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Zen Store Woes? The Solution!
oreoz2573
Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 0 Arc User
Treat this game as a sub based game and limit yourself to 15 bucks a month.
By doing that, you simulate the grind for your rewards that are prevalent in sub based games such as WoW.
Time-Lost Proto Drake anyone? Or the Green Proto Drake? That dang egg......
Those mounts potentially took months to acquire (kill stealing, missing the spawn) or after perhaps a month or two of grinding dailies (in the case of the green drake and depending on your play habits).
The same effect can be simulated here.
For example, everyone talks about the costs of making enchantments that have a 1% success rate because you need to shell out 10 bucks for the ward to do it.
Or 40 bucks for that awesome mount.
Lets say a new 60 begins farming epics for shards to make a specific enchantment or enchantments.
Maybe after a month or two he or she has the pieces necessary to make that kick butt enchantment and now, because they paid a "sub fee" while they were doing it, they have the means to acquire the wards necessary to make whatever enchantments they want. A process that can be expedited by grinding ADs to exchange for zen (another example of simulating a grind on top of a self imposed sub fee).
It's the equivalent to being rewarded for the same type of grind in a sub based game! The reward being a killer enchantment or a mount.
Players complain about the prices simply because they want it NOW.
I won't deny that the prices for the most part are ridiculous but all you have to do is treat this game like a sub based game, practice a little self control and patience and suddenly it's not so bad.
The fact of the matter is that waiting a month or two to make an enchantment or buying a mount is the SAME as spending that time grinding out a dungeon for an epic piece of loot or farming gold to buy the fastest mount in a sub based game.
You just have to create that scenario for yourself instead of complaining that what you want NOW is too expensive.
The difference is that we can have it NOW. That's why we complain.
Take that away and you have the sub based game everyone seems to be missing.
Hope this helps
By doing that, you simulate the grind for your rewards that are prevalent in sub based games such as WoW.
Time-Lost Proto Drake anyone? Or the Green Proto Drake? That dang egg......
Those mounts potentially took months to acquire (kill stealing, missing the spawn) or after perhaps a month or two of grinding dailies (in the case of the green drake and depending on your play habits).
The same effect can be simulated here.
For example, everyone talks about the costs of making enchantments that have a 1% success rate because you need to shell out 10 bucks for the ward to do it.
Or 40 bucks for that awesome mount.
Lets say a new 60 begins farming epics for shards to make a specific enchantment or enchantments.
Maybe after a month or two he or she has the pieces necessary to make that kick butt enchantment and now, because they paid a "sub fee" while they were doing it, they have the means to acquire the wards necessary to make whatever enchantments they want. A process that can be expedited by grinding ADs to exchange for zen (another example of simulating a grind on top of a self imposed sub fee).
It's the equivalent to being rewarded for the same type of grind in a sub based game! The reward being a killer enchantment or a mount.
Players complain about the prices simply because they want it NOW.
I won't deny that the prices for the most part are ridiculous but all you have to do is treat this game like a sub based game, practice a little self control and patience and suddenly it's not so bad.
The fact of the matter is that waiting a month or two to make an enchantment or buying a mount is the SAME as spending that time grinding out a dungeon for an epic piece of loot or farming gold to buy the fastest mount in a sub based game.
You just have to create that scenario for yourself instead of complaining that what you want NOW is too expensive.
The difference is that we can have it NOW. That's why we complain.
Take that away and you have the sub based game everyone seems to be missing.
Hope this helps
"If you're going through Hell, keep going." -Winston Churchill
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Post edited by oreoz2573 on
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I want to be able to get everything without paying any money in a short time span. Do it or game is fail.
But if enough people practice this ideology, then the prices will most certainly come down because people won't be buying as often.
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*gets sucked into the oncoming quantum singularity of focused rage*
-Rachel-
this actually changed my entire perspective on the zen store, and i thank you for it. honest.
yeah it's the best middle ground I can come up with for people who hate the prices but still want to enjoy the game.
But I agree, voting with your wallet in that manner is the best way to pursue a decrease in prices.
I just don't understand why a few posters here are so ticked at my suggestion.
You're only fighting your own impatience once you decide to do 15 bucks a month. Not a difficult concept but oh well.
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Hey, at least you're trying and not insulting people
Not sure why people are getting angry at your suggestion, possibly tired of all the idiots that insult them and what not and are unfortunately lumping you in with them. It's kind of like how the more zealous fanboys call anyone who says anything remotely negative about the game a troll or hater.
people, ya know. Hmph. lol
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Let us all pretend like this game has enough content to justify $15.oo a month. That leaves the player base being forced to "grind for 4 months just to obtain as max level mount and top tier companion. Arguably worth it or not... I am impartial with this one because it doesn't really matter.
Now throw in 10+ months of grinding to obtain an enchantment for each piece of your gear. No we are up to 14 months worth of grinding for a mount, companion and enchantments. This does not include top tier enchantments for your companions. Now that it took me less than a weak to hit 60 and get my GS over 8k what do I do for the other 13 months?
You can act like you're justified in comparing prices to a subscription based game, but you also need to compare content to have your argument hold any water whatsoever.
The amount of content in this game is a matter of perspective given the varying opinions about the Foundry and whether or not someone is an altaholic or even just PvPs. People will find different amounts of worth. There's no pretending. There's plenty of content to justify limiting yourself to 15 dollars a month depending on who you are.
If you find there's not enough content to keep you occupied then quit playing. Any arguments or suggestions about the zen market go right out the window if the individual I'm talking to doesn't think there's enough content in the game to begin with since spending money in the zen store, cheap or expensive, implies that a person plans to keep playing for a long enough time for those purchases to be worth it.
If you're done in a week then I dunno what to tell you. Move on I guess.
But your example just proves my point further actually.
4 months for a mount, or a companion. We can feasibly exclude the mount from the equation actually since the first one for 5 gold is really all anyone needs. Someone on a budget (which is the type of person my suggestion is aimed at), will know this.
Most gear enchantments don't take long to get really. I'm talkin like the silver or the azure ones. The ones that drop like candy from EVERYTHING. Upgrading those usually past level 5 will require wards which you can get 10 of quite easily. So there's 10 bucks from the first month's 15.
You now spend the rest of that month and the one after upgrading your enchantments and farming epics for the real cool aesthetically pleasing enchantments.
Assuming you plan ahead and save the leftover 5 bucks from the previous month's ward venture, then you now have 20 bucks to drop on 2 coalescent wards.
2 epic enchantments right there, after 2 months of work. All the while farming ADs to either expedite the process as you see fit via the AD exchange or store in your wallet for other things.
Throw in companions and their enchants and it's really only about 5 or 6 months MAYBE to gear yourself up ideally the way you want and your companions.
Really not all the different from a sub based MMO is it? Really? To get those kinds of rewards? Not to me.
A player's worst enemy in a F2P game with a store is their own impatience.
You either whine about the prices, or you find ways to work around them.
THIS is the best way I can come up with and really, it's specifically tailored to the patient. People who just want to play and not worry about how long it takes them to get X reward.
You don't need to compare content. Like I said and actually like YOU said, people will find different amounts of worth.
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P2W doesn't bother me at all whether it's present or not.
Why should my game be impacted because Joe Somebody bought all his gear? Good for him?
Heck, if my dungeon runs are easier because a group member paid for all his gear then I thank them for wasting all their money. lol
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So you got to 60 and hit over 8k GS in that time. well done i say, but what about the other 4k+ of gear score? your 8k means u probably got some pvp gear to boost it which we all know is quite easy. so basically u have T1 gear when theres like what 7 T2 dungeons u can run
Not to mention on top of that the real T2 gear which is set gear doesnt drop anywhere near as much as the regular T2 stuff. Perhaps if you researched it properly you would realise you are nowhere near finished with this game but if your happy to finish T1 equiv gear and give up cos you feel like youve beat the game then go for it, because honestly noone will miss someone who complains they "beat the game" and hadnt actually
"If you don't like it, don't play it"
OP - exactly my suggestion... I agree with you 100%. To those that suggest it would take months to get anything decent, I understand what you're saying but when I play sub-based games I expect it to take a few months to get anything decent. Hell, in EVE it took me a year of training to just be able to fly a Golem. To actually use it effectively took another 6-12 months of training.
6 months to save and buy something decent, I can wait thanks. The mount isn't so great anyway. Other option. Buy zen, sell for AD and then buy on the auction house. Much cheaper and I can get what I want quite quickly.
Either way people play it is fine by me but, personally, if I delay getting all the l33t kit straight off it prolongs my interest in the game.
We're what, just over two weeks into open release and since day 1 folks have been complaining that there's not enough end game content, or that someone else is ahead of them from going afk in PvP or that someone else has been exploiting their way to the top.
The OP makes some salient points about the mentality of subscription versus cash. It's really down to perception and some self-discipline. If you *want* to treat this as a subscription game, then budget fifteen bucks a month. The advantage with that is that you haven't actually *committed* that money. If you get to the first of next month and don't have the fifteen bucks, then you simply don't spend it until you've got it. That way you don't go hungry for a few days or have to dig into your stash of dried noodles.
Of course, if money was that tight then you probably shouldn't be paying a monthly subscription in the first place.
Then there's this mentality of 'end-game'. So many folks that come from other games where they may have worked through the 'grind' (possibly over months or even years!) and don't feel that they want to repeat that. Instead, they want to rush through to what they perceive as 'the game' (raids, epic dungeons, fully decked out L60 PvP, etc). So many of them have 'taken the shortest route to the cheese' in the form of exploiting, having a higher level friend share a quest, or finding that simply getting into a PvP session and wandering off to eat lunch, take out the trash, mow the lawn or watch a movie will get them there without having to go through 'the grind'.
Then in come the complaints about lack of 'end game' content. Well duh. There simply aren't' enough developers to add end game content as fast as the thousands of folks who are *already* there can consume it. I think the 'record' for level 1 to 60 was three hours (look it up, it's in here somewhere). Plenty of folks 'bragging' that they can max out in a day or two as well. If it's *that* easy, then many of the complaints about lack of zen are irrelevant (respecs for example. If you can max a character in a couple of days then do so instead of complaining that you don't want to spend 6 bucks).
Me, I've been playing since the early start, so five days ahead. My main only *just* made level 50 (and two alts in the low 20's). Primarily by following the main quest line only (and skipping some of the last dungeons), no PvP either (it doesn't interest me). I've been having too much fun to even worry that there are folks at higher levels with better gear, more AD etc. I expect I'll hit 60 within a couple more weeks.
Including the founder packs, I've probably spent close to $700 here. Most of that has gone on cosmetics (social outfits, dyes) and a chunk on lockbox keys (No, I don't have a nightmare!) and a chunk into AD when the price was up over 480 (that's an 'investment', some used to help guildies out, most used simply as a time saver for things like companion training when they get that in the middle of a quest). So yes, there are aspects of 'impatience' for me as well. The difference is that I believe I'm playing the way the devs intended.
From a business perspective, it's not the devs, community managers, gm's, support folks that call the shots. It's the business folks that employ them that call the shots. They are the folks looking at the bottom line as far as revenue and profitability is concerned. That's what *they* get paid for. They do not *care* that a small minority of us, the players, are unhappy about some minutae in the game. Me, I want lots more roleplay 'stuff'. I want more social outfits. I want the ability to *create* social clothing. I want to be able to SIT down in a lady like fashion instead of sitting cross-legged with my thighs spread apart. I want to be able to kneel, lay down, lean on a tavern bar with my elbow resting on it and a drink in one hand. I want to be able to turn to face someone I'm talking to without having to take ten steps back, move five to the side and come back towards them to eventually end up off by 15 degrees.
So, eventually some sympathetic developer is going to propose spending fifty or a hundred hours coding something like that, then the business folks are going to evaluate the cost (game developers are not particularly highly paid, but even at 25 - 30 an hour plus overhead that soon adds up) compared to the return. They will ask "What percentage of players do you think are roleplayers who want to be able to lean on a tavern bar with a drink in their hand?". The answer of course, is "100% of roleplayers". However, we're less than 1% of the overall player base. Then the next business question is "How much zen do roleplayers buy?". That answer would be surprising to the 'average' player here. For the business folks tho, getting that answer is easy, they just run the numbers to see the purchases of 'social' outfits. It's surprisingly high.
So, from a business perspective, keep in mind that the priorities driving development are very very different than most folks might imagine. Given a budget of say, $50,000 for 'discretionary' projects (which equates to roughly a hundred hours of development, artwork, testing, etc), would a business decision be to spend it on something that a tiny percentage of cash customers want, or on something that a tiny percentage of non cash customers are whining about. Keep in mind that one of the key measurements is ROI (Return On Investment) here. Spend 50k on social outfits that folk will continue to buy for years, or spend it on l33t PvP or 'end game' stuff that will get burned through in hours with no returns, followed by yet another incessant flurry of 'Monty Haul' complaints that the folks that 'demanded' it have burned through it already and now are 'demanding' more.
No amount of development work can keep enough new end game content coming to keep that type of player happy.
I certainly hope a 6 dollar bag doesn't take you half a year to get.
15 bucks gets you quite a lot actually so long as you put it towards things you'll actually need such as wards or keys.
The bags qualify as things you don't need since the game gives you two which, with proper inventory management, are good enough.
But if you wanted those things, 15 bucks is a bag, a respec and 2 keys. Didn't respec? Well now you can buy 2 bags.
So I'm not sure where you're getting half a year from....
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You're just impatient.
You can have the mount now, but you don't want to pay for it. But because its right there, you don't want to be patient.
15 dollars a month can get you everything in this game.
You just have to decide what facets of the game you wish to allocate your funds.
5 bucks off to the side for a mount.
10 for wards.
That's just an example.
Think of it as a checking account and a savings account.
The money you use now comes from your checking account.
The money you're saving goes towards that mount.
You'll have everything you want with 15 bucks a month. The time saving up for a mount is almost equal to the time spent grinding for one in other games, depending on how YOU decide to spend that 15 bucks.
You want a mount in 2 months or 5, for example?
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Unless you PvP. People with 110% mounts have a big advantage.
If you play a single character.
See I disagree with the notion that mounts offer any kind of advantage in PvP purely because they mean, in a word, d***k in actual combat. lol
The best they can do for you is get you to a node 1 or 2 seconds faster than someone else but even then you still have to actually TAKE the node which is something a mount can't do for you.
I see people making the argument that players can escape and get away on a mount and run all over the place and blah blah blah....
If they're escaping......that means you drove them off the node that YOU want which means that you're winning. lol
They just don't work as negatively in PvP as people claim.
Simplest reason actually is because the maps themselves aren't big enough for an advantage to even be there, let alone noticeable. lol
I will agree on your second point though.
Respecs costing money are what's really hurting altoholics in this game but that's the ONLY thing hurting alt play IMO.
Alts are still perfectly viable so long as you're not throwing your money away.
It all goes back to how you want to spend that 15 dollars a month. Things might take longer because of your self imposed limitations but you'll feel MUCH better about yourself financially.
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