Preface: if you don't know what a Doppel Diatribe is, read here.
Title says it all: we're talking about ARX and its contrivances and missed opportunities.
Before ARX was a thing, I spent YEARS beating on the same drum, here on the forums, on player groups, on other Elite Dangerous communities, etc: that the way Frontier sold cosmetics was completely backwards and was even preventing them from earning more with sales of cosmetics, simply because the barrier of entry was often so high that a lot of players never got a single taste of it and just ignored the system completely.
And by "barrier of entry" I don't just mean price (but HOBOI, the prices could get ludicrous), but sometimes the mere fact it needs a monetary transaction ("spending money", "dealing with credit cards", "having to worry about currency conversion", "USD/EURO/GBP is too expensive here", etc) was a huge turnoff for far too many people...
...Unless the person already desires what's on the other side.
So I kept saying this, for years: having a system for players to earn some cosmetics for free (either the cosmetics themselves or as a free currency) was crucial to introducing them to the system itself, and that would not only make the system more accessible and more desirable, but also very likely boost sales, because "oh hey, I got this one for free with my ARX but I really could go for a matching one for my other ship, and I don't wanna wait for another weekly cap".
Then I stepped away from the game for another one of my years-long hiatuses and when I was back... huzzah! Now there's a free currency! You can get anything from the game's store for free if you farm for long enough. And since direct purchases were replaced by ARX, you can even couple those two sources together. Heck, they even finally decoupled the stupid "Military / Vibrant livery packs", where most people had to buy the entire pack because they just wanted ONE color (I did that for my Vulture back in the day -- to this day I only used Yellow and White).
...But then I kept browsing it and using it more and then it dawned on me: ....why didn't they decouple the REST?
Why are ship kits not sold by subsets or individual parts (heck, you can preview the parts on their own already)? Why are the cockpit bobblethingy packs still more expensive than the entire cosmetic package for a Fleet Carrier?
...And then came Odyssey.
Dear Frontier. Why are cosmetics for armor part of ENTIRE PACKAGES CONTAINING UP TO NINE INDIVIDUAL SETS? (3 color variants, plus locked-in parts for Artemis, Dominator and Maverick) Why can't we get ANY of those cosmetic components individually without buying a pack that costs more than a freaking ship kit? (which is already overpriced because see above).
Like... I wanted a particular helmet because it matches the look I'm going for on my Dominator suit. It looked pretty cute. ...Too bad I have to pay OVER 16K ARX and get the entire package just so I can have a graphite-colored helmet that doesn't look like a chamber pot.
And it doesn't stop there. Weapon cosmetics are another thing I can't even begin to understand. Why did those skip the "minimum effort pack" (vibrant / desaturated basic colors for cheap)? Heck, why does the cheapest weapon cosmetic (3250 for the Hydrolisis paints, that only exist for the Intimidator) cost more than some of the most popular ship liveries (Predator costs 1820, Salvage costs 2220, etc etc)? Heck, why do the weapon cosmetic prices START where the ship livery prices CAP? (3250 ARX)
Is it because we see the guns in our faces all the time, so we'll pay more for them? Is it because we have at least 2 or 3 guns, so we'll have to pay for 2~3 expensive paint jobs? Is it just bad planning? Folks, this is Elite Dangerous, not CS-GO.
And it's not like Odyssey was released last month, or ARX is a brand new thing. There's been more than enough time to sort this whole thing out, and it's not like it's the same level of effort of, say, fixing the lighting model, or the antialiasing bugs, or preventing the BGS from ruining everything; a lot of the solutions for what I mentioned don't require more than just... organizing tables.
So. Let's organize this rant on a list.
The good:
The bad:
So. How do we fix this?
Well, let's start with the easy one: split the bundles.
Bundles should be a discounted pack, not the single option to get something. Want to keep them? Sure. But also allow players to buy the individual items separately without the "bundle discount", if they so desire. This measure alone would help immensely.
Another thing to do, for yesterday: give simpler options for weapons (flat colors, simple two-tone, etc etc) and/or drop the price of the current ones. They're way too expensive, specially considering they're part of a loadout, and there are no simpler, cheaper options, which seems like a major oversight, in the most generous of interpretations.
Increasing the weekly cap of ARX a little bit wouldn't hurt a lot either, specially considering how now players have much more stuff to spend on than back when the cap was first implemented. A few options include:
One: try to spread those liveries and cosmetics that have been around for years but for some reason still haven't reached some ships, particularly ones which have cousins with those cosmetics already. The fact the Eagle, the Courier, the Clipper and the Cutter all have ship kits but the Imperial Eagle doesn't is a bit of a shame. Same for the Federal Assault Ship and Federal Dropship not having their kits when the Gunship (which came later) has one. I know this one actually demands dev time (texturing, modeling, etc etc), but the current pace is already glacial. And since we're not even getting new ships has been half a decade (...enough reason for another diatribe), we could at least get more ship kits and spread the old liveries to more models.
Two, the most important: regional pricing, if possible, for platforms that support it. Particularly, I believe Steam gives this option. I know there's an eternal debate between players about "fairness" vs "equality", blah blah blah, that some countries have different economic realities, that some players believe they feel cheated, that they say this gives an incentive for region-hopping... Frankly? Considering cosmetics in Elite Dangerous are deeply personal and, more importantly, not tradable, that means most arguments against it are bullcrap.
Regional pricing means players that otherwise wouldn't be able to buy cosmetics, now can buy cosmetics, meaning more money for Frontier and more happy players.
Plus, if implemented through Steam, "region-hopping" (one of the tactics to "game the system" and pay less) doesn't even work well -- it locks the player's account to the new region for a while, temporarily locks certain transactions and overall it's a huge hassle; definitely not worth it for people who just want a new paint job for their flying danger noodle.
And the last one is a freebie: GIVE ARX FOR CQC.
Anywho, until next time.
Title says it all: we're talking about ARX and its contrivances and missed opportunities.
Before ARX was a thing, I spent YEARS beating on the same drum, here on the forums, on player groups, on other Elite Dangerous communities, etc: that the way Frontier sold cosmetics was completely backwards and was even preventing them from earning more with sales of cosmetics, simply because the barrier of entry was often so high that a lot of players never got a single taste of it and just ignored the system completely.
And by "barrier of entry" I don't just mean price (but HOBOI, the prices could get ludicrous), but sometimes the mere fact it needs a monetary transaction ("spending money", "dealing with credit cards", "having to worry about currency conversion", "USD/EURO/GBP is too expensive here", etc) was a huge turnoff for far too many people...
...Unless the person already desires what's on the other side.
So I kept saying this, for years: having a system for players to earn some cosmetics for free (either the cosmetics themselves or as a free currency) was crucial to introducing them to the system itself, and that would not only make the system more accessible and more desirable, but also very likely boost sales, because "oh hey, I got this one for free with my ARX but I really could go for a matching one for my other ship, and I don't wanna wait for another weekly cap".
Then I stepped away from the game for another one of my years-long hiatuses and when I was back... huzzah! Now there's a free currency! You can get anything from the game's store for free if you farm for long enough. And since direct purchases were replaced by ARX, you can even couple those two sources together. Heck, they even finally decoupled the stupid "Military / Vibrant livery packs", where most people had to buy the entire pack because they just wanted ONE color (I did that for my Vulture back in the day -- to this day I only used Yellow and White).
...But then I kept browsing it and using it more and then it dawned on me: ....why didn't they decouple the REST?
Why are ship kits not sold by subsets or individual parts (heck, you can preview the parts on their own already)? Why are the cockpit bobblethingy packs still more expensive than the entire cosmetic package for a Fleet Carrier?
...And then came Odyssey.
Dear Frontier. Why are cosmetics for armor part of ENTIRE PACKAGES CONTAINING UP TO NINE INDIVIDUAL SETS? (3 color variants, plus locked-in parts for Artemis, Dominator and Maverick) Why can't we get ANY of those cosmetic components individually without buying a pack that costs more than a freaking ship kit? (which is already overpriced because see above).
Like... I wanted a particular helmet because it matches the look I'm going for on my Dominator suit. It looked pretty cute. ...Too bad I have to pay OVER 16K ARX and get the entire package just so I can have a graphite-colored helmet that doesn't look like a chamber pot.
And it doesn't stop there. Weapon cosmetics are another thing I can't even begin to understand. Why did those skip the "minimum effort pack" (vibrant / desaturated basic colors for cheap)? Heck, why does the cheapest weapon cosmetic (3250 for the Hydrolisis paints, that only exist for the Intimidator) cost more than some of the most popular ship liveries (Predator costs 1820, Salvage costs 2220, etc etc)? Heck, why do the weapon cosmetic prices START where the ship livery prices CAP? (3250 ARX)
Is it because we see the guns in our faces all the time, so we'll pay more for them? Is it because we have at least 2 or 3 guns, so we'll have to pay for 2~3 expensive paint jobs? Is it just bad planning? Folks, this is Elite Dangerous, not CS-GO.
And it's not like Odyssey was released last month, or ARX is a brand new thing. There's been more than enough time to sort this whole thing out, and it's not like it's the same level of effort of, say, fixing the lighting model, or the antialiasing bugs, or preventing the BGS from ruining everything; a lot of the solutions for what I mentioned don't require more than just... organizing tables.
So. Let's organize this rant on a list.
The good:
- ARX allows players to afford cosmetics just by playing the game however they want.*
- It gives players an easy introduction to the cosmetics system (which benefits Frontier with more sales in the end).
- A lot of the old livery packs were split into individual liveries, so you can just get the one you want for far less.
- You can have the most basic liveries (the flat vibrants, for example) for a week and a half of ARX farm (i.e just playing the game), while some of the very popular options (like the Predator ones, for example) can be had after a little over a month, which is not too bad.
- You can couple free ARX with monetary purchases as a mutually complementary system, which is a good quality of life thing (unlike other games that split free and premium stuff)
- Once in a blue moon some people even get freebies! Like the Azure livery (...not my cup of tea, but still, it was free)
The bad:
- A lot of cosmetics are still needlessly bundled in packs, which inflates the prices for no reason (and paying real money for those packs feels like even more of a waste).
- Weapon cosmetics didn't get the cheap basic options, meaning we're left with mostly overpriced gaudy stuff.
- When you want a single component of the bundle (such as a specific piece of clothing, or a specific spoiler on a ship kit), you have to pay for the whole thing.
- Even after all these years, some ships still didn't get some of the most popular liveries their cousins get; heck, only one of the Fedbuses (the Gunship) has a ship kit, and the Imperial Eagle is still the only Imperial ship with no parts kit at all, even though the basic Eagle had one for years.
- The weekly cap is still ridiculously small, which doesn't match well with the overpriced bundles. Farming 8 months for a Fleet Carrier layout still makes some sense, but farming ALMOST AN ENTIRE YEAR for a cowboy hat or for painting all your guns definitely doesn't. Farming over 6 months just to put your name on the dashboard using bobblydoos makes even less sense (and if your excuse is "just pay with cash", see item 1 again. Or just keep reading).
- ....Did anyone notice the red asterisk up there in the good list? Yeah, that's because CQC still doesn't give ARX.
- ARX purchases being in USD, Euro or GBP still leaves it out of reach for many people worldwide (who, for example, bought the game on Steam, which has regional prices and local payment methods for each country; but then can't buy the cosmetics because see above).
So. How do we fix this?
Well, let's start with the easy one: split the bundles.
Bundles should be a discounted pack, not the single option to get something. Want to keep them? Sure. But also allow players to buy the individual items separately without the "bundle discount", if they so desire. This measure alone would help immensely.
Another thing to do, for yesterday: give simpler options for weapons (flat colors, simple two-tone, etc etc) and/or drop the price of the current ones. They're way too expensive, specially considering they're part of a loadout, and there are no simpler, cheaper options, which seems like a major oversight, in the most generous of interpretations.
Increasing the weekly cap of ARX a little bit wouldn't hurt a lot either, specially considering how now players have much more stuff to spend on than back when the cap was first implemented. A few options include:
- Increase the cap for players who have Odyssey (I know it's kinda segregationist, but it's Odyssey players who have more stuff to spend on, so adding +100 or +200 to that weekly cap if the player has Odyssey could help a lot, and also be another incentive for people to upgrade)
- Increase the cap a little bit based on their Pilot's Federation ranks. Let's say... +10 on the cap for each rank-up? That means +240 for triple-elite (320 for whoever manages to Elite QCQ at this point). If we consider Odyssey ranks, there's potential for a total 1180 weekly cap for a full Hexa-Elite V but... one, almost nobody will reach that, and two, the ones who will are already your most loyal players, so they're worth the reward anyway.
- Just boost the cap for everyone altogether, since the old one was thought for a bygone era. Update it to 600, or 800 or something like that. You have the user metrics. Use it.
One: try to spread those liveries and cosmetics that have been around for years but for some reason still haven't reached some ships, particularly ones which have cousins with those cosmetics already. The fact the Eagle, the Courier, the Clipper and the Cutter all have ship kits but the Imperial Eagle doesn't is a bit of a shame. Same for the Federal Assault Ship and Federal Dropship not having their kits when the Gunship (which came later) has one. I know this one actually demands dev time (texturing, modeling, etc etc), but the current pace is already glacial. And since we're not even getting new ships has been half a decade (...enough reason for another diatribe), we could at least get more ship kits and spread the old liveries to more models.
Two, the most important: regional pricing, if possible, for platforms that support it. Particularly, I believe Steam gives this option. I know there's an eternal debate between players about "fairness" vs "equality", blah blah blah, that some countries have different economic realities, that some players believe they feel cheated, that they say this gives an incentive for region-hopping... Frankly? Considering cosmetics in Elite Dangerous are deeply personal and, more importantly, not tradable, that means most arguments against it are bullcrap.
Regional pricing means players that otherwise wouldn't be able to buy cosmetics, now can buy cosmetics, meaning more money for Frontier and more happy players.
Plus, if implemented through Steam, "region-hopping" (one of the tactics to "game the system" and pay less) doesn't even work well -- it locks the player's account to the new region for a while, temporarily locks certain transactions and overall it's a huge hassle; definitely not worth it for people who just want a new paint job for their flying danger noodle.
And the last one is a freebie: GIVE ARX FOR CQC.
Anywho, until next time.
