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Guild Wars 2 - Playing the Price - MMORPG.com
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Guild Wars 2 - Playing the Price - MMORPG.com
Guild Wars 2 has, since the release of Heart of Thorns, been slowly creeping deeper in to the micro-transaction pit. Customisation options for Gliders and Mounts, huge selling points for both expansion, are almost entirely gated behind the cash shop, and the RNG and gambling aspect of both the Black Lion Chests and Mount Adoption License have only added fuel to the fire.
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Just take a look at ESO: Every Mount in that game that was added after release is a crown store item! Houses for $100, expensive costumes & lootboxes everywhere, ... i think ESO' shop is even worse!
Way off topic & wrong place but i want to give ESO another shot, I own the base game from launch, how many xpacs have they released since, Is the game sub or B2P Now? Whats a DLC package go for to catch me up. To lazy to goggle all this info
Aloha Mr Hand !
(And to answer your question, it's B2P now.)
Now where does all this funding come from? Well, the most obvious answer is the players. The fine ground the development houses have to walk on is riddled with controversy right now because of some very large and greedy mistakes of companies.
A gaming company needs to find a stream of steady revenue. Yes, the loot box system right now tends to be the most greedy and ill planned one, but it is also the cash cow. This cash cow keeps the money flowing in for updates, expansions, marketing, lawsuits etc.
What can a game company do to keep pulling in revenue that keeps players happy?
Companies cannot operate for free, and without money games will get shut down. Here is a list of some of the positions it takes to keep a multiplayer game going: Developers, Artists, Community Managers, Network Engineers, Network Servers, Writers, Animators, QA Testers, Sound Engineers, Marketers, Lawyers, Environmental Designers, Engine Engineers, Project Managers etc.
So, I ask again, what model is the best model for a game? Keep in mind, with cosmetic gear, it has to be created from step one of concept all the way to deployment, before the company can sell it (Unless you are Star Citizen). At the point it goes from Concept to deployment it has touched most of the hands from the positions listed above, and a company could have sank thousands of dollars into making a skin that they might not break even on.
If , we were talking about advantages in-games, then I would of say "Good post", but we are talking about ..skins for the most part and so , your post is .. /qq .
"Players can be competitive in WvW, or in PvE, without spending a dime on the cash shop. You might not be the prettiest person in a raid, but you can definitely be the most effective without ever opening the Gem Store. Your raptor is the same speed as the celestial body, your springer will jump just as high as the arctic bunnies."
That's all it matters to me.
Reporter: What's behind Blizzard success, and how do you make your gamers happy?
Blizzard Boss: Making gamers happy is not my concern, making money.. yes!
The game released story driven content on a regular basis for free ( if you actually log in ), it often obtains gameplay updates and overall the general experience is completely B2P.
I mean, how do you expect a game to stay online and receive updates regularly if no profit is coming in? Devs need money too, and probably deserve more than average because they are providing quality content. When it comes to the gem store in GW2, it's super light compared to other BS stores ( looking at you SWTOR ). No features, no gameplay (excluding expansions obviously ), and no story are blocked behind a paywall ( again, excluding expansions ).
People want everything to be free, it doesn't work like that. Arenanet is super mild when it comes to MTs and complaints like this aren't valid in my eyes. If you want your mount to look like a freaking unicorn, spend the 5 bucks it takes to do so.
Beta tester maniac
What can a game company do to keep pulling in revenue that keeps players happy?
Expansions, like it used to BE.
Then you paid for content AND devs got $$. Nice huh!
It's not like games are something new...
microtransactions are only a way to milk to game, end of story.
Ok, but where are they getting the funding to develop this expansion? Are you going to pre-purchase it so that they have the funding to make this expansion to be released months later? What about updating current content in the game while players wait on the expansion? Is the company supposed to halt everything?
When a game hits steam, retailers or any other deployment source, they are usually using the money generated from the sales to re-coup what was lost in development.
So in your example, where are they getting the funding to pay the people to make the games expansion? Is the studio supposed to take out a loan from someone to end up paying back an additional 4%+ in interest? Do they go free trade and now the stock holders are telling you what type of content you need to put into your game (Thus EA)?
Game development costs money. Players shy away from Sub costs, they do not want Loot Boxes, they hate PTW micro transactions and some don't purchase cosmetics.
There is nothing to do, if you want skins you need to give your $$
And since there is no sense of progression in the game, the only thing left is customization, it's huge, but it's behind a huge paywall
I actually think the garden plot is a nice addition to the game and opens the doors to more future possibilities. Its also a lot more worth while than half of the items already in the gem store which are worthless fluff you don't need in order to play the game. Plus, you can always buy it with in-game gold conversion.
If you don't have the gold for it but still want it, than boom, you've got yourself a goal to raise up towards. If you can't bring yourself to make goals and get gold like everyone else, than your better off playing something else a bit easier. Like Hello Kitty online and Neopets.
You are kidding right? They've killed every way to effectively make money? What!? Are you sure you're playing Gw2? Making money in Guild Wars 2 was never this easy before. Especially after the last living story update. I crafted 2 second generation legendary in 2 months easily. You can farm the new metas, leather, t4 mai etc. You can even farm gold in wvw. I won't even talk about the old boss drops like eye or sam etc. That's why the gem prices getting higher. Because most of the players are not buying gems with real money anymore. It is so easy to just farm 100 gold in couple hours and buy 400 gems in the store. They have to release more expansive things in gem store to earn money. I already bought all the rng mount skins from gem shop without spending any real money on them. After playing Black Desert and Elder Scrolls Online, I just wanna punch anyone who says; "Anet is getting greedy" in the face. Sorry dude don't take it personal...
The crop thing will become P2W once they add the ascended food cooking into the game that is currently hidden in the game files. I expect food items to go up soon so I bought one plot myself. As always I use my ingame gold to buy gem store items. Money is easy if you just sell stacks of mats you know you aren't using.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
I dont think that counts because you seem like your living in that game. That might work if you are from a 3rd world country or disabled in some way, looking for a job etc. but if normal conditions are met, farming is out of reach, cause you dont have the time.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
So I would say pressure from the publisher to get the game generating more money, leading to more microtransactions.