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.
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.
600 "Exclusive" Cosmetics - Let's look at the numbers!
Marzzo
Member, Leader of Men, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
How many "exclusive" cosmetics are currently out there?
* 40+ Cosmetics from the kickstarter/summer campaign
* 50+ Cosmetics from the apocalyps testing
* 41 packs with 6 cosmetics each between Dec 17 - Dec 21
= Around 330 total cosmetics released up until now.
How many will there be up until release if Intrepid continues with this system? Let's assume a hypothetical 2024 summer release date:
*36 Voyager packs with 6 cosmetics
*10-50 cosmetics from the siege/horde mode
*1-? random cosmetics connected to events
= Around 270 future cosmetics up until release
We are looking at a future AoC on release with a bank consiting of 600 exclusive cosmetics
Personally, i value an increased stream of income and players more than the cosmetics. I also don't think all these cosmetics sell that well as in everyone will have a ton of exclusive stuff.
If IS thinks that the offered bonus cosmetics will increase the amount of new players coming in and supporting the game, I am for it.
I do feel a bit sad though, that all these awesome cosmetic could have been something we obtained ingame. Would definatly enchant the experience in the future.
What do you think?
* 40+ Cosmetics from the kickstarter/summer campaign
* 50+ Cosmetics from the apocalyps testing
* 41 packs with 6 cosmetics each between Dec 17 - Dec 21
= Around 330 total cosmetics released up until now.
How many will there be up until release if Intrepid continues with this system? Let's assume a hypothetical 2024 summer release date:
*36 Voyager packs with 6 cosmetics
*10-50 cosmetics from the siege/horde mode
*1-? random cosmetics connected to events
= Around 270 future cosmetics up until release
We are looking at a future AoC on release with a bank consiting of 600 exclusive cosmetics
Personally, i value an increased stream of income and players more than the cosmetics. I also don't think all these cosmetics sell that well as in everyone will have a ton of exclusive stuff.
If IS thinks that the offered bonus cosmetics will increase the amount of new players coming in and supporting the game, I am for it.
I do feel a bit sad though, that all these awesome cosmetic could have been something we obtained ingame. Would definatly enchant the experience in the future.
What do you think?
2
Comments
I think that pre-launch cosmetics don't detract from the volume of in-game visuals since [I assume] they pay for themselves. If selling these exclusive visuals creates supplementary income so that Ashes can have a less rushed development and more fulfilling launch experience then I'm all for it.
My fear is what's going to happen once the game launches. Steven loves to remind us how shop cosmetics and in-game achievable cosmetics will look equally cool which is great.. but I'm equally worried about the ratio. If there's 20 shop cosmetics to every 1 in-game achievable then having them look equally cool doesn't seem like much to brag about. However as long as they stick to the plan of not having the same thing in the shop twice it should make it much less bothersome.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
Agreed!
I also think that two threads was already two too many, since it's all been done before, and IS are not going to refund everyone's cosmetics purchases from the last X-years...
I have worked on developing different games, and thus i also see the effects of the developer side. If you don't want your assets to be sold as individual pieces, then there is no income pre launch except for pre-orders and pre launch bundles. Giving people the option to buy cosmetics helps earn revenue. More revenue helps the developer to actually finish the product
So the choice for me is, do i want to have cosmetics in the game, or do i want the game to not release or release with fewer systems ./ more bugs? In that case i will choose for the cosmetics. Even if there are 1000+ of them.
That will still be the case though.
You should expect that someone running around in "cash store trash" would not get the respect of someone wearing something you need to beat an end-game raid or rare achievement to get. That has been the case in other MMOs I've played.
You're going to have people who buy a pair of gloves in the cash shop because it matches the cloak they earned in-game. You're going to also have people who wear a 5-year-old exclusive outfit from the cash shop because nobody can buy it anymore and they want to show off. How people react to that stuff will vary from person to person.
But it has been my experience that cosmetics that anyone can buy with no effort aside from what you can pay with cash gives you very little in the way of "street cred" in the game. After all, what "looks cool" is highly subjective.
They are two completely different threads, which you would know if you actually read anything you comment on lol