Exactly how much more do you expect us to pay?

[FateAudax]

I'm already getting sick of you continuing to push your limits with charging us extra money on top of the subscription and expansion/box fees we already pay you.

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It's laughable seeing people like you coming to the forums claiming that SE is charging you extra money on-top of subscription for something that is absolutely optional. Everything that's in the cash shop are optional enhancements/add-ons. There aren't any guns pointed to your head and neither is SE telling you guys that if you don't pay for these optional extra services, your game will be unplayable.

The "those are game content" excuse isn't going to change the fact that cash-shop items/add-ons are indeed optional and isn't gating you from any progression nor story content. Stop being a self-entitled bunch.

[Riepah]

It's laughable seeing people like you coming to the forums claiming that SE is charging you extra money on-top of subscription for something that is absolutely optional. Everything that's in the cash shop are optional enhancements/add-ons. There aren't any guns pointed to your head and neither is SE telling you guys that if you don't pay for these optional extra services, your game will be unplayable.

Same would be true if they offered BIS gear for cash, though, doesn't mean it'd be okay, does it?

[FateAudax]

Same would be true if they offered BIS gear for cash, though, doesn't mean it'd be okay, does it?

However, they aren't offering items that will give players an added advantage which will affect the game's progression. No Pay-2-Win in the cash-shop. It's all vanity. Please do not argue for the sake of arguing and plucking things out of the air that SE aren't even doing.

Fact: There are no Pay-2-Win items in the cash-shop.
Also fact: All cash shop items are optional.

[Riepah]

However, they aren't offering items that will give players an added advantage which will affect the game's progression. No Pay-2-Win in the cash-shop. It's all vanity.

So it doesn't matter to you, only to those who care about vanity more than about BIS gear. What makes their preferences less important than yours? To somebody who cares more about vanity, mounts, minions and so on than about high end raiding, this cash shop deal is what P2W would be for you. If P2W would upset you, don't laugh at people getting upset about this.

[FateAudax]

So it doesn't matter to you, only to those who care about vanity more than about BIS gear. What makes their preferences less important than yours? To somebody who cares more about vanity, mounts, minions and so on than about high end raiding, this cash shop deal is what P2W would be for you. If P2W would upset you, don't laugh at people getting upset about this.

So, just because you are a citizen of a country, paying all kinds of taxes, you can walk into a store and demand the coat that you like to be given to you free even in-real-life?

[Riepah]

So, just because you are a citizen of a country, paying all kinds of taxes, you can walk into a store and demand the coat that you like to be given to you free even in-real-life?

Sounds like you're openly asking for P2W now, honestly. Just because you are a citizen of a country, paying all kinds of taxes, doesn't mean you'll get your hands on the best real-life weaponry, does it? A coat is a whole lot cheaper than a proper weapon, though.
Instead of making a completely pointless real life connection, just try to understand that different people play games for different reasons, and that what you consider important in a game isn't objectively more important than what another person considers important.

[FateAudax]

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Doesn't change the fact that cash-shop items are still optional add-ons. In no way that it is gating content progression or giving added advantage to people purchasing it. Also I would like to press the fact that in no way SE is forcing you to pay extra on top of your subscription just to play this game. This game is playable with just the base subscription.

[KIka93]

So it doesn't matter to you, only to those who care about vanity more than about BIS gear. What makes their preferences less important than yours? To somebody who cares more about vanity, mounts, minions and so on than about high end raiding, this cash shop deal is what P2W would be for you. If P2W would upset you, don't laugh at people getting upset about this.

Because if you want that shiny thing, go ahead and spend yourself 5 bucks. Is that a wallet breaker at the end of the day? I mean seriously get over yourself. Vanity vanity vanity, it's not like this game already has plenty of that stuff as it is. When you have Hula-style leis, dresses, tuxedos, weird...mistbeard mask thing, glasses out the rear end, dying armor, glamouring over armor, do you really think that at the end of the day, all of this bitching will matter?


If you are mad at paying for something like a minion when you are just as good without it, or that horsey that has no significant differences other than it's black and Sleipnir, then you my friend don't understand the fact that this crap happens in MMO's all the time. Fight another battle, because SE's not getting rid of the cash shop, I don't support their current prices, but I happily support them implementing it as a means for people to get stuff from events they'd have to wait a year to snag. I'd rather buy a ghost costume in January for 5 bucks, than wait a whole year to grab it free. Why wait that long?

[Meltzeiferion]

However, they aren't offering items that will give players an added advantage which will affect the game's progression. No Pay-2-Win in the cash-shop. It's all vanity.

There are achievements and items to collect in the game for a reason. Some players are types who progress in terms of acquiring these things rather than gear. It may be hard for some people to understand when they don't play the game in this manner, but just because it is 'only' vanity to some doesn't mean it isn't something more important to the experience for others.

It may not be pay to win in the sense of being able to buy the best/better gear or something, but it is something that means those who play to collect and for other reasons than gear now have to 'pay to complete'. I'm not this deep into collecting myself but I can understand that to some people this sort of thing is essentially taking the parts of the game that are meaningful to them and making them pay for it.

I think that one of the reasons a lot of people are upset with it as well is that in this case it goes a little further than just sticking random vanity pieces in the shop and appears to literally be a way to pay for an 'enhanced' experience in regards to a piece of content. For people who were really looking forward to this content, it is probably in a way comparable to something like having a dungeon in game that is freely accessible but you have to pay extra money to actually get the story elements. The content that a lot of people would consider truly important is there as you get the dungeon, the gear and etc. but people who actually care about the story aren't able to get the full experience unless they pay extra. Plenty of people wouldn't care about this but to a lot of others it would be an important missing element.

Maybe with that explanation it might be a little more understandable on why some are bothered by these sorts of things, and specifically how Eternal Bonding is apparently being handled. I'm somewhat waiting to see what the plans actually are though, and I made a decision a while back to stay till at least Gold Saucer to see how that turns out, as my interests in the game lay in side content like this over dungeons and what not.


Edit: As an extra note, just because a lot of other companies do it doesn't mean people have no right to complain about it here. Perhaps some of said people were here because it didn't have a cash shop. I know I actually opted not to play The Secret World when it launched because they openly planned to have sub fee + cash shop.

[FateAudax]

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I understand where you're coming from. However, I believe if SE's head is in the right place, any minions or mount which is made available through the cash-shop wouldn't be taken into account for achievements. If it's personal collection, achievement or sense of accomplishment you're talking about then I guess it's just bad luck that SE made it this way.

Objecting the cash-shop and showing discontent is totally fine. However, there are people accusing SE for forcing them to pay extra on-top of their subscription. I'm just rebutting that in no way that SE is forcing them to pay extra on-top of their subscriptions. At the end of the day, no one can deny the fact that cash-shop items are indeed just optional extra add-ons. That's my point.