149641-wildstars-cash-shop-my-take-on-things

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Okay,
 
I've been thinking about this topic for a while, and I just want to post it now to give my feedback about the entire Cash Shop used by WildStar.
I apologise in advance for the length of this post as it will be quite huge and contain a lot of image material as well.
I will try not to make it too whiny, but I feel there are points that need to be addressed.
 
NCoin Purchases
The first point I want to address is the system for purchasing NCoin from NCsoft over their various websites.
At the moment there's a few payment options available based on where you are living.
Which I find a good thing, assuming that these options are implemented properly, wich they are not unfortunately.
 
I personally use 2 systems at the moment for making online purchases.
PayPal when possible due the ease of the system and the security behind it when dealing with fraudulent transactions; or my credit card when PayPal is not an option.
The NCoin shop supports both, under specific conditions.
 
I'm living in Germany, meaning we use special symbols in our names and/or address information.
The NCSoft system does not support these symbols at all.
As a programmer, for me this smells like ASCI/ANSI support only on their system and not the internationalized standard of UTF-8.
Which for an International publisher is not acceptable at all. I mean they support the systems obviously for the Eastern markets, but when it comes to the Western markets, they fall back on old technology.
This is something I like to see changed so that we can actually use the payment options.
 
The second point is the price.
I have no problem with the amount of money that is being charged or the options offered.
I have a problem with the unfair prices being used, based on the region you are living in.
To give you an example:
 
400 NCoin for Europe territories : 5€
400 NCoin for US territories : 5$
400 NCoin for Eastern territories : 400 NTD
Let's make it easy for ourselves and convert everything to dollars:
 
400 NCoin for Europese territories : 5,56$
400 NCoin for US territories : 5$
400 NCoin for Eastern territories : 12$
Now before everyone jumps on the thread and saying that we are lucky we pay only half of the price for our NCoins, please read further.
In the east you are charged more for your coins, but the prices are different.
When you for example want to buy a subscription with NCoin in the east for Blade & Soul, you pay exactly 450 coins for it. This is 12 dollars.
Compare this to 30 day subscription needed for Blade and Soul in EU/US and you need to pay roughly around 15 dollars.
So we get our coins cheapers, but need to spend more coins/money in the end to get our stuff for it.
I feel this unfair should be changed.
 
Costumes on the Cash Shop
The next part I want to discuss is costumes in the Cash Shop.
Again, I will be comparing this to other NCSoft games that I have been playing and the various territories that utilize the same systems.
First let us take a look at the costumes currently in the Cash Shop for Wildstar:
 
 
To make the calculations easy for us, let's say that the price of a single costume is 800 NCoin.
That means roughly 10 dollars when we use the conversions from above.
What are the benefits from purchasing a costume in WildStar:
 
They can be stored in the Holo Wardrobe, thus can be shared across characters on your account.When I compare this to Blade & Soul for example, costumes range from 1000 to 2000 coins, which is almost the double price of what we pay in WildStar.
For US and EU territories at least. In the east, they are the same price as what we pay for our Wildstar costumes.
So I believe the prices for the costumes to be fair and just.
However what I would like to see changed:
 
More unique costumes, not reskins of existing items.
No raiding reskins
More event costumes such as Valentine, Christmas, Easter and perhaps unique Wildstar holidays or events not so well known.
Costumes should be obtainable ingame as well from the relevant events.
Dye items in the Cash Shop
The next section is the dye's.
It goes together with the previous point, so please use the image above as reference.
We can assume that the price for a dye in average is around 250 NCoins for easy calculations.
That's roughly, very roughly the half of the cheapest NCoin package, so a single dye costs you around 2-3 dollars.
 
What's the good part? The dye's are actually account bound, meaning you buy it once and can use it on all characters on your account.
What bugs me?
 
I find it really hard to see the actual colour. Some Item Preview of your equipped gear/costume would make the decision process a lot easier.
I'd like to see more unique colours, like the Gamescom dye or Chrome.
I'd like to see patterns. For example Dark Blue with yellow stars.
I'd like to be able to dye's that are obtainable ingame as well from the bags.
I'd like the dye's available from the shop to be obtainable ingame as well from the bags.
Mounts in the Cash Shop
On to the more....interesting sections of the Cash Shop.
Mounts are probably something that everyone wants. Let's look at the mounts currently for sale in the Cash Shop:
 
 
So what is the average price for a mount in WildStar?
 
800 NCoins for "standard" or "old" mounts, single character  (10 dollar )
1400 NCoins for "standard" or "old" mounts, account bound (16 dollar )
1200 NCoins for "new" or "reskinned" mounts, single character (15 dollar )
2100 NCoins for "new" or "reskinned" mounts, account bound ( 21 dollar )
So getting the new mounts on your account will cost you 21 dollars!
I feel this to be too much for the game. Now I understand that the goal is to make money, but if these prices are to be asked, then we need to take a look at a few issues:
 
The mounts are re-skins or existing mounts, adding no incentive to even buy them. Sorry but if you want 21 dollars from me, then I want it to look unique.
The price is simply too high.
Let's compare this to the mounts of World of Warcraft.
They are account wide, server independent	
They are truly unique looking and asthetically appeasing	They are 20 dollars in price.
So the above points immediately address the biggest pain points I have. Yes they are still expensive to my taste, but I am more inclined to purchase a mount I like from the WoW store then spending money on one in the WildStar store.
 
My advice: Make the mounts currently available cheaper. I'd really urge to slash prices simply in half for what is currently available, and make them account bound by default.
 
Pets in the Cash Shop
 
I will keep this part short : Exact same points as Mounts.
There are a few exceptions to the news being added, but there are the same points:
 
Not Account bound by default	
The prices for a single pet, 800 NCoin is something I'd happily give if they were account bound. So resolve point one and keep the 800 NCoin as price.
Signature Status
This I feel is the biggest pain point for me right now.
At the moment there is absolutely no point in having a subscription status for WildStar.
Let's look at being subscribed offers you:
 
 
My remarks to the "benefits":
 
Auction House : Unless you're a Hardcore™ Auction House Broker, this brings you nothing.
Challenge Reward Track : Let's be honest here, the Challenge system is....bad. I don't like it at all, and this benefit brings me nothing.
Circles and Guilds : I can see the logic behind this, but honestly this is deterring a lot of people, and I'm pretty sure people will not be purchasing a subscription just for this.
Circuit Board Crafting : This is nice, if crafting was actually worth it.
Commodities Exchange : See the Auction House
Coordinate Crafting : See Circui Board Crafting
Currency : Pointless, especially with the insane money sinks you have introduced into this game.
Gathering : See crafting
Queue Bypass : What Queue's ?
Ranked Arena Teams : Seriously get rid of this!! You want to revive PvP? This aint helping at all.
Reputation : Pointless with the contract rewards
Rest XP : record is what? a few hours to hit 50?
Wake here Cooldown : Meh, ask someone to ressurect you
Warparties : Like ranked Arena, get rid of this restriction
XP : Pointless
I'm convinced that more people actually feel like this as well.
What would be a better implementation from having a subscription:
 
Auction House and Commodity Exhange : Default is 30 slots, a subscription gives you unlimited slots
Costume Slots : By default you have 6, You can extend them by purchasing them from the Auction House. Having a subscription gives you unlimited. When the sub expires, your extra slots become unavailable until you reactivate it
Monthly stipulents: Either give players who are subscribed a monthly income of NCoin or Omnibits. They are spending a monthly amount of money on your game, this should have the same effect as purchasing the NCoin every month. 200 NCoin or 500 Omnibits a month sounds like a fair deal to me, especially with the other benefits combined.
Currency Bonus : Subscriptions give you the following benefits:100% gold drop increase
50% glory increase
50% Renown increase
50% Elder Gem increase ( No CAP!)
50% Prestige increase (No CAP!)
every month 2000 crafting vouchers
500 Omnibits every month ( or 200 NCoin)
100 service tokens every month
2 Fortune Coins every month
Priority Queue should stay for subscription, cause if more people like it, more people will play it.
Do not give out a bonus at holiday events, would be too much with the proposed changes for mounts and pets and costumes
RNG Boxes
To put it short : Get rid of them.
Put their contents for sale in the Cash Shop with above points, or make them obtainable ingame as well.
Like let them drop as loot from the bosses for the event, or purchasable with the tokens
 
 
 
 
 
I will hold off for now and wait for feedback.
I will update/extend this topic as I see fit once feedback is given or I feel other things need to be changed.
			
				
	Edited February 24, 2016 by Olivar	
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Think most of us that have paid a sub over a long period, feel it needs changing to benefit us.
 
Maybe I'm mistaken but, with the cutbacks and trimming down at Carbine? It feels they are being pushed from pillar to post, the store at this point in time should be full of pets, mounts, costumes! I personally feel this lack of design power is causing all the stress on the forums over chase events.
 
Can't really blame Ncsoft for anything in the EU, we get ripped off by the EU on anything we buy outside of it.  
 	
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			I agree with pretty much everything Olivar posted. Though I'd say keep the exp-bonus for subs to encourage alting.	
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Great feedback! I agree in all terms you mentioned. I just want to add one point. Maybe not directly shop related but since buying stuff affects cosmic points i discovered something really dissapointing today after i bought my first 800 NCoins for 10€.
 
I did it for the valentine pet (so cute ^^) and thought "Hey i will get it only for one char but i don't have more. Well, at least i get rewarded when buying stuff in the shop and raise my cosmic points." 10 € is a lot money for me (sadly) and i thought i can reach the next point to unlock in my cosmic awards. I got my tiny warpig pet from the older subscriptions pre f2p and next item would be some dye. There are so many cosmic awards i got and which are in front of me.
 
SO, i bought it and it went on 1/4 of the bar! Thats dissapointing. How many stuff i need to buy to fill all of these bars? 1000 ore more bucks?
 
Thats just something i wanted to add. Maybe it's just me ... just felt strange compared to the amount of money i spent.
			
				
	Edited February 13, 2016 by Krapfenmann	
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Great feedback! I agree in all terms you mentioned. I just want to add one point. Maybe not directly shop related but since buying stuff affects cosmic points i discovered something really dissapointing today after i bought my first 800 NCoins for 10€.
 
I did it for the valentine pet (so cute ^^) and thought "Hey i will get it only for one char but i don't have more. Well, at least i get rewarded when buying stuff in the shop and raise my cosmic points." 10 € is a lot money for me (sadly) and i thought i can reach the next point to unlock in my cosmic awards. I got my tiny warpig pet from the older subscriptions pre f2p and next item would be some dye. There are so many cosmic awards i got and which are in front of me.
 
SO, i bought it and it went on 1/4 of the bar! Thats dissapointing. How many stuff i need to buy to fill all of these bars? 1000 ore more bucks?
 
Thats just something i wanted to add. Maybe it's just me ... just felt strange compared to the amount of money i spent.
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I agree with most of this, especially the mounts and subscription. I don't mind the RNG boxes if they'd make them long-term like the ones in GW2. You get the boxes and either save up for the key with omnibits or buy the key with ncoin, but that's just my take on that.
 
You did forget to add that signature members also have access to PTR, while non-signature members do not. This might not be a big plus for most people, but it is something ;)	
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You get 420 cosmic points for buying 800NCoin.
This is information in ways to get cosmetic points : http://www.wildstar-online.com/uk/news/2015-08-19-level-up-with-cosmic-rewards/
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Thank you for that link because it opend another point of view to cosmic rewards for me.
 
Currently i do not sub again because of the reasons olivar mentioned above. I did in the past but signature just feels unrewarding.
 
So i buy 800 Coins for 10 € = 420 Cosmic points.
 
My last Cosmic point milestone was at 22400 Points. My next is at 33600. So to get from this milestone to another i need 11200 points.
 
11200 Points / 420 = 26,66 .. so after i spent 27 times in 800 NCoins for 10€ to reach 1 milestone. So 270 € for me because subbing is senseless right now to get maybe 6000 points from an 60 day sub. Even so, i need to sub 4 month for 1 milestone. So you really have to spend thousands of bucks when not subbing? lol ...
 
Thats what i just wanted to point out and maybe add to the feedback and is meant neutral. Yes, i feel its unrewarding for me but maybe for someone else not.
 
EDIT ... i calculated how much i have to spend for one whole cosmic reward Level (currently IV). I would need 56000 points for Level V (56000 / 420 = 133,33 ~ 134). SO i have to buy 134 times 800 NCoins for 10 € = 1340 €? Am i wrong in all these calculations? Please correct me this can't be right. Only telling from buying NCoins from shop right now when spending 10€.
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You've pretty much nailed everything that puts me off spending money on this game other than the fact that a lot of the items I want that you haven't mentioned (the Quantum Harvester, Riding License, etc) are only available for a single character purchase. That's my biggest gripe with the Cash Shop and why I've yet to spend any real money on it. The Quantum Harvester, for example, is something I want to have on all my characters as I much prefer having Harvesting Trade-skills (I just like farming stuff) but I cannot justifying spending 370(?) NCoins or 195 OmniBits every single time I make an alt. It's a complete waste of money IMO.
 
As for the RNG boxes, these are inexcusable and should not be in the Cash Shop at all. Keep them in the game, fine, but allow them to drop in-game for players to try their luck for the item they want FOR FREE. Put all the good items from those into the Cash Shop so that those who don't want to waste time trying to get lucky can buy exactly what they want without running the risk of needing to farm boxes for hours to get one item. Carbine makes money, players get what they want, those that don't want to spend money still have a shot at getting the items, everybody wins.	
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You should also get Cosmic Points from spending NCoin at the shop. At 2CP/NCoin spent as per the site linked.
So buying and spending the 800 NCoin bundle puts you at (420 buying + 1600 spending) 2020 Cosmic points. Or at least that's my takeaway from it, it's been too long since I've bought anything with NCoin to remember if I got any CP for it. Lately I'm just spending Omnibits which don't give CP for obvious reasons.
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			They'll never remove RNG boxes because they bring in the most money.  People love the thrill of the gamble, it's why every F2P MMO has em.	
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They should remove RNG boxes and just put the items directly for sale on the cash shop. It would be like a magic spell to turn me into a whale. Presto whale-o!
 
As it stands I'd love to see Carbine put more focus on costumes and dyes, as those are the things I'm most likely to buy.	
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You raise some good points on Signature.  I've been saying I don't think it's worth the $15 compared to other MMOs, but until you listed the benefits, I never realized just how little I actually am getting out of it:
 
Auction House:  I have the Cosmic Reward that gives me +10 to the AH, and since F2P, it really hasn't been often that I've come anywhere close to hitting even that limit.
Challenge Reward Track:  Yeah, I guess I do get the bonus, but benefit from it? They ruined challenges.
Circles: Cosmic Rewards.
Circuit Crafting: I suppose I benefit from this, though I don't craft often.
Commodities Exchange: See AH
Coordinate Crafting: This is something I could benefit from in the future, but I don't currently do any tradeskills of this type.  Though how noticeable even is a 10% increase?
Holiday Events: We've had, what, two events that have actually used this bonus?  You don't even get bonus Chase currency.
Queue Bypass: Like you said, what queues?  Nice to know if things pick back up that this exists, but it's hardly something I am getting my money's worth out of.
Rated Arena Teams: Cosmic Rewards
Reputation: Perhaps with content drops picking up, this will become more useful, but for the most part it's not really something I've seen a lot of need for.  Prior to F2P, there wasn't a single zone I leveled through that I didn't hit Beloved on just from doing quests.  I saw a little benefit from the daily zones, but now that I'm Beloved there too? It's a benefit with an expiration date.
Rest XP: Yes
Wake Here Cooldown: Can't say as I can recall anytime since F2P that I've needed Wake Here and haven't had it available.  Most of the time, a run back from the holocrypt is a minor nuisance, at best.
Warparties: Cosmic Rewards
XP: Yes.
Currency: Yes
Gathering: Yes, but not really something I see as getting a lot of use out of.
Guild: Cosmic Rewards
So, what exactly am I getting for my $15 a month?  Bonus XP, rest XP, and currency with some minor tradeskill stuff possibly being useful in the future?
 
Yeah... actually going through and looking at what Signature is giving me, I definitely won't be renewing it.  I've expressed my displeasure with the program before and pointed out what could be done better, but until going through and seeing how little I'm actually getting out of it, I can't really see any reason to continue paying for it.
			
				
	Edited February 13, 2016 by Cantatus	
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I think all of these suggestions are great. I subscribe to support the game, but I think as soon as I hit max level on my main character I am going to unsubscribe and just start buying $15 worth of currency a month. I want to particularly comment on the RNG boxes - I hate that I can't get these in game during events at all. When a store system seems fair, I spend tons on it. When I'm not getting the pets and mounts I want, and don't have any way of getting them without pouring money into something, it kind of turns me off from purchasing anything.
 
i like crafting in games, big draw for me, but the RNG nature of the crafting system is not... fun. The bonuses to crafting don't make it more fun.Total crafting revamp, and this perk might get me going.
 
The Elder Scrolls Online does a great subscription program where you get 15 worth of currency each month. This coupled with the other benefits would make the sub totally worth it. Even when you aren't logging in regularly, you'll be accruing something.
 
Very nicely formatted post!
 	
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Circles: Cosmic Rewards.
Rated Arena Teams: Cosmic Rewards
Warparties: Cosmic Rewards
Guild: Cosmic Rewards
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I for one...have no complaints with the shop, mounts are the same price as WoW if not cheaper, same for pets and definitely costumes...
 
About the sub bonuses... No for the currency ideas, increased glory which is used to buy decent gear is pushing on a more p2w model, your paying to get there faster... And unless they don't count credd, it can be extremely easy for people to just farm for Credd and get the monthly omnibits/ncoin
 
The fact it... Wildstar has an extremely fair f2p model and shop, just look at RIFT, Swtor, RoM, Allods, and Even Skyforge.
			
				
	Edited February 15, 2016 by GorenKillChua	
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I for one...have no complaints with the shop, mounts are the same price as WoW if not cheaper, same for pets and definitely costumes...
 
About the sub bonuses... No for the currency ideas, increased glory which is used to buy decent gear is pushing on a more p2w model, your paying to get there faster... And unless they don't count credd, it can be extremely easy for people to just farm for Credd and get the monthly omnibits/ncoin
 
The fact it... Wildstar has an extremely fair f2p model and shop, just look at RIFT, Swtor, RoM, Allods, and Even Skyforge.
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It still requires you to have killed the respective bosses to even unlock said gear.
So no, this does not fall under pay 2 win at all.
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The boxes should go in my opinion. No compromises.
I actually have no issue with Madame Fay. That's a great implemented system as you can trade away the stuff/sell it, and after X turns you are guaranteed a better item.
So that's something I definitely would keep.
 
The basic gear for Glory is what it is, basic gear.
It really will not make much difference whether you get that faster or not.
 
And yes, equalizing currencies is probably an idle wish.
But changing the prices and everything else is not ;)	
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Yeah, the trouble with Signature status is that it's the least rewarding to the people who have demonstrated the most willingness to engage in that method of payment.  If you've subscribed for any length of time, you're far enough up the Cosmic Rewards track that you're already enjoying most of the benefits of Signature status without the subscription.  What remains is of dubious value to anyone who's played the game for any length of time.  Rest, experience and reputation bonuses mean little to a longtime subscriber, who's likely to have already capped their characters' levels and reputations if they cared to.  Crafting benefits are of little value to anyone who knows what sordid shape trade and secondary skills are in the game. 
 
If I'm going to spend money on the game, I'd rather do it as a recurring monthly charge, but when I look at what comes with that I realize I'm better served buying NCoin when there's something in the shop I want to buy (which doesn't happen every month).  I hope they're making bank off other players with the new scheme, because I'm getting all I want for less than I paid for a subscription.	
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The invite restrictions are there to cut down on gold seller invite spam.  Oli you've been around long enough to have seen it.
 
All it takes to get around it is to either spend a few dollars worth of coins once or redeem a couple CREDD.  Anybody serious about rated Arenas or Warplots should have no problem farming the plat for the CREDD.
 
The rested XP boost and additional XP granted does help with farming gold.  Once you fill the EG bar the extra XP earned converts into gold.  Is that worth $15/mo.?  Not really.  OTOH I don't have to decide for another six months.	
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I know it deters gold sellers.
But honestly, at this point I will take a goldseller I can block over new people not joining up because of this.	
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Just hope this baby hits the cash shop and not some silly box....you want to make money Carbine ? then make it happen	
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Just hope this baby hits the cash shop and not some silly box....you want to make money Carbine ? then make it happen
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See, this is where I differ with current gamers.  We both see that mount and you see an opportunity to buy something on the cash shop whereas I see something to grind a raid or work on a difficult achievement for.
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Absolutely.  Would love to see that as some sort of thing that can be earned in Arcterra or the Vault of the Archon.  Heck, having both an earnable and a reskin on the shop would be nice.
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In the game ? Beloved rep for the new zone....my mind would be blown! Two things I'm really good at in MMO's farming things and grinding rep. I've also been subbed since day one and like you and many others, feel the need for rewards.....just can't see :( the cash shop is the lesser of 2 evils and the face of F2P	
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Dye items in the Cash ShopThe next section is the dye's.
It goes together with the previous point, so please use the image above as reference.
We can assume that the price for a dye in average is around 250 NCoins for easy calculations.
That's roughly, very roughly the half of the cheapest NCoin package, so a single dye costs you around 2-3 dollars.
 
What's the good part? The dye's are actually account bound, meaning you buy it once and can use it on all characters on your account.
What bugs me?
 
I find it really hard to see the actual colour. Some Item Preview of your equipped gear/costume would make the decision process a lot easier.
I'd like to see more unique colours, like the Gamescom dye or Chrome.
I'd like to see patterns. For example Dark Blue with yellow stars.
I'd like to be able to dye's that are obtainable ingame as well from the bags.
I'd like the dye's available from the shop to be obtainable ingame as well from the bags.
 
 
Have an option in the holo wardrobe to select all dyes, even ones you dont have. Allow you to preview them in the holo wardrobe and an option to buy them.	
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Absolutely.  Would love to see that as some sort of thing that can be earned in Arcterra or the Vault of the Archon.  Heck, having both an earnable and a reskin on the shop would be nice.
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I'm pretty sure there will be at least one post stating that the game doesn't run itself and nothing is free but I do pay - I'm Signature. Then we'll hear about WoW and their cash shop mounts to which I will counter that there are over 200 other mounts you can earn/craft/buy in the game and some of them are freaking awesome.
 
Cool stuff that we want to get being in-game gives us a reason to play the game. If I could just drop some cash on the coolest mounts and (from what I hear) raid-set costumes, what carrots are there to chase by playing your game?
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There aren't any raid sets in the shop (yet) not cosmetic or otherwise...
 
People complaining about this shop so much irks me. Have you played RIFT...Swtor? It's infuriating how terrible there shops are and yet this community complains about unique mounts and skins being in the shop!?
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There already is a cool unique mount in Arcterra, I see no issue putting that in the shop
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Great post OP -
 
My biggest problem is I want to support the game, but there is not that much in the cash shop I want to buy aside from account/player unlocks.  I want to support Carbine but do not want to throw money at a wall or RNG boxes.
 
I've actually thought about this a lot and honestly I don't think some of my ideas would go real well amongst the player base, but things like stack increases (ie increase stack size to 500) for gathering are things I'd pay for.  Also special things for housing like fireflies to go with my dark sky box I'd definitely pay for, however its best to maintain a solid balance between cash shop and awesome cool stuff you can still attain in game.
 
As for the Signature subscription - I bought it, but I think it needs revision.  I dont think it needs more, but I think the it needs a tweak.  I honestly got it cause I really wanted to support the game, but I also think its not something I particularly need...maybe borderline waste of money when considering daily log in bonus and exp potions.
 
IDK - food for thought.  I've also had the impression the cash shop at present is intended to evolve over time, but resource allocation at carbine is primarily concerned with new game content - which is awesome, but more money means more resources...kind of a chicken/egg scenario.
			
				
	Edited February 19, 2016 by DrZaius	
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I would totally get subscriber status if they reduced the 0bit ( or what ever its called ) by 50% for items in the market.
That I feel would be a great incentive to to go signature. 
 
Also if they don't want to make mounts "account bound" at least make it so you get 3 character claims per mount for $20. 	
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See, this is where I differ with current gamers.  We both see that mount and you see an opportunity to buy something on the cash shop whereas I see something to grind a raid or work on a difficult achievement for.
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I'm pretty sure there will be at least one post stating that the game doesn't run itself and nothing is free but I do pay - I'm Signature. Then we'll hear about WoW and their cash shop mounts to which I will counter that there are over 200 other mounts you can earn/craft/buy in the game and some of them are freaking awesome.
 
Cool stuff that we want to get being in-game gives us a reason to play the game. If I could just drop some cash on the coolest mounts and (from what I hear) raid-set costumes, what carrots are there to chase by playing your game?
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The warrior raid set recolor is in madam Faye's fortune coin game right now. The Medic DS recolor is coming soon.
 
I completely agree, esp with the SWTOR comparison. We have the BEST shop system out there for the players right now. I dismiss with prejudice the idea that raid gear LOOKS cannot be in the shop. What should never be in the shop are raid gear STATS.
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isnt the one set a mistake though?
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That was the speculation based on the name, the icon it carries and a costume look uncovered by datamining.  However the upcoming Medic set pretty much skewered that idea.  They're putting raid costume recolors on the market which is IMO really poor form.
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@makillda - you ask and you shall receive lol.
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That was the speculation based on the name, the icon it carries and a costume look uncovered by datamining.  However the upcoming Medic set pretty much skewered that idea.  They're putting raid costume recolors on the market which is IMO really poor form.
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			As for me, prices are kinda... unkind. When I want cool looking mount I'm still looking at price. $20? Well, thanks, but no. If they were $2 instead, I probably would buy more than for $20.	
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			Cash shop is missing a big category.... race changes! How is this not in game yet? Seriously! This is a part of every major MMO. Please let me throw money at you.	
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i would agree...some things should be only available in game, especially ds sets.  maybe after a new raid tier sure, but not when it is current.
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Ok, i skimmed the replies (olivar, love your OP - thank you).
 
As ppl know by now, I _LOVE_ Wildstar.  I raid (at least) 4 days a week and I want to more raids.  This is because datascape is frickin awesome.
 
As for n-coin, like many people, you can trade in-game currency for ncoin items.  (Blade and Soul - another NCSoft product just makes a straight up currency exchange - which is awesome).
 
That said, despite my overwhelming love for wildstar, I have been spending most of my ncoin on Blade and Soul.
 
Why?
 
1)  The wildstar costumes suck.
 
I get that it's account wide, which is a great return considering the price you pay, but ultimately, they aren't that great.  I love cosmetics and I would find ncoin and spend ncoin on wildstar _if the costumes are good_.  They simply aren't.
 
Example:
 
My Esper, freelancer costume (10$, account wide)
 
 
My KFM, Rising sun (15$, single use)
 
 
My BM, My Angel (15$, single use)
 
 
My Assassin, Blue Procelin (15$, single use)
 
 
My FM, Autum Leaves (15$, single use)
 
 
Now, while this is obviously just illustrative, The wildstar skin, while cool, it looks like i have a coat on without a shirt under it. But it's still pretty military-ish.  I tried to put some boots (can't find boots i like in wildstar), with some shorts (can't find pants i like in wildstar) to make her look a little more summery or sexxy or something, but I can't find gloves I like or shoulders i like or helms i like.
 
What bothers me is that wildstar costumes (even the paid costumes) all look like actual armor.
 
Look at the BnS costumes.  These are beautiful ladies kicking ass in heels.  Give me a flowing dress, some high-heeled shoes, maybe a hair clip or a tiara or something, I would pay 20$ for that!  But I wouldn't pay 2$ to look like an esper bot.  If I wanted an esper bot i would just do some PvP (kek), but no really - the wildstar skins just simply aren't differentiable enough from the actual armor in the game.
 
Mounts are more expensive - I have 3 Glitter Kitties, 2 Snarfs, a Purple equivar, a luminous equivar, and a bunch of other stuff on my account.  Sadly, every mount in this game is just nothing compared to the data drifter.  (I sadly only have one).  Most of the mounts are reskins (like Olivar said), and I don't really want to spend 20$ so that i can have a gold raptor when i already have a green raptor, that doesn't even come with mount speed.  
 
Remodel/Decor - These can be cool if you have a design in mind for your plot, but they are ultimately niche things.  I contract out my builds, and if my builders need something, I will gladly get it for them, but absent that special request, i'm not buying
 
Pets - some are cute (zomg the fawngazer), but ultimately my favorite pets don't come from cash shop (personal preference), and while raiding the pets are just another sprite for your PC to draw in a game that is already poorly optimized.  While my PC is new and can handle it, there is inevitably someone in raid who can't.
 
Consumables - Useless?  I don't know why i'd buy them
 
Services - I bought the wardrobes and decor unlock (i love cosmetic stuff!) 
 
Crafting - Useless
 
Currencies - Service tokens are what my ncoin in wildstar mainly goes to.  This is because saving your runes and rerolling slots without them is stupid expensive.  Assuming you have to reroll and buy runes, each new item is 4 divine set majors, signs, and tokens.  So if i reroll that's 60 tokens.  If i save my previous runes that's what, 180 tokens?  if i make new runes, it's 60p?  So each new item, if done properly, is 60p.
 
So ultimately:
 
Tokens/runes = too expensive, obnoxiously so
 
Cosmetics = not good enough.  If the cosmetics were really awesome - they would be too cheap.  Since they are distinctively NOT awesome, they are too expensive (cause i don't want them anyway).
			
				
	Edited February 23, 2016 by ChemBoy613	
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			I really hope they find a way to make money on the game without having to turn the armor models into impractical lingerie.  There's enough of that sort of service in other games that I'd like to have a refuge from it.	
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[images]
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Holy boobs, Batman! I'd say your last character saves the day but she's a few centimeters away from full-blown panty exposure... :lol:
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			Call me a prude, but I really don't think those types of costumes fit in with WildStar and I'd personally rather not see that here. I like the fun cartooniness (new word) of it all. 	
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Call me a prude, but I really don't think those types of costumes fit in with WildStar and I'd personally rather not see that here. I like the fun cartooniness (new word) of it all. 
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It's also a lot more Tank Girl and a lot less call girl.
 
Don't get me wrong: I've got no issue with people of negotiable affection; their work clothes are just less thematically appropriate for the adventuring population of Nexus than the skimpy stuff we've already got. 
 
MIND YOU, that might be my Exile bias talking.  The Dominion has people adventuring for the sake of reality television, so for all I know they might want their people conducting their acts of derring-do in elaborate underthings for better ratings.
			
				
	Edited February 24, 2016 by Shendorion	
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			added some strikethrough in the OP with today's changes.	
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Real talk.
 
I know people, usually Americans are very taboo about sex in games, and entertainment.  But I'm telling you this stuff sells like hotcakes.  There was an article a couple years back on how one costume piece literally saved Tera, and it was some swimsuit or something like that.  
 
I know a lot of peoples don't want to see TnA shoved in their face like we see in Blade and Soul or Tera, but if you make some more sexier costumes I bet they would sell like crazy, like it or not.	
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{| class="blockquote"
Real talk.
 
I know people, usually Americans are very taboo about sex in games, and entertainment.  But I'm telling you this stuff sells like hotcakes.  There was an article a couple years back on how one costume piece literally saved Tera, and it was some swimsuit or something like that.  
 
I know a lot of peoples don't want to see TnA shoved in their face like we see in Blade and Soul or Tera, but if you make some more sexier costumes I bet they would sell like crazy, like it or not.
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I don't think Wildstar has the art style required to make people want to buy lingerie, to be honest. It's just that the costumes are pretty ugly overall, with unnecessary things added for no reason. 
I mean, look at every costume that has a hat on it. Chances are the hat also comes with a stupid mask of some sort attached to it. That basically has ruined quite a few potential purchases for me.	
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{| class="blockquote"
I don't think Wildstar has the art style required to make people want to buy lingerie, to be honest.
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{| class="blockquote"
 
I mean, look at every costume that has a hat on it. Chances are the hat also comes with a stupid mask of some sort attached to it. That basically has ruined quite a few potential purchases for me.
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I'm thinking the problem with the costumes is the same as the character faces have: they have too much of a unique personality. They would look great on an NPC, but not so much on a character that the player likes to feel is uniquely his. Can't do that if everyone is wearing the exact same hat-mask combo!
 
{| class="blockquote"
Well, I'm afraid you'll lose that bet.  :lol:
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Okay, I yield. As long as they offer something MORE than an endless stream of lingerie like TERA does!
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{| class="blockquote"
Holy boobs, Batman! I'd say your last character saves the day but she's a few centimeters away from full-blown panty exposure... :lol:
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Dem skin gloss. Those characters look so..... plastic.
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Being forced to pay a signature subscription status before being allowed to PURCHASE(again more currency, double-dip garbage) certain items from the Nstore is a joke. From the very beginning of this store concept they have done stupid things. I remember when they only had single character mounts for some time at the start and they lost me as a player then, because it took them way too long to sort it out.
 
Now whenever I log in, months apart, and look at the Nstore there's always some other garbage greed-scheme. Instead of getting payment for either a sub or a mount you now get nothing, I refuse to play the game even out of pure disappointment.
 
You ruined Wildstar with your greedy executive desicions.
 
Only MMO I know of that forces a sub to purchase certain instore items ... so dumb
			
				
	Edited July 16, 2016 by PsYcOmA	
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Really? No other MMO gates items behind subscription? That really surprises me.
 
I've had my moments of angst about our cash shop but this game remains, by far, the most accessible and fair F2P model I've ever seen. I'm surprised it deters you from playing. 
 
Hell, I wouldn't even mind the things that do bother me (like RNG) if they just added more cool stuff more often. Volume of the good things can quickly minimize those bumps on the road.
			
				
	Edited July 16, 2016 by EsperXIV	
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{| class="blockquote"
Being forced 
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{| class="blockquote"
Being forced to pay a signature subscription status before being allowed to PURCHASE(again more currency, double-dip garbage) certain items from the Nstore is a joke. From the very beginning of this store concept they have done stupid things. I remember when they only had single character mounts for some time at the start and they lost me as a player then, because it took them way too long to sort it out.
 
Now whenever I log in, months apart, and look at the Nstore there's always some other garbage greed-scheme. Instead of getting payment for either a sub or a mount you now get nothing, I refuse to play the game even out of pure disappointment.
 
You ruined Wildstar with your greedy executive desicions.
 
Only MMO I know of that forces a sub to purchase certain instore items ... so dumb
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They gave us Signature players something "exclusive", like 6 items.  One of the items you don't even have to buy in the NStore, the Dreg Trask.  There's a chance to get it from the final tier Contracts reward(or did they take it out of the Contracts reward bag?).  You don't even have to ever spend real money on any of it, buy CREDD and you have access to the Signature Station in the NStore.
 
And to throw my bit into the sexy costume debate :P  If they put the original Cryosuits in the NStore, bet they would sell really well :D
 
I don't have pictures of them myself, but here's a couple of old forum post links that have pictures in them:
 
https://forums.wildstar-online.com/forums/index.php?/topic/124920-custumes-and-how-i-want-more/?p=1304918
 
https://forums.wildstar-online.com/forums/index.php?/topic/124920-custumes-and-how-i-want-more/?p=1304934
			
				
	Edited July 16, 2016 by beattlebilly	
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{| class="blockquote"
Being forced to pay a signature subscription status before being allowed to PURCHASE(again more currency, double-dip garbage) certain items from the Nstore is a joke. From the very beginning of this store concept they have done stupid things. I remember when they only had single character mounts for some time at the start and they lost me as a player then, because it took them way too long to sort it out.
 
Now whenever I log in, months apart, and look at the Nstore there's always some other garbage greed-scheme. Instead of getting payment for either a sub or a mount you now get nothing, I refuse to play the game even out of pure disappointment.
 
You ruined Wildstar with your greedy executive desicions.
 
Only MMO I know of that forces a sub to purchase certain instore items ... so dumb
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