i really giggled at a comment from a poster on the Link provided by the OP saying that GW2's combat is not as fun as Call of Duty....... what a comparison!
A- "No need to buy them, Gw2 will feature consistent free content updates and in-game events going forward. Our goal is to make it so you get more from Gw2 for free than you get from a game you pay a subscription for.
On top of a large amount of free bonus content, we will be expanding on offerings in the Black Lion Trading Company going forward, as well as be doing large-scale expansion content down the road.
We’ll cover a lot of the details on the kind of support and plans we have in place over the next month or so on the Gw2 blog and with our press partners.
We do appreciate that you’d like to buy lots of new content, but we’d prefer to give a lot of it to you for free, cause that’s what we think a responsible MMO company does!"
Anet says Hi to TSW and WoW fans
You get free content updates in TSW. You would pay the sub if they did or din't have the semi monthly updates. They don't cost you more.
So what are you paying sub for then if not for content updates?
So i guess i am the only who thinks this is a very arrogant thing to say? i mean make promises and all that is good we appreciate that but why get ahead of yourself and indirectly call other sub based MMO companies irresponsible?
Originally posted by Nikkita I don't understand this WOW hate obsession. It is brought up in every topic even if it has nothing to do with OP. The moment someone brings up WOW / Blizzard means topic will go downhill from there.
Its because Blizzard is by far the worst on this topic. They collect monthly subs from millions of people yet they only put out content patches twice, maybe three times a year. Trion has a tenth of the subscribers and puts out twice the amount of content.
No matter how you look at it, Blizzard does not give their players value for their money.
So i guess i am the only who thinks this is a very arrogant thing to say? i mean make promises and all that is good we appreciate that but why get ahead of yourself and indirectly call other sub based MMO companies irresponsible?
/shrugs
The only other company that could be considered responsible is Trion and maybe EVE. Every other MMO doesnt deserve the sub they charge.
Originally posted by Nikkita I don't understand this WOW hate obsession. It is brought up in every topic even if it has nothing to do with OP. The moment someone brings up WOW / Blizzard means topic will go downhill from there.
Its because Blizzard is by far the worst on this topic. They collect monthly subs from millions of people yet they only put out content patches twice, maybe three times a year. Trion has a tenth of the subscribers and puts out twice the amount of content.
No matter how you look at it, Blizzard does not give their players value for their money.
And yet after all this time they are still the biggest NA MMO out there with the lions share of people paying a monthly sub + spending in the cash shop.
I think what we have here is Anet trying to villianize other MMOs to make GW2 look better.
Originally posted by Nikkita I don't understand this WOW hate obsession. It is brought up in every topic even if it has nothing to do with OP. The moment someone brings up WOW / Blizzard means topic will go downhill from there.
Its because Blizzard is by far the worst on this topic. They collect monthly subs from millions of people yet they only put out content patches twice, maybe three times a year. Trion has a tenth of the subscribers and puts out twice the amount of content.
No matter how you look at it, Blizzard does not give their players value for their money.
I can't stand the game but I'm sure those millions who keep playing disagree that they don't get value for money or they wouldn't keep paying.
On topic:
It be nice but I guess only time will tell the extent and worth of the updates .. so will hold back any judgement until then
Originally posted by Nikkita I don't understand this WOW hate obsession. It is brought up in every topic even if it has nothing to do with OP. The moment someone brings up WOW / Blizzard means topic will go downhill from there.
Its because Blizzard is by far the worst on this topic. They collect monthly subs from millions of people yet they only put out content patches twice, maybe three times a year. Trion has a tenth of the subscribers and puts out twice the amount of content.
No matter how you look at it, Blizzard does not give their players value for their money.
Isn't that for players to decide if they are getting value of their money or not? Blizzard doesn't have some mind control device that players are paying sub every month against their will.
What about companies like EA? SOE? who is going to decide if those players are getting value of their money? you think WOW would be on top for 8 years if players thought 'hey i am not getting my 15 bucks worth lets go play something else'.
You know what happens when people think they are not getting their moneys worth? game falls flat on its face like War and Swtor. So whatever you are saying doesn't hold water when it comes to WOW.
This isn't the first time anet has made big and bold claims... and their track record is not good.
GW2 will be gw2, we can talk until we are blue in the face, but only time will tell how all of this pans out. To me anet has already lost a ton of their integrity, now it is purely about pushing the product, and no longer about the principles they claimed the company was based upon. The manifesto and their shortcomings regarding it were proof enough of that.
Since WoW has expectedly creeped into this thread I would like to make a few points about it.
1. To say WoW players don't get their money's worth is silly, no one is holding a gun to their head to pay a monthly fee, they do it because they feel it is worth it.
2. WoW provides a ton of content for the majority of its playerbase, the only people who feel content starved are the hardcore progression players, and while this is indeed unfortunate, you have to look at the context. WoW is a game that has gone well over 10million subscribers (hitting even 13-14mill iirc) and now it is down to 9million or so globally... That is still A LOT. Do you know how hard it is to make content? Now try doing it for 9million people, some of which will blow through the content faster than you could ever hope to create it. They have to put all this work into creating new quests, raids, pvp options, etc etc... all of which are things people can accomplish in weeks or days, if not hours. It isn't easy... and it isn't realistic to think that any amount of people, in a responsible company could keep content coming out that fast for the most hardcore of hardcore players. But they deliver enough content for the majority, to keep them occupied.
3. WoW also has seasonal content based on holidays..
Think of it like food service... how easy is it to serve 5 people and get their food out in X amount of time... how easy is it to serve 50 people in the same amount of time? I think blizzard does a good job overall.. and that's why they have held such massive subscriber counts for so long.
Originally posted by Nikkita I don't understand this WOW hate obsession. It is brought up in every topic even if it has nothing to do with OP. The moment someone brings up WOW / Blizzard means topic will go downhill from there.
Its because Blizzard is by far the worst on this topic. They collect monthly subs from millions of people yet they only put out content patches twice, maybe three times a year. Trion has a tenth of the subscribers and puts out twice the amount of content.
No matter how you look at it, Blizzard does not give their players value for their money.
Isn't that for players to decide if they are getting value of their money or not? Blizzard doesn't have some mind control device that players are paying sub every month against their will.
What about companies like EA? SOE? who is going to decide if those players are getting value of their money? you think WOW would be on top for 8 years if players thought 'hey i am not getting my 15 bucks worth lets go play something else'.
You know what happens when people think they are not getting their moneys worth? game falls flat on its face like War and Swtor. So whatever you are saying doesn't hold water when it comes to WOW.
Many of your points are absolutley correct. But I would also argue that millions of player's have decided they are not getting value for theyre $15 a month and that millions more will over time.
When the game is fresh to you and your are running through content that is new to you, it does seem like good value.
Business model's like Arenanet's could very well over time... change this perception if they deliver.
Many words, but that's all they are. I'm sorry, but it's true. I'll believe when i see.
This isn't the first time developers talk about updates and whatnot. But only Trion as put up and not shut up.
They maybe be free, which is great, but how often will they be. 1, 2, 3, 6 months? And how much in each one? I know they have a team for live dynamic event updating, but how many DE's will roll out each week or month? What about new dungeons, pvp maps, wvw maps, personal story instances, mini games, crafting profressions, live events, etc, etc.
Also, while i know thye'll release an expansion, it depends on when they actually do it. GW2 took 5 years to develop, so i only see it coming in atleast 1 year, about 1/2 similar to Storm Legion.
Look, i'm not hating at all, but like i said, these are just words. I'm really happy that Anet sold 2 million, and i hope the future is good for them, but until i see it, my reaction is: "Blah blah blah yawn"
Originally posted by Nikkita I don't understand this WOW hate obsession. It is brought up in every topic even if it has nothing to do with OP. The moment someone brings up WOW / Blizzard means topic will go downhill from there.
Its because Blizzard is by far the worst on this topic. They collect monthly subs from millions of people yet they only put out content patches twice, maybe three times a year. Trion has a tenth of the subscribers and puts out twice the amount of content.
No matter how you look at it, Blizzard does not give their players value for their money.
And yet after all this time they are still the biggest NA MMO out there with the lions share of people paying a monthly sub + spending in the cash shop.
I think what we have here is Anet trying to villianize other MMOs to make GW2 look better.
You know what they say about fools and their money.
Originally posted by Nikkita I don't understand this WOW hate obsession. It is brought up in every topic even if it has nothing to do with OP. The moment someone brings up WOW / Blizzard means topic will go downhill from there.
Its because Blizzard is by far the worst on this topic. They collect monthly subs from millions of people yet they only put out content patches twice, maybe three times a year. Trion has a tenth of the subscribers and puts out twice the amount of content.
No matter how you look at it, Blizzard does not give their players value for their money.
And yet after all this time they are still the biggest NA MMO out there with the lions share of people paying a monthly sub + spending in the cash shop.
I think what we have here is Anet trying to villianize other MMOs to make GW2 look better.
You know what they say about fools and their money.
Originally posted by Ausare Ah wow does free content updates. Alao i remember swotr promising content. Glad you git faith though. I like how the store will be expanded.
You pay $15 a month for WoW so, by default, nothing is ever 'free.' It's just included in your sub.
I would strongly hesitate to call this 'free' as well. SImply because you have to buy the box.
Turbine does 'Free' with LOTRO & DDO. Not all of it. But there are free content updates in the free-to-play portion of the game.
I have to be honest, as much as I am enjoying GW2 what I'm really looking forward to is seeing if it brings any change to the genre itself.
Subscription less MMOs have gotten a bad rep over the years, mostly because most of them are F2P that place a huge emphasis on nickel and diming the player but If ArenaNet manages to provide a solid MMO experience with monthly/bi-monthly updates for free, the rest of the industry is bound to take notice.
Originally posted by Nikkita I don't understand this WOW hate obsession. It is brought up in every topic even if it has nothing to do with OP. The moment someone brings up WOW / Blizzard means topic will go downhill from there.
Its because Blizzard is by far the worst on this topic. They collect monthly subs from millions of people yet they only put out content patches twice, maybe three times a year. Trion has a tenth of the subscribers and puts out twice the amount of content.
No matter how you look at it, Blizzard does not give their players value for their money.
And yet after all this time they are still the biggest NA MMO out there with the lions share of people paying a monthly sub + spending in the cash shop.
I think what we have here is Anet trying to villianize other MMOs to make GW2 look better.
Maybe. They've been hiding their subscription problems for years now, though. Once upon a time they told us 5.5 million NA/Europe players. Then, a few years ago when their subs (only NA/Europe pay a sub) started dropping, they stopped giving us the Western/China split. (The Chinese don't sub. It's a time-card, they pay just under $0.07/hour to play and that's to NetEase, the Company that licenses the game from Blizzard.)
I do know this for sure... Vivendi, who owns the controlling interst in Activision/Blizzard, has been trying to sell it off for three months now and nobody wants to buy it. I wonder if they, and potentianl suitors, have seen the handwriting on the wall. I mean, WoW has beens phenomonally profitable and has carried Activision for years. Without WoW, Activision would be losing money or barely breaking even.
This isn't the first time anet has made big and bold claims... and their track record is not good.
GW2 will be gw2, we can talk until we are blue in the face, but only time will tell how all of this pans out. To me anet has already lost a ton of their integrity, now it is purely about pushing the product, and no longer about the principles they claimed the company was based upon. The manifesto and their shortcomings regarding it were proof enough of that.
Since WoW has expectedly creeped into this thread I would like to make a few points about it.
1. To say WoW players don't get their money's worth is silly, no one is holding a gun to their head to pay a monthly fee, they do it because they feel it is worth it.
2. WoW provides a ton of content for the majority of its playerbase, the only people who feel content starved are the hardcore progression players, and while this is indeed unfortunate, you have to look at the context. WoW is a game that has gone well over 10million subscribers (hitting even 13-14mill iirc) and now it is down to 9million or so globally... That is still A LOT. Do you know how hard it is to make content? Now try doing it for 9million people, some of which will blow through the content faster than you could ever hope to create it. They have to put all this work into creating new quests, raids, pvp options, etc etc... all of which are things people can accomplish in weeks or days, if not hours. It isn't easy... and it isn't realistic to think that any amount of people, in a responsible company could keep content coming out that fast for the most hardcore of hardcore players. But they deliver enough content for the majority, to keep them occupied.
3. WoW also has seasonal content based on holidays..
Think of it like food service... how easy is it to serve 5 people and get their food out in X amount of time... how easy is it to serve 50 people in the same amount of time? I think blizzard does a good job overall.. and that's why they have held such massive subscriber counts for so long.
And what lies is that ANet spewed? Everything thy've claimed has been on the mark and for once an MMO company didn't give out a tall list of promises and hardly any coming out to be true. The manifest has been completly fulfilled.
This isn't the first time anet has made big and bold claims... and their track record is not good.
GW2 will be gw2, we can talk until we are blue in the face, but only time will tell how all of this pans out. To me anet has already lost a ton of their integrity, now it is purely about pushing the product, and no longer about the principles they claimed the company was based upon. The manifesto and their shortcomings regarding it were proof enough of that.
Since WoW has expectedly creeped into this thread I would like to make a few points about it.
1. To say WoW players don't get their money's worth is silly, no one is holding a gun to their head to pay a monthly fee, they do it because they feel it is worth it.
2. WoW provides a ton of content for the majority of its playerbase, the only people who feel content starved are the hardcore progression players, and while this is indeed unfortunate, you have to look at the context. WoW is a game that has gone well over 10million subscribers (hitting even 13-14mill iirc) and now it is down to 9million or so globally... That is still A LOT. Do you know how hard it is to make content? Now try doing it for 9million people, some of which will blow through the content faster than you could ever hope to create it. They have to put all this work into creating new quests, raids, pvp options, etc etc... all of which are things people can accomplish in weeks or days, if not hours. It isn't easy... and it isn't realistic to think that any amount of people, in a responsible company could keep content coming out that fast for the most hardcore of hardcore players. But they deliver enough content for the majority, to keep them occupied.
3. WoW also has seasonal content based on holidays..
Think of it like food service... how easy is it to serve 5 people and get their food out in X amount of time... how easy is it to serve 50 people in the same amount of time? I think blizzard does a good job overall.. and that's why they have held such massive subscriber counts for so long.
And what lies is that ANet spewed? Everything thy've claimed has been on the mark and for once an MMO company didn't give out a tall list of promises and hardly any coming out to be true. The manifest has been completly fulfilled.
Perhaps in your opinion... but there are also other opinions that they really came up short on most of their promises.
With GW2 you got a game that offers better PvE and PvP (IMO) than its competitors, all without a monthly fee. Now they are saying Anet is saying they will continually provide free content updates.
Aside from vested interest in current characters, I don't see MMO players continuing to keep paying their sub modeled games when better cheaper models exist.
Originally posted by Ausare Ah wow does free content updates. Alao i remember swotr promising content. Glad you git faith though. I like how the store will be expanded.
Yea, its funny how this is being put out there, as if this is the only company to give free content and updates. Most mmorpgs do that now days...if they give a free expansion, thats a different story. Being that in GW1 they sold I think it was 3 different expansions, I don't see them giving them out now either.
This whole thing about companies giving out free things anyway and it making them the greatest thing on Earth...I just don't get. This is a business, companies target a % of profit...so even if a company does give a little more, it doesn't make a different company suck simply for giving less out for free.
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Originally posted by Nikkita I don't understand this WOW hate obsession. It is brought up in every topic even if it has nothing to do with OP. The moment someone brings up WOW / Blizzard means topic will go downhill from there.
Its because Blizzard is by far the worst on this topic. They collect monthly subs from millions of people yet they only put out content patches twice, maybe three times a year. Trion has a tenth of the subscribers and puts out twice the amount of content.
No matter how you look at it, Blizzard does not give their players value for their money.
And yet after all this time they are still the biggest NA MMO out there with the lions share of people paying a monthly sub + spending in the cash shop.
I think what we have here is Anet trying to villianize other MMOs to make GW2 look better.
Maybe. They've been hiding their subscription problems for years now, though. Once upon a time they told us 5.5 million NA/Europe players. Then, a few years ago when their subs (only NA/Europe pay a sub) started dropping, they stopped giving us the Western/China split. (The Chinese don't sub. It's a time-card, they pay just under $0.07/hour to play and that's to NetEase, the Company that licenses the game from Blizzard.)
I do know this for sure... Vivendi, who owns the controlling interst in Activision/Blizzard, has been trying to sell it off for three months now and nobody wants to buy it. I wonder if they, and potentianl suitors, have seen the handwriting on the wall. I mean, WoW has beens phenomonally profitable and has carried Activision for years. Without WoW, Activision would be losing money or barely breaking even.
The millions of Call of Duty Sales called... they want to why you forgot about them.....
Please google for Activision earnings calls and have a look, whle wow is a strong performer for them, COD is just as important in their financial outlooks.
What arena net have done is made a very good game that hooks you in and entices you to buy from them.
They have also shown truley free to play games that if done well enough you can guarantee $60 per player upfront, Every F2P game out there would love to have 60$ per customer. The Cash shop in GW 2 is restrained and the ability to buy currency at a reasonable rate for ingame gold is nice but lets call a spade a spade, they essentially created a 4th model with the buy to play and cash shop, and while it challenges the subscription model I expect to see a fair few F2P offerings using this in a less than reputable way...
I pay $15 a month, and I get "Free" updates + "free" expansions from EvE online. They also don't have a cash-shop which to me feels like someone is trying to nickle & dime me for content I've already paid for with my box price + monthly sub.
The fact is that no "free" content from a B2P game can compare to a monthly subscription based game that is properly run on the management side of things & doesn't try to nickle and dime with a cash-shop.
So far EvE Online's subscription policy of $20 "Digital Box Price" + $15month + free expansions & updates is by far the best model currently on the market.
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity: Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.
This isn't the first time anet has made big and bold claims... and their track record is not good.
GW2 will be gw2, we can talk until we are blue in the face, but only time will tell how all of this pans out. To me anet has already lost a ton of their integrity, now it is purely about pushing the product, and no longer about the principles they claimed the company was based upon. The manifesto and their shortcomings regarding it were proof enough of that.
I'd love some examples to go along with such a blanket statement, especially since you wrote so much about WoW. As far as I am concerned, they have delivered on everything except allowing us to play our own music tracks in game /shakes fist. track record is looking stellar. Manifesto intact.
Since WoW has expectedly creeped into this thread I would like to make a few points about it.
1. To say WoW players don't get their money's worth is silly, no one is holding a gun to their head to pay a monthly fee, they do it because they feel it is worth it.
Nice the "holding the gun to the head" example. How many of these subs are for children whos parents pay for a game they probably never told them they quit? How many people go back to the game because friends talk them into it to see the new content? /raises hand. I haven't gotten my moneys worth since BC, and told my RL friends I wasn't gonna bite on MOP. As a prev paying customer I can honestly say I wasn't getting my moneys worth which is why I was prone to taking many extended breaks.
2. WoW provides a ton of content for the majority of its playerbase, the only people who feel content starved are the hardcore progression players, and while this is indeed unfortunate, you have to look at the context. WoW is a game that has gone well over 10million subscribers (hitting even 13-14mill iirc) and now it is down to 9million or so globally... That is still A LOT. Do you know how hard it is to make content? Now try doing it for 9million people, some of which will blow through the content faster than you could ever hope to create it. They have to put all this work into creating new quests, raids, pvp options, etc etc... all of which are things people can accomplish in weeks or days, if not hours. It isn't easy... and it isn't realistic to think that any amount of people, in a responsible company could keep content coming out that fast for the most hardcore of hardcore players. But they deliver enough content for the majority, to keep them occupied.
Not to get into it but you have alot of big numbers and I can say that a lot of them are fluffed due to how huge the game is in tha Asian market and they way they set up accounts there as others have stated. Sure they had a lot of content, but how much of it was repetative and the same, only redone for a different zone. As a game that's been out for as long as it has it sure seems like a lot. But as someone who has played since it started and goes back for the new expansion to see whats what, there is hardly shit there so I would kindly disagree with you on the amount of content Activision/Blizzard provides.
3. WoW also has seasonal content based on holidays..
Oh you mean the reskinned headless horsemen event with updated loot to accomodate the latest lev cap? or did you mean the regifted christmas events? Maybe the relocated easter egg hunts? Pfft. Lets not try to sprinkle glitter ona turd and sell it as the hottest new toy.
Think of it like food service... how easy is it to serve 5 people and get their food out in X amount of time... how easy is it to serve 50 people in the same amount of time? I think blizzard does a good job overall.. and that's why they have held such massive subscriber counts for so long.
And to finish, this is a horrid analogy so I am going to refrain from commenting because it would border on an attack. Just stop it.
Ok on topic. I hope Anet can deliver on what they say because they are really under the magnifyng glass.
Originally posted by Bladestrom Badaboom, not quite, Trion do actually reinvest, most others cannot afford to, blizzard has however banked BILLIONS, yes billions.
Blizzard made billions but how much much was banked vs how much was sent up the corporate ladder to activision?
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Comments
that one hurt
So i guess i am the only who thinks this is a very arrogant thing to say? i mean make promises and all that is good we appreciate that but why get ahead of yourself and indirectly call other sub based MMO companies irresponsible?
/shrugs
Bite Me
Its because Blizzard is by far the worst on this topic. They collect monthly subs from millions of people yet they only put out content patches twice, maybe three times a year. Trion has a tenth of the subscribers and puts out twice the amount of content.
No matter how you look at it, Blizzard does not give their players value for their money.
The only other company that could be considered responsible is Trion and maybe EVE. Every other MMO doesnt deserve the sub they charge.
And yet after all this time they are still the biggest NA MMO out there with the lions share of people paying a monthly sub + spending in the cash shop.
I think what we have here is Anet trying to villianize other MMOs to make GW2 look better.
I can't stand the game but I'm sure those millions who keep playing disagree that they don't get value for money or they wouldn't keep paying.
On topic:
It be nice but I guess only time will tell the extent and worth of the updates .. so will hold back any judgement until then
Isn't that for players to decide if they are getting value of their money or not? Blizzard doesn't have some mind control device that players are paying sub every month against their will.
What about companies like EA? SOE? who is going to decide if those players are getting value of their money? you think WOW would be on top for 8 years if players thought 'hey i am not getting my 15 bucks worth lets go play something else'.
You know what happens when people think they are not getting their moneys worth? game falls flat on its face like War and Swtor. So whatever you are saying doesn't hold water when it comes to WOW.
Bite Me
This isn't the first time anet has made big and bold claims... and their track record is not good.
GW2 will be gw2, we can talk until we are blue in the face, but only time will tell how all of this pans out. To me anet has already lost a ton of their integrity, now it is purely about pushing the product, and no longer about the principles they claimed the company was based upon. The manifesto and their shortcomings regarding it were proof enough of that.
Since WoW has expectedly creeped into this thread I would like to make a few points about it.
1. To say WoW players don't get their money's worth is silly, no one is holding a gun to their head to pay a monthly fee, they do it because they feel it is worth it.
2. WoW provides a ton of content for the majority of its playerbase, the only people who feel content starved are the hardcore progression players, and while this is indeed unfortunate, you have to look at the context. WoW is a game that has gone well over 10million subscribers (hitting even 13-14mill iirc) and now it is down to 9million or so globally... That is still A LOT. Do you know how hard it is to make content? Now try doing it for 9million people, some of which will blow through the content faster than you could ever hope to create it. They have to put all this work into creating new quests, raids, pvp options, etc etc... all of which are things people can accomplish in weeks or days, if not hours. It isn't easy... and it isn't realistic to think that any amount of people, in a responsible company could keep content coming out that fast for the most hardcore of hardcore players. But they deliver enough content for the majority, to keep them occupied.
3. WoW also has seasonal content based on holidays..
Think of it like food service... how easy is it to serve 5 people and get their food out in X amount of time... how easy is it to serve 50 people in the same amount of time? I think blizzard does a good job overall.. and that's why they have held such massive subscriber counts for so long.
Really?
Really?
This was posted today. Only one worked up is...
Many of your points are absolutley correct. But I would also argue that millions of player's have decided they are not getting value for theyre $15 a month and that millions more will over time.
When the game is fresh to you and your are running through content that is new to you, it does seem like good value.
Business model's like Arenanet's could very well over time... change this perception if they deliver.
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
Many words, but that's all they are. I'm sorry, but it's true. I'll believe when i see.
This isn't the first time developers talk about updates and whatnot. But only Trion as put up and not shut up.
They maybe be free, which is great, but how often will they be. 1, 2, 3, 6 months? And how much in each one? I know they have a team for live dynamic event updating, but how many DE's will roll out each week or month? What about new dungeons, pvp maps, wvw maps, personal story instances, mini games, crafting profressions, live events, etc, etc.
Also, while i know thye'll release an expansion, it depends on when they actually do it. GW2 took 5 years to develop, so i only see it coming in atleast 1 year, about 1/2 similar to Storm Legion.
Look, i'm not hating at all, but like i said, these are just words. I'm really happy that Anet sold 2 million, and i hope the future is good for them, but until i see it, my reaction is: "Blah blah blah yawn"
You know what they say about fools and their money.
They are easily exp boosted?
You pay $15 a month for WoW so, by default, nothing is ever 'free.' It's just included in your sub.
I would strongly hesitate to call this 'free' as well. SImply because you have to buy the box.
Turbine does 'Free' with LOTRO & DDO. Not all of it. But there are free content updates in the free-to-play portion of the game.
I have to be honest, as much as I am enjoying GW2 what I'm really looking forward to is seeing if it brings any change to the genre itself.
Subscription less MMOs have gotten a bad rep over the years, mostly because most of them are F2P that place a huge emphasis on nickel and diming the player but If ArenaNet manages to provide a solid MMO experience with monthly/bi-monthly updates for free, the rest of the industry is bound to take notice.
Maybe. They've been hiding their subscription problems for years now, though. Once upon a time they told us 5.5 million NA/Europe players. Then, a few years ago when their subs (only NA/Europe pay a sub) started dropping, they stopped giving us the Western/China split. (The Chinese don't sub. It's a time-card, they pay just under $0.07/hour to play and that's to NetEase, the Company that licenses the game from Blizzard.)
I do know this for sure... Vivendi, who owns the controlling interst in Activision/Blizzard, has been trying to sell it off for three months now and nobody wants to buy it. I wonder if they, and potentianl suitors, have seen the handwriting on the wall. I mean, WoW has beens phenomonally profitable and has carried Activision for years. Without WoW, Activision would be losing money or barely breaking even.
And what lies is that ANet spewed? Everything thy've claimed has been on the mark and for once an MMO company didn't give out a tall list of promises and hardly any coming out to be true. The manifest has been completly fulfilled.
Perhaps in your opinion... but there are also other opinions that they really came up short on most of their promises.
Anet, the antidote to the venomous sub model.
With GW2 you got a game that offers better PvE and PvP (IMO) than its competitors, all without a monthly fee. Now they are saying Anet is saying they will continually provide free content updates.
Aside from vested interest in current characters, I don't see MMO players continuing to keep paying their sub modeled games when better cheaper models exist.
Yea, its funny how this is being put out there, as if this is the only company to give free content and updates. Most mmorpgs do that now days...if they give a free expansion, thats a different story. Being that in GW1 they sold I think it was 3 different expansions, I don't see them giving them out now either.
This whole thing about companies giving out free things anyway and it making them the greatest thing on Earth...I just don't get. This is a business, companies target a % of profit...so even if a company does give a little more, it doesn't make a different company suck simply for giving less out for free.
Incognito
www.incognito-gaming.us
"You're either with us or against us"
The millions of Call of Duty Sales called... they want to why you forgot about them.....
Please google for Activision earnings calls and have a look, whle wow is a strong performer for them, COD is just as important in their financial outlooks.
What arena net have done is made a very good game that hooks you in and entices you to buy from them.
They have also shown truley free to play games that if done well enough you can guarantee $60 per player upfront, Every F2P game out there would love to have 60$ per customer. The Cash shop in GW 2 is restrained and the ability to buy currency at a reasonable rate for ingame gold is nice but lets call a spade a spade, they essentially created a 4th model with the buy to play and cash shop, and while it challenges the subscription model I expect to see a fair few F2P offerings using this in a less than reputable way...
I pay $15 a month, and I get "Free" updates + "free" expansions from EvE online. They also don't have a cash-shop which to me feels like someone is trying to nickle & dime me for content I've already paid for with my box price + monthly sub.
The fact is that no "free" content from a B2P game can compare to a monthly subscription based game that is properly run on the management side of things & doesn't try to nickle and dime with a cash-shop.
So far EvE Online's subscription policy of $20 "Digital Box Price" + $15month + free expansions & updates is by far the best model currently on the market.
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity:
Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.
Ok on topic. I hope Anet can deliver on what they say because they are really under the magnifyng glass.
RIP Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan and Paul Gray.
Blizzard made billions but how much much was banked vs how much was sent up the corporate ladder to activision?
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"