Xp items and stuff like that, are except able, everything in founders is except able too, since they are paying so much more for the game and extras. But paying for something in game that is an item or armor that gives you a buff is'nt, there is a fine line between p2w and extras.
I personally don't care for a cash shop as I most likely won't use it. It's nice however to help support further content for the game by those who will use it so that makes it fine for me to put in. I might eventually buy something from it if I like an armor look/etc. Just because a game has a cash shop doesn't mean it's going to go pay 2 win. Especially as the developers seem keen on listening to the playerbase about this subject as well as directly trying to avoid it. I don't see how anyone mentioning a cash shop "sounds an awful lot like it might go p2w" All items and armor have been said to be cosmetic only. Now...not saying any of this can't go P2W but nothing said has hinted at it happening.
They have mentioned the idea of selling guns that are significantly weaker then those acquired through gameplay, I'm fine with that but i don't think the suggestion went over that well. I would never buy them since in the long run they would be made obsolete buy getting the real gun but some would pay for the early advantage. They could get to be too much of a headache though when people start complaining that they got pwned by someone with the real version of there gun.
I personally do not like micro transactions but I can see how having a cash shop selling aesthetics can be really awesome. After playing LoL for a long time i really liked the fact that I can make my champion/hero look different with different animations and voice overs. I would pay for this in EC.
I think it'd be great to have some cash shop items still obtainable through in game resources like how League does it (and Smite, which is a neat MOBA.) Some things are cash only but a lot of the stuff is still obtainable through hard work.
Having followed all 100+ pages of Miguel's P2W discussion thread, I wouldn't say that players "want" cosmetic microtransactions. Its more a case of "of all the options for paying for the game, which would we like most / dislike least". Most players were happy with the idea of buy to play - however, there was widespread acceptance that B2P alone was not enough to make an MMO work in the long-term. As a result, some other monetisation mechanic is required. Virtually no-one wanted pay to win mechanics, particularly not the vicious freemium-style mechanics that lock you out from playing unless you use premium consumables, or allow direct purchasing of in-game power (e.g. weapons) - especially not if the premium weaponry was more powerful than weaponry available through other means. Miguel pretty much ruled out anything under this heading entering the game unless it was over his dead body. People were more divided around pseudo pay to win mechanics such as xp boosts (however they might be implemented) - the P2W thread comments were about 50/50 divided between "they're heresy!" and "meh, I'm okay with it or I'm not really fussed", but a separate poll indicated a stronger bias against xp boosts. Miguel indicated his own view was that with EC's horizontal progression, "only a purist" would consider them P2W. He added that developers were considering the idea of adding XP boosts, but were not sold on the idea. A minority of players preferred a subscription model, but most were against it, for a variety of reasons. It was noted that most recent subscription-based MMOs have gone through a cataclysmic subscriber collapse followed by the inevitable retro-fitting to introduce F2P, and no-one wanted that for EC. There are now simply too many credible F2P alternatives for subscriptions to be anything other than a huge risk. Miguel indicated that although subscriptions were great for developers, he (and the industry) considers the model to be dead. TESO hadn't launched at the time, but now that it has it doesn't seem likely that it will reverse the trend. Barring some wild and wacky ideas from the community that didn't gain any traction with the majority of posters, that left the cosmetic cash shop. Only a few people were deeply against the principle of premium only cosmetics, and the main concern was that the cash shop might be a slippery slope to P2W. However, it was overwhelmingly considered the best option for monetisation, given the alternatives. On the slippery slope note, I'll have to paraphrase Miguel, but he made the point that if the majority of players hate P2W, which they clearly do, only a lunatic would later include P2W mechanics. The game is, after all, being made for the players. A couple of people in the community theorised that introducing XP boosts as a secondary monetisation mechanic might free up enough pressure on cosmetics to allow them to be unlocked via in-game currency as well, for those who had an issue with this. Developers haven't commented. Finally, there was clear interest in a F2P approach, both by players who wanted it and others who wanted to make sure it was there because of how powerful a mechanic it is to ensure decent player population. Miguel broadly agreed, made it clear that Behaviour didn't want to take EC completely down the F2P route because of the pressure this puts on other monetisation, but proposed that the entry Ork classes (for both lore and balance reasons) would be F2P with other Ork classes and all other factions being B2P - either all at once or, potentially, as separate one-faction only options further down the line. This was supported by the majority of the fan base and the community's term to describe this (F2WAAAGH) has seen widespread use in the forums. TL;DR - both the developers and the community put a lot of thought into what the "best" (or "least bad", depending on your view) monetisation approach was. The conclusion: B2P + F2WAAAGH, premium cosmetics and nothing P2W, was overwhelmingly the preferred option for both sides. XP boosts have also been considered by Behaviour. They haven't announced a decision on them either way.
Micro is alright, but I dont want to have to look at someone with 10x better looking gear and feel like I should have to pay to look that good.
I'd prefer that too, given a free choice. Id be happy to pay for a regular XP boost to avoid it, others as I'm well aware would hate the existence of XP boosts more than premium only cosmetics. Comes back to the underlying question. How would you, personally, prefer to pay into the game on an ongoing basis? Which, ideally, doesn't involve subscriptions or P2W?
I said it was a bad thing to have, but if it doesnt go too far and make us pay for stupid things and turn the game into a p2w then I dont really mind it, although, like I said, I dont want to have to pay for everything I really want.
