Thoughts on using ARX Shop profits to improve the game

Yuri John

Yuri John
Okay, we will get paid spaceships in the shop. (Check.) What models and in what configuration? (Miner T6, AX Alliance Chieftain confirmed. Source: Arx Ships) The prices will be interesting. (The hate topic par excellence.) Will the remaining three new ships also land in the shop later? (More early accesses?)
That then leads to the actual question of this thread. What does FDev hope to achieve with this decision and how will the win benefit the game. (Both positive and negative reactions.)

Paul Crowther: "You can rebuy your pre-built ships for free every time. However if you modify the ship with credit purchased modules then you would need to rebuy that cost."

Fact: FDev will manage the profits for itself. We forum participants can only contribute suggestions and hope that they are taken into account.
These and other questions/answers will be updated as information becomes available.
Please only write factual and objective things as an answer in this thread.
 
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kilvenny

kilvenny
Frontier need to find ways to make this game profitable for it to continue. I see this simply as exploring ways to monetarise. I am expecting the ship load out not to be maxed but enough to make it a viable craft. This could encourage players to have a second account and buy a ready made ship just to have fun with.

I might be the type of player they are looking to encourage back. Time limited as I am, I am never going to be rich. I enjoy playing in VR, but nothing they have done for years is of interest or viable. Fleet carriers are to expensive, ground content isn't VR and AX requires some grind to be viable at. 4 accounts sitting idle, two with lifetime.

From the moment fleet carriers arrived my game time plummeted and nothing they have done has drawn me back. To be honest I expected this to happen eventually which was why I had lifetime on two accounts. I am a fan and would happily pay for some content and pre built ships is making me think it might be worth paying and playing again.
 

Cablefast

Cablefast
I am fine with Frontier's strategy to keep this game profitable and alive. The game needs to be economically viable. My view is that the game only becomes pay-to-win if they sell an advantage that can't be gained without spending real money, or is locked behind an insane grind wall. Funny enough, this game was already kind of an insane grind, so as long as that isn't made even harder, I say more power to them.

My recommendation to Frontier would be to just take the next step. Go free to play and sell everything available in the game for ARX. Sure, some people might want pre-fitted ships, but let them buy credits, modules, materials, cosmetics, whatever really. As long as players can continue to use in-game methods to get the same stuff, Frontier stays on the correct side of the p2w line for my taste.

Another red-line for me would be loot boxes. I don't want to see any version of that mechanic in the store.
 

metatheurgist

metatheurgist
kilvenny said:
Frontier need to find ways to make this game profitable for it to continue.
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Craaazy idea. They make the game with fun and interesting mechanics and attract new players that want to support the game by buying cosmetics. Also improve quality of cosmetics, some of them are rough. 🤷‍♂️ Maybe they need people that can do more than creative management sims?
 

Rainbro

Rainbro
Why would Arx shop profits be managed any differently to the profits from the rest of the game? This is a quick and easy cash-grab, it's not going to dwarf existing revenue streams to the point that Frontier can significantly boost development off it.
 

Joesan66

Joesan66
metatheurgist said:
Craaazy idea. They make the game with fun and interesting mechanics and attract new players that want to support the game by buying cosmetics. Also improve quality of cosmetics, some of them are rough. 🤷‍♂️ Maybe they need people that can do more than creative management sims?
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And,and, hear me out......... release it on console !!???!????
 

lefty1117

L
I just don't get why they don't sell story packs. They could release bi annually or quarterly for $20 per. A series of voice acted, scripted missions that tell a story spanning ship and foot gameplay. I just don't understand why they never went this option when they have a whole galaxy to use for storytelling. Elder Scrolls Online does this really well. Just seems like a huge missed opportunity.
 

DjVortex

DjVortex
I have suggested this several times in the past, although there's a slim-to-none chance they'll ever implement it:

Implement the much-requested ship interiors, and make them freely furnishable with furniture, decorations, trophies, etc. Some of these could be purchaseable in-game with credits, others could be mission-exclusive rewards and, most importantly, some (perhaps even the majority) could be purchaseable with ARX only.

If the rumored future base-building feature is, well, more than just wild speculation, that could be an alternative avenue to implement the same. (Could be even better as it would allow other players to visit the base and see the furnishing.)
 

Chorda

Chorda
DjVortex said:
If the rumored future base-building feature is, well, more than just wild speculation, that could be an alternative avenue to implement the same. (Could be even better as it would allow other players to visit the base and see the furnishing.)
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I'm sure that's coming, they must be aware of the microtransaction potential there.

I've still got a soft spot for the rock hermit idea that Braben floated back in the kickstarter. That could form a mobile base of sorts if you can fabricate it on the fly, deconstruct and then rebuild it in another ring system. I just love the idea of ring systems becoming inhabited like that.
 

Disemboweled Ego

D
graeme.firth said:
As long as this only leads to a time saving, and no real gameplay advantage over what can be achieved in game with time, I am OK with all of this.
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The usual argument here would be that the developers created the problem with the grindy game and are now selling the solution.

However they're also changing engineering to be more accessible and whatnot so it remains to be seen how valid this is when the ships actually release - I think the potential P2W aspects could be more harmful than just "time savers".

Are there examples of games you can think of that do these things in a non-scummy way?
 
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