Hello! Just a quick idea that occurred to me when thinking about the upcoming SKINr changes in November…
- Allowing designers to RECYCLE or SCRAP their own products to then receive a whole or partial re-sequencing “credit” for future designs (ie. specialty currency – not PLEX, ISK, or EM – that allows for a new sequencing outside of original costs) would help to avoid situations where unpopular/underperforming designs simply gather dust and/or end up sold well under cost, in addition to avoiding a situation where PLEX ends up refunded back to the community.
Especially with the upcoming changes that will allow for more layered and complex skins to be sold at competitive listing prices (assuming that sequence costs won’t skyrocket, of course…), there’s a significant risk to previously sequenced skins (ie. skins sequenced before the patch) that might newly become less commercially viable by comparison – for example, why buy a skin from last month with one pattern if a skin sequenced after the patch with two layered patterns costs around the same? Again, this assumes that the cost to sequence something with 2+ patterns won’t be that much higher than the topmost current sequencing costs. If they are higher, that in itself might be worth a rethink. Being able to recycle for credit would help address that clear dilemma.
And this is different than past calls asking for skins to be editable after the fact of sequencing and would only help to promote more active of a marketplace without harming what CCP has tried to accomplish with this system. The basic idea would be this: I’m a designer and don’t like how long one of my skins has languished as inventory backstock. Try as I might, it won’t sell, and I’ve had it for months. With this kind of addition, I could select an option to recycle, gain a new currency to re-sequence (likely at a slight loss), and I can create something new in its ashes.
In my thinking of it, here are some of the merits:
-
For designers, it means recouping at least some amount of the original investment of a design without the pain point of needing to sell a skin for tens or hundreds of millions of ISK less than what was originally invested
-
For consumers, it means fewer instances of dirt-cheap skins (a caveat, to be fair), but it does also help stabilize perceptions and expectations for what a skin should cost in the first place, which then allows for a fairer and more equitable marketplace
-
For CCP, it means implementing a player- and designer-positive feature without needing to entertain the total loss that a full PLEX refund would represent
-
For designers, it means improved market fluidity and opportunities to discover (or even rediscover) niches left behind by designers that have recycled their designs
-
For consumer, it potentially means finding new takes on classic designs in situations where designers move into the niches that other designers abandon via recycling
-
For CCP, it potentially means collecting more of an investment after the fact of the original sequence – for example, if I recycle an old design to then pay for a new sequence at full value with a combination of PLEX and re-sequence credit, CCP is technically taking in a certain percentage more above that original design’s cost
-
For everyone, it allows design space for new Sequencing skills (eg. ‘Design Sustainability’ – a skill that allows designers to recoup more of a percentage of re-sequencing currency for each completed point, I - V, 'Advanced Design Sustainability’, etc.)
–
Lastly, for the sake of argument, here are some possible re-sequencing currency names…
- Artistry Points (AP)
- Design Tokens (DT)
- Innovation Tokens (IT)
- rSKIN Vouchers (RV)
Food for thought!
