Guild Wars 2: Pre-Release Discussion

[Eanae]

It's not like you can buy every item in the game with straight cash. I bet if that happened that game would bomb right? /s

[Tonka]

Righto. Even if people buy gems just to sell them for gold, they can't* use that money to buy karma gear or dungeon tokens/gear.

*as far as I know.

[vrumpt]

https://buy.guildwars2.com/combo

:O

[Qalbert]

curiouser and curiouser

[Dantrag]

lol wtf arena net

[blindSharingan]

G4 is offering to answer any questions posted in the comments of this page about GW2 during the beta this weekend.

[Arximiro]

Being able to buy a magic find boost and a loot bag seems to be a little meh. Hopefully nothing hard to obtain/rare comes in this loot bag.

[bluefan]

I don't mind the boosts. I'll probably end up buying a few of them if I'm working on say...my 8th character.

[niwaar]

I agree on both sides. it's more like the "slippery slope" assessment. The XP boost you can buy from the shop may just be glorified rest xp, which, if you extensively purchase, will prolly cost you a decent amount to always have it active. Either way its kinda crossing the line between in-game advantage and being a little more than cosmetic.

On the one hand it will let you level faster than others, but, on the other hand, leveling faster doesn't equate to much in the long run.

Are they offering actual karma boosts in the cash shop?

The Karma boost is actually rather cheap if those screenshots can be believed. Its a decent % as well. Its still not pay2win, its just pay2notspendasmuchtime. I will be honest, the only surprises in the store screenshots were the sheer lack of pricepoint on most of these items. They are extremely cheap, Even the "random" packs are quite cheap. I am surprised to see the minipet random 3 pick are so incredibly cheap.

Yeah. In WvW, someone who is a higher level has better gear, traits, and skills unlocked. That said, a 50% off mob kills alone is not huge, seeing as how it looks like a bulk of the exp comes from events. And any advantage they might have, while marginal, is fleeting. They would have gotten to that level after a little bit of extra effort anyway.

Yes, if things are anything like they are in GW1, quests, missions, event xp will be the vast majority of your leveling experience. I seem to remember that there was some video of the Dungeon where the person said the dungeon itself only gave them about 10-15% of a level. Which is about on the right track.

Also note that unlike most games, GW2 does not have an exponential growth curve for TNL. So its a time thing and these boosts (if the screenshots can be believed and one can assume that 400gems = 5$) will be extremely cheap and a LOT of players will spend 5-10$ a month on the store.

So far I am quite happy with what I have seen from the store. The "buffs" and "consumables" are extremely cheap.

[Solace]

I would really like to know if the random dye and mini sets will give doubles of things you already have or if the system will be a bit smarter than that. Would hate to have to keep getting dye and minis over and over to complete sets on random chance.

I'm also not sure what "minis" are to begin with so if someone could clear that up for me it would be great.

[Tonka]

The Karma boost is actually rather cheap if those screenshots can be believed. Its a decent % as well. Its still not pay2win, its just pay2notspendasmuchtime. I will be honest, the only surprises in the store screenshots were the sheer lack of pricepoint on most of these items. They are extremely cheap, Even the "random" packs are quite cheap. I am surprised to see the minipet random 3 pick are so incredibly cheap.



Yes, if things are anything like they are in GW1, quests, missions, event xp will be the vast majority of your leveling experience. I seem to remember that there was some video of the Dungeon where the person said the dungeon itself only gave them about 10-15% of a level. Which is about on the right track.

Also note that unlike most games, GW2 does not have an exponential growth curve for TNL. So its a time thing and these boosts (if the screenshots can be believed and one can assume that 400gems = 5$) will be extremely cheap and a LOT of players will spend 5-10$ a month on the store.

So far I am quite happy with what I have seen from the store. The "buffs" and "consumables" are extremely cheap.

Yeah. It'll be $1.88 for an hour of mob killing exp buff. Nearly $2 an hour? No sane person would keep that up. Nearly a dollar an hour for the 20% Karma buff. That's pretty crazy to me.

Also:

Okay guys, if you did not get a beta key by now, you will not be in the test this weekend. Thanks for being patient! ~RB2

[vrumpt]

sad panda o well i can wait for april i suppose

[Tonka]

Still excited for the flood of info on our way.

[niwaar]

I would really like to know if the random dye and mini sets will give doubles of things you already have or if the system will be a bit smarter than that. Would hate to have to keep getting dye and minis over and over to complete sets on random chance.

I'm also not sure what "minis" are to begin with so if someone could clear that up for me it would be great.

Mini's are Arena.net's version of companion pets like wow. They are called mini's mostly because they are "miniature" versions of enemies, pets, and other things, including "bosses" at times.

I would assume that those Random Dye and Mini and Luck Boxes will in fact give you the same thing over and over. They are basically the same thing as the "Packs" that EA is selling in ME3 multiplayer. You get what you get and its a chance at something really rare and good, but its only guaranteeing something that is "meh". Its a gamble. Which is quite interesting considering some countries' recent attempts at stemming these types of "online virtual gambling". Remember the Korean government has been all over NCSoft recently about the % chances for items from similar "random" packs from Aion in that country.

Yeah. It'll be $1.88 for an hour of mob killing exp buff. Nearly $2 an hour? No sane person would keep that up. Nearly a dollar an hour for the 20% Karma buff. That's pretty crazy to me.

I dont think its about trying to keep that buff up. But yeah, 80cents for an hour of a karma buff when you intend on doing nothing but hearts for that hour? Its a "once or twice a month" purchase for some people for sure. They will sell enough of those to people that are not leaning towards the hardcore side of things. The people who play a couple hours a week and want to maximize their time. Not people like us who will drop 80+ hours in game the first week.

The stuff they will sell to the "heavy" gamer will more likely be the vanity stuff. The ringmaster hat, the pirate outfit, etc. I know a friend who will buy that stuff on day 1. He is one of those players that buys stupid stuff like a 2 year sub to Aion Magazine cause it came with exclusive emotes and outfits. I for one think some of the vanity items such as the dye and the pets are priced extremely on the cheap side for a buy2play game like GW2. I expected 10$ mini's not 3 for 3.50$~. I expected the "3 dyes for 6.99$" bit that Aion currently has. I think eventually we will see stuff like that, but I like where they are going thus far.

I just hope they do try and capitalize on something that NA/EU Aion never did and create and sell some interesting and fun emotes. Aion's special KPop dance emotes were some of the coolest things, but they never sold them outside of Korea. Aion's emote system was one of the most "fun" ancillary part of the game. I would like to see the store move in that direction instead of just temp buffs, plastic surgery and dyes/outfits/pets.

[GoggleHead]

Care to actually say why you disagree? I'm interested.

Because there's stuff in there that's more than cosmetic. Stuff like +10% exp for an hour might be a trivial in-game advantage but it's still an advantage that can be purchased for money. I don't like the idea of being able to buy your way to anything beyond maybe some amusing novelty hats, and even then I'm gonna take issue if there aren't equally spiffy hats available in-game.

Buying an advantage is still buying an advantage no matter how you try to spin it, and I strongly dislike what it represents, what it does to the game and what it has the potential to do to a game.

[Takiwaki]

I Think dance emotes are def gonna be in the cash shop simply due to not having any dance emotes In game yet lol

[Tonka]

I really really hope that if people take offense to the cash shop they just play a sub game rather than complain about something that will not go away.

[Zzsark]

I don't like the idea of being able to buy your way to anything beyond maybe some amusing novelty hats, and even then I'm gonna take issue if there aren't equally spiffy hats available in-game.

Maybe I'm missing something but since you can buy gems with gold isn't the item being in the 'cash shop' and being available in-game pretty much the same thing?

[Solace]

I like the fact that dyes are permanent and not like Aions one-time-use model.

[bluefan]

I really really hope that if people take offense to the cash shop they just play a sub game rather than complain about something that will not go away.

This.

People will always spend money on things they enjoy. Video games, even MMORPGs, are no exception.