Scrap the FOMO store

[alsozara]

I’m not gonna lie, the price point is more or less enough of a turnoff on its own.

That said, there are certainly some cosmetics I’d like enough to pay that price for except…

The rotating inventory is so insultingly anti consumer I’ve vowed to not even open the stupid Aquila store and look. Ironically things I’d probably be willing to pay their absurd price for are coming and going and instead of pressuring me to buy them before they’re out of rotation I’m simply turned off from even looking.

I will and have defended many things about Fatshark. I’ve argued against a lot of people accusing Fatshark of being intentionally predatory or not caring about what they do.

But this store man, this store. Genuinely makes me go f#©k you and question the good will I still feel towards FS.

There is simply no excuse to do this in such a scummy, annoying way. There is no good reason I should have to buy an Aquila pack that likely won’t match the cost of what I want to buy.

There is no good reasons whatsoever to have a rotating storefront.

Please Fatshark stop this nonsense. I genuinely don’t know if I’ll buy your next game if there’s even a whiff of this nonsense evident.

The update cadence is annoying but forgivable. This store is an active choice to be garbage.

[XenoN8]

Well well well, gentlemen… this is what I’m all about, SCRAP IT and enjoy the lootboxes and free weekly drops

[deusvult6]

I wouldn’t say scrap it altogether but they should certainly have a catalog. Something like Sea of Thieves’ premium store would be perfectly acceptable, where new cosmetics are launched discounted and then increase once moved to the archive. The sale prices would still incentivize early purchases but sought-after outfits are always available, so new players who see someone else wearing an outfit that they would just love to drop 40 bucks on can do so rather than being S.O.L. FS makes money, people can buy digital clothes, everyone is happy.

Sadly, I don’t think it is up to them. There are quite a few signs that the premium store (and possibly ALL cosmetics) is a strict stipulation of the Tencent deal. The outsourcing to Chinese modeling companies, the prefabricated, cookie-cutter nature of the store’s code in the game files, etc. There’s no telling of course, but it is certainly a departure from their store models in previous games.

If it’s not in their power to change and Tencent feels no need to renegotiate the terms of the deal then any complaints on the forum will amount to nothing, I’m afraid.

[Ragnarok101]

Darktide was my first Fatshark game and it will also be the last unless I’m sufficiently convinced they’re going to kick to the curb the people responsible for their problems and actually start acting like a functional studio.

Considering those problems appear to be intrinsic to the company it’s pretty clear that that’s not going to happen unless management and leadership are purged and replaced by the investors.

[GMG_Pie]

I never pay attention to the store but I think I remember some people complaining that the leopard print pants haven’t been in the store for literal years. Sounds about right for this company.

[Frish]

@Padds

Does this store really count as FOMO? Aren’t things there for like 3 weeks each time they rotate in?

What’s funny is that the FS shop ticks all the boxes from the entire section you pasted, yet you come to the opposite conclusion.

@Padds

Scarcity

Creating a perception that a product or offer is in short supply or only available for a limited time makes it seem more valuable and increases desire

Urgency

Time-sensitive elements, such as countdown timers or flash sales, create pressure to buy quickly before the opportunity disappears.

• Limited time rotation.
• Uncertainty when skins will be back in rotation.
• Uncertainty IF skins will be back in rotation.

Worth pointing out that just because it’s 3 weeks or so doesn’t mean there’s no time pressure. It can even mean there’s not less time pressure, as it means that every time within the specified period you are hit with FOMO. So in a way it’s more insidious than a ‘flash sale’.

@Padds

Social Proof

Demonstrating that others are buying, attending, or enjoying something (e.g., “Only 2 left in stock” or showing a busy event) creates a sense of social validation and encourages participation

Exclusivity

Presenting offers as special or invitation-only can make consumers feel like they are part of an elite group, increasing their desire to participate.

• Other players wearing desirable skins you can’t buy.
• Fostering desire for those without, boosting the perceived value of limited-time offers.
• WH40K faction skins. The amount of Krieg vets out there…

So yeah, it’s not really ‘up for interpretation’ whether or not this implementation of a digital cash shop uses FOMO sales tactics. It’s a fact that it does.

The question is, will enough people put up with it to make it financially worthwhile? Given the low bar FS sets for themselves, evidence points to ‘yes’. However that also doesn’t mean it couldn’t be improved in myriad ways. Arguably there’s more money to be made by opening it up. Arguably not. It’s hard to see how it wouldn’t foster a little community goodwill though, and perhaps that tips the scales further.

And that, imo, is worth discussing ad nauseum. We didn’t get Unlocked and Unloaded without making an extreme stink about how crappy crafting was. Just sayin’…

[zaygr]

Scrap the Aquila layer or at least add direct purchase prices too while they’re at it. The Aquila layer is also 100% predatory nonsense copied wholesale from mobile F2P games. You don’t have to put out an interview saying it isn’t meant to be predatory unless it is predatory, and then proceed to fail to add half the bandaids you promised immediately after.

[Padds]

@Frish

So yeah, it’s not really ‘up for interpretation’ whether or not this implementation of a digital cash shop uses FOMO sales tactics. It’s a fact that it does.

which is ironic because its interpreting these words in a new way that has lead you to claim its a fact.

scarcity was about limited number being available, making it a race , upping the value and priority of the skin. Ill grant a 3 week window is a limited window to make a choice. but as its 50% higher than the legally required cooling of period its really hard to see it as a high pressure sales manipulation.

social proof meant showing a hot sign on the product, showing a number of available ticking down, you have changed that to be seeing someone else wearing it, so that includes penance gear or any good looking cosmetic, which is both not accurate but also not part of the store. so by this definition a lot of games without stores are fomo, but that’s a completely different thing.

urgency comes from 30 minute flash sales never to be repeated , the sort of thing you see on Prime Day or the like. sure a 3 week window to make up your mind isnt infinte but its really not leveraging FOMO.

Exclusivity. this is like receiving personal emails offering you and only a specially selected group of valued customers access to a special offer, or Diablo immoral or star citizen’s hidden cash shop you can only access by spending 20-30k

I want to be clear here I am not defending the shop I personally don’t care about it, I’ve bought like one headpiece for my psyker for a couple of quid and i rarely check it.

i just want words to have actual reliable defined meanings FOMO used to mean a set group of attributes, this shop ticks hardly any of them. Just having limited selection on rotation does not fomo make. its just making the word meaningless we already had a name for shops on rotation and fomo meant something else. its just being used because its pejorative.

What this store actually looks to be modelled by is the too much jam theory, i wont say they are wrong in this case but all the people being sarcastic about tiny brains not being able to cope with the choice have in other areas been proved completely right.

I’ve noticed the effect in my own work but here are plenty of studies like this one

Iyengar%20%26%20Lepper%20(2000).pdf

TLDR -

24 jams on offer = more people stopped to look.

6 Jams on offer = increased sales 10 X

[Frish]

@Padds

urgency comes from 30 minute flash sales never to be repeated , the sort of thing you see on Prime Day or the like. sure a 3 week window to make up your mind isnt infinte but its really not leveraging FOMO.

This right here officer.

You are saying, it’s not FOMO because it doesn’t incorporate enough FOMO. I’m saying, any FOMO is too much FOMO. And specifically in this case, there is an excess and it is getting in the way of people actually wanting to engage in the shop at all let alone buy anything.

And I’m not talking about ‘better buy these bananas before the heat death of the universe’. I mean, these are deliberate sales tactics introduced to manipulate people (bias alert: I hate that crap).

“Too much jam theory” is an amazing name lol, and yeah it definitely applies. But more than one thing can be true about this shop implementation. And fwiw I am not treating you as a shop defender, I am more rankled by your assertion that there’s no fomo going on especially because of timescale which I think is misguided

And you know what, maybe it’s all unintentional. Because it could be that the scarcity and difficulty in purchasing cosmetics is a side effect of limiting the ‘jam’, as over time each cosmetic (in particular the less quality ones) has less time to be purchased. Now we have increasing levels of scarcity (can’t get grubby paws on) and exclusivity (sorry had to be there) for each cosmetic. Ironically it’s the beige pants that become the rarest cosmetic, because they are worth less in the same slot that could be used for a Kriegsman hat (or whatever).

Even if it’s not a malicious system, it’s flawed and only getting worse over time if nothing is done.

[BatlordCarcas]

A rework rather than a scrapping is better

When they offered the package deals of multiple cosmetics for a decent discount, that was good

Bundling just seems better in rotations rather than full fomo

[Goat-Smote]

Unfortunately for us they likely won’t ever get rid of the FOMO as it makes them more money. If they do change it it’ll be toward the end of the game’s lifespan which could be years from now.

[Ragnarok101]

We’d need to collectively drop concurrent player numbers to triple digits before they considered actually changing anything, based on the tiny changes they made to the FOMO shop last time (remember, originally it was a single page).

Only way to do that would be an organized boycott and those don’t work for video games.

[Jaj22]

Your definition of fomo might be well defined by some criteria that most games don’t meet, but we call it fomo regardless when there are some clear signs of manipulation.
I don’t think gamers have/need more tags for games like this because they don’t need super specific definitions to make a point.

It’s like knowing math and telling a bunch of programmers that a function is not what they think it is. Well the mathematician can say a lot more about functions but it’s irrelevant for everyone else.
Anyway i’m too sleepy now i’ll try to read the paper later.

[ZoroDaOtter]

I mean the current shop is entirely the results of players complaining about FOMO and Fatshark listening.

It used to have a timer and players complained the timer was FOMO so it was removed. Now we constantly get people asking about when the shop rotates.

It used to a be week long rotation and players complained the short rotation was FOMO so the rotation was extended to two weeks. Now we get players complaining about the slow rotation and recolors sitting in the shop for too long.

The only thing that didn’t get Monkey Paw’ed is the extra pages.

Seeing as how the rotating shop isn’t likely to leave anytime soon, the best change would be going back to a weekly rotation (due to all the recolors) and bring back the timer.

[Ragnarok101]

@ZoroDaOtter

I mean the current shop is entirely the results of players complaining about FOMO and Fatshark listening.

Yes, and my point is that we’ve been complaining continuously about the shop since then because the core problems weren’t addressed (which, to be clear, are the fact that it is still FOMO, still overpriced, and still entirely cash based).

None of those complaints have had teeth because the ONLY thing that motivated Fatshark to actually do something was player counts dropping to almost nothing right after launch.

Fatshark knows what the community hates about the store. They are drowning in feedback and refuse to change the slightest bit of their monetization bs. There is a reason I changed the Book’s title to ‘Because Fatshark Won’t Listen’.

[MadMartigan]

Imo the real reason they don’t create a catalogue is because it will expose their terrible recolour tactics.

If we got to see all the options at the same time then many recolours would cause an uproar with immediate and tangible evidence.

Insidious manipulation is being deliberately hidden using this cheap rotation (although it’s not as we can all see it).

Either that or their running-on-porridge servers can only handle 3 cosmetic items at once

[CH3DD4R_G0B-L1N]

@Ragnarok101

unless management and leadership are purged and replaced by the investors.

FS stays trail blazing. Got gamers out here rooting for the investors.

[Ragnarok101]

I’m not rooting for them, I’m merely aware that the only people with the authority to toss senior leadership (who appear to be the root of the problem) out on their asses are the people who own stock in the company.

For a certainty they’re not going to change for the players.

[Enforest]

Don’t forget: it is FOMO so they could sell duplicate cosmetics as separate items. Another example. Not even slight recolors, even though most F2P games allow you to recolor paid cosmetics freely if that function is supported. It is a literal scam. This is not a hyperbole, it IS a fraud.

[Sno]

Feels like that is already breaking laws, in EU at least. Totally shameless either way.