Glorious Alpha Two Testers!

Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!

For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.

You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.

Exclusive Skins vs Exclusive Models

ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
in Ashes of Creation Systems and Mechanics
A bit of a sore subject for me when it comes to games with cash shops is they tend to be heavy handed with new items. I can understand wanting to design this amazing mount that radiates awesomeness as it passes you by. To have everyone desiring it. That is all good but there is a big difference between having exclusive skins and models. I find it important to not make your sub-only crowd not feel unwanted. The easiest way to do this is to add these cool looking mounts and pets to the game. Add a basic version to the game which is obtainable from gameplay. Add a nicer version with better effects and textures to the cash shop. Maybe even throw in a nice one with great effects in-game that takes some hard work.

Example: Basic horse mount of many breeds in the game. Bought from stable-masters or breeders. Then add the unicorn to the cash shop. 5 bucks so it is not insulting. Then add a specific unicorn to the world. Tie it to a dungeon or a rare-spawn in a certain zone. This way people can earn this special look without having to be a wallet-warrior.

Really this could be any type of animal or machine. The point is you don't need to punish those that don't like double-dipping. Those that are loyal and play regularly. Reward people for their feats and achievements.

TOR can be a great example of both sides of this. When they launched I played it a lot. I purchased ever speeder that was available and earned many of the achievement speeders. I felt amazing and it spurred me on. Then the game went freemium. They added tons and tons of new mounts and pets to the cash shop. There were many mounts that you could not get unless you paid real money or bought them off the trade network for exorbitant amounts. Now this was good and bad. The good: you could obtain nearly all the mounts without having to touch your wallet. The bad: someone had to bust out their wallet, many times these were listed at prices way above the credit limit for free players, it caused people to focus on grinding credits instead of playing the game, and there was a bit of a drought on earnable mounts. There still were some in raids and some pets in dungeons but the vast amount of new items went straight to the cash shop.

My point: People like cool mounts and pets. Don't make every single one of these locked behind the cash shop. Make it fun. Give us stuff to work at.

Comments

  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    I'm not sure which side of the fence I'm on here.

    Not having unique models or textures or re-skins in the cash shop because it feels bad to sub-only players is wrong. If a person wants to spend the money he/she has earned that way, they can. It's cosmetic only, and provides no in game advantage.

    However, disallowing Sub-Only players from acquiring cool mounts/skins etc also feels wrong.

    Both is possible, but not in the way you think. Cash only cosmetics should be cash only, however in game cosmetics should be similar in quality, but different.
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    edited June 2017
    i'd prefer the cash shop cosmetics only being able to highlight your achievements in game. example, you can buy the coolest new skins in the shop but you either have to go into the world and get the specific mount/pet/sword/armor that it can be applied to or already have it. all skins should be tied to a specific thing in the world, no generalized skins please.
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    edited June 2017
    Krojak said:
    ...Both is possible, but not in the way you think. Cash only cosmetics should be cash only, however in game cosmetics should be similar in quality, but different.
    That's the balance I'd like. I'm not asking for identical looks. I just want a great looking item to be able to be obtained through gameplay that is on the same tier as 'cool looking cash shop item'. They can add dozens and dozens of items to the cash shop, I'm fine with that. People have every right to spend their money on all the shinnies they want and Intrepid has every right to produce dozens and dozens of shinnies to entice that funding. I just want them to throw a bone to the community that doesn't buy from cash shops.

    I just want to be able to show off that Rivendare's Deathcharger, Headless Horseman's mount, and Crimson Deathcharger to show that I had the luck and/or persistence to obtain these items. I find those infinitely more appealing than the Runesaber (all WoW references). Sure the saber has higher rez and poly count and it looks cool.. but that took little to no effort to obtain.

    In the end having nice things obtainable in-game just gives them credit. It shows that they want their community to be able to enjoy the game by unlocking things instead of just throwing cash at the monitor to get that look-of-the-week. They really have nothing to lose and everything to gain by sharing.

    ((I'm not looking for handouts for subbing. I'm looking for fun things to work my butt off for and bragging rights))
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    edited June 2017
    With a subscription, my only problem would be if the majority of attractive cosmetics were in a cash shop. Paying extra to not look like a peasant would just be money grubbing.

    I get that everyone's doing it now, but in my opinion, cash shops in the presence of subscriptions is already treading on thin ice... successful MMOs are more than capable of raking in the money without doing this, but the culture around micro-transactions has changed in a bad way. It's gotten to the point where we have to buy DLCs to get a worthy gaming experience from some games. And not being Pay2Win is marketable... sad times. :/
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    Evanthal said:
    With a subscription, my only problem would be if the majority of attractive cosmetics were in a cash shop. Paying extra to not look like a peasant would just be money grubbing.

    I get that everyone's doing it now, but in my opinion, cash shops in the presence of subscriptions is already treading on thin ice... successful MMOs are more than capable of raking in the money without doing this, but the culture around micro-transactions has changed in a bad way. It's gotten to the point where we have to buy DLCs to get a worthy gaming experience from some games. And not being Pay2Win is marketable... sad times. :/
    I think its safe to say from the interviews with the developers so far that they are against an cash-grab mentality and therefore I don't think we would see a system where the most desirable cosmetics would only be obtainable from a cash shop.

    I personally would prefer to not have cash shops at all in MMOs, unfortunately this is unlikely to ever happen. I can only hope that the desirability of certain cosmetics is correlated with the magnitude of in-game achievements and that these would surpass those that could be obtained in a cash shop. The problem with this is that different people find different items more or less desirable...
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    Evanthal said:
    With a subscription, my only problem would be if the majority of attractive cosmetics were in a cash shop. Paying extra to not look like a peasant would just be money grubbing.

    I get that everyone's doing it now, but in my opinion, cash shops in the presence of subscriptions is already treading on thin ice... successful MMOs are more than capable of raking in the money without doing this, but the culture around micro-transactions has changed in a bad way. It's gotten to the point where we have to buy DLCs to get a worthy gaming experience from some games. And not being Pay2Win is marketable... sad times. :/
    I think its safe to say from the interviews with the developers so far that they are against an cash-grab mentality and therefore I don't think we would see a system where the most desirable cosmetics would only be obtainable from a cash shop.

    I personally would prefer to not have cash shops at all in MMOs, unfortunately this is unlikely to ever happen. I can only hope that the desirability of certain cosmetics is correlated with the magnitude of in-game achievements and that these would surpass those that could be obtained in a cash shop. The problem with this is that different people find different items more or less desirable...
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    scottstone7 said:
    i'd prefer the cash shop cosmetics only being able to highlight your achievements in game. example, you can buy the coolest new skins in the shop but you either have to go into the world and get the specific mount/pet/sword/armor that it can be applied to or already have it.
    This makes a lot of sense. No buying a cash mount if you don't have that mount already. That's P2W at it's finest. From what I've read, mounts and such are acquired pretty early.
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    Krojak said:
    ...Both is possible, but not in the way you think. Cash only cosmetics should be cash only, however in game cosmetics should be similar in quality, but different.
    That's the balance I'd like. I'm not asking for identical looks. I just want a great looking item to be able to be obtained through gameplay that is on the same tier as 'cool looking cash shop item'. They can add dozens and dozens of items to the cash shop, I'm fine with that. People have every right to spend their money on all the shinnies they want and Intrepid has every right to produce dozens and dozens of shinnies to entice that funding. I just want them to throw a bone to the community that dozens buy from cash shops.

    I just want to be able to show off that Rivendare's Deathcharger, Headless Horseman's mount, and Crimson Deathcharger to show that I had the luck and/or persistence to obtain these items. I find those infinitely more appealing than the Runesaber (all WoW references). Sure the saber has higher rez and poly count and it looks cool.. but that took little to no effort to obtain.

    In the end having nice things obtainable in-game just gives them credit. It shows that they want their community to be able to enjoy the game by unlocking things instead of just throwing cash at the monitor to get that look-of-the-week. They really have nothing to lose and everything to gain by sharing.

    ((I am not looking for handouts or rewards for subbing. I'm looking for things to work my butt off for))
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    scottstone7 said:
    i'd prefer the cash shop cosmetics only being able to highlight your achievements in game. example, you can buy the coolest new skins in the shop but you either have to go into the world and get the specific mount/pet/sword/armor that it can be applied to or already have it.
    This makes a lot of sense. No buying a cash mount if you don't have that mount already. That's P2W at it's finest. From what I've read, mounts and such are acquired pretty early.
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    Krojak said:
    ...Both is possible, but not in the way you think. Cash only cosmetics should be cash only, however in game cosmetics should be similar in quality, but different.
    That's the balance I'd like. I'm not asking for identical looks. I just want a great looking item to be able to be obtained through gameplay that is on the same tier as 'cool looking cash shop item'. They can add dozens and dozens of items to the cash shop, I'm fine with that. People have every right to spend their money on all the shinnies they want and Intrepid has every right to produce dozens and dozens of shinnies to entice that funding. I just want them to throw a bone to the community that dozens buy from cash shops.

    I just want to be able to show off that Rivendare's Deathcharger, Headless Horseman's mount, and Crimson Deathcharger to show that I had the luck and/or persistence to obtain these items. I find those infinitely more appealing than the Runesaber (all WoW references). Sure the saber has higher rez and poly count and it looks cool.. but that took little to no effort to obtain.

    In the end having nice things obtainable in-game just gives them credit. It shows that they want their community to be able to enjoy the game by unlocking things instead of just throwing cash at the monitor to get that look-of-the-week. They really have nothing to lose and everything to gain by sharing.

    ((I am not looking for handouts or rewards for subbing. I'm looking for things to work my butt off for))
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    Evanthal said:
    With a subscription, my only problem would be if the majority of attractive cosmetics were in a cash shop. Paying extra to not look like a peasant would just be money grubbing.

    I get that everyone's doing it now, but in my opinion, cash shops in the presence of subscriptions is already treading on thin ice... successful MMOs are more than capable of raking in the money without doing this, but the culture around micro-transactions has changed in a bad way. It's gotten to the point where we have to buy DLCs to get a worthy gaming experience from some games. And not being Pay2Win is marketable... sad times. :/
    I think its safe to say from the interviews with the developers so far that they are against an cash-grab mentality and therefore I don't think we would see a system where the most desirable cosmetics would only be obtainable from a cash shop.

    I personally would prefer to not have cash shops at all in MMOs, unfortunately this is unlikely to ever happen. I can only hope that the desirability of certain cosmetics is correlated with the magnitude of in-game achievements and that these would surpass those that could be obtained in a cash shop. The problem with this is that different people find different items more or less desirable...
Sign In or Register to comment.