Question about Pre-Order, Keys, Cosmetics, ETC (I'm sorry in advance)

Aurelion97

Hello AOC family! This is the most exciting MMO I have seen in years, and I have a few questions about getting in early.

Obviously, I would be honored to be involved in the A2, B1 and B2 test phases. O,n the shop I see the current pre-order pack which allows you to get into these phases. However I also see they come with cosmetics, and there were many other cosmetic packs as I see. A few Questions.

1. Am I able to get those other cosmetic packs, the current one does not personally interest me. Or have I completely missed my boat on all of those other cosmetic packs besides the current one on the shop? If so - that's rough...
2. What is this about September being the last pre-order pack? If I do not pre-order in September, will I not be able to have access to A2? As Well as B1 and B2? It seems a bit risky to preorder this month if I end up loving next month's cosmetic way more. I don't see why all of the cosmetic packs' aren't just offered at once as it would entice more people to pre-order for their desired aesthetic.
3. If I do not pre-order in September, will I be able to pre-order in the future and gain access to B1 and B2 and just miss A1? As in, will there be a pre-order phase after A1 but before B1 and B2?

Thank you all

Dolyem

FAQ at the bottom of this page
https://ashesofcreation.com/news/2023-08-08-none-forgotten

Natasha

Aurelion97 wrote: »

Hello AOC family! This is the most exciting MMO I have seen in years, and I have a few questions about getting in early.

Obviously, I would be honored to be involved in the A2, B1 and B2 test phases. O,n the shop I see the current pre-order pack which allows you to get into these phases. However I also see they come with cosmetics, and there were many other cosmetic packs as I see. A few Questions.

1. Am I able to get those other cosmetic packs, the current one does not personally interest me. Or have I completely missed my boat on all of those other cosmetic packs besides the current one on the shop? If so - that's rough...
2. What is this about September being the last pre-order pack? If I do not pre-order in September, will I not be able to have access to A2? As Well as B1 and B2? It seems a bit risky to preorder this month if I end up loving next month's cosmetic way more. I don't see why all of the cosmetic packs' aren't just offered at once as it would entice more people to pre-order for their desired aesthetic.
3. If I do not pre-order in September, will I be able to pre-order in the future and gain access to B1 and B2 and just miss A1? As in, will there be a pre-order phase after A1 but before B1 and B2?

Thank you all

@Aurelion97 good to see people keen!

To answer your questions;

1: You can't purchase any previous preorder packs. Once a pack has rotated out of the store it is gone forever.

2: yes, as of now September will be the last pack though its end date may differ. You'll have to check when they announce its change over. But all early access packs will end with that pack. They always reveal the next pack the day before the change over so you can decide which pack you like before the current pack goes away and choose the one you like more.

3:As the FAQ says: https://ashesofcreation.com/news/2023-08-08-none-forgotten access MAY be sold again at a later date. If you want to guarantee your slot you'll have to buy the current pack or the next one.

EDIT: I felt that I should also address your query about why they don't also just sell all cosmetics at once. The answer lies here:

StevenSharif wrote: »

Hello friends, a quick clarification on the shop cosmetics.

There will not be recolors or material swaps on the monthly cosmetics as a means to populate additional achievements in game by player characters. There will however be variants of the cosmetics for NPC populations including quest-givers, guards, merchants and creatures. Additionally, from an armor standpoint, we cut armor sets up into many different pieces. These pieces can sometimes be used as part of other sets, that may include helmets, wrists, gloves etc. So while you will not see an achievable white version of the corvid castigator set in the game for example, you may see its shoulder piece used in another set, or its leggings, or wrist piece used in another set (not every piece as to form the whole set, but perhaps a couple pieces). This would be difficult to notice at first glance, due to the material, texture and color variation used, but this modular approach to content creation makes achieving a wide variety of looks achievable for an MMORPG of our size.

With that being said however, the intent behind my approach to these cosmetics, as well as the cosmetics that will be achievable in the game, is to provide a richer experience of visual diversity than we are typically accustomed to in the MMORPGs we have played in the past. There will be legendary cosmetics that are ONLY achievable in game and players can know wont be offered in some cosmetic shop in the future undermining their accomplishment. As well as for the more casual players time exclusive purchasable cosmetics from the marketplace, that players who purchase these can rest assured they won't be available again in some sale by the company in the future.

It's important to remember, Ashes is a NO-BOX COST subscription only game, with an optional cosmetic marketplace. This achieves a few things from a monetization model. Having a lower barrier to entry for players to try the game when they don't have to fork out $60 for the box price is good, our box price is 0$. This also places an emphasis on the game's retention and our continual updates and content creation to keep players playing and staying subscribed (a put your money where your mouth is sort of philosophy for us as a company). It also means players don't have to spend $60 everytime there is an expansion.

Is there an answer that satisfies everyone? Nope. And that's ok. We are open and transparent with our philosophies and business model. You know what you are getting with Ashes and to me, given my experiences in other games, it is a nice breath of fresh air.

Hope this covers your queries, feel free to reach out if you have any more.

SomethingWitty

Greetings Aurelion97,

Keep an eye out for the next cosmetic set release. There will be more information provided as to the current state of the pre-order packages provided with that release.

I am closing this post. Feel free to create a new post if you have any other questions.