Mount skins are too expensive

I have 2 issues with mount skins in this game.First, there's no way to earn any by playing the game, it's not a reward for anything. Unless of course you earn gold in game and then change to gems and then but it. But it lacks the feeling of reward you'd get by getting a new skin in-game, not to mention if it would be done like the sky scale or griffon there's an actual story quest with it too, the gem store lacks that too.My second complaint is that it's way too expensive. 1200 gems for most skins is too much. 700 gems is the price of most costumes, and it should be the same for mount skins too.I'm not against some special skins being luxury items and more expensive, many games have that, but the general price for them should be much closer too 700 gems imo.

@coso.9173 said:not to mention if it would be done like the sky scale or griffon there's an actual story quest with it too

They didn't even have the resources to keep up with making collections for just the 16 legendaries. I doubt they could keep up with making one for each mount skin.

The warclaw track is probably the closest at 200g that is close to 700gems(depending on direction and exchange rate fluctuations of course).

The random adoption licenses are also 400gems each. I guess these are geared more towards people who want the full set since random doesn't matter for them.

1600 gems is $20USD That's less than going to a movie. Sorry if you can't afford it, but the cost is quite reasonable especially for a F2P game.

@coso.9173 said:

First, there's no way to earn any by playing the game, it's not a reward for anything.

Not true. You can get a warclaw skin by playing the game.Somehow Anet has to make money and skins are just cosmetic so it is okay that they cost gems. And the price is fine as well for me.

Fortunately, too, one doesn't have to buy gems with cash. GW2 has a gold to gems conversion so one can play the game, gather gold and trade it in for gems which can then be used to buy a mount skin.

@yoni.7015 said:

@coso.9173 said:

First, there's no way to earn any by playing the game, it's not a reward for anything.

Warclaw isn't a skin. It's a mount.This is about mount skins.Edit: I didn't know about it, sorry. I correct myself.

@kharmin.7683 said:1600 gems is $20USD That's less than going to a movie. Sorry if you can't afford it, but the cost is quite reasonable especially for a F2P game.

That's more than a whole month of a sub based MMO. I disagree that it should be the default price for regular skin.

@kharmin.7683 said:Fortunately, too, one doesn't have to buy gems with cash. GW2 has a gold to gems conversion so one can play the game, gather gold and trade it in for gems which can then be used to buy a mount skin.

I addressed this in my opening post btw. It's not just about the money's also about the potential quests there could be about getting it. And also feeling of reward B's just buying it.

@coso.9173 said:

@yoni.7015 said:

@coso.9173 said:

First, there's no way to earn any by playing the game, it's not a reward for anything.

I will just leave this here: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guildrider_Warclaw_Skin

@coso.9173 said:

@kharmin.7683 said:Fortunately, too, one doesn't have to buy gems with cash. GW2 has a gold to gems conversion so one can play the game, gather gold and trade it in for gems which can then be used to buy a mount skin.

Yeah, I get that, but questing for mount skins doesn't appear to be Anet's marketing decision. It would seem that they make more money by selling them on the BLTP.

@kharmin.7683 said:

@coso.9173 said:

@kharmin.7683 said:Fortunately, too, one doesn't have to buy gems with cash. GW2 has a gold to gems conversion so one can play the game, gather gold and trade it in for gems which can then be used to buy a mount skin.

This is probably true, I just feel it's a pity considering they could use mount skins as a means to add more lore and make those skins and mounts feel more special. Like the sky scale where we are shown caring and playing with it

@Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

@coso.9173 said:

@yoni.7015 said:

@coso.9173 said:

First, there's no way to earn any by playing the game, it's not a reward for anything.

Ah, I didn't know about that one. I wish they would do it more then. Is it the only skin obtainable in-game?

It is, indeed.

I'd buy you 2 mounts if I could have your otters? :#

@coso.9173 said:

@yoni.7015 said:

@coso.9173 said:

First, there's no way to earn any by playing the game, it's not a reward for anything.

Hes talking about a skin... there is a warclaw skin you can obtain in the game without using the store. Make sure you're actually correct before attempting to correct others.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guildrider_Warclaw_Skin

@coso.9173 said:

@yoni.7015 said:

@coso.9173 said:

First, there's no way to earn any by playing the game, it's not a reward for anything.

This is about mount skins and I wrote that you can get a warclaw skin by playing the game ...

The warclaw skins was a step in the right direction. I am wanting legendary mount skins that as just flashy as the 2k gem skins, but have ingame requirements and a 700g pricetag. 700g is about the same as converting gold to gems for a 2k gem mount skin. The game needs more prestige items, not gemstore ones.

@Shadowmoon.7986 said:The game needs more prestige items, not gemstore ones.

Perhaps, but I believe that the game needs money more and that's why these items are sold in the gemstore.

They've made it clear that for a few exceptions, we don't get those kinds of things as in-game rewards. That's why outfits are in the gemstore, and we get armor skins by playing the game because its attached to physical pieces of equipment.

There are cases where they'll change this (achivement skins, outfit from Halloween, etc.), but its rare.

I agree that the mount skins are little too costly as it stands, but at least we're not Aion or completely under NCSoft anymore. They've charged up to $50 for a single mount at times and some aren't even as good as what you can acquire in game (if RNG is on your side.) Hell, they still charge roughly $10-20 for a TEMPORARY mount.

@coso.9173 said:

@"kharmin.7683" said:1600 gems is $20USD That's less than going to a movie. Sorry if you can't afford it, but the cost is quite reasonable especially for a F2P game.

welcome to the world of "micro" transactions. You get some miniscule addition to your gaming experience for the price that will get you a full fledged other game on steam. Get used to it, that is the norm and will probably even go further in the near future - whale pockets seem to be getting deeper and deeper =)

@coso.9173 said:

@kharmin.7683 said:1600 gems is $20USD That's less than going to a movie. Sorry if you can't afford it, but the cost is quite reasonable especially for a F2P game.

It is also cheaper than buying the mount skins that WoW offers for $$$

This is why I only buy mount skins when the licences are on sale. It's pretty arbitrary but I decided a while back (originally for ESO) that I wouldn't pay more than £9 for a mount skin unless it was something absolutely perfect for me. I also don't buy RNG items with real money, so I wait until the select licences are on sale and then get them. There's 4 skins I want from the Mistborn licences but I'm still waiting for it to be discounted to under 800 gems before getting them.

It's annoying and I would much prefer a simpler system, but having been through all the hassle with Anet initially only offering themed packs or purely RNG licences, which I'm pretty sure they intended to make the only options until it caused such a negative reaction that they had to find an alternative, I've accepted this is the best we're going to get. Besides, I don't mind waiting, it's only mount skins so it's not like I'm really missing anything. I can keep waiting for them to be available for a price I'm willing to pay or by another method.

@"coso.9173" said:I have 2 issues with mount skins in this game.First, there's no way to earn any by playing the game, it's not a reward for anything. Unless of course you earn gold in game and then change to gems and then but it. But it lacks the feeling of reward you'd get by getting a new skin in-game, not to mention if it would be done like the sky scale or griffon there's an actual story quest with it too, the gem store lacks that too.I wonder.....When Anet asked the community about what kind of business model they wanted for the game, the wide consensus was "Buy to play with optional cosmetics in a cash shop".Last I checked the cosmetics were still fully optional.We knew the visual progression in this game was largely in the cash shop going in. Why cry foul in 2020 ?I mean other than the obvious "entitlement"My second complaint is that it's way too expensive. 1200 gems for most skins is too much. 700 gems is the price of most costumes, and it should be the same for mount skins too.Most mount skins are 1/3 the price you quoted. If I am not mistaken Mount Select Skins are 700 on sale.Seems you already have what you want.I'm not against some special skins being luxury items and more expensive,lol..... of course you aren't

Most skins are only 400 gems, you just don't get to choose which of them you want unless you're willing to pay more for that choice.

Personally i'd rather buy 800 gems every month or so and get 2 new mount skins at random.In fact I did this quite recently and got 2 skins (Hammerhead Skimmer and the How to train your Skyscale.. aka the Toothless skin) both of which I actually wanted. despite the odds being against me.

As far as the premium skins go.. the 2000 gem ones, I have bought none of them with cash nor ever will, their price being equal to what you need pay for an expansion at this point is just.. no.I know this is still cheaper than what other games charge for normal mount skins but I genuinely believe that any cosmetic in any game that costs more than 20 euros is a ripoff.. that's just my personal opinion though.I got my 2 premium skyscale skins by other means, the recent one via RNG black lion chests using keys I had saved up playing the game, not bought.The other Shimmerwing one I used gold to gems to buy largely thanks to selling off a lot of my stockpiled materials.

The other 1600 gem skins are a bit on the pricy side as well and I won't buy them unless I have money to literally throw away and it's something I really really want.I'm more than happy to pay 1600 gems for a collection set though and have done a couple of times such as the Haloween skins and the Branded mounts pack but for just 1 skin it's not a price im willing to pay under most circumstances, not for something that's purely cosmetic.

The 400 gems RNG skins are by far the best options in this game imo, very cheap and you'll always get something new.. no duplicates can happen and honestly most of the skins in these packs are pretty great too.