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A Message About the Mount Adoption License


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  • ArenaNet Staff

Hi,

We made a commitment to you in March 2012 that we’d fund GW2 live development through non-pay-to-win microtransactions. We try different ideas, but we always hold true to that commitment. We’ve been collecting and discussing your feedback on the Mount Adoption License, and today I’d like to acknowledge and respond to the concerns you’ve raised, and to share our perspective with you.

You have valid concerns about random boxes. We hoped that the design of the Mount Adoption License would be reassuring. In this case, we made some missteps:

  • At a time when there’s a lot of debate about random boxes in gaming, we should have anticipated that a new system with a random element would cause alarm.
  • We released mount skins with three different purchase models, but with the majority of skins released so far through the Adoption License. It’s easy to perceive this as intentionally channeling you toward randomization.
  • The Adoption License is a large set at 30 skins. We stand by the work our artists put into each skin, but it’s understandable to see this as pushing down the odds of acquiring any one skin, and to worry that we might add more skins to lower the chances further.

Here are some of the benefits we had in mind when designing the Mount Adoption License:

  • You get a brand-new, unique mount skin every time, for a substantial discount versus an individual purchase price.
  • It uses a progressive mechanic. Every license gives you a new skin to use and increases the odds of acquiring any remaining skins.
  • You’ve requested variety, and this is a way to support variety. Individual sale is a mechanic that works with a few, flashy skins. Using a grab bag mechanic gives us leeway to create skins to suit a wide range of player tastes while offering a lower price per skin.

Microtransactions can be polarizing, and we’ve received both positive and negative feedback on the license. We won’t change the existing license in a way that would invalidate the investment players have made, but I want to confirm to you that our next planned mount skin releases will focus on individual sales like the Reforged Warhound and bundles like the Spooky Mounts Pack. We will not add any skins to the currently available Adoption License, thus not pushing down the odds of acquiring any one skin in that set.

We appreciate the thoughtful feedback many of you have provided, and that you hold us to high standards for monetization. It’s been a challenging but wonderful goal to support live development and Living World purely through optional microtransactions, and it’s your support that’s made that possible. Thank you.

~ MO

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So if we want any of the skins currently available through the mount adoption licence, but are not willing to gamble for them we should forget about them and hope there's others coming in future we'll like just as much?

Well...it's certainly not the answer I was hoping for (since I do like quite a few of these skins), but it's better than nothing. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the next batch.

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I really don't know if I'm going to keep playing, or buying, when you guys are still gouging folks with this mount pack. I'll have to think about it. I'm really concerned that if I do purchase this, you'll continue to use RNG to distribute mounts, and I will have just been gullible again, and encouraged the problem.

If I take you guys at your word and buy this pack on faith that you guys will offer non-RNG mounts in the cash shop, if you guys go back to RNG, I am done.

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Thank you for looking at all the posts, threads, and discussions. Thank you also, for realizing that this was a big deal, that things are out of tune, and producing a ridiculous amount of skins.

The Halloween skins were vibrant and unorthodox but they were from Halloween; Such things can be expected from Holiday events. The skins released in the pack are gaudy, rainbow filled, distracting, and feel like they upset the balance of the world's art as a whole and to an extent; should be harder to get.

Things that look awesome or fancy like achievement point gear, legendaries, cool effects that shade your character (Koda's Warmth, Gors drop, etc), among other cool things usually require high levels of time, gold, etc and you know they're epic because there was legendary effort behind them. Please keep this in mind for future releases, that things should have value.

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Glad to see a response in the least here.... not happy with the whole cave this one time, we promise we wont do it again vibe I'm getting tho.... How about you offer the 30 skins and allow us to pick the ones we want from them at a set price rather then try to keep it the same and squeeze it dry? I wont buy the random packs so you can forget that nonsense all together. You have the ability, capability to fix and change this..... just do it.

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At least you acknowledged you didnt correctly anticipate the backlash desite realising you should have. Hopefully this situation help focus a bit more forward thinking.

A shame we cannot buy directly, but I didnt expect that to happen anyway given those who already invested would then be screwed. Hopefully the next round of direct purchases will be priced sensibly and not the same as an expac nearly for 1 skin. You pretty much got glider skins right with the communitu, so where the change came from feedback is baffling to me.

Thanks for the update though and at least you came back to us. Not every game developer makes that effort

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@Sylv.5324 said:I really don't know if I'm going to keep playing, or buying, when you guys are still gouging folks with this mount pack. I'll have to think about it. I'm really concerned that if I do purchase this, you'll continue to use RNG to distribute mounts, and I will have just been gullible again, and encouraged the problem.

My advice is to wait and see what happens when the next mount/s come out. It might well be that there's skins you like just as much as the ones in the RNG boxes which can be purchased directly (either on their own or as a bundle). Then there will be no need for you to buy the RNG boxes.

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I'm a bit disappointed that you guys aren't offering a way to individually and directly purchase the cheaper skins available through the Mount License items, and I would rather not see every individually-crafted mount skin end up at 2000 gems like the Reforged Warhound, but I'm glad that you're not going to be inflating the problem by adding more skins to the current list you can get from the licenses. Thank you for listening to our concerns here on the forums and elsewhere.

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I think microtransaction in GW2 are the fairest in the market and dont have a problem with randon drops - its not pay to win and we get to play for free, but i get how it could be annoying if there is a large drop table because in reality a player will usually see a particular skin they really fancy having. What about offering multiple skin licenses with smaller drop tables (but still random and no duplicates) at a lower price so people feel like they are a bit more in control?

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I think that the license isn't as bad as people make it out to be. The difference between this and other RNG lootboxes from other MMOs is that there is a 100% chance of obtaining a unique mount skin, for a pretty cheap price, and best of all you do not need to pay IRL money, if you don't want to to obtain the skins. Other MMOs put in filler items, or bad items that nobody needs at all in lootboxes, while the mount license guarantees a unique item that is worth the Gem cost IMO. All the new skins are fully dyeable so it's a win for me.

The Reforged Warhound on the other hand is overpriced. 2k Gems in contrast to your typical 500 Gem glider? Nearly 4x the price compared to a glider.

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Personally, I have no real issue with the skins being random, the problem is the size of the set. If they were broken up into smaller sets for each type of mount, so for example an adopt a raptor box that contained only raptor skins, that would be more palatable, especially if the rest of the functionality remained, so that you didn't have a chance of getting one you already had. Furthermore, possibly reduce the cost slightly for a random skin, but give an alternate cost (lets say 2x or 3x that cost) to pick a specific skin.

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@Abelisk.4527 said:I think that the license isn't as bad as people make it out to be. The difference between this and other RNG lootboxes from other MMOs is that there is a 100% chance of obtaining a unique mount skin, for a pretty cheap price, and best of all you do not need to pay IRL money, if you don't want to to obtain the skins. Other MMOs put in filler items, or bad items that nobody needs at all in lootboxes, while the mount license guarantees a unique item that is worth the Gem cost IMO. All the new skins are fully dyeable so it's a win for me.

The Reforged Warhound on the other hand is overpriced. 2k Gems in contrast to your typical 500 Gem glider? Nearly 4x the price compared to a glider.

Oh I agree that it's not as bad as some RNG boxes, even some fairly common versions used in many different games. But that still doesn't mean it's ok. Having my lunch break interrupted repeatedly by people asking quick questions isn't as bad as having to cancel it completely because something urgent came up, but that doesn't mean I'm happy to be badgered by everyone walking into the office when I'm eating.

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What about a "golden adoption ticket" that allows a person to select the specific skin they are looking for?I haven't unlocked the griffon yet so I'm also wondering if the adoption works on mount skins that aren't available to you yet? If you don't have the jackal will you still receive jackal skins? or reroll for one of the other three you have available to you?

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@Danikat.8537 said:

@Sylv.5324 said:I really don't know if I'm going to keep playing, or buying, when you guys are still gouging folks with this mount pack. I'll have to think about it. I'm really concerned that if I do purchase this, you'll continue to use RNG to distribute mounts, and I will have just been gullible again, and encouraged the problem.

My advice is to wait and see what happens when the next mount/s come out. It might well be that there's skins you like just as much as the ones in the RNG boxes which can be purchased directly (either on their own or as a bundle). Then there will be no need for you to buy the RNG boxes.

I would second this notion.

Also to those interpreting "like the Reforged Warhound" as meaning 2000 gem individual skins, I seriously doubt every individual skin will be that much. I am sure the intention is to release a multitude of skin types/packs for varying price ranges.

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I hope this is a we-tried-one-time-and-i-didnt-work-never-again. I bought the most expensive version of the Expansion to help Anet and investing in the future of the game but not to fund implementing rng-methods. I will hand have to refuse to invest in this system what so ever and i hope enough will follow suit. I will have to consider spending so much money on the next expansion to come. This is not the Anet i like spending Gems on.

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@"Game of Bones.8975" said:What about a "golden adoption ticket" that allows a person to select the specific skin they are looking for?I haven't unlocked the griffon yet so I'm also wondering if the adoption works on mount skins that aren't available to you yet? If you don't have the jackal will you still receive jackal skins? or reroll for one of the other three you have available to you?

You can get any skin, regardless of which mounts you have unlocked. There's been quite a few posts from people who are unhappy because they got a griffon skin and aren't planning to ever get the griffon.

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