Why am I being punished before the game is even released?

SASthREE

Hi. I've been on the Ashes of Creation hype train for a few months now. As the game creeps closer and closer to fruition my imagination has been running wild about the race and class of my character. As far as race goes, I landed on the Nikua Dwarves. I find the race to be the most original in concept relative to the alternatives. For class I think I will start with Summoner and pick up the Bard as my second archetype. I'm going to focus on artisan gathering and primarily fishing, herbalism and taming. Needless to say I was stoked when I came across the Berylscale band and the like cosmetic items. They seemed to literally be made for the character that I have envisioned playing in my mind, so I can't understate how disappointed I am that I won't be able to pick those up. This is the first negative thing that I have to say about the development and business model of the game. Not only will Intrepid not let me pay real world currency for them, they don't offer the means of me trading for those items with another player. I purchased the Voyager pack that I did without any understanding of the shifting and limited time theme of the cosmetic items because I am excited about the game and wanted to show that with financial support. Now that I understand how these cosmetic items are working I'm left with a sick feeling in my gut. I was literally a month late in payment and two months late in understanding how this is working and can't help but feeling like this model is punishing me. I simply must have the Berylscale band along with the the rest of the pack for my Nikua Enchanter. Surely, somebody that arrived just a bit too late but forked up $375 deserves a better start in this new world you are creating. Intrepid Studios, please consider my plight and relieve me of this unnecessary, disgusting feeling. Consider changing your stance on these cosmetic items and correct this course for the betterment of your audience, the consumers.

-[Axiom] SASthREE

Nyxxa

Sasthree, there will be alternative colors and variations in-game of these cosmetics, just not the exact same for one. Two, I'm sorry to hear you didn't get what you wanted, I too have missed out on some in the past simply because I hadn't heard about the game until years later. But not understanding the monthly model is, to some degree, your own fault. As soon as I heard about the game I did research, watched every video I could find, every stream, joined and asked questions on discord, and upon finding the wiki read everything else I didn't know. I found out about the monthly model within a week of me finding out about the game so I only bought what I wanted and have done that since then waiting until I finally saw what I wanted in the fully upgrade to Alpha 2.

I wish I too could get some of the cosmetics I wasn't here for, but knowing there is similar alternatives in-game give me hope. I'd like a non-ripped Stufferton for one I do not however see them changing the model due to players already being promised they would be limited time rewards. And breaking a promise would cause distrust of the company in the community and hurt the value that players feel they paid for those limited time rewards, which would then cause people to want refunds for the game entirely.

Sorry, I know this isn't the answer you may have been looking for Sasthree, but hopefully it did help, and I would recommend checking the wiki and watching Jahlon (Paradox_Gaming_Network) on twitch as well, as he will gladly answer your questions in real time. (he in all honestly provided the majority of my knowledge of Ashes)

CriminalCupcake

Bruh the point of ONE TIME DEALS is that theybare ONE TIME DEALS. Steven already said he didn't want things to feel like they were just handed out as participation rewards, so if you missed that like i missed the December bundle, then it happens. We must move on. "These things will never be sold again" it said in the descriptions of the packages.
Only thing you can hope for is a different set of cosmetics that correlate to your current guidelines of appearance.

Talents

They're not going to change the way they do cosmetics, it would cause a massive shitstorm. Plus, Steven has said multiple times that he enjoys time-exclusive items because of the fact that once they're gone, they're gone and no one else can get the cosmetic, he even explained this in the last live stream I think.

Warth

Not being able to get something =/= being punished.

Also, there might variations of the cosmetics findable within the game

Jahlon

So couple of things here.

1) You need to look up the definition of "punishment" you used it wrong in your wall of text.

2) You want them to reverse their business model just for you? So, what happens when TENS OF THOUSANDS of people ask for a refund because they changed their stance?

You will be able to find an alternative version in game, just not the exact one that was sold in the cash shop.

SASthREE

It seems like I am in the minority on this topic. I really don't think it is "my fault" for not knowing about these cosmetics or this business model. Creating value through scarcity and making something eternally unavailable months/years before a game launch seems bizarre and unnecessary. It does feel like punishment because if I'd have know of the game earlier or had been in the know from the start I wouldn't be having this discussion. Are the folks that were in the know and got the cosmetics that they wanted not rewarded with the opportunity to buy based being informed early on? Why does the player that bought all the cosmetics give a rats ass if I get the chance to buy the fisherman's belt or not? It's a fact that I would trade all of the cosmetics I did get for that belt. So why not give the players the opportunity to buy some of the older cosmetics or trade the ones that they have for an older pack? It's like the rug in the Big Lebowski. That belt really ties my character together. The devs claim to be open to listen to the consumer so I'm talking. If you are one of the early adopters and Voyager pack buyers and you genuinely don't want me to have an opportunity to get this belt than I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

mcstackerson

As others have said, there will be similar cosmetics in game and will probably be more nikua themed cosmetics in the future.

I'm not sure if you are aware but each race has it's own armor appearance (at least last i checked). When you equip armor on your nikua dwarf, it should have a nikua look to it. From what we know, it sounds like you wont need to get nikua cosmetics to look like a nikua if that was your concern.

LieutenantToast

Hi there! Looks like a few folks above already got you some helpful answers on this topic, in regards to where we've shared information previously on these limited-time cosmetics, and the fact that there may be similar variations you can achieve through in-game means (even though it won't be the exact same item). There's also definitely the possibility of another Niküa-themed set in future months!

I'm going to go ahead and move this on over to our Support & FAQ section and close it out since it's been answered, but please don't hesitate to reach back out if there's anything else we can assist you with in the meantime!