Fatshark, you launched the game in a… problematic state. I will not comment on this further.
However, the incessant whining about the COSMETIC shop is out of line.
There are achievement unlock cosmetics, there are ingame cash unlock cosmetics… and then there are real money cosmetics - which are STRICTLY COSMETIC.
This is the right way to do this. I only ask that when adding more in the future, you add some into the ingame unlock pool too, so its not left in the dust too much. Maybe even have a pool of them in limited rotations too, like the paid ones.
I just want you to know that some of us recognize this, and know that this was inevitable - everyone does it, not doing it would be leaving money on the table. And as long as they provide absolutely no gameplay advantage, there is nothing wrong with it.
I think the problem that people are having but somehow are not mentioning is that they launched this product with a fully functioning microtransaction shop but did not launch this product with gameplay features, electing instead to publish statements like “coming soon”, “later in December”, “shortly after launch”
So it gives off the message of “The mtx shop is more important than the game”
That’s wrong, though. The Microtransaction shop also has bugs, just like everything. First Login on Launch, I checked the items on Microtransaction store and crashed.
So yeah, if it’s any consolidation, it actually doesn’t get preferential treatment. It has the same menu crash issues as the rest.
Yes there is something wrong with the Cosmetic Shops.
The issues are not about paying for cosmetics, everyone gets that having paid cosmetic is a must for a live game that runs on dedicated servers (gotta pay those hosting and maintenances fees). The issues that people are complaining about, is the fact that you cannot buy the cosmetic you want without having to purchase higher tier Aquila packs, and the FOMO timer.
Being just ‘short enough that you have to pay for the higher packs’
For example: Purchasing the 2100 aquilas pack for 10€/$ (whatever your currency is). But the the bundle cost 2400. So you need to purchase the 4500 aquilas pack. BUT WAIT, if you do and finally purchase the 2400 bundle, you still end up with 2100 aquilas and not enough for a second bundle, but you’re so close!! Maybe… Maybe I’ll add a bit more aquilas to buy the rest? And so on and so on.
The other bigger issue is that there is a FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) timer on the shop.
Both these two ‘psychological’ tactics are what create this ‘buying addiction’ that entice customers to purchase more and more. This is what’s known as predatory monetization, which is highly frowned upon. Some countries already have laws against that type of sales behavior (and others are creating those laws slowly).
I think some of the complaints is that maybe VT2 vets have never actually seen a cash shop like this. Whereas anyone who played a live service game is well acquainted with fake money not being enough to buy 2 things without having leftover (Apex, CoD), and the shop working flawlessly in a buggy launch (Destiny 2), etc.
These practices suck, but have been normalized by companies making money by doing them. Just like for all the complaints, I’m sure we’ll see purchased skins on folks in the hub as time goes on.
This is how we went from $2 horse armor to what’s in Darktide now. “It’s just cosmetics.” Is what they’re hoping with designing a shop that has us wanting to check it every hour because of RNG and it just so happens that the fastest path to said shop passes by it. It just so happens that the cosmetic shop is right next to where people are going to be standing around so people are constantly looking at other players’ cosmetics. It just happens that we’re told that rerolling in crafting is going to cost incrementally more with each reroll, so we’re going to need a lot of base gear. It just happens that we can’t access any of the menus with a keypress and we have to run in game to the various stores.
Game design decisions were made around that “just cosmetic” shop.
i have no issue with FS monetising cosmetics im for it in fact, the two things we are complainign about is the use of fake currency sold in bundles that are just a bit too small to buy what you want and the use of timed offers.
its manipulative and scummy and it stinks because you would expect his from some dodgy mobile game but not from guys like FS .
offer things at a clear and fair price in real money and you will get rid of all but the unreasonbable complaints.
Also, even though the bugs for the cosmetic shop were mentioned, over all that would be an easier job to program then a lot of other things in the game.
I have a lot of nits to pick with this game. Most melee weapons are underpowered for 40K. Range weapons have speed bump nerfs and pro-melee nerfs that are really obvious, and what’s worst about the range speed bumps is they are mechanically impossible based on things we can literally see on screen.
Cosmetics shop though, it’s not a balance issue, it’s going to run on mostly the same software as the regular store, and while there is a time limit, it’s a week or more.
The every hour store, while I don’t much like it either, is NOT a premium currency store. It’s a game currency store.
I agree. On top of the predatory practices, it adds insult to injury that they were implemented in a game that is not feature complete, nor seems to have learned anything from previous titles.
Most of us ‘get’, the need for a cash shop for cosmetics. But the way it was implemented, in conjunction with the state of the game, comes across poorly
100% this. People who don’t see this are completely missing the plot. We have a game in an unfinished state, with one portion of it working flawlessly… the cash shop. We see where the priorities lie - and the one that is obviously at the bottom is player experience and good consumer practices for their loyal fans who pretty much carried their asses through VT1 and VT2. BOTH VT games would be COMPLETE FLOPS IF THEY WERENT IN THE WARHAMMER UNIVERSE AND WAS JUST SOME RANDOM 4 DUDES KILLING STUFF.
I feel like FS fans gave them so many chances, and they still blew it and continue to do so.
Same - I literally do not care about the optional cosmetic DLC store
Just don’t buy stuff that doesn’t even affect the game if you don’t want to?
Oh it has a timer and a bundle deal? Are you so weak-willed that a countdown timer pressures you into spending money? Is your mind such an open fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded?
Fatshark could have simply held off the cosmetic store until they patched crafting in. Would have felt far less insidious, even with the discrepancy between currency packs and cosmetic costs.
Instead they chose to ask players for more money, the very first day the game is meant to be available to play, when we don’t even entirely have what we payed for in the first place.
Generally, I think the problem comes from the predatory practices found in the cosmetic shop. I fully expected a premium cosmetic shop and i’m not against its inclusion as long as it doesnt affect gameplay. What I am against is the blatant manipulative pricing mechanism and timer to force people into buying more than they should. It preys on people who are afraid to miss a certain skin or who think having change left over from your premium purchase means you need to buy something else. I won’t be purchasing any premium cosmetics but I did feel a pang of consideration thinking to myself oh I wonder what the next 4 cosmetics will look like in 10 days. Just show all the cosmetics now for Emperors sake. Let us decide whether any are worth it and which are the best from the whole lot.
While we dont know who decided to include these practices in the game, its unacceptable. This is a norm in the industry now but that doesn’t mean we should just accept that. Every game where it appears, I will happily call out the people who implemented such practices as the manipulative predators they are. Stop taking advantage people and treating your customers like bags of money.
If anyone wants to see season passes and cosmetic packs done right, have a look at the decisions made by Deep Rock Galactic’s Ghostship Games. Whenever I hear there is a new cosmetic pack released, I buy it before I look at it because I know its reasonably priced and supports the developers who have been nothing but incredible. Everyone I knopw who plays the game does the same because of how much goodwill those developers have garnered over the years of development.
To briefly touch on the no crafting but cash shop working argument, I’m personally not to fussed about it as it was likely a different team working on the cash shop and these things can be developed in parallel. I’m no game developer but including a system that lets you purchase skins is almost certainly a significantly easier task than integrating a fully fledged crafting system that ties into all aspects of the game.