Hey Cmdr! Why don't you have a cool paint job?

[Misty_Dark]

So, folk are complaining in what is essentially a free to play MMO (aside from the initial outlay) that they have the audacity, the barefaced cheek to charge for cosmetics rather than introduce a subscription model thereby limiting free to players to certain parts of the game.

They'd rather not limit the game in any way and allow everyone to experience every bit of the game (and whine about it) without the need to shell out any more unless they really want to? Disgusting!

Dammit, I might as well go over to ine of the other MMO's that both has a description model and charges for cosmetics.

Or better yet, jump over to star citizen where I can buy a ship for $3000 in a game that may never come out...

I think the term you are are after is Pay to Play.

But I agree on the other stuff. I am very happy they do not have a subscription ontop... But sadly now that they use micro transaction for cosmetics stuff, they sort of have walled themselves into a corner to use part of the ship kits to show what kind of engineering have been done...

 

[ThePriestSeto]

I expected to see people definding this aggressive monetisation with the cliche comments like: "oh it's free.", "oh you don't have to buy it. No body is forcing you." or even "you have to support Frontier." and I wasn't disappointed. Decals/paint jobs (cosmetics) are part of the game (I purchased the game and the DLC so this is not a free to play game) ... every game cosmetic should be obtainable with reasonable amount of gameplay time for it not working more than a year for one ship kit lol. Same goes with time savers in other games .. game is built on purpose with roadblocks to hinder progress and they offer you some time savers .. ofc it is free & optional etc. Here you're stuck with the boring black/grey or white paint job unless you pay crazy amounts of money to customise your ship. Can't wait for loot boxes to be implemented in the game to feel a sense of pride and accomplishment.

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

I thought it was a rake, raking some sand :s

I couldn't afford a real pitchfork... I don't have enough ARX

 

[Old Duck]

The reason I finally bought some Arx is because the paint jobs I was interested in were actually cheap (620 Arx each). I've spent more money on junk food that ends up in the loo a day later. But more importantly, I wanted to support this game.

Seriously, the age of phone apps and Amazon books have spoiled us all. Considering how many hours of entertainment I get from a game like Elite (even with these stupid bugs), I have no problem spending an extra $7 for some cosmetics, not because pixels are worth $7, but because the overall enjoyment I get out of the game is worth way more than what I originally paid for the game, especially being an online game with servers that cost the company money to run.

Buy hey, if you disagree, then don't buy the Arx! After all, cosmetics are just different colored pixels - you don't need them to enjoy the game you already have.

 

[Aashenfox]

I expected to see people definding this aggressive monetisation with the cliche comments like: "oh it's free.", "oh you don't have to buy it. No body is forcing you." or even "you have to support Frontier." and I wasn't disappointed. Decals/paint jobs (cosmetics) are part of the game (I purchased the game and the DLC so this is not a free to play game) ... every game cosmetic should be obtainable with reasonable amount of gameplay time for it not working more than a year for one ship kit lol. Same goes with time savers in other games .. game is built on purpose with roadblocks to hinder progress and they offer you some time savers .. ofc it is free & optional etc. Here you're stuck with the boring black/grey or white paint job unless you pay crazy amounts of money to customise your ship. Can't wait for loot boxes to be implemented in the game to feel a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Way to stretch something so far you've disappeared off into the distance with it. The way you state this stuff you make it sound like it's pay to win. It's a paintjob you'll never even see! It changes NOTHING! I'd love random materials lootboxes though.

 

[Cmdr Snuffler]

But sadly now that they use micro transaction for cosmetics stuff, they sort of have walled themselves into a corner to use part of the ship kits to show what kind of engineering have been done...

I fail to see how engineering and ship kits have anything in common.

Can't wait for loot boxes to be implemented in the game to feel a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Go Go Gadget Hyperbole

The reason I finally bought some Arx...

Off with your head. How dare you buy ARX

 

[fu9ar]

actually the point of ARX is to have a unified interface to sell cosmetics rather than supporting and updating three different storefronts, one for each platform. It also likely streamlines and/or automates the build process and integration process so that deploying them should be a lot easier for the company. Instead of needing to generate a bunch of images and video to upload and serve from a website, that is handled by the game engine. Now the website only needs to handle the ARX, which won't change much.

 

[Misty_Dark]

I fail to see how engineering and ship kits have anything in common.

If you mod your engines, for dirty drive, we could add stuff to them to change their apperance, to accommodate their increased perfomance, think old muscle cars with their extra air intakes, the lesser one with just an extra airscoop, and the full fledged where the engine sticks out through the hood... sometime the engine was simply to big for the engine compartment aswell...

 

[ThePriestSeto]

Way to stretch something so far you've disappeared off into the distance with it. The way you state this stuff you make it sound like it's pay to win. It's a paintjob you'll never even see! It changes NOTHING! I'd love random materials lootboxes though.

IMO it's part of the experience and should not be behind a paywall. This can be solved by: raisnig the cap, removing it altogether or even decreasing the arx requirements for items as they have already been inflated after the update. I do not think this would hurt profits at all. People who buy skins will keep buying skins anyway (for supporting frontier or because they do not like wait or for whatever reason). People complain all the time about lootboxes, yet these games top charts every year because some people will always spend extra money no matter what.
I understand your frustration regarding materials though

 

[Misty_Dark]

IMO it's part of the experience and should not be behind a paywall. This can be solved by: raisnig the cap, removing it altogether or even decreasing the arx requirements for items as they have already been inflated after the update. I do not think this would hurt profits at all. People who buy skins will keep buying skins anyway (for supporting frontier or because they do not like wait or for whatever reason). People complain all the time about lootboxes, yet these games top charts every year because some people will always spend extra money no matter what.
I understand your frustration regarding materials though

I agree, I think some of the common paintjobs should be free for all, like the Vibrant paint jobs.

 

[Cmdr Snuffler]

If you mod your engines, for dirty drive, we could add stuff to them to change their apperance, to accommodate their increased perfomance, think old muscle cars with their extra air intakes, the lesser one with just an extra airscoop, and the full fledged where the engine sticks out through the hood... sometime the engine was simply to big for the engine compartment aswell...

If you're role playing ship kits and engineers...but I think most people just kit their ship out so it looks nice and it has no bearing on the engineering done to it.
Technically you do get extra effects for engineering weapons...diff colours depending on the blueprint.
I'm quite glad ship kits are independent of engineering tbh.

 

[leeG]

I prefer buying my cosmetics with real money, but I’ve no problem Arx.

My problem is the Frontier store’s Elite Dangerous Game Extras section hasn’t been updated. I like to peruse the store offerings on my iPad while sipping a cup of coffee.

 

[Brrokk]

Options are always good. I've bought paint jobs just to support the game I enjoy. Others don't have to do that if they don't want to. I expect I'll do that again by buying a few Arx and also using the ones I've earned in gameplay.

 

[rhiz]

Its not frontiers fault you cant control yourself

No, but the question is whether or not they're actively exploiting this tendency in people.

 

[Aashenfox]

No, but the question is whether or not they're actively exploiting this tendency in people.

The stupid should be exploited, might stop them breeding. Hey, we can hope, right?

 

[Ashnak]

Only read the title - what's wrong with this:

Spoiler

or this:

Spoiler

or this:

Spoiler

or this:

Spoiler

 

[rhiz]

How odd that someone would choose to make a 'non post' as their first after so many years. It wasn't even that full of sarcasm, I found it kinda whiny, if I'm honest.

I don't even understand the point. I play every day pretty much anyway, I actually didn't yesterday, but let's say I do most days. I've already amassed a few thousand arx. I used to very occasionally buy paintjobs with money. At the rate that I have been buying them, I think the free arx will probably cover my annual needs. Thanks FD.

Yes, it's an incentive (I have some, but not enough, let's buy a few extra), but I fail to see how it is worse than before, when you got no credit toward paintjob or other cosmetic purchases (which don't affect pilot performance) from simply playing the game. Color me confused, seems to me like people deciding that any in game currency is exploitative, because, it must be, right? The evil game companies just want to take my stuff? There's always the few that cry 'conspiracy'! If it's a conspiracy to get people spending more money on arx, then what's the problem? It's your money you can spend it how you please, and now you get free arx?

Remember this is a capitalist world. I don't blame Frontier for gouging the stupid.

I don't think it's a question of conspiracy theories – the whole mechanism will have been finely tuned to maximise the psychological incentive and inrease sales… otherwise, why do it? My main issue with these in-game money making schemes is how tacky they are. I’m rather naive in that I consider game design to be a potential art form and I simply don’t like to see games turned into crass distribution platforms for virtual tat. I had no issue with the old system and bought a fair number of paint jobs, but this Arx thing is so in-your-face. Once these things become normalized it can quickly become a race to the bottom.

 

[Rick6549]

No, but the question is whether or not they're actively exploiting this tendency in people.

Shouldnt you be crusading on games that ACTUALLY do that though ?
Fortnite
Csgo
Tf2
Basically any kiddoe game ?

 

[Aashenfox]

I don't think it's a question of conspiracy theories – the whole mechanism will have been finely tuned to maximise the psychological incentive and inrease sales… otherwise, why do it? My main issue with these in-game money making schemes is how tacky they are. I’m rather naive in that I consider game design to be a potential art form and I simply don’t like to see games turned into crass distribution platforms for virtual tat. I had no issue with the old system and bought a fair number of paint jobs, but this Arx thing is so in-your-face. Once these things become normalized it can quickly become a race to the bottom.

I agree in principle with what you say, freemium is a tacky concept, and arx almost qualifies in that category. However, it's simply a matter of perspective. You can also see it as similar to doing daily quests in any other mmo, is that a tacky mechanism to keep people playing and spending? WoW also has lots of cosmetics that are cash only...

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

The whole idea of arx is that you get enough to initiate the craving for some new cosmetic and then you buy enough arx, with actual money, to get what you want.

The entire purpose of arx is to obfuscate the currency cost of cosmetics to frontiers benefit.

Personally i find the entire idea of arx insulting, but some are going to be stupid enough to fall for it.

My advice is, dont be one of those people, just boycott the store until its again possible to buy cosmetics directly with currency.

Who the hell gets cravings for cosmetics? If I see a cosmetic I like, I may buy it. But if you are getting cravings for them, well some help is probably needed.

Why would getting some free Arx give you cravings for cosmetics which you wouldn't have alrewdy?

Cosmetics you either like or don't like.