1600 Gems for a Jade Bot Skin

[DarcShriek.5829]

I can't see paying more than 200 for a jade bot skin.

[Holgarf.6581]

We have long since entered the era of the MONETISE everything mentality - it now poisons everything in our society. Terrible excuse to say "it's optional" because it is and it isn't and it excuses this sort of behaviour which is not really something we want to welcome with open arms - unless the next expansion is totally free. I don't know why but this kind of thing fills me with disgust. Perhaps I am the exception to the rule? Maybe I am the odd one out? I think this started off sincerely enough and it supported ANet nicely but it has gone too far now. A micro skin that flashes up for a short time, £20? Yeah. No. This game has gone full blown TF2.

If I could have got some money for my GW2 account I'd abandon this mess entirely but sadly that's not possible. I might just go back to GW1 at this point. Every new update and iteration I find most boring anyway.

And people can laugh or get mad, if they love the game that much, but I don't like supporting this type of behaviour. We all have our opinions after all.

Good day.

[Catilena.8729]

59 minutes ago, Batel.9206 said:

I don't have a jade bot and don't really know how it works, so...how often is it actually seen?

But to be honest, even if it's visible as often as a mail carrier, I still can't see that price being justified. That's kind of absurd. Isn't that the price of a standalone mount skin?

 

You see the Jade Bot in the following circumstances, with their approx. time, provided you have completed the Mastery:

Withdrawing charges from Jade Batteries *3 seconds, Cantha Only*

Withdrawing Offensive/Defensive Overcharges *3 seconds Cantha Only*

Riding a Zipline *varies by zipline length, Cantha Only*

Using the Glider Booster *2 seconds*

Jade Bot Resurrection *3-10 seconds depending on how hard you are being bonked*

Setting up a personal waypoint *6 seconds*

Any task that requires remotely controlling the Jade Bot, which, as far as I know, ONLY occurs in a single heart quest and the End of Dragon's Storyline.

 

In other words, 4-800 gems is fair, 1600 is not. I accepted the 1600-2k price for mount skins because you see them a lot and they can be custom-colored. Why the hell are Jade Bots worth more than Gliders and Minis, when they are far less prominant and not Non-EoD Friendly compared to the latter?

[Labjax.2465]

15 minutes ago, Holgarf.6581 said:

We have long since entered the era of the MONETISE everything mentality - it now poisons everything in our society. Terrible excuse to say "it's optional" because it is and it isn't and it excuses this sort of behaviour which is not really something we want to welcome with open arms - unless the next expansion is totally free. I don't know why but this kind of thing fills me with disgust. Perhaps I am the exception to the rule? Maybe I am the odd one out? I think this started off sincerely enough and it supported ANet nicely but it has gone too far now. A micro skin that flashes up for a short time, £20? Yeah. No. This game has gone full blown TF2.

If I could have got some money for my GW2 account I'd abandon this mess entirely but sadly that's not possible. I might just go back to GW1 at this point. Every new update and iteration I find most boring anyway.

And people can laugh or get mad, if they love the game that much, but I don't like supporting this type of behaviour. We all have our opinions after all.

Good day.

Oh you're absolutely right. I was just watching a thing the other day about a car company planning to do subscriptions for seat warmers. That's how bad it's getting. The excuse is always that costs have to be recuperated, but the reality is maximizing profits and never being satisfied with the profits you have. It's not as though these companies pull out a spreadsheet and show us how they're gonna be in the red without X monetization. I'm sure they'd rather people not look at the numbers, as the numbers always show obscene levels of profit and make it clear how little of it is actually necessary. They'd also like people to think more profit = more reinvesting into the thing, especially with games, but that's also not true, as a lot of profit is often pocketed by CEOs, execs, investors, and/or is redirected into other unspecified game projects.

Edit: So like, you can't even be confident that spending money on game A will fund game A. Maybe some of it goes to game A or maybe it gets put into game B or gets executive C a yacht.

Edited July 19, 2022 by Labjax.2465

[ZaxanRazor.6235]

Anet, this pricing is predatory. You've been going aggressively predatory with your gem store pricing since before EoD launched.

 

Stop it. This is seriously not a good look.

 

$20 for something that is only seen on your screen, intermittently, is nothing but pure predation that even EA would think twice about.

 

This is not OK.

 

Do you want me to keep giving you money for gems? Yes? Stop doing this.

 

If you're worried that more and more players are getting obscenely rich in game, then decouple gems from ingame currency. It would be better than embracing macro-transactions.

 

I've bought my best mate PoF for less than this stupid skin.

Edited July 19, 2022 by ZaxanRazor.6235

[Raizel.8175]

Riddikulus!

[Trejgon.9367]

synergetics gyrocycle roller bettle skin, and whatever jade bot skin are never going to be same "value", so I am sort of baffled they are both priced the same....

[Lux.1308]

Even lounge passes cost just 1000 gems.

[Catilena.8729]

1 minute ago, Mantrix.8329 said:

Even lounge passes cost just 1000 gems.

Don't forget Minis and Gliders. Also some outfit sets.

 

We should compile a list of all the infinitely more useful/worthwhile items that are cheaper than the jadebot skin.

[Ashen.2907]

23 minutes ago, Holgarf.6581 said:

We have long since entered the era of the MONETISE everything mentality - it now poisons everything in our society. Terrible excuse to say "it's optional" because it is and it isn't and it excuses this sort of behaviour which is not really something we want to welcome with open arms - unless the next expansion is totally free. I don't know why but this kind of thing fills me with disgust. Perhaps I am the exception to the rule? Maybe I am the odd one out? I think this started off sincerely enough and it supported ANet nicely but it has gone too far now. A micro skin that flashes up for a short time, £20? Yeah. No. This game has gone full blown TF2.

If I could have got some money for my GW2 account I'd abandon this mess entirely but sadly that's not possible. I might just go back to GW1 at this point. Every new update and iteration I find most boring anyway.

And people can laugh or get mad, if they love the game that much, but I don't like supporting this type of behaviour. We all have our opinions after all.

Good day.

In what way is a Jade Bot skin not optional?

[Holgarf.6581]

1 minute ago, Labjax.2465 said:

Oh you're absolutely right. I was just watching a thing the other day about a car company planning to do subscriptions for seat warmers. That's how bad it's getting. The excuse is always that costs have to be recuperated, but the reality is maximizing profits and never being satisfied with the profits you have. It's not as though these companies pull out a spreadsheet and show us how they're gonna be in the red without X monetization. I'm sure they'd rather people not look at the numbers, as the numbers always show obscene levels of profit and make it clear how little of it is actually necessary. They'd also like people to think more profit = more reinvesting into the thing, especially with games, but that's also not true, as a lot of profit is often pocketed by CEOs and executives.

I saw that as well. BWM. Microtransactions for cars. Other car companies have done the same before. MICROTRANSACTIONS IN CARS - let that sink in for a while folks. It sounds and it is, totally ridiculous... yet here we are. Businesses will nickel n' dime as much as possible - this is the sad money-grabbing era we live. A business dangling people upside down by the ankle to see what change falls out. If people allow it and use excuses for it, it becomes the norm. People then grow up with it and forget about what it was like to get all of what you paid for. Business wins, consumer doesn't. And yes, any savings are codeword for maintaining profits, every time.

I don't trust in Anet/NCSoft. Just judging by the trajectory, you can expect in future more fallout from controversial decisions as the money train ploughs on. All businesses ultimately end up the same - none of them are on gamer's sides.

[Labjax.2465]

12 minutes ago, Holgarf.6581 said:

I saw that as well. BWM. Microtransactions for cars. Other car companies have done the same before. MICROTRANSACTIONS IN CARS - let that sink in for a while folks. It sounds and it is, totally ridiculous... yet here we are. Businesses will nickel n' dime as much as possible - this is the sad money-grabbing era we live. A business dangling people upside down by the ankle to see what change falls out. If people allow it and use excuses for it, it becomes the norm. People then grow up with it and forget about what it was like to get all of what you paid for. Business wins, consumer doesn't. And yes, any savings are codeword for maintaining profits, every time.

I don't trust in Anet/NCSoft. Just judging by the trajectory, you can expect in future more fallout from controversial decisions as the money train ploughs on. All businesses ultimately end up the same - none of them are on gamer's sides.

Yep, well said. And with regards to trust... even without the mechanical knowledge of how these businesses operate, I've been naive and burned far too many times by video game companies to trust a single one. I wish I could and I slip sometimes and have a little faith in one or the other sometimes even now, but it never ends well. Doesn't matter who works there who is "nice", the business model ruins it every time.

[Holgarf.6581]

7 minutes ago, Ashen.2907 said:

In what way is a Jade Bot skin not optional?

I was talking about so-called optional purchases in general, there's also an element of compulsive collective behaviour that a lot of gamers do in games such as this, but that's something else entirely and I won't get into it here.

As some people are saying "if someone wants to pay 1600 gems on a bot skin, mehhhhh" - yes, lovely precedent. You're letting them dip a toe in the water to see the backlash - businesses do it all the time. Ready Player One vibes.

I've dumped a lot of money into GW2 (no where near whale levels), and I'm tired of the pay-or-get-nothing attitude that ArenaNet has to adopted for most of it's content. For those of us who don't want to drop money into the game every month we get a handful of gaudy skins or special event items, some of which are purposefully awkward and tedious to get hold of. Maybe one themed armour set? How wonderful for those not living in the store. I didn't buy a subscription based MMO for a number of reasons, but I didn't expect GW2 would end up being so far off the other end compared to how GW1 was. The difference is mind blowing.

It is what it is. At least some people are happy with it...

Anyway I am done trying to warn people of the dangers of openly accepting shady practices. In the future, you will be the ones complaining when the game continues to push the boundaries of what is deemed reasonable.

Peace dudes. o/ (unsubbed)

[Hotride.2187]

I mean if the skin let you disable the "your jade bot found something!"..... you know? I'd even think about it for a bit. Would of course be horrible, but we live in that kind of world right now.

Edited July 19, 2022 by Hotride.2187

[Ashen.2907]

40 minutes ago, Holgarf.6581 said:

I was talking about so-called optional purchases in general, there's also an element of compulsive collective behaviour that a lot of gamers do in games such as this, but that's something else entirely and I won't get into it here.

As some people are saying "if someone wants to pay 1600 gems on a bot skin, mehhhhh" - yes, lovely precedent. You're letting them dip a toe in the water to see the backlash - businesses do it all the time. Ready Player One vibes.

I've dumped a lot of money into GW2 (no where near whale levels), and I'm tired of the pay-or-get-nothing attitude that ArenaNet has to adopted for most of it's content. For those of us who don't want to drop money into the game every month we get a handful of gaudy skins or special event items, some of which are purposefully awkward and tedious to get hold of. Maybe one themed armour set? How wonderful for those not living in the store. I didn't buy a subscription based MMO for a number of reasons, but I didn't expect GW2 would end up being so far off the other end compared to how GW1 was. The difference is mind blowing.

It is what it is. At least some people are happy with it...

Anyway I am done trying to warn people of the dangers of openly accepting shady practices. In the future, you will be the ones complaining when the game continues to push the boundaries of what is deemed reasonable.

Peace dudes. o/ (unsubbed)

Without ever spending a dime on gems I can buy anything added to the gemstore each month. The gem/gold conversion is certainly part of the pricing model for the gemstore. I understand the frustration, I guess, but cant say that I agree with the complaint that you dont get stuff without paying for it. 

[Svarty.8019]

If Arenanet hold their nerve, people will pay the full price. We're idiots.

[chronometria.3708]

I agree that its not a good look - it is basically a slightly more active mail carrier and should be priced accordingly. 

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

1 hour ago, Catilena.8729 said:

 

You see the Jade Bot in the following circumstances, with their approx. time, provided you have completed the Mastery:

Withdrawing charges from Jade Batteries *3 seconds, Cantha Only*

Withdrawing Offensive/Defensive Overcharges *3 seconds Cantha Only*

Riding a Zipline *varies by zipline length, Cantha Only*

Using the Glider Booster *2 seconds*

Jade Bot Resurrection *3-10 seconds depending on how hard you are being bonked*

Setting up a personal waypoint *6 seconds*

Any task that requires remotely controlling the Jade Bot, which, as far as I know, ONLY occurs in a single heart quest and the End of Dragon's Storyline.

 

In other words, 4-800 gems is fair, 1600 is not. I accepted the 1600-2k price for mount skins because you see them a lot and they can be custom-colored. Why the hell are Jade Bots worth more than Gliders and Minis, when they are far less prominant and not Non-EoD Friendly compared to the latter?

You see it for around 7 or 8 minutes during the Canach Coin event.

[kharmin.7683]

2 hours ago, Danikat.8537 said:

I could imagine it being human error: someone is told to put 'the new skin' in the gem store, doesn't check what it's a skin for and just looks at recent skin prices then throws this in at a similar price. Or mistook it for a mount skin or something.

Yeah, kinda like the dev who admitted on reddit that they didn't play ranger and made adjustments based on what they read in the wiki  (sigh)

[Holykitten.3064]

I like the skin, but I AM NOT paying the same price as Mount Skins for something I barely see.

350-400 gems, sure, I could see as reasonable. Similar screen time as mail carriers, I can understand that.

But, SEVENTEEN POUNDS for something that has less screen time than said mail carriers. Nope. No. Absolutely not.

Predatory. 100%. 

 

[kharmin.7683]

I don't understand how something available in the gem store that is completely optional and has absolutely no bearing on whether or not a player can complete content is considered "predatory".   No, I don't agree with the price point but predatory?   Not sure that means what people think it means.  

[Randulf.7614]

I’d love to say I’m surprised, but I’m not.

I suspect they are also trying to sink away excess gold, but this isn’t the right way to do it in my opinion. It’s also possibly to give something to the social media influencers to show off to more people. Again, I understand that, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of the wider community.

Ultimately, optional or not, 1600 gems is overpriced for this item

[Mungrul.9358]

1 minute ago, Haleydawn.3764 said:

But, SEVENTEEN POUNDS for something that has less screen time than said mail carriers. Nope. No. Absolutely not.

See, this is good, people are finally equating gem prices to real world costs.

People who monetise games adopt things like gems or points as a way to abstract the cost of the stuff they're selling. And it's been proven that even only one layer of abstraction is enough to cloud a customer's judgement when it comes to the value of in-app purchases.

That you guys are now writing this down in real world terms is excellent, and ANet should be ashamed of this pricing.

Personally, I think cash abstraction layers should be illegal.

[Minjin.8259]

I was all set to buy it after they showed it last week.  I thought aww so cute!  I want that, then I logged on this morning and saw the price and was SHOCKED.  They have been doing 3 mount skin packs for that same price.  So yeah, no thank you!

[Paradoxoglanis.1904]

Dont give anet your money until they start fixing real gameplay issues.