Style Unlock schedule.

When was the last time they added styles that can be unlocked ?

Here are the dates things were added to style unlocking and a list of what should be available.

GU82 introduced style unlocking (April 26, 2018)
GU83 was phase 2 (May 29,2018)
GU86 was phase 3 (August 15, 2018)

At this point the following things should be available
Episode 1 through episode 26 vendor and dropped styles (including weapons)
Booster bundles 1-6
Time capsules 1-6
Character creation styles
PvP styles
Vault styles
New 52 promethium lock box styles
Survival mode styles
Collection styles (likely includes briefing and investigation styles, unclear from update notes it this goes through episode 26 or it's just classic game)
Faction vendor styles (the ones that require a level of renoun to purchase the level 30 gear set)

And nothing since then. This is bad....

They always do the same with everything they release... I knew this would be abandoned too. I guess I will never finish Gorgon Slayer style lol

No one said it was abandoned, so stop assuming it was.

They did say phase 4 was still planned, but no eta

The Last Phase they did was in August of Last year.


We gotta give them two more months before we start grabbing them almighty torches and pitchforks lol.

Why does this even have to be done in phases???
Why aren't all the styles immediately available to be unlocked on other characters as soon as you collect them???
Like feats???
Huh???

Because that's not how they do things. They have their schedule and it is what it is. Exactly why do you need to unlock new styles as soon as you acquire them on one toon when you can just as easily run the content on the alt to get said style?? They are under no obligation to reward your frugality or laziness.

Feats had an easy conversion to add for unlocking. 1 star=1 replay badge, 2 star = 3 replay badges, and 3 star = 5 replay badges. Styles are not as simple. There are different prices depending where they dropped and on how rare or easy they are to obtain. So each style has to be reviewed individually to determine a price for unlocking. Even the pricing I had suggested back before style unlocking dropped would required some research (is the style part of a feat, how many styles are part of that feat, etc). Also, styles may ultimately have a period of exclusivity in which you have to earn them on each character instead of just unlocking it on every character after you got it once. Though they haven't confirmed if they are planning to do this.

The only way it would be a quick one time database update would be if every style cost the exact same amount to unlock (or if prices were set per slot instead of rarity). The could have done one of those two, but they don't want to "give away" the styles for completing Time Capsules, rare styles from booster bundles, or other items that are currently priced higher, and not many people would be likely to use the system if everything cost $10 to unlock (which is about what the rare ones currently cost). Even bringing that down to $5 would still be a huge ask, since most styles cost about $0.16 and there are even some styles that are free to unlock currently.

I didn't think this deeply about this, but I'm still not convinced it's that complicated either.

Different feats are dropped in different content across all of the content, yet no matter how hard the content/task, a T8 feat costs the same to unlock as a T1 feat of the same star count. I'd argue that there are a lot of feats that are easier to obtain than others, but again, same cost. Then we have feats that you complete by completing other feats, those cost the same as other feats of their rank. Then we have feats for styles that are rare, styles that drop and harder content, those cost the same as all the other feats of their rank.

So tldr; I don't think styles are any more complex than our feats that also aren't all as easy to get but still cost the same.

So with regard to pricing, I'm not convinced they'd really take all these factors into account when they didn't do so for feats. Maybe just price them based on how many different instances they drop in? With styles that drop in multiple instances of different storylines costing less than styles that you can only find in that instance or that storyline? I just don't think it has to be so complicated, idk.

So like the seasonal event feats you can unlock at any time? I'd even argue that every feat after T3 has some exclusivity to it because you have to pay for access to them. If you lose your subscription, you can still unlock those feats without owning the content they belong to. So, again, not convinced they'd have to take this into account.

10 bucks to unlock a style? Ouch..

I know DC wants to get all the money they can from TCs and booster bundles or whatever, so I'd expect them to exclude those items from style unlocking altogether tbh. Since you don't actually have to play the game to unlock TCs or booster bundles, it isn't as if it's something you worked to earn already. So if you couldn't unlock them on your hundred other characters, at least no one could argue "I already did the work, I should have access to these rewards."

wHeN u cAn JUSst aS EasiLY RuN dA cOnTNEt



Except in the case where you don't have access to that content you can JusSt As EAssiLY RuN. Like when you refuse to renew your subscription or your CR is too low, but you still want the SPs from those feats you already obtained - and possibly on multiple characters through the years.



They were under no obligation to bring replays to the game, yet here we are.
They were under no obligation to decrease the cost of gear, yet here we are.
They were under no obligation to allow BRAND NEW players to skip to 210, yet here we are.
They were under no obligation to allow you to buy SPs with replays, yet here we are.
They were under no obligation to allow you to buy SPs with TCs that give feats for styles, yet here we are.



There might've been a time where you could call players "lazy" for wanting cool styles THEY ALREADY WORKED FOR to be unlocked on their 100 other characters, but we are obviously way beyond that point. The devs are always adding new ways for you to not play the game, you all were fine with it up until this point. Now all of a sudden it's LaZZZIneSs when it's unlocking styles??

And just because "that's how they do things," doesn't mean it makes sense or is the best way to do it or is helpful to players or the game or is smart or is right.

A 1 star feat is worth 10 feat points regardless of if it was earned in 1-30 content or at end game. At the end of the day, there isn't any tangible difference between them. The only difference is what you went through to get them. When you need 10 feat points to get your next skill point, it doesn't matter where it comes from. A style earned in the 1-30 content isn't the same as a new style in end game content. A style can motivate someone to do something (repeatedly), even when there isn't a feat attached, if it matches their character concept. So comparing feats to styles in terms of unlocking.

It's not a question whether or not they took drop location, rarity, etc into account for style unlocking, its explicitly stated in the release thread and obvious looking through what you can unlock... Common styles are 4 replay badges, there are some styles that are 35 replay badges, up to as much as 455 replay badges. They have chosen this method for pricing, not what you have suggested, and it is very unlikely that they will go back and change their plans for setting prices to unlock styles. Sure, maybe they could have gone with what you suggested, but they didn't.

I don't recall if the possibility of styles being held back from unlocking for a period of exclusivity was mentioned explicitly, but if you go back and look at the launch thread it seems highly likely. Otherwise why would they have stopped at episode 26 instead of working through the most recent episode? They had their plans for prices of episode gear, why stop at episode 26? They could decide to make styles unlockable as soon as they enter the game, but that would likely happen once they have finished detailing the backlog of styles that can't currently be unlocked.

The rewards from TCs and Booster Bundles are by nature single use. With the style unlocking system in the game, there would be lots of angry players if those items were excluded from style unlocking. Those items are rare and exclusive/limited time in the case of Booster Bundles. $10 isn't much to ask for those considering you would likely have to more than that to get the style again (guaranteed more for the rare TC styles since you need 12 collection pieces).

I'm a bit confused on your first argument in response to Khal. If all you are after is the SP, you don't need to unlock the style. You only need to unlock the feats...

I'll just leave you with one more thought. The prices they have set are not arbitrary. A department at Daybreak did an analysis to determine those prices. Setting the prices too low or too high would both be bad from a business standpoint. Too high and people are less likely to use the system, too low and they've lost potential income (to keep the game afloat or invest towards improvements). They have obviously decided that styles should cost different amounts to unlock, and that isn't going to change. Determining that "best" price for a particular style takes time, and that may not be top priority for whatever group does the analysis. It is possible a few style ready, but not a set large enough or distinct enough to release yet.

I know this is super late but I haven't really been into DC so I didn't feel like responding.

But you can literally say everything you're saying about styles, about feats. Feat hunters are literally their own group of players.

Feats motivate people to do something and DEFINITELY repeatedly. Would you deny this? A lot of feats require you to repeatedly grind out enemy kills, missions, things you have to find. And players want those feats for SPs so they will repeatedly do those tasks with every DLC that drops. So there's definitely motivation to get feats. And as far as character concepts go, everyone imagines their character to be as strong as possible. So this means getting SPs to boost your stats as much as possible.

So with regard to motivation and character concept, feats and styles can definitely be compared.

And it's not as if people collecting styles at 1-30 aren't just as motivated to get styles as people in end game. I mean, 1-30 players get those feats and have character concepts too.

Actually, a style earned at 1-30 might literally be the same style you earn in end game content. You can get Fourth World in 1-30 content and end game now, I think. Not to mention all the styles you can get that are in different content throughout the tiers like Voodoo, Necromancer, Hive Defender, one of the sector agent sets I think. And then the others that I'm forgetting.

And the same can be said for styles. Apokoliptian Shocktrooper chest, T6, 4 replays. Kryptonian Medico, T3, 4 replays. Shaman, T2, 4 replays. And then Greco-Roman, which you can get at 1-30, is also 4 replays.

OK well you can't really say there's no difference then acknowledge the difference lol. But the same could be said for most styles, whether you need a T6 chest or a T2 chest, you only need 4 replays. Doesn't matter where the chest comes from (sometimes, because some might be 35).

But you just said it was a question of drop location and rarity?

And, yeah, we all know they didn't do what I suggested?

All I'm arguing is that obtaining styles isn't more complicated than obtaining feats. And then unlocking styles shouldn't be as complicated either.

I just don't see why there has to be any of this. If feats cost the same throughout all the tiers and episodes, why not styles? All I'm saying.

Hey man if you have 10 whole dollars for 1 style (the cost of an entire DLC with entire style sets that drop and plenty of feats) then go ahead and follow your heart. XDD

[quote[I'm a bit confused on your first argument in response to Khal. If all you are after is the SP, you don't need to unlock the style. You only need to unlock the feats...[/quote]
You have to actually obtain those styles first to get the feat. And THEN you can unlock the feat on another character if you'd like.

OK. They determined how much the styles should cost, yet they didn't have it set across all of the episodes.
But didn't they determine how much the feats should cost? Didn't they have those set across all of the episodes?
So again, I don't see why it's more complicated for styles. In fact, I would even argue feats are more important than styles since they make your characters stronger. But we don't see this much complication in feat unlocking?

Wow, I would never waste my time trying to explain my reasoning. Lol

exactly.

I can understand that it takes time for them to go through every old style and set them up. That's fine. Whatever.

What I can't understand is why they continue to not do it for the NEW styles. When they are already in there, coding the item, introducing it to the game, checking for bugs and clipping and feat completions, doing all the work to bring that new style Live, why on earth during this extended period of time working on the item do they not just set it up right then? Why launch it live when there is a feature clearly lacking, and do it knowing that they will have to go back in later to fix it? Why implement things half-completed?

When I built my new bathroom, I didn't set up the walls, tile the floors, paint and decorate, and then look around and say "Looks great. Now sometime next year, I should rip all this stuff open to put in the electricity". Instead, you FINISH the job while you're already in there.

In the past 10 months, we have implemented 10 new style sets (plus plenty more single slot items). That means, when the next wave of style unlocking happens, we will need around 100 items to be added just to break even. We are perpetually falling further and further behind.

If they would start implementing all new styles with style-unlock already completed, then the Style Unlocking waves would just be about gradually finishing out the large pool of styles that were skipped over, but with every wave, we would be actually drawing closer to having things completed.

Since DCUO decided to start style unlocking. They should have done two things to keep the work load / man hours down to minimum.

1. They should have done the whole game in phases up until they caught up to the content that was new when the decision was made to start style unlocking.

2. Every style that came out after the decision was made to start style unlocking should have been done as the content was released.

I imagine that the real issue against this is that they know styles are important to players on this game as well as getting feats for them. If the new styles were immediately available for replay badges they would probably make them cost a lot of replays because players can run the content on multiple toons, where in like the first week or 2 they will have enough for one style piece on each toon, buy it and then use replay badges to unlock all on their main. They'd probably balance out the cost for each unlock with the cost it'd take to get enough of the new currency to buy the whole style set with one character. It probably seems like a small excuse, but I don't know, that's one reason I see against it.

Yeah for old styles not being unlockable I can understand to a degree but once style unlocking was first introduced any new style after that should have been unlockable out of the box. It's like taking three trips to the kitchen when you could have just made one. They now have to double back around because they weren't consistent.