This was certainly not something that was on anyone’s radar. Thousands of players expressed their frustration on Reddit regarding the costs of the Guild Wars 2 expansion “Heart of Thorns”. But where does all this frustration come from?
They feel betrayed and let down
The complaints directed at ArenaNet and NCSoft have several reasons. For one, all those who purchased a standard version of Guild Wars 2 in the past weeks feel betrayed, because the statement was: “You need Guild Wars 2 to play Heart of Thorns”. This had been stated in the FAQ for a long time. With the announcement at E3, this suddenly became obsolete: The standard version of the game is already included in the expansion. It is only understandable that some now feel tricked.
Another point of criticism is the fact that newcomers, who start playing with the expansion, receive certain bonuses. Those who are merely upgrading and are long-time players do not receive any advantages. Many wish for at least a small form of loyalty reward, such as an additional character slot, so they do not have to stand behind newcomers and be “punished” for having played for so long. Otherwise, new character slots would have to be purchased separately, or old characters deleted to play the new class.
On Reddit, longstanding players are now called upon not to pre-order “Heart of Thorns” and this boycott call has already gathered over 3100 points – more than any other post regarding Guild Wars 2.
Update: A clarification of the facts. New players do not get additional character slots.
