The hero system has been in the game for a long time, and it comes with the purchase of Eye of the North or Nightfall. You can already customise the heroes in the game, via their builds and equipment. Before the hero system, there was the henchmen system, which was similar, but has a little less customisation.
The only thing this adds is the ability to turn your characters into heroes. The only advantages that has over the standard hero system is the ability to make more heros of a certain class than are in the game (like 7 necro teams), the ability for lower level characters to have level 20 heroes sooner than normal (but only by a short amount of time), and the ability to have a hero with a more custom look.
As far as microtransactions in general. This pay structure has been in this game since it's launch. It has worked quite well for Anet and NC soft. This is not a monthly subscription game, but it is online. So to pay for the game, there are things you can buy. This is completely different from Dragon Age II withholding content, and then charging you for it.
1. This does provide a gameplay advantage, but no more than purchasing a new expansion/campaign, skill unlock pack, a character slot or even just a storage pane does. People don't whine too much about people who own Nightfall having access to Nightfall exclusive abilities; and if they do, then they are silly.
I've noticed strange things in the MMO paying structure. People are willing to shell out 15 bucks a month for WoW or Eve or something, but when it comes to freemium games, or games with a pay structure like Guild Wars, then people are more hesitant to pay. Why is it that people don't want to buy stuff in game directly? What is it about this kind of transaction that makes people think it's not worth it? I vastly prefer Guild Wars pay structure, and freemium over the traditional subscription, and have become a huge Nexon fan because of how they do business (and because they have awesome games).
2. Dual discord and various other builds HAVE been around for awhile, they just are used with two players. I honestly don't see the lustre of 6 necro teams. I've been using sabway on my vanquishing clears, and it's been working fine except in rare cases (darn you Grothmar Wardowns and your OP Charr groups!).
3. I think peoples biggest problem with this is price, plain and simple. People are mad that they have to pay so much for it, so they see it as a bad deal. If 8 mercs were 10 bucks, I bet you this wouldn't be an issue (or at least not nearly the issue it is today). Obviously the company is trying to squeeze a little bit of revenue out of Guild Wars while they still can; better to do it this way than to raise prices, or do something that would truly break the game (like offering PvE characters you can make at level 20 like PvP characters for 50 bucks a pop).
So basically, Arena net isn't doing anything here that they haven't already done in the past. Paying for a feature isn't anything new.
@erh You would think so, but there have been many people that have achieved frame precision controls in a few games. One of the most famouse Super Metroid runners Satoru 'Hotarubi' Suzuki, for example, is able to do things that were previously thought impossible on a console.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Is ArenaNet approaching the pay-to-win line?
Mar 14th 2011 2:33PM (Massively)The hero system has been in the game for a long time, and it comes with the purchase of Eye of the North or Nightfall. You can already customise the heroes in the game, via their builds and equipment. Before the hero system, there was the henchmen system, which was similar, but has a little less customisation.
More info on the hero system can be found here: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Hero
The only thing this adds is the ability to turn your characters into heroes. The only advantages that has over the standard hero system is the ability to make more heros of a certain class than are in the game (like 7 necro teams), the ability for lower level characters to have level 20 heroes sooner than normal (but only by a short amount of time), and the ability to have a hero with a more custom look.
As far as microtransactions in general. This pay structure has been in this game since it's launch. It has worked quite well for Anet and NC soft. This is not a monthly subscription game, but it is online. So to pay for the game, there are things you can buy. This is completely different from Dragon Age II withholding content, and then charging you for it.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Is ArenaNet approaching the pay-to-win line?
Mar 14th 2011 2:09PM (Massively)1. This does provide a gameplay advantage, but no more than purchasing a new expansion/campaign, skill unlock pack, a character slot or even just a storage pane does. People don't whine too much about people who own Nightfall having access to Nightfall exclusive abilities; and if they do, then they are silly.
I've noticed strange things in the MMO paying structure. People are willing to shell out 15 bucks a month for WoW or Eve or something, but when it comes to freemium games, or games with a pay structure like Guild Wars, then people are more hesitant to pay. Why is it that people don't want to buy stuff in game directly? What is it about this kind of transaction that makes people think it's not worth it? I vastly prefer Guild Wars pay structure, and freemium over the traditional subscription, and have become a huge Nexon fan because of how they do business (and because they have awesome games).
2. Dual discord and various other builds HAVE been around for awhile, they just are used with two players. I honestly don't see the lustre of 6 necro teams. I've been using sabway on my vanquishing clears, and it's been working fine except in rare cases (darn you Grothmar Wardowns and your OP Charr groups!).
3. I think peoples biggest problem with this is price, plain and simple. People are mad that they have to pay so much for it, so they see it as a bad deal. If 8 mercs were 10 bucks, I bet you this wouldn't be an issue (or at least not nearly the issue it is today). Obviously the company is trying to squeeze a little bit of revenue out of Guild Wars while they still can; better to do it this way than to raise prices, or do something that would truly break the game (like offering PvE characters you can make at level 20 like PvP characters for 50 bucks a pop).
So basically, Arena net isn't doing anything here that they haven't already done in the past. Paying for a feature isn't anything new.
Super Mario Bros. tricks explained with animated GIFs
Dec 8th 2010 5:14PM (Joystiq)