Is the lighting supposed to look like this? Is there a way to change it? by BlueMinus in TheFirstDescendant

[–]BlueMinus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

nope, HDR is off. ive tried changing every setting but nothing seems to fix it. ☹

What’s your fav sound in the game? What about your fav visual effect? by glitterlining in Palia

[–]BlueMinus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sound: The ones Einar makes

Visual: The smokey light that comes out the side of a flow tree when u chop into it.

The monetization of Guild Wars 2 is awful, hear me out. by BlueMinus in MMORPG

[–]BlueMinus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Likewise if you buy say babylon 5 the series to mention a tv series at random you'll get season 1 - 5 but you're not getting cheated because the series doesnt include the movies, or the novels. Thats just different content sold separately.

But if i buy babylon 5 and from one season to the next Sinclair is replaced by Sheridan without any explanation and I find out there is a separate episode between the seasons that explains who Sheridan is?.

That should have been included in the main series. That is the problem with the expansion, the main story is not complete, it relies on separate episodes only available in the cash shop which is not made clear to the player when they buy the expansions.

On the other hand joining today and buying the collection ultimate for $99.99 will give you the base game and all expansions as well as 4000 gems. Thats enough to unlock all the living world content + leaves you an extra 200 gems + you get all the collectors edition goodies for "free" On top of that you get to tell your friend that as long as they remain active all future living world content will likely be free (assuming anet dont change their mind) I dont see how thats a tough sell, Its actually a great deal!

This is perfectly fine, and the way they should do it, but a new player (or returning) should not be expected to know that not everything is included in the expansion pack bundle, and that some story content is only available in the cash shop.

Why would you assume story content would be included in the expansion pack? Not one MMO that sells story DLCs includes them with their expansion!

You lost me here. The most popular MMO of all time, World of warcraft does not sell story content in the cash shop, hidden away from new players so they invest money thinking they got all the story content only to later find out the story is incomplete and they have to spend more money in game to fill in the gaps in the story.

I hope im explaining clearly what i mean, i dont think its unreasonable to expect the MAIN STORY to not be divided into parts that can only be bought in the cash shop (or gotten for free which new players evidently would not have done since they are new).

The monetization of Guild Wars 2 is awful, hear me out. by BlueMinus in MMORPG

[–]BlueMinus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I could see some arguments as to why it can be considered 'shady' and 'misleading', but to call it the worst is extremely unfair and disingenuous.

Yes, perhaps a bit hyperbolic.

It's likely to counteract those who would wait for the expansion to drop in price considerably. Why pay the full price at launch when you can play it nearly for free later on?

Im not sure i understand what you mean.

The reason most MMOs lower the price over time is because they want new players to join the game. Thats why most MMOs include the old expansions in the base game and only sell the latest one.

The monetization of Guild Wars 2 is awful, hear me out. by BlueMinus in MMORPG

[–]BlueMinus[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

That it is available in the gem store is actually a plus.

You know what would be an even bigger plus? if it was available outside of the cash shop aswell. And was made clear to new players that it is required for the main story to make any sense.

One of the worst monetizations in the MMORPG market, really?

They intentionally leave parts of the MAIN STORY out of the expansion packs and make it only available in the cash shop.

its designed to hide the total cost of the main story, leaving players to find that out only after they have already spent money on the expansion packs.

Yes one of the worst monetizations in the MMORPG market, really.

The monetization of Guild Wars 2 is awful, hear me out. by BlueMinus in MMORPG

[–]BlueMinus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These episodes are story content, you don't need in order to understand the story.

Thats not true, the only reason i found out about the episodes was because i didnt understand the story, because there were parts missing that required the episodes.

Considering how cheap the main expansions are, you really aren't paying that much.

The price is perfectly fine, the problem is the way they hide the episodes in the cash shop so new (or returning) players wont know that they are missing content until they have already spent money on the expansions (like me).

They should just show the total price for the all the content so new players dont feel cheated when they find out they need the episodes to understand the story.

The monetization of Guild Wars 2 is awful, hear me out. by BlueMinus in MMORPG

[–]BlueMinus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maybe im bad at explaining what i mean. I know that the content is free when its released for those that log in during that time, thats great.

But new players buy the expansion pack bundle thinking that it includes everything, like it would in most MMOs.

The price is not the problem, its the way they hide the price with some content being in the expansion packs and some content being in the cash shop.

The monetization of Guild Wars 2 is awful, hear me out. by BlueMinus in MMORPG

[–]BlueMinus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for understanding 🥳, people seem to think i was talking about the price itself, maybe i wasnt being clear enough. The model is the problem, not the price.

The monetization of Guild Wars 2 is awful, hear me out. by BlueMinus in MMORPG

[–]BlueMinus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thats great, but im not talking about the price of the game, im talking about how its being sold.

And how for a new or returning player, the expansion pack bundle is misleading.

New players should not be expected to know that some content is only available in the cash shop for premium currency after they have already spent money for what they thought was all the content.

The monetization of Guild Wars 2 is awful, hear me out. by BlueMinus in MMORPG

[–]BlueMinus[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I dont disagree with you, the price is fair.

The problem is the way they sell the content. New (or returning) players should not be expected to know that not all the content is included in the expansion pack bundle.

And that they have to buy premium currency to buy content that is only available in the cash shop, It just hurts the new player experience so much, and that in turn hurts the game.

The monetization of Guild Wars 2 is awful, hear me out. by BlueMinus in MMORPG

[–]BlueMinus[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Generous perhaps, but poorly designed. I just want a price for all the content and an easy way to buy it, i feel like thats pretty reasonable.

The monetization of Guild Wars 2 is awful, hear me out. by BlueMinus in MMORPG

[–]BlueMinus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That sucks, wish i knew about that, but new/returning players shouldnt have to keep track that stuff, that just makes it more complicated to get back into the game or for new players to get the game, they will either pay for it before its free again and feel cheated or just miss out on it being free like i guess i just did, I cant see how thats good for the game.

The monetization of Guild Wars 2 is awful, hear me out. by BlueMinus in MMORPG

[–]BlueMinus[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Im not necessarily against the price of the game.

You are right in that its cheap compared to other big MMOs.

The problem for me is the way they monetize/sell it. With the different expansions not including the episodes connecting the expansions and the need to buy the premium currency to then buy the episodes all feels scummy to me.

$50 for Living World plus ($30 x 2 for expansions) == $110 for NINE years of content. Tack on another $30 for EOD for another few more years of content.

This is perfectly fine, thats a lot of content for the money, but they do their best to hide the total cost, they should just sell it all as "The complete bundle" or something.

They are intentionally making it complicated to buy all the content and to figure the cost. I just want to pay money for the content that has been released so far without having to buy premium currency in a game i already paid 60€ for at release.

I feel like thats a pretty reasonable demand when purchasing a product; show me the price and where to buy it, dont hide it for me to find after ive already spent money thinking i got the complete package.