Ok, due to my internet connection being really unstable this whole week I've been gone and haven't seen much of what's been going on in GW. But this ability to purchase unlocks through the online GW shop has the whole GW community in an uproar it seems.
Maybe I missed something because this doesn't really bother me at all. I pretty much have 95% or more of the Prophecies + Factions skills unlocked so it would be ludicrous of me to even consider using this option.
I seriously doubt anyone who has played Prophecies for any reasonable amount of time, whether it be PvP or PvE, will even bother to use this option. They'd either have had to have wasted a lot of time doing nothing in the game or they're just so hardcore (and lazy) they have to have it all because they missed some skills. But that would be sick to pay $10 for a couple of elites from one profession.
In my opinion, it would probably be more enticing to those who only own Factions. If they were freely given the skills from Prophecies (the Factions only players) then that would be unfair to those who bought Prophecies. So, without having to buy Prophecies, but at still a similar fee, Factions players could buy the Prophecies skill set as well. Maybe they only play a certain class so they only need to unlock one skill set. OK, they have that option. Maybe they want UAS for Prophecies, they have that option too. But of course for a price lower than what Prophecies originally cost since they're missing out on game content and all the other little bells and whistles that came in the box (but who cares if you're only a PvPer, right?).
GW FAQ Wrote:Am I required to buy the new chapters in order to continue to play Guild Wars?
No. Every purchase you make in the continuation of the Guild Wars saga will be your choice. If you purchase new chapters, you will gain access to new regions of the world, new skills and abilities, new items, new professions, and much more. And of course such a purchase will support the continued development of the game. However, if you choose not to purchase a chapter, you will still be able to play the chapters of Guild Wars that you own, and you will have common areas in which you will be able to play with and against your friends who have purchased the other chapter(s).
Will I remain competitive if I do not buy the chapters? Will I be able to compete with and against others if I have only some of the Guild Wars chapters?
Yes. Purchasing the newer chapters of Guild Wars will not make you strictly more powerful. You will have access to many more strategic options, due to the expanding nature of the skills, abilities, items and professions that you enjoy with each chapter. It would be similar to building a deck in Magic: The Gathering: The more cards you own, the greater the number of different playing decks you can choose to play. When you buy the chapters of Guild Wars, you will acquire a larger collection of skills and abilities from which to build your skill set, but you will not gain more power. So if you purchase a chapter and your friend does not, you will still be able to play competitively against and with one another.
To me, this is exactly what ANet is doing...well I hope it is. You don't need both campaigns to be competitive in PvP. But having both opens up more options. So, down the line, people can purchase the skills without having to go through the game, but still at a similar price comparable to what the original game cost. Now why at a similar cost? Well if they made it much cheaper than the original cost, people might be inclined to "skip" chapters and simply buy what they missed later. If they see from the get go that the prices are comparable and they do have even a mild interest in the PvE aspect, they'll dish out the extra $10 to get the full version of the game and start hunting for the skills as soon as they're available (or unlocking through PvP).
I know, I know. Some skills are in both campaigns as well as the elites. So they're basically only able to unlock (I think) 5 unique elites, a few unique skills, and some duped skills from Prophecies for each profession. Well if you think about it, we paid (if you go for the regular retail box) $50 for Prophecies and $50 for Factions and basically got the same deal if you linked the accounts. Now remember, some people probably didn't link accounts. So again, without having to purchase and go through Prophecies with their Factions account, these people could dish out some more cash and just buy the skills and still have one account with every single skill from both chapters. Sort of like buying the game again, but without having to do all the work all over again so that their Factions characters can have more options in PvP.
Now this begs the question, why did they only do this with Prophecies and not with Factions? Well probably because Factions is the latest chapter, but I bet once Nightfall is about 5 months old and Ch 4 is coming out, they'll do this with Factions skills as well. For this reason, I don't think this is a response to the PvPers wanting faster unlocks. Now if they do this skill purchase option with Factions within the next week or so, I'm simply going to assume ANet is really stupid and just wants money, period.
So this option does make some sense to me. Whether or not this was the intended purpose, I have no clue, but it will benefit other players down the line if GW can keep its player base alive and kicking and keep bringing in new players with each newly released chapter. If I started with Nightfall, I'd be behind by 2 chapters in terms of having all the skills (and story if I cared about it). Well, say I go through Nightfall, I love it, and I start to PvP. I see Joe Schmoe use Eviscerate and then I see Joe Mama use Forceful blow. Two elites from different compaigns that I have no access to. I don't want to go out and buy the games and then spend the ridiculous amount of hours needed to get the skills (eviscerate is in Hell's precipice after all). If I have the option to buy the skills, then hell yeah I would buy it if I could afford it. In no way do I have an advantage over anyone else. It simply enhances my PvP experience by allowing me more options. The same option all us "old timers" have.
Now, I agree that maybe PvP characters should just automatically have access to ALL skills from whatever campaigns they're linked to. But I don't agree that Factions PvP characters have access to the Prophecies skill set (and vice versa) unless the account holder purchased the game. But there is one problem I do have with this idea of giving PvP access automatically to all skills in that the people who do PvE and go onto PvP, are earning their skills by going through the story. Long stories. Nothing is just given to them. They can't use any prebuilds for their characters. So PvPers should go through the same type of work for their skills.
Do I care if people chose to invest their money in this if they already have Prophecies? No, blow your money away to help support ANet if thats what you want to do. You support the gaming community then, thank you.
Will I choose to do this? No, because I'd be even more retarded than you guys already think I am.
Is it a quick fix to something thats broke? I don't feel it is. Unless something else is broken that I am unaware of. Which I might be because, well, I just play the game, thats it. I don't notice stuff until I read about it somewhere.
Is it a money sink? Yes and no. ANet is a business after all and the prices they charge for these skill unlocks is comparable (if you buy UAS) to buying the game itself. As I said before, this might keep people from skipping chapters. And people who came into the community in later chapters can purchase older skills without having to play through the older campaigns or build up Faction to unlock the conten and at a slightly reduced cost. Opportunity cost, right?
Do I support this? Maybe, lets see how when they do this with Factions and if they do it with weapon mods (which I hope they don't).
OK, that was a lot more than I wanted to post, but too bad.
