This game isn't very new player friendly.

[Gehenna.3625]

1 hour ago, flog.3485 said:

Seems to me the big issue is that, as much as GW2 needs to sell these additional packs of story, purchasing a story in order isn’t just possible.

 

The best solution would be then to offer some purchase options that allow one new player to start a story and then finish it without needing to spend additional money, albeit the problem with season 1 obviously. Therefore, why not just offer bundles of 1 expansion + 1 living story as a standard price ?

For example you would get:

-living story 2 + HoT for 40$=The Story of Mordremoth

-living story 3 + PoF for 40$=Magic Going Wild
-small exception here: season 4 + season 5 the Icebrood saga=Aurenes’ Fate

The thing is that if you buy all LS/IBS chapters in one go you have to pay something like 70 bucks. Compare that to the 50 bucks of getting all 3 expansions + the core game and you see a huge discrepancy. Except you do get pretty good value for LS3, 4 and IBS. LS2 I wouldn't say you get good value because it's not like it gives new zones and the story is mostly standing around listening to npc's. 

So really I wouldn't charge for LS2 and throw it in with HoT and boom the value of the remaining chapters goes to 50 bucks as well. And that you can sell I think as a package.

It would also stop some of the issues where people start with HoT and realize they have skipped part of the story.

 

[Lyssia.4637]

5 hours ago, Gehenna.3625 said:

Well there are situations where people might've played through HoT and got the LS2 chapters for free and not realise that if you'd come late to the party that you would be charged for them. Also if you haven't played for many years, you might've simply forgotten that it was that way. I'm really wondering why people expect returning players to have a perfect memory of the past.

Ah, that makes sense.  I was thinking primarily of situations where the returning player had gotten back into the game for a bit and refamiliarized themselves with the changes, then pulled someone in, or stopped at a particular place having finished all the content up to it.  That's a great point, though.  I do totally admit that LW1 and 2 are awkward no matter how you look at it for anyone that didn't just play straight through them at release, then never went back to them.

 

Quote

No worries, I've liked your post in return. I don't really care about the "confused" emotes. I just read them as actually confused and that they don't like my posts because they don't get them lol.

Glad to know.   🙂  I ignore "confuseds" for the most part, but it annoys me greatly when they appear to be being used by third parties to try to create bad feelings between two people otherwise having a perfectly civil and cheerful conversation.  It's all good.

Edited October 16, 2021 by Lyssia.4637

[Gehenna.3625]

14 minutes ago, Lyssia.4637 said:

Ah, that makes sense.  I was thinking primarily of situations where the returning player had gotten back into the game for a bit and refamiliarized themselves with the changes, then pulled someone in.  That's a great point, though.  I do totally admit that LW1 and 2 are awkward no matter how you look at it for anyone that didn't just play straight through them at release, then never went back to them.

It's all in the vein of "I know this and you have to know this as well therefore". So yeah, I try to be more reasonable and see it from the OP's point of view. In the end their point of view matters in discussions like this because they had a bad experience with the game. So some people here decided that giving them a hard time about it is somehow going to make it right or better? I have no idea how that works in their minds.

Quote

Glad to know.   🙂  I ignore "confuseds" for the most part, but it annoys me greatly when they appear to be being used by third parties to try to create bad feelings between two people otherwise having a perfectly civil and cheerful conversation.  It's all good.

Yeah it's the times we live in. Social media and all. It seems to be a necessity to press buttons of discontent that you can hide behind. You replied to my comments and I then replied to you based on what you said. I don't let emoticons or emoji's or whatever they're called get in the way of that.

Edited October 16, 2021 by Gehenna.3625

[trev.1045]

When i first started playing, and bought the expansions i thought i had all the content as a result.

It was a surprise to find i had to buy living world content separately. I think i bought LSW2 and LSW3 as

like everyone else i want to do the story in the right order.

 

When i logged on recently - considering a return to the game (i am not sure about horizontal progression but i like aspects of this game better than wow) - i discovered that i would need to spend another 35 euros to unlock content that is not an expansion..

 

Everyone is different, but it put me off for sure. The system is not exactly designed to encourage returning players.

Edited October 18, 2021 by trev.1045

[kharmin.7683]

19 minutes ago, trev.1045 said:

The system is not exactly designed to encourage returning players.

No, it is designed for players to continue playing, not leave for a period of time and return.  Anet gains no revenue when players take time away from the game.

[trev.1045]

16 minutes ago, kharmin.7683 said:

No, it is designed for players to continue playing, not leave for a period of time and return.  Anet gains no revenue when players take time away from the game.

 

But people arent going to continue playing for years at a time without breaks (well many of us do not) life happens- 

One of the benefits is horizontal progression is supposed to be that you can be gone for years, then jump back in. It seems if you do that, you have a significant bill.

 

I respect your opinion, but believe you have a better chance of revenue from a returning player that actually returns, than one put off by frontloaded cost.

 

[kharmin.7683]

5 minutes ago, trev.1045 said:

 

But people arent going to continue playing for years at a time without breaks (well many of us do not) life happens- 

One of the benefits is horizontal progression is supposed to be that you can be gone for years, then jump back in. It seems if you do that, you have a significant bill.

 

I respect your opinion, but believe you have a better chance of revenue from a returning player that actually returns, than one put off by frontloaded cost.

 

Sorry, I disagree.  Players that remain playing the game have a greater chance of spending money for gem store items which will bring in revenue over the player who has left with no guarantee of their return.  Anet shouldn't make projections based on players that might return at some point in the future.

ANet might also have better metrics on which accounts do continue playing for years at a time and which ones are idle. It may be that there are more active players over the years than you think.   However, that's something that neither of us will know.  😉

[trev.1045]

8 minutes ago, kharmin.7683 said:

Sorry, I disagree.  Players that remain playing the game have a greater chance of spending money for gem store items which will bring in revenue over the player who has left with no guarantee of their return.  Anet shouldn't make projections based on players that might return at some point in the future.

ANet might also have better metrics on which accounts do continue playing for years at a time and which ones are idle. It may be that there are more active players over the years than you think.   However, that's something that neither of us will know.  😉

 

No we dont know, i can only speak from personal experience.

When i first started playing and bought all the expansions, it was a genuine shock to discover i needed to fork out another 20 or 30 euros on living world content (lw2 and lw3)... it was a fair amount to pay up front! 

 

I forked it out anyway, played a few months and then got hit with a  c.ancer diagnosis and was too ill to play for a year or so.

 

Now logging back on - and discovering there is another 35 euros spend required to unlock non-expansion content does put me off, and i am someone who has spent in the past and bought gems for cosmetic items when i played.

 

So for me at least, i am someone who does spend, providing i am hooked back into the game again.

 

That is why mmo's do whatever they can (with offers) to get players back. In my opinion any barriers to getting players back are not a good idea.

Personally i think buying the latest expansion should get the full content, that way anet are getting revenue.

 

Anyway i mean no disrespect disagreeing with anyone here 🙂

Edited October 18, 2021 by trev.1045

[kharmin.7683]

10 minutes ago, trev.1045 said:

 

Anyway i mean no disrespect disagreeing with anyone here 🙂

None taken.  🙂  It's all good.  I guess that Anet is making enough money for their investors with the current model and maybe they have marketing data from wherever that suggests changing to a different model would be less profitable.  /shrug

[trev.1045]

16 hours ago, kharmin.7683 said:

None taken.  🙂  It's all good.  I guess that Anet is making enough money for their investors with the current model and maybe they have marketing data from wherever that suggests changing to a different model would be less profitable.  /shrug

 

You may be right and thanks for being civil while disagreeing! 🙂 - why do people feel the need to put anonymous sarcastic emoticons up by the way? I try to be polite when interacting with people and just gave a view- if someone disagrees with me i would much rather they politely say so than use silly emoticons anonymously...

Edited October 19, 2021 by trev.1045

[medivh.4725]

Try these:

Join a guild. Join 5 guilds in fact. Tell in guild chat what you are trying do and get you helpers. They literally arrive your spot.

Comment in map chat. Ask for help.

Look in lfg there literally always groups trying to do things. 

Post in lfg and get you helpers.