Nocturn.8904

Doesn't seem like it. I understand that with a decision as unpopular as this one, they'll need to work for a little while on exactly how to word their PR statement, but there better be one. If they just ignore this, I'm done.

Not really? I don't think this is silly at all. I think this is how the system is intended to work. If the playerbase at large is disappointed in something about the game, wouldn't it be in everybody's best interest to let ANet know that? The players could potentially get a better method of acquiring mount skins, ANet would make money from the new sales being made, and public opinion of the company would improve again. That's what we all want here. If we didn't care about the game, we'd shrug our shoulders and say, "Well, I didn't like GW2 much anyway, no big deal." There's something to be said for the money ANet can make from whales, I'm sure. I know it's tempting. But especially for GW2, what we need the least right now is a public outcry against ANet. They can't shrug off negative perceptions of them quite like a monolithic company like Blizzard could. If the current players are this upset by it, any new players would be even more scared by a move like this, and the game will feel those effects in the long run.

Thank you for that wise insight. Edit: was my sarcasm apparent enough? I didn't want to be too smarmy if I could avoid it, but I want to make sure the point comes across clearly. It's not insight. It's a bunch of teenagers whining about something thinking they're changing the world by fighting big corporations. In reality, this isn't a big deal, and anet is not North Korea or Comcast or whatever the kids are raging against these days. This is a complete non issue.Did you... just refute my sarcastic compliment for you? Way to miss the point. We're not going to sit here and argue that nations will collapse and the Earth will be destroyed as a direct result of mount adoption licenses. Acting like we are is hilariously disingenuous. What we will do is express disappointment about the system and make it clear we're not buying into it, which is a right any consumer would have. These are the official forums, so this is the place to do it. If it's a nonissue for you, congratulations for being so above it, but you're not doing anyone any favors by being the armchair philosopher here.

Thank you for that wise insight. Edit: was my sarcasm apparent enough? I didn't want to be too smarmy if I could avoid it, but I want to make sure the point comes across clearly.

I just want to reiterate the message of this lovely post. Literally any of these other options would have been more tolerable than what we got, because frankly the current system is just insulting. The good news is that implementing some of these wouldn't invalidate the purchases made by the early adopters of this RNG system. The gamblers in the community could more justifiably choose to try their luck, and those of us who despise the union of gambling and microtransactions would have some alternative to ensure we get the skins we want, even if it still involves being saddled with some other skins we might be less keen on... I'm still not going to be happy about it, but when the only redeeming quality of the mount adoption system is the lack of duplicates, we really can only go up from here.

Aside from the obvious initial backlash, I think the most damning thing of all is that this stinks of desperation. We just had a big content expansion recently, so ANet should be riding high and convincing the existing playerbase that the game is still going strong. Instead, they cave to the "Year of the Lootbox" mentality that hit everybody else earlier in 2017, which just makes me worry that the game is doing so poorly they have to stoop to such a low level just to be profitable.

Yeah, it seems like they implemented this stable system in perhaps the worst way possible. I've been happy to buy things from the gem store whenever I had a little extra cash and some time to invest in the game. If I'm about to start a new character to test out a profession? Might as well buy them an outfit that looks nice. If I want to avoid some of the hassle managing my salvage kits? A salvage-o-matic is a great item to fill an account-bound inventory slot with. I buy plenty of stuff that looks nice or offers a decent convenience when I know what I'm getting. The recent uproar around RNG systems in games is difficult to avoid at this point. Whoever suggested the stable system had to know they would be ruffling some feathers. The most annoying thing is that you can't even pick what mount type you get a skin for; don't have a griffon but get a griffon skin out of your RNG roll? Too bad! Offering mount skins just like outfits would be fine. We're all used to that. Have some cool reskins at a lower price point and then sell some of the really fancy stuff for a bit more. I'd like to think ANet cares about fixing this mess, but I honestly don't know what they could do after they've already shot themselves in the foot. If they individually price each skin in the gem store, people who have already bought into the lootbox system will be upset. Unless they were offered refunds, I guess, but there's no way in hell ANet would do that. All I know is that I definitely won't be buying into these adoption licenses, and I'm kinda sour on the thought of buying gems in general now. I guess that depends on what they do. Whatever their plan is, their only hope for keeping goodwill is to make some changes fast.