Money for Appearance / Name Changes?

In browsing the blog post for the upcoming DLC:
http://community.defiance.com/en/201...alk-potential/

Most of it looks pretty good. Blades. 4 player vehicle of doom. Monolith Arkfalls. Whatever "Siege" is.

But:

"Character Customization changes: Appearance change, name change, or everything change"

Under what you can pay for? Really? You want me to spend real money to give my avatar a new haircut?

Which - I know the inevitable answer will be: if you don't like it, don't spend it. Which, trust me, I have no plans on doing so. But seriously? That really seems like nickel and diming the player base.

Hey, if you don't like your fringe, you gotta do what you gotta do.

Rules

#1: increase player base
#2: create own 'real' money (bits, to dis-associate people from how much real money they're spending)
#3: introduce micro-transactions
#4: increase frequency of micro-transactions
#5: increase size of micro-transactions

Why? To make even MORE money!

I could see that being okay if they first time was free for Season pass holders.

Would you rather pay a monthly fee for the game?

I wouldn't mind it so much if there was a scrip way to pay alongside bits.

This is actually a very common thing in most games without a monthly fee (and some games with). And its a good thing. Cash shops are best when they feature purely cosmetic things on them that you can live without. And nothing is more cosmetic...than changing your cosmetics. :p

That said, I think it would be a sensible move on their part to include one free makeover with the DLC purchase.

Really......for the character customization changes.
I wouldn't consider going for that even if I was still willing to buy the DLC unless I could see the final options of what I could change to.

And CutlassJack....that's exactly right.
If they can stimulate people's interest in the items in the DLC and store while staying within what the customer would be willing to spend on it. Then that becomes the source of income to keep the servers and support running.

The key point is "stimulate people's interest in the items in the DLC and store while staying within what the customer would be willing to spend on it" though. If nobody is willing to buy it, they just wasted the money they spent creating them.

This is a major factor in the lifespan of any MMO with no subscription fees.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Thrasher

Would you rather pay a monthly fee for the game?

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No, but why should Trion have to start a subscription to allow you to something virtually for scrip vs virtual for real cash? It's not like it is a drain on their servers. They don't have to add new content to support it. It's a new interface. If they're going to add it in - why block behind real dollars?

Vanity items not otherwise available - I get that. Changing your player's tattoo from a previously existing tattoo for another previously existing tattoo ... that's like charging for everytime you want to swap out your hat.

So what? You can always roll a new toon if you don't like the current one. Seriously, with the major flaws that still exist in the game that seems something hardly worth mentioning. And they gave us the ability to respec Ego powers for nothing but an inconsequential amount of script, which is more important than the appearance.

Sounds to me like you're digging for something to be annoyed about.