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New methods to obtain Cash Shop items from EME (discussion)
Today this was released
http://tera.enmasse.com/news/posts/buy-emp-get-a-free-weapon-skin
I'm always down for discussion when it regards the cash shop stuff, as this is an important part of the F2P model. Looks like EME is trying out new methods for players to bypass the horrendous RNG from loot boxes, which in all fairness, is really good, because lets face it, who likes RNG when your own money is involved? (unless you like to throw insane amounts of money at the slot machine that is loot boxes and enjoy gambling like you were in Las Vegas)
No one really likes to spend 100 dollars and get nothing in return, and by nothing, i mean, not getting at least 1 jackpot from the loot boxes. To begin, loot boxes system is the biggest evil that has plagued the F2P market and companies see this as the lesser evil cause it makes them money (All companies except Digital Extremes, they know how to do fair F2P and never sell power or make slot machines)
Yet we have here EnMasse Entertainment, trying one more time to break their bad reputation of hiding cool stuff behinds layers and layers of RNG. And to be honest, this is not nearly as good as the time they sold the actual jackpot from the loot box, for direct purchase, which to me, it was a massive success, but only they have the numbers. However, this token method is interesting.
Generally, you would have to spend 100 dollars in order to get a very small chance at the jackpot of a loot box. Now for the same amount, you can keep your EMP to use in other things, and get the actual jackpot of the loot box you desired. I think this is good for the 100 dollar option. However, the 40 dollar option, it would had been best to just lower it to 20 dollars, because you can get those same weapon skins from the actual shop, for 20 dollars or less. Paying 40 dollars to some people will feel like they are overpaying for a weapon skin that is worth less from direct purchase, while some others will just see this as an extra bonus from buying 40 dollars worth of EMP.
Overall, is good to see that EME is (apparently finally) trying to change their marketing. The best action they could take however, is to add every single dyable/animated weapon skin for direct purchase for a set price tag, add the loot box as an optional method for those who like gambling, and the regular versions also for direct purchase, just like you guys did with the Frost suits during Winter. But this move, not bad, could use some refining, but at least, you are guaranteed to get something after spending 100 dollars.
Opinions? how could this be refined? Do you guys think EME is going again on the right direction, but fearing this will be again "take one step forward, and two steps back"? What does EME is aiming at by trying this different purchase methods?
http://tera.enmasse.com/news/posts/buy-emp-get-a-free-weapon-skin
I'm always down for discussion when it regards the cash shop stuff, as this is an important part of the F2P model. Looks like EME is trying out new methods for players to bypass the horrendous RNG from loot boxes, which in all fairness, is really good, because lets face it, who likes RNG when your own money is involved? (unless you like to throw insane amounts of money at the slot machine that is loot boxes and enjoy gambling like you were in Las Vegas)
No one really likes to spend 100 dollars and get nothing in return, and by nothing, i mean, not getting at least 1 jackpot from the loot boxes. To begin, loot boxes system is the biggest evil that has plagued the F2P market and companies see this as the lesser evil cause it makes them money (All companies except Digital Extremes, they know how to do fair F2P and never sell power or make slot machines)
Yet we have here EnMasse Entertainment, trying one more time to break their bad reputation of hiding cool stuff behinds layers and layers of RNG. And to be honest, this is not nearly as good as the time they sold the actual jackpot from the loot box, for direct purchase, which to me, it was a massive success, but only they have the numbers. However, this token method is interesting.
Generally, you would have to spend 100 dollars in order to get a very small chance at the jackpot of a loot box. Now for the same amount, you can keep your EMP to use in other things, and get the actual jackpot of the loot box you desired. I think this is good for the 100 dollar option. However, the 40 dollar option, it would had been best to just lower it to 20 dollars, because you can get those same weapon skins from the actual shop, for 20 dollars or less. Paying 40 dollars to some people will feel like they are overpaying for a weapon skin that is worth less from direct purchase, while some others will just see this as an extra bonus from buying 40 dollars worth of EMP.
Overall, is good to see that EME is (apparently finally) trying to change their marketing. The best action they could take however, is to add every single dyable/animated weapon skin for direct purchase for a set price tag, add the loot box as an optional method for those who like gambling, and the regular versions also for direct purchase, just like you guys did with the Frost suits during Winter. But this move, not bad, could use some refining, but at least, you are guaranteed to get something after spending 100 dollars.
Opinions? how could this be refined? Do you guys think EME is going again on the right direction, but fearing this will be again "take one step forward, and two steps back"? What does EME is aiming at by trying this different purchase methods?
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Comments
I'd prefer these rng boxes either didn't exist or if you at least get a way to improve their chances by buying in bulk or through the Rewards thing. But I don't own the game so gotta deal with what we have or simply move somewhere else. Games like Guild Wars 2 and Warframe hide the cosmetics people really want directly behind the toughest gameplay. In those games, you have to both git gud and have a git gud party with you. In the case of Tera, the economy is already so robust and full of whales that in fact, most of the time, if you want this or that rng box cosmetic, you just have to let the whales open the boxes for you and then play for gold and give that gold to them. It's called, the Broker.
That's an easy answer from where I'm sitting.
You have an item and people want it, right? Then just let them buy the item with no frills attached. Introduce a higher price point (like with the Frostsuit) and - to use a scientific term - whoomp, there it is. People are - get this! - happy that they can buy it outright, which may then lead to multiple purchases!
Though I doubt that'll happen, as one of the mods essentially said "Yeah, it's nice to see people like this, but I don't think we'll stick with it."
Someone please tell me there is something I'm missing here, because I am in abject bewilderment at this.
You are missing that you are buying the EMP, not the skin. The skin is tossed free.
Cosmetic items in Warframe are always sold as a direct purchase. They do not hide any type of cosmetic upon layers of RNG, in fact, their shop is one of the best shops of a F2P game i have ever seen, with the only RNG element being Mod packs, which no one ever buys. Even when they release a new Prime warframe, it could be called as P2W, because you are paying money for something that can be grinded in game, to skip the grind and have it first than the rest. But as i said, the relationship in between players and devs is so tight in Warframe, that you do not feel at all that you are wasting your money. You buy their stuff, because the game is good, because it keeps getting better, because the devs listen, because you want to see the game thrive even more, so you give them your money because it feels right.
Other than Warframe, TERA is the other game whos shop consist of mostly cosmetic items. The difference is, that Warframe stood its ground by rejecting the dreaded loot boxes and slot machine system that most AAA companies use now, while TERA, is embracing that system, and is hurting the players in return, because loot boxes are and will always be evil.
Thats why im interested in knowing the response of any EME staff, on what is their goal by trying new purchase methods like this to avoid the RNG. Is interesting because it starting to feel like EME wants to change their way or marketing, but at the same time, it feels like they will do this once, and forget about it forever, and keep using the loot boxes system we have, disregarding all of the feedback they have received from the players about adding a fail cap on every loot box.
WF also has something very different from all these MMOs. WF requires actual skill no matter what gear you have up there. Most MMOs, Tera included sometimes, have a gear>skill approach. This is because usually, unskilled whales are the ones filling their pockets.
It is my strong belief that whales are what's keeping the free falling MMO genre more or less afloat, while being a big part of the cause of said decline.
The biggest reason is this: most publishing companies do not have a management that actually plays games. It is very obvious that some games are literal cashgrabs (I always cite Maplestory, a predominantly Nexon published game, as one of them). If the management doesn't know how their game works, they will put sales on the wrong part of the game. It is always the players themselves who will understand the burnt of the situation since they are always the ones directly facing the p2w.
Loot boxes was a tried and tested way of making sales in asian communites (gacha-esque games), thus it is a no brainer that most asian companies will include loot box capabilities into their build. BHS is just one of the thousands of asian gaming companies that do that. It is so effective that they sometimes just ditch the game right after it reaches the end of its playable life. This ruins gaming regardless of f2p or b2p or sub based as long as lootboxes are a predominant way of earning the bulk of the content in the game.
Right now, EME has records of how much money was earned in each kind of event. I wouldn't be surprised if the Hello Kitty rng-hell generated the most amount of money. However, they could potentially earn even more money if the said item or any limited edition item were actually obtainable via a lump sum of money, especially in an era where the bulk of the players know better than to waste money on rng stuff.
I wouldn't say right now the package was a bad idea. It is only a bad idea because they forgot that there was an event that generated a ton of these items (more notably the plasma ones). If they have included items which were part of the season but not really given out, they probably would get more sales as more people would want to top up to obtain the said bonus item.