Trion - Please do not ignore this post

http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5083981e.gif

Okay let's see if I got this.

Carbagagoolian cores I don't give a crap about so we'll table those.

Arkforge is an endgame currency?

It is not intended for use by low and other ego levels to keep weapons current with the wielders ego?

Then why is it for sale in the bit store?

I must be missing something.

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Originally Posted by Bonehead

http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5083981e.gif

Okay let's see if I got this.

Carbagagoolian cores I don't give a crap about so we'll table those.

Arkforge is an endgame currency?

It is not intended for use by low and other ego levels to keep weapons current with the wielders ego?

Then why is it for sale in the bit store?

I must be missing something.

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Go answer the door. Snake oil salesman needs to discuss something with you.

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Originally Posted by dramaQkarri

Go answer the door. Snake oil salesman needs to discuss something with you.

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I hope it's a sale!

Two fer one maybe?

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Originally Posted by Bonehead

I hope it's a sale!

Two fer one maybe?

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Yes some fabulous new end game shtako for you!

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Originally Posted by Holy Bahamut3

Another idea that would work, but will never be considered by the devs is having the AF level the weapon to our current EGO's, thus making them useful again. 100 EGO units at a time is just too few...

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Just as any request to add sources or the amount of Arkforge from current sources is a waste of time, any request to decrease the demand for Arkforge is also a waste of time because they share the common aspect of undermining the company's ability to monetize "whales".

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Originally Posted by Deunan

http://www.underealm.com/galleries/n...ke%20Bunny.jpg

If it's supposed to be endgame currency then why is it necessary for game mechanics that have absolutely nothing to do with endgame content? Upgrading power rating to maintain weapons isn't endgame activity. Change it so that upgrading requires salvage which has always been the game currency for using the Salvage Matrix. Sorry Kiwibird, I know you're just the messenger in this but let's not kid ourselves, it's not endgame currency.

Arkforge is a new form of non-endgame currency implemented to induce sales at the bit store for it by slowing down player gear progression for everyone in the game that doesn't purchase it with bits. I can understand why that's not something that anyone from the company would want to admit, but the sooner players understand why Arkforge is the way it is, the sooner they will stop making pointless attempts to advocate for more ways to get Arkforge in the game or for the current rewards to be increased from their existing in game sources.

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I also realize Kiwi is a CM, and that the powers that be chose the answers (right/wrong/indifferent) that they chose to allow the CMs to provide.

There is no denying that there is a pancake on that bunny's head, no can it be denied that ARKFORGE was intended to be a monetary stream to some degree at least. The points about the shield changes only serve to demonstrate that the current devs still do not understand the work that was put forward by the original team... and we are the poorer for it.

So failing any real resolution to these obvious issues, how about bald heads and tshirts?

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Originally Posted by Overtkill21

So we're talking Trick's design here correct?

Because that IS NOT how they were originally designed.

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I requested more information on this because this is something that has been around since release. Here is what I've got from them:

A copy/paste error was discovered that had been hanging out since release. A number of high quality shields had common and uncommon stats associated with them. Many of these did not even have appropriate secondary effects to account for such a mismatch. As such, we assigned all shields of all rarities the stats appropriate to their tier. Shields of the same tier and design share the same stats with variation in secondary effects to improve their value rather than as a detriment to their value.

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Originally Posted by Quebra Regra

how about bald heads and tshirts?

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I asked about this a while back! :o We’ve been investigating our options on this front. Traditional publishing runs of shirts and other game paraphernalia can have a large up-front cost. However, we’re looking at other means which would enable smaller initial investment or print-on-demand services. For bald heads, it's possible from what I've heard, but it's not a high priority thing at the moment.

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Originally Posted by CM Kiwibird

A copy/paste error was discovered that had been hanging out since release. A number of high quality shields had common and uncommon stats associated with them. Many of these did not even have appropriate secondary effects to account for such a mismatch. As such, we assigned all shields of all rarities the stats appropriate to their tier. Shields of the same tier and design share the same stats with variation in secondary effects to improve their value rather than as a detriment to their value.

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We read that already, and it still doesn't make sense. Rushed (and copied) homework. I'll give you an F.

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Originally Posted by CM Kiwibird

I requested more information on this because this is something that has been around since release. Here is what I've got:

A copy/paste error was discovered that had been hanging out since release. A number of high quality shields had common and uncommon stats associated with them. Many of these did not even have appropriate secondary effects to account for such a mismatch. As such, we assigned all shields of all rarities the stats appropriate to their tier. Shields of the same tier and design share the same stats with variation in secondary effects to improve their value rather than as a detriment to their value.



I asked about this a while back! :o We’ve been investigating our options on this front. Traditional publishing runs of shirts and other game paraphernalia can have a large up-front cost. However, we’re looking at other means which would enable smaller initial investment or print-on-demand services. For bald heads, it's possible from what I've heard, but it's not a high priority thing at the moment.

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No comment on the first point... no point.

On the second, go get yerself one of these, and see how TRION can make the tshirts happen without footing the upfront cost (comon, you know you want one... even tho it is a little warm there)
http://www.biowarestore.com/n7-leather-jacket.html

I appreciate the responses none the less, thanks.

thank you for your response kiwi, and thank you to the community for the support for this thread. unfortunatly, it has left me with a couple major isssues:

-the ammo pools do not force me to take risk assessments. they instead have forced me to trade, sell, or break down all of my semi-auto snipers and detonators due to the fact that you are guaranteed to run out of ammo in either before killing anything. i used to enjoy my sniper loadout very much. its too bad this one fix cannot be implemented

-here is an example of a risk assessment choice... do i want to use a respark 5 shield, which has the lowest delay in game, or do i want to use a respark regenerator, which gives me a huge boost in health regen, but has a longer delay than the "5"? THAT is risk assessment!!! that is an example of trying to balance the pros and cons of two items.

-arkforge and corilium cores are endgame rewards? so is that to say that these are the last two currencies that will be added to the game? do we now have everything in game that these will be used to obtain? will anything be added later that will require using either of these currencies, further increasing the amount we have to grind for?

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Originally Posted by CM Kiwibird

I requested more information on this because this is something that has been around since release. Here is what I've got from them:

A copy/paste error was discovered that had been hanging out since release. A number of high quality shields had common and uncommon stats associated with them. Many of these did not even have appropriate secondary effects to account for such a mismatch. As such, we assigned all shields of all rarities the stats appropriate to their tier. Shields of the same tier and design share the same stats with variation in secondary effects to improve their value rather than as a detriment to their value.

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You may not understand it yet but who ever is giving you those answers is flat out lying!!!
Here is how shields used to work to help you understand. It's a little a complex but any who plays the game can follow it.

http://forums.defiance.com/showthrea...69#post1107869

Here is the current discussion.

http://forums.defiance.com/forumdisp...ral-Discussion

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Originally Posted by Bonehead

http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5083981e.gif

Okay let's see if I got this.

Carbagagoolian cores I don't give a crap about so we'll table those.

Arkforge is an endgame currency?

It is not intended for use by low and other ego levels to keep weapons current with the wielders ego?

Then why is it for sale in the bit store?

I must be missing something.

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Yeah I was going to mention this. If Arkforge is on sale in the bit store, there is absolutely no reason for it not to be included in the Daily and Weekly reward boxes.

i am having a huge problem with this new saying "originally meant to..." because your talking about something that was meant to be 12 MONTHS AGO!!! in that 12 months, the community has adapted to your "typo" and the "5" shields created a value of their own. going back and changing that now is ridiculous. the only thing i am gathering from the answers is more of the story:

a longer, more fullfilling chase because grenades were meant to working as intended

OH BOY! Risk assessment? I hope this means ammo boxes in the bit store. Would sure come in handy!

Ark hunters,

Careful-eyed observers may have noticed that we have a currency in the game called "arkforge." These observers will have noticed that arkforge begins as a VERY rare good and increases in frequency over time. High rating characters get ahead of the curve in big events and as such earn more score. This means they cross the threshold at which even open-world events generate arkforge. These same players can enter into advanced and expert instances and complete them in sufficient time to earn a higher arkforge-per-minute output than anywhere else in the game.

While arkforge certainly is useful throughout the game, for keeping prized weapons at the same rating as the ark hunter, it becomes absolutely vital to high-rating characters for its use both for bringing up low level gear, but also for its ability to allow for a reroll of mastery bonuses. Arkforge will continue to provide additional benefits as we continue adding features to the game.

Given that it is tied to achievement both in performance and progress, we are not going to be giving it out for free on login. Players who wish to get a leg up on progression either early or late in the game, may purchase arkforge in the Defiance Store, much like they may purchase boosts to XP, loot, and reputation. (These also being means to increase the rate of progress in the game.)

The daily and weekly ark hunter rewards point directly to two activities: acquiring lockboxes and calling down arkbreaks. The scrip, salvage, and keys within are the most basic currencies of the game world, and the ark spike batteries keep the arkbreak system going.

Advanced currencies have no place in the daily and weekly ark hunter rewards at this time.

so, arkforge is a very valuable, very vital commodity that will not be given away for free, is available in extremely limited quantities in game, but can be purchased in bulk in the bit store.

does that sound like the definition of pay to win?

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Originally Posted by TrickDempsey

Ark hunters,

...Players who wish to get a leg up on progression either early or late in the game, may purchase arkforge in the Defiance Store, much like they may purchase boosts to XP, loot, and reputation. (These also being means to increase the rate of progress in the game.)
....

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVYA-WS56J8

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Originally Posted by TrickDempsey

Players who wish to get a leg up on progression either early or late in the game, may purchase arkforge in the Defiance Store

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I'll be taking option B.

Spend my money elsewhere.

You do not respect me, therefore I do not respect you, and I refuse to contribute towards your salary.

Let's discuss shields, shall we?

Any time you make a change to base stats on items, you are always balancing the time and resource investment of existing established players with those of new and learning players. (Someone who is a top-level gear vendor has a very different set of priorities than someone who is still making progress through the story and pursuits.)

The gear vendor sees statistical anomalies as an opportunity to capitalize. "OP" weapons and gear become the target of desire and exploitation. They seek out people who do not know the value of what they have, they acquire it, and then sell the goods to another player at an increased price. This is the game of "buy low; sell high" and it is a wonderful and exciting game for those who play it.

Conversely, players making progress through the game have a very different experience. They are seeking higher rarities and higher numbers. The chase for them hinges on the opening of every lockbox an the defeat of every boss. The instant an orange item appears in their rewards box, they reach the climax of their experience. The moment when they open their inventory and compare that gear to their previous gear is the most pivotal moment in their daily or weekly gaming experience.

When that piece of gear, that legendary gear that they've slaved for, is inferior to the green or blue they already have, they have a negative experience. They have a negative experience that quite commonly directly causes them to leave the game. When the shields were wrong, this experience happened every single day to quite a few players. It's a terrible gaming experience, and we're not going to encourage it to continue.

With the update to shields, to correct high rarity gear with low rarity stats, we only improved inventory items. We're not going to maintain a negative experience for most our players so that a select few may maintain a competitive advantage.

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Originally Posted by TrickDempsey

Ark hunters,

Careful-eyed observers may have noticed that we have a currency in the game called "arkforge." These observers will have noticed that arkforge begins as a VERY rare good and increases in frequency over time. High rating characters get ahead of the curve in big events and as such earn more score. This means they cross the threshold at which even open-world events generate arkforge. These same players can enter into advanced and expert instances and complete them in sufficient time to earn a higher arkforge-per-minute output than anywhere else in the game.

While arkforge certainly is useful throughout the game, for keeping prized weapons at the same rating as the ark hunter, it becomes absolutely vital to high-rating characters for its use both for bringing up low level gear, but also for its ability to allow for a reroll of mastery bonuses. Arkforge will continue to provide additional benefits as we continue adding features to the game.

Given that it is tied to achievement both in performance and progress, we are not going to be giving it out for free on login. Players who wish to get a leg up on progression either early or late in the game, may purchase arkforge in the Defiance Store, much like they may purchase boosts to XP, loot, and reputation. (These also being means to increase the rate of progress in the game.)

The daily and weekly ark hunter rewards point directly to two activities: acquiring lockboxes and calling down arkbreaks. The scrip, salvage, and keys within are the most basic currencies of the game world, and the ark spike batteries keep the arkbreak system going.

Advanced currencies have no place in the daily and weekly ark hunter rewards at this time.

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So those of us who cannot or do not want to partake in the higher tier co-ops are essentially screwed. It's play the game with a challenge in order to stay relevant or not play at all.

I'm sorry, but if Arkforge is supposed to be a limited commodity, there is absolutely no reason for it to be in the bit store where the only limit on the quantities a player can obtain is the size of their wallet. I am forgiving of a lot of things, and have a very tight definition of pay to win, but that is the biggest bunch of bull I have ever heard in a mass market game released in the western market.

How did a typo last twelve months?

Even defiances' patch record should have corrected such a easily fixed 'error' quite quickly. Especially since it apparently was not part of your design for the item at all.

I thought there was quality control?

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Originally Posted by Raiithe

How did a typo last twelve months?

Even defiances' patch record should have corrected such a easily fixed 'error' quite quickly. Especially since it apparently was not part of your design for the item at all.

I thought there was quality control?

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Especially considering the fact that the similar issue that affected weapons (where higher tier weapons were often no better or inferior to lower tier weapons) was fixed by having the bonus rolls specific to each tier now.

[QUOTE=SxB_xPUDDYTATx;1468924

-the ammo pools do not force me to take risk assessments. they instead have forced me to trade, sell, or break down all of my semi-auto snipers and detonators due to the fact that you are guaranteed to run out of ammo in either before killing anything. i used to enjoy my sniper loadout very much. its too bad this one fix cannot be implemented[/QUOTE]

Risk assessment as in whether to carry ammo spikes to refill your weapons or protection spikes to add armor.

Both require the player to stay in a relatively small area and hope that the enemy doesn't have AoE.

As any enemy that survives long enough for you to run out of ammo is more than likely dangerous enough to kill in only a few hits or in volge cases 2. Or deploy a protection spike and last a couple more seconds and hope you have the ammo for it.

EDIT- When it comes down to it if you have to deploy either spikes or stims then risk assessment has failed and you have overextended yourself. They should only really be for emergency situations or unfortunate circumstances. Unfortunately such situations and circumstances have become depressingly common due to this poorly implemented patch.

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Originally Posted by Quebra Regra

So failing any real resolution to these obvious issues, how about bald heads and tshirts?

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Yours!

For the low, low price of $20.

Each.

Wow... just wow. I don't know what to say since catching up on this thread.

Wow. That's all I have right now.

Back to Los Santos I go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEizJ-TWua0

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Originally Posted by TrickDempsey

Let's discuss shields, shall we?

Any time you make a change to base stats on items, you are always balancing the time and resource investment of existing established players with those of new and learning players. (Someone who is a top-level gear vendor has a very different set of priorities than someone who is still making progress through the story and pursuits.)

The gear vendor sees statistical anomalies as an opportunity to capitalize. "OP" weapons and gear become the target of desire and exploitation. They seek out people who do not know the value of what they have, they acquire it, and then sell the goods to another player at an increased price. This is the game of "buy low; sell high" and it is a wonderful and exciting game for those who play it.

Conversely, players making progress through the game have a very different experience. They are seeking higher rarities and higher numbers. The chase for them hinges on the opening of every lockbox an the defeat of every boss. The instant an orange item appears in their rewards box, they reach the climax of their experience. The moment when they open their inventory and compare that gear to their previous gear is the most pivotal moment in their daily or weekly gaming experience.

When that piece of gear, that legendary gear that they've slaved for, is inferior to the green or blue they already have, they have a negative experience. They have a negative experience that quite commonly directly causes them to leave the game. When the shields were wrong, this experience happened every single day to quite a few players. It's a terrible gaming experience, and we're not going to encourage it to continue.

With the update to shields, to correct high rarity gear with low rarity stats, we only improved inventory items. We're not going to maintain a negative experience for most our players so that a select few may maintain a competitive advantage.

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There are a whole lot of really negative presumptions about veteran players here.

1. "The gear vendor sees statistical anomalies as an opportunity to capitalize." Some, but not all Trick. Some gear vendors (or "traders" as we call them) seek out people that have weapons that they particularly like and want to use in exchange for a weapon the other player is willing to part with. Making an exchange based on what a willing buyer is offering to pay a willing seller is not "exploitation." See, the "need/want" trading post for further clarification.

2. "Players making progress through the game have a very different experience." We are all making progress through the game, albeit on different levels. The "climax" of my experiences pulling oranges has not changed since I was a wee ego. You're creating an artificial dichotomy between "exploitative gear vendors" and "players making progress" that simply doesn't exist.

3. "...legendary gear they've slaved for...inferior to green or blue they already have...negative experience." Trick, you do realize that this is still happening. My purple Rebel Regen EX is has significantly better statistics than any legendary D or DX that I have ever owned. My purple double crit wolfhound is still better than any legendary wolfhound I have ever owned.

In the most polite way I can possibly say this Trick, you seem to be mistaking the value of rarity versus the value of effectiveness. Oranges are not better simply because they are orange, and they never have been. This goes for both weapons and shields. Furthermore, you are treating the player population as a homogenous blob with a uniform play-style. An orange to me is only better than a purple or blue if its particular stats better fit my play style. In many ways, your perception of "the chase" is inconsistent with that of the players. While we appreciate your effort, the execution leaves much to be desired.

after reading all this, it makes me see how far defiance has fallen in such a short time, if id had known a couple months ago that this would happen i would not have invested my time into this at all. I still hope that one day someone will wake the eff up over there and see that the game they have now is ****e and the one that they have leached off off from the beginning was great at its core. The least they could do is give us a free reach around...

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Originally Posted by oasis387

after reading all this, it makes me see how far defiance has fallen in such a short time, if id had known a couple months ago that this would happen i would not have invested my time into this at all. I still hope that one day someone will wake the eff up over there and see that the game they have now is ****e and the one that they have leached off off from the beginning was great at its core.

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My post would have been angrier/more ban worthy, yet I still agree 100%.

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Originally Posted by TrickDempsey

Players who wish to get a leg up on progression either early or late in the game, may purchase arkforge in the Defiance Store, much like they may purchase boosts to XP, loot, and reputation. (These also being means to increase the rate of progress in the game.)

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This is a euphemism for it being a cash grab at big consumers of microtransactions and, as predicted:

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Originally Posted by TrickDempsey

Arkforge will continue to provide additional benefits as we continue adding features to the game.

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Anyone want to take a wild guess as to whether increased availability and quantity of Arkforge will occur when these new benefits are added?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i2GVWy6dnb...old-you-so.gif

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TrickDempsey

Let's discuss shields, shall we?

(...) discussing trading for some reason? (...)

With the update to shields, to correct high rarity gear with low rarity stats, we only improved inventory items. We're not going to maintain a negative experience for most our players so that a select few may maintain a competitive advantage.

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The point was, some shields are now better than some other, although they are the same EGO level and the same rarity. So now we have high rarity gear with medium stats or high stats. You didn't really address that.

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Originally Posted by TrickDempsey

Let's discuss shields, shall we?

Any time you make a change to base stats on items, you are always balancing the time and resource investment of existing established players with those of new and learning players. (Someone who is a top-level gear vendor has a very different set of priorities than someone who is still making progress through the story and pursuits.)

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EGO, high or low, had nothing to do with the prior shield balancing based on quality (I, II, II, IV, & V) and Subclass (D, DX, EX, ARK – which translates a value to the Regenerator, Berserker, etc. to which they are attached).

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Originally Posted by TrickDempsey

The gear vendor sees statistical anomalies as an opportunity to capitalize. "OP" weapons and gear become the target of desire and exploitation. They seek out people who do not know the value of what they have, they acquire it, and then sell the goods to another player at an increased price. This is the game of "buy low; sell high" and it is a wonderful and exciting game for those who play it.

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So now it becomes a big bad trader versus the poor unknowing noob as a defense? How very straw man of you. Statistical anomalies, as you call them, were statistical levelers making the choice between shields into a real decision. Should you take the lower Regen % over the higher Regen % because the lower has a shorter delay? This was a statistical way of BALANCING shields not an anomaly. Pretty interesting that you didn’t see that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TrickDempsey

Conversely, players making progress through the game have a very different experience. They are seeking higher rarities and higher numbers. The chase for them hinges on the opening of every lockbox an the defeat of every boss. The instant an orange item appears in their rewards box, they reach the climax of their experience. The moment when they open their inventory and compare that gear to their previous gear is the most pivotal moment in their daily or weekly gaming experience.

When that piece of gear, that legendary gear that they've slaved for, is inferior to the green or blue they already have, they have a negative experience. They have a negative experience that quite commonly directly causes them to leave the game. When the shields were wrong, this experience happened every single day to quite a few players. It's a terrible gaming experience, and we're not going to encourage it to continue.

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You are comparing the shields at face value as are these ill-informed players, interesting again. One need compare the entirety of the shield – the capacity, the recharge rate, delay, resistance presence or absence, and subclass – and then start to look at is it orange or purple or blue. Players shouting how their orange shield was no better than their blue were likely looking at only a few of these things or even more likely – just one – the one that was most important to them. You know, because despite our best efforts to categorize players, they all seem to find something else valuable about an item. Curious huh?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TrickDempsey

With the update to shields, to correct high rarity gear with low rarity stats, we only improved inventory items. We're not going to maintain a negative experience for most our players so that a select few may maintain a competitive advantage.

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You have NOT improved inventory items – you have actually made ALL “V” Quality shields inferior 100% to any other shield in their class. You have undone the statistical balancing your predecessors put into place and you have devalued the game as a whole once again.

Because grenades.

Because Typos.

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Originally Posted by Overtkill21

Because grenades.

Because Typos.

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Because bits.

What a damn shame, too... I have the right mind to toss my Defiance disc in the recycling bin and delete all memory of it from the HDD.

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Originally Posted by N3gativeCr33p

Because bits.

What a damn shame, too... I have the right mind to toss my Defiance disc in the recycling bin and delete all memory of it from the HDD.

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mines def not getting played and hasnt been played since the new dlc.. like ive stated before ill check these forums and hope for the best, until then tho... this game is a dust collector

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Originally Posted by Deunan

Just as any request to add sources or the amount of Arkforge from current sources is a waste of time, any request to decrease the demand for Arkforge is also a waste of time because they share the common aspect of undermining the company's ability to monetize "whales".

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For humor...
http://youtu.be/7veZVmGkQiU

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Overtkill21

EGO, high or low, had nothing to do with the prior shield balancing based on quality (I, II, II, IV, & V) and Subclass (D, DX, EX, ARK – which translates a value to the Regenerator, Berserker, etc. to which they are attached).



So now it becomes a big bad trader versus the poor unknowing noob as a defense? How very straw man of you. Statistical anomalies, as you call them, were statistical levelers making the choice between shields into a real decision. Should you take the lower Regen % over the higher Regen % because the lower has a shorter delay? This was a statistical way of BALANCING shields not an anomaly. Pretty interesting that you didn’t see that.



You are comparing the shields at face value as are these ill-informed players, interesting again. One need compare the entirety of the shield – the capacity, the recharge rate, delay, resistance presence or absence, and subclass – and then start to look at is it orange or purple or blue. Players shouting how their orange shield was no better than their blue were likely looking at only a few of these things or even more likely – just one – the one that was most important to them. You know, because despite our best efforts to categorize players, they all seem to find something else valuable about an item. Curious huh?



You have NOT improved inventory items – you have actually made ALL “V” Quality shields inferior 100% to any other shield in their class. You have undone the statistical balancing your predecessors put into place and you have devalued the game as a whole once again.

Because grenades.

Because Typos.

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Could not have said it nearly as well.

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Originally Posted by N3gativeCr33p

Because bits.

What a damn shame, too... I have the right mind to toss my Defiance disc in the recycling bin and delete all memory of it from the HDD.

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I got mine via steam, it will be on my account forever, just like that horrible Aliens Vs Predator that came out a few years back. Returned it to the store even but its still there glitching at me from the shadows of my steam games list.

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Originally Posted by SxB_xPUDDYTATx

does that sound like the definition of pay to win?

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Since I can go about the game to farm Arkforge and/or weapons closer to my current EGO, I'd have to say no.

"Pay to get it now instead of putting forth effort in the game", yes. Certainly. Micro-transactions in nearly every game I've ever played gave me something extra in the game, but did not give me an advantage over other players.

I've seen other games that required a player to spend money in order to get a serious advantage over non-paying players. Since all of the gear offered in the store is either cosmetic or game-shortening, I can't see how pay to win fits as a description.

Just my opinions here, no one is expected to agree with or share them. :p

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Originally Posted by Deunan

This is a euphemism for it being a cash grab at big consumers of microtransactions and, as predicted:
Anyone want to take a wild guess as to whether increased availability and quantity of Arkforge will occur when these new benefits are added?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i2GVWy6dnb...old-you-so.gif

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And how much you want to bet that an increased drop rate will not occur when they have bonus weekends that up the XP/Rep/Loot accumulation?

In essence, those who paid for the DLC don't deserve to get any further ahead than somebody who didn't pay for the DLC with a "currency" (XP, Loot, Skills, and Rep are not currencies, however and are relatively insignificant when discussing the overall power of a player) that is necessary to remain relevant in the game, and will only continue to be more relevant in the future.

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Originally Posted by Market

Since I can go about the game to farm Arkforge and/or weapons closer to my current EGO, I'd have to say no.

"Pay to get it now instead of putting forth effort in the game", yes. Certainly. Micro-transactions in nearly every game I've ever played gave me something extra in the game, but did not give me an advantage over other players.

I've seen other games that required a player to spend money in order to get a serious advantage over non-paying players. Since all of the gear offered in the store is either cosmetic or game-shortening, I can't see how pay to win fits as a description.

Just my opinions here, no one is expected to agree with or share them. :p

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Arkforge is used to directly increase the power of one's weapons. Again, I have a very tight definition of Pay to Win, and while this doesn't necessarily cross the line, the fact that DLC owners aren't granted a token amount (even if it would just be 10-15 in the Weekly) is pretty insulting.

I do agree with you, Market. Real pay to win would be, for example, putting OJ mods in the bit store (or "DLC" vendor locked content) and only there.