Something has to be done about living world season costs

[Glacial.9516]

I'm torn on the cost of the living world seasons.

On the one hand I can absolutely see how it might be off-putting when someone spends $100+ to buy the game only to learn there's an additional 'hidden' $60 price tag to get the whole story. It's a lot of up-front cost. Additionally the episodes are given out for free to players who log in so it has this sort-of backwards payment model associated with it where the price of the non-current living world actually increased (kind of) as time goes on.

On the other hand 6 months of playing a subscription game and you've already paid more than you will for the LS (which as noted, you can get for free if you log in during its release). It's hard to argue against the value of LS3 and 4 given how much content they provide (debatably more than their respective expansions).

Overall I think it's fine but I understand how new players might see it as deceptive or a slap in the face to have to pay even more after paying an already (comparatively) high amount to get into the game. The value is made up for by the fact that there is no subscription fee, but that is not always something that players will immediately appreciate.

 

[Cuks.8241]

Season 2 is not worth it and leaves a big gap in story.

And no one cares what someone paid for the game over a decade. You got a decade of relevant game play out of it (and got LS for free anyway). Not many people would spend 100 $ for 10 year old game. And when people said just grind the gold for gems, my thoughts are another Korean grind, Ill pass. 

[Eraser.9860]

1 hour ago, Jukhy.2431 said:

Living World Season 2 Complete Pack is also listed in the web store: https://buy.guildwars2.com/en-gb#ingame_items
For me the price shown there is 16€.

Thank you Jukhy. I was actually looking for this on the gem store but couldn't find anything. I really appreciate this.

[Miragen.6127]

Feels like a lot of people are just gatekeeping ' I paid this much money so you should also pay this much' even though some of the content is many many years old.

 

Just hope to find people like that when I want to sell a 10 year old car and they'll be willing to spend the 2012 price for it. 

[eXruina.4956]

What you're saying strikes me as kinda weird,

 

I don't know how Steam handles selling the game but to my knowledge, only LS2 chapters needs purchasing, and the rest come free, and if you buy the latest expansion which is EoD all the past content comes free with it, to my understanding that inclueds HoT and PoF. 🤔

 

Has this changed? 😶

[RadiantWolf.2058]

35 minutes ago, eXruina.4956 said:

What you're saying strikes me as kinda weird,

 

I don't know how Steam handles selling the game but to my knowledge, only LS2 chapters needs purchasing, and the rest come free, and if you buy the latest expansion which is EoD all the past content comes free with it, to my understanding that inclueds HoT and PoF. 🤔

 

Has this changed? 😶

If you want to buy the $100 Complete Edition on Steam you get all the Living World content. It's not free though, it's included in that bigger price tag. This is the edition I wish I could have gotten as a returning player since I wanted a complete experience. I got Ultimate and bought....some Living World with those gems since the gems offered aren't enough for all the seasons. Such a bundle still doesn't exist for non-steam users.

 

And if you go for a cheaper option on Steam the LW isn't sold separately, only as part of the $100 bundle. So if you buy Heart of Thorns/Path of Fire for your account on Steam but not complete edition you won't be able to JUST get the LW later. You are going to get it via gems like non-steam users. It's a bit of a mess.

 

Okay, why am I getting confused on this? It's a factual answer. Unless y'all are reacting to me saying it's a mess. The new player would see this as a bundle on steam but see Living World is NOT treated as DLC like the expansions. They get one opportunity to purchase LW up front or get it in segments as a gem transaction later.... I do think it's a mess.

Edited September 9, 2022 by RadiantWolf.2058

[Linken.6345]

5 hours ago, RadiantWolf.2058 said:

If you want to buy the $100 Complete Edition on Steam you get all the Living World content. It's not free though, it's included in that bigger price tag. This is the edition I wish I could have gotten as a returning player since I wanted a complete experience. I got Ultimate and bought....some Living World with those gems since the gems offered aren't enough for all the seasons. Such a bundle still doesn't exist for non-steam users.

 

And if you go for a cheaper option on Steam the LW isn't sold separately, only as part of the $100 bundle. So if you buy Heart of Thorns/Path of Fire for your account on Steam but not complete edition you won't be able to JUST get the LW later. You are going to get it via gems like non-steam users. It's a bit of a mess.

 

Okay, why am I getting confused on this? It's a factual answer. Unless y'all are reacting to me saying it's a mess. The new player would see this as a bundle on steam but see Living World is NOT treated as DLC like the expansions. They get one opportunity to purchase LW up front or get it in segments as a gem transaction later.... I do think it's a mess.

Yes its 160 gems short mate.

[Artemis.8034]

Even when i stopped playing i still kept an eye on the gw2 news, that was how i knew to log in for all the LW rereleases. They are doing the LWs 1 next week so make sure and log in

[Linken.6345]

13 minutes ago, Artemis.8034 said:

Even when i stopped playing i still kept an eye on the gw2 news, that was how i knew to log in for all the LW rereleases. They are doing the LWs 1 next week so make sure and log in

Its free for everyone forever so no need to login for living world season 1 relaeses

[Ultramex.1506]

You weren't there when each episodes were released for free so pay up, the game is B2P

[sokeenoppa.5384]

IMO anet should just give living world seasons 1, 2 and 3 for free for every1 that buys the full game, EOD would unlock ibs and lws4.

Most of us got those for free anyways, doing this players would actually get hooked into game and potentially these new hooked player would spend money into gem store.

 

 

[Miragen.6127]

10 hours ago, Ultramex.1506 said:

You weren't there when each episodes were released for free so pay up, the game is B2P

 

Nice gatekeeping buddy, you got stuff for free but then tell others to pay up.. keep it up.

[trunks.5249]

On 9/8/2022 at 9:59 PM, Eraser.9860 said:

Hi, 

I have been playing since 2012 and I had a few friends who started with steam and are really enjoying the game. We have gone through all base content and all season 1 episodes that are available. 

They wanted to go ahead and move to season 2 while we wait for more episodes for season 1 but were really discouraged to find they had to pay an extra $20 for season 2. They had already bought HOT and POF and were really disappointed. They eventually decided not to purchase. Something really needs to be done about the cost of the living world seasons. I personally think they're too costly and turning people away from the game. Thoughts?

i get it however it is not that hard to grind enough gold to just buy enough gems on the exchange. it only takes me a little over a week to grind enough gold to get a costume thats 700 gems

[casualkenny.9817]

most if not all of the ppl in this thread don't need to buy any lw content because we all already own them (either by login or past purchase), or at least the ones that we want. 

 

the main concern is how a potential new player would view the growing subsidiary costs for an ageing 10yo game, and whether they would enter and stay long enough in order to get hooked onto the game.

 

(it's not like anet haven't made such pragmatic decisions before when necessary, when they bundled HoT into PoF)

 

 

Spoiler

edit: when i first entered the game, i played the core story for the mastery points, and i guarantee that what i saw in the core story was definitely absolutely definitely not a factor in influencing me to buy further content. then i did the HoT story and i was mildly entertained by it, though i would still not pay a cent solely for the sake of getting more of the story. but one thing for sure, i was thinking to myself, who the cats are all these npcs and why should i care about any of them. even after spending hundreds on the game and also obtaining a modest sum of gold from playing the game, i was never ever tempted to buy lw2 through either means (i do own lw2 now due to anet's previous weekly giveaway, but i haven't done any of it). i did buy lw3 or part-there-of for my accounts, with no regrets.

 

Edited September 10, 2022 by casualkenny.9817

[Labjax.2465]

34 minutes ago, trunks.5249 said:

i get it however it is not that hard to grind enough gold to just buy enough gems on the exchange. it only takes me a little over a week to grind enough gold to get a costume thats 700 gems

AFAIK, most of the standard gold farming methods are either in part behind LW, or are in part behind expansion maps, or some combination, as well as sometimes tied up in various long-term account unlocks like certain mounts for efficiency and keeping up. You can imagine how this would mean that if something is trying to play the game in order, they would be out of luck for most gold farming methods to begin with.

And this is setting aside the fact that expecting someone to grind gold to continue playing the story is silly and even if someone was willing to do so, they'd prob burn out instead of seeing all the game has to offer and experiencing it in a more relaxed way.

[Einsof.1457]

Sounds like your friends need to get jobs

Edited September 10, 2022 by Einsof.1457

[Miragen.6127]

3 hours ago, trunks.5249 said:

i get it however it is not that hard to grind enough gold to just buy enough gems on the exchange. it only takes me a little over a week to grind enough gold to get a costume thats 700 gems

 

You as a what, brand new player who has no idea or a 10 year veteran or whatever who has all the expansions, content, done everything and who knows all the best spots?

[Crono.4197]

22 hours ago, Cuks.8241 said:

And when people said just grind the gold for gems, my thoughts are another Korean grind, Ill pass. 

Same people that will say this is "Korean grind" will farm new level cap and gear every 3 months in other MMOs until the end of time and call it "progress"....yeah. Instant gratification isn't on the table.

The choices are there, people just don't wanna take them and would rather have everything for free or whine about it on forums.

[trunks.5249]

47 minutes ago, Miragen.6127 said:

 

You as a what, brand new player who has no idea or a 10 year veteran or whatever who has all the expansions, content, done everything and who knows all the best spots?

10 year player. grinding ranked pvp can get you 20 gold a day even more if thats all you do not to mention daily's and selling everything you get doing dungeon runs all witch are free without living world or expansions. i can understand new players not knowing how to get lots of gold everyone else that complains is just lazy

[trunks.5249]

3 hours ago, Labjax.2465 said:

AFAIK, most of the standard gold farming methods are either in part behind LW, or are in part behind expansion maps, or some combination, as well as sometimes tied up in various long-term account unlocks like certain mounts for efficiency and keeping up. You can imagine how this would mean that if something is trying to play the game in order, they would be out of luck for most gold farming methods to begin with.

And this is setting aside the fact that expecting someone to grind gold to continue playing the story is silly and even if someone was willing to do so, they'd prob burn out instead of seeing all the game has to offer and experiencing it in a more relaxed way.

its easy without expansions or living world lots of options grinding ranked pvp gets you tons of gold doing paths in dungeons and breaking everything down and sell all the crafting material gets you tons of gold. i make about 15-20 gold a day just selling crafting stuff alone then i take a break and grind ranked for another 20+ gold a day 

Edited September 10, 2022 by trunks.5249

[RadiantWolf.2058]

16 hours ago, Linken.6345 said:

Yes its 160 gems short mate.

True, it's not a big investment from there. But it does mean spending yet more money or spending a lot of time in Silverwastes to grind gold. It's also a bit frustrating to get the big gem pack with your purchase knowing you will be spending it to get a complete experience with nothing left over for any quality of life items or cute outfits or mount skins you might want. You will be using all of it on Living World.

 

And that is if you do enough research ahead of time to even know Living World is a thing you will "need" to buy to have a coherent story and flow.

 

Just to be clear btw, since I am all over this thread.... I already bought Living World. Whether they do or do not change this won't change MY gameplay experience. But I can recognize that it is a considerable hurdle for new players and something should be addressed. Buying them doesn't feel good as a new player, it feels annoying.

[Mungo Zen.9364]

5 hours ago, casualkenny.9817 said:

most if not all of the ppl in this thread don't need to buy any lw content because we all already own them (either by login or past purchase), or at least the ones that we want. 

 

the main concern is how a potential new player would view the growing subsidiary costs for an ageing 10yo game, and whether they would enter and stay long enough in order to get hooked onto the game.

 

(it's not like anet haven't made such pragmatic decisions before when necessary, when they bundled HoT into PoF)

 

 

  Hide contents

edit: when i first entered the game, i played the core story for the mastery points, and i guarantee that what i saw in the core story was definitely absolutely definitely not a factor in influencing me to buy further content. then i did the HoT story and i was mildly entertained by it, though i would still not pay a cent solely for the sake of getting more of the story. but one thing for sure, i was thinking to myself, who the cats are all these npcs and why should i care about any of them. even after spending hundreds on the game and also obtaining a modest sum of gold from playing the game, i was never ever tempted to buy lw2 through either means (i do own lw2 now due to anet's previous weekly giveaway, but i haven't done any of it). i did buy lw3 or part-there-of for my accounts, with no regrets.

 

Prior to 2021 we saw the LWS bundles on sale 3-4 times a year.  In 2021 and 2022 they were only on sale in the March sale, reduced 30%.  They did just give away each episode for free in 2021 so that likely plays into this but, if players knew they could buy the LWS on sale every 3-6 months it would probably reduce the complaints.

It's usually my first thought when people complain about prices; Why are you paying full price for anything?

Of course, Anet actually needs to put the items on sale but, if more people refuse to pay full price we may see more sales.

On the flip side, I do respect that Anet has not raised the price on any items to match global economic inflation.  While everything else has gotten more expensive IRL, the base price for a GW2 items like skins or convenience items has not.  We don't see as deeply discounted sales either, so perhaps that is where Anet is making up for the inflation.

Ultimately I support those who want to see price changes, even though I did buy (on sale, converting Gold to Gems) about half of the chapters and got the other half free for logging in.   More players having access to more content helps increase player activity in that content.

Edited September 10, 2022 by Mungo Zen.9364

[Miragen.6127]

5 hours ago, trunks.5249 said:

10 year player. grinding ranked pvp can get you 20 gold a day even more if thats all you do not to mention daily's and selling everything you get doing dungeon runs all witch are free without living world or expansions. i can understand new players not knowing how to get lots of gold everyone else that complains is just lazy

 

Sounds great for new players to get stomped in PvP for weeks or months earning that money then, bet they're all excited at this prospect.

[CarnageTheory.3247]

Yeah, it almost completely turned me off, myself.  I've had this account since release, but every time I've tried to get into the game, I fell off and couldn't stick with it.

This time around it's been fun and I've been enjoying it.  Got all the expansions and all of that.  But I will tell you, I almost logged out and said, "screw it." when I found out the cool mount that everybody rides around on from mob to mob can only be obtained through a story segment that I had to pay gems for, so I had to put off farming for for now.

Granted, I do know that it's a huge time sink and it's nothing like just buying the story segments.  But I wanted to have it all ready for me to start farming, instead of realizing that I had a bunch of roadblocks I'd need to take care of first and to begin farming gold in earnest before I could even start farming for the mount. 

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

On 9/9/2022 at 3:53 AM, RadiantWolf.2058 said:

It's not a barrier if you like the game, but I am talking about the experience of players who aren't sure they like it yet and will just drop once they hit Season 2.

NGL, by the time you complete the core story and Season 1, you should have a pretty solid understanding as to whether or not you enjoy the game. By this point you've put in at least a full week's worth of gaming into it, and that's if you're rushing the story and not bothering with mapping much.

Besides that you can still go into dungeons and fractals on top of Dry Top and Silverwastes.

By the time you hit Season 2, you're not in the position of "not sure if you like it yet". You either do, or you're giving yourself a chore you don't enjoy.

 

That said, I do think Season 2 should be cheaper than it is - free or not, it is only story and achievements, and yet it is the most expensive season because it has the most individual releases to it.