the fun and challenge of the game, was to collect those skills. Same here. buying experiences boosts, and whatever... it has no hindering on the player.
All this is, is people who care about what other people do with their time and money. If they started focusing on themselves, then maybe they wouldn't sound like such unhappy gamers who complain about the most silly things:(
Funny, mostly I see them racing to correct the vast amount of misinformation and the idiots who are spewing it without a thought for doing any research on their own. /shrug Guess I just don't perceive the responses the same way you do. I left my under the bridge dweller goggles on my desk. Shucks.
Guess we'll all just see how it comes out in the wash. Personally, I'm not convinced that Anet will ruin their game by being less than stringent with their cash shop. But time will tell.
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