400 ARX per week max - How Come?

[JesusRocks1988]

400 Arx per week is fine.
The very fact that they seem to be both making it possible to earn cosmetics for free, and reducing the costs of some of the cosmetics (looking at the real-world conversions which show the cheaper items dropping from £1 to like 20p) considerably... no, I think they're about right on the accumulation rate here. Remember:
Decals, engine and weapon colours - okay, a single designer could probably throw them together as a side project quite quickly, so they're happy to practically give them away, or earn a little scratch from them if necessary.
Paint-jobs - similar deal really, a couple of people could come up with some simple designs relatively regularly, but the process seems to be more involved, and there's the aesthetic value of them as well to consider. So some paint-jobs FD are happy to release for nothing, but the majority of them need a bit of cost-offsetting.
Ship-kits and bobbleheads - these ones clearly take a lot more effort to put together than paint-jobs. They're full 3D objects that need to sit well with the ships original lines, and work in some way with any of the paint-jobs that could conceivably be applied (whether they do this manually or through some dynamic automatic means). They're going to be costing a lot more to produce, so they're obviously going to sell them for more. Frontier won't want many of these to be given away easily for nothing, so naturally their Arx values are going to be comparable to their original real-world currency values (and we see their prices are going up slightly, probably to ease the hit of the lower paint-job and decal prices, and account for earned Arx).
COVAS - well this one's a no-brainer. I imagine costs are going to be higher for these when they hire third parties in to do voice acting. So, same with the previous entry, they don't want these slipping away easily, so they retain their comparable real-world prices.

At the end of the day, Frontier still want to make money through their store. They have a history of being very generous with cosmetics, and I still believe they have a heart for the community (and not just our wallets). So it's all about striking the right balance between making us feel like we're getting value, and keeping the store profitable. I don't begrudge them for that at all.

Obviously it remains to be seen, but 400 Arx per week could be in the right kind of range to do just that. If it turns out that FD feel that the accumulation rate is too slow (or even too fast), I'm sure they'll adjust it further down the line.

 

[sollisb]

This.
If you realize that to get your favourite ship kit for free you need to play for more than half a year, you're more likely to cough up some cash.

Huh? As in ... the way it was originally?

The only reason they added the ability to earn in games to stop the 'pay for win' type arguments and the tease that you can ever get what you want for free.

But how many will actually play to earn? And over what time span?

It's exactly like ESO implemented. You can earrn in game (takes forever) or buy crowns on the store.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

EA,2k and more worryingly Bethusda! I like to see this nipped in the bud before The Elder Scrolls gets ruined!

I suggest you avoid ESO then.

And yes, it is canon.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

Huh? As in ... the way it was originally?

The only reason they added the ability to earn in games to stop the 'pay for win' type arguments and the tease that you can ever get what you want for free.

But how many will actually play to earn? And over what time span?

It's exactly like ESO implemented. You can earrn in game (takes forever) or buy crowns on the store.

Earn what in ESO? I play daily and I'm not sure what you're getting at. Riding lessons perhaps? Can't think of anything else.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

I think FD are an advert for how to do in game purchases correctly and i’d hope any regulation would take this into account. However the games industry has pushed way past what could be considered reasonable and a simple fix for a governing body would be to ban it across the board.

First, since Frontier sells only cosmetic items which have no impact on any aspect of game play, this avenue of discussion is hardly applicable.

But this still does not mean any governmental intervention should ever be welcomed by anyone, ever.

It’a a sad state when people want to turn over their rights and freedoms to a government - any government.

 

[Florenus]

Huh? As in ... the way it was originally?

The only reason they added the ability to earn in games to stop the 'pay for win' type arguments and the tease that you can ever get what you want for free.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. "Pay to win" is not applicable to Elite cosmetic store items.

But how many will actually play to earn? And over what time span?

It's exactly like ESO implemented. You can earrn in game (takes forever) or buy crowns on the store.

Exactly what I said. That's why there's 400ARX cap. For it to "take forever" to earn enough to buy some of the more valuable items, while you'll be able to get yourself some freebie once in a while.

 

[Sunyavadin]

Earn what in ESO? I play daily and I'm not sure what you're getting at. Riding lessons perhaps? Can't think of anything else.

Yeah, I don't know what they're getting at either. Anything of any value on the crown store isn't earnable ingame, and you never get crowns for playing.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

Yeah, I don't know what they're getting at either. Anything of any value on the crown store isn't earnable ingame, and you never get crowns for playing.

Aye. Other than instant riding lessons or research scrolls... Nothing really that affects gameplay. Sure there's potions and food but those are trash with crafted versions being much better.

As for the riding lessons... Only useful for Cyrodiil. Research scrolls? Nice to have but you only HAVE to grind master crafter once.

 

[[DOOK] Droogie]

I've see quite a few people raise this point, but I am looking for some clarification from anyone that has insight on the design philosophy here.

Many mmo's have what are called Daily's.

These are unique activities you perform on a daily basis to earn a modest in-game reward. It's a check - in model that consumes about 20 minutes of time, and the rewards are valuable enough to grind toward a skin or achievement title that many players will complete them.

Daily's are pretty well known as a last gasp of an mmo trying to secure player log ins, and provide the player with in-game events communications.

Capping ARX to 400/week feels very much like a Daily structure to me.

There is an active core player base that might grind more than 400 ARX in a week, but my hypothesis is that is not a huge number - and many of those folks probably already dropped cash to get the skins they want.

So what is the upside on the cap?

So that you'll spend money in the store instead of grinding for months. We're now whales.

 

[Ezren]

So that you'll spend money in the store instead of grinding for months. We're now whales.

That would be swell logic, except for... all the things? Man I am actually sick of listing off what actually changed, but cosmetic existed before this, these have no effect on gameplay so it doesn't much fit into the definition of "whale", and cosmetics are being broken up so you can buy them individually and will be spending less per.

I mean, the amount of cosmetics you can earn playing the game now, compared to the "None" before, kind of makes what you said total nonsense.

 

[[DOOK] Droogie]

That would be swell logic, except for... all the things? Man I am actually sick of listing off what actually changed, but cosmetic existed before this, these have no effect on gameplay so it doesn't much fit into the definition of "whale", and cosmetics are being broken up so you can buy them individually and will be spending less per.

I mean, the amount of cosmetics you can earn playing the game now, compared to the "None" before, kind of makes what you said total nonsense.

It's the free to play game design. Introduce ridiculous grind to acquire anything, or offer a pay function to bypass all that grind and make it even more enticing. Then offer a virtual currency at fixed prices in increments more than people need, so they end up paying more than they would have normally.

They call these people whales.

It wasn't available before. Making it available under these mechanics doesn't make it a good thing.

 

[[VR] M4st0d0n]

Strictly from a roleplay perspective it all makes sense. And we know Elite got all of those big roleplayers out there, with all the verisimilitude it offers for their fanfic... The income of 400 Arxes capped per week of work distributed by some systemname bank, as an alternative currency for the galaxy wide monopoly they got on every ml of paint, is there to preserve the colours of the galaxy to be instantly drained from those pesky players. Because ya know, it's a space sim and all.

 

[Aldaris]

It's the free to play game design. Introduce ridiculous grind to acquire anything, or offer a pay function to bypass all that grind and make it even more enticing. Then offer a virtual currency at fixed prices in increments more than people need, so they end up paying more than they would have normally.

They call these people whales.

It wasn't available before. Making it available under these mechanics doesn't make it a good thing.

Or, and here's a ridiculous idea, you buy a little less than you need, and top up with the free amount.

It isn't a grind if you earn it just by playing as you normally would.

Before you has to waste money buying everything in packs. Now, you can buy individual items.

Last but not least, cosmetics were already in the game. This changes nothing.

 

[pgm2b2]

I've see quite a few people raise this point, but I am looking for some clarification from anyone that has insight on the design philosophy here.

Many mmo's have what are called Daily's.

These are unique activities you perform on a daily basis to earn a modest in-game reward. It's a check - in model that consumes about 20 minutes of time, and the rewards are valuable enough to grind toward a skin or achievement title that many players will complete them.

Daily's are pretty well known as a last gasp of an mmo trying to secure player log ins, and provide the player with in-game events communications.

Capping ARX to 400/week feels very much like a Daily structure to me.

There is an active core player base that might grind more than 400 ARX in a week, but my hypothesis is that is not a huge number - and many of those folks probably already dropped cash to get the skins they want.

So what is the upside on the cap?

Probably need to give up the day job to max Arx over the week...!

 

[Ezren]

It's the free to play game design. Introduce ridiculous grind to acquire anything, or offer a pay function to bypass all that grind and make it even more enticing. Then offer a virtual currency at fixed prices in increments more than people need, so they end up paying more than they would have normally.

They call these people whales.

It wasn't available before. Making it available under these mechanics doesn't make it a good thing.

Oh boy, let's start from the bottom and work our way up.

"It wasn't available before". What? Cosmetics weren't available before? Because.. wrong. And point-based purchases weren't available before? Because also wrong.

Next up, Whales are players who spend deep to get ahead in games and be "on top". You cannot spend any amount of money to get ahead in this game. Aside from all the things I said in my post which gosh you quoted but did you read it, cosmetics existed before, you have nothing to support this claim. It's nonsense words.

Let's linger on this "whales" thing. You keep bringing it up, but you clearly do not know what it means. Whale isn't "everyone who spends money on microtransactions". Whales are people who spend thousands of dollars on a game's store. Where a game's income is 50% from whales, and whales are less than 1% of the player base.

Last and maybe least, the idea that people can now "grind or buy" is so mind-blowingly nonsensical I can't even fully comprehend the thought process that led to it, or lack thereof. The idea that now we can pay to "bypass all that grind" is baffling when you consider that there was no other way to get cosmetics except for paying for them before.

Laster, and somehow even leaster, you say that you need to "grind to get anything", paired with that knee-slapper of "offer a pay function to bypass all that grind". Can you pay to max out your rank with the Federation? Can you hit combat Elite with your wallet? Can you make it to Sag*A with a credit card?

You so clearly started with the conclusion, and are working backward to justify your view on this.

 

[pgm2b2]

They are. Some you can grind for 23 weeks, for other you could just grab your credit card and dump some cash.


Actually... you could do all of it in a single day... depends on how many hours are required to play to cap your ARX. Current estimates are 16 - 32 hours. Which could mean you log in on Monday morning, go to work,come back, play a bit and you have your 400 Arx. Else repeat for another day.

Arx acquisition is activity based so there will be no afk way to get it.

 

[[DOOK] Droogie]

Oh boy, let's start from the bottom and work our way up.

"It wasn't available before". What? Cosmetics weren't available before? Because.. wrong. And point-based purchases weren't available before? Because also wrong.

Next up, Whales are players who spend deep to get ahead in games and be "on top". You cannot spend any amount of money to get ahead in this game. Aside from all the things I said in my post which gosh you quoted but did you read it, cosmetics existed before, you have nothing to support this claim. It's nonsense words.

Let's linger on this "whales" thing. You keep bringing it up, but you clearly do not know what it means. Whale isn't "everyone who spends money on microtransactions". Whales are people who spend thousands of dollars on a game's store. Where a game's income is 50% from whales, and whales are less than 1% of the player base.

Last and maybe least, the idea that people can now "grind or buy" is so mind-blowingly nonsensical I can't even fully comprehend the thought process that led to it, or lack thereof. The idea that now we can pay to "bypass all that grind" is baffling when you consider that there was no other way to get cosmetics except for paying for them before.

Laster, and somehow even leaster, you say that you need to "grind to get anything", paired with that knee-slapper of "offer a pay function to bypass all that grind". Can you pay to max out your rank with the Federation? Can you hit combat Elite with your wallet? Can you make it to Sag*A with a credit card?

You so clearly started with the conclusion, and are working backward to justify your view on this.

They weren't available in game before. Putting them behind a massive grind wall instead of just paying up front I'd exactly what these other companies always do. It's designed to get more people paying.

Whales are people that will continually pump money into it via microtransactions. That's all. It doesn't matter what they're spending it on. It's a steady cash target.

 

[Ezren]

They weren't available in game before. Putting them behind a massive grind wall instead of just paying up front I'd exactly what these other companies always do. It's designed to get more people paying.

Whales are people that will continually pump money into it via microtransactions. That's all. It doesn't matter what they're spending it on. It's a steady cash target.

Do you even play Elite Dangerous?

 

[BDelacroix]

I've see quite a few people raise this point, but I am looking for some clarification from anyone that has insight on the design philosophy here.

Many mmo's have what are called Daily's.

These are unique activities you perform on a daily basis to earn a modest in-game reward. It's a check - in model that consumes about 20 minutes of time, and the rewards are valuable enough to grind toward a skin or achievement title that many players will complete them.

Daily's are pretty well known as a last gasp of an mmo trying to secure player log ins, and provide the player with in-game events communications.

Capping ARX to 400/week feels very much like a Daily structure to me.

There is an active core player base that might grind more than 400 ARX in a week, but my hypothesis is that is not a huge number - and many of those folks probably already dropped cash to get the skins they want.

So what is the upside on the cap?

My take on it is it is a number they've come up with that will not encourage people to make Elite a job. I found the implied necessity to do dailies made it so that I didn't have time to do what I wanted to do. Indeed, guilds even began to berate those who didn't do their dailies. They became a chore.

 

[CmdMarty]

Lets wait and see just how much time is involved to hit the cap. But arx itself is a slimy move and I hate games that do it.