OPTIONAL Premium and housing

[Bloodstealer.5978]

@reative.4093 said:Housing is something that many MMO games have.... hmmm... So You want have BUG game updates, You want have Expansions packs?But You just don't want pay money for anything?

This game will die, not because of ArenaNet, just because people who want only for free. Wake up people. Wake up.

Give em a marriage system - this system is also in many mmo games.

Anet isn't like Bethesda at all and they don't add in special weapons and armor that make you like a demi god in the game. - they also don't have this things.

I think some of You need try different games, see what system they have.

ArenNet need monetization system better they then have now... or they end like Wildstar.

I play 3 other MMO's and for me GW2 has by far the better model, the better combat system, the best art, the best VO, the best maintenance schedule, the best downtime... it just has a really bad Guild Hall and deco system as well as far too much reliance on its heavily loaded dice roll.Yes there are many things other games do well, but there are many things that GW2 does well that other games could consider utilising.. but if all games had the same systems, mechanics and offerings we would still find something to complain about.I say no to a premium, it is ANETs B2P model that shook MMO's up because they dared to be different and there is no need to reverse on that. The gemstore sells fluff, the last thing we need is P2W BS and thus far they have never had to go down that route, which suggests they are still doing something right.

Are there issues with the game.. yeah I think soAre there aspects I really think they could of / should of done better - definitelyWill that change if there were a sub - no - and if you want evidence of that then take a look around the sub games and come back and tell us they don't have the same cries for improvement, whines about balance, dislike of their own cash shop shenanigans.

BTW - Wildstar was Carbine Studios not ANET. How they chose to model their game and run with NCSoft is not the same as was proven by its early demise.

[Knighthonor.4061]

Rift's Dimension system with furniture in the Gem Store. Profit.

[Dreams.3128]

@googel.3278 said:i knew someone would eventually post something as distasteful as this topic, lol. The Sims + Guild Wars 2 = Sim Wars 2, lets make more pixels for the role players for their pretend characters! Give em a marriage system and maybe make kids!

Don't insult actual roleplayers like that. Some of us don't want that type of trash in the game. Maybe the kawaii desu edgelords, but certainly not the lore abiding ones.

[Donutdude.9582]

No no no no no no & no.

[Blude.6812]

Same topic, covered many times, with same results--- NO!!!!!

[miraude.2107]

@Sojourner.4621 said:

@"miraude.2107" said:

No premium versions (did that with a free to play game and it's been a year and a half and they STILL haven't added anything new for premium members but a ton of cash shop kitten), no 'optional' subs that are basically a way to gut the main game to make it mandatory. No. Just no.

Want revenue? Give us a free housing instance and put custom furniture and kitten in the shop while allowing access to the rest via crafting the way ESO is set up. (Get the Balthazar furniture set for 1200 gems, includes a statue of Balthy, forged furniture and his dogs to place where you see fit.) Hell, just copy ESO's whole model (I've stated before the Earthtear Cavern carries a $100 price tag) and improve on it cause I know ArenaNet can rock that out so much better than Zeni has. Not only would that give crafting a nice boost with new items to make, it'd give a new way to make gold in game and we can see how creative everyone is with random objects (I still have screenshots of the Futurama plot I found in Wildstar that had Bender fighting the stabby robot!).

I mean, I don't really support a premium model either... but stating that they shouldn't have one and then telling people to look at a game with a premium subscription as an example isn't really a great way to get this point across. "Hell, just copy ESOs whole model" would literally have them lock our crafting material storage behind a $15 a month fee.

I'm talking about ESO's housing model, thought that was kinda clear with talking about Earthtear Cavern and well the whole paragraph being about crafting and housing. ESO could easily, easily make the money they make if they didn't do a sub from people buying mounts, homes, dlc, etc but the way GW2 does but they hated the fact that they had to switch the game to buy to play to get that console crowd, which is why they gutted the game the way it is. And honestly, GW2 would have my wallet hands down if they had that housing system incorporated in game. Instead I do the dailies and a little achievement hunting here and I spend money on Conan Exiles to get my building fix (fishing fix is Minecraft, god I don't know why but I love fishing in games something GW2 lacks as well) because I'm a filthy casual that will spend an hour and a half on one item to get it just in the right spot. I mean I spent 5 months on this alone playing Wildstar:

https://imgur.com/Fvgvnh8

I don't even want to know how much money I spent on that part alone and that was just one wall. That wasn't even the whole housing plot. ESO ate up a chunk of my 'must make a purty place' as well but I kept hitting a dead end because a lot of the stuff was just dull. But if GW2 took that ESO model of housing and ran with it? Oh god. Sylvari, Norn, Asura, Human, Charr furniture; cash shop exclusive 6 god sets; event furniture, you name it. Hell I would actually partake in crafting and making things instead of waiting for my crafting storage to hit 2k and mass listing it and starting over as the crafting has no interest to me. They do this? I'd prolly do the same thing as I did in Wildstar and drop money on it weekly.

[Swagger.1459]

A while back I had an idea around a reward system for veteran players, and I feel like this type of reward design could be made to work for an optional subscription feature...

Link to the original idea- https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/66248/veteran-reward-system

If we were to get rid of the AP requirements in the original post and make it into something like (simplified)… Play game as a subscriber. Earn account bound special currency by participating in activities. Spend currency on lists of ACCOUNT BOUND items, other currencies, rewards...

The gist of it...

• Having an optional sub would increase revenue so Anet can do more with the game.
• Players who hold an optional sub can now work toward achieving extra items, extra currencies and extra rewards differently.
• Players have a path outside of RNG and the Trade Post to earning some high end items.
• All items, currencies and rewards purchased with the subscriber currency, that are flagged as player tradable, could be flagged as ACCOUNT BOUND, so it doesn't become a system where a player gets a reward then sells it on the Trading Post.
• The subscriber currency is only earned and usable while a player has an active sub.

I'll add more to this later

[SeikeNz.3526]

so you want to p2w? what about a no?

[DeathIsVirtue.4105]

Let me think about this for a moment: No.

Optional subs may seem like a grand idea, until the company starts putting stuff in them to where playing without them is a huge hassle (looking at you ESO). Even if it were just for cosmetic things, it's still a no from me.

[Linken.6345]

Check last post in the thread you linked OP

@Ayrilana.1396 said:A veteran reward system like the one suggested by the OP wouldn't be healthy for the game.

Nuff said.

[Swagger.1459]

@SeikeNz.3526 said:so you want to p2w? what about a no?

Do you know what “p2w” means?

[Nilson.9865]

You know i've seen this kind of staff in BnS. The whole thing built on rng and currency from that rng. It's a currency mess.AlsoDo i have to pay (EVERY MONTH) for more grind? How am i supposed to like it? Why do i need MORE currency in GUILD WARS 2?They bothered me enough with skyscale...

[Seera.5916]

No. There already is an optional subscription. It's called opening your wallet and paying for gems each month. Then you can do whatever you want with those gems.

[IndigoSundown.5419]

Three things occur to me about the idea.

1) A bunch of the rewards in the post the OP links are earned via specific PvE content in the game (Petrified Wood); rare items in BLC's or bought from players on the TP (Permanent Contracts); or rewards for playing in specific game modes (Skirmish Tickets). Is the OP's plan to decouple these things from the means by which they are currently gained? It seems likely, else why not just get them the way they can be gotten now? ANet designed these rewards with a specific purpose in mind. Are they done with that purpose? Or, do they still (for instance) want to entice players into WvW to get Skirmish tickets, and similar reasons for the other stuff.

2) Here's how "optional" sub models go. Say the company starts by offering some innocuous stuff tied exclusively to paying the sub fee. Then, players paying the fee demand "more for their money." At some point, the company feels their displeasure in the form of reduced revenue. More stuff goes into the sub as the company shifts its offerings more toward appeasing the "subscribers" rather than catering to all customers -- especially the other paying customers, like anyone who posts on these boards. We already have a shift in the gem store towards higher paying customers, to the exclusion of players who think that the bigger-ticket items are not worth the price. Do we need more shifting towards those who aren't as picky about how they spend their money? Wouldn't it be better if we, as consumers, reward a company for providing value for the money we do spend than enticing them to milk us further? I think so.

3) Then there's the fact that a substantial number of players play GW2 because there is no sub fee, optional or required. How many? No idea, but I do see a lot of posts saying that player'd, "Leave if ANet put in a sub." whenever another, "How about a sub." post appears. Would that be enough to decimate the game's population, impacting the enjoyment of the whales who drop a lot of cash on the game? Would it reduce the amount of gold in the gem exchange, making buying gems to get gold less attractive? I don't know, but I think there is a very real risk that some or all of the above would happen. The risk, of course, is that revenue produced by the sub fee might not replace any revenue lost from the game bleeding players. Moving toward any kind of a sub is a risk that games without subs have never (to my knowledge) taken. It usually works the other way. Maybe there's a reason for that.

[Randulf.7614]

This is like the third optional sub thread this week and all have got shot down. Anet have said no previously. The community have no real appetite for it and the perception of an optional sub for a game sold on its free/B2P reputation would not be positive for the game

It can be dressed up any which way and explained any which way, but an optional sub is a bad idea and most of the reasons have been covered pretty quickly in the above posts.

[Sobx.1758]

Terrible idea. If you want to support anet, use gemstore OR buy gems, convert to gold and buy what you need. Nobody needs what you propose here.

[Taygus.4571]

why do people always want subs?...Just buy gems every month, optional sub done.

[Omega.6801]

You could have checked the forums search option instead of opening a new thread.

[MokahTGS.7850]

Why do these keep coming back...go play another game if you want a subscription. Subbing GW2 will not fix the problems you think it will. Stop asking.

[Roamer.3259]

Of all the things that would probably damage the player base of this game, an optional sub is probably the worst thing I can imagine, they are never truly optional for the non casual player base even if the fanboy's claim they are fine.

Not to mention Guild Wars, since the launch of Prophecies, the game has been advertised as a sub free game, adding one in, even optional after 15 years of this is one sure way to get a lot of people to leave and never trust anything ANET does again.

So, do what others have said, buy 800/1600 gems every month (boom about the same cost as a sub) or play another game with an optional sub (lotro, eso, secret world legends, EQ1 or EQ2, the list goes on) or play a game that requires a sub to play at all. (WoW, FF, or the upcoming AoC)

[DoRi Silvia.4159]

I think you will find that a large portion of the player base plays this game BECAUSE there is no subscription or optional sub.

Most games that have optional subs make the game very difficult to get by without it, you could say that they force that upon the players

I think in gw2's case it would be the same you'd be locked out of alot of features that only is accessed by subscribed players and those who aren't are left to deal with it or pay up.

Knowing this gw2 community a large amount of players would be very unhappy and possibly quit

Bad idea

[Swagger.1459]

I’m guaranteed to find huge and expensive lists of things that player want If I were to go through posting history of players. This game needs to make money, and I believe it has been the 2nd lowest earner in the NCSOFT family consistently.

When you look at pace of development, recent layoffs, other projects being shelved... you have to consider this... If GW2 was generating more revenue, then those things would most likely not have happen. Money is vital and needs of the game changes, so consider that when we discuss optional ways for the team to perform better overall, while boosting the QoL for players.

Edit- For context...

https://massivelyop.com/2019/08/03/ncsoft-q2-2019-financials-guild-wars-2-may-be-eyeing-a-mobile-version-again/

[Randulf.7614]

And how will it make money if it scares off players?

Im all for suggestions (although given the community suggested gem store build templates and then fussed when we got them, maybe we shouldnt be suggesting...), but im utterly convinced this would not be a positive for the game 7 years in. Anet have rejected the idea before and they are in a better position to understand costs and revenue than we are to make that call.

[Crab Fear.1624]

They should keep cranking out supply requisition drops that rotate contents and theme.

It is a good fake subscription.

[Swagger.1459]

@Randulf.7614 said:And how will it make money if it scares off players?

Im all for suggestions (although given the community suggested gem store build templates and then fussed when we got them, maybe we shouldnt be suggesting...), but im utterly convinced this would not be a positive for the game 7 years in. Anet have rejected the idea before and they are in a better position to understand costs and revenue than we are to make that call.

Optional is a optional.