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Entertainment cost per hour . . . . what is it really worth to you??


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People here talk about getting gold all the time,and how they can get as much as they can in the least amount of time.

So, exactly WHAT is your time worth?Gold comes to about $.08 or $.09 apiece by purchasing gems.

So, you can get 100 gold for 8 or 9 bucks.Yet . . .

I see people every single weekday spend $8. for a very mediocre lunch.Half-good Sandwich and a non-entity soda.Gone in about 5 minutes.

My suggestion --

forego the morning coffeeor afternoon hamburger,

and purchase, and hoard as much gold as you want.

Bang for buck, that's what it's all about.You can get more for your entertainment dollar PER HOUR playing an MMO,than so many other forms of entertainment on a dollar per hour basis.

Think about it . . .You can go to a major league sports event and get 3 hours entertainment --After the cost of tickets, parking, couple beers and hot dogs --you are out at least a couple hundred bucks for 3 hours entertainment.

Live concerts are even more absurd.Five Hundred dollars for two is Not Uncommon.

What will a few hundred bucks spent in an MMO buy you?

Many hundred times just 3 hours.

And that's just one common example.

You can extend this to what the cost per hour of entertainment is across many venues.Think about it . . .

If I'm spending approximately $25./month on an MMO,and I'm spending 100 hours a month there,the cost per hour for entertainment dollar is laughable.

Go to a movie theater,Go out for dinner,Go play a couple hours of paintball,Go away for the weekend, with hotel, meals, gas, etc.Go buy a couple kegs of beer for a 3-hour party,etc.etc.etc.

When I see people dropping $40. on 2 pizzas and a round of beers,that lasts all of 30 minutes,Sorry, I can't be too sympathetic about people not wanting to paya few bucks on gemsthat will give you an insane value for your entertainment dollar per hour.

Let the negative comments roll in . . . .

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Myself, I value real life entertainment/experiences more than I value in game entertainment. So I don't really try to compare what I spend on those types of things with what I spend in game. I do buy gems when there are things I want to buy and have done so often for the last 6 years. When I play a game it is to kill time, goof around, or relax when I don't have anything better to do so I suppose purchases made to support that have less value to me. If I found myself in a position where I was forced to choose between spending say $100 on dinner with friends/family or a $25 on gems I'd pick the dinner 100% of the time.

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People with extra time value gold farms more. People with extra disposable income favor the credit card. There's no reason that both groups need to follow the same advice about how to have enough in-game dosh to afford to live in the style to which they wish to become accustomed. (And of course, there are all sorts of in-between scenarios.)

Myself, I aim to maximize the enjoyment per time, not the gold. Having more stuff makes things more fun, so gold is a factor... just not the only or most important one for me.

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. If I found myself in a position where I was forced to choose between spending say $100 on dinner with friends/family or a $100 on gems I'd pick the dinner 100% of the time.

Sorry, that is an artificial construct.

You would NEVER be FORCED to make that kind of choice.Not in this world, or the next.

The point I'm trying to make is about the SCALE of things.As in . . . You can choose to spend your own money as you choose.

However, I'm just sayingIf you have to rationalize a $4. latte,versus complaining about spending the same amounton Gems,I just don't have a lot of empathy.

Capeice?

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@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:People with extra time value gold farms more. People with extra disposable income favor the credit card. There's no reason that both groups need to follow the same advice about how to have enough in-game dosh to afford to live in the style to which they wish to become accustomed. (And of course, there are all sorts of in-between scenarios.)

Myself, I aim to maximize the enjoyment per time, not the gold. Having more stuff makes things more fun, so gold is a factor... just not the only or most important one for me.

Ah, I like your comment.

Shows a lot of thought and intelligence.A big step above the teenage and troll crowd.Always appreciated.

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@Kabuki Theatre.9752 said:. If I found myself in a position where I was forced to choose between spending say $100 on dinner with friends/family or a $100 on gems I'd pick the dinner 100% of the time.

Sorry, that is an artificial construct.

You would NEVER be FORCED to make that kind of choice.Not in this world, or the next.

The point I'm trying to make is about the SCALE of things.As in . . . You can choose to spend your own money as you choose.

However, I'm just sayingIf you have to rationalize a $4. latte,versus complaining about spending the same amounton Gems,I just don't have a lot of empathy.

Capeice?

I was simply trying to make an example of how I value real experiences verses game life. Of course no one is going to force me to make that choice. That would be a very bizarre event I must agree. Who are you trying to convince that you don't have empathy towards? Maybe I missed the thread or discussion where someone was having a problem with balancing real life purchases with in game ones?

People value things differently as I stated and Ill stated. Time, money, experiences.

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@JustTrogdor.7892 said:

@"Kabuki Theatre.9752" said:. If I found myself in a position where I was forced to choose between spending say $100 on dinner with friends/family or a $100 on gems I'd pick the dinner 100% of the time.

Sorry, that is an artificial construct.

You would NEVER be FORCED to make that kind of choice.Not in this world, or the next.

The point I'm trying to make is about the SCALE of things.As in . . . You can choose to spend your own money as you choose.

However, I'm just sayingIf you have to rationalize a $4. latte,versus complaining about spending the same amounton Gems,I just don't have a lot of empathy.

Capeice?

I was simply trying to make an example of how I value real experiences verses game life. Of course no one is going to force me to make that choice. That would be a very bizarre event I must agree. Who are you trying to convince that you don't have empathy towards? Maybe I missed the thread or discussion where someone was having a problem with balancing real life purchases with in game ones?

Well, it's a lot about where you place your value of your time vs. money in life.My point was . . .

I can't see why people are complaining about spending $.08 or $.09 per goldin actual money,as opposed to all the hustling spending a HUGE amount of timearound trying to gather gold.

My question was "Really why would you spend $3 on a cup of coffee, and thencomplain about spending the equivalent of $3 on Gold??"

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You are missing one point here, farming for gear in RPG is the part of entertainment, well at least it what RPG games stand for.All my gear including legendary items are farmed in the game itself. While all my convenient items from cash-shop are direct swipe of the card.Swipe the card get your gear and you literally skip the fun you already paid for, you bough a spoiler for new movie you paid to go see, how is that sounds?

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TLDR: Different people have different taste/opinions/fun/time/etc. That's really all it comes down to.

Warning, long winded rant that starts as something else before working into topic.


I've had this discussion several times with different players, as it seems most players instantly look at a Legendary weapon and goes "I want one! How do I make one?", and after I explain they go "... so what the easiest/fastest/best way to make one?" And I tell them:

"The fastest way to get a legendary weapon in GW2 is to go do your day job for 2-4 days (depending on wages), and convert the money you earn to gems, then to gold, and buy it of TP."

And they all go "oh..." like I slapped them in the face with a wet trout.


  • See, some people enjoy grinding every single copper and piece of lumber for it, for them that is the journey and the experience.
  • Others just doesn't have the patience/time/chance to do that. (Or like me, fall asleep)
  • Some prefer to skip parts of this for various reasons (perhaps buy a bunch of the mats)
  • Some are desperate for some part of it (skin, stat change, the assumed prestige) that they're willing to bulldoze through it

And all these different mentalities applies back to everything else in the game, Motivation, goals, dedication. And a good bunch of those motivations are completely opposed to buying gems, because it lessens their feeling of accomplishment, success, goals.

At that point, there isn't any point in telling them that they should stop bothering about the "buy gems" because to them, telling them to buy gems, is the same as telling them to stop enjoying the game.

In the same manner that telling me to sit and grind for a Legendary weapon is the same as telling me to go jump in front of a bus. I perfectly enjoy my life without and legendary disco strobing epilepsy rainbow sprouting adult toy. And I'd much rather work 8 hours at a job, and change those cash to gems, than sit 8 hours in the game and grind gold. Even if they buffed the grinding to give me 10x more gold than the cash would have gotten me, I wouldn't do it, because it bores me so much I fall asleep. I play this game for the action combat, if I want to farm, I'll visit my family's farm, and push a cow around the field.


Anyways it doesn't really matter, because this game is actually designed for both types of players, both those that refuse to buy gems and those that wants to buy gems. In-fact the entire Gem to Gold exchange system is designed around one supporting the other. If no one bought gems, then no one could do Gold-Gem's because there wouldn't be gems to buy. Same the other way around, if no one wanted to use Gold-Gem's then those that bought gems couldn't convert them to gold. So in this case ANet has quite cleverly managed to put the two opposing ideologies in a synergy-system where both benefits from each others, even while they curse each others left and right.

Ok /rant, I should have been in bed, ah well.

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I think you got something backwards. Gold =/= Entertainment

I don't play the game to get gold, I play it because I like the story, the events, the raids, etc. The end result is that I often have gold left over that I can either spend on the trading post for skins or trade for gems to get some skins or quality of life there.

The gemstore currently has nothing I really want and I got gold left over. At this time the entertainment I would get from purchasing gems is exactly 0.

Well, I could perhaps get some more shared inventory slots in preparation for the LS5 teleport book... I wouldn't get any value out of this purchase until LS5 is released though.

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@Kabuki Theatre.9752 said:

People here talk about getting gold all the time,and how they can get as much as they can in the least amount of time.

So, exactly WHAT is your time worth?Gold comes to about $.08 or $.09 apiece by purchasing gems.

So, you can get 100 gold for 8 or 9 bucks.Yet . . .

I see people every single weekday spend $8. for a very mediocre lunch.Half-good Sandwich and a non-entity soda.Gone in about 5 minutes.

My suggestion --

forego the morning coffeeor afternoon hamburger,

and purchase, and hoard as much gold as you want.

Bang for buck, that's what it's all about.You can get more for your entertainment dollar PER HOUR playing an MMO,than so many other forms of entertainment on a dollar per hour basis.

Think about it . . .You can go to a major league sports event and get 3 hours entertainment --After the cost of tickets, parking, couple beers and hot dogs --you are out at least a couple hundred bucks for 3 hours entertainment.

Live concerts are even more absurd.Five Hundred dollars for two is Not Uncommon.

What will a few hundred bucks spent in an MMO buy you?

Many hundred times just 3 hours.

And that's just one common example.

You can extend this to what the cost per hour of entertainment is across many venues.Think about it . . .

If I'm spending approximately $25./month on an MMO,and I'm spending 100 hours a month there,the cost per hour for entertainment dollar is laughable.

Go to a movie theater,Go out for dinner,Go play a couple hours of paintball,Go away for the weekend, with hotel, meals, gas, etc.Go buy a couple kegs of beer for a 3-hour party,etc.etc.etc.

When I see people dropping $40. on 2 pizzas and a round of beers,that lasts all of 30 minutes,Sorry, I can't be too sympathetic about people not wanting to paya few bucks on gemsthat will give you an insane value for your entertainment dollar per hour.

Let the negative comments roll in . . . .

I would never buy gems because for me it is cheating. Why would I want to play when after I just buy everything for gold?

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One of your examples sums up why I never use this logic. If I did I'd never go to concerts because if you assume all entertainment is equal and look at it strictly as cost per hour that's a terrible choice. But if I didn't go I'd have missed some of the best experiences of my life, and on top of that would never have met my husband or some of my best friends. I wouldn't trade the times I've had at gigs for anything, certainly not for more gold in an MMO.

Even with the coffee analogy I'd say there's other factors to consider than simply how long it will take you to drink it. I've never been the kind of person who buys coffee every day (especially on the way to work, I can get free coffee when I get there...or get tea which is better), but if I have to get a train at 6am to a conference or out to the middle of nowhere for field work I'm going to get a mocha latte on my way and at that time there's absolutely no way I'm going to consider saving the money to buy virtual gold a better choice. Or even waiting to get a hot drink later on. At almost any other time I'd agree that it's not worth the money when there are cheaper alternatives but when it's the only way to get a hot sweet drink when and where I want it I think it's absolutely worth it.

And then there's the idea of buying gold itself. I've never been one of those people who sees getting gold as a goal in it's own right, especially not as the thing to focus on in a game, and if I want something which is bought with gold I'd rather get it by playing the game than paying to skip playing. If I wanted to skip playing the game I'd just...stop playing it. Then I've achieved my goal forever, for free. Yes it might take longer but I'd rather save up gold I get for free while having fun in the game than spend money I could use for all kinds of other things I can't buy with gold.

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@Kabuki Theatre.9752 said:

@Kabuki Theatre.9752 said:. If I found myself in a position where I was forced to choose between spending say $100 on dinner with friends/family or a $100 on gems I'd pick the dinner 100% of the time.

Sorry, that is an artificial construct.

You would NEVER be FORCED to make that kind of choice.Not in this world, or the next.

The point I'm trying to make is about the SCALE of things.As in . . . You can choose to spend your own money as you choose.

However, I'm just sayingIf you have to rationalize a $4. latte,versus complaining about spending the same amounton Gems,I just don't have a lot of empathy.

Capeice?

I was simply trying to make an example of how I value real experiences verses game life. Of course no one is going to force me to make that choice. That would be a very bizarre event I must agree. Who are you trying to convince that you don't have empathy towards? Maybe I missed the thread or discussion where someone was having a problem with balancing real life purchases with in game ones?

Well, it's a lot about where you place your value of your time vs. money in life.My point was . . .

I can't see why people are complaining about spending $.08 or $.09 per goldin actual money,as opposed to all the hustling spending a HUGE amount of timearound trying to gather gold.

My question was "Really why would you spend $3 on a cup of coffee, and thencomplain about spending the equivalent of $3 on Gold??"

Some of us like to earn our gold playing the game instead of injecting cash into it.

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When players ask me about the best way to farm gold in this game, I usually answer: Go 'farm' some real-life currency from your boss. Exchange currency to gems, exchange gems to gold. While this is not the answer most players like to hear, it by far is the most efficient route that is allowed by ArenaNet.

I got most of the rare materials (blood, bone, totems, scales etc) via RL money and I don't regret it. I rather spend my gaming time on achievements and fun activities than farming resources. In the end, there are enough things left to grind for when you're an AP hunter.

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Value really depends on the individual.

I see many different things that people spend a lot of money on and I cannot for the life of me understand why they do it.smokes, drink, smart phones, mobile games, subscription fees, dance music, mount skins that cost more or less the same price as an expansion ;) etc.I cannot understand why people happily pony up the cash for those things because those things have no value to me due to lack of interest or I simply think of them as a ripoff.Plenty of others look at me and think similarly for all the money i've spent on mount licence skins or black lion keys or my video game and movie collection because while those things have value to me and i'm passionate about them, they don't have value to most to other people.

We assign our own value to everything probably based on our personality type or something more simple such as our interests, I guess that's just human nature in the end.Some may think it's more worthwhile to spend 10 dollars on some gold in a video game.. but others may think that 10 dollars is better off spent on a bottle of their favorite booze or their favorite food, or even a gift for a loved one.It's entirely upto the individual and what value they place on everything.

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