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In Defence of the Cosmetic Whales (www.gamesindustry.biz)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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As long as cosmetics can also drop as part of playing the game, I don't care if the shop's charging people $25 for a gear set, because I don't need to buy it.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I don't have a problem with cash shops as most gamers do, but I do find the author's defense of the price point to be kind of problematic.

IMO, the only reason you should want to buy cosmetics is that you like how it looks, not because most people won't have it due to its high price. It's a kind of mindset that is frustrating to see incentivized since it's less about having something you like and more about having something others don't (or can't, at worst).

A counterpoint to most business models like this is Deep Rock Galactic, which doesn't value scarcity at all and has no time-limited cosmetics, or even cosmetics that cost more $15 USD (and these are all bundles that get you several sets). Despite the lack of exclusivity I still see a lot of people with different appearances because People Just Want to Look Cool.

I know we're probably pretty far away from Blizzard (or any other AAA dev for that matter) ever adopting a philosophy like that, but I can dream.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

For me the sweet spot would be itemizing those $25 cosmetic sets so you can buy pieces of them at a time for a couple of bucks, even if piecemeal it's a couple bucks more in total. I'm not likely to buy a $25 set but I'll buy those 6 items at $5 a piece every time.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I'm pretty stubborn about lowering the price point to $15, ideally closer to $10, but I'd accept being able to get a piece or two from a set for $6-12. Most of the cosmetics in the game mix and match pretty well anyway.