Accompanying today’s Guild Wars 2 raid wing patch is a cash shop update that has players pissed. New to the cash shop is the Privateer Weapon set, described by a lore-infused blurb that might have struck you odd when you first read it — it sure sounded odd to me:
“I originally commissioned this set for the Captain’s Council, but for personal reasons I’ve decided to make it available through Black Lion Claim Tickets only. You won’t find this set on the trading post, folks – finders, keepers.” [Emphasis ours.]
That’s because in modern Guild Wars 2, cash shop skins purchased with Claim Tickets aren’t bind-on-pickup, so those who gamble with lockboxes can sell the skins on the auction hall to those who refuse to gamble. With the Privateer Weapons, players can’t do this: Their only option is to spend money or gold for gems to buy keys for lockboxes for a chance at scraps to turn in for this new cosmetic.
Reddit and the forums raised alarms, calling it a cash grab, “whale food,” and a disturbing shift in business model, so ArenaNet sent out Producer Sarah Witter to explain that the studio is actually doing us all a favor by making sure we never have to worry that the ticket price will increase or the items will become unavailable:
“Reading this thread, we understand your questions and want to share a little information: This set is designed to be a special, exclusive set and therefore it’s a little different than most. There are a couple of other interesting factors that you’ll want to know: The set is available for one ticket. It will remain priced at one ticket into the future, so someone who wants it now doesn’t need to be concerned about it becoming unavailable or about it rising in price in the future. Other sets currently available are not account bound, such as the Cavalier Weapon Set which was recently released at a price of 1 Black Lion Claim Ticket and remains at that price now. In addition, we do intend to continue to offer tradeable sets in the future. If you’d like a preview of the new set, go to your bank wardrobe and filter for ‘Privateer.’ We hope this answers your questions, and thanks for sharing your thoughts.”
Before you likewise freak out, note that the skins aren’t even all that great. And as one Redditor pointed out, the move might help fix the gold-to-gem prices in the economy, a problem we’ve noted ourselves.
At its highest since launch too. Note HoT spike. @GuildWars2 pic.twitter.com/uq9ORkvZ9M
— breetoplay (@nbrianna) June 8, 2016
