125010-hey-carbine-im-over-it

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why is it ok to sell fluff but not gear. your fluff is someone else's endgame. For a certain demographic the game is all about collecting fluff and thats is the important in game stuff, for another demographic its all about the gear and the gear is the important endgame stuff. Why is it ok to lock one behind a cash shop but not the other? I wouldn't mind if Carbine filled a cash shop with housing items, I don't do housing, wouldn't affect me at all but that is ultimately a selfish attitude. Why should your idea of content be free and available in game while some other guys idea of content is locked behind a cash shop


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The prevailing wisdom is that NCSoft isn't capable of pulling a CCP. Which may or may not be true, but might also be a little unfair. Despite everything people have said, The game's population bottomed out in November, and they've essentially been building up a head of steam for six months. There's been no indication they're changing the business model in any way (only that their last affair put a dagger in the back of everyone saying that F2P might not be that predatory). Even if they did, there's no indication they wouldn't make it acceptable for subscribers (by essentially providing them with everything they did make). So there's a lot that gets assumed whenever the discussion comes up. However, so far, you can't really say NCSoft isn't doing exactly what they'd need to do to get Wildstar functioning as a sub game. In November, everyone was predicting F2P dates that have long since passed. So who knows? Maybe NCSoft actually does have the nuts for it (or doesn't think they'd actually make more new revenue off a B2P Wildstar, and thus have to). Even if you aren't going to stay through an F2P transition, it isn't really worth doing more than voicing your opinion on the practice and speculating on better alternatives and acceptable measures. It's not like anyone's announced anything (and probably won't until they've got a solid number to throw out). For now, things have been looking up and getting better for almost half a year. Maybe it's not prudent to just up and leave, but it's worth waiting to see what happens. At the very least, NCSoft hasn't done anything but support the game in the current format. Even from the most strident detractors, NCSoft has done enough to earn our trust at least in the short term. And at least to read the fine print of any changes they may have coming. I've posited quite a few ways cash shops, free options, etc. could be implemented without mitigating the design. There's no reason to believe they're going odious until we know they are.


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Don't forget that a person selling the Marauder set also gets 30 days of access out of it, whereas someone selling CREDD doesn't. That's probably why people think it's overpriced.


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Not at all. F2P/B2P studios have to make content that the player wants to buy, not content that the player wants to play. A studio who needs cash shop profit to survive won't make stuff that falls into the realm of playability; they'll make stuff like infinite harvesting tools or over-expensive weapon skins, or gamble boxes that need hundreds of dollars invested before they make a return. They make fluff. They make filler. They make padding. Then they make a game expansion that ACTUALLY releases content that's pertinent to the game itself and not just the player's inventory. Message to OP:  Sorry your thread turned in to yet another F2P/B2P vs. Sub thread.


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I never said I wanted B2P/F2P. I'm saying B2P+optional sub is a good move for MMOs that can't keep going with a P2P model.


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Most don't go that far. I've seen models where you get cash shop currency (not enough to buy everything in 1 go but you can save up and keep up with new items) or the subscription is more service based. Other alternative is just to spend $15 each month on cash shop money ;)


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