Let's talk about the new mount skins, available from the Black Lion Trading Co. for 9500 gems, or $120 US, or $153 CDN. Here's the deal with gem store purchases. I'm not against them, but I have a problem when new content is only available through them; and things like new mount skins, which gets everybody excited, is new content. Like I said, it's cool if ANET releases new skins in the store to get some revenue, but they haven't released a single mount skin (as of Nov 7, 2017) that you can earn in game through questing or otherwise. That's a problem. It doesn't feel good to take out my cc and pay for a skin like it does to earn it. Then I can say," yeah I just spent the last hour on this cool quest line that gave me this skin at the end, or this repeatable heart quest NPC has cool mount skins I can purchase with the trade contracts I accumulated from playing the game." It sounds stupid in my head to say, "yeah I just spent $153 CDN to buy the 30 license mount skin pack because I really wanted this particular one but it's random number generated. I didn't want to gamble, and paying for them individually costs even more in the long run so...." It's not "just aesthetics." No one wants to look basic while playing a fantasy game. If every new aesthetic they release is just something you need to buy, it gets old real quick. Guild Wars 2 is, sans core version, a buy to play MMORPG game. To me this means I'd like some rewarding content to incite me to keep playing; to have goals to work towards. I don't mind spending a reasonable amount of money here and there (let's say $10-20 a month) on cosmetic things in the gem store to show my love and support for the game and all the effort put into developing it, but I will never spend $153 all in one go; that's more than the Ultimate Edition of their newest expansion and then some. Don't think I haven't noticed these skins are available for "only 7 days," creating an artificial urgency to impulse buy. Add some skins acquirable through playing your game to off set the ones purchasable through the gem store. Yours truly, Player, Emissary of the Mad King Who Won't Indulge These Ridiculous Prices PS - On a relatable note, glider skins are in the same boat. There are currently only 3 available glider skins, not including basic glider, that are available to earn in game as of Nov 7, 2017: Warbringer (PVP rank 6), Ad Infinitum and The Ascension. Heart of Thorns released in 2015. Let that sink in.