I had my doubts several months ago, as far as the "sidegrades". Since Behavior announced all items in the store will be available in some form in game I feel this issue has been put to rest. For anyone that bothers to actually read about or do some background research on a game they might be interested in, it should be clear that EC will not be pay to win. For those that feel a game "store" implies pay to win, they most likely don't realize that bills have to be paid. Haters and naysayers will continue to hate and nay say regardless. That will never change. They will never change.
I agree there are still plenty of unknowns. I'm fairly certain that as game development progresses the fan base will make their feelings known loud and clear if any forms of pay to win start creeping into the limelight. I'm also fairly confident Behavior is fully aware of the negative connotations that accompany the P2W label. I expect there will be some items that will walk the tightrope as far as being considered P2W. I'd say to that just keep in mind there are only so many cosmetics Games Workshop will approve. Behavior needs to pay the bills, and hopefully there will be many years of bills to pay ahead of us as far as the longevity of Eternal Crusade. I can live with a few questionable items every now and then, as long as they're not blatantly overpowered and as long as they have minimal effect(if any) on game balance.
Lots of comments here remind me of "MMR causes autism" bashers. It's quite amusing really. EDIT: We've been told a fair few times that weaponry side-grades in the shop will have a stat equivalent in the game. Seeing as the game isn't out, even for early access, these cries of "P2W" are unfounded completely. There's no evidence as of yet that the game is P2W, and the things we have been unhappy about have been CHANGED. Why would the devs want to make a game that is P2W when they KNOW that's not what people want and will massively reduce the longevity of the game. Oh right, the same reason why people think MMR causes autism/CIA blew up the Twin Towers/the government is flushing fluoride into the water system as a forms of mind control/non-organic food is a conspiracy theory to give you cancer
p2w is like the new catch-phrase by mundanes, does ppl even know what p2w means? p2w screams unhappy t2w'ers that something costs. Dear p2w'in haters, are you happy to recieve no updates/ new content because the developing company cant afford to create it? Without income the production stops? So now im "racist/p2w'inner" stamped, but lets look at viable solutions insteed shall we? =) Ask the p2w-haters/t2w-inners for solutions/ find, evolve, inovate payment/income options insteed. invite these ppl to our forums for constructive discussions, we want to hear what they have to say and their words will/can make a change. systems/ games arnt born perfect, thats why we need the ongoing discussion/ ideas on how to evolve the business model/ monetization, please, patience/ faith that better changes will evolve/ be developed. t2w'ers/grinders/low budgeters/incommers, cheep ppl, ppl saving money, i like you all and we need you, you have a compleatly free option as orks, still you had the cash for a rigg that can handle the game. Do you like the game/ franchise, is it worth beein kept alive/ support? Then we need your support/ help in anyway you can, be a part of the community evolving ideas, ex how to monetize, altho you might not want to/ can cash in you can use time/ influence which are commodoties in itself (you are cash, you are gold worth with your actions). with minimal income what would the game n games future be like? the dev team would be non existing, unstable income/ funding interest from customers wouldnt allow any jobs to further develop the game. without devs, as its an "moba"-somethingish, mod version made by smal teams might work on private servers (alot required to even get there), that would kinda remove the m in mmo/moarpg, a game with few players, no bigger longer lasting fights whenever whatever the time is. poor homemade mods compared to what BE's dev team could offer you. BE as an indy company tried to keep the pr jippy (miljons of money) at a more usable/ constructive fashion; word of mouth/ steam, keep most part of the money for game development. - 500million destiny, something like that is what destiny cost to make, did large sums make it better? nah. we want to see our money invest to go back to the production, develop EC further yes yes? BE's approach to listen to the fans and the indi company they are proves/ says something about them atleast. - Would you really want the development of the game you like n play alot to cease? no more updates n just keep it like that? no more new cool weapons, vehicals, story twists, battlegrounds/ worlds/ campaigns? isnt there a hunger for more? if you feel some kind of hunger for more (hard to feel right now) you probably like/ support the game, if u do that you probably feel the game/ EC earns to carry on to live/ expand, so why not contribute in some way or are you happy with a basic, non further developing game? as much as zealous p2w hurts a game so does zealous t2w-mentality. im not praising p2w in any way, you who play alot, who put down massive time, want to work for your stuff in game, im not taking that away from you in any way, you earned it. paying (more or less) customers benefits you, you get new content, a growing game in return + paying ppl, alot of them probably doesnt have as much time as you to train that in game skill you got. So you get someone paying your new content + "worse" players to kill, some part of that must be okay to you. Everything cant be free and we cant have everything we want, help us out here to find middle ground/ solutions on that matter. Alot of the paying customers/ players arnt a threat to you but those who are, that needs some serious attention, help us out with that? If we cant agree on certain ways / details, lets atleast agree on that we want EC to monetize in order to get new content, weapons, vehicals?
Which also has the side advantage of not driving away your consumers by showing you don't have to be a 'whale' to win, and I say this as a person with a lot of disposable income.
I'll answer your questions with one question, do you think I want a bad game? Because that's what pay to win is, it's a bad game.
wasnt finished with that gwot, will probably add more later ^^ we want EC to monetize right for new features/ content? is it enough with income from skins to develop the feature/ content we want? + skins got a bit limit on its neck , ip, variation limits, restrictions. were not really close to that here but lets come up with more ways to monetize for new content/ features.
Well as I said before, cosmetics is a good start. Armor pieces, pets, weapons, I would say it's towing the line but things like experience consumables that speed up leveling would be acceptable after time is given. Their subscription model in the store is also pretty good, willingly investing knowing that every month you keep the sub up you get a higher payout. I think the armor is more flexible then you think. We know shoulders a separate part, so is chest, we don't know but so too could be helmet, pants, and boots. If we split it up that way, we have five interchangeable parts that are roughly ten dollars each, which means a full set of armor without any weapons is the same cost as a warrior founders pack.
sure, good start, ppl will earn rtp's with time aswell , more monetizing income wouldnt hurt. sure i said before more money doesnt necessarily make a better game but with the years that income source might decrease and other types of income need to cover it up to keep the new production/ development of new features/ content. are skin money enough for this projects scale of developing new features/ content? how long is it viable on its own? will it slow down the devlopment due not enough income? is unreliable on its own?
