ArenaNet Explains Guild Wars 2 Microtransactions

[DTWolfwood]

there is a reason ppl don't get angry about microtransactions, they are always optional. Up to this point no one is stupid enough as to put game breaking items into it. So all is well with the world of F2P gaming (though GW2 isn't F2P, you still have to pay upfront for the game.)

Fun Fact: The average spender in F2P games spend more money in a shorter amount of time than someone who plays a P2P game. (I can vouch for that back when i played RoM with my gf, $120 in 3 months...hurts thinking about it XD)

 

[Aprilgold]

I hope it's only for cosmetic stuff. At the very least something that doesn't cost MILLIONS to farm for in game.

Something like League of Legends.

Most likely thats what its going to be. If it follows its first games examples. I'm guessing from the bonus when you pre-order the game is a little dude that will let you access your bank from anywhere in the world for three days. I'm guessing that if it is like Guild Wars One then there might be a item for transportation to any city instantly for X time or uses?

Eh. I'm very cautious of a game you have to put money down for having microtransations.

Especially the awful reputations that have been set by games doing it in the past.

Did everyone get bonked on the head and forget when games like LoL did it well? Theres nothing to worry about until there is something to worry about.

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I hope they retain that balance, but even if it becomes broken because of the Cash-Shop I'll still probably play it.

 

[The Lunatic]

Eh. I'm very cautious of a game you have to put money down for having microtransations.

Especially the awful reputations that have been set by games doing it in the past.

Did everyone get bonked on the head and forget when games like LoL did it well? Theres nothing to worry about until there is something to worry about.

LoL is a free to play game, you can let a lot of the things slide as it's free.

Guild Wars is a game you have to spend money upon before you can play it.

This changes things significantly.

 

[lapan]

As long as the microdistractions are similar to GW1 i have no problems with it. GW1 did a good job about the microtransactions being entirely optional. You only could buy costumes, some inventory space, some short optional singleplayer-missions and an additional hero who would look like one of your characters.

 

[Keava]

Eh. I'm very cautious of a game you have to put money down for having microtransations.

Especially the awful reputations that have been set by games doing it in the past.

Every subscription based MMO has micro-transactions tho, just people got fooled by the PR that "account services" are something different. They aren't. Those are automated scripts that change a single string in database.

WoW has mounts, minipets, name changes, server transfers, race changes, etc., on top of 15$/month payment and paid expansions.

EVE has name change/transfering characters between accounts, subscription fee, vanity cash shop and PLEXes (game time cards You can change into in-game currency and vice versa)

In games like GW2, where You only pay for box I consider cash shop as a way for me to tip the developers if I'll enjoy the game. Spending 10-15$ every now and then for some fancy looking set of gear is not really a big problem, and the way gear progression works in GW2 pretty much makes "i win" items impossible to exist.

Even stuff like XP boosts don't really offer more advantage than simply having more free time to play the game. Month down the road plenty of people will be level capped anyway and structured, competitive PvP has "pre-made" maxed out characters so everyone has equal stats/gear.

 

[isometry]

It's the same thing as selling power, a new player can get any and all tradeable items in a single day by racking up a large credit card bill and trading with other players. It's true that not all of the best items will be tradeable, but some of them will be.

Another problem is that just because items are cosmetic doesn't make them less desirable. This means you either have to deny yourself something you want, or give in to a constant stream of payments. If you deny yourself then you might end up resenting all the time that the developers spend working on micro-transaction items, and if you give in it's easy at first but can quickly get out of hand and lead to resentment as well.

There are also some large positives of micro-transactions. It funds more development on the game. It is the most effective way to fight MMO inflation (because lots of newbies spend real money to get gold when they start, so when they quit they take way more gold out of the system than they otherwise would have). These things are nice, but ultimately it's not worth it for me, as an MMO gamer. Selling power sucks the life out of things, and the micro-transactions just lead to resentment in the long run, for me.

 

[Keava]

It's true that not all of the best items will be tradeable, but some of them will be.

There are no "best" items in Guild Wars. People need to stop applying treadmill MMO logic to a game that eliminates that aspect. Every item, at given level, has exact same "power". As long as you use level appropriate gear You can't be out-geared by same level player. Simple as that. No tier gear progression. None. Nada. Zero. Null.

Second thing is: gems (the MT currency) will only be worth as much as players are willing to pay for it. There is no NPC that will change your gold into gems and vice versa. You have to put them on Trading Post and someone has to buy them. That means that the more gems there will be on market the lower the price/gem will be. This also means that for people who don't want to spend real money on all the vanity/convenience stuff it offers a nice gold sink, something MMOs so far have really been struggling with (at start of Cata I had about 960k gold, after 3 weeks in ToR I had over 3 mil credits, without grinding or playing the market, just normal questing and there was nothing in game I could spend that money on).

Third: it directly affects illegal RMT viability in game. People are more likely to obtain additional gold through Trade Post than risk getting slapped by banhammer or getting their account hacked while using gold farmer services.

 

[The Lunatic]

Even stuff like XP boosts don't really offer more advantage than simply having more free time to play the game. Month down the road plenty of people will be level capped anyway and structured, competitive PvP has "pre-made" maxed out characters so everyone has equal stats/gear.

MMOs are basically time sinks.

The entire concept is more or less, "You invest more time, you get better".

The moment you start selling "Time-savers", you're basically selling power.

 

[Keava]

Even stuff like XP boosts don't really offer more advantage than simply having more free time to play the game. Month down the road plenty of people will be level capped anyway and structured, competitive PvP has "pre-made" maxed out characters so everyone has equal stats/gear.

MMOs are basically time sinks.

The entire concept is more or less, "You invest more time, you get better".

The moment you start selling "Time-savers", you're basically selling power.

Except not really so much with Guild Wars. It's not a game You have to absolutely dedicate Your whole life to, like WoW or most of post-EQ MMOs. It's a game You buy once and then hop in and out of as you please.
You don't even have to level to cap to be able to play in structured competitive PvP (you will always be 80 lvl there, with pre made gear), the gear progression is horizontal not vertical (you may get different stat distribution between items, like say 50 power 20 crit or 30 power 30 crit, but it will always be same total for given level) and you will get scaled down to appropriate level if you outlevel zone/dungeon (if you go to 35 dungeon at 60 lvl, your stats will be of 35 lvl character for the purpose of that dungeon).

Unless your only reason in MMOs is to play the game and do /yell FIRST! once you reach level cap, there is no actual advantage of rushing.

 

[weirdee]

it's kind of awkward using the gems as a middleman here though...

unless they are planning to make gems have a dynamic value, which could lead to....issues....

they can only hope that it turns out as well as spiral knights did, and that was kind of a fiasco for a while too

 

[remmus]

MMOs are basically time sinks.

The entire concept is more or less, "You invest more time, you get better".

The moment you start selling "Time-savers", you're basically selling power.

At surface yes, but frankly such claims fall flat when you consider:

A) since everyone is max level in PvP, time saving XP boost doesn't give ya a edge over other players, only playing and learning your class does.

B) it´s a purely optional shop item, if you feel XP boosts shortens the "lifespan" of PvE, simply don't buy them.

 

[The Lunatic]

At surface yes, but frankly such claims fall flat when you consider:

A) since everyone is max level in PvP, time saving XP boost doesn't give ya a edge over other players, only playing and learning your class does.

B) it´s a purely optional shop item, if you feel XP boosts shortens the "lifespan" of PvE, simply don't buy them.

Eeh, mine seems to ring more true when you see the stuff they're actually selling on the shop.

The leaked items thus far show items like...

"Perfect Salvage kit" which gives higher quality items from salvaging.

"Resurrection Orb" which allows players to revive exactly where they are, which depending on the conditions post-revive could make things silly.

"Loot Bag" which is described as the following "Each bag gives one random item."

"Mystic key" used to open chests which are found in the world.

You get the idea, generally none of this stuff is a good sign.

 

[remmus]

Eeh, mine seems to ring more true when you see the stuff they're actually selling on the shop.

The leaked items thus far show items like...

"Perfect Salvage kit" which gives higher quality items from salvaging.

"Resurrection Orb" which allows players to revive exactly where they are, which depending on the conditions post-revive could make things silly.

"Loot Bag" which is described as the following "Each bag gives one random item."

"Mystic key" used to open chests which are found in the world.

You get the idea, generally none of this stuff is a good sign.

frankly the orb is the only one even remotely worrying if it can be used in PvP and isnt balanced well, otherwise the rest sounds like exclusively PvE items, thus pretty much only affecting the player him/herself.