GW2: Heart of Thorns pre-purchase. Wait.. how much?

With the announcement of Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns expansion pre-purchase available to players, both old and new, came an avalanche of flustered consumers. Just drama from the community or an honest disparity between cost and value, Justin, an avid GW2 player, shares his opinion and findings.

[ZeroSkerbo]

While I haven't played GW2, I can completely understand the universal distrust and annoyance felt by this community now. Shitty business practices are understood by all

[Lon3wolf]

GW2 has had a few years of free updates this is the first paid expansion in years, not sure how that's shitty? Look at WoW you pay a sub and for expansions but that appears to be an ok parctice.

[Ashlen]

Well, in WoW the expansions are pretty massive in scale, I mean you get large overworld expansion, generally there are multiple dungeons, and they mostly always add new play mechanics to the game.

This update doesn't really seem to have a lot. But it's hard to say really, they haven't showed a lot. And the closed beta's have been limited in what was available to explore, though what was available (I wasn't in the beta yet) seems small to people who were, comparatively.

[joab777]

I disagree. First off, they chose to have no sub fee, so they keep updating and releasing content without the sub revenue.

And maybe it won't double the game, but how much content is there compared to the launch title? If you don't want to pay monthly for a game like this, you pay a little more for the expansion, about as much more as 1 months sub.

I still like FF14'S sub model 10-15 dollars a month and you pay for nothing else. I played DCUO and spent 10x as much on a f2p title than I did on FF14.

[Ashlen]

Well, so far estimates are that it's about 10%. For the same price as the game at launch.

And in a lot of ways it seems like the quality isn't there. As far as players have been told there is no dungeon content nor open world bosses at least not in the same context as the original game.

I mean, I have always been a big supporter of GW2, it's always been the game I recommend to people looking for an MMO. It's also the game I use as an example that F2P doesn't have to be P2W.

That said even I was disappointed by the price, I was hoping to spend 20-30 dollars and I would have been ok spending $40 though that was pretty much my limit.

Fifty dollars with no character slot to play the new class I can understand why people are mad. Perhaps not as mad as they are but it made me decide to hold off on making any purchase till I know more and I see how this all unfolds.

And I'd just like to say at $40 even with out a character slot I would have pre-purchased instantly.

And even though it's not subscription based it's not like GW2 doesn't have a revenue stream, it has a very popular cash shop just like other F2P games. And yes I have bought things with cash from the shop over the course of time I have owned the game.

Edited to add: People are also angry because they were told by ANET in there HoT FAQ that they would need to buy the original game which wasn't true. Now I'm not angry they're throwing in the base game free, but still. They should offer a cheaper package that doesn't come with the base game for existing accounts.

[ChouDa]

I kinda think, with all the public outcry over the past... what, 6 hours, Anet might change something up? I mean... I've never seen reddit so angry before.

[Ashlen]

Actually Anet was on reddit to say they at the time of that posting yesterday weren't going to offer any other packages. Though on there own forums last night they said they were talking with the team about the issue.

And I'm not sure whats going on with the GW2 forum the english site has been super slow the past two days. I imagine it's one of two things. Anet has throttled the crap out of there server to keep people from being able to see the complaints or they are getting DDoS.

I actually kind of lean towards throttle since the main webpage and the shop to buy HoT seem to be working perfectly and I doubt someone who was angry would DDoS there main outlet for anger and not the main site or web shop.

[Bladesfist]

There is no sub fee, how is £35 expensive. Other MMOs charge more per expansion and have sub fees.

[shocked686]

Because this new expansion includes the original game as well. To new players this is a great deal, but to current players it feels like paying for something you largely already own; especially since the new content doesn't seem worth the cost of a full game.

Really they should be offering the expansion separately for like $25.

[ChouDa]

To most people on Guild Wars 2 who bought into the game because there were no sub fees, that $50/£35 expansion, being equal to or more than the price of the actual core game, is expensive. For new players, it seems awesome! But for loyal players, it's like saying "Oh, it's you again. Please put your money over there. No character slot for the new class? Well... too bad."

Plus, with no release date or content breakdown, what are we actually buying?

[Christopher]

***To most people on Guild Wars 2 who bought into the game because there were no sub fees, that $50/£35 expansion, being equal to or more than the price of the actual core game, is expensive.***

So is game development. Expensive that is.

This is the same prices for the same level of content that other MMOs with subscription fees charge. I don't see the issue with them encouraging new players by not forcing them to pay for the core game in addition to the expansion. It's not like current gamers haven't been enjoying the game in order to get their money's worth out of it.

[Roccetarius]

@Christopher, what's stopping them from offering a download that only includes the expansion, so as to not laugh all the way to the bank when previous players buy the same game again? This is typical ANET fashion, or NCSoft is pushing them, because they desperately want to avoid a takeover by Nexon.

Besides, people don't even know what they're really buying into yet, but currently it isn't worth a new game's cost to old players.

While there has been a small chunk of content added to the original game over time, the majority of it has been temporary content since release. I always questioned that personally, which is another reason i left the game.

[Christopher]

***what's stopping them from offering a download that only includes the expansion***

You're assuming the cost of the work done on the expansion is worth less than $40.

***so as to not laugh all the way to the bank when previous players buy the same game again?***

I think you are mistaken on how much money they make compared to other F2P MMOs.

***Besides, people don't even know what they're really buying into yet, but currently it isn't worth a new game's cost to old players. ***

Ah. People making decisions based on having no information. Good way to go there.

***While there has been a small chunk of content added to the original game over time, the majority of it has been temporary content since release. I always questioned that personally, which is another reason i left the game. ***

Sounds like a good decision for you, but comparing it to other games, a major expansion at $40 is likely cheaper than most other games. DCUO charges $10 just for a new power set. Rift expansions cost $40 for content that heavily encourages you to throw money into the game left and right or waste tons of hours for a chance to get cosmetic items.

I'm not saying the expansion is worth $40 based on content, but I'm also not saying that complaining because they're giving away the base game for free to encourage new games is the wrong thing or that it means old players should play less. The goal is to entice new players while giving new content to older. Older players have obviously enjoyed the game long enough to care enough about the price. Perhaps they should realize the value gained from all those hours of entertainment and the more possible hours coming with the expansion rather than thinking having paid for a game years earlier should mean everything in the future costs less.

[Bladesfist]

I feel like they are just throwing in the base game for free, I would be upset if this cost more than the expansions of other games but it doesn't.

[Lon3wolf]

Agreed, not sure why everyone is crying about this they have given people the base game for free in this expansion (WoW pretty much does the same but that's ok it's Blizz after all), think of all the updates these people have had for free since GW2 launched. With this "charge" they might get some more players and funds to keep the free updates coming in the future, god I hate this entitled crap.

[ChouDa]

@Lon3wolf - I don't think it's the feeling of entitlement. All this hostility is being brought on because yes, the price, but also because the pre-purchase really only gets you a spot in for the beta. Other than that, content wise, they haven't confirmed much. Some of the stuff they have confirmed were things that had already been mentioned as part of the updates to the core game.

Also, on the website prior to the pre-purchase:
Q: Do I have to own Guild Wars 2 to play the expansion?
A: Yes. Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns is an expansion to Guild Wars 2 and not a stand-alone campaign, and therefore it requires the base game to play.

Then right as the pre-purchase came up, this Q&A came down. Now all the people who bought the game thinking "Ooo, expansion soon!" just got shafted...

I don't know man, seems fishy. I know gamers can get riled up over small things, but it's more a case about integrity and transparency.

Side note, I don't think I've ever spent more than $40 for a standard expansion pack, whether it be WoW, Diablo, Starcraft, etc.

Regardless, I'm probably still going to buy it. I still smelled snake oil when they mentioned "coordinate with your friends to get more guild hall decorations." Yeah! Let's all spend $75 so we can get more bushes!

[Ashlen]

Well, lets put cost into perspective.

If I said hey all give you all the expansions for Skyrim for $50 you might say, yeah thats a great deal.

Now if I ask you for $50 for an expansion that's just a bunch of old JRPG style pallet swaps even though there both expansions, clearly you can see how one is a better value than the other for $50.

P.S. yes I know that was a crude example, but it's just to make a point.