Two Things That Make Me Wonder…

“Is it too late to start?”

I visit Reddit a lot.

Every week, it seems like there’s another person asking a variant of this question for the two game reddits I visit, and probably more besides in the other game reddits I don’t visit.

What is the point of asking this, really, pray tell?

The only time a “No, it’s too late” answer is likely is when it’s an online game and the servers have shut down and/or there’s not enough critical mass of players for multiplayer matches (and even then, the players might try to get one more into the fold.)

Far more pertinent questions would be:

• “How time-consuming is this game?”
• “How steep a learning curve does this have?”
• “How long would it take me to get on a level or competitive playing field with veterans?” etc.

in order to figure out the real question of “Is it worth spending my time to learn or play this game?”

---

 

“Yep, this really makes me want to buy Black Lion Keys with real money, stat!”

Trust Guild Wars 2 to make me want to buy lockboxes…

…from a different game.

The point of lockbox gambling is the thrill of seeing something cool pop up, while consoling yourself that the worse the lockbox can offer isn’t too bad and can still be used/useful.

Not, oh my god, that is so shit that I got totally gipped.

The boosters, at least, had that opportunity for potential future usefulness.

I challenge anyone to look at the picture above and say with a straight face that “eh, it’s not so bad, they can still be used.”

Transmutation charges would have more freaking use.

A guaranteed wardrobe unlock item in the place of the booster would have been perfect.

I leave you with the video comparison of some poor soul opening 75 new black lion chests ($78.75usd in worth):

To contrast against a different game’s lockboxes (>$100usd in worth):

Study the emotional punch of opening one GW2 black lion chest vs one PoE mystery box and seeing what pops out.

One makes you feel “Cool, it’s not what I wanted, but I could use that. Probably. Eventually. Maybe another one will have what I want. Just… one more…”

The other makes you go, “Let’s open these as quickly as I can in order not to feel the figurative gut punch of an individual box that has nothing but shit inside, and hope that the aggregate adds up to something that won’t make me feel like I wasted my money.”

You’re selling an experience here, people.

I know which I’d rather pay for.

Disclaimer: I got my Black Lion Chest Key for free. That state of affairs is quite unlikely to change at this present moment in time.