....Is ARX just a word, or is it a shortened version of maybe three words?....just curious.
Jack
Did FDEV Pioneer The Modern "Microtransaction HeII" Phenomenon?
- Thread starter Bloodsign
- Start date
....Is ARX just a word, or is it a shortened version of maybe three words?....just curious.Jack
Maybe but for sure you cannot compare it to situations in, often very good, japanese or korean MMOs, where in medieval fantasy settings you can buy skimpy nurse, schoolgirl or policewomen outfit. Or make your horse look like a car.Well, that part's debatable.
Now i want to see a, skimpy nurse skin for a cobra, just to spite that, and just for lols.
Then remove it from the store, because it's a terrible idea...
I think Frontier was pretty late to the game.
It's called barding!
Judging by the reaction to it, I just assume they meant this, but changed the name to avoid copyright infringement:
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3KV4fLSNoU
It's called barding!
Jack
Judging by the reaction to it, I just assume they meant this, but changed the name to avoid copyright infringement:
I don't doubt that, if you consider ED to be "microtransition hell." I've played much worse, full of FOMO, "pay to continue" and other types of skullduggery. Thankfully I don't have the type of personality that succumbs to this type of marketing tactic.
I'm sure the beancounters at FDev know what they're doing.
It's called FOMO: Fear of Missing Out. The whole point of "limited time offers" on digital items is designed to part you with your money. That's why "Black Friday" sales are always so massive, despite the fact that they're rarely actually the best deals to be had.
If you consider the stuff on sale on FDev's store to be expensive, especially when it comes to cosmetics, you really need to play more multi-player games. The most expensive ship cosmetics out there, ship kits, cost around ten dollars, and even then you're purchasing multiple items in there. The only reason why I don't buy more ship kits, is because I'm purchasing multiple items that I'll never use. Most paint jobs are around the 50 cent range, though some might get as high as a dollar or two.
If I were in FDev's place, I'm sure I would be very familiar with the cost/profit analysis on producing new cosmetics. I'm also fairly sure that I would place the production of new cosmetics at the "When my artists have free time" tier of my priorities list.
That certainly isn't me. If I care enough about a ship to buy a cosmetic item, then I'd prefer to buy just the one item, not six that I won't use, regardless of if I'm getting "discount." Same goes with ship kits. I'd rather pay slightly more for the individual kit piece, than buy an entire pack for the two or three cosmetic items I want.
Do you know what would get me paying for more cosmetics in the long run? Having a game worth playing. A game where I only play a few hours a week is a game I won't buy cosmetics for, as opposed to a game which I try to play at every opportunity. Over the years, many of Frontier's decisions, regarding the balance in this game, have been a turn off for me. As a result, I don't buy nearly as cosmetics as I used to.
I wanted to play a struggling commander who needs to make interesting decisions to survive her one woman campaign against the Evil Galactic Federation. Instead I'm playing a wealthy dilettente who's most interesting decisions are on the order of "What do I want for breakfast?" This game used to have genuine depth of gameplay, even at the most fundamental level. Frontier has filled in that depth to cater to the tastes of the Veruca Salts of the community, leaving naught but inevitable results regardless of the choices I make.
When I backed this game back in 2012, I set aside a modest cosmetics budget of $5 a month. I haven't even spent a quarter of that yet, primarily because I won't financially support a company who makes such boneheaded mistakes like rushing Odyssey out the door. I do plan on purchasing a 25k ARX package should Frontier ever add the obviously missing Odyssey content, like on-foot explorable Guardian ruins, adapts the Horizons POIs to make use of Odyssey on-foot gameplay, or adds more stuff to explore on foot besides the Odyssey biologicals.
*basically ANY game where you can buy something outside cosmetics.
I spent close to the cost of ED plus EDO to get the void black paint job for every ship I might ever use. It turned out to be obsidian black, which isn't black at all. It's dark purple.
No big deal, at least I'm helping to support the developer of my favorite game (not my only game, just my favorite). That's what ARX is for. Without it, ED would have been unsustainable long ago. If the current system didn't work, they'd change it. The needs of most are obviously being met.
No big deal, at least I'm helping to support the developer of my favorite game (not my only game, just my favorite). That's what ARX is for. Without it, ED would have been unsustainable long ago. If the current system didn't work, they'd change it. The needs of most are obviously being met.
I wasn’t especially happy about the transition but then again it made perfect sense to have one system for the game (all their games?) rather than different currencies for the PC and each console.
I have to go with the same meme. You haven't seen hell yet. ED is just the Wasteland before hell.
Investors.
That's a bold assumption.
I think the cosmetics system in Elite is bad as such actually compared to modern livery customization in car games that let you build whatever custom livery you want out of stripes and geometric shapes (thinking of a recent The Crew Solar Crown trailer here, but other games have done that in other ways). By now Elite has also fallen to the same trap as TF2 where you can't say the customization is limited so the ships meet a certain visual style and things don't get too silly.
It especially hurts Odyssey suit customization where the lack of ability to recolor stuff means you can't mix and match pieces from different suits and not look like a clown. It also massively clutters up the cosmetic inventory.
The lack of a decent external chase camera (for gameplay reasons) hurts cosmetics too since you can't just casually fly your ship/srv while admiring how cool it looks without doing some extensive controls rebinding and growing extra arms.
No. -the elite internal economy has nothing to do with that.
Frontier is a PLC and diligently not dependent on stocks.
Anyways,
The camera suite can indeed be set up so you can play in third person if you absolutely must, even though the game was not intended to.
Being able to buy singular items is also something i see as a must-have, not a "nice to have" tbh.
Recolouring/tweaking stuff to a degree would indeed be nice.
Funnily enough, the most customizable game i've ever seen wrt cosmetics is the now borderline ancient startrek online. XD
(their mtx-practices are not perfect tho; that would be elite, followed by homeworld mobile imo)
The camera suite would pretty much be perfect if it either remembered it's last position between uses or if you could set some preset positions yourself. 
And it didn’t randomly change to an internal view sometimes for… no clear reason, when the previous one was external. (Unless that’s what you mean.)The camera suite would pretty much be perfect if it either remembered it's last position between uses or if you could set some preset positions yourself.
RE cosmetics - if there is just one thing that absolutely annoys the ever living hell out of me about them, it is the inability to separate hoods and hats from helmets. I know at least one or two things that I would be using if I didn’t have to put a silly, non-fitting cowboy hat on my character.
Or have an opaque glass… thing, or a skull-painted helmet, mandatorily associated to a hood when I’m walking around somewhere that does not necessitate the use of helmets/vacuum-sealable gear(outside of an emergency).
Yes. I'm aware.
Are you aware of the Oblivion horse armor dlc released by bethesda that helped to act as a catalyst for microtransactions in games?
There's more to a good 3rd person camera than just having a fixed attached camera.
I got the reference, yes. Though I do think Bethesda gets too much credit for microtransactions.
Of course. -hence the "if you absolutely must".
Playing as a gunner in third person works quite well, the guns are also more accurate.
I'm guessing the added pip is to offset the lower damage on turrets but what do i know.
I've never played any MMO related game before, only sims, rpgs, shooters and so on, so I am a bit the old guard about gaming, considering some practices in microtransactions, and the fact some AAA compagnies release unplayable buggy games, both abuses that should be regulated, and I completely boycott them all for that.
But Fdev way of doing doesn't trigger me as for not being related to something else than cosmetics, and non intrusive ads as said above.
In fact, I bought both Elite and Odyssey at a fair price on sales, not giving a damn for paid Arx while playing, but this winter as I considered how much fun I had for the low price I paid, I told myself ''Common you cheap b-, show some support for once!'' and bought some. This was not much, but enough so I could pimp my suits and the Tormentor, and add to the free arx I spare for future ships.
It was kind of a small DLC I could pick what I wanted, and I'm happy with that without feeling any need to add more, and also felt a little bit more supportive.
Still, that in addition to the price of both games remain really cheap compared to some craps certain companies dare call a game, sold at huge price and with problematic addiction related extremely expensive random loot. Those are abuses, and unfortunately a ton of consumers fall for it, so, yes, some regulation may be good.
Also, I agree with OP about more mil patterns and sportcars-alike for ships: my only project for 2024 is a Mamba in Palladium metal finish, I mean, look at this beauty, the perfect ride for sundays. She looks like an early cold-war era fighter jet, or a Starwars speeder.
But Fdev way of doing doesn't trigger me as for not being related to something else than cosmetics, and non intrusive ads as said above.
In fact, I bought both Elite and Odyssey at a fair price on sales, not giving a damn for paid Arx while playing, but this winter as I considered how much fun I had for the low price I paid, I told myself ''Common you cheap b-, show some support for once!'' and bought some. This was not much, but enough so I could pimp my suits and the Tormentor, and add to the free arx I spare for future ships.
It was kind of a small DLC I could pick what I wanted, and I'm happy with that without feeling any need to add more, and also felt a little bit more supportive.
Still, that in addition to the price of both games remain really cheap compared to some craps certain companies dare call a game, sold at huge price and with problematic addiction related extremely expensive random loot. Those are abuses, and unfortunately a ton of consumers fall for it, so, yes, some regulation may be good.
Also, I agree with OP about more mil patterns and sportcars-alike for ships: my only project for 2024 is a Mamba in Palladium metal finish, I mean, look at this beauty, the perfect ride for sundays. She looks like an early cold-war era fighter jet, or a Starwars speeder.