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.
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.
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.
Comments
when something is so simple to understand there is no need to ask questions, and believe me over the years there have been hundreds of questions .
There are videos about it
the community does not ask questions about it , are you sure about that ?
Maybe I shouldn't have brought this up in the first place and just wait it out and play when its ready, as Steven suggested for people who are skeptical. I'll rest my case, as I dont think its a good thing either to have this thread bumped up all the time. Im happy to discuss further in private messages though!
One more thing I want to get off my chest: I dont think at all this game will be a scam, it looks amazing and I love how forthcoming the studio is. I have my skepticisms but in general I am very excited for this. The only thing I have doubts about is the existence of a cash shop pre-release in the first place, secondly the way it's set up, and finally the lack of transparency on its existence, considering how transparent the studio has been about basically everything else.
I understand the skepticism, it is logical when in this genre we have been beaten so much, although I particularly believe in the AoC project, I can also understand your point of view.
Thanks for the doubts and skepticism, it is always good to have the points of view of each side to improve.
I would particularly expect how the result of the movements is and how Intrepid is going to propose it, because honestly we are only talking about "possibilities".
The 2nd video basically sums up all my worries about the way the current cash shop is set up. It makes someone who isnt invested yet, nor a costumer, skeptical.
It’s an answer to this, though:
The community knew about it from the beginning. If people had a problem with it, then they wouldn’t have supported the game so heavily. It’s the same answer given to people who gripe about open world PvP; it has always been a part of the game and was advertised as such from the start.
It’s like ordering French onion soup and then grumbling about how you never asked for onions. Then why’d you order that soup?
Because a $15 a month subscription is not enough to run an MMO by itself.
They have the option to either add a box cost, which increases the barrier to entry for the game, or increase the subscription, which also increases the barrier to entry.
So, they opted for a cosmetic only cash shop.
”Because we are a non-box purchase game, meaning there is no box price to play Ashes of Creation, it is only a subscription; and that's beneficial because it reduces the barrier of entry and we want a high population obviously; but at the same time one of the ways we augment the revenue flows to sustain constant updates and new chapter releases and additional content within the game is through a cosmetic-only marketplace; and that means absolutely no pay-to-win whatsoever; and that will be adhered to forever.”
So yes, one purpose of the optional cosmetic shop is to make it so you aren’t forced to pay a “box cost” or pay for expansions. Folks who choose to pay for cosmetics will fund that. If you don’t want to spend money on cosmetics and instead use what you earn in game, awesome, go for it. Other players will bear that cost.
Sure, they’re not going to lay out how every dollar is spent (nor should they), but there’s a lot of information on how the money is spent in a general way and why their financial model is set up the way it is. We’re just providing you the info that’s out there. If that doesn’t satisfy your concerns there’s nothing else the community can do for you.
The next best thing you can do if you continue to have concerns is keep an eye on the forums for announcements about the next live stream and see if you can get your question in that way. A lot of the info we have comes from answers in those presentations. Make sure you’re specific in your question to try to get the best answer. There’s no guarantee your question will get included, since they have a finite amount of time for them and specific topics they need to cover, but it’s worth a try.
He has said the cosmetics and packs going up for sale are to show support for the game, primarily.
If you are not happy with that, do as Steven suggested and just don't purchase anything. They really don't mind.