Man I thought GW2 was the second coming, ow this just gets better and better. And before you post do research so you know what you're talking about. Most of you ranting don't even understand how the item/karma system works, and or what can be purchased with gold. Research first, talk next, and reading other people's comments is not a good source for knowledge.

Perfect World MMO has similar system where players can buy/sell Cash Shop money through Auction House. IMO Its well worth it. Thanks to that there are no Gold Sellers in their games.

Originally posted by RefMinor
Kids dont have credit cards and as adults, we can make decisions for ourselves, well at least I can.

lol? You can have a debit card even if you are underage?  You don't need a credit card at all to pay online.

@OP, really? $5 dollars per month is like what? A pack of chewing gums? I think that limiting the amount I am allowed to pay is just plain stupid. No one should tell me how I should to spend my money. If I want to pay 100 quid for stuff on the store I should be able to. It's my choice. As long as they don't add any items which give you in-game advantage, I am fine with it.

Without even discussing whether or not a cap on cash shop sales is a good idea, I can safely say that a $5 limit would not suffice.  The notion that box sales were supposed to completely pay for the game alone is false.  GW2 was designed with microtransactions in mind; it is expected income.  Anet isn't simply being charitable.  It is a business model, the goal of which is to still earn money.  While I do not know their exact goals, I image they wish to net a comparable income to that of a subscription model, while allowing customers the luxury of flexibility on just how much they spend.  That is, many customers will not spend a dime and enjoy the game thoroughly; but then others will spend much more than the standard $15 per month because, well, they have the money to spend. 

If a cap of $5 is set, many players will still spend $0, nobody else will be able to compensate, and Anet's model will be a business failure from the start. 

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

They will manipulate things until they are getting an average of AT LEAST $15.00/month to make up for not have a subscription. 

 

Don't you have enough self-control to NOT spend the money?  This is illogical.  They didn't do that with GW1 and they won't do it with GW2.  I guess there's no proving it to YOU though, since you're probably one of the haters that has no intention of playing but just comes to the GW2 forum to piss and moan.

Again, please read up so you can at least know what we're all talking about here.  You're just making yourself sound foolish.

I have the self control not to pay, but others do not.  It is those others who will effectively be paying for my subscription through the cash shop.

I have every intention of trying the game out, I'm just very happy to have finally been vindicated :)

 

It it not a developer's job to babysit those with poor impulse control. 

Come the f*** on!

 

You only read ONE of my posts, obviously, since I read the article of discussion here when I found it and the VERY F***ING first thing it says is that PLANS ARE NOT NAILED DOWN YET.

I'm not saying it's the dev's job, never even implied it, so COME THE FUCK ON!!! I simply stated that this is their business model, to market the game as B2P while letting the minority of people actually pay the majority of the costs, otherwise there would be no game for the rest of us to play.

He also said this is the FOUNDATION they are building on...  You and those like you have been crying all along that it would only be cosmetic items, it won't be a real cash shop, etc.  After all this time, they come out and tell you that you were wrong all along, yet you still have to try to defend a position you've already lost?

It's not me that's wrong.  It's your lack of understanding what was even SAID in the blog post.  This is a buy to play game....do you have another b2p game to compare it to so that your microtransaction paranoia would have a foundation of some sort?  Is there some other buy to play game that's done it better.  Oh wait....you don't actually KNOW how this is going to turn out since the game isn't released yet.

Let's just wait and see how BIG of a SCARY problem it is and THEN....you can curse me all you want.  Or....we'll see it's no big hairy deal and I can say "I told you so."  How's that?

Too early to tell for sure....either way.  Maybe we'll find out I'm "wrong" after the game releases, but I'm willing to bet I'm not.  It's no big damn deal.  Gear in GW2 is not like gear in WoW....there is no +245 strength and stuff on Guild Wars gear, it's not that kind of gear.  You'll see.

Originally posted by RefMinor
Kids dont have credit cards and as adults, we can make decisions for ourselves, well at least I can.

  Thank you.

  Absolutely NO to any transaction limit.

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by Creslin321

Originally posted by Rhianni32

...

 

Yeah, I found it.  The first thing it says is that plans aren't nailed down yet.  So by all means, let's make a mountain out of a molehill.

 

It also says this:

Here’s our philosophy on microtransactions: We think players should have the opportunity to spend money on items that provide visual distinction and offer more ways to express themselves. They should also be able to spend money on account services and on time-saving convenience items. But it’s never OK for players to buy a game and not be able to enjoy what they paid for without additional purchases, and it’s never OK for players who spend money to have an unfair advantage over players who spend time.

It's true that they said that it's not OK for money spending players to get an advantage over players that spend time.  But then they go right on to say that you can trade money for gold and thus buy anything in the AH with real money.

I really just think these two statements are direct contradictions to one another and it concerns me.  It's like I said, either the AH is useless or you can get a real advantage over players by spending money.  And considering that the game has a full crafting system and a pretty elaborate AH...I would guess that it's the latter.

Anyway, it's also true that said their plans aren't nailed down yet.  So if there is anytime to "freak out" about this and express your dissatisfaction, this is the time.  I am still really excited about GW2, but I do NOT want it to become P2W.  And if you can buy gold with $, then that's exactly what it will likely be.

Originally posted by BlahTeeb

Originally posted by adam_nox

It's not about you, it's about the game and the principle of not milking customers and turning the game into a p2w-fest.

 

Everything else posted is irrelevant.  If the cash shop truly isn't a threat to the integrity of the game as primarily B2P, then a 5 dollar limit has no counter-argument.

You don't understand...

The best gear in the game is primarily bought with karma and dungeon tokens.

Why limit the income of ArenaNet when it doesn't ruin the game? Will it change the game? Of course, but not to the extent that everyone is crying about. This is MUCH like what Eve is doing. They are fine...

U right, I am going to buy all the "time-saving convenience items" (as Arena Net calls it) so i dont have rez sickness, and i can level up faster with exp-bonus "time-saving" items.

"They should also be able to spend money on account services and on time-saving convenience items" -ArenaNet  Quote

So I will spend as much as I want so I dont have to level up, and can run as many dungeons as I want without rez sickness or any death penalty since Arena Net will sell these items at the cash shop.

:) If you want to think this isn't game changing or unfair, then thank you. I am thankful GW2 will be P2Win. At least I am not blind about it. I accept it for what it is. This is the new MMO business model.

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

They will manipulate things until they are getting an average of AT LEAST $15.00/month to make up for not have a subscription. 

 

Don't you have enough self-control to NOT spend the money?  This is illogical.  They didn't do that with GW1 and they won't do it with GW2.  I guess there's no proving it to YOU though, since you're probably one of the haters that has no intention of playing but just comes to the GW2 forum to piss and moan.

Again, please read up so you can at least know what we're all talking about here.  You're just making yourself sound foolish.

I have the self control not to pay, but others do not.  It is those others who will effectively be paying for my subscription through the cash shop.

I have every intention of trying the game out, I'm just very happy to have finally been vindicated :)

 

It it not a developer's job to babysit those with poor impulse control. 

Come the f*** on!

 

You only read ONE of my posts, obviously, since I read the article of discussion here when I found it and the VERY F***ING first thing it says is that PLANS ARE NOT NAILED DOWN YET.

I'm not saying it's the dev's job, never even implied it, so COME THE FUCK ON!!! I simply stated that this is their business model, to market the game as B2P while letting the minority of people actually pay the majority of the costs, otherwise there would be no game for the rest of us to play.

He also said this is the FOUNDATION they are building on...  You and those like you have been crying all along that it would only be cosmetic items, it won't be a real cash shop, etc.  After all this time, they come out and tell you that you were wrong all along, yet you still have to try to defend a position you've already lost?

 

It's not me that's wrong.  It's your lack of understanding what was even SAID in the blog post.  This is a buy to play game....do you have another b2p game to compare it to so that your microtransaction paranoia would have a foundation of some sort?  Is there some other buy to play game that's done it better.  Oh wait....you don't actually KNOW how this is going to turn out since the game isn't released yet.

 

Let's just wait and see how BIG of a SCARY problem it is and THEN....you can curse me all you want.  Or....we'll see it's no big hairy deal and I can say "I told you so."  How's that?

 

Too early to tell for sure....either way.  Maybe we'll find out I'm "wrong" after the game releases, but I'm willing to bet I'm not.  It's no big damn deal.  Gear in GW2 is not like gear in WoW....there is no +245 strength and stuff on Guild Wars gear, it's not that kind of gear.  You'll see.

The fact that you have to pay to buy the game upfront does nothing to make it any different than all of the other F2P models out there once you start playing, so we have plenty to compare it against.

I'm not saying this is a problem, I have no problem with it at all, back in the day I bought WoW gold.  What I'm saying here is... I've been right all along.  Come on now, that's what is really important here, isn't it? :)

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

They will manipulate things until they are getting an average of AT LEAST $15.00/month to make up for not have a subscription. 

 

Don't you have enough self-control to NOT spend the money?  This is illogical.  They didn't do that with GW1 and they won't do it with GW2.  I guess there's no proving it to YOU though, since you're probably one of the haters that has no intention of playing but just comes to the GW2 forum to piss and moan.

Again, please read up so you can at least know what we're all talking about here.  You're just making yourself sound foolish.

I have the self control not to pay, but others do not.  It is those others who will effectively be paying for my subscription through the cash shop.

I have every intention of trying the game out, I'm just very happy to have finally been vindicated :)

 

It it not a developer's job to babysit those with poor impulse control. 

Come the f*** on!

 

You only read ONE of my posts, obviously, since I read the article of discussion here when I found it and the VERY F***ING first thing it says is that PLANS ARE NOT NAILED DOWN YET.

I'm not saying it's the dev's job, never even implied it, so COME THE FUCK ON!!! I simply stated that this is their business model, to market the game as B2P while letting the minority of people actually pay the majority of the costs, otherwise there would be no game for the rest of us to play.

He also said this is the FOUNDATION they are building on...  You and those like you have been crying all along that it would only be cosmetic items, it won't be a real cash shop, etc.  After all this time, they come out and tell you that you were wrong all along, yet you still have to try to defend a position you've already lost?

 

It's not me that's wrong.  It's your lack of understanding what was even SAID in the blog post.  This is a buy to play game....do you have another b2p game to compare it to so that your microtransaction paranoia would have a foundation of some sort?  Is there some other buy to play game that's done it better.  Oh wait....you don't actually KNOW how this is going to turn out since the game isn't released yet.

 

Let's just wait and see how BIG of a SCARY problem it is and THEN....you can curse me all you want.  Or....we'll see it's no big hairy deal and I can say "I told you so."  How's that?

 

Too early to tell for sure....either way.  Maybe we'll find out I'm "wrong" after the game releases, but I'm willing to bet I'm not.  It's no big damn deal.  Gear in GW2 is not like gear in WoW....there is no +245 strength and stuff on Guild Wars gear, it's not that kind of gear.  You'll see.

The fact that you have to pay to buy the game upfront does nothing to make it any different than all of the other F2P models out there once you start playing, so we have plenty to compare it against.

I'm not saying this is a problem, I have no problem with it at all, back in the day I bought WoW gold.  What I'm saying here is... I've been right all along.  Come on now, that's what is really important here, isn't it? :)

And stop comparing it to Eve Online. This is NOT what Eve Online is doing at ALL.

I cant buy anything from Eve Online that allows me to save time on ANYTHING. There is no special "Faster skill leveling" items. There is no "time-saving convenience" items in Eve Online you can buy.

Originally posted by Creslin321

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by Creslin321

Originally posted by Rhianni32

...

 

Yeah, I found it.  The first thing it says is that plans aren't nailed down yet.  So by all means, let's make a mountain out of a molehill.

 

It also says this:

Here’s our philosophy on microtransactions: We think players should have the opportunity to spend money on items that provide visual distinction and offer more ways to express themselves. They should also be able to spend money on account services and on time-saving convenience items. But it’s never OK for players to buy a game and not be able to enjoy what they paid for without additional purchases, and it’s never OK for players who spend money to have an unfair advantage over players who spend time.

It's true that they said that it's not OK for money spending players to get an advantage over players that spend time.  But then they go right on to say that you can trade money for gold and thus buy anything in the AH with real money.

I really just think these two statements are direct contradictions to one another and it concerns me.  It's like I said, either the AH is useless or you can get a real advantage over players by spending money.  And considering that the game has a full crafting system and a pretty elaborate AH...I would guess that it's the latter.

Anyway, it's also true that said their plans aren't nailed down yet.  So if there is anytime to "freak out" about this and express your dissatisfaction, this is the time.  I am still really excited about GW2, but I do NOT want it to become P2W.  And if you can buy gold with $, then that's exactly what it will likely be.

If your looking at the Trading Post in terms of gaining power then yes its useless. say there is gear with new stats every 10 levels,  when you hit the level to aquire new gear yes you can buy it in the ah if you want or you can go out and get it, but in the end your gear and my gear will be equal if you spent money in the cash shop or not

Originally posted by Creslin321

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by Creslin321

Originally posted by Rhianni32

...

 

Yeah, I found it.  The first thing it says is that plans aren't nailed down yet.  So by all means, let's make a mountain out of a molehill.

 

It also says this:

Here’s our philosophy on microtransactions: We think players should have the opportunity to spend money on items that provide visual distinction and offer more ways to express themselves. They should also be able to spend money on account services and on time-saving convenience items. But it’s never OK for players to buy a game and not be able to enjoy what they paid for without additional purchases, and it’s never OK for players who spend money to have an unfair advantage over players who spend time.

It's true that they said that it's not OK for money spending players to get an advantage over players that spend time.  But then they go right on to say that you can trade money for gold and thus buy anything in the AH with real money.

I really just think these two statements are direct contradictions to one another and it concerns me.  It's like I said, either the AH is useless or you can get a real advantage over players by spending money.  And considering that the game has a full crafting system and a pretty elaborate AH...I would guess that it's the latter.

Anyway, it's also true that said their plans aren't nailed down yet.  So if there is anytime to "freak out" about this and express your dissatisfaction, this is the time.  I am still really excited about GW2, but I do NOT want it to become P2W.  And if you can buy gold with $, then that's exactly what it will likely be.

They are not in contradiction. They are talking about the player base as a whole whereas you are looking at it from every individual real life money player against every individual time player. Why is this unfair when a 100 hour player vs 10 hour player fighting it out is fair and balanced? 

You can buy things with gold so seriously what is the problem?

Originally posted by RefMinor
Kids dont have credit cards and as adults, we can make decisions for ourselves, well at least I can.

Exactly.

I f want to spend £10 or £50 it up to me as an adult.

Originally posted by st4t1ck

Originally posted by Creslin321

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by Creslin321

Originally posted by Rhianni32

...

 

Yeah, I found it.  The first thing it says is that plans aren't nailed down yet.  So by all means, let's make a mountain out of a molehill.

 

It also says this:

Here’s our philosophy on microtransactions: We think players should have the opportunity to spend money on items that provide visual distinction and offer more ways to express themselves. They should also be able to spend money on account services and on time-saving convenience items. But it’s never OK for players to buy a game and not be able to enjoy what they paid for without additional purchases, and it’s never OK for players who spend money to have an unfair advantage over players who spend time.

It's true that they said that it's not OK for money spending players to get an advantage over players that spend time.  But then they go right on to say that you can trade money for gold and thus buy anything in the AH with real money.

I really just think these two statements are direct contradictions to one another and it concerns me.  It's like I said, either the AH is useless or you can get a real advantage over players by spending money.  And considering that the game has a full crafting system and a pretty elaborate AH...I would guess that it's the latter.

Anyway, it's also true that said their plans aren't nailed down yet.  So if there is anytime to "freak out" about this and express your dissatisfaction, this is the time.  I am still really excited about GW2, but I do NOT want it to become P2W.  And if you can buy gold with $, then that's exactly what it will likely be.

If your looking at the Trading Post in terms of gaining power then yes its useless. say there is gear with new stats every 10 levels,  when you hit the level to aquire new gear yes you can buy it in the ah if you want or you can go out and get it, but in the end your gear and my gear will be equal if you spent money in the cash shop or not

You're basically saying that you have the choice of either spending time to get your gear, or spending money and getting it instantly...but doesn't this directly contradict ANet's assertion that a player who spends money should never gain an advantage over one who spends time?

I dunno, maybe they are considering this in terms of extremes.  Like a player who spend infinite time will be at the same power level as one who spends infinite money...but this is stupid.

When you play the game you ARE spending time.  So even if you will EVENTUALLY catch up to the dude that spend $50 for his awesome equipment...it's going to take you a lot of time to do so.  Therefore, the dude that spent money has an advantage over you while you are grinding.

Well just have to see how all this plays out, wont we? I admit i am intrigued

Originally posted by adam_nox

If Anet is serious about real money not giving unfair advantages, then they should have no problem with putting a limit on how much each account spends per month on 'gems'.  Since box sales were supposed to pay for the game in the first place, then even getting 5 dollars a month per account should be a huge windfall for them.

 

Call for it, get behind it, ensure game integrity and prevent greed from spiraling out of control.  Otherwise I assure you it will be like other systems where they put out 50 bucks+ per month of new crap on the cash shop when they could be adding stuff for all players. 

 

No one should be spending more than this, otherwise there may as well just be a sub and no cash shop.

Your argument has no merit.  The amount of money has no bearing on the purchase being an unfair advantage, which seems to be your primary reason for posting this ridiculous bandwagon thread.  The microtransactions are not implemented to pay for the game development prior to launch, which was already stated in the blog.  Stop spinning information to suit your doom & gloom, fear-mongering on the readers of this site.

I expected microtransactions in this game, and respect Arena Net for addressing this feature in advance.  Their position on microtransactions makes perfect sense to me, and their integrity remains intact as far as I am concerned.  Players should not be restricted to make purchases, which contribute directly to the quality of the game and future content, because a minority of players are quick to judge something they don't even know all the details about.

Here is the way I see it based on what we know of the game so far:

- Gear is horizontal progression wise, all end game gear has the same (what I would presume moddable) stats but different appearances.

- SOME end game gear is gained from dungeons and karma tokens (other sets might be able to be crafted/bought).

- It's likely the cash shop will have things like character slots/bagspace/home server transfers.

Other thing's we haven't taken into account in game that you might be able to buy:

1. Crafting mats

2. WvW supplies

3. Mods for weapons and armor

So based on the stuff above what can we say about gems -> gold.

1. At the most (when it comes to gear) you will be able to buy crafted sets of armor and gear from the AH, but you will not be able to get the gear that people can get through karma and dungeon tokens. Does this make it a p2w scenario? In some aspects yes, because you can essentially buy max level gear.

However, in GW2 (as in GW) max level gear is not hard to come by (based on what they've said so far), you could literally craft a set in GW AS SOON AS YOU HIT MAX LEVEL, and I don't see a reason they would change it in GW2. It's more likely that you will be able craft epic sets with particular appearances to sell on the AH, and the dungeon/karma sets will also have their own unique appearances. All in all meaning what you will be buying is a particular appearance, nothing more.

2. What about the rest of the options? Crafting mats essentially fall into a similar category as above, you could potentially BUY the mats that would allow you to craft a particular set of armor, but it's unlikely that set of armor will convey any advantages over the stuff you should be able to buy in fairly short order (with in game gold) anyway. WvW supplies I suspect will be directly tied to WvW and thus not on the AH (but I could be wrong here obviously) so that just leaves...

3. Mods - this is really the only feasible part of the game I could see becoming a P2W scenario, those of us that played GW know the sometimes high prices for things like runes / insignias and weapon mods. If ANET run a similar modification system for mods and runes in GW2 we could potentially see a lucrative gem market here - imagine if you could buy sup vigor runes in gw1 with real money for example... again however, this is pure speculation.

An interesting point:

Those of you saying an AH based purely on appearances would be boring and would kill the economy, I think you're underestimating what "cool looking gear" will do to people, you only have to pop onto gw1 for two minutes to see the amount of people sitting around in costumes/tonics/random combined gear (all of which convey NO INGAME ADVANTAGE) to realise that. People will quite happily put forward their own money (and a helllll of alot of ingame currency) to look how they want to look, even if they get no extra stats for it.

So, are there problems with the system? Yes, the upgrades/sidegrades issue mentioned above, the potential for an economy based around gems rather than gold and people buying gems with real money could mean a vast inflation in AH prices in the game but they should all be easy to handle on Anets part. It's unlikely to be the buy-max-gear scenario people keep banging on about.

What you all need to remember is something the Dev's have said time and time again. GW2 is NOT a gear treadmill game, there is no "gear tier" system here, you don't run one dungeon to get enough stats to run the next. Instead gear is all about appearance, and am I bothered about people dictating their appearance with irl money? No, why should I be? It's their character, let them play how they want.

Originally posted by Creslin321

Originally posted by st4t1ck

Originally posted by Creslin321

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by Creslin321

Originally posted by Rhianni32

...

 

Yeah, I found it.  The first thing it says is that plans aren't nailed down yet.  So by all means, let's make a mountain out of a molehill.

 

It also says this:

Here’s our philosophy on microtransactions: We think players should have the opportunity to spend money on items that provide visual distinction and offer more ways to express themselves. They should also be able to spend money on account services and on time-saving convenience items. But it’s never OK for players to buy a game and not be able to enjoy what they paid for without additional purchases, and it’s never OK for players who spend money to have an unfair advantage over players who spend time.

It's true that they said that it's not OK for money spending players to get an advantage over players that spend time.  But then they go right on to say that you can trade money for gold and thus buy anything in the AH with real money.

I really just think these two statements are direct contradictions to one another and it concerns me.  It's like I said, either the AH is useless or you can get a real advantage over players by spending money.  And considering that the game has a full crafting system and a pretty elaborate AH...I would guess that it's the latter.

Anyway, it's also true that said their plans aren't nailed down yet.  So if there is anytime to "freak out" about this and express your dissatisfaction, this is the time.  I am still really excited about GW2, but I do NOT want it to become P2W.  And if you can buy gold with $, then that's exactly what it will likely be.

If your looking at the Trading Post in terms of gaining power then yes its useless. say there is gear with new stats every 10 levels,  when you hit the level to aquire new gear yes you can buy it in the ah if you want or you can go out and get it, but in the end your gear and my gear will be equal if you spent money in the cash shop or not

You're basically saying that you have the choice of either spending time to get your gear, or spending money and getting it instantly...but doesn't this directly contradict ANet's assertion that a player who spends money should never gain an advantage over one who spends time?

I dunno, maybe they are considering this in terms of extremes.  Like a player who spend infinite time will be at the same power level as one who spends infinite money...but this is stupid.

When you play the game you ARE spending time.  So even if you will EVENTUALLY catch up to the dude that spend $50 for his awesome equipment...it's going to take you a lot of time to do so.  Therefore, the dude that spent money has an advantage over you while you are grinding.

Eventually you will have to play the game... even if you spend 50 bucks in the shop if we both have leveled up to say 30 who's to say i dont have enough gold to go buy the armor and things out of the Trading post also.  we dont kno the value of gold or how fast you obtain it. 

Originally posted by Rhianni32

Originally posted by Creslin321

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by NMStudio

Originally posted by just1opinion

Originally posted by Creslin321

Originally posted by Rhianni32

...

 

Yeah, I found it.  The first thing it says is that plans aren't nailed down yet.  So by all means, let's make a mountain out of a molehill.

 

It also says this:

Here’s our philosophy on microtransactions: We think players should have the opportunity to spend money on items that provide visual distinction and offer more ways to express themselves. They should also be able to spend money on account services and on time-saving convenience items. But it’s never OK for players to buy a game and not be able to enjoy what they paid for without additional purchases, and it’s never OK for players who spend money to have an unfair advantage over players who spend time.

It's true that they said that it's not OK for money spending players to get an advantage over players that spend time.  But then they go right on to say that you can trade money for gold and thus buy anything in the AH with real money.

I really just think these two statements are direct contradictions to one another and it concerns me.  It's like I said, either the AH is useless or you can get a real advantage over players by spending money.  And considering that the game has a full crafting system and a pretty elaborate AH...I would guess that it's the latter.

Anyway, it's also true that said their plans aren't nailed down yet.  So if there is anytime to "freak out" about this and express your dissatisfaction, this is the time.  I am still really excited about GW2, but I do NOT want it to become P2W.  And if you can buy gold with $, then that's exactly what it will likely be.

They are not in contradiction. They are talking about the player base as a whole whereas you are looking at it from every individual real life money player against every individual time player. Why is this unfair when a 100 hour player vs 10 hour player fighting it out is fair and balanced? 

You can buy things with gold so seriously what is the problem?

"Gold" is typically obtained by spending time in the game...you normally can't get gold by any external means, so in order to be rich you have to invest time in the game.  It basically sounds like you support the idea of pay to win, and if you do, then that's your opinion, and I'm not going to change your mind.  My only argument is that GW2's RMT system is pay to win.

Make of that what you will.