Easy tiger.. have a hug instead.. they're free! <hugs>
Question for the devs:everything purchasable with ingame Credits?
- Thread starter Ervig
- Start date
Easy tiger.. have a hug instead.. they're free! <hugs>
I'd imagine the truthful answer would be it's not set in stone.
However, consider what a multi canon actually looks like and compare it with the image on the purchase tile. The purchase tile image is much lower quality.
In order to sell cosmetic modifications within the game is that they really need to be shown in high quality, and for that there would have to be additional coding, where as on the website they can show it exactly as it appears.
Otherwise they could link your in game account to your store account and have the option to pay with in game credits, but that would open them up to the risk of someone (or many people) accidentally beign able to buy real items with in game credits (just as items bought online from Amazon, Kodak, Tesco etc can mistakenly be priced at a fraction of their RRP).
Err... if someone can't realise that businesses need to make money to produce goods and survive, then I really don't know what to say...
It's a little more complicated than that. David already said the money to finish ED is in place, so some (not myself) may not understand the "need' for additional money as opposed to the "want" of additional money.
Ya, it seems simple but, as long as there's questions, there will be a need for answers. I think a lot of people (again, not myself) thought since this was crowd funded, at least in part, that it wasn't for profit or wouldn't follow normal profit making techniques. I never thought that myself but, it would seem some do? I guess.
Much more reasonable post!
There is just one thing that keeps coming back in discussions like this that "grinds my gears" a bit and this something doesn't necessarily have to do with FD, but companies/businesses in general.
Is the goal of a company really just "about making money"?
No, no it isn't. A company needs to make money to exist, absolutely! Is it the goal? No.
How do you think a company is created? Someone saying:
"Hey, let's start a company to make money!"
"Sounds great, but what should we do?"
"Who cares,...let's just roll a dice and see what happens!"
Sure, there are maybe some who actually do this, but the majority doesn't. Instead they have an idea that they are really passionate about that they want to succeed. If the market agrees they make money and a company is born. This often takes several years of making no money at all before the big break.
Companies make products because they are passionate about them. At least smaller independent companies. Huge corporations that has changed leadership hundreds of times is another thing and another discussion.
In the case of FD, their company is founded by David himself and he still controls it after 20 years of successful business. David is also one of the original creators of Elite. I think we can safely say that he cares deeply about the game and want it to be the best it can be. Any interview with him about the game makes that very clear indeed. They still need to make money of course to realize all the things they want to do, but saying that it's all "about making money" is just false IMO.
Rant over.
I do agree in general.
However I would also like paint jobs to be an actual in-game mechanism. I would like to go to a shipyard and pay for a certain paint job I like and have it applied. As it is now if you buy a paint job with cash at the store you can apply it for free anytime you like in the game. In theory you could change the paint job of your ship every time you docked without it costing anything in game. This I feel detracts from game play.
Imagine what a ship would cost in the store if a certain paintjob already sets you back 13 euros.
It would have to be at least 100 bucks per ship. I certainly would not be able to afford it.
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Michael Brookes
Game Director
Gen-Han-Solo
Banned
I would like to be able to buy cosmetic items in game with in game cash but on your ships destruction these items should vanish, and should not be transferable to the next ship or a new ship you buy in game. If on the other had you buy cosmetic items with reel cash in the store, they should be permanent one time buys so you get them back free in game.
Much more reasonable post!
There is just one thing that keeps coming back in discussions like this that "grinds my gears" a bit and this something doesn't necessarily have to do with FD, but companies/businesses in general.
Is the goal of a company really just "about making money"?
No, no it isn't. A company needs to make money to exist, absolutely! Is it the goal? No.
How do you think a company is created? Someone saying:
"Hey, let's start a company to make money!"
"Sounds great, but what should we do?"
"Who cares,...let's just roll a dice and see what happens!"
Sure, there are maybe some who actually do this, but the majority doesn't. Instead they have an idea that they are really passionate about that they want to succeed. If the market agrees they make money and a company is born. This often takes several years of making no money at all before the big break.
Companies make products because they are passionate about them. At least smaller independent companies. Huge corporations that has changed leadership hundreds of times is another thing and another discussion.
In the case of FD, their company is founded by David himself and he still controls it after 20 years of successful business. David is also one of the original creators of Elite. I think we can safely say that he cares deeply about the game and want it to be the best it can be. Any interview with him about the game makes that very clear indeed. They still need to make money of course to realize all the things they want to do, but saying that it's all "about making money" is just false IMO.
Rant over.
No one said "it's ALL about making money". It is about making money, no matter what is in a companies "heart" because, well, it takes money to exist doesn't it? I think you're assuming I'm against Frontier or attacking them. I am not.
Thing is though, elite has always been known as a trading game, to have multiplayer elite not allow trading between the multi players seems a bit counter intuitive.
I believe they have already said player to player trade is possible and I think it is needed for hiring wingmen and such.
I can't see gold sellers being as much as a problem in this game, as it is a game of skill, and you can't just farm credits by repetitive clicking or automated bots.
To be a successful gold seller you'd have to actually play the game and get good at it....
And a publicly traded one at that, with a duty to shareholders.
Market segmentation is the art of selling the same thing to different people for different amounts of money. "Cosmetic addons" seems like a way of doing that in this game. For more interesting insight, see here: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/CamelsandRubberDuckies.html
You know when it comes to this murky issue I also think good communication (arguably something thats been a bit lacking) from Frontier with us backers would go a long way to help us understand and appreciate the funding strategy for the game. I don't think anyone is deluding themselves about financial realities but all I want to hear, and see, is that the company is listening to people concerns and will create a system thats fair and inclusive but one that can obviously create a good return for the company. Which of course will lead to further development and investment in the game.
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Personally I would rather have skins in the shop at various prices than selling credits for money which would actually affect the gameplay whereas skins do not. So I don't really like it but it's more acceptable than the alternative for me.
You know when it comes to this murky issue I also think good communication (arguably something thats been a bit lacking) from Frontier with us backers would go a long way to help us understand and appreciate the funding strategy for the game. I don't think anyone is deluding themselves about financial realities but all I want to hear, and see, is that the company is listening to people concerns and will create a system thats fair and inclusive but one that can obviously create a good return for the company. Which of course will lead to further development and investment in the game.
Alert alert.. Common sense detected.. beep beep
Please note that I was not suggesting this to become practice, merely suggesting a fail safe mechanic to eliminate the threat.
I do not think that RMT sellers will be an issue at all in this game as it has limited access, a niche player base and limited ways for which to advertise in game.
I agree that trading amongst players is a necessity, but it needs to be limited to in station and live trades, when its person to person.
I'm not big on a "mailbox" feature. Auction house would be ok as long as it is station/system limited.
I think it is obvious that frontier need the revenue streams and that is why they charge for paint jobs, and Michaels response was appropriate at pointing out there has been a discarded worse option of revenue generation.
I also find your response to Michael inappropriate and way over the top.
So can we all agree now that:
1. We don't mind Frontier making money, leading to...
2. We don't mind Michael and co. getting paid each month, which ensures that...
3. E: D gets made, and isn't subscription or p2w based, and that...
4. Cash for cosmetics isn't going to go away, but...
5. There may be some cosmetic items in game, but that's not decided yet.
Right.
That leaves three more questions as far as I can see:
1. Are prices for skins likely to change, with perhaps bundles of skins or reduced price sales at a later date?
2. Are time-limited items (flag paint jobs, the wireframe Cobra skin etc.) going to come on sale again occasionally or periodically, allowing those who missed out first time round to buy them? (at the risk of people who bought them initially launching disgruntled invective strikes on the forum )
3. Are cosmetic items in-ship (ship décor such as... I dunno... fish-tanks or towel racks etc.) a possibility in the future?
1. We don't mind Frontier making money, leading to...
2. We don't mind Michael and co. getting paid each month, which ensures that...
3. E: D gets made, and isn't subscription or p2w based, and that...
4. Cash for cosmetics isn't going to go away, but...
5. There may be some cosmetic items in game, but that's not decided yet.
Right.
That leaves three more questions as far as I can see:
1. Are prices for skins likely to change, with perhaps bundles of skins or reduced price sales at a later date?
2. Are time-limited items (flag paint jobs, the wireframe Cobra skin etc.) going to come on sale again occasionally or periodically, allowing those who missed out first time round to buy them? (at the risk of people who bought them initially launching disgruntled invective strikes on the forum
)3. Are cosmetic items in-ship (ship décor such as... I dunno... fish-tanks or towel racks etc.) a possibility in the future?
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That leaves three more questions as far as I can see:
1. Are prices for skins likely to change, with perhaps bundles of skins or reduced price sales at a later date?
2. Are time-limited items (flag paint jobs, the wireframe Cobra skin etc.) going to come on sale again occasionally or periodically, allowing those who missed out first time round to buy them? (at the risk of people who bought them launching disgruntled invective strikes on the forum
3. Are cosmetic items in-ship (ship décor such as... I dunno... fish-tanks or towel racks etc.) a possibility in the future?
Can we speculate!?
1. Yes
2. Yes (and yes
)3. Yes...but hopefully not a fish tank and a towel. I want that fluffy dice though AND a bobble head of David!
Thanks (as always) for the honesty Michael. The internal debate should be hard indeed. <3
A little feedback by me. I think that going the cosmetic modification route is a very good thing for the game. There are examples of games that base 100% of their monetization plans on cosmetic items, and Elite really presents a whole universe to modify and have customization in. From skins and decals to decorations, and from interior design to AI sound packs to different UI colors/options to FREAKING FLAMES and shark teeth PAINTED IN THE FUSELAGE to Michael Brookes playing an Harp while wearing a mail bobbleheads to ...really anything that does not give an actual advantage to gameplay.
In my honest opinion, the right way to go for this would be to have cosmetic items that are only purchasable with money, and cosmetic items that are only acquirable via playing the game.
To give you an example, imagine a guy that is a big Cobra fan and likes to use that ship a lot. If his ONLY option would be to "pimp his ride" via paying money, he could think that the game introduces paywalls to all aspects of customization so as to bleed him dry.
If the player could purchase a certain item via both real money or game money, then the amount of game money (or grinding, or "effort") would determine how he feels about monetization for the game. For example, if he could procure said cosmetic item cheaply in game, he would almost NEVER pay real money for it. If on the other side the amount of grinding was too high, he would feel that the game introduces grindfests to all aspects of customization so as to bleed him dry. Its difficult to balance really (especially when your game is live and players have already bought stuff from you).
Lastly, if he had choices for both exclusive store items, AND items that can be acquired in game, the variety and quality of said items would be the determining factor for him supporting the game monetarily. If said variety is high for both categories, and the quality delta between $ and game money items is not too high (pay 10k cr for a red colored fuselage vs TIGERS LEAPING FROM SUBMARINES CARVED IN GOLD across the wings), I think that most players would happily augment their customization choices with store items, and also do that without feeling ripped off/excluded from content already made for the game.
Hope that helps, cheers..C:
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Ok! Thanks for the reply, very much appreciated.
Can we speculate!?
3. Yes...but hopefully not a fish tank and a towel. I want that fluffy dice though AND a bobble head of David!
Toilet... surely every worthy ship has got to have one of those refuse disposal... Then sell the results for fertilizer!
groan...
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