Forums » General Pantheon Discussion

A Cash Shop is Being Considered

    • 443 posts
    March 9, 2021 10:53 AM PST

     

    Trasmog for a Pantheon cash shop + for paying Customers

     

    Any item you earn in game is part of the Transmog. So only items you have earned could be used to change your look. Changing the look of an item costs 1 VR coin. You can get VR Coins two ways. You can earn VR Coins once a week with a weekly quest, objectives set by VR staff. Or the VR Cash shop, at what ever price VR feels is fair. Items recive the Transmog not the slot much like WoW.

    Everyone gets one outfit tab for free, so you can look how you want for free. Additional outfit tabs are a Cash Shop exchange. Tabs need to be bought for each Character. Price, set by VR staff.

    Mount skins can also be earned in game but changing the skins require VR Coins. Again, can be done free with the weekly quest or by buying VR Coins in the cash shop. All skins are earned in game, much like the items you can Transmog to are earned in game.

    Optional, seasonal event could also reward VR Coins, also on Pantheon anniversaries, players birthdays or avatar birthdays. Maybe every time an avatar gets 5 years old, a free Outfit slot could be awarded for free.

    Having a Trasnmog system in game, even using the free version would add allot to the game. Freedom to change your look also helps with RP, Machinima and for people who just like to have a matching outfit. VR could find a way to make extra money without impacting the games standards set by VR and the fans, while also earning extra money, would help us all get content faster.

    This is just an idea on how VR could do this in a way that’s fair for all.


    This post was edited by Nanfoodle at March 9, 2021 11:23 AM PST
    • 10 posts
    March 10, 2021 8:11 AM PST

    The answer to this is easy then!

    Have a cosmetic only cash shop to please those who want one, but only sell terrible items in it so nobody bothers to use it :P

    • 247 posts
    March 10, 2021 8:48 AM PST
    I'm completely against any sort of cash shop even for transmog To me that takes away from the MMO feel for the simple reason of if you go to old school EverQuest when I first started playing when you seen somebody in full rubicite armor it was an amazing and you were sitting there drooling. So why should it be that someone who has crap gear be able to go buy something that looks awesome and take away from that experience. same goes from somebody who has a decent cool weapon that they're using right now and you're watching them use it and they're killing mobs massively and it's a super powerful badass looking weapon. Instead it looks like a piece of crap because somebody wanted to be funny and transmog their weapon to look like a plain steel sword. To me transmog is still pay to win because you're paying to win for the look
    • 18 posts
    March 10, 2021 11:54 AM PST

    How about that VR makes it, so that players who want to change the look of the gear they get, can get the chance of doing so through tradeskilling. Become a master armor-/weaponsmith, outfitter etc., throw in a (elaborate) quest that enables you to become able to change the look of your items, make it require some rare meterials and make it a 50/50 final combine.

    If you are willing to show that kind of commitment and put in that kind of work, then I'm ok with you being able to run around with some gear that doesn't look like the original piece. :-)

    • 1435 posts
    March 10, 2021 9:38 PM PST

    @telepath, i would like to sell in game currency for irl money :D like a dirty gold farmer. mmo in game currency is essentially like cryptocurrency and i'm just a miner trying to have a nice dinner :O I just want a small piece of the cake that vr gets. as long as their is player to player transfer of gold and items, the existence of gold farmers, 3rd party irl to in game transfers will exist. if they want to eliminate this, they can take the pearl abyss approach by tightly locking p2p transfers and control the auction house, marketplace and item values. actually let me go apply for vr pvp balance team and see what happens XD

    i forget to note also, that if i design an aesthetic item to put on the the cash shop, that i can a small royalties, like 1% or something like for each time it sells. sounds dum, but hey, every day we move closer to ready player one and the lines between cyberspace and reality are starting to blur. what an age to be alive

    Mod Edit: If you forget something, please edit your post instead of double-posting as it is against the guidelines and will need to be removed next time.


    This post was edited by VR-Mod1 at March 11, 2021 1:45 AM PST
    • 90 posts
    March 12, 2021 7:01 PM PST

     

    Okay i just finished listenfing to the Pantheonplus coverage of this thread and some people are insane. people talking about higher sub prices to support the game. That's what purchasing the game does. You buy the game and it pay off the development. Dubscriptions are for maintaining the servers and small content updates. Buying expansions pay for developtment of them. Again subscritions cover the cost of maintaining the servers and small updates, not the cost of development. 2nd stop comparing subscription cost to the going rate of movies, that's a poor comparison. You compare it to other subscriptions services which everything else is $10-$15 a month right now. If they charage anything above $15 a month they will scare off a lot of customers. 

    No cash shop. People who have purchased the game and are paying a monthly subscription should have access to all content in the game. THe only cash that is fair and would stick to the vision of them game is if they have some somekind of non subsctiption model but if people want to loot certain items they need to pay for them. THey will still have to quest for them and won't be able to loot the items unless they pay first. Even that seems blah. 

    No cash shop.  

    • 72 posts
    March 12, 2021 10:09 PM PST

    I have no issues whatsoever with a Cash Shop. Its no different than paying a monthly sub for content play. Its only cosmetic items so players are not going to have any game playing imbalances and thank you for introducing the option to look different from the host of other people.  If you want to not utilize the cash shop, your gameplay is not diminished in anyway and you can compete and play on exactly the same level as another player that has bought fashion quest.   i see no problem with this whatsoever except more revenue incomming for a game that we are all hoping will be successful and around for 20+ years. I

    • 1435 posts
    March 13, 2021 3:30 AM PST
    sorry kilsin, because i'm usually doing this on my phone, i don't have the option t edit my posts... i'd have to post a new one
    • 90 posts
    March 13, 2021 8:29 AM PST

    Deathwish said:

    I have no issues whatsoever with a Cash Shop. Its no different than paying a monthly sub for content play. Its only cosmetic items so players are not going to have any game playing imbalances and thank you for introducing the option to look different from the host of other people.  If you want to not utilize the cash shop, your gameplay is not diminished in anyway and you can compete and play on exactly the same level as another player that has bought fashion quest.   i see no problem with this whatsoever except more revenue incomming for a game that we are all hoping will be successful and around for 20+ years. I

     

    Except there could be a really cool looking item in the cash and the only way to get it is to pay more money on top of what you have already spent buying the game and paying the monthly subscription. that's ridiculous. People paying a monthly subscription should have access to to all the content. WoW's community started getting really pissed around 2014 at the cash shop because Blizzard kept coming up with all these cool mounts and armors and they would just put them in the cash shop, no way to earn them so people started wondering why they were even paying a monthly subscription. Nobody could quest for these items, or raid for them. People had the coolest items because they had more money. 

    • 247 posts
    March 13, 2021 4:05 PM PST
    Like I said before I'm totally against the cash shop in any form transmog anything. I would rather see a merchandise shop for shirts maybe in-game plush creatures but in no way transmog or any sort of other cash shop It just takes away from the game in my opinion.
    • 1120 posts
    March 14, 2021 7:47 PM PDT

    Sunglare said:

    Deathwish said:

    I have no issues whatsoever with a Cash Shop. Its no different than paying a monthly sub for content play. Its only cosmetic items so players are not going to have any game playing imbalances and thank you for introducing the option to look different from the host of other people.  If you want to not utilize the cash shop, your gameplay is not diminished in anyway and you can compete and play on exactly the same level as another player that has bought fashion quest.   i see no problem with this whatsoever except more revenue incomming for a game that we are all hoping will be successful and around for 20+ years. I

     

    Except there could be a really cool looking item in the cash and the only way to get it is to pay more money on top of what you have already spent buying the game and paying the monthly subscription. that's ridiculous. People paying a monthly subscription should have access to to all the content. WoW's community started getting really pissed around 2014 at the cash shop because Blizzard kept coming up with all these cool mounts and armors and they would just put them in the cash shop, no way to earn them so people started wondering why they were even paying a monthly subscription. Nobody could quest for these items, or raid for them. People had the coolest items because they had more money. 

     

    Sorry, I dont understand this.  So your point is, that the cash shop may have something that you REALLY want and would need to spend money to obtain it?  But the item you REALLY want doesnt give you any benefit to your character in any way other than cosmetic.  So you dont NEED to buy it, you WANT to.  This is exactly the type of cash shops games should have.  If you dont want to spend extra money you dont have to, the people spending extra money arent obtaining a benefit over you.  Noone is lining up players and picking the coolest looking ones to join their guild and group.  This is a non issue.

    Also, the only people that were mad about mounts and pets being put into cash shops were people who were extemely anal about collecting everything.  Thats your personal choice, someone having an option of 100 mounts vs you having 1 does not change anything.  If all the mounts do the same thing, it should not be an issue.

    I dont care either way about cash shops, because i dont really care what my character looks like cosmetically.  Transmog doesnt interest me, ornaments dont interest me.  If the item makes my character better, thats why im interested.

    • 90 posts
    March 14, 2021 11:24 PM PDT

    Porygon said:

    Sunglare said:

    Deathwish said:

    I have no issues whatsoever with a Cash Shop. Its no different than paying a monthly sub for content play. Its only cosmetic items so players are not going to have any game playing imbalances and thank you for introducing the option to look different from the host of other people.  If you want to not utilize the cash shop, your gameplay is not diminished in anyway and you can compete and play on exactly the same level as another player that has bought fashion quest.   i see no problem with this whatsoever except more revenue incomming for a game that we are all hoping will be successful and around for 20+ years. I

     

    Except there could be a really cool looking item in the cash and the only way to get it is to pay more money on top of what you have already spent buying the game and paying the monthly subscription. that's ridiculous. People paying a monthly subscription should have access to to all the content. WoW's community started getting really pissed around 2014 at the cash shop because Blizzard kept coming up with all these cool mounts and armors and they would just put them in the cash shop, no way to earn them so people started wondering why they were even paying a monthly subscription. Nobody could quest for these items, or raid for them. People had the coolest items because they had more money. 

     

    Sorry, I dont understand this.  So your point is, that the cash shop may have something that you REALLY want and would need to spend money to obtain it?  But the item you REALLY want doesnt give you any benefit to your character in any way other than cosmetic.  So you dont NEED to buy it, you WANT to.  This is exactly the type of cash shops games should have.  If you dont want to spend extra money you dont have to, the people spending extra money arent obtaining a benefit over you.  Noone is lining up players and picking the coolest looking ones to join their guild and group.  This is a non issue.

    Also, the only people that were mad about mounts and pets being put into cash shops were people who were extemely anal about collecting everything.  Thats your personal choice, someone having an option of 100 mounts vs you having 1 does not change anything.  If all the mounts do the same thing, it should not be an issue.

    I dont care either way about cash shops, because i dont really care what my character looks like cosmetically.  Transmog doesnt interest me, ornaments dont interest me.  If the item makes my character better, thats why im interested.

     

    My character looks are important to me. I already bought the game and I'm already paying a monthly subscription so I don't WANt to buy anythings else extra. I shouldn't have to. Cash shops are for non subscription based games. It's how they make their money to keep the servers running. In a game like Pantheon looks should be earned not bought. i don't even think there should be items that are for appeaance only. Everything should have a stat tide to it. If anything were to appear as an appearace item only it should sometime after the real items is/was availible to obtain in the game through questing/drops

    • 48 posts
    March 17, 2021 8:51 AM PDT

    Olympeus said:

    On today's stream Cohh Carnage asked if there would be a Cash Shop for Pantheon Rise of the Fallen.  

    The response from Ben Dean was that if there was a Cash Shop it would be "cosmetic only."

     

    So we have confirmation now from the development team that a Cash Shop is being considered.  Maybe this is old news to some diehard followers, but it was certainly news for me as I thought one of the tenents of Pantheon extended to no cash shops.  The devs ARE considerng a cash shop, now I wonder how long they have been considering a cash shop?  Especially considering previous threads on cash shops have been deleted or closed by the forum moderator on the basis of speculation.  You can see an example of this here: https://seforums.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/10174/a-cash-shop-is-now-being-considered.

     

    Now that the consideration for a Cash Shop has been confirmed by the dev team, and as recently as the Cohh Carnage stream, let's dicuss.  It's been years since we were able to discuss this topic as the forum moderator has been shutting down the threads; however, now that it is official we should be able to discuss without interference from the Mod. 

     

    What are your thoughts on a Cash Shop for Pantheon?  Was this news to you or had you already heard?  If you hadn't heard officially, did you expect it to happen anyway or were you surprised?

     

    Personally, this is news to me.  There are alot of high quality MMORPGS out there that have "cosmetic only" cash shops, but no high quality MMORPGS with no cash shops (I think FFXI is the only one?).   This was one of the ways for me that Pantheon could differentiate itself, but if they are going to sell items in a cash shop I don't see what advantages they hold over any other high quality MMORPG out there.  



    No, that was not what was said.

    What was said was:

    Q: Is there going to be a Cash Shop?
    A: If there is going to be a Cash Shop it's just going to be Cosmetic

    That is not confirmation. That is a hypothetical question with a hypothetical answer.

    What the developer said was that, in case we do bring in a cash shop it'll only ever be Cosmetics.

    Here's the run down whether you are for or against cash shops:

    MMOs are rarely - if ever a viable commercial success, heck even games as big as World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV rely on their Shops and Merchandise to generate all the funds, the subscription based model simply does not give enough money for there to be a profit. Plain and simple. This is especially true for niche games such as Pantheon.


    Without profits, there is never going to be new expansions, patches or similar done to the game.
    - How are you going to pay for Servers? For Maintenance? For Electrical, Water, Internet Bills? How about Developers Paychecks? Your Stock owners?
    You're not. Incidentally that is also why so many B2P or Subscription based Games go the way of Cash Shop (for better or worse), because it is necessary.

    So what is it to you that some people want to get Cosmetics? If Pantheon includes an Option for us that disables Bought Cosmetics from showing, does it really matter how a person look on their own screen? No. No it does not.

    Ya'll need to stop seeing this as the devil. Pantheon cannot and will not survive without funds being generated outside of subscriptions. Countless of MMOs should have taught you as much. If they're dedicated to doing that only through Cosmetics - go for it. I'd rather have an profitable success than a failure.

    • 7 posts
    March 17, 2021 10:27 AM PDT

     

    Cash Shop in PVE MMORPG is Pay to Win. Defeats the point of getting epic gear and being recognised by it. 

    I really hope they don't implement cosmetic Cash Shop.

    However if they do, I hope there is going to be a toggle button.
     
    It would be pretty funny seeing someone with a cool cosmetic item, but in reality it's a rust dagger lvl2.

     


    This post was edited by devoided at March 17, 2021 10:27 AM PDT
    • 11 posts
    March 21, 2021 9:38 AM PDT

    Ezrael said:

    I think this could work for Pantheon if:

    The cash shop only has

    • Cosmetics for things that don't have impact on gameplay: Custom campfires, cooking pots, logging axes, mining picks, fishing rods, smithing hammers etc (for use in tradeskills/gathering)
    • Hairstyles
    • Guild aesthetic items (Guild flags or banners etc)
    • Mount cosmetics (if there are mounts)
    • Housing items (if there is housing)

     

    The cash shop doesn't have

    • Armor skins
    • Weapon skins
    • Ability skins
    • Mounts (if there are mounts)
    • Name changes

     

     

    This please, this is a comprimise I can deal with, great post Ezrael.

    • 1120 posts
    March 27, 2021 5:37 PM PDT

    Sunglare said: 

     My character looks are important to me. I already bought the game and I'm already paying a monthly subscription so I don't WANt to buy anythings else extra. I shouldn't have to. Cash shops are for non subscription based games. It's how they make their money to keep the servers running. In a game like Pantheon looks should be earned not bought. i don't even think there should be items that are for appeaance only. Everything should have a stat tide to it. If anything were to appear as an appearace item only it should sometime after the real items is/was availible to obtain in the game through questing/drops

     

    Sorry, again I'm not sure I understand.  You care about how your character looks, so gather a suit of armor that looks nice?  If the only thing available in the cash shop, is a cosmetic suit of armor that provides no bonuses. You're not being forced to buy it.  So it doesn't matter that you already paid a subscription, you don't have to spend anymore money to be on the same playing field.  Unless you're implying that someone else being able to "look cooler" than you somehow affects your game play?  Is that what I'm missing?


    This post was edited by Porygon at March 27, 2021 5:38 PM PDT
    • 2756 posts
    March 28, 2021 9:27 AM PDT

    Porygon said:

    Sunglare said: 

     My character looks are important to me. I already bought the game and I'm already paying a monthly subscription so I don't WANt to buy anythings else extra. I shouldn't have to. Cash shops are for non subscription based games. It's how they make their money to keep the servers running. In a game like Pantheon looks should be earned not bought. i don't even think there should be items that are for appeaance only. Everything should have a stat tide to it. If anything were to appear as an appearace item only it should sometime after the real items is/was availible to obtain in the game through questing/drops

    Sorry, again I'm not sure I understand.  You care about how your character looks, so gather a suit of armor that looks nice?  If the only thing available in the cash shop, is a cosmetic suit of armor that provides no bonuses. You're not being forced to buy it.  So it doesn't matter that you already paid a subscription, you don't have to spend anymore money to be on the same playing field.  Unless you're implying that someone else being able to "look cooler" than you somehow affects your game play?  Is that what I'm missing?

    Excuse me butting in, but I think the issue here is Porygon, you appear to only care what gives you a gameplay advantage. You don't appear to see the looks of gear as significant.

    Other people very much enjoy the look of thier characters. How they look to others, especially, effects their enjoyment of the game - of inhabiting that persona - of playing that role.

    Without that feeling, of course, you won't care that cash can buy you a cosmetic look potentially better than what you can obtain in game.

    A lot of people value both the gameplay effect of gear *and* the look. They might even sacrifice some gameplay worth to have items that look better.  It would still be extremely frustrating to see items that look *really* good, but have no gameplay worth.  It would mean the devs have spent the time bothering to design great looking gear and then made it 'useless' and 'cash only'.

    If you don't accept that many others don't feel the same as you do about the look of gear and that that is a legitimate desire, then, no you are not going to understand most of the frustration in this thread.

    • 1120 posts
    March 28, 2021 10:24 AM PDT

    No, I understand that.  You want your character to look cool to others.  That makes perfect sense.  You can achieve that without spenidng additional money in a cash shop, can you not?

    I think, if I were to try and psycho analyze the problem, its that people dont just care how their character looks to others, they care about how their charcter looks in relation to all the characters on the server, am I right?  So somebody having access to a transmog effect that you dont, is unfair... this is the part that I dont really understand.   

    Also, being able to buy a "potentially better" look in the cash shop is completely subjective.  I think that the new armor things in EQ look utterly ridiculous, but some people like them.  I think so many people are worried about what other people are doing and should focus more on themselves, this goes for both in game and IRL lol.

    • 2756 posts
    March 29, 2021 4:19 AM PDT

    Porygon said:

    No, I understand that.  You want your character to look cool to others.  That makes perfect sense.  You can achieve that without spenidng additional money in a cash shop, can you not?

    I think, if I were to try and psycho analyze the problem, its that people dont just care how their character looks to others, they care about how their charcter looks in relation to all the characters on the server, am I right?  So somebody having access to a transmog effect that you dont, is unfair... this is the part that I dont really understand.   

    Also, being able to buy a "potentially better" look in the cash shop is completely subjective.  I think that the new armor things in EQ look utterly ridiculous, but some people like them.  I think so many people are worried about what other people are doing and should focus more on themselves, this goes for both in game and IRL lol.

    Ah ok, yes, you're right, but possibly not, too, hehe.

    So, yes, people care how they look to others, some care how, in relation to others, they look, but I'd say most not.  Not in a competitive "damn, I look crap compared to her", way, but perhaps in a "oooo look at that, I want to look that cool" way.

    Maybe, to relate it to non-cosmetic play: Imagine you could pay cash to encounter different versions of monsters.  Not necessarily more difficult (though maybe) but definitely different.  You can still do 'that' encounter, but you'll never know if the base version is as fun as the cash variants and won't be able to join in the conversations about how cool the encounter others had was or be able to really judge if it was more difficult or better or whatever or not.  Maybe you could even pay to do completely different encounters?

    So, in that example, you can still 'play the game' without extra cash, just some players can pay cash to play more content or more interesting or just different content than you.  Is that ok?  Does it make no difference to the 'main' game?  Or does it effectively detract, especially if it is somehow very obvious that others have done that different content (ironically, probably by visibly having gear you couldn't get).

    That's how a cosmetic cash shop might feel to those that care about their looks.  If you're perhaps thinking "but that's the actually gameplay, not just how you look" then that's what I meant earlier by maybe not understanding how the look of your character is more important to some.  In a fantasy role-playing game, your look is part of 'game play'.  As the prestige of completing certain encounters is important to a lot of players, so is the prestige of 'looking good' to a lot of other players.  As the joy and satisfaction of completing encounters is valuable to most players, so is 'looking good' joyful and satisfying to a lot of players.  I would say there are a lot of players, like me, who very much value both aspects.  I think most players.

    There are plenty of players, for example, that spend a *long* time in the character creation screen and go back to vendors that do hair and whatnot later to tweak that look.  There are others that say that doesn't effect 'the game' and just take the default or a random look.

    Back to cosmetic gear: There is cross-over with gameplay, too, of course.  The look of a gear is tied up with its prestige, not just how you got it.  Most people appreciate that easy-to-obtain items shouldn't look 'as good' as difficult-to-get items?  It could be that the Epic Breastplate of Dragon Fire will look like a rusty piece of crud - people will know the look of it and know you have obtained the Epic Breastplate of Dragon Fire and you would have that prestige, but I guarantee a lot of people would still be upset if they went to a lot of trouble to get it and it didn't look 'cool' and maybe because it didn't look 'cool' people would overlook it and not appreciate that you were a champion of the Epic Dragon Fire encounter.

    Now imagine that the cash shop has items that look way cooler (subjective I know, but more special, distinct, interesting, etc are more objective) than the Epic Breastplate of Dragon Fire and those same people that were irked that the EBOD didn't look great, will be very annoyed that someone can buy, for cash, something that looks way cooler and perhaps be annoyed that the devs clearly spent more effort making cash shop items than the did epic gear.

    Re. subjective looks, yes, of course.  Not all the looks in the cash shop will be objectively or subjectively 'better', but some definitely will, even the ones not intended to be more 'special' totally *because* design and 'coolness' is subjective.  If VR tried to not make the cash shop *more* special than in game items look, they would fail because of that subjectivity.

    This whole issue is tricky, since it involves subjectivity in various aspects, personal taste and personal ideas of what makes MMORPGs enjoyable, but: -

    1) In a fantasy role-playing game I feel very comfortable saying most players enjoy the looks of their character and to a lot it is significantly important, so there is objective 'worth' to the looks of gear.
    2) The whole issue becomes a lot more objective when you talk about effort the devs go to and who benefits. It devs are spending time designing for a cash shop, then they aren't designing for the subscribers.

    A cash shop, to be successful, has to have stuff that is desirable, but if it's desirable, surely it should be in game. But if it's in game, who will buy it?  Etc.  It's Catch 22.

     


    This post was edited by disposalist at March 29, 2021 5:01 AM PDT
    • 2756 posts
    March 29, 2021 4:55 AM PDT

    I'm making another post because I think that got confusing and I couldn't see where to clarify the point as I'm about to: -

    The 'value' or 'worth' of an item is not just its function (stats) to a lot of players.  I would say it varies in important to each, but that, actually, most players see 'worth' in 'the look' of gear.

    Some people played 'Fashionquest' in Everquest, ie. they collected (sometimes very rare and hard-to-obtain) armor *just* for its look and, even in encounters, would sacrifce stats for the look of an armor set or particular pieces.  Some didn't care at all if they looked like a motley jester as long as the stats were good.  Most fell in between those two extremes and though stats would usually be paramount, they would sometimes sacrifice a little in stats to not look 'silly' or would at least be irked by getting an upgrade and finding it looked, what they felt was, horrible or silly.

    Some people were only interested in the look of an item being impressive and distinct because they wanted the bragging rights about having beaten the content required to obtain it and wanted people to know, when they were seen, what they were wearing and what it took to get it.  This is still valuing the 'look' of the item, but only inasmuch as it showcases the in-game capability of the player.

    The point is, almost everyone feels the look of gear has 'worth' in one way or another and to some extent.  If 'good looking' gear can be commonly bought for cash then the effort of obtaining it in game loses some prestige and meaning; its 'worth' is degraded and it becomes less 'desirable'.

    Yes, people will still play the game, and still get the gear, but part of the drive and excitement of obtaining loot will be gone.  More for some than for others, but definitely 'part' and for most people.

    A cash shop for cosmetics almost 'removes' the cosmetic appeal of in-game items.  For some this will be terrible.  Some won't mind at all.  I think that most playes will be effected to some degree, though and some won't realise they are effected, they just won't be as excited by loot in-game and won't really appreciate why.

    I'm stretching a bit now, so I'll stop.  Hopefully I've more than made the point hehe.


    This post was edited by disposalist at March 29, 2021 4:56 AM PDT
    • 1281 posts
    March 29, 2021 9:22 AM PDT

    One of the original tenants of this game that Brad use to talk about is how players react to other players cool items - "Wow, that in game item looks cool, I want to go to that dungeon and loot one!" - and then the player has a reason to play the game and go get that item or complete that quest.

    Allowing people to buy items, even if they are just cosmetic, almost completely removes that motivation from players. Now it's - "Wow, that in game item looks cool, I'll buy one with real life money!".

    And to some people, the way you look directly correlates to "Winning" the game or how much work you have put in. Allowing people to just buy the 'win' completely trivializes that.

    I don't like the idea that a person's real world wealth now shows up in these online games just as an excuse for a developer to make more profit.


    This post was edited by bigdogchris at March 29, 2021 3:29 PM PDT
    • 1120 posts
    March 29, 2021 1:35 PM PDT

    disposalist said:

    I always enjoy reading your responses.

    I will accept that most people want their character to stand out in a way that makes others go "oooooh".  Every though I care very little about what my character looks like, when I used to sit atop the bank in Orgrimmar wearing T6 bracers and boots when very very few people were able to obtain them, it made me feel special.  Thats an arguement I can get behind.   Easy solution would be to allow for a toggle option to either see people as they are, or to have "ornaments" turned on.  This allows people to purchase addition customizations at the cash shop and generate revenue without actually changing the world for anyone else, unless they wanted it to be changed of course.

    As far as the "purchasing different encounters" analogy.  I would consider different encounters vary different than a different style of armor.  You are directly interacting with raid mobs, if 1 boss mob is harder than another, it would create an unfair advantage.  The style of your armor would never create any advantage for you.

    At the end of the day, I dont care if there is or isnt a cash shop.  Ive  never spent money on cosmetic stuff in any game ive ever played.   But I also never cared if others did, since it never gave them an advantage.

    • 810 posts
    March 31, 2021 1:19 AM PDT
    I hope the RP servers are cash shop free. Honestly wouldn't mind if they had a cash shop server as long as it was a choice. It would be interesting to see who wanted to play where. I know it loses its charm when you can't show off to the normal people though.

    Do you want to buy the rainbow unicorn mount for your lvl 1 xmas Darth Vader looking Dire Lord? The cash shop server is for you.
    • 25 posts
    March 31, 2021 6:11 AM PDT

    If you pledged enough for in game items and are saying you don't want a cash shop you're severely confused and hypocritical. A cash shop, with cosmetics only, supports VR and WILL help the game to grow without directly affecting the game. Yes, it will directly affect YOU, because you're jealous of someone's rainbow backpack, but the game isn't only meant for you. Sorry.

    • 54 posts
    April 1, 2021 11:32 AM PDT

    A cosmetic-only cash shop is a bad idea because many if not all of the cool-looking cosmetics will have to be bought rather than earned through questing, crafting, killing bosses, etc.


    This post was edited by manofyesterday at April 1, 2021 11:32 AM PDT