But on the other hand it also incentivize the developer(s) to not put much effort into unlockable in-game gear to entice more player purchases. There are games like Destiny where they did not introduce any free in-game cosmetics for long time but a lot of cash shop ones.
And for every one person who would rather pay a higher box price or pay for DLC than for pretty hats, there are a hundred others that scream like they just found out theyâre adopted any time they have to spend any amount of money to play a game.
Like it or not, this is the model that gamers told the world they want by opening the heavens with their bitching any time a game developer breaks the $60 box price tradition or doesnât shower them with free content forever.
Perhaps, but they would also want to keep those not as willing to pay for MTX, or as frequently, by throwing them this type of bone. On the other hand, with an up-front cost, they arenât incentivized to do it, at all. Since they already have your money, for what MTX were available at the time, why would they need to develop anymore, or offer any achievement cosmetics? The argument goes both ways, but I think POE has demonstrated that having the majority of cosmetics available for individual purchase â at the purchasers discretion â works pretty damn well. They also offer special MTX with their Supporter packs to encourage purchase, as well as achievement MTX each season. So itâs a win/win/win for all involved.
I have the tendency to shoot all the stuff that moves on the screen before I even realize what it is, if it doesnât have a green health bar over it.
So no pets for me 
With the promise of transmorg, I think EHG is already quite ethical in my book. I donât know how else they gonna support the game. I was surprised that they arenât even willing to charge for stash tabs and character slots, which could generate a lot more revenues, and not many people would complain. I paid a lot of those in PoE, but it is one of the reason I stopped playing. Also, EHG isnât even charging for future contents, and there will be cosmetics earned by playing the game, so I donât know what else you can ask of them.
But I see where you are coming from. I hate the trend but thatâs just how it is. I think the trend really took off with LoL (which I refuse to play still) where people are willing to spend thousands on skins, which a traditional game without MTX could never get a gamer to spend.
I actually have this issue when Iâm playing with a friend (he has the same issue) where we tend to want to attack each otherâs minions, sometimes in a panic 
I donât know if they ever discarded the character slot option. There is a thread about this as well as many others.
Basically, the consensus seems to be that character slot purchase isnât P2W and itâs fine if they add it. If anything, buying character slots is Pay2Lose, since youâre wasting time making new characters rather than just respeccing because youâre at the limit 
LOL I was the one who started that thread.
See how much I am willing to pay for something that can actually be considered as P2L. And in that thread, people from PoE tell me that a lot of people are willing to spend money on character slots.
I have already seen replies on reddit and discord from two different devs stating that they will most likely not charge for character slots, so I doubt it will happen. Mike just said that they will need to assess how many more slots to add for each cycle. Fine by me. Extra fund for me to buy more cosmetics.
2 Likes
When a game scales to a point where the decision about who lives depends on who shoots first, panic is an appropriate reaction. 
1 Like
I will even say more, there are those who believe that purchased cosmetics are worse than in-game ones.
I havenât even browsed the cosmetics.
Iâll give you a hint: when it comes to microtransactions, a single whale is worth about 10000 regular players, probably more frankly.
Servers take money to run, and if they want to harmlessly appeal to whales in order to keep the servers running smoothly, I see zero issue. Microtransactions are entirely optional: if you dont like them, simply dont engage with them. I purchased the game, an early supporter pack of a low tier, and have no intention of purchasing more⌠because I dont need it, and its irrelevant to the gameplay. The option being there for people who DO want those things, or to show more support for the devs than Iâm capable, benefits me just as much as it does the devs. I WANT the game to do well, I WANT the servers to be in good condition, I WANT devs who actually listen to player feedback and take their shit seriously to do well.
Literally all of those things benefit me, the non-mtx player, directly.
Hell, I even have cosmetics since they came with the package I bought into ages ago, and I literally do not use any of them. If the most important thing for YOU in an ARPG is cosmetics, then you have more to worry about than whether or not this game has microtransactions in it.
PS: Whether you âpartly agreeâ or not, cosmetics have no actual bearing on gameplay, ergo cannot by definition be pay-to-win. Thats a matter of fact, not of opinion
I prefer this way of supporting the game. When I have $, I can support, if I do not, I can still play.
My rule is, if the expansion is awesome, I will support. If I absolutely have to have the MTX, I will buy it.
As for pushing myself, I set a target & try to achieve it. For PoE, I try for 38 challenges (top MTX). Once LE comes up with an Achievement or Challenge league, I will try to max it out as well.
No issues with paying for an expansion either. They have to make $ somehow. But my preference is the MTX Model. I feel it makes a company try harder to give decent content so people will support.
I have to disagree here.
Maybe for you, cosmetics do not have an actual bearing on gameplay, but for others (at least me) they do quite a lot. I enjoy the grind, the combat, and the actual time playing my character(s) more when I look badass than when I have 10% more resistance.
I wonder what I should be worried about if cosmetics and how my character looks are important to me. Please, elaborate on that.
How badass armor and weapons look was always a very important aspect of any game with loot. Companies like EA, Activision, etc. know that and that is why they make billions by selling cosmetics but it baffles me some players defend them.
1 Like
you seem to be misunderstanding what the word GAMEPLAY means. Cosmetics are not gameplay. Cosmetics are graphics.
Come back when you have a basic understanding of english
Cosmetics do affect gameplay, whether you agree or not
Even if you believe that the actual cosmetics were not gameplay-related, the cosmetic shop where you purchase these cosmetics and the window where you equip them, are part of the in-game UI, and the reward structure that had to be somewhat altered to have paid cosmetics in-game is also part of the game systems. So yeah âŚ
@Waiden The trick is not to be so weak as to be drawn in, i refuse to buy MTX in any game full stop, ive paid for the product thats enough, if thatâs not enough, thatâs whats commonly known as tough shit, maybe they need to alter the box price, but thats a them problem, not me a problem.
I think many misunderstand me.
The problem is not that I can not afford MTX. The problem is that because of MTX, developers usually cut down/neglect in-game free cosmetics and change the reward structure/mechanics which in the end lowers the motivation for me (and maybe others) to play the game.
Iâve heard it a thousand times in games: ââtransmog/cosmetics are the real endgameââ. Because those are permanent once you unlock them, but the stats you have for your gear now will be obsolete in the next patch/season. So if you remove the unlockable cosmetics, you remove a huge part of the endgame.
I never mentioned if you could afford it or not, thats none of my buisness to be honest, you do you.
I can afford it no problem, i just refuse to bow to the greed.
Yeah, I think that is the best solution. But that begs a question, what to do if someone like me is looking for an RPG where one of the aspects of the game is to chase badass-looking gear? I guess that is my fight to make anyway. Stop caring about it or play other games.
The answer is dont be sucked in by a load of make believe crap that means absolutley zero.