"Cosmetic items" should be part of the game

I don't have a problem with it in theory.
The problem is that, as all games prove, there are people who simply enjoy making life miserable for others.
In ED those people have, at least, got to spend the time getting themselves into a position where they can act that way.
If you could buy credits/ships/weapons then it'd probably be fine for a lot of people but it would undoubtedly increase the number of griefers to be found.

That being the case, you've got to admire FDev for restraining themselves from indulging in a lucrative opportunity that would damage gameplay.

The way I see it, a tw*t is a tw*t, whether they had to spent time or not before being in a position to demonstrate it is, ultimately, irrelevant. And the amount of time required is frankly pretty small, new get-rich-quick and get-rank-quick schemes are continuously discovered. So if that crowd will get there anyhow, why not cash in on them?

The pitfall I see in non-cosmetic sales is not player related but company related. It's the temptation for the company to start artificially increasing the time-to-reward to make the cash store more and more convenient until it's the only actual option (like all those mobile clicker games for example). This, obviously, negatively impacts everyone.

Still, I'll leave it at that as it's a bit of an off-topic drift (but an interesting one).
 
Am I right in thinking that only YOU get to view YOUR skins anyway?

From what I can gather, in Open, your ship looks stock anyway. They may possibly display in Private Group servers, from rumours I've heard.

If nobody else can see them, it really is only a vanity thing and I can't see why we're all apparently so worried about it!

Normally I wouldn't bother buying any skins (a fiver is a fiver I can spend on something else, like beers) but I will admit I've bought a few for my own vanity, but if they weren't available I wouldn't complain.

Maybe (as a compromise) when you buy a new ship, like a car, you can choose what basic colour it comes in from a limited choice of manufacturer paintjobs. Anything over and above that provides a nice little revenue stream for FD and I can't blame them for doing it that way.



Only if everyone else in the game can see it, surely?

They can. I often buzz around in open with friends and we can see each others skins - I've got some lovely screenies of a mate in his Cobra III with some flash paintjob on it somewhere.
 
If you're from a country in which 10 USD/GBP/EUR is a day's wage, then:

1. Sorry. I grew up in one for the first 18 years of my life.
2. Don't buy vanity items.

Othewise, I'm very happy I can support FDEV this way.
 
I work long hours and earn a good wage. This means I can afford skins, but only now after over 14 months of play have I been able to get myself a Cutter. But I can make it pretty.

What I don't have is accesss to G5 Thurster upgrades, because I haven't found the time to unlock Palin. What I don't have is a fully A-rated Cutter, because I don't put in hours and hours of gameplay to have the millions / billions to do that. But again there's plenty of players who don't have the money to buy skins, who have all of those, and arguably a probably better players than me (it's just a shame a lot of them are kids or gankers!)
 
Oh, that's good news! I stand corrected.

In that case, I might buy a few more and drop into Mobius more often!

That's a bit of relief for me as well, because what's the point in having a big purple Python if people can't admire it and go "my, what a big purple Python!"

And then blow it up. But I digress.
 
I fine with things as they are, id like more items in the store for more money quite frankly, i do sometimes wonder how FDEV earn enough money to keep progressing the game, pay their team and overheads etc with what they have. If those funds dry up, so does Elite.

Non of the skins are required, all cosmetic.

BTW, i got the best painjob that i use all the time on all ships just for breathing oxygen on black friday.
 
The way I see it, a tw*t is a tw*t, whether they had to spent time or not before being in a position to demonstrate it is, ultimately, irrelevant. And the amount of time required is frankly pretty small, new get-rich-quick and get-rank-quick schemes are continuously discovered. So if that crowd will get there anyhow, why not cash in on them?

The pitfall I see in non-cosmetic sales is not player related but company related. It's the temptation for the company to start artificially increasing the time-to-reward to make the cash store more and more convenient until it's the only actual option (like all those mobile clicker games for example). This, obviously, negatively impacts everyone.

Still, I'll leave it at that as it's a bit of an off-topic drift (but an interesting one).

Yep.

If there comes a day when ED gives you the option of waiting a week for something to important to happen or paying a quid to have it happen immediately I'll probably be looking for another game to play.
I'm currently optimistic that FDev don't seem interested in that business model though.

But, as you say, that's all a bit OT.
 
Yep.

If there comes a day when ED gives you the option of waiting a week for something to important to happen or paying a quid to have it happen immediately I'll probably be looking for another game to play.
I'm currently optimistic that FDev don't seem interested in that business model though.

But, as you say, that's all a bit OT.

.... hüstel.... Beta access.... hüstel .... new Alien encounter spottet..... hüstel....
 
It would be cool if instead of having to buy a paintjob pack for 10$, we could buy individual paintjobs for 2$.

Most of the time I only really want one of the paintjobs in a pack. Also we can only really use 1 at a time.
 
Hey Frontier,

I have been following the development of this game since 2014, when I bought into the original beta. Personally, I think the development of Elite: Dangerous is finally, with the arrival of the Commander Creator and the new cam, heading into a pretty interesting direction. However, there is one thing I am very concerned about: The store and it's microtransactions.
I would like, and I'm sure that I am not the only one, that there were at least some Skins, Shipkits etc. earnable ingame. Maybe as a reward for completing missions or engaging with engineers. I mean, Elite will be an RPG, can you imagine an RPG where you have to buy cloths or skins in a store, because they are considered "Cosmetic Items"?

Don't get me wrong: I know that there are servers that need to be maintained. But do you really need to put all the visual costumisations behind a massive paywall? Because I, as a student, consider 10€ as a massive price for a skin. I just want you guys to consider that you need visual feedback in a game like this. You need to see a difference between your A-rated cobra and a brand new ship. You need to see the shipname on the hull. Maybe charge for fancy fonts and colours. But it is time to step back and introduce earnable "cosmetics" into the game.
I have the fear that, once all the possible customisation options are brought to the store, Elite: Dangerous will be missing an important element of reward.

I don`t have such a big issue with micro-transactions though when you`ve already paid for the main game (Season pass and Deluex Commander Edition) then find there are a hundred little things to pay for on top it makes you wonder if this shouldn`t have been a `Play for Free` game instead. I mean Mechwarrior Online is F2P and gets by with microtransactions- and not in an overbearing manner either.

I usually stay away from games that use this method, preferring those that charge one lump sum then leave me to play off or online. It`s why I stayed away from Elite for so long. I finally coughed up more for the memories and the disappointment of NMS which was the final straw.
I do have issues with this kind of thing when it`s clear that for all the money some of us have paid, we have to pay even more for every decent extra.

So hard to find a decent product these days that gives quality without trying to hold you inverted and shake every penny out of your pockets.
 
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it would be good if we get a mix of free ones and some for the shop. That way FD has them as core features as well as some monetizing features as well.

A major customisation I would like to have is getting rid of skins and making them patterns we can colorise on our own. there some cool skin that would look much better if they were in a different color.

I don`t have such a big issue with micro-transactions though when you`ve already paid for the main game (Season pass and Deluex Commander Edition) then find there are a hundred little things to pay for on top it makes you wonder if this shouldn`t have been a `Play for Free` game instead. I mean Mechwarrior Online is P4F and gets by with microtransactions- and not in an overbearing manner either.


MWO camos work so much better than FD's skins. But then MWO isn't only microtransactions, the mech packs are quite bigger chunks than "micro" yet they are entirely optional
 
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In what way are the current store items to be considered F2P game type times? There is absolutely nothing that helps you to play the game or improve your performance. The model being followed seems to resemble that of ESO, B2P (Buy to Play). The micro-transactions are optional, if you don't want them don't buy them but for the sake of letting people earn a living don't be getting all entitled over cosmetic only items. As for it not making much financial difference - you and I have no idea how much money the store generates but I suspect it is quite substantial as has been the case in almost every other game that has followed this route, companies like Zenimax, Turbine, Cryptic and many others rely on this type of model and makes them money, a lot of money.

In what way are they not? Unless I'm mistaken, there is no universally accepted definition that states Free-to-Play must also be Pay-to-Win and cosmetics are very much an integral part of both F2P and B2P games. The difference being in a B2P game I'd expect the basic cosmetic stuff (such as simple paint jobs not skins) to not be behind paywalls, as opposed to a F2P one where I would not have such an expectation.

It has nothing to do with feeling entitled or not being able to afford micro-transactions. Of course that is just my opinion. Others obviously find the current model perfectly acceptable and to be fair, it isn't a deal-breaker for me either. Just something that rubs me somewhat the wrong way and makes me less inclined to spend money on items that I otherwise might have.
 
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it would be good if we get a mix of free ones and some for the shop. That way FD has them as core features as well as some monetizing features as well.

A major customisation I would like to have is getting rid of skins and making them patterns we can colorise on our own. there some cool skin that would look much better if they were in a different color.




MWO camos work so much beter than FD's skins. But then MWO isn't only microtransactions, the mech packs are quite bigger chunks than "micro" yet they are entirely optional

True. But most of them you can buy with ingame cash, although their Premium stuff expects real cash. And the real cash payments can rack up real fast if you`re not careful. I remember I got a bit into it once and spent a fair bit before I realised and put on the brakes. Again, I don`t really like this way of doing things, but what can you do. I go and play FallOut 4 or some other offline RPG when all this micro-transaction stuff just starts to really annoy. I hate rewarding such nickle and diming.
 
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Cosmetic items are an additional way for FD to help fund the development of the game.

They are cheap and optional, and have zero impact on the game. But still, it is hard for the simple minded to understand.
 
Visual customization DOES matter. Or maybe you played through Underground in a stock Evo, eh?

Actually, this is an excellent comparison. Both games are pretty similar: In NFS:U your character is the car, and you play the game to make your car a better car. And Elite? It's exactly the same, just with space ships. The difference is: Whatever you do it isn't (and it won't!) reaching the same level of satisfaction, because nothing actually gives you feedback that you have progressed! You may have different stats, but that's it.
 
In what way are they not? Unless I'm mistaken, there is no universally accepted definition that states Free-to-Play must also be Pay-to-Win and cosmetics are very much an integral part of both F2P and B2P games. The difference being in a B2P game I'd expect the basic cosmetic stuff (such as simple paint jobs not skins) to not be behind a paywalls, as opposed to a F2P one where I would not have such an expectation.

It has nothing to do with feeling entitled or not being able to afford micro-transactions. Of course that is just my opinion. Others obviously find the current model perfectly acceptable and to be fair, it isn't a deal-breaker for me either. Just something that rubs me somewhat the wrong way and makes me less inclined to spend money on items that I otherwise might have.

p2w is just a very comon way to make loads of money by knowing that some tryhards are willing to pay any price for every kind of advantage. That is why so many f2p games do utilise it. The amount of f2p's that actually don't have p2w is supershort. So far, only MWO and APB would come into my mind.
 
Not really, I think it should be a fine balance, yes there should be in game items everyone can get, and yes there should be "special" items you can only get with real money.

Balance is the keyword here.

Balance and Elite in the same sentence... pass whatever that is this way when you're done?

But I don't disagree - there should be some vanity items that are part of the game.

A Superpower decal for Powerplay that you can only apply while pledged.
A Pinetree air freshener dash decoration.
A single alternate paintjob - perhaps the reverse color scheme of whatever paintjob comes with a ship.

Not too much, but enough to make people go "oh, this is kind of neat" and encourage them to buy other things.
 
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Jex =TE=

Banned
In what way are they not? Unless I'm mistaken, there is no universally accepted definition that states Free-to-Play must also be Pay-to-Win and cosmetics are very much an integral part of both F2P and B2P games. The difference being in a B2P game I'd expect the basic cosmetic stuff (such as simple paint jobs not skins) to not be behind paywalls, as opposed to a F2P one where I would not have such an expectation.

It has nothing to do with feeling entitled or not being able to afford micro-transactions. Of course that is just my opinion. Others obviously find the current model perfectly acceptable and to be fair, it isn't a deal-breaker for me either. Just something that rubs me somewhat the wrong way and makes me less inclined to spend money on items that I otherwise might have.

I expect a lot of confusion comes from those of us that are gamers and have been gaming for years or decades over those that aren't really gamers and don't know what they're talking about. If you've been a gamer for years, you have past knowledge of games and what you got for your money meaning you can spot a scam when you see one.
 
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