I would rather they spent their time making a better expansion , bigger and better.. more zones , more quests, more unique spells, abilities. maybe a new race/class combo .. if these "perks" help give them the revenue to be able to do this then so be it .. However I doubt EQ will see any returns from anything coming from these "perks" .. and the expansions will suffer for it ..
Ever park in a valet parking spot where the regular parking is just 20 feet farther away? Pay for advantage makes the world go round. The 'advantage' doesn't really have to be much for a business to monetize it. You say, "I'm no sucker, no valet parking for me." But then one day you and the wife have an anniversary and you don't want to walk across the street. And when you leave you have to wait for the valet to get your car. You notice a whole line of 'elites' who valet every time, and slip the guy a $10 just to impress their date. hmmmm.
Yeah, hence the iirc, been awhile since I compared. My point was more about the availability of the mechanics of using Loyalty / DBC as a mode of approachability to all accounts,vs making eq the most expensive MMO on a list of the 20 most played. If there's an advantage, or a point of exploitation, raiders will make it 'mandatory'. This will likely, in time create a paywall to keeping on the curve with server first guilds. There is less than subtle pressure in the GROUP game, on more than one server and in 2 raid guilds on other servers to use redguides and scripts to keep up and catch up. If people could purchase these perks for ing ame currency, rather than mandating a higher sub price to obtain, it could be more approachable <and> make more sales of DBC and basline all access accounts. They can make the same money as the current model by offering mini subs halfway between F2P and Live, unlock Trader mode and all perks of all access, with the AA caps in place or some other -not-direct-cash-for-edge manner, which is pay to win. by definition.
If the current expansion was on sale like it normally is, I'd have bought it today, x6 and +4 more once I collect the Kronos for them, but first I have to get back on track to raiding live. lol and would buy Firescale Wrulon Saddles and Ball of Fluffy Cotton, and Anchors for them! Skystriders also, gotta have those flying mounts. Opportunities to make scratch WITHOUT going P2W and sliding all access subs abound.
Anyone who is considering this "Pay to Win" must have a severely low threshold on what they consider "winning".
People who are adamant about these dumpster perks have never played a real p2w game. When you can go hard in a game for months to build a character and you see some whale roll up, crack open his dad's credit card and fill the game companies coffers with a few thousand to get a character they can poorly pay and exceed your lethality with, you'll know how silly it is to argue that a 5% xp bonus is p2w.
There has never been a "win" condition in EQ. World first, server first, is an achievement. First guild to beat a raid is not winning, it's a fantastic achievement. There is no win. Paying whatever amount for however infinitesimally small gain, is Paying for Advantage. And I don't know why you'd compare any other game to it. There's always a bigger fish. A story about an even sleazier game monetization isn't really proof of anything, certainly not in the context of EQ. SIMPLE FACTS: -There is a new thing you can spend money on. -It ADDS not subtracts from anything. It is undeniably by MATH a GAIN, or ADVANTAGE. Let your cognitive dissonance chew on that for a while.
any gain that is paid for is P2W. Arguing about how MUCH poop they put in the milkshhake is missing the point. Sliding the value of All Access, and pricing EQ out of the market when pretty much all these games are around $15/mo and sliding a 22 year old game to $20, the one with notably the least actual development will kill EQ over time. Blocking account to account transfers derails these players in raidgear who never pushed a button before. How are you on script run bot groups farming 24/7/365? There are literally hundreds of threads about them and as many players who /ex EQ over it. It's not the 5%, it's any P2W vs not having to go P2W at all. It's unneccessary and a slap in the face. There ore so many ways to make more cash out of EQ without milking more by devaluing all access. This is boiling the frog. Intoduce it, then once it's accepted, lobby to make it 10% / 15% etc and power creep all access to stealth raise sub prices. Sell more power creep. No thanks. I've been Wargaminged already.
IIRC one of the upgraded expansions of EOK had a familiar that increased spell damage by 3-5 percent. I think at the time it was the only familiar that did that type of benefit. Most casters, to my knowledge, still use that today over current familiar because of the 5% increase potentially. Now, you can still parse and win raids without it. Especially back then. But that was an item that paying more for the expansion resulted in a nice benefit/bonus for your toon.
So what you are saying that XP pots, which have been in the marketplace forever, are Pay to Win? Is purchasing the better of the expansion packs is Pay to Win? What about people who purchase a Krono and sell it in game for currency? People who purchase perfected augmentation distillers from the marketplace instead of using the loyalty vendor; are they Paying to Win? Are tradeskill potions Pay to Win? You could even ask is the purchase of Overseer Packs Pay to Win? I am really not sure why this is really a big thing. None of the things are game changing and are not required to win as you put it. You are really arguing what they may do in the future when a lot of the things they are offering are already available one way or another in the marketplace and have been for a while. Is there any advantage? Maybe a little, but these advantages were already in place.
How do you win a game that never ends? So for me, I define a "win" in EQ as when I engage in a battle with an enemy. If the enemy dies before I do, I win. If the enemy is alive and my solo/duo/geoup/raid all dies, then I/we do not "win". None of these "perks" is going to help me with this. Therefore, I feel those who have disposable income and want to pay for these "perks" can do so to help support the game for those of us that are not going to throw additional money at it. My biggest issue is what they are going to do with this extra income. If they keep it in EQ, then good. But if it is going to support other things then that is no good.
If they only had these perks available for DBC. Then I would have to decide whether or not to buy a crate or a perk...
More pay to win, and sliding the value of all access to do it is unneccessary. yes, those are also pay to win and more pay to win isn't better. This is boiling the frog as it is called, regarding all access subs. Other games manage to be MORE profitable than EQ with MORE users not resorting to these tricks. Like I said earlier, I started the thread back when they unlocked a TLP and without telling anyone, reduced the experience and conveniently made XP pots available on it. it wasn't until we posted parses that EQDev even admitted it was done on purpose. Telling us how much pay to win has already crept in doesn't argue against this, but in accordance with it. saying how much it's already slid, PROVES it happens. By next expansion, raid guilds will reuire it / Devs will make it more potent if it doesn't sell, thereby increasing EQ's price in effect. Against further devaluing subs. against any and all P2W, always have been, left EQ for 2 years over it, came back when new ownership took over. ( the last ones) XP pots used to also be dropped in game. Another thing removed and the resold to us.
XP pots can still be aquired in game during anniversary .. granted the ceremonial elixir of scholarship is a 1 time thing and the XP pot rewards for doing the quests are 1 time but .. thats like 30 to 40 xp pots for each toon you have .. Elixir of scholarship = 10 pots anniv quests 10th anniv diety favors = like 16 additional pots
Raid guilds will not require this. None of them required any of the items I mentioned above. End game raids don't start for a month after expac release. Most people in raid guilds will be max XP with the best mount by then without needing this. If it doesn't sell, what makes you say that the devs will make it more potent. They didn't with the recent "old" expansion re-releases for items you missed out. They haven't with other items in the past. Why would you think they would with this? That is just supposition.
Just to set the record straight. I am not saying I am 100% for this. At the moment I am leaning towards it being OK as I just don't think that these items are game breaking and, as I have stated, most are already available in the marketplace. More money into EQ (as long as it is spent in EQ) is a good thing. If, as you and others believe, they become more potent then I may change my mind but it is really not a large increase that will affect mine or others gameplay (although I do see one large possible exploit for the no delevelling which they should monitor/fix before it becomes live)
Of all the things they could have been working on. You mean this is why there was so little content in this last expac? So they could work on perks people would pay extra for?
I see this as more of a “pay for convenience” than “pay to win” Take the xp bonus. You’re not acquiring anything with these bundles that I cannot acquire in game. The experience is there. You gaining it faster than me doesn’t make you stronger. There’s a wall. Currently that’s level 115.9999 and X amount of AAs. Me not having the xp bonus does not stop me from reaching that level or that amount of AAs. So the only difference between us would be when we max out. I can still max out, it’ll just be different timing than you. So all you gained in this whole thing is the convenience of hitting the wall sooner. Kinda the same as beint PLd. I can have someone get me to 115 or I can do it on my own. The only difference is the convenience of time.
