Pre-Purchase for Guild Wars 2 Begins April 10th!

[KoD]

Just out of curiosity, what is the difference between the two?

didn't see anyone answer so:
Pre-purchase= You pay now and wait till the product is sent/picked up and pay nothing later
Pre-Order= you pay as soon as the product is in stock and sent to you/ Pay some now pay rest later if buying it at a shop (atleast how it works here)

[Dantrag]

Pre-order is usually like a $5 charge and then you get the full charge once the product is available and then you're given access if it's a digital copy.

[Eanae]

We will update the FAQ on the official Guild Wars 2 website soon. Here are the questions and answers we will include:

What do I get with a Pre-Purchase of the game?
Customers who pre-purchase the game in full will enjoy guaranteed access to our Beta Weekend Events, three-day Headstart Access to the final game, and five digital items designed to enhance your gameplay experience.

What if I don’t want to pay in full in advance?
In addition to Pre-Purchase, a number of our retail partners are offering a Pre-Order program. Customers who pre-order will receive one-day Headstart Access to the final game.

When do Beta Weekend Events (BWEs) start, and how many will there be?
The first BWE is currently planned for late April, and we expect to have one every month or so. The schedule is subject to change and will be confirmed at a later date. Currently, we do not know how many of these events we will have.

Is Pre-Purchase the only way to get into Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Events?
Pre-Purchase is the only guaranteed way to get into all Beta Weekend Events. We will also be running promotions for access to individual Beta Weekend Events.

I already signed up for the Guild Wars 2 Beta. Do I need to Pre-Purchase?
If you want to get guaranteed access to all Beta Weekend Events, yes, you must Pre-Purchase. Simply signing up for the Beta does not guarantee access to the Beta Weekend Events.

Which products are available for Pre-Purchase?
Customers will be able to Pre-Purchase the Guild Wars 2 Digital Edition and the Guild Wars 2 Digital Deluxe Edition directly from NCsoft. In addition to the digital products, certain retailers will also be offering physical Pre-Purchase of the Guild Wars 2 Standard Edition and the Guild Wars 2 Collector's Edition.

How does physical Pre-Purchase work?
Physical Pre-Purchase for Guild Wars 2 is only available at select retailers. The details of how this will work will differ slightly depending on which edition customers purchase and where they purchase it.
Standard Edition (North America) — Customers will buy the Standard Edition Pre-Purchase box and receive a Pre-Purchase serial code. They will then go to https://register.guildwars2.com and follow the on-screen instructions to create a Guild Wars 2 account and apply the serial code, which will give them access to Beta Weekend Events and three-day Headstart access to the final game. When Guild Wars 2 launches, customers will need to return to the retailer with proof of purchase to receive the full Standard Edition box and retail serial code. They will need to apply this retail serial code to their Guild Wars 2 account within five days to continue playing without interruption.
Standard Edition (Europe) — Customers will buy the Standard Edition Pre-Purchase box and receive their serial code. This is the only serial code customers will receive and will grant access to the Beta Weekend Events, three-day Headstart Access, the Hero's Band digital item, and full access to the final live game. Customers will not need to return to retail to receive another serial code.
Collector's Edition (North America and Europe) — Customers will buy the Collector's Edition Pre-Purchase box and receive a Pre-Purchase serial code. They will then go to https://register.guildwars2.com and follow the on-screen instructions to create a Guild Wars account and apply the serial code, which will give them access to Beta Weekend Events and three-day Headstart Access to the final game. When Guild Wars 2 launches, customers will need to return to their retailer with proof of purchase to receive the full Collector's Edition box with physical items and retail serial code. They will need to apply this retail serial code to their Guild Wars 2 account within five days to continue playing without interruption.

We will continue to monitor common questions and answers from all of our communities, and if appropriate, update the FAQ at a later date.

.

[Solace]

didn't see anyone answer so:
Pre-purchase= You pay now and wait till the product is sent/picked up and pay nothing later
Pre-Order= you pay as soon as the product is in stock and sent to you/ Pay some now pay rest later if buying it at a shop (atleast how it works here)

Pre-order is usually like a $5 charge and then you get the full charge once the product is available and then you're given access if it's a digital copy.

I see now. Thanks for clearing that up. When I order a video game I always pay the full amount so yeah, that makes sense.

[supercoco]

Digital Deluxe 74,99€ which is 20€ more expensive than buying the $ one.

sigh.

[Dantrag]

What does 1 to 1 $ to € translate to?

[Arelian]

1€ is about $1.3 USD as of right now. It fluctuates often enough.

[niwaar]

Arena net doesn't care about MoP. Can guarantee it.

Arena.net could care less, but its not Arena.net that has the last word on the release schedule, NCSoft does.

As someone else said, its not a subscriber issue, its a time issue. NCSoft has already spoken about the summer being a "dead" time for MMO startups because people are outside more and the fact that college students (still a huge portion of the gaming community) are not at school, which reduces the availability of high speed internet and decent PCs. I am not saying that the game will not come out in the summer, I just believe that one of the reasons we have not seen more information that would lead to dates on both Blizzard and Arena.net's camps is because they are waiting for each other to blink first.

[Rulke]

^ Blizzard blinked today apparently, D3 release date is May 15

[Dantrag]

I don't know. I don't see GW2 and D3 really competing at all. They're both B2P games. And they're completely different genres.

[bluefan]

I don't know. I don't see GW2 and D3 really competing at all. They're both B2P games. And they're completely different genres.

But for ArenaNet and Blizzard to make money from their respective game, people need to be playing them. So in a macro point of view, yes, they will be competing with one another.

[Eanae]

D3 is much more of a competition for GW2 than WoW is.

[Dantrag]

But for ArenaNet and Blizzard to make money from their respective game, people need to be playing them. So in a macro point of view, yes, they will be competing with one another.

Can't you say that about every single game?

[Katlan]

D3 is much more of a competition for GW2 than WoW is.

D3 just stabbed TERA in the heart lol. I think GW2 will be fine if its going for the expected late June/July release date

[bluefan]

Can't you say that about every single game?

No. Many games rely on one time box sales for their revenue. Bigger titles have their occasional DLC, but most of the revenue from the title comes from initial box sales. The development team has already moved onto working on a new project.

[Qalbert]

isn't GW2 essentially reliant on "one time box sales"

[Dantrag]

isn't GW2 essentially reliant on "one time box sales"

That's how I see it. I'm sure there will be plenty of people that will buy stuff from the shops but a majority of their cash flow will be from the boxes. And as with any B2P game you can buy a bunch of them. I'm pretty sure that Blizzard isn't banking microtransactions for most of their revenue, that's just a huge plus since they weren't able to get any money from rune/rare sales in D2.

[Eanae]

I'll be getting the extra warehouse space from their cash shop for sure.

[bluefan]

isn't GW2 essentially reliant on "one time box sales"

Yes and no. Initial box sales will help with recovering the cost of development, but it won't cover it all. The reason why GW was so successful was because of the smaller development team behind it, it's box sales and micro transactions.

I suspect GW2 will be the same. This is the sole title ArenaNet will be drawing revenue from for the next 5 years.

[Katlan]

it also pushes them to have more regular "content updates" since that's also a lot of their money