149066-monetization-and-wildstar-a-primer

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I want to pre-empt this discussion by saying I have never worked in the gaming industry. My 20+ years of marketing experience spans a veritable cornucopia of industry, from local politics to regional grocery chains to national charities. However, I am no stranger to MMOs and have watched from the sidelines as the landscape has shifted from pure pay-to-play subscriptions, through buy-to-play and now several years into the free-to-play movement. As someone who pays close attention to financial trends across multiple industries, I feel imminently qualified to offer this feedback and following suggestions on how Carbine can capitalize off the WildStar property – and hopefully secure a long and healthy lifespan for the game and studio.
 
Also, this discussion focuses completely on monetization. It is not intended to address other issues like Endgame progression, class balance, new content or any of the other myriad things that could be done in order to bring in and retain more players. We are focusing on how to make money with WildStar in its current iteration.
 
Finally, it should go without saying, these are just my opinions.  Nothing here is based on metrics or hard numbers.
 
THE CASH SHOP
No discussion about monetization can begin without breaking down the Cash Shop. As expected, WildStar’s cash shop isn’t as fleshed out as the shops in other games that have been F2P for longer – but that is not the weakest point here. The biggest current drawbacks on the Cash Shop are lack of unique cosmetics and a preponderance of re-skinned, limited-time and/or over-industry-standard price points items. These three things together means that the majority of the “good stuff” is not desirable, not available or not affordable to the average player. Also, please, a little consistency goes a long way to making people feel like the studio is reliable. If you sell a three-pack of dyes for $9 at the end of October, and then turn around and sell a single dye for $10 just over a month later, people are going to notice and complain.
 
Suggestions for the Cash Shop
1. Bring the price point for single-character and account-wide cosmetic items better into line with the rest of the industry. $12-$15 for single character and NO MORE THAN $20 for account-wide unlocks. Period. Anything else will be seen as exploitive and over-priced. If the highest-earning and lowest-end MMOs can charge $20 account-wide, then so can Carbine. Lower price points also mean more players are likely to make purchases, as opposed to fewer sales at a slightly higher price point.
 
2. Leave Holiday/Event Items on the Shop for a month or more after the event is over. Taking all the new, spiffy stuff off the shop after a week or two is just silly – and sure, you might lose a little of the urgency in consumer pressure, but you will make that up in after-the-fact sales. To this day, I promise the zBoard (Available for what? Five days?) will still sell even if the racing tracks aren’t up and even if it’s not a Back To The Future anniversary.
 
3. Enough re-skins already! Yes, we understand that it’s easier to recolor or retexture an existing asset – and honestly, that’s fine stuff to sell if you’ve also got enough unique and provocative styles to sell along with it. Mostly this is about Mounts, since costumes can be dyed and a recolor for those is pointless. Still, seven or eight different “My Little Equivars” isn’t going to keep the lights on for long.  
 
4. Pick a Price Point and stick with it. If the Shade’s Eve 3-Pack of Dyes sold too well and the Winterfest dyes didn’t sell enough – then figure out a middling point and stick with it. If you’re going to sell dyes, they all need to cost the same. If you’re going to sell packs, they need to have the same number of dyes and they also need to cost them same. “More expensive dyes” is a figment of the player bases over-active imagination and exploiting their silly little ways isn’t good business. In other words, “black” and “white” costing more than “blue” or “pink” is taking advantage of player perception and isn’t based in reality, where all Crayons cost the same.
 
5. Package Deals! Everyone loves a package deal. These are a great way to lump several items together for a special price point. So far, Carbine has done a pretty good job with these and it’s a route that should be further explored. Suggestions: A “Fashion Show” package that gives a Holo-Wardrobe expansion, a dye (or two) and a Costume Slot, for instance – or an “Endgame Rune Pack” that has a couple of high-level rune pieces, a few Service Tokens and a couple of Random Rune Bags – or a “Lopp Village Pack” that comes with some Lopp Dancers, the Lopp Party FABKit and several pieces of on-theme décor.
 
6. In-Game Assets for Sale. Since making new stuff always takes longer than re-purposing old assets – there are, literally, dozens of in-game costumes, animals (pets/mounts) and décor that players have been clamoring over since original launch. Kick some of that down by putting it on the cash shop. A Lopp House, a Temple of the Six “House”, a Kurg mount, etc. This is also the place to sell Housing skies, grounds, background music and other desirable assets.
 
7. Stop Hiding Things! If you put an item in-game for an event and then lock it behind random chance (either drops or as an RNG "prize") then that item also needs to be on the Cash Shop for a slightly-elevated price point. In other words, the Present Pet (Winterfest instance-drop) should have gone on the shop and it should have been $12 single-toon and $20 account-wide like everything else. Most folks will tend to run the content in order to get the drop they want - but if RNGesus is unkind we should have the option to just pay for it. I mean, it's vanity crap after all. Take my money and hush!
 
EVENTS
Here is where WildStar has really shown off its chops. Both the Shade’s Eve and Winterfest in-game events were well-done, evocative and welcome relief from the same-old-same-old on Nexus. Both events had good monetization points and both had just awful points. Events can (and should) be huge money-makers – but the quality of offerings has to be consistent, well-priced and thematic. This stuff should be limited time but (as noted above) should be available for at least a month after the event has wrapped in order to squeeze the stragglers or the forgetful or those who just happened to join a day or two late.
 
These events should come with a full array of Package Deals on décor, costumes, toys, dyes, pets, mounts and music. The prices and quality should remain consistent, and everything bought with real money should be able to be traded or sold or shipped to Alts.
 
My best advice here is to keep doing what’s worked best and adjust the things that have been public-relations nightmares. You know, things like calling Cash Shop items “rewards” or publishing unclear descriptions of what players can expect. Don’t do that. It makes you look like amateurs and people will turn their backs on you when they feel cheated, lied to or robbed, even inadvertently.
 
 
LOCKBOX KEYS
If monetizing lockbox keys is the future of WildStar’s success, then we can stop having this conversation right now. Seriously. NO ONE LIKES LOCKBOXES. Players can accept them in very limited quantities, but the moment you start locking entire events behind the Lockbox Paywall, you have failed your player base. In fact, if you guys (Carbine) haven’t already accepted that the World Boss Event was bad idea, then I am not sure my advice will do more than fall on deaf ears.Please do not mistake people BUYING keys as being the same thing as people ENJOYING it. Now, having said all that, there are most certainly ways to encourage purchasing Lockboxes without tricking the player base.
 
1. Never, ever tie lockboxes to in-game events unless that event is 100% upfront about its nature. For example, the much-reviled World Boss event was the wrong way to go about it, whereas if you create a “LOCKBOX WEEKEND” where you sell two kinds of Keys – the “regular” keys give you access to the normal rewards, but if you buy the Event Keys, then you get access to an entirely new loot table just for that event, that's okay. Being clear, being honest - and offering quality goodies, that's a win.
 
2. Give out Lockboxes for Gold Expedition runs, as well as Adventures, Dungeons and Raids. Not every time, but as part of the regular loot table. More lockboxes in play means more people will want to open them. Also consider adding them to the Discoveries loot table, at least in the higher-end zones like Margrave onward.
 
3. Lockboxes should contain unique items, but the loot table should be fairly small and each type of content should have it’s own specific loot table – so Adventure boxes give different stuff than Gold Expedition boxes which in turn are different than Dungeon boxes. Publish the loot tables for all to see what is dropped where. Make these drops highly desirable cosmetic or collectible items and slightly-better-than-usual gear for the level of content involved. Never Best in Slot stuff and never non-tradable items of any kind – anything you pay money for (even if you only paid for the key!) should be able to be turned into in-game gold through player trade or the Auction House.
 
 
RANDOM-CHANCE GAMES
In my professional opinion, Madam Faye should be the soul purveyor of for-cash randomness – and she should be exploited even further to that end. Instead of one huge loot table that changes regularly, offer different Madame Faye tokens for different events/content, but still leave access to older tokens. So if you want to lock away “World Boss Event” contents behind random purchases, then you PUT IT IN HERE and NOT AS A LOCKBOX. Straight up, most folks would be more predisposed to roll the dice if they had even a minor, superficial semblance of affecting the odds of getting something they want.
 
You want to sell Kurtenacker’s music this week, but don’t just want to post it up as an item (even though you should?) Then create Madame Faye’s Music Tokens and put a bunch of different tracks in there. If you want to sell Dyes this month, make a Faye coin just for that. Faye coins shouldn’t cost as much as out-right purchases because you can’t control your choices – but the drop table should have good stuff and all of that stuff should be tradable some how.
 
 
SIGNATURE PERKSVolumes have been written about this already, but I’d just like to reiterate the most important aspect of Signature Service:
 
It is practically worthless to a long-time player in its current form.
 
Honestly, I think Signature Perks should change after the account reaches a certain Cosmic Point plateau. Swap out the XP gain for increased OmniBit drops, or an ever-increasing Cash Shop discount (up to say, 15% Off at the highest Cosmic levels), or a minor OmniBit stipend, or even a pittance of Service Tokens. Something, anything, other than XP. The gold buff is nice, but not $15/month nice. The Crafting boost is nice, but not that nice.
 
Basically, Signature Status is wonderful for the new, leveling or Alt-O-Holic player, but once that process is over, the Perks should reflect the type of play-style being used. I would still be subscribing today if it was worthwhile, and I promise I am not alone.
 
I am not sure what the final solution is here, but leaving it as it stands will just assure that there will never be a large number of subscribers. If that’s the plan, then groovy. If it’s not (which I suspect isn’t the plan), then make some adjustments.
 
MERCH! MY GOD, MERCH!
So, I want to buy a Jabbit plushie for my little girl. Can’t have it. I want a 4XL WildStar t-shirt for my birthday. Can’t find one. I want the soundtrack on CD and digital download to stay in the WildStar mood while in the truck. Nope. I want some size 16 Rowsdower slippers. Can’t have ‘em. Statuettes of my favorite class/race combo? Yeah, right.
 
WildStar is a freakin’ gold mine of merchandising possibilities that has been nearly completely ignored. I mean, I can host (or win) an in-game contest and have a box sent to me, but if I just want to give y’all some money, I can’t do it. What gives? Make this stuff (even if you start small with shirts and a single plushie) and sell it.
 
 
PAID PVP CONTENT
Now, hear me out before freaking out, PVP Community. Want to solve the PVP Bot infestation and make a little money for the studio in the process? Lock level 50 PVP behind the lowest Cosmic Point strata. As in one single $5 purchase and high-level PVP is yours forever, regardless if level cap increases in the future or not. Gold-farmers aren’t going to spend money and in-game botters at least had to have paid for the privilege of cheating.
 
No more mass-bots in Endgame PVP. No, it doesn’t solve pre-50 bot issues but it will assure that all of the advanced battlegrounds are bot-free – and since that’s where players spend the vast majority of their time, that’s where the issue can be solved.
 
 
IN CLOSING
There you have it. Focus on selling quality items for industry-standard pricing. Offer package deals. Bring on the merch. Figure out a good balance between lockboxes and Madame Faye. Make Signature Status more appealing to long-term players and for goodness sake, stop holding events based around the cash shop unless you guys are just trying to make people angry.
			
				
	Edited January 18, 2016 by Tex Arcana	
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Sorry, I know it's a book ... but I had a lot to say and since I didn't want to apply for a job there, I figured I'd offer my advice for free.
 
That's love, right there.	
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PAID PVP CONTENT
Now, hear me out before freaking out, PVP Community. Want to solve the PVP Bot infestation and make a little money for the studio in the process? Lock level 50 PVP behind the lowest Cosmic Point strata. As in one single $5 purchase and high-level PVP is yours forever, regardless if level cap increases in the future or not. Gold-farmers aren’t going to spend money and in-game botters at least had to have paid for the privilege of cheating.
 
No more mass-bots in Endgame PVP. No, it doesn’t solve pre-50 bot issues but it will assure that all of the advanced battlegrounds are bot-free – and since that’s where players spend the vast majority of their time, that’s where the issue can be solved.
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However in order to prevent bots from going to bot somewhere else in game, perhaps the 5dollar purchase should go for most content, or at least trading and such restrictions like a lot of other mmos have.
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MERCH! MY GOD, MERCH!
So, I want to buy a Jabbit plushie for my little girl. Can’t have it. I want a 4XL WildStar t-shirt for my birthday. Can’t find one. I want the soundtrack on CD and digital download to stay in the WildStar mood while in the truck. Nope. I want some size 16 Rowsdower slippers. Can’t have ‘em. Statuettes of my favorite class/race combo? Yeah, right.
 
WildStar is a freakin’ gold mine of merchandising possibilities that has been nearly completely ignored. I mean, I can host (or win) an in-game contest and have a box sent to me, but if I just want to give y’all some money, I can’t do it. What gives? Make this stuff (even if you start small with shirts and a single plushie) and sell it.
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			really nice. i hope they have a look at this.	
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Well, I know that "everyone" on the internet is a 6'7", 350 Lb. giant.
 
In my case though, it's true.  :lol:  I really do wear a 4XL shirt and I really do wear size 16 shoes.  :P
			
				
	Edited January 18, 2016 by Tex Arcana	
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Lots of good suggestions and general rules that I think would work out well for the cash shop.  I just wanted to add one thing regarding dyes.  it would be nice to have a create your own dye pack.  you pay a flat fee to choose a specific amount of dyes from the entire list of dyes in the game.  this will eliminate some rng and also allow people to quickly purchase some nice colors for their main or any alts and dive right into costume making.  maybe this would exclude any cash shop only dyes and have a higher price point on those and a lower one for the in game dyes.  just a thought as someone who collects as many as they can.
 
but honestly tex, it is sad that you have to suggest some of these no brainer type things ie. dont charge one price for an event dye and then up it for the next one.  not all of us have only a two week memory.  	
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Lots of good suggestions and general rules that I think would work out well for the cash shop.  I just wanted to add one thing regarding dyes.  it would be nice to have a create your own dye pack.  you pay a flat fee to choose a specific amount of dyes from the entire list of dyes in the game.  this will eliminate some rng and also allow people to quickly purchase some nice colors for their main or any alts and dive right into costume making.  maybe this would exclude any cash shop only dyes and have a higher price point on those and a lower one for the in game dyes.  just a thought as someone who collects as many as they can.
 
but honestly tex, it is sad that you have to suggest some of these no brainer type things ie. dont charge one price for an event dye and then up it for the next one.  not all of us have only a two week memory.  
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			Just wanted to poke my head in and give more applause than a simple "like".  Even the least of these ideas are smart, and the best of them are bulls-eyes.	
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Just wanted to poke my head in and give more applause than a simple "like".  Even the least of these ideas are smart, and the best of them are bulls-eyes.
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Well, as someone who is deep into the Cosmic tree, I'd be totally fine if trading, chatting globally and ALL PVP were locked behind even a single purchase - but that goes against the "free experience for everyone" bit they want to push.
 
I don't want to push poor people, college kids or folks on a budget away by any means. They are important, too and should have the tools available to enjoy almost the entire game for free.
 
But $5 for endless bot-free PVP? I dunno. Seems like a pretty good deal to me.  :lol:
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Those are some great suggestions, Tex. It's contributions like these that make me wish I could "like" the same thing more than once :D
 
And, since I can't post without complaining about anything and we're talking about NCSoft in some capacity or other, a little advice/plea of my own:
As Tex suggests package deals are a great way to make money but for the love of everything you hold dear please, please, please do them right.
The reason I mention this is that I've recently had a look around another one of NCSoft's games, Guild Wars 2, and encountered cash shop bundles done appallingly wrong.
 
In essence there's two types of bundles on their shop, I'll call them Type A and Type B.
With Type A you can buy a bunch of items from their inventory for their combined price and get a number of things, like some of their RNG box keys for free - or if you also wanted to buy the things you got for free you get everything for slightly less than buying it separately.
Say, a bundle of some additional inventory slots and bank slots priced at what the items would cost if you bought them separately and you get a stack of lockbox keys for free.
Awesome, maybe I didn't want to buy all those slots at once but I entertained the idea of buying them eventually and I get free stuff for doing it now.
The key point here is that everything in bundle Type A is available unbundled and the bundle is priced around the "main" items it contains.
 
 
Lately, Type B bundles started showing up in their shop.
Type B bundles are a new outfit (think one-piece costume that can be dyed but not mixed with other pieces), a new glider skin (because their recent expansion introduced gliding), a weapon skin from a themed set available only in Type B bundles, a bunch of RNG dye boxes and an appearance change for one character.
One issue with Type B bundles is that everything in them save for the RNG dye boxes and the appearance change is only available as part of that bundle. Period. Buy all of it or get none of it.
 
The other issue becomes apparent when you start breaking down the price of the bundled items.
(And on second thought I'll just spoiler that part so those not interested in the math don't have to read it.)
 
 
Type B bundles cost 25$ (or €, it's a 1:1 conversion) I'm going to disregard the option of exchanging ingame gold for cash shop currency as that's something WS doesn't offer.
 
There's currently two unbundled glider skins on their shop, one for $5€ and one for $6.25€ - historically there have been bundles with a glider skin and a back slot item with the same appearance for $8.75€
I'm going to go with the more expensive unbundled skin and value the glider at $6.25€
 
Outfits are usually priced at $8.75€ There's a single outlier at $12.5€ - I'll go with the more common $8.75€ pricepoint.
Weapon skins fluctuate between $6.25€ and $7.5€ - I'll go with $7.5€
 
The dye boxes come in at $6.25€
The appearance change is $4.38€
 
That's 6.25 + 8.75 + 7.5 + 6.25 + 4.38 = $33,13€ worth of items.
 
Now that's a great deal at $25€ if you wanted to buy all of the things in the bundle.
You only wanted the outfit? You're paying $16.25€ extra for junk you didn't want.
You only wanted the glider? That's a measly $18.75€ extra for things you may never use!
Even if you wanted both the glider and the outfit but none of the other things you're still paying $10€ extra compared to them selling both items outside of the bundle.
Heck even if you wanted all three bundle-exclusive items, the outfit, the glider and the weapon skin, you're still paying $2.5€ extra.
 
 
The whole point of this rant is: Bundles are good marketing. Bundle exclusive items may be something that can work. But nobody likes bundles where you only "save" money because they're padded with useless crap.
 
Much to the beancounters' dismay the majority of us are not stupid and will break down the price of bundles. Don't you try and sell me a bundle where I "save" 5$ worth of iron ore, plant seeds and a bag with 5 gold in it.
 
And that's all, thanks for suffering through another one of my rants.	
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Whining without offering solutions is for millennials.    ;)
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Some great ideas there Tex. I'm guessing that such a well thought out and thorough document is likely to be better than anything that's sat on the desks at Carbine (but to be fair there's only so much room for scribble on the back of a beer mat).
 
I'm probably not the target audience for MMO cash shops, I'm quite a reluctant spender. However, I do make purchases when I consider them good value, usually mounts, dye packs, content unlocks and things like that. Stuff where I can see what I'm getting before I spend my money usually. Never anything RNG.
 
Things that I usually find will tempt me to make a purchase:
 
* Original designs. Mounts, costumes, dyes, toys and decor etc that goes above and beyond the normal art assets available in the game. In other words, stuff it looks like some thought and effort has gone into it.
* Value for money. If purchases feel like micro payments I'm far more likely to spend a little here, a little there. Big purchases are offputting, it's a game and these are rented digital good after all, we don't really own anything we buy. If an in-game item costs as much as something tangible I could spend the money on IRL, then the real item wins every time.
* Consistent pricing. Set a price and unlock policy and stick to it. Sales are ok periodically, but prices and unlock policies shouldn't constantly be all over the place for similar items. 
 
Things I always find a total turn off are:
 
* RNG boxes. I've never bought a RNG box in any game and never will. Not because I'm anti gambling per-se (I do the lottery) but because I simply don't trust the odds, mechanics and lack of regulation. There's no published odds, no consumer protection. RNG boxes and their ilk are a total blight on the gaming industry and desperately need proper regulation.
* Reskins. If I'm going to buy a mount or costume from the cash shop it has to be totally original and some effort gone into making it. No lazy reskins. Period.
* Cash gran tactics. For example, game events primarily designed to drive the cash shop. Events should be about gameplay, not a cash grab vehicle.
* Poor value for money. When a piece of digital clothing costs more than an item of real clothing, or when when a mount, costume or dye costs more than the box price of the average game then clearly this isn't value for money. Stop milking whales and set prices aimed at the average player.
* Inconsistent pricing. There's nothing worse than a company constantly fishing for a price point. It just smacks of desperation, cash grabs and milking the players for whatever the market will stand.
* Anything Pay2Win. Shouldn't need explaining.	
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 :lol: :lol: Omg! Even if I didn't already know you're from TX, that would have been my first guess lol. All you're missing is the Deadeye cowboy hat.
 
But yes, Merchandise is a great idea and very very few would complain about those things only purchasable with cash. But I understand why they don't, because what if they ordered too many size 16 slippers from Oriental Trading and only sell 15% of it? What are they going to do with the rest?
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Before I counter with a few notes, just want to say that, overall, this is amazingly well thought out, and echoes most of what I hear in game, as well as when talking to people in the real world (yep, I totally talk about Wildstar to flesh-and-blood folks!).  Good on ya, ya monster-sized Texan (for the record, not ALL of us Texans are 4XLs ;) ). 
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THE CASH SHOPSuggestions for the Cash Shop1. Bring the price point for single-character and account-wide cosmetic items better into line with the rest of the industry. $12-$15 for single character and NO MORE THAN $20 for account-wide unlocks. Period. Anything else will be seen as exploitive and over-priced. If the highest-earning and lowest-end MMOs can charge $20 account-wide, then so can Carbine. Lower price points also mean more players are likely to make purchases, as opposed to fewer sales at a slightly higher price point.
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I want to pre-empt this discussion by saying I have never worked in the gaming industry. My 20+ years of marketing experience spans a veritable cornucopia of industry, from local politics to regional grocery chains to national charities. However, I am no stranger to MMOs and have watched from the sidelines as the landscape has shifted from pure pay-to-play subscriptions, through buy-to-play and now several years into the free-to-play movement. As someone who pays close attention to financial trends across multiple industries, I feel imminently qualified to offer this feedback and following suggestions on how Carbine can capitalize off the WildStar property – and hopefully secure a long and healthy lifespan for the game and studio.
 
Also, this discussion focuses completely on monetization. It is not intended to address other issues like Endgame progression, class balance, new content or any of the other myriad things that could be done in order to bring in and retain more players. We are focusing on how to make money with WildStar in its current iteration.
 
Finally, it should go without saying, these are just my opinions.  Nothing here is based on metrics or hard numbers.
 
THE CASH SHOP
No discussion about monetization can begin without breaking down the Cash Shop. As expected, WildStar’s cash shop isn’t as fleshed out as the shops in other games that have been F2P for longer – but that is not the weakest point here. The biggest current drawbacks on the Cash Shop are lack of unique cosmetics and a preponderance of re-skinned, limited-time and/or over-industry-standard price points items. These three things together means that the majority of the “good stuff” is not desirable, not available or not affordable to the average player. Also, please, a little consistency goes a long way to making people feel like the studio is reliable. If you sell a three-pack of dyes for $9 at the end of October, and then turn around and sell a single dye for $10 just over a month later, people are going to notice and complain.
 
Suggestions for the Cash Shop
1. Bring the price point for single-character and account-wide cosmetic items better into line with the rest of the industry. $12-$15 for single character and NO MORE THAN $20 for account-wide unlocks. Period. Anything else will be seen as exploitive and over-priced. If the highest-earning and lowest-end MMOs can charge $20 account-wide, then so can Carbine. Lower price points also mean more players are likely to make purchases, as opposed to fewer sales at a slightly higher price point.
 
2. Leave Holiday/Event Items on the Shop for a month or more after the event is over. Taking all the new, spiffy stuff off the shop after a week or two is just silly – and sure, you might lose a little of the urgency in consumer pressure, but you will make that up in after-the-fact sales. To this day, I promise the zBoard (Available for what? Five days?) will still sell even if the racing tracks aren’t up and even if it’s not a Back To The Future anniversary.
 
3. Enough re-skins already! Yes, we understand that it’s easier to recolor or retexture an existing asset – and honestly, that’s fine stuff to sell if you’ve also got enough unique and provocative styles to sell along with it. Mostly this is about Mounts, since costumes can be dyed and a recolor for those is pointless. Still, seven or eight different “My Little Equivars” isn’t going to keep the lights on for long.  
 
4. Pick a Price Point and stick with it. If the Shade’s Eve 3-Pack of Dyes sold too well and the Winterfest dyes didn’t sell enough – then figure out a middling point and stick with it. If you’re going to sell dyes, they all need to cost the same. If you’re going to sell packs, they need to have the same number of dyes and they also need to cost them same. “More expensive dyes” is a figment of the player bases over-active imagination and exploiting their silly little ways isn’t good business. In other words, “black” and “white” costing more than “blue” or “pink” is taking advantage of player perception and isn’t based in reality, where all Crayons cost the same.
 
5. Package Deals! Everyone loves a package deal. These are a great way to lump several items together for a special price point. So far, Carbine has done a pretty good job with these and it’s a route that should be further explored. Suggestions: A “Fashion Show” package that gives a Holo-Wardrobe expansion, a dye (or two) and a Costume Slot, for instance – or an “Endgame Rune Pack” that has a couple of high-level rune pieces, a few Service Tokens and a couple of Random Rune Bags – or a “Lopp Village Pack” that comes with some Lopp Dancers, the Lopp Party FABKit and several pieces of on-theme décor.
 
6. In-Game Assets for Sale. Since making new stuff always takes longer than re-purposing old assets – there are, literally, dozens of in-game costumes, animals (pets/mounts) and décor that players have been clamoring over since original launch. Kick some of that down by putting it on the cash shop. A Lopp House, a Temple of the Six “House”, a Kurg mount, etc. This is also the place to sell Housing skies, grounds, background music and other desirable assets.
 
7. Stop Hiding Things! If you put an item in-game for an event and then lock it behind random chance (either drops or as an RNG "prize") then that item also needs to be on the Cash Shop for a slightly-elevated price point. In other words, the Present Pet (Winterfest instance-drop) should have gone on the shop and it should have been $12 single-toon and $20 account-wide like everything else. Most folks will tend to run the content in order to get the drop they want - but if RNGesus is unkind we should have the option to just pay for it. I mean, it's vanity crap after all. Take my money and hush!
 
EVENTS
Here is where WildStar has really shown off its chops. Both the Shade’s Eve and Winterfest in-game events were well-done, evocative and welcome relief from the same-old-same-old on Nexus. Both events had good monetization points and both had just awful points. Events can (and should) be huge money-makers – but the quality of offerings has to be consistent, well-priced and thematic. This stuff should be limited time but (as noted above) should be available for at least a month after the event has wrapped in order to squeeze the stragglers or the forgetful or those who just happened to join a day or two late.
 
These events should come with a full array of Package Deals on décor, costumes, toys, dyes, pets, mounts and music. The prices and quality should remain consistent, and everything bought with real money should be able to be traded or sold or shipped to Alts.
 
My best advice here is to keep doing what’s worked best and adjust the things that have been public-relations nightmares. You know, things like calling Cash Shop items “rewards” or publishing unclear descriptions of what players can expect. Don’t do that. It makes you look like amateurs and people will turn their backs on you when they feel cheated, lied to or robbed, even inadvertently.
 
 
LOCKBOX KEYS
If monetizing lockbox keys is the future of WildStar’s success, then we can stop having this conversation right now. Seriously. NO ONE LIKES LOCKBOXES. Players can accept them in very limited quantities, but the moment you start locking entire events behind the Lockbox Paywall, you have failed your player base. In fact, if you guys (Carbine) haven’t already accepted that the World Boss Event was bad idea, then I am not sure my advice will do more than fall on deaf ears.
 
Please do not mistake people BUYING keys as being the same thing as people ENJOYING it. Now, having said all that, there are most certainly ways to encourage purchasing Lockboxes without tricking the player base.
 
1. Never, ever tie lockboxes to in-game events unless that event is 100% upfront about its nature. For example, the much-reviled World Boss event was the wrong way to go about it, whereas if you create a “LOCKBOX WEEKEND” where you sell two kinds of Keys – the “regular” keys give you access to the normal rewards, but if you buy the Event Keys, then you get access to an entirely new loot table just for that event, that's okay. Being clear, being honest - and offering quality goodies, that's a win.
 
2. Give out Lockboxes for Gold Expedition runs, as well as Adventures, Dungeons and Raids. Not every time, but as part of the regular loot table. More lockboxes in play means more people will want to open them. Also consider adding them to the Discoveries loot table, at least in the higher-end zones like Margrave onward.
 
3. Lockboxes should contain unique items, but the loot table should be fairly small and each type of content should have it’s own specific loot table – so Adventure boxes give different stuff than Gold Expedition boxes which in turn are different than Dungeon boxes. Publish the loot tables for all to see what is dropped where. Make these drops highly desirable cosmetic or collectible items and slightly-better-than-usual gear for the level of content involved. Never Best in Slot stuff and never non-tradable items of any kind – anything you pay money for (even if you only paid for the key!) should be able to be turned into in-game gold through player trade or the Auction House.
 
 
RANDOM-CHANCE GAMES
In my professional opinion, Madam Faye should be the soul purveyor of for-cash randomness – and she should be exploited even further to that end. Instead of one huge loot table that changes regularly, offer different Madame Faye tokens for different events/content, but still leave access to older tokens. So if you want to lock away “World Boss Event” contents behind random purchases, then you PUT IT IN HERE and NOT AS A LOCKBOX. Straight up, most folks would be more predisposed to roll the dice if they had even a minor, superficial semblance of affecting the odds of getting something they want.
 
You want to sell Kurtenacker’s music this week, but don’t just want to post it up as an item (even though you should?) Then create Madame Faye’s Music Tokens and put a bunch of different tracks in there. If you want to sell Dyes this month, make a Faye coin just for that. Faye coins shouldn’t cost as much as out-right purchases because you can’t control your choices – but the drop table should have good stuff and all of that stuff should be tradable some how.
 
 
SIGNATURE PERKS
Volumes have been written about this already, but I’d just like to reiterate the most important aspect of Signature Service:
 
It is practically worthless to a long-time player in its current form.
 
Honestly, I think Signature Perks should change after the account reaches a certain Cosmic Point plateau. Swap out the XP gain for increased OmniBit drops, or an ever-increasing Cash Shop discount (up to say, 15% Off at the highest Cosmic levels), or a minor OmniBit stipend, or even a pittance of Service Tokens. Something, anything, other than XP. The gold buff is nice, but not $15/month nice. The Crafting boost is nice, but not that nice.
 
Basically, Signature Status is wonderful for the new, leveling or Alt-O-Holic player, but once that process is over, the Perks should reflect the type of play-style being used. I would still be subscribing today if it was worthwhile, and I promise I am not alone.
 
I am not sure what the final solution is here, but leaving it as it stands will just assure that there will never be a large number of subscribers. If that’s the plan, then groovy. If it’s not (which I suspect isn’t the plan), then make some adjustments.
 
MERCH! MY GOD, MERCH!
So, I want to buy a Jabbit plushie for my little girl. Can’t have it. I want a 4XL WildStar t-shirt for my birthday. Can’t find one. I want the soundtrack on CD and digital download to stay in the WildStar mood while in the truck. Nope. I want some size 16 Rowsdower slippers. Can’t have ‘em. Statuettes of my favorite class/race combo? Yeah, right.
 
WildStar is a freakin’ gold mine of merchandising possibilities that has been nearly completely ignored. I mean, I can host (or win) an in-game contest and have a box sent to me, but if I just want to give y’all some money, I can’t do it. What gives? Make this stuff (even if you start small with shirts and a single plushie) and sell it.
 
 
PAID PVP CONTENT
Now, hear me out before freaking out, PVP Community. Want to solve the PVP Bot infestation and make a little money for the studio in the process? Lock level 50 PVP behind the lowest Cosmic Point strata. As in one single $5 purchase and high-level PVP is yours forever, regardless if level cap increases in the future or not. Gold-farmers aren’t going to spend money and in-game botters at least had to have paid for the privilege of cheating.
 
No more mass-bots in Endgame PVP. No, it doesn’t solve pre-50 bot issues but it will assure that all of the advanced battlegrounds are bot-free – and since that’s where players spend the vast majority of their time, that’s where the issue can be solved.
 
 
IN CLOSING
There you have it. Focus on selling quality items for industry-standard pricing. Offer package deals. Bring on the merch. Figure out a good balance between lockboxes and Madame Faye. Make Signature Status more appealing to long-term players and for goodness sake, stop holding events based around the cash shop unless you guys are just trying to make people angry.
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			Didn't Carbine's entire marketing team get laid-off back in Oct 2014?	
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			tl;dr :)	
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			remind me to take apart your post later today Tex :P	
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			Thank you for putting together what people have been saying for ages and adding more insight of your own in a very readable, concise and eloquent form. Couldn't agree more with what you said.	
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Thanks again, everyone.
 
Please keep in mind that I titled this "A Primer" because pretty much each of the points I raised could (and probably should) be expanded upon with acres and acres of feedback, exposition and expansion. Also, remember these are just "plain talk opinions" from an old man who's been around the block since before the block was paved properly, so YMMV. :lol:	
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{| class="blockquote"
* Cash [grab] tactics. For example, game events primarily designed to drive the cash shop. Events should be about gameplay, not a cash grab vehicle.
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I fully understand that some people (most people probably) don't like gamble boxes. *I* don't like them and don't generally, as a rule, purchase them.
 
However, a full discussion on WildStar's ability to make money would be incomplete without offering suggestions on how to better limit the seeming predatory nature of such things. Currently, within the industry, they are money-makers - and like them or not, we'd be remiss not to give feedback on things the studio can do to capitalize on them without going pee-pee in everyone's Cheerios.
 
And while it's certainly noble to think that "events should be about gameplay, not a cash grab vehicle" - it's entirely naive and unrealistic in the current paradigm to decouple to two concepts.
 
Events MUST make money. Events MUST be monetized. Events MUST drive purchases.
 
Without those things, we may as well just shut this whole deal down and flush the leftovers, because without the ability to make money, the studio and game is doomed.
 
"Free To Play" does not mean the studio is working for nothing, people. THEY MUST BE ABLE TO CAPITALIZE and shooting them down every step of the way is a quick route to bankruptcy and loss. I don't want that. I'm pretty sure YOU don't want that.
 
I also understand that some people want to just "Pay my subscription and never deal with microtransactions"  - and that's fine. Just accept now that you're never going to get any of the new cosmetic stuff, that you're always going to be behind the 8-Ball when it comes to Service Tokens and that OmniBits alone are NOT going to keep you solvent in the endgame. The days of "Pay Sub Get Everything" are truly over and we will NEVER see it's like again here. You can stand on ceremony, stomp your feet and otherwise poo-poo about the issue - but the fact remains, this is no longer a subscription-based game and to continue to treat it as such is not only pointless, it's a sure-fire way to get stressed out, upset and generally cranky about the entire game.	
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Well reading the last paragraph in your last post got me all depressed. xD
 
Good suggestions in the OP though, Tex. Thumbs up. I am an extremely picky customer when it comes to spending my money. But as GW2 has demonstrated for me... yeah, I'll actually spend money when there's stuff I really like. I'll never touch a lockbox in a million years, but god damnit, Carbine, if you would just put some fancy/pretty costumes up on your shop of the quality of the latest PvP season gear (not reskins - just the same level of design quality), then I would eat it up. >_<	
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{| class="blockquote"
Events MUST make money. Events MUST be monetized. Events MUST drive purchases..
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{| class="blockquote"
Well reading the last paragraph in your last post got me all depressed. xD
 
 
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{| class="blockquote"
Whatever happened to making a quality game? 
 
...
 
Put stuff I want on the shop at a fair price point and I will buy it.  Unless you start flirting with predatory practices and then my wallet closes.
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{| class="blockquote"
I fully understand that some people (most people probably) don't like gamble boxes. *I* don't like them and don't generally, as a rule, purchase them.
 
However, a full discussion on WildStar's ability to make money would be incomplete without offering suggestions on how to better limit the seeming predatory nature of such things. Currently, within the industry, they are money-makers - and like them or not, we'd be remiss not to give feedback on things the studio can do to capitalize on them without going pee-pee in everyone's Cheerios.
 
And while it's certainly noble to think that "events should be about gameplay, not a cash grab vehicle" - it's entirely naive and unrealistic in the current paradigm to decouple to two concepts.
 
Events MUST make money. Events MUST be monetized. Events MUST drive purchases.
 
Without those things, we may as well just shut this whole deal down and flush the leftovers, because without the ability to make money, the studio and game is doomed.
 
"Free To Play" does not mean the studio is working for nothing, people. THEY MUST BE ABLE TO CAPITALIZE and shooting them down every step of the way is a quick route to bankruptcy and loss. I don't want that. I'm pretty sure YOU don't want that.
 
I also understand that some people want to just "Pay my subscription and never deal with microtransactions"  - and that's fine. Just accept now that you're never going to get any of the new cosmetic stuff, that you're always going to be behind the 8-Ball when it comes to Service Tokens and that OmniBits alone are NOT going to keep you solvent in the endgame. The days of "Pay Sub Get Everything" are truly over and we will NEVER see it's like again here. You can stand on ceremony, stomp your feet and otherwise poo-poo about the issue - but the fact remains, this is no longer a subscription-based game and to continue to treat it as such is not only pointless, it's a sure-fire way to get stressed out, upset and generally cranky about the entire game.
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{| class="blockquote"
What happened was, oddly enough, game studios need income in order to make a quality game. I know, I know, it's weird to think that people want to get paid for their hard work, but what can you do? :lol:
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{| class="blockquote"
 
 
Trying to squeeze blood from those that are left instead of making the game attractive is not a recipe for success.
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{| class="blockquote"
And while it's certainly noble to think that "events should be about gameplay, not a cash grab vehicle" - it's entirely naive and unrealistic in the current paradigm to decouple to two concepts.
 
Events MUST make money. Events MUST be monetized. Events MUST drive purchases.
 
Without those things, we may as well just shut this whole deal down and flush the leftovers, because without the ability to make money, the studio and game is doomed.
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Okay, I agree that basing entire events around the cash shop is just a bad idea - as evidenced from my growling response to the World Boss Event fiasco.
 
As I said, there is a right way and a wrong way to drive people to the cash shop. There is a right way and a wrong way to monetize events. Giving "free" rewards and then forcing players to purchase the key to unlocking those rewards is neither the right way to drive people to the store, nor the proper way to monetize. ;)
 
Tell you what, once I finish the article I'm working on, I'll let you take a look. See what you think.	
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{| class="blockquote"
5. Package Deals! Everyone loves a package deal. These are a great way to lump several items together for a special price point. So far, Carbine has done a pretty good job with these and it’s a route that should be further explored. Suggestions: A “Fashion Show” package that gives a Holo-Wardrobe expansion, a dye (or two) and a Costume Slot, for instance – or an “Endgame Rune Pack” that has a couple of high-level rune pieces, a few Service Tokens and a couple of Random Rune Bags – or a “Lopp Village Pack” that comes with some Lopp Dancers, the Lopp Party FABKit and several pieces of on-theme décor.
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{| class="blockquote"
Great post Tex, and I agree with most of it. However, I would say that selling an "Endgame Rune Pack" if it contains rune pieces or rune bags, comes a little to close to buying power/p2w for my taste, especially given what a large portion of an items power is now derived from the runes as opposed to the gear itself. 
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{| class="blockquote"
There's nothing wrong with having the cash shop tie in with events and offer optional extras, but there's everything wrong with having the gameplay of events primarily designed to push people to the cash shop. For example if most of he goodies available from the event can only be unlocked with cash shop keys, or parts of the event are locked behind a cash shop paywall, or perhaps a key part of a costume or outfit can only be gained from the cash shop rather than via gameplay (which makes the event nothing more than an elaborate tease).
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{| class="blockquote"
I can see it, now: the next event will have a very nice outfit...of which only the gloves and the boots can be obtained in-game during the event. The other parts require a gamblebox and the blessing of the RNG!
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Gamble boxes are somewhat of an uncertainty that I believe companies are trying to make money off of why they are able. They are relatively new to gaming, and lord knows the legal and regulatory environments are notoriously slow to respond to emerging technology and innovative gambling developments (see online fantasy sights). I could see how a company could have well founded fears that their ability to offer RNG may someday fall within the purview of the state gaming commissions or a much needed but yet to be established federal gaming commission.
 
This would set much needed regulations, particularly on gaming where prizes are non-monetary, such as disclosure of odds, payout/return requirements, and most importantly, access to assistance for people with problems. I know a couple people who have gone deep in debt due to game cash shops, in particular rng boxes and exploitative freemium, and I think the gaming industry should be held resonsible for that particularly where so many gaming mechanisms in game are designed to trigger endorphin response, like so many casinos machines and other regulated gaming. 
 
Given the increasing popularity of this payment model for games, regulation will soon follow. So I think Carbine should keep its eye to the horizon to prepare for potential regulatory developments in the area, particularly with things like Madame Fay and other RNG box events. This is a time for continued innovation in monetization not slavish copying of a system that is inevitably bound for state/federal regulations. 
			
				
	Edited January 19, 2016 by MedicMelawen	
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The minimum consequence of regulation is going to be the age restriction1.  IMO it can't come fast enough.  Not that I want the game to die, I just want those gamble boxes turned into a bad memory.
 
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambling_age
			
				
	Edited January 19, 2016 by PlasmaJohn	
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{| class="blockquote"
The minimum consequence of regulation is going to be the age restriction1.  IMO it can't come fast enough.  Not that I want the game to die, I just want those gamble boxes turned into a bad memory.
 
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambling_age
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			Great post. This should finally put you over Olivar in your Likes competition. :)	
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{| class="blockquote"
Great post. This should finally put you over Olivar in your Likes competition. :)
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he's still more then 400 behind :P
And yeah, not a competition tbh. Forum likes are something for posts that people stand behind, not just for collecting	
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I released my sub shortly after the f2p drop (I had issues with some decisions) one of them being the rune fiasco and to my amazement had like 400+ days left on my account and no I did not buy a single box for the codes.  Not that I mind, but there's that.
 
Also grats on working on that post, god knows I would have not made it halfway without being a debbie downer or somesuch. 
 
But yeah, their prices for things was another thing I laughed at and definitely needs to be talked about.	
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{| class="blockquote"
The minimum consequence of regulation is going to be the age restriction1.  IMO it can't come fast enough.  Not that I want the game to die, I just want those gamble boxes turned into a bad memory.
 
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambling_age
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{| class="blockquote"
 Whining without offering solutions is for millennials.    ;)
 
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{| class="blockquote"
 
Axis Pheydra dislikes this
 
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I'm mostly a lurker on these forums though try to help out people with questions when I have the time or know the answer.
 
Just wanted to re-iterate beyond the 'like' (as ChroniclerC has done) that I find that Tex Arcana has put together some very well thought out and highly spot on points here in my opinion and experience as well.
 
From your posts throughout the games public life so far I have a decent amount of respect for your opinion Tex (among others on these forums).  This free, expert help, while perhaps not already unknown to the staff is a show of serious love and support for the game.
 
Keep it up, Space Cowboy.
 
- Vos	
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{| class="blockquote"
Honestly, given the amount of screaming I've heard out of the Endgame scene about how much the market for those runes sucks, so what?
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{| class="blockquote"
No. Service Tokens are god-awful (and have already affected the balance of power through the plat drain they indirectly place on people like myself who flat-out refuse to make use of them), but something like that would be me-instantly-quitting-the-game terribad. So what, indeed. Let's just forget you ever mentioned that suggestion.
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			let's call em Tex-Tokens	
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{| class="blockquote"
let's call em Tex-Tokens
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{| class="blockquote"
Let's just give long-term Signature members a freaking Service Token allotment instead of an pointless XP Buff!
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I agree.
swTOR did the same when they went F2P, subscribers get a monthly amount of credits to spend on whatever they see fit.
If Carbine did the same for Wildstar, I would reactivate my subscription immediately, but now:  not even remotely worth it to have a sub running.	
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PJ, I fully understand that ANY idea that pushes players to actually spend money on the game makes you unhappy. I get it, brother. I really get it.
 
 :lol:
 
Sadly for you, the subscription paradigm failed - and you can't seem to let it go. You seem dead-set on trying to keep yourself as far from how the game model actually works now - and that's fine if that's how you want to roll.
 
But PLEASE understand that your way failed this game. The model didn't work. Thus, your way isn't the way forward - as much as we might want that, it's not going to happen. Why it failed, the missteps that brought us here, they don't matter. We are here, and here we shall remain.
 
I hate feeling like I'm at odds with you over trying to help Carbine bring in more money.
 
That said, a Stipend is obviously our best solution to the "complex" issue of different services are more beneficial to different players at different points in their gaming.	
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{| class="blockquote"
But PLEASE understand that your way failed this game. The model didn't work.
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Excellent.
 
We have no choice but to forgo any conversation about what brought us here. You and I (and everyone else who's been paying attention) knows how we got here. We know what the problems were. Dwelling on that gets us nowhere but further in a funk thinking about it.
 
If I have misrepresented how you feel, then please accept my apologies. The goal of this thread isn't to offer suggestions that will upset players. That's about the opposite of my goal here.
 
 :lol:
 
When I make a suggestion (like selling Rune Bags) - that's part of the game endgame that doesn't really affect me. So we need players like you and Jeff and Nau to talk me down from those suggestions. But I need to understand WHY those are bad suggestions, in detail. Chalking it up to "predatory" or "pay to win" doesn't explain it to me, since if I thought of it, I obviously don't see the issues that you guys are seeing. To me, putting the alpha-runes on the cash shop makes sense, but where I see an easier-in for time-crunched or plat-strapped players - you guys see badness. I don't understand WHY it's badness though. People need Runes and may not want to wait weeks or months for the right drops or to farm up endless plat to do it. Thus, those players who would have eventually gotten discouraged from the endless slog to Runes and left, can get their runes quickly and continue progressing alongside their peers.
 
No one would be FORCING you to buy those Runes. You would still be able to farm Omnibits and buy Service Tokens until your little hearts content.
 
But other people who aren't you and don't have your patience? Well, here is some money for the studio. In return, Carbine not only gets money, but gets a happy raider who is likely to stick around and spend more money. Why would that make you unhappy? You now have a happy Raid-Mate who is ready to maximize their performance and you didn't have to wait weeks to get them there.
 
And again, the Runes would still need to be crafted. They would still need the elemental bits. You'd still need to know what Runes optimize best. You'd still have to know everything you know now - the only difference is you didn't have to spend days and days and days to get there.	
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Everyone has their strong belief in what WS demonstrates as "not working". Subs. Hardcore. Raid focus. Bugs.
 
No one can say for sure what single factor was the thing that hurt this game so much. And it was probably more complex than all that.
 
Companies are still trying to figure out how to monetize these games. I hope the sub model eventually comes back, because I just loath cash shops.
 
One game I saw coming up you pay for each character, the character has a limited lifespan (about 11 months), and every time you "die" in game that character's life span decreases. Absolutly horrible, if you ask me. I won't even give that a second look when my wallet is tied so closely to what I do in game.	
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Pay to Win is reviled (at least in the West) because it utterly breaks what the vast majority of people call a "fair price".  Under P2W the only way to reach a character power level capable of doing the "fun" content is to pay a significant amount of RL cash.  Somebody recently mentioned possessing a $300 weapon in a different game (wtf?).
 
Since there's been some push-back on P2W many operators are using what I call Pay-to-Make-it-Stop-Hurting.  SW:TOR is the poster child for that (non subs are abused mercilessly)  But that element is here any place you see Service Tokens.  They may want to claim it's pay for convenience -- which I don't object to -- but the alternative pricing is so unreasonable that only those with 4+ figures of plat could truly call it convenience.
 
Offer me something I want and I'll buy.  Force me into a purchase and I'll shut down even my impulse purchases.
			
				
	Edited January 20, 2016 by PlasmaJohn	
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Anything that encourages players to spend money to enjoy their rewards in the game is just a no-no.
 
Really, if you spend three months working on a boss and investing all that time, the rewards you get from doing so should be something you can be excited about, not something where you think "ok, time to open my wallet". But killing System Daemons often opens up three pieces of runable gear (if you don't get a drop, which would add even another piece), which each have 5 slots that have to be rolled to the correct values (15 service tokens apiece, or loads of plat). And that doesn't count extracting old powerful runes from your GA gear. This is not a great feeling.
 
Even the way the game is right now, I see people get frustrated with earning rewards because they feel like they need to go for their credit card again. I'ts very, VERY close to being uncool, though I have weathered it alright. But I've also completely dedicated all my omnibits to being able to enjoy the fruit of my end game labor, and I've made sure to cap them every week. And I do this because opening my wallet to enjoy those rewards feels gross to me.	
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{| class="blockquote"
It's no more gambling than buying a pack of baseball cards or a blind bag toy. 
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{| class="blockquote"
 It's no more gambling than buying a pack of baseball cards or a blind bag toy. 
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This situation almost parallels Rift.
 
Rift was once a sub based MMO but was mishandled by Trion and eventually went free to play. this decision was made before they even launched their first expansion, and it was a sub,but anyway.
 
Rift had a very similar model to what Wildstar does now. There was a cash shop that's primary focus was cosmetic things, mounts and costumes and a patron subscription identlical to Wildstar's signature service.
 
Instead of CREDD they had REX and purchased currency that gives credits when consumed. Gold buying basically. You could use the credits to purchase a patron pass, CREDD.
 
The one problem was that they didn't make enough costumes and mounts to keep it profitable. If anyone has played Rift the quality of armor dropped significantly in Storm Legion; new tiers were recolours. Most mounts were remakes of existing models with new names - they still are.
 
Rift had lock boxes from the beginning but they dropped in the open world and so did they keys but you could but keys on the AH. Not too bad.
 
World seasonal events instead of being fun were grinds but... you could buy the item directly for cash.
 
Then the worst thing happened: the cash only lottery box. Any new mount or costume would be hid behind a lottery box. It's not a lottery box they cried because you always win something - just very unlikely it's the star prize. They had world events, oh, I meant cash shop world events: a new lottery box is a world event.They were sneaky: you could earn a version of the mount buy doing dailies during the event over multiple events. the sneaky thing. They rarely repeated the event and when you had enough it was 6 months in and it was no longer special as there were multiple new ones available. They also introduced times lock boxes. But you can buy items to reduce the cooldown.
 
Trion did one nice though. In the beginning just like in Wildstar when you bought a mount it was character only. So Trion crunched their numbers and found that only a very small amount of people bought mounts for multiple characters. Did they make an account wde version at a higher price, no, they did an honourable thing and made existing and future single mounts accout wide! Their reasoning was that more people are likely to buy them if they also get them on all their alts too! This is what carbine should have done.
 
patron status is exactly the same as Wildstar's signature service and the exact same complaints happened. At launch it was sold as an optional service but eventually they got desperate. Trion panic extensively. There were sales very frequently with huge discounts on patron. When that didn't work they buffed the package, substantially.
 
Patron is still technically optional but they've buffed it so much that you are at a severe disadvantage if you dont. You also can;t cap your high tier currency easily if you dont have it.
 
 
Did I mention they sold a new gear unlock for cash? Well you could unlock it on a per character basis but you had to grind for months.
 
I absolutely detest lottery boxes as sadly they are very effective and people spend hundreds on them and then make posts when they dont 'win'. Madame Fey is lottery boxes and sadly 'she' is in every prominent camp as well as taking up a spot on the UI.	
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{| class="blockquote"
Anything that encourages players to spend money to enjoy their rewards in the game is just a no-no.
 
Really, if you spend three months working on a boss and investing all that time, the rewards you get from doing so should be something you can be excited about, not something where you think "ok, time to open my wallet". But killing System Daemons often opens up three pieces of runable gear (if you don't get a drop, which would add even another piece), which each have 5 slots that have to be rolled to the correct values (15 service tokens apiece, or loads of plat). And that doesn't count extracting old powerful runes from your GA gear. This is not a great feeling.
 
Even the way the game is right now, I see people get frustrated with earning rewards because they feel like they need to go for their credit card again. I'ts very, VERY close to being uncool, though I have weathered it alright. But I've also completely dedicated all my omnibits to being able to enjoy the fruit of my end game labor, and I've made sure to cap them every week. And I do this because opening my wallet to enjoy those rewards feels gross to me.
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