Not really seeing how the gear gate is a "money grab." What am I missing?
First let me say, the gear gate is ridiculous: I've not been particularly happy about it from the start. I do confess that I'm having a hard time seeing how this is anything more than a stall in game progression, though.
Sure I want to still be great in the arena and build up my characters but even if I had the money to spend, how could I use it to get this gear I'm missing? The furnaces in the shipments? I only need one more for my arena characters and I haven't spent $ to get the ones I have and won't need to do so to get the last one I need.
Is the Furnace's price being 1615 crystals what people refer to when they talk about the gear gate being a "money grab?" All the other gear is hidden behind raid rewards, which only an obscene amount of money will let you progress to those any quicker.
With that in mind I will share an experience that sheds some light on this type of situation (in my opinion.) I used to frame houses for a small time residential contractor when I was younger. This gentleman had a very good reputation for quality work and an outstanding safety record and for this reason he was in high demand. He purposefully kept his company small, with only the capacity to frame two houses at a time if necessary, but it was often just one house at a time. When customers were seeking him to frame houses for them and he couldn't (due to resource constraints) he would make a ridiculously overpriced bid rather than simply say no. He was not making the price high with the expectation that he would get the contract, he was doing it to deter the customer's demand because he didn't have the resources to take on the job comfortably. The thing is, EA/CG, he let the customers know why there was inflated prices. Then no one could say he was trying to rip people off, or out creating a "money grab," it was all just a consequence of his admitted limitations. Some people desperately wanted us to frame their houses despite the inflated prices, but they didn't complain about the price -since they knew what they were getting in to. And it isn't as if the customers paying inflated prices didn't have knowledge of the other customers' "deals" when the timing was right. Still no complaints and still high demand.
I hope it's easy to see the parallel I'm trying to draw here: we're the customers and EA/CG is the contractor (all the reference of good reputation and being a gentleman is truly made about the person I am referring to and not in anyway eluding to EA.) They're attempting to deter us from progressing too quickly because they don't have the resources to keep feeding us content and fix the things they've already seen as broken in the game. The gear gate isn't a money grab it's a purposeful progression hindrance in my opinion.
And to the developers: building a better rapport with your clients and being transparent with your intentions can go a long way in keeping customers coming back even when they face some of the situations you've created.
A final thought: if you honestly, desperately feel that you are entitled to succeed in this game no matter the circumstances I would urge you to think that over for a while. If you've never spent $ on the game and have enjoyed it as a F2P then I don't think it should take long to admit that you may have to come in 2nd (or 202nd if its a tough server.) For all the P2P looking for value in the money you spent consider my reference again. You knew that you were paying inflated prices to get something sooner, so you lost a lot of value but gained a lot of time. I do think the gear gate is ridiculous considering they changed it mid-game where there was opportunity to get ahead if you had the info and stored resources, but referring to it as a "money grab" just doesn't make sense to me. If you don't feel there is value then don't spend your $.
Sure I want to still be great in the arena and build up my characters but even if I had the money to spend, how could I use it to get this gear I'm missing? The furnaces in the shipments? I only need one more for my arena characters and I haven't spent $ to get the ones I have and won't need to do so to get the last one I need.
Is the Furnace's price being 1615 crystals what people refer to when they talk about the gear gate being a "money grab?" All the other gear is hidden behind raid rewards, which only an obscene amount of money will let you progress to those any quicker.
With that in mind I will share an experience that sheds some light on this type of situation (in my opinion.) I used to frame houses for a small time residential contractor when I was younger. This gentleman had a very good reputation for quality work and an outstanding safety record and for this reason he was in high demand. He purposefully kept his company small, with only the capacity to frame two houses at a time if necessary, but it was often just one house at a time. When customers were seeking him to frame houses for them and he couldn't (due to resource constraints) he would make a ridiculously overpriced bid rather than simply say no. He was not making the price high with the expectation that he would get the contract, he was doing it to deter the customer's demand because he didn't have the resources to take on the job comfortably. The thing is, EA/CG, he let the customers know why there was inflated prices. Then no one could say he was trying to rip people off, or out creating a "money grab," it was all just a consequence of his admitted limitations. Some people desperately wanted us to frame their houses despite the inflated prices, but they didn't complain about the price -since they knew what they were getting in to. And it isn't as if the customers paying inflated prices didn't have knowledge of the other customers' "deals" when the timing was right. Still no complaints and still high demand.
I hope it's easy to see the parallel I'm trying to draw here: we're the customers and EA/CG is the contractor (all the reference of good reputation and being a gentleman is truly made about the person I am referring to and not in anyway eluding to EA.) They're attempting to deter us from progressing too quickly because they don't have the resources to keep feeding us content and fix the things they've already seen as broken in the game. The gear gate isn't a money grab it's a purposeful progression hindrance in my opinion.
And to the developers: building a better rapport with your clients and being transparent with your intentions can go a long way in keeping customers coming back even when they face some of the situations you've created.
A final thought: if you honestly, desperately feel that you are entitled to succeed in this game no matter the circumstances I would urge you to think that over for a while. If you've never spent $ on the game and have enjoyed it as a F2P then I don't think it should take long to admit that you may have to come in 2nd (or 202nd if its a tough server.) For all the P2P looking for value in the money you spent consider my reference again. You knew that you were paying inflated prices to get something sooner, so you lost a lot of value but gained a lot of time. I do think the gear gate is ridiculous considering they changed it mid-game where there was opportunity to get ahead if you had the info and stored resources, but referring to it as a "money grab" just doesn't make sense to me. If you don't feel there is value then don't spend your $.
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Such a well put together post.
but i agree, the term "money grab" is being used as an argument where it actually doesnt apply at all.
I think alot of f2p or small spenders use it because of the rediculous amounts of money needed to actually have a noticable advantage. The fear of not being able to compete because some other guy is willing to spend that much.
So what am I missing? Obviously I've seen it referred to as a money grab already. Saying it is again isn't helping me see how it is. What do you consider a money grab and how is this situation one?
Character Shards>Training Droids>Credits> (Now) Gear
Basically everything now is going on sale for real cash and it's not like it's easily accessible. Either the ROI is poor or it's a lottery (RNG)
I understand where you are coming from though I choose to believe that the most morally correct response to your analogy should be the contractor outrightly rejecting the job and clearly stating his capabilities. If you can't do it don't do it.
At the end of the day, there will be someone who can afford the services of the contractor. (as proven in this game; whales) And if he chooses to employ the contractor, the onus is on the contractor to deliver. Hence this method IMO is irresponsible cause you put up for sale a service you cannot deliver.
I see your point, though I did say he couldn't complete the task "comfortably," not that he couldn't complete it at all. That sentence structure made it easily misread if the last word didn't resonate.
I don't really have a comment about the money grab issue. I've always been f2p and nothing has changed. I agree in general that something is worth what people will pay for it. Whether it be goods, services, or pixels.
*Furnaces are available for crystals which cost money unless you're one of the very few to be consistently top-3 in your arena.
*Refreshes of shipments to get the opportunity to buy furnaces costs crystals.
*Guild store allows you to buy the gear (at obscene prices) and T7 guild raids, which effectively require 6mo+ FTP accounts or big whale accounts have the best chance of giving away the gear.
*Whales had precrafted gear in preparation for the level cap upgrade by spending significant amounts of crystals on energy refreshes to sim battle for gear
Are you really not aware that most people spending thousands of dollars on this game have access to these materials while FTP players do not?
Also your point vis-a-vis we only need to equip our arena team flies in the face of a reality where toons get nerfed/buffs and arena teams have to have flexibility. If I save up for a few weeks and buy one furnace for 1600 crystals and apply it to Rey (who actually needs 2 furnaces) and then she gets nerfed next week does that effect me the same that it effects a whale who applied a furnace to Han, IG-86, Anakin, Rey, Leia, etc., etc., etc.
The gear gate is real and as of today the only real way to get past it is with $$$$$. Maybe in the future that will change but not unless its clear to CG/EA that what their doing has moved this game into one were FTP have a definite cap on end-game success. This isn't even touching on the Omega mat gap where people who spent hundreds of dollars after the cap raise to reach 80 weeks ago have been collecting Omega materials every day since. Soon, if not now, they will have entire arena teams with 2 Omegas a piece and an arena leader with a third Omega skill. Access to gear and skills for $$$$ is what it is. I still enjoy the game just fine without it but it's pretty ignorant to pretend that there isn't a real, purposely developed, gate to success in place.
"The gear gate isn't a money grab it's a purposeful progression hindrance in my opinion."
It's only a progression hindrance to FTP players. It is not a hindrance to P2W. As proven at the top of literally every arena shard today.
From your standpoint, yes, intrinsically they are not money grabs. It's dependent on our expectations. But our expectations are shaped by politics and media. At the end of the day if you are fine with owning a cheap Toyota, living in a simple house then that's fine for you.
Back to the game: To me, I don't see it as all about the Mk5 Furnace. It's everything. How more and more content requires you to fork out some cash to stay competitive. Of course this is dependent on your expectations. If you are fine with your toon stuck at g8 or finish maybe at #200 in Arena that's fine.
But some people will want the Bentley, i.e. G10 toon and they want it right now. They will be compelled to spend. What's worse is the new players who start of with nothing. So much stuff that was previously accessible for free is now made much harder to acquire or costs a premium.
It stops me from spending all together and, especially those ripoff deals where you get squad for €60. Seriously mace and anakin for the price of an A game title... that's disgusting but to each their own.
My final thoughts in my original post give my stance on expectations that this game's player base seems to have and I've seen posts made by whales complaining about the precrafting which we are all having to deal with not just F2P.
This. Because not only f2p got the hurting but whales and dolphins as well for no other reason than $.
The point that it takes an enormous amount of money to artificially speed up that process is what makes it ok. I'm ok with the dude on my server with omega gear 10 Rex clone team, because he is paying for my game.
Personally, I have spent not a single extra dollar since the guild update. Only on my crystal booster, which I normally buy. I didn't even bite on the double days and crystal sale.
The furnaces showing up in shipments is a cash grab for the lower spenders, though. I think it is very hard to see the first furnace in a month and your crystal bank is only 1k... I think they will get a lot of people to open their wallets with this particular technique. If your willpower is high, you can still pass and keep saving. The furnace will show up again, eventually.
My last toon paid off. I had been locked out of the top 20 for a bit, now. I finally "finished" gearing a newly farmed toon to 9, and did a few fights last night to break into the top ten for the first time in weeks. Woke up this morning dropping zero spots.
If you think dropping $300 will buy you first place in arena, today, then no, you won't be a happy spender. Paying attention to which way the wind is blowing might get you 5 minutes on top of the pile, here and there.
Also, I'm fine with toon stuck at gear 8. A lot of my main arena toons are. I just branch and work on other toons. I dont' believe there will ever be one final meta. If you can't beat it today, at least you can have other toons ready when you get your gear. And you might be able to jump right back in to top tier one day. Using different toons that the ones you are trying to gear up right now. My theory is that it becomes increasingly expensive to lvl and gear a toon... with decreasing rewards. If you go gung ho on 5 toons, that's fine. But when the rest of the shard catches up with you, are you going to want to spend another 500.00 to level 3 new toons to remain on top of the hill? The teams that can easily beat you are going to eventually appear. It's not like there are unique items and powers in the game.
I'm happy with my new arena team, but I'm still not going to dump all my resources in them. I'm already farming new toons. Two of this team are only 5 stars, BTW. Held top 5 overnight. Dropped 3 spots this afternoon. I only have two furnaces on this team. No Rey, no Leia, no pay toons, no hard farms.
I think/hope when I hit lvl 80, the free gold mats and new abilities will close the gear gap enough to remain competitive. As long as I have enough of the right tools in the bag. AI defense being what it is, it's a matter of timing and luck to some extent for everyone.
This
Just be patient.
1. It was unobtainable, now purchasable.
2. The raid rewards were & still are terrible after the tweak, for god sakes there are challenge gear in the raid rewards.
3. They added the Gear to shipments AKA money grab
4. They trick you into thinking it is capable of getting with out spending money which is possible but who is really going to spend 16,500 guild currency on one piece of gear rather than spend $10, 16,500 guild currency is going to take a month and some to get compared to an hour of work maximum.
5. 65 Characters need the MK 5 CEC Fusion Furnace. That seems to be the only unobtainable gear added for a cost, pretty convenient that the majority of characters need this and its purchasable.
6. MK 5 CEC Fusion Furnace is not appearing in shipments often. AKA people are spending crystals on refreshing.
7. When it does finally appear it feels like more of a need than a want making it be sold in mass quantities.
8. If it wasn't a money grab why make an unobtainable item available for money?
9. We never needed these gear items before they were added last minute out of no where & are now available for purchase......
10. This is not a small contracting business, this is a massive company with a terrible customer service record.
I too have worked for small business contractors and they all seem to be extremely loyal, understanding, patient, communicative, upfront, and take great care and time in their work. I do not see or have not seen that here.
The testing is pushed aside or done extremely quickly, there is no communication for weeks-months and the things they do comment on are way beyond me and are hardly even concerns at all.
They yank us all over the place, in a moments notice they completely change the game.
When you were framing houses when something was going wrong did the customer come back the next day to a completely different framed house or blueprint? When all that was needed was maybe a different 2x4 type.
Not expensive. If you insist that the cost is $10.00 in cash, you have to consider that EA is paying you 30.00 a month to play their game.
If a furnace shows up before you saved, that is bad luck. Whenever you finally save and keep 1615 in the bank, you finish3d your farm. When it shows up, click and done.
The rarity is designed to break your resolve. Be patient. If you dont get one, go ahead and start saving for your second. They will come.
Wrong EA is not paying us anything it is not real currency it is fake, randomly put on a screen.
Exactly
Or the nerfs.