EDIT: Official Response from ANet

I just wanted to say that through this, we stood up together as a community to defend two innocent people from hateful words. Some will see the conclusion of this as "too far" while some will see it as justice being served. Regardless of how you look at this, and regardless of the platform its happening on, take this as a lesson. If you see something morally wrong happening, stand up and say something. Do something. Support each other through it. Personally, the conclusion of this will be a burden on me forever. But I am willing to live with it knowing that I was fighting for what was right.

When you publicly attack someone who was simply engaging in a discussion with a professional simply to give insight or seen an opportunity to interact with a professional and suddenly that person is shut down, only to turn this into a gender issue which HAD ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH IT, you better know that you lost any sort of professional credibility and all respect.

It is sad that you have this platform to share such hateful and closed minded act, rather than being engaged into discussion and sharing information. You are not entitled for anything if you behave like that, and you will get treated exactly the way you treat people.

Ok bye.

I don't think I really have to explain why.

400 gems. For one opportunity for RNG to give you the mount skin you want IF YOU CAN GET IT ON YOUR FIRST TRY WITH ODDS OF 1/30. ANet just gave us the biggest fucking rip off of the game's history. Jumping from mounts being 400 (320) gems per skin with the halloween set to this ridiculous shit when most of these skins are just texture redesign anyways is fucking ridiculous.

Not to mention the 2k gem single skin for jackal what a fucking joke

Edit: Now this post is gilded ANet will you finally listen

Like instead of just being underneath the healthbar, boons are also shown on a different part of the screen in a large image or text.

EDIT: I meant boons in the title. Whoops.

EDIT 2: This is what I get for having to wake up early on 5 hours of sleep and being on mobile.

EDIT 3: Aaaaaand I should have said duplicates them and not it. That grammatical error embarrasses me just as much as the boobs.

EDIT:

Pre-Purchase Community Address

Recently ANet announced the pricing structure for the new Heart of Thorns expansion. It was met with a lot of dissenting opinions about the cost, value, and fairness from the very passionate GW2 community. The community, who is typically quite divided on any given issue, took to the internets in what I would describe as one of the most passionate and respectful discussions since the release of the core game.

As a result, ANet has addressed the concerns in what I would describe as a fair and considerate compromise. I have posted the link above, which I encourage you to read. If you have purchased GW2 core prior to the announcement, there is information that you may find of particular value. For the rest of us, it appears as though we are now getting a character slot as suggested.

So, it is now in the hands of you as an individual to decide whether the asking price is something you feel is a good value for money. That is a conversation that will no doubt go on for some time, but since my initial concern was over the difference in value for different players, this pretty much brings this thread to a close.

I wanted to take a quick moment to thank all of you. Aside from one or two individuals, the conversation was very respectful and productive. This is something that I don't come across often on the internet these days, and so I thank you very much for making it a pleasant experience.

Also, thank you for your input. It is great to see the community coming together in a way that is productive and fair. I think that this has resulted in a much better game for us all.

Regards,

CLM

...

Unless you're a new player, in which case you can skip this and enjoy your game. :D

For all you current GW2 players, please allow me to take a few moments of your time to explain why I feel you should not pre-purchase HoT.

Let me start by saying that I am not against the $50 price tag. Sure, I would have been much happier with the $30 price point that I think most players had in mind, but I'm willing to pay $50 for good content.

The reason is that the current offering from ANet is not a great value for money compared to those of new players. What I mean is, if you're a new player, for $50 you get the entire core game (and all the fun that came with that), plus you get the HoT upgrade.

Those of us who have already spent $10-60 on GW2 are essentially paying double for the game, with no additional value than the new players. For your $50 you don't receive any additional value in terms of slots, gems, items, outfits, etc.

ANet understands that offering a pre-purchase on the heels of a major announcement is an emotional appeal to purchase the game. If the majority of GW2 players fall for this, it will mean that there is little to no incentive for ANet to offer additional value, or reduce the cost.

Net wants everyone on HoT. It allows them to maximize the potential gem store sales, retire old mechanics, and update old maps. If current GW2 players can resist the urge to pre-purchase, it will encourage ANet to offer incentives (pre-launch sale, extra items, reduced cost, etc.), for everyone.

If you can be patient you also have little to lose. Unless you're interested in the Beta, waiting for the actual day of release results in little to no risk. If ANet does bend to pressure, you benefit. If they don't, then you have lost nothing and will still be required to pay the $50.

Please consider what I have said here. While $50 is not a huge deal, I think that we should let ANet know that we, the GW2 players that have supported the game for the last three years should be treated at the very least as equal as new players. I think it would be a nice gesture to offer current players a "thank you" in terms of equal value, or more.

Thanks for your time.