The Furor Over the HoT Expansion

Wow, people are so up in arms about this Heart of Thorns expansion pack. The GW2 forums is blowing up and people are talking ugly!

I don't understand what the big deal is honestly. People are upset because Anet is giving away the core game to new players who buy HOT? Big deal, let 'em have it.

Look, I bought GW2 on pre-order pretty much exactly 3 years ago. I bought the higher level package so paid I think $80 for it. Guess what? I've gotten my money's worth! I've played this game pretty much non-stop for 34 months now which works out to $2.35 a month. That's a hex of a deal! AND I've got to meet, interact with, and help lead the most awesome group of people in the game! Give the game away now, I don't care!

And what are they giving away to the new players? The new players will never be able to experience the things we did! They'll never know the joy of finally kicking Scarlet's butt after she tore down LA. They will never see Mad King Thorn rise up out of the pit in LA like we did. They have missed so much! So let them have the stale old game, I want the new stuff!

Actually, I feel sorry for the new players that buy in now. They're going to be running around in Queensdale, getting their butts kicked by Centaurs and Bandits... all by themselves! Because those of us so called Veteran players are going to enjoying the fruits of our labors and exploring a whole new expansion together. The new players can have Queensdale! They're welcome to it!

As for me, I've already pre-ordered the expansion and am looking forward to it. Some people think the price is high and I understand that. But we're getting a new game! And new games aren't cheap. I feel confident I'm going to get my money's worth. When I think of all the content changes over the past 3 years, the next 3 should be even better!

Y'all know I'm not an Anet fanboi. I'm critical of them and call them on crap all the time. I've sent emails, written letters, raised hate and discontent and yes, even influenced a few changes in this game. But folks, I don't see any big deal in this. I really don't. I believe we'll get our money's worth. As for the new players and their "free" game - good luck with that! Catch up with me in HoT in a few months, that's where I'll be...

I whole-heartedly agree with you Myron!

I wondered that as I read the info, but like you Myron I see no reason to get in a twist over it. You can get the game occasionally for 10 bucks now, what is the big deal? Is it over the fact that folks think this is skewing the cost of the expansion? To my eyes it actually looks cheap for it. Granted I am in Canada and everything costs double tech related up here but still 50 bucks for the base pack is below what I am use to paying for a game or expansion etc.

That said I have found there is a large group that just loves to scream foul about anything Anet does and so far most of them just end up on my block list. I am getting my pre-order set up in the next few here and probably going for the full meal deal, and I will enjoy it. As I fly in my glider I may even drop water balloons or rocks on they loud angry fools I see below me.

Rubi

The way I see it, Anet tried to give a very generous perk and it blew up in their faces. No doubt $50 is the cost of the expansion whether they add the game for free or not. That free inclusion helps everyone. New players get a little headstart now to try and catch up for no cost, the companies make the money they need to continue developing, and we get new friends and a healthy game with regular updates Unfortunately, that isn't the perception of a lot of the players and customers. Maybe it was poor wording, or the fact that there was no heads-up that the game would be included, or just a lot of people who don't want to pay the money to play the expansion. I'll admit, there is a part of me that looks at it and wonders why, for the same price, a new player gets sooo much more for the money, and an existing player gets such a bare-bones offer. It kind of irks me that in order to play some of the content, I'm gonna have to fork over more money to get another character slot. I know for a lot of people that's just a tiny bit of money, but it adds up for those of us that maybe don't have steady income...and I have one, maybe 2 additional expansions+character slots to buy. But really, that's not Anet's problem, or NcSoft's problem-it's mine. And who are we kidding...you all know I'm buying it. I've been waiting for this, I'm excited for it, and I think it looks fantastic. There's no way I'm letting you guys go into the jungle, killing dragons and dancing on the tables in our guild hall tavern without me. I'm sure I can find enough loose change in the jeep cushions to make up the difference

Yes, I've read some of the arguments people have had about the expansion and while I consider some of those objections valid, overall I think it's much ado about nothing.

If memory serves me correctly (and y'all know I'm old so correct me if I'm wrong) when Eye Of The North was released it was 39.95 and wasn't stand alone. You had to own one of the other "core" games and we got no character slots with it. That was what? 8 years ago? So I don't consider the price for HoT unreasonable although I know it IS expensive for many people. In our guild alone we have everything from poor broke college students *glances at Begin and Strixy* to families that are going to have to buy 2-5 copies if everyone upgrades to the expansion. We have retirees, people who live in countries where the cost of this game is easily one or more weeks salary, and every situation in between. There are no easy solutions for all the situations.

But yes, Anet really made some blunders in this process. They weren't clear about things, they changed their minds in midstream and didn't let their user base know, then they went and ninja changed the wording of their FAQ to make it look like they never said certain things... yeah, they pulled some old fashioned BS and the community deserves to call them on it.

I'm by no means giving them a free pass on what they've done and didn't do. My post was simply saying that overall, it's a good deal and I'm happy to pay for the expansion. But I still think Mike O'Brien, or his designated flunky, needs to man up and give the community some answers and an apology. The one thing that particularly irritated me was the stealth change of the FAQ. Don't try to pretend you never said something - just add an addition and say "we made an internal business decision to change how we're going to do the expansion". The way they did it was very sneaky and reeks of a hidden agenda. They left themselves open to criticism and helped fuel this firestorm by the way they handled it. People, and businesses, change their minds all the time so just tell us that.

Now, if y'all will excuse me I'm going to place some ads on Craig's List to sell some of my treasures to get the money to buy the expansion. Or wait! A yard sale! My daughter works tomorrow and I can sell her computer and ipod and other stuff while she's at work. Then I'll tell her the house was broken in to and all her good stuff is gone... yeah! That's the ticket. OK, gotta go make yard sale signs...

0oo a yard sale myron ill give u $2 for the my lil pony n 50c for the poop in a jar