I quite like the store, the free arx and my general reaction was meh can we get carriers now so I can get back to thread counting.
I have to say, after initially hating the introduction of Arx and the jacked prices for many paints (vs. what they cost as part of packs), I'm slowly coming around to the idea.
I still don't like the general principle of parallel in-game currencies and the concept of fixed bundles, but I ran the numbers in a bit more detail and it can work if you plan ahead a little (by that I mean you need a spreadsheet or else you'll constantly have leftover Arx in your account) and are open to the idea that you don't need all colour variants of the same paintjob set.
It required a perception change on my part, namely that I can now buy single paints, which on their own are more expensive (bad) but I can spread €3.50 I would've had to spend on a single ship now across 2-3 ships, by picking only the colours I'd be most likely to use frequently (good).
The 400 Arx limit is fair I think, you can top up your account with it, or accumulate enough to buy a low grade item (small ship basic paints start at 380, although it depends on how much enjoyment you get out of a matte beige paintjob for a small ship you barely use). I can't see myself holding out for weeks/months though to 'earn' a premium paintjob/item, life's too short so if I see something I like, I'll fork out the cash - for items I
really want though, no more, no less - aforementioned leftover Arx, regardless of how little real money value they represent, just doesn't sit well with me so I'll do my best to avoid them.
One thing the introduction of Arx will do to me though is to limit my impulsive purchasing behaviour. I used to eye up an item, then visit the website, add said item to the cart, then come across another one while browsing aimlessly, and think, ah why not (and add another item or several to the cart). So I ended up spending more than I initially planned, because what's an additional €1.25 for a weapon colour etc., right?
I still have a pretty big disdain for the pre-defined packages, merely out of principle as I know what they're for (to extract more money out of me than I want to), but earning Arx alleviates that to some degree (say, if you wanted to buy 4 * 2220 paints = 8880 > 60 Arx short, but you can easily earn that to top up your account).
What I'm essentially saying is, the barrier to buy more Arx is now higher for me, compared to before where adding bits and bobs to my shopping cart
after I already made the decision to take the credit card out. Good for me (I think!), maybe not so good for FDev but then others will have different approaches so in the end it balances out for them also.
