87 replies to this topic

[Humungous]

I don't understand why people talk as if TStones have to be bough with RL $$.

Everything that can be bought with cash can be bought with in game gold, and vice-versa. I've bought 4K+ gems with in game gold.

Edited by Humungous, 08 January 2013 - 06:29 PM.

[jirayasan]

Sure if they made new cultural armour and weapons for a hero in that race's history, or legendary.

[Reverse Ghost]

Humungous, on 08 January 2013 - 06:24 PM, said:

I don't understand why people talk as if TStones have to be bough with RL $$.

Everything that can be bought with cash can be bought with in game gold, and vice-versa. I've bought 4K+ gems with in game gold.

Around here, anything in the game that's inconvenient is there just to make us all use the evil cash shop.

[FoxBat]

Humungous, on 08 January 2013 - 06:24 PM, said:

I don't understand why people talk as if TStones have to be bough with RL $$.

Someone else paid that cash if you didn't. So yes, they do.

[Rain King]

The answer is transmutations stones but it's not that big of a deal because the choice to purchase is a cosmetic one. If the stats were exotic, you would have people on here complaining that some players bought their exotic gear (bought power) and that Anet was actively making a "buy to win" game.

Why do people have a problem with this?

Edited by Rain King, 10 January 2013 - 06:53 PM.

[Dasryn]

Rain King, on 10 January 2013 - 06:52 PM, said:

The answer is transmutations stones but it's not that big of a deal because the choice to purchase is a cosmetic one. If the stats were exotic, you would have people on here complaining that some players bought their exotic gear (bought power) and that Anet was actively making a "buy to win" game.

Why do people have a problem with this?

but you can buy exotics now anyway. . . .please reference: crafted exotics - they are about 3g a piece. . .

[Rain King]

Rickter, on 10 January 2013 - 09:34 PM, said:

but you can buy exotics now anyway. . . .please reference: crafted exotics - they are about 3g a piece. . .

From a vendor?

I'm assuming you mean from another player right? There is a huge difference if so and not only in price. Think that one over.

[DarkGanni]

kaldemeo, on 06 January 2013 - 12:08 AM, said:

Tran$mutation stones

This answers it all in favor of armor.

Also since weapons can be gained with karma which is easy to get, it would kinda defeat that small challenge of getting best stats gear.

[Dasryn]

Rain King, on 10 January 2013 - 10:10 PM, said:

From a vendor?

I'm assuming you mean from another player right? There is a huge difference if so and not only in price. Think that one over.

i was talking about the TP, i saw some draconic knight's heavy armor for around 3g a piece.

[Sword Hammer Axe]

It's ultra easy getting exotic weapons. You can either buy from another player, or should the unthinkable happen and no exotics are available, you don't even have to be lucky to get it, but just craft one.

And I really don't mind Arenanet wanting people to use some cash on the game. I mean, Arenanet's a business, remember? It'd be awesome if they could just give us the game and then sustain themself on our love for them, but that's really not enough.

Besides, exotics are pretty much unneeded. You don't necessarily miss out on any content without one. You can do most things with a freaking blue weapon, and a rare weapon is more than enough for even the highest level of difficulties. That you want an exotic is really because you either want the maximum amount of easy or the maximum amount of badass, which is more of personal preference.

[Arquenya]

Sword Hammer Axe, on 11 January 2013 - 10:09 AM, said:

exotics are pretty much unneeded. You don't necessarily miss out on any content without one. You can do most things with a freaking blue weapon, and a rare weapon is more than enough for even the highest level of difficulties. That you want an exotic is really because you either want the maximum amount of easy or the maximum amount of badass, which is more of personal preference.

I don't know, I feel I don't do my teammates justice if we do a tough dungeon and they're all in runed exotics and I'd be running around in blues. It feels bad to be the weakest link, especially if I can prevent it.

Rain King, on 10 January 2013 - 10:10 PM, said:

From a vendor?
I'm assuming you mean from another player right? There is a huge difference if so and not only in price. Think that one over.

I fail to see any significant difference in buying armour from other players or a vendor for gold bought with RL money for gems. In the end it still comes down to people spending RL money and ending up with exotic gear with sup runes.

Edited by Arquenya, 11 January 2013 - 11:00 AM.

[Arquenya]

Rain King, on 10 January 2013 - 06:52 PM, said:

The answer is transmutations stones but it's not that big of a deal because the choice to purchase is a cosmetic one.

Cosmetics is a big deal. Who wants to walk around looking like a brown bag? Why have character customisation or nice graphics? It's all bout cosmetics! I wouldn't even play GW2 if it wasn't for the looks.

[Ritualist]

Reverse Ghost, on 10 January 2013 - 06:33 PM, said:

Around here, anything in the game that's inconvenient is there just to make us all use the evil cash shop.

What's the point of inconveniences otherwise? If the point isn't to sell the cash shop solution, why not simply remove the inconvenience from the game and implement the solution as part of the game rather than part of the the cash shop?
It's lovely that A.Net is offering us solutions in the cash shop and it's even lovelier that players can use in-game gold to buy stuff in the cash shop, but ultimately, you still have a game that is poorly designed and the devs know it (they are offering a solution to this poor design in the cash shop, after all!). Why would anyone praise them for it? I understand that one accepts it and argues that it's not as bad as it could have been, but it's certainly not good.

Edited by Protoss, 11 January 2013 - 01:15 PM.

[Arquenya]

Protoss, on 11 January 2013 - 12:00 PM, said:

What's the point of inconveniences otherwise? If the point isn't to sell the cash shop solution, why not simply remove the inconvenience from the game and implement the solution as part of the game rather than part of the the cash shop?
It's lovely that A.Net is offering us solutions in the cash shop and it's even lovelier that players can use in-game gold to buy stuff in the cash shop, but ultimately, you still have a game that is poorly designed and the devs know it (they are offering a solution to this poor design in the cash shop, after all!). Why would anyone praise them for it? I understand that one accepts it and argue that it's not as bad as it could have been, but it's certainly not good.

Very true indeed!

It wouldn't surprise me if the whole introduction of ascended gear is more coming from the desire to sell more T-stones than anything else, like "it's what players wish". They don't even have to design any new sets, just sell the same stuff with slightly better stats. How convenient can it be? Minimum effort, maximimum gain.

Edited by Arquenya, 11 January 2013 - 12:39 PM.

[Sword Hammer Axe]

Arquenya, on 11 January 2013 - 10:58 AM, said:

I don't know, I feel I don't do my teammates justice if we do a tough dungeon and they're all in runed exotics and I'd be running around in blues. It feels bad to be the weakest link, especially if I can prevent it.

This is still within the personal factor. Your own sense of inferiority or shame or whatever it is hasn't got anything to do with how the game is designed, but how you respond to the other players. You're still perfectly capable of running the content with blues, even though your effectiveness will of course increase with exotics. Though I'd still say try and look at the numbers. Damage changes in a way you can feel when you go from a rare greatsword to an exotic greatsword, but how much it changed isn't more than you killing the enemy in 10 seconds instead of 11

[Arquenya]

Sword Hammer Axe, on 11 January 2013 - 02:58 PM, said:

You're still perfectly capable of running the content with blues, even though your effectiveness will of course increase with exotics. Though I'd still say try and look at the numbers. Damage changes in a way you can feel when you go from a rare greatsword to an exotic greatsword, but how much it changed isn't more than you killing the enemy in 10 seconds instead of 11

It depends. I don't mind taking a lvl74 in blues into CoF1 or AC2 but I don't think a group of lvl80s in blues without runes will have an easy time completing Arah, if at all. It's not just about damage but also about defense and being killed - or not. Also: all armour except exotics breaks after a few deaths, so that would mean you'd have to run through the whole dungeon to get it repaired.
Fortunately, of course, most of the content isn't designed like Arah.

But I'd always like to be at max efficiency if I can help it. And cultural T3 (or any cultural armour and weapons, like lionguard and ebon vanguard) not having useful stats and being rare and not either exotic or usable as a skin (like HoM or gem store sets) definitely doesn't help.

[Sword Hammer Axe]

Arquenya, on 11 January 2013 - 03:15 PM, said:

It depends. I don't mind taking a lvl74 in blues into CoF1 or AC2 but I don't think a group of lvl80s in blues without runes will have an easy time completing Arah, if at all. It's not just about damage but also about defense and being killed - or not. Also: all armour except exotics breaks after a few deaths, so that would mean you'd have to run through the whole dungeon to get it repaired.
Fortunately, of course, most of the content isn't designed like Arah.

But I'd always like to be at max efficiency if I can help it. And cultural T3 (or any cultural armour and weapons, like lionguard and ebon vanguard) not having useful stats and being rare and not either exotic or usable as a skin (like HoM or gem store sets) definitely doesn't help.

I guess now's a good time to say I've done just that? Well, I had an exotic staff, but other than that I had all blue items on my necro and only died a couple of times the only time I've been in Arah explorable. I had an amazing team of course, and probably wouldn't have faired so well had they not had brilliant strategizing skills, but that doesn't counter the fact that the equipment didn't keep me from doing this content.

Edit: My secondaries were (and are still) a rare axe and a green focus. But still

Edited by Sword Hammer Axe, 11 January 2013 - 06:23 PM.

[Reverse Ghost]

Protoss, on 11 January 2013 - 12:00 PM, said:

What's the point of inconveniences otherwise? If the point isn't to sell the cash shop solution, why not simply remove the inconvenience from the game and implement the solution as part of the game rather than part of the the cash shop?
It's lovely that A.Net is offering us solutions in the cash shop and it's even lovelier that players can use in-game gold to buy stuff in the cash shop, but ultimately, you still have a game that is poorly designed and the devs know it (they are offering a solution to this poor design in the cash shop, after all!). Why would anyone praise them for it? I understand that one accepts it and argues that it's not as bad as it could have been, but it's certainly not good.

The problem is that everyone is going to think something is an inconvenience. Some players think, and have expressed here, that leveling to 80 is an inconvenience. Some players think getting Exotic armor is an inconvenience. Some players think Hearts are an inconvenience. And of course there's waypoint costs. They aren't wrong. I may disagree, but those are opinions so they aren't wrong.

What is your solution for trans stones? Have a vendor sell them? How is that really different? Just give them away for free? Anyone can transmute any item on to any item for free as many times as they want? That would certainly get rid of the inconvenience, but then what's the point of playing?

If they were set up to be random drops from mobs, people would either complain that they don't drop frequently enough and then we'd be back where we started with this, or people would complain that they drop too frequently and then they might as well just be giving them away for free.


I guess I'm just different from some people around here in that I don't think ArenaNet are using the cash shop profits to create some kind of Scrooge McDuck coin vault to swim in. I think they're using the money people pay them (including the initial box sales) to work on the game. They don't always make perfect decisions, but I do not believe that they are doing things maliciously to hurt the game or the community and I do think that this game will get better as time goes on, not worse. And I hope that if the community outcry is great enough, they will, at some point, work to change things.

Edited by Reverse Ghost, 11 January 2013 - 08:40 PM.

[Ritualist]

Reverse Ghost, on 11 January 2013 - 08:14 PM, said:

The problem is that everyone is going to think something is an inconvenience.

Yes, but we are talking specifically about inconveniences that have a cash shop solution. Which means, given the limited number of cash shop solutions - a limited number of inconveniences.

Is A.Net setting out to make a bad game? No.
But they are a business, and when making a good game clashes with making money, it would be insane if making money wouldn't be their priority.

[Featherman]

I don't see it as bad game design. It's a bet fit solution for their monetization scheme. I agree it could use some improvements for the benefit of both the player and ANet, but we should only be worrying when the scheme isn't working at all. No monetization, no game.

Protoss, on 12 January 2013 - 08:28 AM, said:

Yes, but we are talking specifically about inconveniences that have a cash shop solution. Which means, given the limited number of cash shop solutions - a limited number of inconveniences.

It's subjective even then. Why? Because money solves everything in GW2 (moreso directly than any other game due market structure), but not everyone is affected the same way by each individual problem solved by the Gem Shop.

There is one common issue that comes up most often though, and that's power. You can buy power or you can work for it, but ultimately everyone ends up with the same level of power for no effort or marginal effort. How they get there and whether or not they enjoy the process is far too relative to be a measure of advantage. Given the game's overall structure, though, power is a good leveling field because it ultimately affects the player's ability to do things in the game; it's the most tangible content gate. Minor inconveniences like transmutation stones, waypoints and repair fees can be bypassed relatively easily through both gem shop and regular play. Honestly how much are players being hurt by them at all?

[Arquenya]

Featherman, on 12 January 2013 - 11:57 AM, said:

I don't see it as bad game design. It's a bet fit solution for their monetization scheme. I agree it could use some improvements for the benefit of both the player and ANet, but we should only be worrying when the scheme isn't working at all. No monetization, no game.

Reverse Ghost, on 11 January 2013 - 08:14 PM, said:

I guess I'm just different from some people around here in that I don't think ArenaNet are using the cash shop profits to create some kind of Scrooge McDuck coin vault to swim in. I think they're using the money people pay them (including the initial box sales) to work on the game. They don't always make perfect decisions, but I do not believe that they are doing things maliciously to hurt the game or the community and I do think that this game will get better as time goes on, not worse. And I hope that if the community outcry is great enough, they will, at some point, work to change things.

Well .. there's two things: financing your game and making profit on top of it. Game companies usually don't aim to break even but to make max profit for their shareholders. With 3 million copies sold times ~60 euro/dollar that's almost 200 million. To start with.

And - unlike the situation in the original GW series - I don't know a single player that hasn't used the gem shop. If we assume that every gem is being paid for by players that want to convert them to gold (like EVE's plex) that's really a lot of money. So the question is how much money they have actually made in the meantime. 350 million? 500 million? More? And how much of that do they need to actually develop their game and how much goes to the shareholders? 50/50%? 25/75%? 10/90%?

Featherman, on 12 January 2013 - 11:57 AM, said:

Minor inconveniences like transmutation stones, waypoints and repair fees can be bypassed relatively easily through both gem shop and regular play. Honestly how much are players being hurt by them at all?

It's just a huge extra inconvenience, especially if you have 4 lvl 80s with multiple armour sets and don't want to look like silly.

The question isn't how many people are "hurt" by it. The question is what players find convenient and enjoyable gameplay in terms of storage, looks, travel and such. And how ANet's gem shop facilities have a monopoly on most of those things.
They're far more agressive than in GW, where every look came with all stat options. Like this cultural T3 example. And so many gear looks with useless stats that give you no option but to get T-stones, like all the heavy dungeon gear with healing or condition damage while most viable builds just need stats other than those.

And then we get ascended gear .. the whole process of getting the combined looks and stats you want (read: make a run to the gem shop for more fine T-stones, gold prices rising again) is going to start all over again. And oh, then they'll raise the level cap, rendering all your stuff worthless. New hairstyles, get your hairstyle change kits! Rinse and repeat. And repeat. And repeat.

The question is when players are getting annoyed by all this to the point that they've had enough of GW2 and ANet's rather agressive "pay for cosmetics and convenience" policy. It's not for nothing that people already wondered if a sub fee wasn't a better idea, 3 months after release.

Edited by Arquenya, 12 January 2013 - 01:20 PM.

[Featherman]

Arquenya, on 12 January 2013 - 12:55 PM, said:

Well .. there's two things: financing your game and making profit on top of it. Game companies usually don't aim to break even but to make max profit for their shareholders. With 3 million copies sold times ~60 euro/dollar that's almost 200 million. To start with.

And - unlike the situation in the original GW series - I don't know a single player that hasn't used the gem shop. If we assume that every gem is being paid for by players that want to convert them to gold (like EVE's plex) that's really a lot of money. So the question is how much money they have actually made in the meantime. 350 million? 500 million? More? And how much of that do they need to actually develop their game and how much goes to the shareholders?

I don't see it as a bad thing. I've used the Gem Shop, but only to convert from gold to gems for conveniences like character and bank slots. My doing so drives up the value of gems, meaning those that want to pay money for gold get more bang for their buck. In this case one need is met driving up the other to to excess until the conversion. Working as intended, maybe? I can't say since I doubt we've seen equilibrium yet.

What I think the problem is here is that players are viewing the system for the advantages it allows rather than how it tries to satisfy player needs. You can, rightfully, state how it's not fair to you yourself as a player but the way they set it up allows everyone to satisfy themselves in a myriad of ways. I've not seen any other cash shop that does it as well as GW2. Could it be better executed? Definitely, but the game's still young after all.

I also don't see why making an excess of money is a bad thing. More money is always good thing for game developers since it allows for more manpower in development. In the eyes of the investors it increases the safety net on their investment, and that in turn increases the stability for the developer's ability to work.

Arquenya, on 12 January 2013 - 12:55 PM, said:

And then we get ascended gear .. the whole process of getting the combined looks and stats you want (read: make a run to the gem shop for more fine T-stones, gold prices rising again) is going to start all over again. And oh, then they'll raise the level cap, rendering all your stuff worthless. New hairstyles, get your hairstyle change kits! Rinse and repeat. And repeat. And repeat.

The question is when players are getting annoyed by all this to the point that they've had enough of GW2 and ANet's rather agressive "pay for cosmetics and convenience" policy. It's not for nothing that people already wondered if a sub fee wasn't a better idea, 3 months after release.

Can't comment on this since overall since I don't have ESP, and I won't allow myself to fall into the trap of thinking that everyone forces themselves to play for a common end goal. My problem's and wants are not everybody's and vice versa.

Edited by Featherman, 12 January 2013 - 01:43 PM.

[Ritualist]

Featherman, on 12 January 2013 - 11:57 AM, said:

It's subjective even then. Why? Because money solves everything in GW2 (moreso directly than any other game due market structure), but not everyone is affected the same way by each individual problem solved by the Gem Shop.

There is one common issue that comes up most often though, and that's power. You can buy power or you can work for it, but ultimately everyone ends up with the same level of power for no effort or marginal effort. How they get there and whether or not they enjoy the process is far too relative to be a measure of advantage. Given the game's overall structure, though, power is a good leveling field because it ultimately affects the player's ability to do things in the game; it's the most tangible content gate. Minor inconveniences like transmutation stones, waypoints and repair fees can be bypassed relatively easily through both gem shop and regular play. Honestly how much are players being hurt by them at all?

I'd argue that in a game with a power plateau, you can not stop at "power". And it's simple - the power plateau makes power fairly irrelevant for the game. A power plateau means that power isn't what people will be playing the game for and that's something that A.net doesn't understand.
An MMO does not make sense if people are not playing it. So do we really think that putting cash shop inconveniences on the parts of the game that exist to keep people playing is the best idea? Especially when the game, when not paying for the solution to these inconveniences, is lacking?

Edited by Protoss, 12 January 2013 - 07:18 PM.

[Featherman]

Protoss, on 12 January 2013 - 02:20 PM, said:

I'd argue that in a game with a power plateau, you can not stop at "power". And it's simple - the power plateau makes power fairly irrelevant for the game. A power plateau means that power isn't what people will be playing the game for and that's something that A.net doesn't understand. An MMO does not make sense if people are not playing it. So do we really think that putting cash shop inconveniences on the parts of the game that exist to keep people playing is the best idea? Especially when the game, when not paying for the solution to these inconveniences, is lacking?

I have a couple of  problems with that statement. 1) You can stop at power in this game and enjoy the rest of the content on equal footing. The pick up and go nature of this game, evident through the plateau and event structure, reinforces the idea that you can stop and pick this game up down the road. 2) Power plateau does not make power irrelevant. 1-80 and exotics/ascension is not meaningless progression. The effectiveness of its delivery is arguable, but that progression exists for several reasons some of which are the satisfying of the need for power progression in an RPG and which doubles as a possible avenue for monetization. In a game that tries to satisfy both casuals and hardcore players this is understandably hard to deliver correctly.

To answer your questions, even though they are rhetorical by nature, it's not the best idea if it keeps people from actually playing. I've yet to see someone who has been kept from playing due to transmutation stones, waypoint fees and the like. My guess is that the solution to these "inconveniences" is as painless as simply playing.

[Ritualist]

Featherman, on 12 January 2013 - 09:43 PM, said:

I have a couple of  problems with that statement. 1) You can stop at power in this game and enjoy the rest of the content on equal footing. The pick up and go nature of this game, evident through the plateau and event structure, reinforces the idea that you can stop and pick this game up down the road. 2) Power plateau does not make power irrelevant. 1-80 and exotics/ascension is not meaningless progression. The effectiveness of its delivery is arguable, but that progression exists for several reasons some of which are the satisfying of the need for power progression in an RPG and which doubles as a possible avenue for monetization. In a game that tries to satisfy both casuals and hardcore players this is understandably hard to deliver correctly.

What I was talking about is the issue of looking at "power" as THE issue that defines what is acceptable and what isn't in a game that really isn't about power. The fact that A.Net isn't selling power in the cash shop doesn't mean that the cash shop is working - it just means that A.Net isn't failing.
If you have a game that is insanely about vanity, one can not simply say that since vanity is optional, everything is acceptable.

Featherman, on 12 January 2013 - 09:43 PM, said:

To answer your questions, even though they are rhetorical by nature, it's not the best idea if it keeps people from actually playing. I've yet to see someone who has been kept from playing due to transmutation stones, waypoint fees and the like. My guess is that the solution to these "inconveniences" is as painless as simply playing.

Hello, nice to meet you! I do not hunt vanity, I do not use waypoint travel DESPITE knowing that this is making me want to play the game less. So, I just play the game less instead.

[Featherman]

Protoss, on 12 January 2013 - 11:44 PM, said:

What I was talking about is the issue of looking at "power" as THE issue that defines what is acceptable and what isn't in a game that really isn't about power. The fact that A.Net isn't selling power in the cash shop doesn't mean that the cash shop is working - it just means that A.Net isn't failing.
If you have a game that is insanely about vanity, one can not simply say that since vanity is optional, everything is acceptable.

This game isn't about Vanity, at least it isn't to the extreme that you seem to argue it is. It's about content, and this game has a wealth of content, it's just not well structured. Vanity in no way gates players from this content. The real downfall of this game would be that players coerced, through incentivization of vanity as a goal, into thinking that it's the game's content. Similar things can be said about power creep in WoW, for example since power isn't the content but an incentive, although in WoW's case the incentives inadvertently gate content.

Protoss, on 12 January 2013 - 11:44 PM, said:

Hello, nice to meet you! I do not hunt vanity, I do not use waypoint travel DESPITE knowing that this is making me want to play the game less. So, I just play the game less instead.

Bwuh? But it's only a few pieces of silver. I agree it'd be better if it was gone, but come on.

Edited by Featherman, 13 January 2013 - 12:44 AM.

[Ritualist]

Featherman, on 13 January 2013 - 12:41 AM, said:

This game isn't about Vanity, at least it isn't to the extreme that you seem to argue it is. It's about content, and this game has a wealth of content, it's just not well structured. Vanity in no way gates players from this content. The real downfall of this game would be that players coerced, through incentivization of vanity as a goal, into thinking that it's the game's content. Similar things can be said about power creep in WoW, for example since power isn't the content but an incentive, although in WoW's case the incentives inadvertently gate content.

My bad, it's not JUST about vanity. But with the power plateau, power isn't what keeps people playing. And this being an MMO, you need to ask yourself what will? Vanity is one of those factors. Playing with others is another. So, as I have said, the fact that the cash shop isn't selling power doesn't mean that everything is working - unless, of course, we simply do not care if people continue playing, in which case, why the hell are we dealing with a shitty MMO?
The concepts that are supposed to keep players interested are fairly poorly thought out and in some cases, the solution to them is offered in the cash shop.

Featherman, on 13 January 2013 - 12:41 AM, said:

Bwuh? But it's only a few pieces of silver. I agree it'd be better if it was gone, but come on.

It's just a game and I've quit games over less. The game isn't absolutely amazing, so why the hell would I be accepting additional inconveniences, especially if they already have a solution?

Edited by Protoss, 13 January 2013 - 10:44 AM.

[Lucas Ashrock]

Reverse Ghost, on 11 January 2013 - 08:14 PM, said:

The problem is that everyone is going to think something is an inconvenience. Some players think, and have expressed here, that leveling to 80 is an inconvenience. Some players think getting Exotic armor is an inconvenience. Some players think Hearts are an inconvenience. And of course there's waypoint costs. They aren't wrong. I may disagree, but those are opinions so they aren't wrong.

What is your solution for trans stones? Have a vendor sell them? How is that really different? Just give them away for free? Anyone can transmute any item on to any item for free as many times as they want? That would certainly get rid of the inconvenience, but then what's the point of playing?

If they were set up to be random drops from mobs, people would either complain that they don't drop frequently enough and then we'd be back where we started with this, or people would complain that they drop too frequently and then they might as well just be giving them away for free.


I guess I'm just different from some people around here in that I don't think ArenaNet are using the cash shop profits to create some kind of Scrooge McDuck coin vault to swim in. I think they're using the money people pay them (including the initial box sales) to work on the game. They don't always make perfect decisions, but I do not believe that they are doing things maliciously to hurt the game or the community and I do think that this game will get better as time goes on, not worse. And I hope that if the community outcry is great enough, they will, at some point, work to change things.

Ever tought of : it drops just from a certain kind of mobs on a certain area, who needs them, must be worthy and able to kill them (more difficult, more stones) if a newbie, easy fight 1-2 stones. Something well, cool to do. Guess what, this is called amazing design. Something unknown, when gw2 is involved
Nah scampshop is the way, yay I promised yet, one day i will explain in details where gemstore money goes. Disillude yourself you're paying the dev's salary using the gemstore. 5% of the income goes to salary corporation balancy. Arenanet is part of a corporation, salary is paid by other sources. Yes, it's a pure scam, and who keep supporting it using a credit card, is supporting a scam.

Edited by Lucas Ashrock, 13 January 2013 - 05:39 PM.