Who is Optional – A Question of Consumer Value

[Shougun]

Pretty much described the inability of players to see the desires and feeling others can get from a game lol. "It is not pay to win for you, because I don't consider looking cool as winning". All we need, and already have, are games based on fashion and vanity - now clearly then players can see it as pay to win. Winning being that feeling of success that does /not/ need to be from battle only. Thats not really surprising though, having to care or at least understand for those you don't necessarily side with (I'm no king at it.. hell I had 15 posts on glamour system hate before I got that there are /a lot/ of people who like it and you can lore it in to not be too breaking (still wish I saw less bikini knights but honestly there are fewer than I expected, so <3 to players)).

Also to that you have people who would be -happy- to buy the item rather than work for it, but also people who will see the game's value go down as more cash shop items are produced. Fortunately for the cash shop lovers it only takes a few whales to make support greater than the loss of a few strict value players (most people are pretty flexible even if disappointed about having to, certainly not a good way to vote with your money but being inflexible has its costs - like not playing the game lol). Personally I see cash shops as an awful value and a detriment to the game in terms of a game being a game. Sure there may be some devs that take the money and put it all back into the game under the normal subscription, but I doubt it as basic business sense is to make money and use that money to make more money - not to do more for less. Speaking value in terms of $60 gets you a fully featured game, $20 gets you one mount. I can make that purchase a few times but at a certain point you have an entire years worth of value placed into a few items and mathematically you know something is off.

Not that I blame SE, as I said they're job is to make money. Job of the consumers to smartly spend and vote with their money or experience an unleashed businesses because you failed to do so (as again they will do what makes money, even if that is double quadruple dipping if you let them). How to spend your money of course being an opinion :P.