Station Marketplace vs. Crafting

Discussion in 'Tradeskill Discussion' started by ARCHIVED-Jerik_EQ2, Apr 16, 2009.

  1. ARCHIVED-DeemonEQ Guest

    Wouldnt it be worth considering making the model exporters available to the community ? Theres a huge amount of talented artists that could create new items that could be added as recipes for crafters to make.
    Ive been a part of modding communities before and have seen first hand how much this adds to a game.
    And it costs SoE nothing.
  2. ARCHIVED-Mythal_EQ2 Guest

    Kalarn@Antonia Bayle wrote:
    I think you're missing the point here...
    If, indeed, as Domino says, the revenue from Station Cash allows SoE to hire an artist to make cool-looking items (whether they are armor, pets or house items and furniture) it stands to reason that those items will, eventually, trickle down to the live servers through quests, live events or crafting recipes.
    Perhaps they will not be the exact same item -- tinting has been used freely since the first days of EQ1 to differentiate items with the same graphic, and is a far easier way of making sure that the items provided through Station Cash remain unique enough (though, I assume that no similar items would be made available to the players for "free" until the SC items have paid for themselves, which may take a month, six, or a year).
    The truth of the thing however is that an extra artist adding items to the game files is ALWAYS a good thing -- regardless of how that artist is paid for, or any other reasons for his existence.
    Finally, remember... the fact that you, or anyone, choses not to buy these items does not make them wrong. I know dozens of people who refuse to adventure or do quests. Flatly refuse. They just do tradeskills. Which means that hundreds -- literally -- of items (armor, furniture, pets, illusions etc) are never going to be available to them. Should they complain and ask that every single item etc is available through (or for) crafters? What about those who don't agree with the faction requirements for recipes? (Do you know how much electricity you're going to burn to do those 200 writs to gain the appropriate faction to buy those recipes? Do you know how much it's going to cost you? More than the Station Cash items cost you, be assured.)
    The Station Cash items are never going to be "required" -- certainly that has been the case so far -- for you to play, or enjoy the game. No guild, group or instance is going to require you to buy that particular item so you can join or complete it. They are fluff -- and as all luxury items, they cost. A lot of people will say that they're giving SoE enough money as it is to play this game, and that is fine. Others will be more than happy to spend extra money to make their characters or houses look different. It's life, whether in Norrath or on Earth.
    End-of-the-world scenarios about how the game will degenerate into a pay-to-play nightmare are, in the end, rather silly. Vanguard had a lot things going wrong with it from the very start -- it definitely was not extra cash items that brought that game to the state it's in.
    D.
  3. ARCHIVED-zKaltern Guest

    Mythal_EQ2 wrote:
  4. ARCHIVED-Lolianna Guest

    So, these are just the beginning? Disappointed; very disappointed.
  5. ARCHIVED-Tinrae Guest

    DominoDev wrote:
    I have to say that I've been really enjoying the unique furnitures available from the world and seasonal events! I really look forward to seeing what new items you guys roll out this year. Thanks!

    ....
    As far as SC items, I can't see carpenters being made obsolete just because a few items appear on the SC market.
    People are buying this stuff - in fact, when I went on a massive guild halls visiting tour last night just to get some ideas for decorating my own guild hall, I was surprised to see so many halls with a plethora of SC plushies in them along with LoN items. The reality is that many players are quite willing to buy these items.
  6. ARCHIVED-Powers Guest

    Kalarn@Antonia Bayle wrote:
    From what Domino posted, the exact same number of new items are being put in-game outside of Station Cash as would be put in-game if Station Cash didn't exist. So these new items were not those that were previously made available within the game -- we're still getting those. These new items wouldn't exist if it wasn't for Station Cash.
    Look, I'm not a huge fan of Station Cash, either, but to say that the stuff that goes in there is stuff that we would have otherwise gotten for free strikes me as disingenuous.
  7. ARCHIVED-TheSpin Guest

    I think I just have one last comment on this topic before I personally lose interest in this thread.

    Stuff from station cash probably will not be duplicated as quest rewards or recipes, BUT the work that is done by the station cash art team can possibly be used as framework for other items that will be available as quest rewards and recipes. Maybe carpenters will never make the same curio cabinet available by station cash, but perhaps that cabinet can recieve a little workover and a curio cabinet with a different theme could be introduced.
    Also, even if things made in station cash aren't available for players without buying them, that doesn't mean that the art team can't use them and make NPCs or zones better because of station cash.
  8. ARCHIVED-zKaltern Guest

    Powers wrote:
    Oki. Source? Examples please?
    I don't get your point - SC Dev makes items exclusively for SC. Nothing else has been made recently that is 'new' - just rehashes of old stuff; ok, ONE new robe. A couple of new armours. That pales in comparison to the stuff SC has been dishing out.
    It doesn't matter if it's just fluff - the point being, that dev has been putting a lot of time and effort into something that in all fairness, could simply have been done for the main game without seperate payment.
    Items are NOT free; we pay our sub at the end of the day.
  9. ARCHIVED-Kokusho Guest

    DominoDev wrote:
    ......
    *sighs, clearly disappointed*
  10. ARCHIVED-zKaltern Guest

    TheSpin wrote:
    That's all well and good, but 'could' and 'will' ar very different things.
    Trust me, if I start seeing loot/craftables based on SC item models, within a month or 3, and are basically the same but with different textures etc, then I will probably be slightly appeased - after all, I suppose you could argue that SC stuff is like an exclusive 'preorder' for the stuff that will eventually come out.
    My problem, is I have yet to see or hear anything remotely like that happening. I personally believe it never will, because, as another poster just said, some people ARE buying this stuff, and because of that, the gravy train will keep on rollin'.
    Until the end of the line of course.
  11. ARCHIVED-RheemOcturis Guest

    Mythal_EQ2 wrote:
    What happened with Vanguard was due to greed by the origional owners. They made millions from it and all of their employee's got nothing out of it.
    Can you say SC is not founded in greed?
  12. ARCHIVED-einar438 Guest

    DominoDev wrote:
    Can you use some of the money to send the artists that made those gawd-help-us armor sets to some kind of fashion design school? I considered using some real dollars for appearance stuff when I saw that there were armor sets available, but after looking at it... good gawd almighty... *shudders* They looked like things out of those old Flash Gordon serials. ;)
  13. ARCHIVED-Froed2004 Guest

    I kinda doubt that station cash only pays for that one artist. If anything, it seems that the overall art quality and content production has been slowly going up in the game ever since the system went in, which leads me to believe that they've hired a few more people that've been working in all areas. Yeah, it kinda sucks that some of this stuff can only be purchased with real money, but that's up to each player to decide for themselves, and if it allows them to hire more people to work on the actuall game part of the game, then it's ultimately going to help us all out in the long run.
  14. ARCHIVED-Valdaglerion Guest

    1. DominoDev wrote:
    Thanks for the response. If I understand your statement correctly, the new artist is working exclusively on SC items and will not be contributing to non-SC development, is that correct?
    In thinking on this abit - I would like to throw in some thoughts on the matter -
    I truly dislike the idea of SC in addition to the subscription. This was not the model Smed detailed. However, things change, whatever...People will more than likely adapt to the new model to the point it is no longer perceived as a value and stop playing. That said....
    IF we have a resource that is now solely dedicated to developing items which are to be sold on SC how about handling some of the items we have been hearing for extended periods of time cant be done due to resources and priorities. Things that many people would probably pay for IF they actually existed.
    Things like:
    1. Mannequins that store items on them and allow you to swap out the gear set on the mannequin. Currently worn appearance items go on the mannequin, mannequin items get placed in appearance slots for the toon.
    2. Wardrobes that act like the mannequins above
    3. Pet Cage: storage container that houses all pets (keeps them from wandering around). Clicking on the cage allows you to see a list of the pets, you can make 1 active that shows that pet in that cage and allows it be interacted with.
    4. Pet stand: allows you to place 1 pet on the stand and keeps it in place. Much like a statue on a pedestal. This would be great for the burynai and carnivorous plants.
    5. Lon paintings and housing items that we dont have to go through Lon to get, I really hate that card game and the space the thing takes up on my machine now.
    6. Bookcases that act as containers. Placing the books in the container adds books to the shelves for appearance so you can see approximately how many books are on the shelf (25%, 50%, etc full).
    7. Book catalog: clicking on this item would give you a listing of all the books present in the house/guild hall. Selecting one would allow you to read it without trying to find it among hundreds of books which invariable look similar.

    I have no doubt others have ideas as well but since we are going to go down this path lets get something truly useful out of it. I would kill for the useful mannequins or wardrobes. With so much appearance stuff being created it would be amazing to have a way to actually organize your outfits and such for appearance usage and then swap them easily.
  15. ARCHIVED-GrunEQ Guest

    Thank you Domino!
    SC is strickly for SC and profit...it doesn't help the development of the rest of the game...take your blinders off. That may sound harsh, but I'm tired of people trying to mitigate SC by that old excuse.
    I am however looking forward to the new items coming into the game. Hurray!!
  16. ARCHIVED-denmom Guest

    DominoDev wrote:
    Thank you for the reply and explanation.
    I'm still rather disappointed in all this.
    But I do understand.
    Thank you again.
  17. ARCHIVED-kyrrah Guest

    TheSpin wrote:
    Are you sure about that? Maybe not all at once, but a table here, a pillow there over the years and then one day you realize how much you've spent on nonexistant items.

    TBH I saw this coming when they started LON. I'm betting that eventually anything available in game will be availiabe on SC. There will be some items unique to each but they'll share a majority.
  18. ARCHIVED-Tinrae Guest

    kyrrah wrote:
    /agree
    I can name one player who spent $800 on LoN boxes solely for the chance at loot cards. His entire house was decked out with LoN goods, and I assume that he is also now buying SC items.
    SC sells to the emotions. Players want the items for sale. I've seen many players/guilds spend more than just a few bucks buying these knickknacks because they want the items and are willing to spend the money to pay for it. Whether we think it's right or wrong to spend real money on virtual goods doesn't negate the fact that a large portion of players do spend money on this feature, so it has market desirability.
    I'm not going to be missing much if I don't buy the SC furniture - it's just one small corner of my house that surely I can fill with another trophy earned by adventuring. Personally, I'm all about the trophies.
  19. ARCHIVED-Yindari Guest

    One thing crafting has going for it is the station marketplace stuff cant be placed in a guild hall.
  20. ARCHIVED-Phreake22 Guest

    Perhaps a week long server shutdown is in order?
    Wow...I haven't heard so many ppl cry since the people I support complained about not having "Admin" rights!
    If the business model works for SOE they are going to do continue to do it, end of story.
    It's amazing to see how people complain about the smallest things, and take for granted the most basic things...
    My 2cp...