I was super super π when I bought the Steam super collection, and got all the living seasons INSTEAD of the gems, because that's what I thought I was getting, when I purchased that.
I admit, i was ignorant. But, at the same time, it's very poor handling by both steam and GW2 to not offer the same package, which only leads to confusion and distress.
As has already been stated, it's more or less, the exact same thing, I now realize.
I will "slow play" the game, and by the time I even get to level 80+ and even start to feel like I need to experience the living worlds, I will have several (yearly?) opportunities to buy the Living Seasons on sale, if I still want what they have to offer. Or, I can pivot and use the gems in any other fashion I deem fit.
Steam, to their credit, refunded my purchase. And after calming down like a dummy, and thinking about it, I ended up going for the GW2 shop collection purchase with the 4000 gems.
In short, I was committed to playing GW2 for the foreseeable future π But, yeah it's a big issue of confusion.