Locked gem shop items

Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, Dopey

Because Anet cycles items in and out of the gem store. You just have to keep an eye on the gem store for the item you want.

Artificial scarcity.

Has a couple of purposes. Gets people to buy immediately (when the item is available) instead of waiting to see if something better will come along and gets people excited when a wanted item finally arrives, instead of it being the same old thing you see every time you look at what’s available.

It could be they create "artificial scarcity" this way. Or it's the same premise as when your grocery store changes items around. They do this so you have to search for the item you want, and in the process you will more than likely buy something you really didn't need. It's an impulse buy. Marketing 101.

@holodoc.5748 said:

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:Artificial scarcity.

Has a couple of purposes. Gets people to buy immediately (when the item is available) instead of waiting to see if something better will come along and gets people excited when a wanted item finally arrives, instead of it being the same old thing you see every time you look at what’s available.

• when the item is unavailable in the gem shop I can't spend money even when I am 100% sure that I want to
• when the item is available it still doesn't guarantee that I am going to buy it because:a) there is a high chance that I'll miss it during the short opportunity window, for whatever reasonb) maybe I can't spend so much gems until that paycheck on Friday, but hey the item is available only until Thursday

They wouldn’t be doing it this way since the beginning of the gemstore if it wasn’t getting the results they want.

@holodoc.5748 said:

@artemis.6781 said:Because Anet cycles items in and out of the gem store. You just have to keep an eye on the gem store for the item you want.

This is pretty basic..... humans naturally value things that are difficult to get higher then things in abundance. Even if the practical value is low to nil, the mere fact its rare imparts a subjective value to it that is hard for humans to just ignore. If the item does have value outside of this, the rarity amplifies it drastically. Goods, services, products, entertainment, novelty, trends, status symbols, all intertwined to create the how we view the market.

The fact this is on the forefront of your mind means its doing exactly what its meant to..... you want the item more now, rather then simply passing it up. Enough to make a forum post complaining about it, spreading the idea that this is rare and valuable to even more people, which in turn makes it even more valuable knowing other people are trying to justify having it as well. You could walk away and not care... but you didn't.

uhmm, some ppl (like me) don't buy stuff because of rarity or such, if i like it i buy it but if i miss it ill miss it 20 over because of bad tactics like this.keep it in the store and i might buy something eventually, removing it from the store only puts me off from the game.

@sorudo.9054 said:uhmm, some ppl (like me) don't buy stuff because of rarity or such, if i like it i buy it but if i miss it ill miss it 20 over because of bad tactics like this.keep it in the store and i might buy something eventually, removing it from the store only puts me off from the game.

As humans, we're generally pretty poor at analysing ourselves individually. Likely you're a lot more affected by these tactics than you think, even if it's to a lesser degree than average.

These methods have been proven effective over and over again, in various markets, despite how counter-intuitive they seem. I dislike them, and a part of me can't grasp why they work, but they do work.

@Tanner Blackfeather.6509 said:

@"sorudo.9054" said:uhmm, some ppl (like me) don't buy stuff because of rarity or such, if i like it i buy it but if i miss it ill miss it 20 over because of bad tactics like this.keep it in the store and i might buy something eventually, removing it from the store only puts me off from the game.

that's the point, it doesn't affect me at all.they can add a new outfit all they want and say "removed in 24 hours" and ill still have the gems 100%

has nothing to do with revenue from players, the login time stamps can net more steady injections from investors. Investors are subscribers, players are donators. WoW trickle is gud time to catch more time stamps.

There are new outfits coming next week so I hope the one you want will be included.

@holodoc.5748 said:

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:Artificial scarcity.

Has a couple of purposes. Gets people to buy immediately (when the item is available) instead of waiting to see if something better will come along and gets people excited when a wanted item finally arrives, instead of it being the same old thing you see every time you look at what’s available.

• when the item is unavailable in the gem shop I can't spend money even when I am 100% sure that I want to
• when the item is available it still doesn't guarantee that I am going to buy it because:a) there is a high chance that I'll miss it during the short opportunity window, for whatever reasonb) maybe I can't spend so much gems until that paycheck on Friday, but hey the item is available only until Thursday

If cost is not an issue, there's this: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Evon_Gnashblade_Decorative_Package which includes https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Black_Lion_Universal_Outfit_Ticket (afraid I'm not in-game, so not sure if it's available at all times, or giftable).

Of course, you can always send a friend Gold to exchange for Gems, or purchase a Gem Card, and send the code.

Good luck.

It's how Disney makes money off their DVD's, it prevents oversaturation which diminishes interest in the cosmetic. Also highlights the other items in the store where some are tempted to buy something in it's place, that they normally may have ignored.

I would give you a constructive answer, but no one will do anything about it.

@sorudo.9054 said:

@Tanner Blackfeather.6509 said:

@sorudo.9054 said:uhmm, some ppl (like me) don't buy stuff because of rarity or such, if i like it i buy it but if i miss it ill miss it 20 over because of bad tactics like this.keep it in the store and i might buy something eventually, removing it from the store only puts me off from the game.

As stated before, it does affect you, you just don't notice it. There's a lot of psychology behind it, but if it seemingly doesn't affect you in Gw2, it will definitely affect you somewhere else.You may not be as prone to that kind of marketing as some other people, but saying that it doesn't affect you at all is very naive.

@holodoc.5748 said:Thank you to whoever read my post at ArenaNet. Crystal Savant outfit is currently available again.

I was going to suggest you post in the Gem Store New and Returning Items Suggestion thread. As far as I can tell, they really do read and respond to many player item requests.

@Maikimaik.1974 said:

@sorudo.9054 said:

@Tanner Blackfeather.6509 said:

@sorudo.9054 said:uhmm, some ppl (like me) don't buy stuff because of rarity or such, if i like it i buy it but if i miss it ill miss it 20 over because of bad tactics like this.keep it in the store and i might buy something eventually, removing it from the store only puts me off from the game.

you call it naive, i call it ahead.but whatever let's you sleep at night.