It should come as no surprise that I cringe at the invocation of the word, “entitled.” It also should come as no surprise that when it comes to fan entitlement pertaining to content decisions of the creator, that I will near always side with the content creators over the fans.
The word has come to have an extremely negative connotation, one that isn’t always deserved.
The term has emerged again most recently in Guild Wars 2 fandom (a game that I still play with some degree of frequency), pertaining to the impeding release of the games first expansion pack. Many “veteran” fans are furious for a bevy of reasons, and in the spirit of total fairness, the fans aren’t entirely in the wrong.
The first complaint is that $50 is simply too high of a price tag for what has been presented. I’m not in disagreement, in all honesty. That’s something that can be rectified as more information pertaining to the expansion is released, but at the moment, it’s not enough for the “industry standard” price tag that has been slapped on it. You’re asking for fans to fork over money sight unseen, and Arena.net hasn’t particularly given a compelling reason to do so yet.
Still others are angry that purchasing the base expansion doesn’t come with a free character slot, something that previous games under the Guild Wars umbrella has done in the past. Again, I’m in agreement. There needs to be a compelling reason to break from precedent, and Arena.net has offered pretty much nothing but silence.
Entitlement doesn’t always have to be a bad thing… and in these complaints, you are seeing the positive side of it. Standing up for what you think is a fair price to you is something that should be applauded as sound customer thinking. And if the protest actually stirs a change in the original plan, then it can only be a victory for customers everywhere.
But, unfortunately, I can’t completely side with the fans, because once again, we have the shitty, toxic element whose beef isn’t the price or the lack of bonus perks… but that purchase of the expansion will come with the base game at no extra cost for new players. In summary, they aren’t angry because they feel cheated, they’re angry because they feel someone else is getting more than them. If you’re a member of this group, let it be known you’re a terrible person who needs to be summarily ignored and your complaints dismissed without merit.
TKO Creations 