This would be the “wtf” part.
Or don’t you remember?
Except you never had your starter, main and dessert in one go. We only ever paid for starter and main. When dessert got added the meal price never changed to include dessert. Do you ask for a free dessert when paying for a starter and main when you dine out?
Does that really matter though?
Say, instead of $40, it’s $1000 for one SKIN. A lot more people would feel that inappropriate.
So between $0 and $1000, different people will have different points where they begin to feel it is an unreasonable amount, even if it is just vanity items. We saw that before in 2011.
The thing is not really whether an individual item is $30, $40 or even $50. It’s whether at some point, the culture at CCP changes to just see the community as an opportunity for quick cash, at the expense of long term commitment to the game and its development.
Instead of developing core game play, whether priorities change to develop more sellable content instead.
I don’t think we are there yet, but I can totally understand some people thinking $40 for a SKIN is anything other than a micro transaction.
Using your swanky hotel example - skins are just the overpriced drinks and snacks in the minibar. No one is forcing you to use the minibar. No one is stopping you from ordering pizza to your room. So I don’t understand why people have a problem if someone is willing to pay $7.50 for a small Snickers bar.
We’re all staying at the same hotel, and we’re all swimming in the pool the kids have peed in.
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Yes, that is a much better example actually.
but obviously, since the hotel has already payed for the minibar products, and OTHER people are paying to enjoy them, clearly everyone should be able to enjoy them for free.
If you’ve been playing the game long enough to fly a Chimera you shouldn’t be paying $40, you should be using 3.2 billion ISK to buy the PLEX - that’s a few days ratting in the carrier. I earn enough to buy one of those a week as a highsec industrialist. Beyond what you need to PLEX your accounts, what are you going to do with the ISK accumulating in your wallet? It has no real world value - might as well have fun with it.
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Exactly. I end up buying skins with isk (or plex via isk) because if I am not suffering terrible PVP losses and I am making a lot of isk, then what else am I going to do with the isk? This is especially true for people with high SP levels where it’s pointless to use the ISK on injectors.
Personally I agree. I’m fortunate that I could happily spare $40 for a skin but I never would as I also feel it’s not worth it. But however much I believe it’s overpriced I’m quite at ease with others finding it reasonable and CCP charging that much if supply and demand dictates they can. The true value of anything is that which you are prepared to pay.
My post was mainly aimed at those people either misinformed or ignorant enough to believe that the cosmetic shop is full of items we all used to get for free.
Using the hotel example, there is no other place to buy the Snickers bar anywhere on the planet.
Using the hotel example (or the Ferrari example, or whatever other stupid shiny luxury item example) is why CCP thinks it’s a good idea to go whaling: this community has a lot of them to harpoon. The community has a lot of the kind of players who can actually afford these items, and are stupid enough to buy them. That’s also why they thought they could sell us that stupid overpriced stuff in 2011.
You could also say that’s why we play EVE offline so much: instead of putting everything in the NES, they could have put it… in the game universe for players to find. People would be undocking to look for them, once everyone knew they existed. Having everything in the NES just screams “game design by accountants.”
There’s not much real value to a Snickers bar that only exists in the hotel. It’s not like you can e-bay it. Seriously - stop stretching analogies beyond reasonable limits. If you don’t like the Snickers example then it’s a special set of M&M’s with the “Hotel Swank” logo stamped on each M&M. Happy now?
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They’re actually not doing it properly. There should be a skin worth $500. there will always be someone who buys it. There always is at least one guy who pays big doubleplus money, just because he can (and because he has a small one).
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True, there should be like “PLEXTank” skin for all industrial ships, it shoudl look like someone glued PLEX all over his ship. It should cost around $2500 but can be permanent. I’m sure you’ll find people that would buy it. I for one would save up and buy it, just so I can plextank and autopilot around. Even if it has 0 effect on your defense.
i know you’re joking, but there would be people spending money on this.
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Of course ccp wants everyone to use them, cant use them if you don’t buy them. How else is everyone going to buy the new shiny skin if nobody knows about it… advertising!
And where do you see ads in game, launcher and website yes, but I didn’t see it in game? I missed it.
If CCP create a skin that brings in more money than it cost to create, it’s a win for the game/CCP in my book.
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Think of it like this.
Harley Davidson sells all kinds of stuff with their signature colors/logo on it, but none of it will make your motorcycle better unless it actually applies to the motorcycles mechanical performance.
Despite popular belief, red paint does infact not make your ride go faster.
it’s extremely likely that even only selling a skin twice already makes it profitable, because their goal would be to minimize the work necessary to create one. and every skin only has to be created once, for a potentially unlimited stream of money. so they have a tool that mixes up some stuff, and then they cycle through randomly created skins, until one is found that looks good.
it’s all about the tools. i certainly would have went that way, simply because it’s the path of least effort and maximum gain. of course such a tool must allow for finer control, applying colours manually, correcting position, etc etc, but in the end it’s all just numbers that can be created procedurally.
they could even have a program check all variables based on the most successful skins and then have it chew out more skins based on that.
looking at it from above, it’s actually insulting how easy it can be.
lol d’uh mate, what makes you go faster are FIRE STICKERS!
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LIAR!!!
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What CCP needs to do is make more cool vanity items, but make them only avail during Omega status. Go alpaca, lose your ship skins. Resub to get them back.
Personally, the very first thing I do when I undock is scroll ALL the way out so I can see the whole area and it pretty much stays that way.