As ArenaNet announced the pricing structure for Guild Wars 2’s Heart of Thorns expansion pack last week, many players became very furious due to the structure favoring new players over old by bundling in the original game. In response, ArenaNet have issued a statement to the community clarifying their position and offering refunds and bonuses to players.
For long-time players who feel like they’ve been neglected by the structure, ArenaNet are granting a free additional character slot. Provided you were a registered player before January 23rd 2015 and you pre-purchase Heart of Thorns, you will be granted the additional character slot.
As an apology for the mixed messages sent out by ArenaNet in regards to requiring the base game, anyone who bought Guild Wars 2 from ArenaNet between January 23rd and June 16th 2015 will be refunded if they pre-purchase Heart of Thorns. Anyone who has decided they don’t want to play Guild Wars 2 anymore can also apply for a refund, provided they bought the game during the same January-June period. Requests must be made by July 31st 2015.
Unfortunately refunds can only be made if you bought the game from ArenaNet themselves.
The statement then goes on to clarify how ArenaNet will handle expansion pricing going forward: “In the future, if we release further Guild Wars 2 expansions, we plan to offer all of the prior expansions, the core game, and the latest expansion for one single purchase price.”