Quote:
Originally Posted by Secrets
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It may work financially, people are too stupid and overspend compared to if you had spent $15 a month instead.
However, in my mind, and a lot of old EQ'ers minds, the content we pay for should be included in the subscription price that can directly affect gameplay outside of graphics.
I wouldn't mind Station Cash if they made it purely cosmetic items that can be purchased on top of the original face value.. but in EVERY SOE GAME TO DATE they've gone beyond cosmetic items, and that pisses me off.
And I can't believe people think it's acceptable to spend $5 for a chance at getting something. If I spend money, I should get something. You don't see people in 1999 EQ1 spending $5 for a chance at a new spell, you see them spending $5 to unlock the ability to scribe an all-access-only spell. That's just as bad by the way, and should be included in the $14.99 a month package because otherwise you're a morally reprehensible individual who has sold out to corporate.
How many true indie games have packages like EQ1 does? Do you see Five Nights at Freddies charge $5 in-game to buy a higher chance at some animatronic scaring the shit out of you? No? Well, there you go.
Airdrops should be gameplay events invoked as random events triggered through meaningful game interaction, not for $5 to trigger them at someone's leisure. It's bad gameplay design.
Oh, and you'll have fanboys saying you'll need to trigger zombie heat. Yeah, that's true, but you're still paying FIVE FUCKING DOLLARS for ingame items you may or may not get.
And to the people who say this type of transaction is good for companies because everyone is doing it and it works great for them, and they have corporate interests beyond development... develop better games and you won't have this problem.
Side note; I've bought a Planet Fitness membership for less than the amount of money Sony wants to charge for some of their mounts, and have had more positive interaction in Planet Fitness than I have in EQLive current-day.
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You can earn airdrops in-game, they aren't available only via the store. You can also get event tickets, use them for battle royales, and win air drop tickets. I would personally never pay for any in-game items, unless you count pre-order bonuses and whatever came with buying h1z1 early access. However, I don't look at it as spending five bucks for the chance to get loot. I like the idea because it's spending five bucks (if you go that route) to have a mini event. People who look at it that way will likely enjoy the experience, and those who don't may not stick around long. By the same token, given how loot centered EQ is, aren't you paying $15 for two basic reasons - the chance to get loot, and the experience itself? Again, those leaning to the side of enjoying the basic experience probably find their money better spent.
In a sense I would argue you do earn your items if you manage to loot an air drop you purchased. If you never get one of your own, or someone else's.. you should probably play on a PVE server. Most players will wind up looting several air drops, even if they were unable to loot their own. My experience so far is that it pretty much evens out in the end.
There really is no "meaningful interaction" on the PVE side yet, and I'm not confident there will be. I think PVE is simply there to increase numbers and as a training ground. I'm sure they'll boost it up, but I don't get the impression PVE was something they would have included if it wasn't a major studio that needs X dollars per month to sustain the project. There are small quests after looting zombies which lead you to caches full of items similar to air drops, but that's about it as far as interaction goes.
P.S. Not important, but I can't stand Planet Fitness. Not sure there's a company I dislike more that hasn't had a political or social snafu.