You have something beautiful, you don't realize it but you do. This game is coming at a prefect time, BDO isn't it, wow is stagnating, and the people love the game from a story and mechanics pov.

However, this game won't last. Not in its current state. Limited inventory, 2 character slots, premium only wardrobe, costly skins that are consumed on use etc. You are currently price gouging content to an unsustainable point.

I, like many others on here are willing to spend money on this game but you are making to hard to justify when you charge for basic qol changes.

Blade and soul, with its great combat and story and competitive pvp can be a big sustainable mmo that continues to make money or it can be another flash in the pan dead game because you got to greedy.

It's time to make a decision.

Now before the mob comes with their torch and pitchforks to the comments, let me be clear about what we're talking about.

Arenas in T&L are going to be a great addition but currently only for the whales.
I have seen people getting 1 shot left and right, and the team currently suffers more when you PLAY vs just kiting people around trying to stay alive.

If you're completely F2P arenas in their current state are going to be a nightmare for you. The gameplay loop is run in, pop some GCD in hopes you do some amount of damage and then get nuked and respawn so let's make it better.

A lot of people are talking about the idea of "equalization" in the arena So, let's expand upon that thought.

There are also countless other ways your gear score matters in PvP so let's just imagine NCsoft throws F2P a bone with arenas. How would this benefit the game as a whole? Equalizing GS would be a great way for players (F2P AND P2W) to test their mettle and get BETTER at PvP'ing while also alleviating the hesitation some people might have about even TRYING a game with any P2W.

This would also be a PILLAR for F2P endgame PvP and would keep players coming back instead of leaving the game when they feel they can't compete.

The idea is to have the game lessen the gap between F2P and P2W so that no matter where you land, you can enjoy playing the game and feel represented. The sooner that NCsoft learns this, the better off T&L we be for the long haul. Whales need the small fish, and the small fish need an opportunity to feel like SHARKS sometimes.

TLDR:

What I would propose is a pretty simple idea.

IN ARENAS make the version where GS matters as Ranked only and make the Normal version equalized. This would give F2P the opportunity to win and the whales the opportunity to test themselves or play with friends with zero consequence. PvP rewards would be lofty but not impossible goals that would include gear that would put you VERY close if not completely on par with paying players in ranked modes.

Official ArenaNet Statement:

"As an active game studio we are always doing internal exploratory work for possible future titles we’d want to create, however we have nothing to confirm right now. The team’s focus is on Guild Wars 2 development, including the game’s next expansion, which we’re excited to talk about soon."

Source:

Original Post

TLDR: As of this moment Guild Wars 3 has not been approved and is not being developed. It is in the review stage where NCSoft may decide to greenlight it and start development.

The Facts:

Guild Wars 3 was name dropped during an NCSoft shareholders meeting in Korea and after the event was confirmed as being in the review stage of approval with no active development at this time.

ArenaNet has already confirmed multiple Guild Wars 2 expansions are actively in development so there is no end to Guild Wars 2 in the near future. Guild Wars 2 has at the very least 2+ more years of content already announced as in development.

Even if Guild Wars 3 started development today, it would be several years of development before a release if it could even release this decade, and it is not starting development today.

Because the GW3 project is only in the review stage, there is every possibility that it is shot down and does not happen, the gaming industry is very volatile right now and investments are very low.

These are the facts right now. If something changes I'm sure we'll find out. For now all future Guild Wars 3 discussion posts will be removed and this thread will serve as discussion going forward. Unless there is some sort of official announcement there is no real reason to keep making new speculation posts.

Existing Threads:

Direct Link:

Images:

If the direct link doesn't work for any reason, you can search for the trademarks yourself using this site and searching for "NCSOFT":

We can most likely expect an official announcement about what exactly this is during PAX South next weekend (23-25th).

Firstly, I want to say you have made a great game when it comes to combat, story, and visuals. This game is a fresh look at NA MMO's with a old routine. Questing is repetitive and boring but is doesn't take much time to get through that and get to the interesting part PVP. I am not playing a fighting game because non stop pvp gets frustrating and old. The regular MMO gameplay in this game gives some downtime and keeps me engaged. So overall great job on creating this game, I just wish it came to NA a little sooner. I paid premium for this game because I have been looking forward to it since it was in development in Korea. I wanted to support the game I was playing and I have no problem paying a monthly fee to do that as I have done so since EQ1 and every other MMO I have played. I bought a Master Pack because it gave me a monthly Subscription and unlocked the character slots to make alternate characters and dragon pouches to unlock inventory while paying the developer for initial release.

Now let me get to the point of this post. I will keep this as constructive as possible to deter trolls and have some valuable feedback with facts and advice.

1. Lets break down the Premium membership cost at the cheapest available price. 8000 NCoins Costs $100 US simple math break down is 80 NCoins = $1US 1 Year Premium membership is 9999 NCoins (lets round up that once coin for simplicity). 10000 Ncoins / 80 Ncoins = $125 / 12 mo = $10.41US per month.

Now $10.41US for a monthly fee for an MMO is slightly below average, however take into account this is commiting a YEAR paid subscription to your game. Most if not all MMO's give discounts to customers that stay paying for that long. When you take that into account it works out to about the same price. That being said, I am willing to except you would also add on a few cosmetic items in the Store to make up the difference in the average MMO's monthly cost.

Now if I am paying a monthly subscription to a game such as FFXIV. I get full access to bank and inventory from the start of the game. I can make a good number of characters and get consistent content updates. Now I get you are not like every game, you are a free to play model with a membership incorporated so you have to do things a bit different. That's fine, but you are still putting your monthly paying subscribers behind a large paywall for content they are and have paid for. Inventory and bank space is a basic game mechanic that should not be behind a paywall for paying monthly subscribers.

It takes 214 pouches to fully unlock your inventory and bank space. The cheapest way (and only way besides daily dash) to buy dragon pouches is on the cash store for 800NCoins ($10) for 23 Pouches. ( 214/23=9.3 -> 9.3 x $10US = $93US ) That is $93US (PER CHARACTER) to fully unlock a base feature in a game that I am subscribing to.

Training Expansion Tickets are pages in your skill book to memorize talent specs so you can switch your talents based on your situation (PVE,PVP). This is a base mechanic in the game that costs 800NCoins ($10US). So if I want lets say 3 tabs total I need to pay $20US. Your customers that pay a monthly fee have to again pay for a base mechanic that should be included with the game if you are paying a monthly fee.

I can understand charging for changing character name and look, as this is standard for every MMO, so I won't bother breaking this down.

In almost any MMO I can think of if you buy a cosmetic item on the cash store it is account wide for all characters. I was appalled at the fact the average costume costs 800 - 1200 NCoins, ($10US-$15US) some even reaching 1400NCoins ($17.50US) and they are not account bound. These costumes are character bound, so you are now asking your paying monthly subscribers to pay $10US-$17.50US per costume, per character? I can buy an expansion for a game at this price.

Lets break down the cost of playing one year with just 1 Alternate character with 3 talent tabs each and full inventory/bank unlocked.

1 Year Subscription = $125 214 pouches x 2 (for both characters) -> 428 Total = $186 2 Talent Tabs x 2 (for both characters) -> 4 Total = $40 125+186+40 = $351US

$351US / 12 = $29.25 US per month for 2 characters for BASE Game features only.

This cost does not include if you want to get extras to help out the company and throw a bit of money at the NCSoft and treat yourself to a costume that you can only use on one character. Do you seriously think it's reasonable to charge your customers $29.25 a month to play your game? Then on top of that have $10-$17.50 a costume to be per character?

Your wording on premium says advantages to having premium but those advantages are not advantages to premium they are disadvantages to not having premium. You have simply reworded it so that us paying customers feel we are getting something for our money. I am sorry but this is not going to work. I for one have no problem paying for a game I like. But I am not going to throw my money at a game. You're free to play model is fine the way I see it but your stable income model for your paying customers is outrageous and overlooked.

This is a constructive post so I am going to help you out and add some suggestions to correct the issue and have happy paying customers.

We realize that with a free to play model as your base model you can not just give premium members full bank space and training expansions because people would pay a month of premium and that is it. However charging money for them on top of the monthly sub is unethical.

1. Give Dragon Pouches daily as a reward to Premium customers or have another way to acquire them at a cheap and reasonable ingame currency cost.

2. Treat Training Expansions Slots the same way as above.

3. Make a shared bank stash cross characters on same server for premium customers, this helps us share consumables with ults.

4. Make the wardrobe ACCOUNT Wide ( the price of costumes is unreal to not have account wide access ).

Until these changes are made you will not get another cent from me and I suggest the rest of BNS players do the same, speak with your wallets. Charging a consumer $29.95US per month (for just two characters, more if you play more Alts) for an MMO that has been out for years now is absolutely insane. I have been playing various MMO's since EQ1 and always pay sub fees to support the companies as its not cheap to make or maintain these games. But lets not kid ourselves, Blizzard was in rough shape until WOW came along and now they can throw money at developing games and movies because of the profits WOW brings in. They only charge $12US per month or so at their cheapest rate.

Have a free to play model for your game that's fine, but don't then ask your monthly subscribers to pay for the people not paying for the game. $29.95US per month for just two characters in a game is robbery.

I doubt this will be read or be considered but I think I have proved that there is a problem and there is easy fixes. Don't be greedy, you have a great game and we are willing to pay but don't let your game die because you tried to push the limits of what a gamer will pay for.

Thanks

Welcome!

Please help me in welcoming the NCSoft staff that will be answering questions today:

• /u/Nico

  • Nicolas Coutant - Producer

• • Jonathan Lien - Assistant Producer

• • Linda Tsoi - Senior Community Manager

• • Bethany Stout - Blade & Soul Community Manager

• (surprise addition!)

  • Micah Whipple - Senior Content Manager

Guidelines

1. If you're asking questions, please remain civil and respectful at all times. If you ask things in a disrespectful way, your question will be removed and you'll get a day-long timeout.

2. Top level comments must be questions. It's ok to give contextual information, but this is an AMA, so the point is to have things in a question/answer format.

3. They are not customer service support. This is not the time to ask about any tickets you have with support.

4. Look for an answer before posting your question. After the first 3 minutes, questions like "When's warlock?" have probably already been asked and answered.

5. Don't expect an answer. They will answer many questions, but there is no guarantee that yours will be answered. Don't get upset if they don't answer you.

6. NO MEME QUESTIONS. No, we don't know if the admiral is a man or a woman. Yes, they changed your hours again. Don't ask.

This is going to be a dedicated time for community members to provide questions and concerns, and receive responses from NCSoft staff.

Start & End Times

You can start asking questions NOW! When this post is 1 hour old (at 2pm Pacific time) - the staff will start answering questions.

The AMA will conclude around 4pm Pacific.

Source is from NCSoft shareholder meeting:

Google Translated: "ArenaNet has a meaningful IP called ‘Guild Wars’, and after Guild Wars 2, they are currently working on ‘Guild Wars 3’. Looking at this process, we have considerable competitiveness. Although it is not completely profitable, I believe that it has increased its competitiveness."

We've done it! Good start to the new year.

Full info can be found here.

I'm going to start this post off with "Please don't comment ignorance, you will only make yourself look silly. This is mainly for GM's. I don't want to waste my time, and someones time who has to reply to a support ticket." Thanks.

So, getting into the post. I understand in the next patch I believe that gaining Fabric will be easier. That's understandable. But as of right now, buying a $12-$15 costume for like, what.. 1-2 Fabric? Yeah. That's kind of just stealing money from the unaware. Also, I bought the fabric materials that I needed to make the "High Quality Fabric Pouch" Which it fails to list that it has a chance to fail. For players such as myself, I saw this as I get the box, and I get an RNG based costume, not a chance for a failure. Realistically, if I would have bought the costumes from the Hongmoon store, and salvaged to the point where I got all the materials on my own, that would cost around $90. For a chance to fail. Cool, I guess I'm rich. They offered no refund or compensation for their mistake.

Here is what a support staff said, word for word. "We would like to clarify that Transmutation for Outfit Pouches has a chance to fail. This is an error with the tool tip of the Transmutation window as it only shows the possibility of a Critical Success and we are working on a fix to correct this. When a Transmutation fails, instead of seeing a "Failed" notification, it shows “You successfully transmuted to 1x High-Quality Fabric” hence confusing you and some players that the process was a success. "

Subsiding that. Going in to a personal problem I've gotten in game that completely ruined two days for my clan and I.

I'm a Clan Leader, I decided to buy the "Custom Gangplank Hairstyle" from the Hongmoon store. But instead of giving me the NCoin I purchased, it said "Thanks for your patience! Due to increased sales volume, you may experience a delay of up to 12 hours before your order is completed blah blah blah" So I thought "Oh cool, I guess I'll wait." But I log in the next morning to my account being locked. Unable to do anything, I tried to resolve the issue and guessed that it would be a payment fail, and obviously it was. But it was a payment failure on NCSofts part, not mine. So I took my issue over to a support ticket and figures out I was right. But instead of getting this issue resolved in a manner of a few hours during the day time, I guess my ticket was pushed to the back or skipped and I was locked out for almost two days. Again, no refund of any kind for the troubles it caused my clan and I, and no compensation.

I apologize for the long post. I just feel like I should say this to the public, it's my personal experience and think of it how you want, but most people probably were not in my shoes at these points.

So saying, I still love the game, but I am extremely unsatisfied with the insensitivity from company to player.

TLDR; I basically got screwed out of my in-game gold due to information NCSoft failed to list under transmuting. Fabric is irl money to in-game money, and I was locked out of my account for almost two days because of a payment issue on NCSofts side, next to slow support on an obvious issue.

Thanks for reading and understanding. I'm just rather upset and would enjoy if a caring GM would review this. Please don't negative my post.

PS. For all my down voters. I'll say this. When you run in to a problem such as this. I'd only hope that you'll stand up and speak out rather than sitting in the dark with these problems. Good luck.

Update: I saw a few comments saying something about me not expecting it to go anywhere and I'm overwhelmed. I was sleeping; If you didn't take the time to actually read my post, then don't comment. A few of these comments are people who didn't read.

It's the lowest earning quarter ever, by quite some margin

Key events in Q4:

• Festivals (Halloween & Wintersday)

• Build Templates

• Icebrood Saga Ep1

Link to report:

Link to overview spreadsheet (converted to USD and original in KRW MN):

• Lineage 1 - 94,4 billion KRW

• Blade & Soul - 48,8 billion KRW

• Lineage 2 - 19,0 billion KRW

• Aion - 17,5 billion KRW

• Guild Wars 2 - 15,8 billion KRW

• Wildstar - 2,2 billion KRW