Let me preface this by saying this is not a rant, nor a petition, simply a question.
What is the benefit to the player in having to buy access to end-game content?
(This is really aimed at GMs & Devs)
The benefits of shadow key gates.
Fri, 10/21/2011 - 13:00
Fri, 10/21/2011 - 13:09
#2
"What is the benefit to the
"What is the benefit to the player in having to buy access to end-game content?"
It is more exclusive. What is the benefit to the player in only being able to complete a raid dungeon once a week? Same sort of concept, limiting the number of times a content can be run reduces burn out on the content.
Not saying I think the price is reasonable, but the theory behind putting content behind a money gate... well, it isn't completely awful when you consider the exclusive loot rewards for paying to access the content.
Fri, 10/21/2011 - 13:10
#3
everybody has 5-star gear
Everybody has 5-star gear. It's just not hard enough to get. So the designers have created a new class of gear, that is really hard to get. Unfortunately, what makes it hard is not skill but rather financial resources. On the plus side, at least it's no better than the gear that's already available.
In other words, paying customers get something special for their money, but not something so special that it really disrupts the game for everybody else. A fine line is being walked here. Of course, some players disagree with where the line has been drawn...
Fri, 10/21/2011 - 13:13
#4
It would be understandable if
It would be understandable if the rewards of exploring these depths outweighed cost. However as I have heard, it does not.
For a F2P game, its makes exploring this end-game content an insurmountable task. Though I have a suspicion that this is not meant for the F2P player, it is a means to turn them into P2P players. I have no qualms spending $ on SK, however I respect the fact that some can not/will not.
Fri, 10/21/2011 - 13:20
#5
when you consider the
when you consider the exclusive loot rewards for paying to access the content.
But the levels don't have subtantially higher payout than FSC, and with the arguable exception of the Snarbolax set (Which is incidentally the easiest to get) all the Shadow Lair gear is terrible. If the content was offering loot that actually was better than your typical fair it'd be more reasonable, but as it stands keys are overpriced due to their rarity, and the Shadow Lairs don't provide anywhere near enough crowns to be worth restricting (Unless the "tier 2/3" Shadow Lairs are a massive gain over Wildwoods). Granted making a financial divide by making the gear too good would be even worse, but there plain and simply isn't point in making the content resricted when it isn't worth restricting.
Fri, 10/21/2011 - 13:28
#6
@Echoez - Sadly, money seems
@Echoez - Sadly, money seems to be the answer to a lot of questions.
@Khamsin - The exclusivity aspect is undeniable, just sad that the only way to make something exclusive is to put a high price tag on it.
@Bopp - I hate to put it like this but, even for those who have the means to get to these depths, they are going to pay extra (7500% more) to fight re-skinned bosses for items that are not worth the investment.
Fri, 10/21/2011 - 14:35
#7
So much fail. I am
So much fail. I am technically a P2P player because I have given OOO real money for CE. I am really more of a F2P player that has in the past felt good about sliding OOO some cash from time to time because I have been pleased with their continued release of new content and support of the community. I am a bid fan of indi games and feel good about paying for DLC when I am happy with the company and their product. This Shadow Lair business has left a really sour taste in my mouth and has me questioning the direction this game is headed. I have pretty much taken a full 180 degree turn in my view of OOO. At the present time I would say that I now no further plans to add any more monetary support to OOO (while previously I did & have made recent pre-lair CE purchases). I'm not saying I'm quitting (yet, though that is now a question I am asking myself), but it is on my mind now (where it was not before).
Fri, 10/21/2011 - 14:49
#8
Ha
The benefit is you can play the content only a few times, making all the time the devs spent creating this content pretty meaningless, and not actually make users stay to play the game more.
Oh wait.
I guess they are supposed to give an incentive to open Lockboxes since most people probably didn't care about them past the first week, but that's is just kind of silly.
Fri, 10/21/2011 - 14:54
#9
I feel the same way, and I am
I feel the same way, and I am in no way a F2P player, I have put a near embarrassing amount of money into this game, and before the latest updates I had every intention on doing so in the future. However, like I stated in Kriptix thread, if this is where that money of going, then I will no longer contribute any money toward this franchise, or OOO.
The lock boxes seemed fine in the beginning, they had more a feel like 'crates' from Team Fortress 2. A player could obtain a 'box' and would have to buy a 'key' in order to open, the end product of the 'box' being an in-game item.
However, with the shadow liar update the purpose of the lock box has changed, it is now a gambling feature to access end-game content.
They truly aren't hiding this fact at all... This is the most shallow system of taking our money that OOO has devised yet.
Fri, 10/21/2011 - 14:56
#10
then do not give them your money
It's very simple. If Shadow Lairs are not worth the cost to you, then do not use them. Three Rings will either give up that product entirely, or lower the price. Simply vote with your money and time; they'll get the point.
Fri, 10/21/2011 - 15:01
#11
More money for OOO since the
More money for OOO since the content isn't nearly profitable enough to make up for the cost of the key. If you want an actual benefit to players then there isn't one, unless you count the armour being rarer for trophy purposes but since they're crap trophy costumes is all they are.
What are you 12? We live in Capitalism, everything is about money. Most people come to realize that.
Fri, 10/21/2011 - 15:14
#12
Richy, the question was "what
Richy, the question was "what is the benefit to the player in having to buy access to end-game content?" Key word being "player"...
Thank you for sharing your vast wisdom on the subject matter tho!
Fri, 10/21/2011 - 15:20
#13
well richy
its true money is in alot of things but paying for a free to play game is like goin to Mc Donald's and getting a rock
@bopp
i understand what you mean but unless you saw the stats for the armor just to tell you the stats completely suck
snarby gear is skolver with poison on it
vana gear is nega fire and pos curse as if thats useful
mer bomber is speed and damage not even ctr i mean what made them think of that (on top of that movement speed and bomb damage are low on both pieces)
queen jelly is ice and sleep (cause there are SOOOOO many monsters that cause sleep)
arcane is slime low and beast low on both pieces i dont remember the resists
and i didn't care to look at the heavenly crud
Fri, 10/21/2011 - 15:36
#14
Manlyname
I am not interested in the Jelly, Cobalt, Salamander, etc. armor lines. I'm not interested in Skelly, because although it looks awesome I don't have the resources to craft purely for looks.
The net effect of this update is that there are now a few more armor lines that I'm not interested in.
Fri, 10/21/2011 - 16:08
#15
What are you 12? We live in
What are you 12? We live in Capitalism, everything is about money. Most people come to realize that.
No, but common signs of someone being twelve are resorting to insults in favour of saying something intelligent, and not having the reading comprehension to differentiate between "benefit to players" and "benefit to the company".
Sat, 10/22/2011 - 06:30
#16
So exclusivity... Which is
So exclusivity... Which is only a benefit to those that can access this content.
Sat, 10/22/2011 - 06:47
#17
*shrug*
I really don't see it
*shrug*
I really don't see it other than money for OOO.
Sat, 10/22/2011 - 07:06
#18
Yeah, sorta just waiting for
Yeah, sorta just waiting for someone in the OOO community to give a response... Nick? Boswick? Eurydice?
Because I am fairly sure they will not say "Money"...
Sat, 10/22/2011 - 07:42
#19
+1
To what BSOD said:
- So much fail. I am technically a P2P player because I have given OOO real money for CE. I am really more of a F2P player that has in the past felt good about sliding OOO some cash from time to time because I have been pleased with their continued release of new content and support of the community. I am a bid fan of indi games and feel good about paying for DLC when I am happy with the company and their product. This Shadow Lair business has left a really sour taste in my mouth and has me questioning the direction this game is headed. I have pretty much taken a full 180 degree turn in my view of OOO. At the present time I would say that I now no further plans to add any more monetary support to OOO (while previously I did & have made recent pre-lair CE purchases). I'm not saying I'm quitting (yet, though that is now a question I am asking myself), but it is on my mind now (where it was not before).
Sat, 10/22/2011 - 08:20
#20
When these were first being
When these were first being developed, additional heat/crowns and tokens were being touted as a feature..but now that its released and has a super high entry cost i'm not really seeing the point at all..i'm convinced if they just made the key a high cost one off they'd be making more money in the long term AND keep more players happy AND have more people experience the content they've worked hard (ish) on creating.
Why would you ever go back once you've got the armour piece you want? the additional loot made sense when everyone thought it'd be simple risk vs reward but makes none now with the key requirement
It honestly just seems to me that accessories didnt retain their novelty as long as OOO hoped and they didnt want to lose a big money sink in lockboxes, so they thought hey you know what this new content we're making? lets put the key in lockboxes! [Crappy] short term solution if you ask me.
Anyway if OOO is the company we think (hope) they are, they'll take notice of their playerbase..but if they cant see past the minority thats providing them with a short term cash bump by spam purchasing CE then well, this will die sooner rather than later and we can all take our money elsewhere
More money for OOO since the content isn't nearly profitable enough to make up for the cost of the key. If you want an actual benefit to players then there isn't one, unless you count the armour being rarer for trophy purposes but since they're crap trophy costumes is all they are.