Literally the only reason I play GW2 is that there is no battlepass...looks like those days are over

[JDub.1530]

21 minutes ago, Antrix.4512 said:

Well, I've already talked about this. I agree with what you're saying. It just didn't stand out as much before, and now they've decided to "legalize" all of it. They're not the first, and they won't be the last, to start down this path. I don't even trust Blizzard, there are already hints that monetization will appear in their tradIng post soon, even though they swore and vowed that nothing like that would ever happen. Knowing our dear ANet, monetization of their battle pass is sooner or later inevitable, that's a fact. 

Don't even trust Blizzard? I didn't realize trust in Blizzard was a currency that still existed in 2023. But that's a different discussion.

GW2 has been around for more than a decade. Where have they earned a lack of trust with respect to exploitive monetization? If anything, they've improved some of their monetizations.

• They eventually added mount selection licenses to counter the RNG of the original adoption licenses.
• They added Black Lion Statuettes to BL chests, so even if the RNG fails you, you earn currency that will let you select items you specifically want, which BL chest items will eventually rotate into.
• And even more recently they reworked the statuettes so that items don't rotate out, so older items will remain available, so you don't have to wait for the item you're looking for to make it back into rotation

If anything, the new system is an overall benefit to players, as we'll be able to pick our rewards for basically doing existing dailies. And I see no reason to believe it's a prelude to some sort of cash grab. If they want people to pay money for special items, they can just put it in their already existing gem store--where people have shown they'll buy them.

[Ashen.2907]

Don't focus too much on the reference to the new daily/weekly system being, "similar," to other games' battlepasses. Monkeys are similar to humans but would you want to marry one?

Edited August 18, 2023 by Ashen.2907

[Sylvyn.4750]

5 hours ago, Chronardis.4028 said:

This isn't a battle pass. It's a revamped version of the daily/weekly system we've had, but with better rewards and ways to obtain the rewards we could get before. Nothing is seasonal about it either; everything they release will be available forever. 

In every way, this is healthy for the game.

Incorrect...there will be certain things that rotate out seasonally, because they only guarantee that exclusive cosmetics won't go away: "exclusive cosmetics don’t go away at the end of a season,"  So, conversely, everything else in the vault is fair game to be rotated out, potentially things like the legendary starter packs that they mentioned: "We’re introducing starter kits for four legendaries in this first round of offerings and intend to rotate in others in the future;"

Also, as an example for anyone that doesn't play World of Tanks, here is how their battle pass goes in comparison:

1. Each WoT season lasts for 3 months and then is refreshed (Wizard's Vault will have a similar seasonality: " In addition to the daily and weekly objective refreshes, special objectives are refreshed each season when the Wizard’s Vault rewards cycle."

2. Completing daily tasks in WoT advances the progression of rewards and tokens (similar to Anet's version)

3. Each WoT progression stage awards an in-game item or a token, and tokens can be accumulated to buy things in the battle pass shop, which rotates prizes out at the end of 3 seasons (Astral Acclaim are the tokens, Wizard's Vault is the shop which also rotates prizes)

4. WoT has free battle pass progression tracks, though it does offer an additional paid track that runs in tandem to get more rewards and earn more tokens. (Anet chose not to run a paid version)

One possible difference, however, is whether Astral Acclaim points will disappear at the end of each cycle if they are not spent, though many believe it will be in your wallet like other GW2 currencies.  In WoT, the tokens can only be accumulated until the final season of the year, where they get converted to another game currency if not spent by the end of the year, so your token count starts from scratch in the new year.

[Aenaos.8160]

I happen to like this idea. The game needs something to make older content relevant, reward wise.

[kharmin.7683]

4 hours ago, Ashen.2907 said:

Don't focus too much on the reference to the new daily/weekly system being, "similar," to other games' battlepasses. Monkeys are similar to humans but would you want to marry one?

Hmmm... maybe?  Have you seen the recent selections from the human race?  Not a lot of winners there.

[kirzanSix.8276]

What is a "Battlepass"

• It's a seasonal, usually 3 months, tracker with a free and a premium track.
• You need to purchase the premium track to get those rewards. Typically around 10$ and the rewards in that track are usually way better. That's 40$ a year.
• It's seasonal and therefore everything in it is FOMO. One could argue that the previous BP rewards end up in the shop later, on rotation, at an exorbitant price. So... FOMO becoming expensive FOMO (or whenever the shop rotates).

What is the Wizard's Vault

• A completely free, without possibility of purchasing progression with real money, redesign of the dailies system.
• There is a single track and everyone gets most of it. Apparently there's an objective for Secrets of the Obscure owners. We'll see if that objective ends up being a ton of the currency or not. This is the only inkling of an argument anyone could have that this system "is a cash grab."
• The rewards vendor keeps the rewards. There is no FOMO here.
• The objectives, so far, seem to be crazy simple and weeklies easily doable in a single day... Maybe 2 hours tops. Which is unlike a battlepass, specially without the premium track's XP bonus, which usually requires you to be glued to the game and perform most of the season, for most games.

Believe you me, I don't like the way ANet handles some things. This isn't one of them. You have to realize, they're finally updating a grand-father system. This stuff never happens. 

Case in point, they'll never update the LFG tool lmaooooo

[Lucy.3728]

On 8/17/2023 at 10:26 PM, Gravitron.7982 said:

We gotta vote with our wallets, it's the only way these companies will learn.

When and where did that ever work?

Some leave, some join, rest accepts. No harm done for those companies.

[Thron Stal.9367]

On 8/16/2023 at 3:40 AM, Einsof.1457 said:

This is really heartbreaking that arenanet is going down the path of the seasonal battlepass. Every game with a battlepass makes the game feel like a job, not a game. This is a dark day. I am speechless. Maybe make content that is fun to do and idk, people will just DO THE CONTENT? Why must this feel so forced?

What is a battlepass?

[Thron Stal.9367]

53 minutes ago, Lucy.3728 said:

When and where did that ever work?

Some leave, some join, rest accepts. No harm done for those companies.

It worked on Everquest, done, blamO, finite, no more; skeleton crew.  Then they created WoW.  Because Sony Everquest wouldn't listen.  

[jokke.6239]

We don't know how good the rewards will be yet.

Lets wait a couple days before claiming it will be worse

 

Also, one of the biggest requests for Arena Net seems to be to add skins that are not gem store.

We have a mount skin to earn already

Seems like a big improvement to me

Edited August 19, 2023 by jokke.6239

[OtakuModeEngage.8679]

It's just a reward system with choices, just like our current dailies and weeklies, it will give you a bunch of optional tasks and you can choose which ones you want to do and in what order you want to do them. It doesn't force you to play any content, it just encourages you to.

I also imagine, just like our current reward system, the options will include a mix of old content and new content, but will lean more heavily towards the content of the current release. For older content this system gives you a reason to go back, revitalizing those regions of the game, and for newer content, well you probably would have played it anyways, so this is just extra padding in your characters' wallet. But again, none of this is any different from the current available reward systems.

The only thing that is changing compared to the old reward system, is the ability to choose which reward you want -and that, is a positive. It does so by giving you currency for completing an objective (instead of directly rewarding you with a specific item) and then allows you to spend that currency on whichever item you really want. 

Edited August 19, 2023 by OtakuModeEngage.8679

[OtakuModeEngage.8679]

A point worth contesting is that ANet guaranteed that cosmetics won't disappear from the reward list after their season has ended, which some have taken to imply that other things will. But another possibility to consider is that maybe those cosmetics are the only rewards that change each season to begin with, while the base rewards such as karma, clovers, box of vegetables, crate of ores, or whatever, are a constant.

Or maybe the only items that will disappear are ones that don't really make sense to be available after the season is over, like a map currency reward that was only available for that season because the season was tied to the release of that map.

It doesn't really make sense for people to be grinding the central reward system for say, currency from Dragon Stand 2 years after Dragon Stand was released. 

Edited August 19, 2023 by OtakuModeEngage.8679

[shava.3502]

Frankly if the only reason you play GW2 is the absence of a battle pass, and not for the content, story, community, and so on?

You could stand to do some reflection on why you aren't just playing single player RPGs or Minesweeper or something.

But the Wizard's Vault is not the battle pass type you probably object to anyway, as dozens of people have pointed out.

There is more to game discussion than jumping at shadows and triggered outrage.

Well, there used to be...

[robertthebard.8150]

On 8/15/2023 at 3:32 PM, Einsof.1457 said:

GW2 players are very naive. You are insulated from the live service disease that has plagued online gaming since Destiny 1. You are letting the trojan horse in

Yes, because in game rewards you have to actually play the game to get is soooooo predatory...  Look out folks, next thing you know, mobs are going to start dropping things you can vendor...

[shakey.4381]

People get rewarded free in game items for suggested content and they somehow see it as a bad thing. If you feel like the content is a chore, then the issue is you, not the game.

[Knighthonor.4061]

On 8/15/2023 at 5:05 PM, Freya.9075 said:

Tell me you don’t know what a battle pass is without telling me you dont know what a battle pass is.

Also

Tell me you didn’t read the blogpost without telling me you didn’t read the blogpost 

What is battle pass? Explain how it differs

[Cynder.2509]

Yeah, I don't like the removal of login rewards either. I used to get useful stuff like black lion keys and mystic coins and even a precursor from the exotic gear box from these. 
I absolutely hate having to run up to vendors to redeem the new currency with my massive social anxiety and when people are standing there. I always feel judged. 

[Ashen.2907]

3 minutes ago, Cynder.2509 said:

Yeah, I don't like the removal of login rewards either. I used to get useful stuff like black lion keys and mystic coins and even a precursor from the exotic gear box from these. 
I absolutely hate having to run up to vendors to redeem the new currency with my massive social anxiety and when people are standing there. I always feel judged. 

If it helps, no one else cares (beyond noting a particularly interesting combination of dyes or something) that you are there when we go to a vendor to buy or sell something. How do you play the game when you know that there are other people in the same zone as you?

Edited August 19, 2023 by Ashen.2907

[kharmin.7683]

4 hours ago, Ashen.2907 said:

If it helps, no one else cares (beyond noting a particularly interesting combination of dyes or something) that you are there when we go to a vendor to buy or sell something. How do you play the game when you know that there are other people in the same zone as you?

I can't see individual toons when there is a mass of them standing around a vendor anyway, especially if those toons are infused.

[Einlanzer.1627]

I... honestly think this is something the game really needs.

One of the biggest things that hurts GW2 (IMO) is how aimless it can feel at level 80, and that's because the existing achievement system doesn't do a great job of creating rails, concentrating the population, or generating interest in completing or revisiting content, and therefore the game just feels both listless and overwhelming with all of its endgame content.

It's similar to starting up netflix with the intention of watching something, but you just scroll through it forever because you are presented with too many choices to make any decision easy, and you therefore avoid making a decision.

I'll take some additional rails with a fun new reward system. 

Edited August 21, 2023 by Einlanzer.1627

[Freya.9075]

5 hours ago, Knighthonor.4061 said:

What is battle pass? Explain how it differs

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_pass
 

You may choose your reward and buy the one you want instead of a linear reward system. It will not be a free and paid path where the paid reward system gives way better items then the free one. Meaning it is not monetized. The seasonal cosmetic items will not be unavailable when the season is over.
 

These are key points when it comes to battle passes. It’s a monetization approach in games which often plays on your FOMO in a more powerful way then this new system where you’ll be more free to choose what reward you want to buy with your currency. No more useless daily login reward like luck, transmutation charges and tomes. 

[Linken.6345]

9 hours ago, Cynder.2509 said:

Yeah, I don't like the removal of login rewards either. I used to get useful stuff like black lion keys and mystic coins and even a precursor from the exotic gear box from these. 
I absolutely hate having to run up to vendors to redeem the new currency with my massive social anxiety and when people are standing there. I always feel judged. 

You do know it will just be a window like the black lion trading post you can open from anywere and buy your crap right.

You dont have to go to a physical location if you dont want to.

[Vayne.8563]

On 8/19/2023 at 5:26 AM, Antrix.4512 said:

What is PvP? 😁 But seriously, you are partly right - there's already a lot of FOMO in the game in its current state, but that wasn't enough for them, they decided to add a full-fledged battle pass. And you know what? I don't trust ANet, not a single word they say about the battle pass being cosmetic, friendly, without recycling, etc.

Unfortunately, developers of my favorite MMO (and honestly, not just MMO, but a game that has overshadowed some single-player AAA games) have undermined my trust in them. I don't believe them. I don't believe that the battle pass, in the form it is theoretically supposed to be released, will last long before some form of monetization is integrated into it. The game is stagnant in many aspects, bugs go unfixed for years, some "greedy" gems donation models mechanics don't change (like the Upgrade Extractor for example), and so on, such things can be listed for hours (literally).

But I can't say the developers are bad. They just make a lot of bad decisions when they shouldn't, and do nothing when they should. Therefore, with all my love for the project and the ANet, there can be no question of trusting the latter. I will be sincerely glad if this battle pass remains as they promise to release it. But I wouldn't hold my breath.

It's not a battle pass and you saying it is doesn't make to so.  It's simply spreading misinformation.

[Vayne.8563]

9 hours ago, Cynder.2509 said:

Yeah, I don't like the removal of login rewards either. I used to get useful stuff like black lion keys and mystic coins and even a precursor from the exotic gear box from these. 
I absolutely hate having to run up to vendors to redeem the new currency with my massive social anxiety and when people are standing there. I always feel judged. 

I don't think you'll have to run up to a vendor. I suspect you'll be able to access it from anywhere.

[Ashantara.8731]

Sorry for chiming in late... I think ANet only used the term "battlepass" so that people will get an understanding of the basic concept. Since "past rewards" are not going away, I doubt this will feel like the known battlepasses from other games -- they explicitly state that they are going to avoid creating a FOMO with this.
 

Edited August 20, 2023 by Ashantara.8731