Hear me out – not trolling here. I’ve been thinking about this all week, ever since the uproar over the pricing for Guild Wars 2’s build and equipment templates. The MOP writing team had a long discussion about them and whom exactly they are meant to be for. We don’t think they’re for any of us. We don’t think they’re for the whales either. The people who really need a dozen templates are the people who are maddest about the way they’ve been handled, and probably the least likely to buy them. It all seems to be handled so bizarrely that I couldn’t help but wonder whether the patch was a move of desperation rather than poor calculation.
I’m probably wrong, but if it were the case that ArenaNet is hurting for money, I’d sure as heck wish the company would just charge an optional Elder Scrolls Online-style subscription. Give us double experience, double mastery, double gold, some lockbox keys, a cash-shop stipend, full access to off-season cash shoppables, maybe some bonus bank and crafter and inventory storage, for $15 a month? That’d be some nice and steady income. Heck they could even give subbers a day’s head-start on new seasonal content too. I’d rather see this than more whale-milking or the seasonal bundles or whatever the template thing was meant to be. I’d even sub off and on.
How about you? Would you pay a sub to play Guild Wars 2? Are you entirely opposed to the idea? What would you expect to get out of it that you’re not getting now for free?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
