Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
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Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Concern upon release.
Josie1577
Member, Alpha Two
My worst nightmare would be that there will be to many cosmetic items for sale and mounts for sale. this is not including holiday specials. That's different I get it once a year fun little mount or hat here and there for like 5 bucks or something, but If they release mounts like that cancer causing game from blizzard and sell them for like $25 I will be furious with this game. I mean leave the mounts for people who deserve them. I am also not counting the Kickstarter stuff or voyager packs to help support game development but once the game launches THATS IT no more cosmetic gear for sale. All armor, weapons and mounts should be earned or crafted. If they have a store it should be for something like furniture or something innocent that is not to much of a big deal. But watch out DEVS, if you mess up by adding to many cosmetics crap in the game for the sake of profit YOU WILL RUIN the game's progression and sense of accomplishment for end game armor when fucking BILLY with his mommy's credit card can get something far better and cooler looking.
If you must do something with the store then do actual store items like RL shirts and stuff for us players to support the game but please for the love of all that is holy DO NOT SELL IN GAME GEAR OR ITEMS or your game will fail in the long term.
SELL real life items to us players - Gaming mouse, keyboard, cloths or something with ashes of creation branding. That's it, you get your money we get our untainted game plus cool merch, easy everybody wins.
If you must do something with the store then do actual store items like RL shirts and stuff for us players to support the game but please for the love of all that is holy DO NOT SELL IN GAME GEAR OR ITEMS or your game will fail in the long term.
SELL real life items to us players - Gaming mouse, keyboard, cloths or something with ashes of creation branding. That's it, you get your money we get our untainted game plus cool merch, easy everybody wins.
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Comments
Some people IRL are rich; they'll be better dressed than you, and look way cooler while out-and-about, in the IRL world. Do you really thing that a pre-existing society like Sanctus won't have upperclassmen? Wouldn't it only make sense that the upper class and the wealthy of Sanctus might also be making the pilgrimage to Verra - and thus look better than you, doing it?
They already plan to sell costumes/mount skins/pet skins/freehold skins etc. on the store when the game launches, it isn't exclusive to the pre-launch packs. If you're someone that cares that much about "visual progression" then that's not a focus of this game.
I am aware of what Steve said but I have to disagree with that. It is only a concern of how it will affect the integrity of the game. I have done my due diligence before posting and thus have put thought into this post. I am sorry if this upsets anyone but it is a concern. Regardless of what you say if they sell cosmetics on a regular basis will kind of take away from the progression of the game ya know? Like I made a basic set of gloves and one day I crafted a cool one but I have been wearing the poopy ones right, so then it feels great to finally have a cool pair of gloves. I am giving them something to think about. Also to your point of rIch in IRL that makes sense and I can see what you mean but I do not agree with that when it comes to the player.
That is pretty closed minded. Try thinking of it in a progressive standpoint. Although you are on point when i t comes to cosmetics affecting gameplay, that would be horrible lol
Yes you are right. Just makes me sad inside. Cause it will take away from all of the work that they did on the low level gear.
The focus of the game should be THE GAME and ALL progression. There is nothing to defend. I care about the mistakes of the past and this is a concern. What would be your nightmare?
Come up with a better non-p2w solution than selling cosmetics to fund the game and you will be hailed as a hero.
Take your time.
It would have to be real life merch, or something within the IP that isn't ingame. Collector plushies, books, clothes, cards (like MTG), mouse pads, mice, keyboards etc. etc. But you need to establish the IP first to really make it sell obviously.
Correct and this is, as you said, just not possible for a brand new IP.
But yeah, it's also really hard to get attached to the IP of a sandbox game, because you can't curate the content to the same level of emotional investment that a single-player story driven game has.
But Merch on the other hand Id spend hundreds of dollars on to support this game easy. Id rock that on a Saturday night game in a raid 😎😎
They're already making a boatload of cash from it, or they wouldn't be doing it. Anyone spending money on the game this early is already pretty "serious" about it. Please speak for yourself, and not the rest of us!
It's so weird having to defend skins, but I must do it: what facts prove your statements?
I've spent more money than I should have in skins and I consider myself a "serious player", therefore your statements are false. Right?
P.S.: not trying to be rude, but opinions aren't facts.
I said serious gamers. I am speaking for myself and many gamers I have spoken too. I wont speak for anyone that does not understand what I am saying. Do not come here with the notion that I have no basis to stand on, read the rest of my responses to folks here. This is not a discussion to start a negative conversation. You need to understand progression and the fact cosmetics are harmful to the game as a whole. Its pure fact. At the moment the voyager packs are fine for raising money I get it, however when the game is fully released it will harm it. This is not an "opinion", its simply fact. I want this game to succeed so bad to the point I am actually speaking out about this and giving myself a voice and anyone who thinks like me. If you don't agree them don't that's fine. I have to say something so if it happens then I at least tried to do something about it.
Also if you are so fixated on my "serious gamer" comment then look if you are a serious gamer then you are no one cares, I was speaking about folks I know so If I don't know you then you cant get mad at anything.
What facts prove my statements.... seriously... -_-
That's exactly what I thought. Cheers!
Lets start with World of Warcraft - the mounts they sell ruined mount collecting in the game as well as any cosmetics that they provided. Lets take a look shall we? Okay, they sell gold for real money - hence you can buy anything, next GW2 does plenty of cosmetics thus progression visually became stale within a year all in the pursuit of money.
Now because you comment is quite childish to begin with and merits no argument except with you challenging my "opinions" then please find me a good reason that is HEALTHY for the game that cosmetics wont hurt its longevity. I want to know where you are getting information from or if you simply bored and want to stir the pot?
This game can still be a massive success with cosmetics however it will still hurt a very important part of the game - the spirit of the MMORPG is actually located in the VISUAL progression of said game. No matter what you want to look cool but if you can snap your fingers and buy the "cool factor" then the challenge factor falls apart.
LOL. Big LOLs. It must be nice to be able to speak to the only serious gamers in the world. Who'd have thought that every serious gamer in the world happens to know you and to have spoken to you about this?! It's almost unbelievable...
"if you are a serious gamer then you are no one cares"
but
"serious players do not like that people can just buy cool gear with their credit card"
Interesting that you're happy to change your stance on "serious gamers" depending on whether or not someone's agreeing with you...
A cosmetic-only cash shop is an extra revenue stream for the company to boost income so that they can pay staff and develop the game further. Cosmetic-only items do not damage gameplay, they don't interfere with in-game systems, and they're not the death of games. That's why the majority of all serious (see what I did there?!) games right now use them. The digital items have a minimal cost, and once made back, don't require any further cost. Once you've recouped that initial outlay, it's pure profit. Digital items are often sold as-is and are generally non-refundable.
Physical merchandise has a continuous cost associated with it. You have to pay for each item before you can sell it, and so your profit margin is less. You have to pay to store the items you haven't yet sold. The customer is allowed to return physical items for a refund, meaning there's still the potential to lose the sale even after it's sold. Physical merchandise, while great to have (and I have plenty), is an inferior product for a company like this to sell.
I get that you're on a crusade against cash shops, and I'm not against that crusade per se, but don't try to make out that the company earning extra money at ~100% profit is going to be the death of them, cos that's blatantly ridiculous. You're also incorrectly assuming that all store items look "far better", when Intrepid themselves have openly stated that this will not be the case. There was an awesome-looking mount shown in the latest stream which will be achievable in-game. There will be more, and plenty of them.
The Ashes Cosmetic Shop isn't going anywhere. If that's a problem for you, you need to make your peace with it sooner rather than later!
No True Scotsman would buy his kilt in a cash shop.
I love this comment except for the start of it. Salty I talked about "serious gamers" AGAIN. You have made good points in trying to justify the cosmetics. That's all well and good. I have stated before that all VISAUL items will hurt the integrity of the game. I have made peace with this sad fact long ago however I never have openly spoken up about it because I felt it was pointless due to bad companies not listing. But this is an amazing company that I have faith in and even if they release things I will still play the game but sorry to tell you that even if Steve say's that the in game gear will be better, tat is still considered an opinion. Visual progression is one of the fundamental things in an MMORPG that matter greatly. So go ahead and sit there and defend this issue and attack my side comments since you are such a "serious gamer"( see what I also did there).
You seem pretty concerned about what the next player over is wearing. As long as it's not a thong or a complete Japanese lolli get-up, what do you care if someone looks better than you do?
Why shouldn't other players be able to use cosmetics, if it doesn't affect their enjoyment? In my case, it *enhances* it, given the RP I've got planned for my main toon-to-be.
I agree, but I think Josie is coming at it from a high-level design perspective - about the overall feel of the game (hence lamenting the entire existence of the cash shop altogether) which involves decisions about how all players play the game.
I think many games have cosmetic items that are so out of touch with their art style and world that their mere creation was a disservice to the game and world setting. But I've long let go of wanting a players gear to tell a story of what raids they've completed or rare spawns they've farmed.
I think the way they have spoken of it so far is fine, some unique items that will not be sold and other items will be in the shop.
I am also not a fan of gatekeeping by referring to people as "serious gamers" as that implies that others opinions are void due to them not meeting your definition of what a serious gamer is instead of judging the merits of the argument.