This game will eventually be a full $60 game. Most games in this price range have a progression system, designed to keep you coming back. However, they are usually not random. Random boxes are something usually seen in F2P games, as they give incentive to spend money to earn the things that you want to unlock. Since this game is an MMO, you want to give people incentive to keep coming back. However, it's also going to be a $60 game, so do you want to punish those who pay full price? I am predicting that this game will be F2P in a year, if not sooner. We are seeing the framework for that already in place. Random loot boxes is fair for a F2P game, but not fair for a full priced game, and I think the devs fully understand this. I also do not think this was their choice. This stinks highly of Bandai's influence. If you have ever played any of their asian MMOs (my experience was with Gundam Online, a japanese MMO, which is actually very similar to Eternal Crusade), they are insidiously funded. They are funded by providing in game items to players through a "pachinko" mechanic, where gamers pay for a pull of a "slot machine" and get an RNG generated item. This is basically legalized gambling, except instead of winning money, you win an in game item. That sounds innocent, but it is very addictive, just like normal gambling. It's great for the publisher, as you have all these people spending a dollar or two at a time, but constantly, just because they need to feel the rush of getting something great in a box. It's terrible for players, as it is very addictive, frustrating, and you end up spending what feels like a small amount of money, but it adds up quickly. Now, this game will not be directly funded by this pachinko mechanic, but the fact that items needed to compete are gated behind it means that there is huge incentive to take the paid shortcut. Also, this is huge bait and hook that the devs have made in their statements regarding RTC weapons. They stated that the RTC weapons would only be cosmetic. They technically are, but they are also a competitive shortcut, as they are fully upgraded weapons that a new player will not have access to. I feel like this was very unethical. I feel like this type of funding scheme should have been announced a long time ago, because it is very very different from a simple cosmetic shop, and not at all what at least I, if not others, intended on paying for. I only bring this up because people who are thinking about buying the game need to be informed of this, and some might be ok with it. I fully understand the reasoning behind it, so I'm not going to call the devs or the publishers evil for doing it. However, this funding scheme will not go away, even if we cry foul, because I guarantee that this is Bandai's influence, and that more than likely means contractual obligations that Behavior can't back out of.
Reward boxes are only purchasable through the in-game currency. RTC weapons have specific mod setup. Some of them are worse than basic weapons because they have some mods that you can't remove, while also being impossible to mod further. In fact, it looks like one of the problems is going to be with cool-looking weapons that you can't use because they are worse than what you get through game.
It's not uncommon to see micro-transactions in fully funded, triple A, $60 release games. Every big publisher wants some of that sweet DLC money. This has always kind of been intended as the devs mentioned even way back when that there will be customization and sidegrades available for RTP. They've said multiple times that they plan to continuously work on the game and provide free monthly updates to the game, something a lot of other games would normally charge for. They also said that there will be some paid DLC however, depending on it's content i'll hold my reservations until something's confirmed. I personally don't have a problem if they have a system wherein you can play the lottery, and as far as I know you can only use currency earned in game but maybe I missed something? I hear what you're saying and maybe you're right, bandai doesn't seem to have the game's best intentions in mind but the worst I see happening in the first year is the re-introduction of free to waaagh.
The fact that loot boxes are only purchasable through in game tokens is misleading. Remember, this system does NOT guarantee that you get all the items in the game that are necessary to have a complete kit. If that guarantee was in place, I would be OK with it. So that will add rarity to complete kits, or rather intended, loadouts. For instance, the ideal gun for a swooping hawk is a hawk's talon, with a heavy barrel, grip that reduces recoil on the first shot, and probably a nice scope. This allows them to snipe for headshots from their high perches, fully utilizing their class's strengths. What are the chances of getting that kit over a set period of time? How long would you be willing to play just to assemble that kit? A week? A month? A year? Without guarantees in the system, you may never get it. We've already seen that we get duplicates, so there won't even be an increasing chance of getting the items you really want. If they didn't get duplicates, then having a random system at all would be pointless, and you'd just have an unlock tree. All you can be assured of is getting base weapons, not properly min-maxed weapons suited to your play style. Now imagine that they release a RTC Hawk's Talon with that kit. You can say that it's not moddable all you want. That doesn't matter, if it has the right mods together. Even if the mods are technically side-grades, they are min-maxing in some way which is beneficial to the player, so it very closely borders on pay-to-win.
Yeah.... A lot of games that fail at launch go the F2P route to bring in more customers. Then you can open the door for RTC to buy loot crates. And now you really F2P'ing.
That's already the case with Limited Edition Relic Weapon sets that cost $60.00 per faction, and I bought all four. What a ripoff. Live and learn. I hope we can at least use the useless Relic weapons as skins for weapons that we can mod.
Lets remember guys, The business model for this game is B2P, you buy the box, and that is it, with a cash shop as options. This is no different then the game GW2 and ESO, which by the way also has the lottery loot-boxes. So this game is already got a stable business model for success, so dont worry, i believe Nathan knows what he is doing, but i also believe the F2Waaaagh, will be in the game within a yr, either way.
