Why is the Complete Edition not getting cheaper when you bought expansions already?

[Shinoba]

I own Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire but the Complete Edition still costs 100€ for me. I was thinking about getting it on next sale but not if it makes me pay again for Expansions i already bought.

[Nibbie]

Don't have experience with it myself, but will it even let you buy the complete edition once you have any of the parts? I remember people mentioning something like that. I would guess the reason for it is related to Steam not being able to see the status of the Living Worlds, so you could double purchase content otherwise. They might have an official/better explanation somewhere else though.

[RotherHans]

Yeah, they cannot do it.
The game is more than a decade old and they fired all the initial competent devs and kept the women.
Quite frankly I was amazed they even managed to create the Complete Ed.

But if you're already that invested I highly suggest getting "real" GW2 account outside of Steam, that only YOU own.
The Steam account would be your alt account as you can't transfer characters,
but altoholism is quasi the bread&butter in this game.

[𝒞𝒶𝓉𝓎𝒶♡]

Originally posted by Ahri 🌸:

I own Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire but the Complete Edition still costs 100€ for me. I was thinking about getting it on next sale but not if it makes me pay again for Expansions i already bought.

This is why i always suggest personally to get the Complete Edition immediately, because it having all previous (not SotO, yet)+ all Living World seasons is such comfy and easy bundle to get in all one go, especially if likes to go story in chronological order (what i personally do like to).

Now you gotta buy EoD (soon Steam summer sale, it's gonna be cheap then) on it's own, then buy gems and buy the Living World Seasons from the Gem store. That is the alternative way after has already bought parts of Complete Edition (it's a bundle, same as in other mmo games, once you own parts of it, cannot sell it to you, reason is, Anet accounts and Steam accounts do not share your account owning/details between each others). Steam platform was added later so there is no 100% cohesion, same as FFXIV for example, like purchases on Steam vs Mogstation (SquareEnix account), so there some buy accidentally from wrong platform because they also do not have cross-ownership data going between the platforms. It is sadly what it is, especially with MMO games with their own original old site platforms outside Steam.

EoD will be cheap enough during Summer Sales for sure here on Steam, and if LW seasons are not in sale then on Gem Store, they are on Anniversary Sales usually.

But yeah, this is the reason i pretty much always say that if money is no issue, just always buy the Complete Edition immediately if likes the game after testing the free core, since gets all the content (besides SotO, yet.. maybe they add that soon it it when Janthir Wilds becomes the latest). I know for many it's nice that gets the DLC in parts, but personally i liked the Complete due to getting all expansions + LW seasons to just go in order. :)

tldr: You have to buy End of Dragons now separately (soon Steam summer sale so it should be quite cheap, wait for it) + Living World Seasons from the Gem Store with gems. Only way to do it now is like that when owns part of the products already,

[Daniel]

There’s no point in playing this, or any other MMO/live service game that will log into another launcher over Steam. It just adds another layer of complexity.

[𝒞𝒶𝓉𝓎𝒶♡]

Originally posted by Daniel:

There’s no point in playing this, or any other MMO/live service game that will log into another launcher over Steam. It just adds another layer of complexity.

Just the sad truth is, so many games have their own standalone client/site and have only after added Steam as another platform. So it is just what it is, all have same issues with the communication between the platforms, unless made from the start to work as their main platform.

Still so many games i go play has to make extra accounts (if not already had, like Blizzard Battle.net for Diablo IV) Ubisoft account for Far Cry games, Mogstation for FFXIV (even if has Steam FFXIV, still have to make that account there to activate subscription). If Steam added later, always the same issues between platforms.

For what it's worth, GW2 on Steam works just fine (i have both accounts, Steam and Anet) besides the couple shopping limitations (no Ultimate versions of new expansions also), like no gem codes etc. But the actual game and playing it, no issues compared to the "normal" Anet platform version.

If someone is not one of the reading type (like not read when buying stuff on what platform it works and where does not, like in FFXIV forums there is like someone daily complaining they bought Anet version of expansion and it does not work in their Steam account.. well obviously not, and it says that when buying the product on the page that platforms are not compatible, but people do not often read.. even when spending money).

But in this case, OP can still get everything, just gotta buy End of Dragons separately from Steam Store and Living World seasons with gems from Gemstore (can use Steam wallet), so it's not like they lost anything yet, can get it all but with individual purchases. :)

[Percello]

If I had to guess, it's because it's a package deal.
You can't buy one apple from a sack of apples. You have to buy them all, even if you only want one. That's just how it works.

[Shinoba]

Thanks for the answers. Thats sucks i guess. Living Story ingame will probably not be on sale as well. Guess I will have to pass then on getting the full game until my finances will be better.

[Nico]

According to my knowledge the problem is not that the bundle won't get cheaper but that you can't buy the bundle anymore. At least according to what other players said so far. Meaning that once you own any of the first 3 expansions you must buy the living world ingame in the gem store with a total of 4160 (52€ worth of) gems. Though while you can also get those gems by converting gold to gems .... it is a pretty high gem count.

[Percello]

The expansions will most likely go on sale the closer the expansion comes to release. I know some game companies do things like this.

[𝒞𝒶𝓉𝓎𝒶♡]

Originally posted by Ahri 🌸:

Thanks for the answers. Thats sucks i guess. Living Story ingame will probably not be on sale as well. Guess I will have to pass then on getting the full game until my finances will be better.

Last year the Living World seasons were on Sale in game gem store around the Anniversary sales in August if i remember correctly, and End of Dragons should be on individual sale VERY soon on Steam summer sale.

And yeah.. the Complete Edition when it was on sale (i gifted it to my bestie so got her addicted to playing with me lmao) was 50eur last time. So she was good to go with all the expansions and LW seasons.

Too bad it does not work that way that could get individual parts of the bundle like that. I wish it was possible also.. i have seen others here also hoping same after they first bought the HoT+PoF and then felt wanted full bundle but no more possible sadly from store but has to get the LW seasons with gems. Hope you get the missing stuff soon tho! :)

[konzacelt]

Because they are shrewd businessmen?

I bought the original game in 2012 for $60. Bought the 1st expansion (HoT) for $50 in 2015. then left the game entirely in 2016. That's $110 for base game and 1 expansion.

8 years later, I briefly came back to the game last year, only to discover that the base game is now somehow free to play, and the 2nd expansion (PoF) can only be bought for $30 in tandem with HoT...which I already own. I had to wait until Christmas for it to go on sale half-price and buy it for $15, because I obviously didn't want to pay $30 for a what is essentially a $15 expansion (2 expansions for $30 = $15 each).

So I've paid $125 for the base game and two expansions, something that today would cost me $15 dollars on sale. And right now the complete edition costs ~$100 I believe?

So I own less than half the game if you count all the expansions and living world stuff, yet have paid more than what it costs to own all of it.

[Sychon]

Originally posted by konzacelt:

Because they are shrewd businessmen?

I bought the original game in 2012 for $60. Bought the 1st expansion (HoT) for $50 in 2015. then left the game entirely in 2016. That's $110 for base game and 1 expansion.

8 years later, I briefly came back to the game last year, only to discover that the base game is now somehow free to play, and the 2nd expansion (PoF) can only be bought for $30 in tandem with HoT...which I already own. I had to wait until Christmas for it to go on sale half-price and buy it for $15, because I obviously didn't want to pay $30 for a what is essentially a $15 expansion (2 expansions for $30 = $15 each).

So I've paid $125 for the base game and two expansions, something that today would cost me $15 dollars on sale. And right now the complete edition costs ~$100 I believe?

So I own less than half the game if you count all the expansions and living world stuff, yet have paid more than what it costs to own all of it.

I don't get these kinds of complaints...

You paid more OVER A 12-YEAR SPAN than what it costs to own all of it NOW. Do you want them to retroactively refund you because the game got old enough to be offered for free? Sure, but then they should roll back your account progress to zero, as well. It's not their fault that you haven't played for 8 years. You had every opportunity to "cash in" on your purchase, i.e. play the game.

I bought Skyrim for £40, I think, when it was released and then the expansion for another "I-don't-remember-how-much". Now it only costs around £15, expansion included. I played it for around a 1000 hours. Half of it prior to the DLC release. Should I feel cheated out of my money, as well?

You can do this with practically any game. In fact, you can do this with almost anything you can buy in stores. If you don't want to pay the "new-price" for something new, wait until it becomes old and buy on discount. That's how it works.

For reference, here are some that were initially paid and are now (partially) F2P: Destiny 2, SWTOR, CSGO, LotRO, Fortnite, PUBG.

[Shinoba]

Originally posted by Sychon:

Originally posted by konzacelt:

Because they are shrewd businessmen?

I bought the original game in 2012 for $60. Bought the 1st expansion (HoT) for $50 in 2015. then left the game entirely in 2016. That's $110 for base game and 1 expansion.

8 years later, I briefly came back to the game last year, only to discover that the base game is now somehow free to play, and the 2nd expansion (PoF) can only be bought for $30 in tandem with HoT...which I already own. I had to wait until Christmas for it to go on sale half-price and buy it for $15, because I obviously didn't want to pay $30 for a what is essentially a $15 expansion (2 expansions for $30 = $15 each).

So I've paid $125 for the base game and two expansions, something that today would cost me $15 dollars on sale. And right now the complete edition costs ~$100 I believe?

So I own less than half the game if you count all the expansions and living world stuff, yet have paid more than what it costs to own all of it.

I don't get these kinds of complaints...

You paid more OVER A 12-YEAR SPAN than what it costs to own all of it NOW. Do you want them to retroactively refund you because the game got old enough to be offered for free? Sure, but then they should roll back your account progress to zero, as well. It's not their fault that you haven't played for 8 years. You had every opportunity to "cash in" on your purchase, i.e. play the game.

I bought Skyrim for £40, I think, when it was released and then the expansion for another "I-don't-remember-how-much". Now it only costs around £15, expansion included. I played it for around a 1000 hours. Half of it prior to the DLC release. Should I feel cheated out of my money, as well?

You can do this with practically any game. In fact, you can do this with almost anything you can buy in stores. If you don't want to pay the "new-price" for something new, wait until it becomes old and buy on discount. That's how it works.

For reference, here are some that were initially paid and are now (partially) F2P: Destiny 2, SWTOR, CSGO, LotRO, Fortnite, PUBG.

It's not a refund. Its not making you pay double.

[Sychon]

Originally posted by Ahri 🌸:

It's not a refund. Its not making you pay double.

My comment was not in response to your OP, but to the post I quoted. That's why I quoted it.

Your issue is much more understandable. Although, since the complete edition includes the Living World package, which is not an actual item on Steam, I don't think it's technically possible for them to dynamically recalculate the price of the Complete Collection based on what you already own...

I think they can't check if you own Living World, since it's not an actual store item on Steam. Clicking on it returns you to the main store page, for example. Case in point: I own all expansions and LW seasons on Steam, and yet, the Bundle Info page still only marks the Expansions as already in library, but not the LW...

But also, if you owned all 3 expansions and choose to buy the complete collection just to get the Living World, after deducting the price of the 3 expansions, you'd be paying for something that has no actual price on Steam...

Why Living World is not an actual store item is a different question.

[konzacelt]

Originally posted by Sychon:

I don't get these kinds of complaints...

You paid more OVER A 12-YEAR SPAN than what it costs to own all of it NOW. Do you want them to retroactively refund you because the game got old enough to be offered for free? Sure, but then they should roll back your account progress to zero, as well. It's not their fault that you haven't played for 8 years. You had every opportunity to "cash in" on your purchase, i.e. play the game.

I bought Skyrim for £40, I think, when it was released and then the expansion for another "I-don't-remember-how-much". Now it only costs around £15, expansion included. I played it for around a 1000 hours. Half of it prior to the DLC release. Should I feel cheated out of my money, as well?

You can do this with practically any game. In fact, you can do this with almost anything you can buy in stores. If you don't want to pay the "new-price" for something new, wait until it becomes old and buy on discount. That's how it works.

For reference, here are some that were initially paid and are now (partially) F2P: Destiny 2, SWTOR, CSGO, LotRO, Fortnite, PUBG.

That's what you're comparing it to? With the possible exception of SWTOR (because it was simply a great game), those games are all cash-store games that actively try and nickel and dime you to death. It's a business model that most players hate. Guild Wars 2 was not supposed to be like that, it was supposed to be B2P like the first game. Which it was for awhile...until it wasn't.

I mean, Exotics were originally the highest-tier gear you could get if that tells you anything. When Ascended came out lots of players were rightly pissed. And then there's Legendary - the ability to change gear stats at will is insanely useful and not some 'cosmetic' difference. All of that is designed to keep you grinding away for top-tier gear, and the gem store is designed to make that grind easier and more convenient. So you either spend incredible amounts of in-game time grinding, or just buy little shortcuts off the gem store to get you there faster. That's not what Guild Wars was all about.

Speaking of, Guild Wars 1 still charges for the base game (Prophecies), and that was 2005. That's one big reason why so many GW fans bought this game, and why most of them have long left GW2.
________________________________

To answer the OP's question though: just wait until everything is cheaper if you want to save money. No idea when that will be, or how many people will be left, but it's the cheapest option. Obviously I'm biased, but I would not spend $100 on the Complete Edition when you already have the base game and two expansions. At least you have access to mounts, that makes getting around a lot faster. And a ton of stuff in PoF absolutely requires them...which is ass backwards, but I digress.

~Edit: Skyrim is in a category all its own. Not only is it single player, but is arguably the best open-world RPG to ever grace the gamer world. Bethesda milks it because it's that good.