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Guild Wars 2 Press Beta [Prepurchase Is Live]

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LowParry

LowParry

Member
Eh, I don't really care for the pre-purchase thing. My money is down and I'm perfectly content with not knowing a release date. However I'm very confident we'll see this within the next 3 - 4 months if all goes well with these beta weekends. I'd love to be proven wrong though of it coming sooner. :)
 
K

kayos90

Tragic victim of fan death
I don't think people understand both the consumer and ANet's side of why they're doing this pre-purchase.

If you're a consumer you're going to get the pre-purchase because
- you plan on getting the game anyway.
- you want access to extra stuff and you're going to get the game eventually
- there's no downside to not getting a game that's going to come out and you're going to get eventually.

Why is ANet offering the pre-purchase?
- Give fans that are going to get the game anyway, a reward - a reward, not incentive - for plopping money down early. They're going to get the game anyway, does it matter when they pay for it? Sort of but not really.
- Gives them a chance to conduct a massive server test and pool in more data before the final stretch.

If you haven't thought of at least one of these ideas that I listed or something close to it, you're not getting the logic behind the pre-purchase. The whole idea is for fans and those that are going to get the game eventually.
 
TomcatTheLion

TomcatTheLion

Member
I may just go with the digital standard edition after looking at the deluxe more closely. Everything seems single-use and doesn't appear to offer that much of a benefit over the SE. Or am I looking at it wrong?
 
A

Arksy

Member
kayos90 said:
I don't think people understand both the consumer and ANet's side of why they're doing this pre-purchase.

If you're a consumer you're going to get the pre-purchase because
- you plan on getting the game anyway.
- you want access to extra stuff and you're going to get the game eventually
- there's no downside to not getting a game that's going to come out and you're going to get eventually.

Why is ANet offering the pre-purchase?
- Give fans that are going to get the game anyway, a reward - a reward, not incentive - for plopping money down early. They're going to get the game anyway, does it matter when they pay for it? Sort of but not really.
- Gives them a chance to conduct a massive server test and pool in more data before the final stretch.

If you haven't thought of at least one of these ideas that I listed or something close to it, you're not getting the logic behind the pre-purchase. The whole idea is for fans and those that are going to get the game eventually.
Click to expand...

Nope. They're doing this for mainly marketing reasons (read: to build hype). This has been planned by ArenaNet very meticulously. Press Beta -> Press Release -> Public Closed Beta -> Pre-Purchase -> Pre-Purchase Beta -> Release. While they said they haven't announced a release date to anyone, i would be shocked if they didn't have a confirmed release date internally. Neither ArenaNet nor NCsoft are new to the MMO industry and it would be crazy to think that either of them would be sloppy about this sort of thing.
 
NeededSleep

NeededSleep

Member
TomcatTheLion said:
I may just go with the digital standard edition after looking at the deluxe more closely. Everything seems single-use and doesn't appear to offer that much of a benefit over the SE. Or am I looking at it wrong?
Click to expand...

Nah, myself and lots of people have gone with the SE. Pretty much just gonna spend the money instead on items in the cash shop(extra bank/character spaces) than just get the DD version.
 
P

PewPewK

Member
Arksy said:
Nope. They're doing this for mainly marketing reasons (read: to build hype). This has been planned by ArenaNet very meticulously. Press Beta -> Press Release -> Public Closed Beta -> Pre-Purchase -> Pre-Purchase Beta -> Release. While they said they haven't announced a release date to anyone, i would be shocked if they didn't have a confirmed release date internally. Neither ArenaNet nor NCsoft are new to the MMO industry and it would be crazy to think that either of them would be sloppy about this sort of thing.
Click to expand...

The way Mike O'Brien (founder of ArenaNet) put it is that the company actually does not have an internal release date. I have no doubts they might sort of have a loose target along with a couple of deadlines, but they said as soon as they have a date to give us, they'll give it.
 
K

kayos90

Tragic victim of fan death
Arksy said:
Nope. They're doing this for mainly marketing reasons (read: to build hype). This has been planned by ArenaNet very meticulously. Press Beta -> Press Release -> Public Closed Beta -> Pre-Purchase -> Pre-Purchase Beta -> Release. While they said they haven't announced a release date to anyone, i would be shocked if they didn't have a confirmed release date internally. Neither ArenaNet nor NCsoft are new to the MMO industry and it would be crazy to think that either of them would be sloppy about this sort of thing.
Click to expand...

ANet most definitely has a date planned if all things go well during the initial BWE. Having said that, this is a bit more than a marketing stunt. If it was pre-order I would agree, but a pre-purchase without a release date shows poor marketing tactics. As a result, I have a hard time attributing the pre-purchase concept to marketing reasons. Also, ANet has hardly taken the conventional approach to developing, marketing, etc with Guild Wars 2 than say SW:TOR.
 
J

Jira

Member
kayos90 said:
ANet most definitely has a date planned if all things go well during the initial BWE. Having said that, this is a bit more than a marketing stunt. If it was pre-order I would agree, but a pre-purchase without a release date shows poor marketing tactics. As a result, I have a hard time attributing the pre-purchase concept to marketing reasons. Also, ANet has hardly taken the conventional approach to developing, marketing, etc with Guild Wars 2 than say SW:TOR.
Click to expand...

I also do think they have loose windows based on the outcome of each Beta. As for ANet not taking the conventional approach I would agree, but it's been a good thing for them. The are extremely transparent when it comes to development, they want people to get out there and play their game so they can get feedback rather than Bioware's method of you get to play for 10 min but don't even think about posting it on youtube cause we'll pull it. Bioware's footage was all perfectly tailored where as ANet lets the community post anything and everything they want from conventions, word of mouth is the greatest advertisement a company could hope for and GW2 has it in spades. Word of mouth is literally free marketing and ANet didn't even start or need to start a traditional marketing campaign until April 10th which they have. TOR's marketing was smoke and mirrors with CGI trailers left and right, trailers to show what your class will look like as you level, and the occasional dungeon video that was narrated for school children in a very condescending way. ANet has the press in there months before release to give previews and impressions which is something Bioware didn't dare do. Even Game Informer, which is a console magazine, is taking the time to have six page spreads and impressions on their site from the betas, podcasts with developers, and even video coverage with devs.

TL;DR: By allowing people to play their game constantly, talk about it, give feedback, record any and all video they want and share it with people, ANet is using the best possible form of marketing which is word of mouth and they've been so transparent about the development because they're actually confident in their game and they're hiding nothing.
 
A

Arksy

Member
kayos90 said:
ANet most definitely has a date planned if all things go well during the initial BWE. Having said that, this is a bit more than a marketing stunt. If it was pre-order I would agree, but a pre-purchase without a release date shows poor marketing tactics. As a result, I have a hard time attributing the pre-purchase concept to marketing reasons. Also, ANet has hardly taken the conventional approach to developing, marketing, etc with Guild Wars 2 than say SW:TOR.
Click to expand...

But that's what i'm saying, you're right. It is, strictly speaking, really poor marketing. But as i was saying, NCsoft and ArenaNet have done this a few times before and i would be very suprised if they don't actually have a release date, why would they even bother offerning pre-purchases if they weren't very close? It seems like a colossally bad idea, especially this late into the picture. The game has been in development for years. Jira is right, they have massive hype surrounding this game but if they let it draw out too long they will have lost the beautiful advantage they've gained because it will just fizzle out.
 
K

kayos90

Tragic victim of fan death
Arksy said:
But that's what i'm saying, you're right. It is, strictly speaking, really poor marketing. But as i was saying, NCsoft and ArenaNet have done this a few times before and i would be very suprised if they don't actually have a release date, why would they even bother offerning pre-purchases if they weren't very close? It seems like a colossally bad idea, especially this late into the picture. The game has been in development for years. Jira is right, they have massive hype surrounding this game but if they let it draw out too long they will have lost the beautiful advantage they've gained because it will just fizzle out.
Click to expand...

I disagree with you completely.
 
D

DJIzana

Member
kayos90 said:
I disagree with you completely.
Click to expand...

I agree with this statement lol.

Look at us FFXIII Versus fans... there's still a lot of us still waiting and it's been in development even longer than Guild Wars 2.

ANet knows how to draw a crowd & keep it. At least they've confirmed this game will be out this year for sure, who knows when Versus XIII will be out.
 
W

Warrior_Keoni

Member
Many of you want to get into the beta and try it out, that's definitely understandable. ANet will release the game sometime this year, and I prefer extra polish versus bugs during launch week.
 
A

Arksy

Member
What so you would disagree that building up a load of hype only to let it fizzle out is a bad idea? Fair enough ;)

As for FXIII-Versus there is a world of difference between a game with a long development cycle, with no beta, with no planned release date to a game that has just presented a huge media dump, granted the public access to legal title in the game by purchasing it and allowing them into a beta.
 
K

kayos90

Tragic victim of fan death
Arksy said:
What so you would disagree that building up a load of hype only to let it fizzle out is a bad idea? Fair enough ;)

As for FXIII-Versus there is a world of difference between a game with a long development cycle, with no beta, with no planned release date to a game that has just presented a huge media dump, granted the public access to legal title in the game by purchasing it and allowing them into a beta.
Click to expand...

I disagree with many of your sentiments behind why ANet would do the pre-purchase as well as everything else that follows subsequently. In my mind it doesn't follow sound logic and therefore I disagree. The only reason I didn't explain myself is because I wanted to avoid a circular discussion since you didn't really add anything new and neither did I.
 
J

Jira

Member
To be fair to ANet, Bioware let you purchase in July without a release date as well and hell you weren't even guaranteed beta access.
 
F

Ferny

Member
Jira said:
To be fair to ANet, Bioware let you purchase in July without a release date as well and hell you weren't even guaranteed beta access.
Click to expand...

It was not a full purchase though. It was a pre-order. So the situation is very different here.
 
A

Arksy

Member
Yep. You didn't have to front the money for SW:TOR in July. At the end of the day, the point i was trying to make was that i think it will be released sooner rather then later. I think it will be July at the latest.
 
D

darkwing

Member
people complaining about the pre-purchase? then don't pre-purchase until there's a definite release date, I haven't bought it yet until there's a definite BWE date lol
 
A

Ashodin

Member
If the Beta is the 27th, we're gonna rock out on MONEY WOOOO

Also

Podcast tomorrow around 2 or 3. Depends on how my day goes, then we TAWK. Record as it were.
 
A

Ashodin

Member
The reason I justify a CE on a game like GW2 (after diving into CEs on Rift, two on WoW, and even briskly buying the FFXIV one) is because the game is free after you buy it. So you only get one chance to purchase the game. Why not go big or go home?
 
D

desverger

Member
I really hope their servers are ready to take in all the people who prepurchased.

Would be terrible to have 1 beta weekend per month if you slapped down cash and then just to have that fail :p
 
J

Jira

Member
desverger said:
I really hope their servers are ready to take in all the people who prepurchased.

Would be terrible to have 1 beta weekend per month if you slapped down cash and then just to have that fail :p
Click to expand...

Was kinda the point of the stress test and they know how many people that pre-purchased so they have a very good idea as to how many servers they might need.
 
W

Warrior_Keoni

Member
Jira said:
Was kinda the point of the stress test and they know how many people that pre-purchased so they have a very good idea as to how many servers they might need.
Click to expand...

Did they post any numbers for pre-purchase or something? I'm sort of curious how many people pre-purchased just to see how many will be participating in the beta.
 
P

Pat

Member
Oh man, I will not be able to play in the April 27th weekend... I've got something planned with a lot of friends since a long time and I must go out.

Argh. :( I just cannot cancel my presence and explain it with "Sorry guys, a beta is more important than you".

Fuck my life.
 
Z

Zafir

Member
Sigh, I hate Yodel. Was out when they came to deliver the prepuchase box. The card they left says I need to collect it from the service centre, but tracking says it was left with a neighbour... Will have to mess around phoning up trying to find out which it is.
 
KaoticBlaze

KaoticBlaze

Member
@GuildWars2: @rice012rice We will definitely be announcing it soon (yes, I know I'm announcing an announcement!!) :p ^AT

Hopefully we get good news about this coming weekend today :)

Sorry if it double posts, im having trouble with the mobile version of neogaf this morning for some reason :-(
 
A

Artadius

Member
Some of you are deluding yourselves if you don't think the prepurchase is for a cash injection, paying for upcoming marketing, and helping with revenue forecasts.

In other words, money money money.

That being said. I'm ok with that because that's what businesses do. Arenanet is in the business to make a profit. I've contributed my share to it because their product they're selling aligns with my desires... and the benefits of giving them my money a little bit early are worth it in my opinion. They won't be worth it for everyone and that's fine too.
 
D

Dinosaur Tamer

Member
Spookie said:
Another stress test on Friday apparently. Which means the weekend is starting on the 27th.

Not really a surprise tbh I didn't expect it any earlier.
Click to expand...

I'd expect this to be a fake as long as there is just this one guy claiming to have been invited. Apart from the date, the screenshot provided is identical to the last invite mail. And it is just grey text with a white background.

Anyway, we are very likely to get an announcement today. I am sure there will be no doubt about the date in a matter of hours.

*edit*
salpa said:
It is.

Read the second "email" he "got". It mentions a Guild Wars 3 stress test on Friday, April 32.
Click to expand...

Well, that is hardly surprising. Not sure why anyone would trust just one random guy on the internet as source for anything. Especially with invite mails being so incredibly easy to fake.
 
P

pelican

Member
Maxrpg said:
The reason I justify a CE on a game like GW2 (after diving into CEs on Rift, two on WoW, and even briskly buying the FFXIV one) is because the game is free after you buy it. So you only get one chance to purchase the game. Why not go big or go home?
Click to expand...

Guess you ain't read the micro-transaction updates then?
 
O

Orayn

Member
I'm risking my life by breaking my NDA and telling you guys this, but I have beta tested Guild Wars 3. It's a Facebook game, also available on iOS and Android, co-developed by Zynga. You have to invite all your Facebook friends to your guild to earn Tyrian Funbucks to buy new gear and keep the mean 'ol Charr from burning down villages. All the art is outsourced to Phoenix Games.
 
K

Kos Luftar

Member
I've noticed that when the PR guys/gals start hinting at stuff on twitter there is usually some kinda of blog update that day.

*crosses fingers and toes*

31/50 in HoM now, I'm going to try for the 35/50 before GW comes out.

Anyone here have 50/50 in Hall of Monuments?


Orayn said:
I'm risking my life by breaking my NDA and telling you guys this, but I have beta tested Guild Wars 3. It's a Facebook game, also available on iOS and Android, co-developed by Zynga. You have to invite all your Facebook friends to your guild to earn Tyrian Funbucks to buy new gear and keep the mean 'ol Charr from burning down villages. All the art is outsourced to Phoenix Games.
Click to expand...
Everyone knows there wont be a Guild Wars 3 because Guild Wars 2 + its expansions will be the game of the forever and you wont need to play anything else!
 
somesang

somesang

Member
If I wait for BWE to be announced and it happens to be the 20th, can I still pre purchase like the 19th and still get in? Mouse is hovered over the buy button.
 
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