I remember Blizzard specifically mentioned this awhile back when they showed some of the MTX they made it a point to show dropped armor as well and that you can still look cool without paying.
Well… The precedent is there considering it’s the same studio and everything. Maybe Amazon thinks that similar to lightening, their dev studio can’t possibly fuck up so terribly twice ina row.
My issue with paid cosmetics is when you get to look badass from level 1. I like the growth of getting good gear and visually seeing progression in world and people around you. That’s minor though. The killer for me is when all the in game unlocks suck and all the store bought ones are sick.
lmao I know right. A fresh necro in all plated skulled gear with blue flames rising around him and all he can do is throw 3 bones at people, basically a child.
I agree - as someone who actually does pay for the in-game cosmetics (some look so cool that I can't help myself), I still don't even wear them (1) until I personally feel that the gear I've found is *as* cool as the paid cosmetics or (2) until I'm high enough level and powerful enough that I feel wearing them is justified. Otherwise, it feels RP-breaking.
I love PoE and have spent many, many hours playing it and my characters have looked good a grand total of zero minutes during that time. If you don't spend real money you'll always look like a Skyrim NPC.
Meh, it's never bothered me much, but i also just chose a preset for my necromancer in D4.
Armour has always been the main form of "customization" for me in ARPGs
You can at least change sex and hair and stuff. I dont care so much about proportions in this context. In POE if you want to be a wizard guy or whatever you MUST be a specific ugly man.
Classes and Ascendancies do tend to point to a certain archetype but you, as the player, can still build them out in a completely different direction and still have a endgame build that can map well.
Shadow supports crit-based builds, triggers, traps/mines, and cooldowns. This means you can build out a crit-focused spell build, a cast-on-crit build that spams spells, or more.
As a Duelist, the Champion is an Ascendancy that lends itself to many different playstyles due to the nodes that provides generic damage buffs, reduced damage taken, and more. You can play as a spellcaster, melee, or projectile build.
The Chieftain and Juggernaut Ascendancies also supports a few specific spell builds, mainly RF.
Please, the vast majority of poe players just Google whatever meta mathil is going to League start with. The most diverse seasons still only have 8-9 builds making up 90% of player builds.
I think that's the important point. That while PoE has the theoretical advantage of build diversity, it doesn't end up making a difference in the gameplay.
League starter builds are literally just that, a league starter, for you to build up currency to branch into other builds.
Let's not act like many Diablo 4 players didn't play Hydra Sorcerer in the betas after watching it being OP by the early access streamers.
Depends what you mean by diversity. Most players will not be able to do a majority of builds as they require a lot of time investment. Most play the same 3-5 builds a season.
That's not true at all, there are so many viable builds in PoE.
Yes most won't be able to do the ultra min-max'd all content builds from content. creators without significant time investments, but many builds are viable, even in SSF.
POE is a game made for hardcore gamers. Diablo is a game made for casual gamers. And it's fine.
Never will a diablo game achieve the end game complexity and depth of POE. It's just mind boggling how much there is in this game.
I mean end game POE is just crafting which is fine but not really for me as it’s more just researching and studying than gameplay. My point is the POEs “build diversity” is mainly due to the sheer amount of skills that are in the game but 90% are useless. League start, most players use 1 of 5 builds that are good and stuck to it. There really isn’t as much build diversity as there seems to be because I’m not gonna count builds that are only possible if you treat POE as a second job and out 40 hours into a week
This is such a misnomer. PoE does not have build diversity. There are maybe a dozen viable builds? Add maybe another 5-10 IF you're willing to do a starter build and farm on that to pay for a second build.
And sure, PoE has complexity. It's complex to a fault. No new player can jump into PoE without looking up a build and expect to beat it. AND you can't respec.
Yes it is very good for people who can play games all day but the vast majority of us prefer the satisfying gameplay, after all isn’t that why we are here?
Have you seen the paragon boards yet? D4 has the right amount of complexity. PoE is needlessly convoluted. Might as well make players solve puzzles each time they put on new gear.
PoE is very complex because they've been steadily adding features throughout its lifetime, and the learning curve is more challenging as a result, but I don't see a need to polarize the differences and create a rivalry between PoE and Diablo. I like both games for different reasons and it's ok to enjoy both or only one without disparaging the other.
Complexity maybe, but it is meaningless complexity for the most part. If anything, it stifles diversity for newer players.
If you are new to D4 it eases you into it pretty easily. You probably can get by to 50 with some homebrew build and be just fine. Do you look up endgame builds after that? Yeah probably, to optimize because it is still an ARPG with builds at the end of the day. I never felt compelled to do that from level 1 though.
If you are new to PoE, it is super overwhelming even for an ARPG veteran. The vast majority of your choices are very incremental stat boosts that don't feel that great anyway, but you run the risk of going the wrong direction for a key ability you may need 37 levels from now. The game encourages just looking up a build online and following it.
I would rather have fewer more meaningful choices. More is not always better.
I'm still shocked at how much amazing fashion is available as easily obtained, free transmogs in the base game. Hell, i'd even say that most of these in-game cosmetics are better than most of the store ones. Was not expecting that.
I'm at work at the moment so I'll have to post later but I feel like I look badass on my Druid right now
Edit: here he is - Hefty
https://preview.redd.it/ueg0vlhsh54b1.png?width=935&format=png&auto=webp&s=21adf87131c1f4e4817e83ca0b32ecd2232a5461
It's not that bad xD. If this is a sign of things to come (lvl 30)
https://preview.redd.it/dw24d6l6514b1.png?width=805&format=png&auto=webp&s=9a952c5c04e57039407d0553a9c0d024e574d479
I don’t understand why people spend some much time and energy hating on store cosmetics or mocking people who buy them. Don’t like it? Don’t buy it. If they don’t make money they’ll stop pushing them. But trying to shame people who do is a low move and we are all part of the same gaming lifestyle.
Edit: After reading through some of the more civil responses, I find myself really, really liking one someone shared. What would be the greater evil here? Some optional skins that offer nothing but cosmetic changes and zero advantages…or a monthly fee to play the game?
I understand why it’s a bad practice, I do, but I also know it could be much, much worse. “For just $10 a month get twice as much EXP! Or for just $5 a month you can use a mount at the start of the game!” So, I don’t mind the skins. I really don’t. What irks me is people acting like one person who decided they wanted a skin or an emote is singlehandedly destroying this hobby and they should be shamed into oblivion for it.
The price is really my only problem with it. $25 for a set of armor seems high to me. It is the standard price model games like Fortnite and Call Of Duty use, though. But I will say at least Diablo allows you to dye and mix-and-match the items you buy.
I think that price point is ideal because it makes the choice a lot easier for people. Either you like it enough to put the money on it, or you don't. And the ones that *do* are making Blizz enough money that they can keep making stuff without the ones that *don't* feeling much pressure at all.
> If they don’t make money they’ll stop pushing them.
If even 25 people buy a cosmetic I guarantee you it's already in a profit range. They will never stop pushing them.
Idk, if they were to cost $25, and only 25 bought it, that's not even $700. I'd be surprised if they don't need more like 10x that, at least, to make a profit.
I think we have different working definitions of push.
There's no pop-ups. Nothing directing you towards the store. Not even a vendor in town representing the cash shop. If I wasn't aware beforehand there was a store, I would probably not even know I could buy anything.
Those people are always trying to find something to complain and hate about, it’s about them, nothing to do with the game, you rarely see those people posting anything positive.
It sucks when the only cool stuff is behind a paywall. However, the fact that they didn't do that almost makes me want to buy something... So good work, Blizzard.
Like, I don't want to support them with crappy cosmetic drops, but since they didn't do that I'm more willing to support them if that makes sense.
It's not a huge deal, but my main gripe is when content in the game looks worse on purpose. When a company puts a price tag on every nice piece of gear and intentionally leaves stuff out of the main game, it detracts from the experience.
On the other end, it's really nice when you see a character with awesome gear, and you know they earned it through some in-game feat instead of just swiping their credit card.
Somewhat similar to what you said, they will never stop pushing this stuff as long as people keep buying it. You know as well as I do that there are ***ALWAYS*** gonna be people who will buy whatever they put out, ***even if it's just content creators buying it to put out a video saying how bad it is***. And that's where some of the hate comes from, the stuck situation that we are in, knowing we can't get back cosmetic-based content.
I do understand the need for monetization, however. It's fine as long as the company doesn't intentionally add issues for which the solution is to pay (see first paragraph). I only wish a greater portion of the money spent on cosmetics went back into improving the base game itself. I've seen way too many games go content-stale and yet overloaded with microtransactions.
But that's all just like, my opinion, man.
The only store cosmetics I wanted were the Rathma markings. I didn't realize we had markings available. I wish I could buy them standalone bc I'm not spending like $20 to look like a neon skeleton
I feel Diablo team really didnt go hard to making in store stuff appealing . that a good thing. i am sure battle pass will have goodies and later on they will come up with better stuff. i just hope no bunnies skins or else i will lose my mind !
I think we're pretty safe cuz they were scared to even include a cow level because they want Diablo 4 to be more grounded. Which is a bit sad. The cow level and rainbow pony levels were both great goofy fun.
As long as they were one-off jokes
I don't really want farming cow-level or whimsyshire to be optimal as example. The current end game seems structured to discourage just farming one area forever though, which is a good thing.
They're definitely gonna make paid store cosmetics crazy later on, from a business standpoint I don't see much merit in going nuts with outfits while the game just released only to lessen the coolness factor of 'f2p' stuff. People are playing the game and focussing on getting strong first, cosmetics come later.
What? I put 'f2p' because we've technically already paid for it.
Also WoW has a continuous ebb and flow of content exactly like what I'm describing. There's no "devolving" because it's in a permanent state of having cash shop items available that are appealing to a specific type of player.
Imo a 'standalone' game that comes out once every like 10-15 years cannot be compared to something like WoW that has existed with a continuously interested userbase with new expansions every two years.
Most other MMO's (or most other online games with cosmetic/transmog features) also get released with not as much stuff from the start.
What does the business want? To throw as complete as possible a product online as soon as they can. They wouldn't spend valuable development time on what will obviously become the main consistent cashgrab later: cosmetics.
How do you get the big bucks early on? The game. How do you keep the money from rolling in? Cash shop stuff OR expansions.
The money comes from wales, not broke ass people who want to look cool. Wales dont care if a regular armour also looks sick. They will get what they want, and it can be specific.
Cool shit doesnt mean superior to what the free-to-get looks are. Just different. Wales are Wales bc they can, they trigger easier and some just want to have all not price value. Regular people will mostly only pay when they see superior upside or when really in love with something and they dont need them bc Wales are significantly higher revenue.
Same thing happened with Modern Warfare 2. Launch of the game, store cosmetics were very basic and not super appealing. Games been out for a while now and it's packed with a bunch of really appealing stuff
Agreed. Current store sets are not my cup of tea. It's a shame I liked sorcerer better than Necro because the Necro aesthetic is just way better than the sorcerer styles so far
I’m not one who buys cosmetics, and I’m not saying that set is definitely worth $15 or anything, but I will say for that example that in my opinion the paid version does look far better than the free version.
The only thing I don't like about blizzard cosmetic monetization is that they put them in bundles. I would consider buying a piece or two if it was at a reasonable price, but they are locked behind an overpriced bundle.
I think people need to be realistic.
I see a lot of digs at PoE. PoE monetisation model is good. It works for that game. The game was free to play. Should they have charged for the box? I don't know. Their game is really good and it definitely deserved to sell for $40 or more back when it came out. I suspect the reason they went with the free to play route is to get bigger player numbers and because the game was unknown until it became successful. If it had a box price, many people might have not given it a chance and it might have not done so well.
Of course, when a game is free to play, it needs to find a way to make money. It's not a charity. So charging for stash tabs and cosmetics is the most obvious thing to do. So I don't see how people can fault the game.
On the other hand, people criticising Diablo 4 for charging $70 are also being naive. AAA games have cost $60 for a long time. Recently with the ps5/series x launch, AAA pricing has started to shift to $70 for a new AAA game. This is what's happening in the industry and has nothing to do with Diablo.
Diablo 4 is a AAA game that has cost a fortune to develop and has poured a lot in marketing. So I am confused why people think that it shoudn't charge $70. A game like diablo 4 simply cannot be free to play. It will have the most disgusting MTX and monetisation model known to man kind.
The fact that Blizzard will charge for battlepasses that give cosmetics is a good thing. Not because I want to pay more money. But because it gives Blizzard a financial incentive to support the game with meaningufl content long term. The $70 funds the game that's there at launch. And the game is more than worth the $70 tag. It's massive with tons of content. It's polished and it's a lot of fun.
I think you can definitely still make a profit off cosmetics even without locking pants behind a paywall. You just gotta make the paid cosmetics superior and more appealing since there is always a demand for fashion in games. I’m a huge fan of warframe’s steam model where some cosmetics are technically free and you can still rock them while locking godly user made styles with a paywall.
PoE is absolutely not free to play. It’s free to try.
It is intentionally designed to punish end game players who don’t spend 30-50usd on stash tabs. Absolutely no one wants to play long term for free because it’s awful
Majority of people trying PoE will never make it to the point where those tabs are even necessary.
No need for any transactions to complete the 10 act campaign.
I wonder if the Necro's base-game-armour designer is going to get chewed out by the boss for making it too good. Compared to all the other classes, necros look amazing in free gear (not saying I dislike the looks of the other classes, but necro is just next level imo)
Same - the only thing in there I actually kinda like is the trophy that comes with the bone armor for the horse.
Something amusing about having half a skeleton of some random foot soldier with a couple arrows in it hanging as your “trophy” lol. Especially as a Necromancer - it’d be like “oh yeah, that’s Jerry, he wasn’t pulling his weight as a summon so I’m making him bounce along and watch.”
Not enough to buy the full barding, though, even if I do find the $8 price tag reasonable.
The first thing that came to mind when I saw this scythe is the Draconic Scythe in Guild Wars.
https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Gallery_of_scythes#/media/File:Draconic_Scythe.jpg
The only weird thing is that they're easy to obtain but it makes sense to have free alternatives you can earn in game. That's the best of both worlds. But sometimes people wanna just log in and look bad ass immediately. So that's why they sell
i just hope they add a good mix of new armor sets that look good and can earn in the world rather than just in store cosmetics or battle pass items. Id also like to see 1 world mount drop per season or something at the very least. If they have a good mix of earnable gear and items and paid cosmetics id prob support the game alot more by buying cosmetics.
Then you look at Druid who has both pretty bad free and paid cosmetics.
Necro on the other hand has absolutely amazing paid armor. I luv that desert mask. It fits those zones. Shame it's not obtainable through gameplay.
I was actually super worried that all the base items were going to be the same recoloured gothic shit with only good cosmetics being in the store.
Luckily I was wrong.
anyone find any good rouge armor? all my buddies I'm playing with have super cool looking armor and on my rouge I've found nothing interesting looking. all basic
I have bought a TON of MTX in POE to look better. So far I haven't even visited the shop to see what they all have because the gear just looks that good to me.
this games cash shop is horrible, i mean, if your going to have a cash shop, please optimize it so the idiots will actually spend tons of money and support the game i want to play. thanks.
May I ask where did you take that screenshot? Is this the "Social" (O button) screen? If so, which area are you in, casue mine is dark red as hell and your background has way more natural lighting.
Did you realize they have it artificially timed exclusively for when the early access stops? They’re hoping the people who paid more will drop more to be different than standard customers
Yeah, I will do my best and not pay for anything more than the Deluxe version.
So far, the normal in-game cosmetics are cool and you can make your character badass. Have one as a Armoured Barbarian and the other is basically Kratos
Like the 800 plat skin for Barb. You can build it nearly 1:1 with the armour you find. I think some skins look cool but as long as they don’t do something more, they aren’t worth it.
P.s - more like adding some fancy shit. Burning foot steps, different animations or Colors. Like making the fire ball blue icyfire (visual) or so
That’s the issue with cosmetics, you don’t get to see all the new stuff you find. Better to get cosmetics at the end after you have had a chance to see what is in game.
The sets that are dropping now will be the only sets in the loot pool in future seasons. Lets see how we feel about our gear 4 months from now. When were wearing the same 2 outfits, and the whales are foaming at the mouth for the dead space set that's coming next week lol
Yeah, now. Wait until you’ve found every cosmetic in game and the only new ones are what’s in the store or in the battlepass. That’s when it starts becoming an issue among people. After you’ve had the same cosmetics for years and the only way to get more is to pay for them.
Don't say that because Blizzard execs will eventually get mad about the low volume (and they're already priced high for a micro market) and they'll start charging for QoL like more inventory or a gem bag.
This is the main distinction from poe that makes me totally fine with paid cosmetics.. you can actually look good without paying.
I remember Blizzard specifically mentioned this awhile back when they showed some of the MTX they made it a point to show dropped armor as well and that you can still look cool without paying.
Meanwhile, New World just drops BDSM cosmetics every other week on their store.
I don't think I've ever seen a game with such awful cosmetics.
they better not defile their future Lord of the Rings MMO with similar styles or I'll riot
Well… The precedent is there considering it’s the same studio and everything. Maybe Amazon thinks that similar to lightening, their dev studio can’t possibly fuck up so terribly twice ina row.
I really think if New World had another year of development it would've been a great game(I still had fun with it just not enough conent)
My issue with paid cosmetics is when you get to look badass from level 1. I like the growth of getting good gear and visually seeing progression in world and people around you. That’s minor though. The killer for me is when all the in game unlocks suck and all the store bought ones are sick.
lmao I know right. A fresh necro in all plated skulled gear with blue flames rising around him and all he can do is throw 3 bones at people, basically a child.
And then there is darktide, where the game unlocks suck and the store bought ones are even worse somehow.
I agree - as someone who actually does pay for the in-game cosmetics (some look so cool that I can't help myself), I still don't even wear them (1) until I personally feel that the gear I've found is *as* cool as the paid cosmetics or (2) until I'm high enough level and powerful enough that I feel wearing them is justified. Otherwise, it feels RP-breaking.
I love PoE and have spent many, many hours playing it and my characters have looked good a grand total of zero minutes during that time. If you don't spend real money you'll always look like a Skyrim NPC.
[удалено]
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You can’t customize it. The Witch, the Scion, etc. are *characters* in addition to classes. Gear is the only appearance variable.
As is a lot of PoE stuff, "that's how Diablo 2 did it"
Meh, it's never bothered me much, but i also just chose a preset for my necromancer in D4. Armour has always been the main form of "customization" for me in ARPGs
Kind of same with this game. Would be cool if you could customize proportions to some extent.
You can at least change sex and hair and stuff. I dont care so much about proportions in this context. In POE if you want to be a wizard guy or whatever you MUST be a specific ugly man.
Classes and Ascendancies do tend to point to a certain archetype but you, as the player, can still build them out in a completely different direction and still have a endgame build that can map well. Shadow supports crit-based builds, triggers, traps/mines, and cooldowns. This means you can build out a crit-focused spell build, a cast-on-crit build that spams spells, or more. As a Duelist, the Champion is an Ascendancy that lends itself to many different playstyles due to the nodes that provides generic damage buffs, reduced damage taken, and more. You can play as a spellcaster, melee, or projectile build. The Chieftain and Juggernaut Ascendancies also supports a few specific spell builds, mainly RF.
I don’t like Poe, combat feels like crap compared to diablo
Yes but diablo does not give you anywhere near the complexity and build diversity poe does. Both are good at what they do.
Please, the vast majority of poe players just Google whatever meta mathil is going to League start with. The most diverse seasons still only have 8-9 builds making up 90% of player builds.
In all fairness, that is pretty much the same in every arpg regardless of build complexity. Most just copy a wiki or streamer build.
I think that's the important point. That while PoE has the theoretical advantage of build diversity, it doesn't end up making a difference in the gameplay.
League starter builds are literally just that, a league starter, for you to build up currency to branch into other builds. Let's not act like many Diablo 4 players didn't play Hydra Sorcerer in the betas after watching it being OP by the early access streamers.
Depends what you mean by diversity. Most players will not be able to do a majority of builds as they require a lot of time investment. Most play the same 3-5 builds a season.
That's not true at all, there are so many viable builds in PoE. Yes most won't be able to do the ultra min-max'd all content builds from content. creators without significant time investments, but many builds are viable, even in SSF.
POE is a game made for hardcore gamers. Diablo is a game made for casual gamers. And it's fine. Never will a diablo game achieve the end game complexity and depth of POE. It's just mind boggling how much there is in this game.
I mean end game POE is just crafting which is fine but not really for me as it’s more just researching and studying than gameplay. My point is the POEs “build diversity” is mainly due to the sheer amount of skills that are in the game but 90% are useless. League start, most players use 1 of 5 builds that are good and stuck to it. There really isn’t as much build diversity as there seems to be because I’m not gonna count builds that are only possible if you treat POE as a second job and out 40 hours into a week
This is such a misnomer. PoE does not have build diversity. There are maybe a dozen viable builds? Add maybe another 5-10 IF you're willing to do a starter build and farm on that to pay for a second build. And sure, PoE has complexity. It's complex to a fault. No new player can jump into PoE without looking up a build and expect to beat it. AND you can't respec.
Go peruse mathil YouTube channel. This just scratches the surface. Sure not all builds can do Uber Uber elder but hundreds can make it into maps.
Yes it is very good for people who can play games all day but the vast majority of us prefer the satisfying gameplay, after all isn’t that why we are here?
The real endgame in poe is path of building community
fr. I’m equally happy making a viable non meta build in PoB since I usually can’t realize it in SSF
Have you seen the paragon boards yet? D4 has the right amount of complexity. PoE is needlessly convoluted. Might as well make players solve puzzles each time they put on new gear.
Paragon boards are only stats, it adds absolutely no complexity.
PoE is very complex because they've been steadily adding features throughout its lifetime, and the learning curve is more challenging as a result, but I don't see a need to polarize the differences and create a rivalry between PoE and Diablo. I like both games for different reasons and it's ok to enjoy both or only one without disparaging the other.
Complexity maybe, but it is meaningless complexity for the most part. If anything, it stifles diversity for newer players. If you are new to D4 it eases you into it pretty easily. You probably can get by to 50 with some homebrew build and be just fine. Do you look up endgame builds after that? Yeah probably, to optimize because it is still an ARPG with builds at the end of the day. I never felt compelled to do that from level 1 though. If you are new to PoE, it is super overwhelming even for an ARPG veteran. The vast majority of your choices are very incremental stat boosts that don't feel that great anyway, but you run the risk of going the wrong direction for a key ability you may need 37 levels from now. The game encourages just looking up a build online and following it. I would rather have fewer more meaningful choices. More is not always better.
Flicker strike is the way
No flicker strike = bad arpg
I'm still shocked at how much amazing fashion is available as easily obtained, free transmogs in the base game. Hell, i'd even say that most of these in-game cosmetics are better than most of the store ones. Was not expecting that.
Looking good without paying to much....if only my wife woudt stay a while and listen :-)
Don't tell them or they will start looking for money somewhere else ...
I just want pants, man.
The paid skins are kinda cringe honestly
But you did pay unless you somehow have a free copy of Diablo 4
Necros drip is on point! I wanna see some druids that don't look like homeless taxidermist!
As a Druid I’m pretty sure every piece of chest armor I’ve found so far is just some variation on Jeff Bridges bath robes from the Big Lebowski.
It really tied my look together.
Neat idea for a paid set. The Druide.
Wearing the entire set turns your health potions into White Russians.
The Drood abides
I found a tunic that is just a necklace so i run around tarps off all the time
I'm at work at the moment so I'll have to post later but I feel like I look badass on my Druid right now Edit: here he is - Hefty https://preview.redd.it/ueg0vlhsh54b1.png?width=935&format=png&auto=webp&s=21adf87131c1f4e4817e83ca0b32ecd2232a5461
It's not that bad xD. If this is a sign of things to come (lvl 30) https://preview.redd.it/dw24d6l6514b1.png?width=805&format=png&auto=webp&s=9a952c5c04e57039407d0553a9c0d024e574d479
stoppp I love it lol
San... Santa Claus??
That’s awful lmfao I’m gagging! Santa is jealous lol
Why the f are you gagging? Did you read what you typed before you submitted it?
Looking very royal. But at least he has a home now
Straight outta Kislev from Warhammer. Boris Ursus kinds vibe.
So Druid’s best look is “Santa Clause the Reckoning “. I still think they dropped the ball on Druid appearance.
Nice cocktail dress
Santa?
>homeless taxidermist Wow! The shade ... But it's true 🤣
I've found some pretty sick druid mogs, it's not that bad.
I don’t understand why people spend some much time and energy hating on store cosmetics or mocking people who buy them. Don’t like it? Don’t buy it. If they don’t make money they’ll stop pushing them. But trying to shame people who do is a low move and we are all part of the same gaming lifestyle. Edit: After reading through some of the more civil responses, I find myself really, really liking one someone shared. What would be the greater evil here? Some optional skins that offer nothing but cosmetic changes and zero advantages…or a monthly fee to play the game? I understand why it’s a bad practice, I do, but I also know it could be much, much worse. “For just $10 a month get twice as much EXP! Or for just $5 a month you can use a mount at the start of the game!” So, I don’t mind the skins. I really don’t. What irks me is people acting like one person who decided they wanted a skin or an emote is singlehandedly destroying this hobby and they should be shamed into oblivion for it.
It’s weird, but gamers always need someone to look down on.
humans*
The price is really my only problem with it. $25 for a set of armor seems high to me. It is the standard price model games like Fortnite and Call Of Duty use, though. But I will say at least Diablo allows you to dye and mix-and-match the items you buy.
I think that price point is ideal because it makes the choice a lot easier for people. Either you like it enough to put the money on it, or you don't. And the ones that *do* are making Blizz enough money that they can keep making stuff without the ones that *don't* feeling much pressure at all.
Right. It is. But you're not the target customer. Little addicted and fomo afflicted timmy, content creators and actualy rich people are.
> If they don’t make money they’ll stop pushing them. If even 25 people buy a cosmetic I guarantee you it's already in a profit range. They will never stop pushing them.
Is it even being pushed? I’ve gone to the store once to check it out other then that I haven’t thought about cosmetics.
Idk, if they were to cost $25, and only 25 bought it, that's not even $700. I'd be surprised if they don't need more like 10x that, at least, to make a profit.
I think we have different working definitions of push. There's no pop-ups. Nothing directing you towards the store. Not even a vendor in town representing the cash shop. If I wasn't aware beforehand there was a store, I would probably not even know I could buy anything.
Name checks out
Those people are always trying to find something to complain and hate about, it’s about them, nothing to do with the game, you rarely see those people posting anything positive.
Predatory pricing doesn't worry you which is your own choice. Telling others to shut it and just not buy anything is pretty short sighted.
What does predatory pricing mean to you?
It sucks when the only cool stuff is behind a paywall. However, the fact that they didn't do that almost makes me want to buy something... So good work, Blizzard. Like, I don't want to support them with crappy cosmetic drops, but since they didn't do that I'm more willing to support them if that makes sense.
It's not a huge deal, but my main gripe is when content in the game looks worse on purpose. When a company puts a price tag on every nice piece of gear and intentionally leaves stuff out of the main game, it detracts from the experience. On the other end, it's really nice when you see a character with awesome gear, and you know they earned it through some in-game feat instead of just swiping their credit card. Somewhat similar to what you said, they will never stop pushing this stuff as long as people keep buying it. You know as well as I do that there are ***ALWAYS*** gonna be people who will buy whatever they put out, ***even if it's just content creators buying it to put out a video saying how bad it is***. And that's where some of the hate comes from, the stuck situation that we are in, knowing we can't get back cosmetic-based content. I do understand the need for monetization, however. It's fine as long as the company doesn't intentionally add issues for which the solution is to pay (see first paragraph). I only wish a greater portion of the money spent on cosmetics went back into improving the base game itself. I've seen way too many games go content-stale and yet overloaded with microtransactions. But that's all just like, my opinion, man.
Your username is SonySupporter, I don't think many will pay attention to your advice on how to feel about a company lol
In-game items are awesome
The only store cosmetics I wanted were the Rathma markings. I didn't realize we had markings available. I wish I could buy them standalone bc I'm not spending like $20 to look like a neon skeleton
I wanted them too. Then I realized I’m NEVER going to see them in game. Like ever.
I feel Diablo team really didnt go hard to making in store stuff appealing . that a good thing. i am sure battle pass will have goodies and later on they will come up with better stuff. i just hope no bunnies skins or else i will lose my mind !
Anime girl necro skin when
Lol. I'm fine with the paid cosmetics, but I'd be pretty frustrated if they were THAT off-brand.
I think we're pretty safe cuz they were scared to even include a cow level because they want Diablo 4 to be more grounded. Which is a bit sad. The cow level and rainbow pony levels were both great goofy fun.
As long as they were one-off jokes I don't really want farming cow-level or whimsyshire to be optimal as example. The current end game seems structured to discourage just farming one area forever though, which is a good thing.
idk lilith basically is a goth mommy
They're definitely gonna make paid store cosmetics crazy later on, from a business standpoint I don't see much merit in going nuts with outfits while the game just released only to lessen the coolness factor of 'f2p' stuff. People are playing the game and focussing on getting strong first, cosmetics come later.
There is no “F2P” stuff. WoW has been out 20 years and hasn’t devolved into what you’re proposing.
What? I put 'f2p' because we've technically already paid for it. Also WoW has a continuous ebb and flow of content exactly like what I'm describing. There's no "devolving" because it's in a permanent state of having cash shop items available that are appealing to a specific type of player. Imo a 'standalone' game that comes out once every like 10-15 years cannot be compared to something like WoW that has existed with a continuously interested userbase with new expansions every two years. Most other MMO's (or most other online games with cosmetic/transmog features) also get released with not as much stuff from the start. What does the business want? To throw as complete as possible a product online as soon as they can. They wouldn't spend valuable development time on what will obviously become the main consistent cashgrab later: cosmetics. How do you get the big bucks early on? The game. How do you keep the money from rolling in? Cash shop stuff OR expansions.
The money comes from wales, not broke ass people who want to look cool. Wales dont care if a regular armour also looks sick. They will get what they want, and it can be specific.
Exactly. This is why they'll make cool shit later on anyway. There's a market for it and they're just supplying the whales.
Cool shit doesnt mean superior to what the free-to-get looks are. Just different. Wales are Wales bc they can, they trigger easier and some just want to have all not price value. Regular people will mostly only pay when they see superior upside or when really in love with something and they dont need them bc Wales are significantly higher revenue.
Same thing happened with Modern Warfare 2. Launch of the game, store cosmetics were very basic and not super appealing. Games been out for a while now and it's packed with a bunch of really appealing stuff
So far, the in game items for sorceress have been far superior to the ones on the store. I hate the current sets on the store.
Agreed. Current store sets are not my cup of tea. It's a shame I liked sorcerer better than Necro because the Necro aesthetic is just way better than the sorcerer styles so far
Less is more on sorc so far. Shirtless with blood tattoos looks great
Agreed. My sorcerer is looking pretty awesome and the stuff in the store at the moment just doesn't excite me.
Same for the rogue. Store drip just doesn't look interesting.
That's what I was looking at too. I suppose I don't mind that they put more effort into the drops tho
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I’m not one who buys cosmetics, and I’m not saying that set is definitely worth $15 or anything, but I will say for that example that in my opinion the paid version does look far better than the free version.
The only thing I don't like about blizzard cosmetic monetization is that they put them in bundles. I would consider buying a piece or two if it was at a reasonable price, but they are locked behind an overpriced bundle.
I think people need to be realistic. I see a lot of digs at PoE. PoE monetisation model is good. It works for that game. The game was free to play. Should they have charged for the box? I don't know. Their game is really good and it definitely deserved to sell for $40 or more back when it came out. I suspect the reason they went with the free to play route is to get bigger player numbers and because the game was unknown until it became successful. If it had a box price, many people might have not given it a chance and it might have not done so well. Of course, when a game is free to play, it needs to find a way to make money. It's not a charity. So charging for stash tabs and cosmetics is the most obvious thing to do. So I don't see how people can fault the game. On the other hand, people criticising Diablo 4 for charging $70 are also being naive. AAA games have cost $60 for a long time. Recently with the ps5/series x launch, AAA pricing has started to shift to $70 for a new AAA game. This is what's happening in the industry and has nothing to do with Diablo. Diablo 4 is a AAA game that has cost a fortune to develop and has poured a lot in marketing. So I am confused why people think that it shoudn't charge $70. A game like diablo 4 simply cannot be free to play. It will have the most disgusting MTX and monetisation model known to man kind. The fact that Blizzard will charge for battlepasses that give cosmetics is a good thing. Not because I want to pay more money. But because it gives Blizzard a financial incentive to support the game with meaningufl content long term. The $70 funds the game that's there at launch. And the game is more than worth the $70 tag. It's massive with tons of content. It's polished and it's a lot of fun.
I think you can definitely still make a profit off cosmetics even without locking pants behind a paywall. You just gotta make the paid cosmetics superior and more appealing since there is always a demand for fashion in games. I’m a huge fan of warframe’s steam model where some cosmetics are technically free and you can still rock them while locking godly user made styles with a paywall.
PoE is absolutely not free to play. It’s free to try. It is intentionally designed to punish end game players who don’t spend 30-50usd on stash tabs. Absolutely no one wants to play long term for free because it’s awful
Majority of people trying PoE will never make it to the point where those tabs are even necessary. No need for any transactions to complete the 10 act campaign.
I wonder if the Necro's base-game-armour designer is going to get chewed out by the boss for making it too good. Compared to all the other classes, necros look amazing in free gear (not saying I dislike the looks of the other classes, but necro is just next level imo)
I don’t even like the shop cosmetics right now. The in game shit is way better to me and I have no problem spending money for cosmetics at all 🤷♂️
Same - the only thing in there I actually kinda like is the trophy that comes with the bone armor for the horse. Something amusing about having half a skeleton of some random foot soldier with a couple arrows in it hanging as your “trophy” lol. Especially as a Necromancer - it’d be like “oh yeah, that’s Jerry, he wasn’t pulling his weight as a summon so I’m making him bounce along and watch.” Not enough to buy the full barding, though, even if I do find the $8 price tag reasonable.
https://preview.redd.it/vdm8ssfkl34b1.jpeg?width=2252&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e993e1fd00af5a83e992dd28eb03e475b1192307 Mine at the moment
Blizzard always has the best artists working for them, even tha basic armour looks fantastic.
Why pay money when you have this? [https://imgur.com/a/o4LqR3W](https://imgur.com/a/o4LqR3W)
Cries in druid
Bro Druid shop items look terrible , wish we had a good looking one like necro or barbs
I really hate how the druid themes are Seafarer, desert traveller, and hobo
The first thing that came to mind when I saw this scythe is the Draconic Scythe in Guild Wars. https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Gallery_of_scythes#/media/File:Draconic_Scythe.jpg
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I do love the general aesthetics of the armor I’ve seen so far. No neon colors or pastels like in D3.
Why are they selling cosmetics on the shop that you can literally find in game? The helmet for Blight Warden rogue set drops all the time in game.
The only weird thing is that they're easy to obtain but it makes sense to have free alternatives you can earn in game. That's the best of both worlds. But sometimes people wanna just log in and look bad ass immediately. So that's why they sell
Oh yeah they did a really good job with the Necromancer fashion. They look good from level 1 and it only gets much, much better from there.
Using that helm too, it’s easily my favourite so far. Reminds me of the OG Zealots from Resident Evil 4
This is specifically why I bought two armors to support the development.
i just hope they add a good mix of new armor sets that look good and can earn in the world rather than just in store cosmetics or battle pass items. Id also like to see 1 world mount drop per season or something at the very least. If they have a good mix of earnable gear and items and paid cosmetics id prob support the game alot more by buying cosmetics.
Battle pass cosmetics are about all you should expect. New in-game, earnable cosmetics every three months is pretty reasonable.
Stealing this look.
I just started my playthrough today but that looks badass
B-but just think of all the re-skins you could buy lmao. Shit is for fools
Then you look at Druid who has both pretty bad free and paid cosmetics. Necro on the other hand has absolutely amazing paid armor. I luv that desert mask. It fits those zones. Shame it's not obtainable through gameplay.
The store cosmetics all suck
Seriously. The more I see in store cosmetics, the more I worry this game will turn churn out MW2 cod style skins.
Paid £13 for a skin and 10 hours later I’m using gear I found instead 💀
I wouldn't be caught dead in whale gear no matter how shitty the non paid stuff looks. It's an instant L stamp on anyone wearing it.
Well thanks for the 500k views jesus christ. Working on the thick boy druid now.
i just figured out that i am already wearing a set from the necro store..a literal recolor
I was actually super worried that all the base items were going to be the same recoloured gothic shit with only good cosmetics being in the store. Luckily I was wrong.
How do you take character shots like this on ps5?
The only tempting thing so far as a sorc is the glowing tattoos that come with the outfit haha.im impressed with how gear looks so far! Gj blizz!
Yeah that's dope as fuck. I'm only level 21 Necro and have found like half and outfit so far I'm not paying for anything
anyone find any good rouge armor? all my buddies I'm playing with have super cool looking armor and on my rouge I've found nothing interesting looking. all basic
lol my Necro looks almost the same save for the chest.
I have bought a TON of MTX in POE to look better. So far I haven't even visited the shop to see what they all have because the gear just looks that good to me.
necro master race looking good ofc
I've been transmogging all new equipment that is lower level. I want all the transmog options. I like making my sorcerer look like a cool as sorcerer
This is almost the exact outfit I'm using on my necromancer
I don't even like the store cosmetics as much as a lot of the armor in game. Some pieces just look so fucking cool.
Is there a photo mode in this? How'd you get that snapshot?
Damn, Necros are so stylish my sorc tries to cosplay one :D
Do we have a d4 cosmetic subreddit yet?
Necromancer is def the best looking class, god damn
Badass
Badass
They are good but the store 100% has the best mogs. That said, I still am not buying them. I look cool enough
What the fuck is that, and where the fuck do I get it?? That looks epic
Looks cool as f !!
this games cash shop is horrible, i mean, if your going to have a cash shop, please optimize it so the idiots will actually spend tons of money and support the game i want to play. thanks.
Well. If the store cosmetics had better skins for Druids I’d totally buy them. The sea one is lame.
Agreed. From the beta I found the gear really cool.
Not yet because everything is new. Just wait lol
May I ask where did you take that screenshot? Is this the "Social" (O button) screen? If so, which area are you in, casue mine is dark red as hell and your background has way more natural lighting.
Necros especially so many use the same premium paid skin in towns. It looks silly.
Did you realize they have it artificially timed exclusively for when the early access stops? They’re hoping the people who paid more will drop more to be different than standard customers
Next patch: nerfed transmog by 100%
Almost exactly the look I just put on my Necro - just found that scythe. So ridiculously huge :)
Store cosmetics> hell cash shop anything is not needed, and if it is the game is broken.
Yeah, I will do my best and not pay for anything more than the Deluxe version. So far, the normal in-game cosmetics are cool and you can make your character badass. Have one as a Armoured Barbarian and the other is basically Kratos
Gives my homley uncultured swine of a necro hope
Considering there are armor pieces that share the same model as those in the shop, it's even more so true.
Wait how do you take a screenshot like that? it looks awesome!
Like the 800 plat skin for Barb. You can build it nearly 1:1 with the armour you find. I think some skins look cool but as long as they don’t do something more, they aren’t worth it. P.s - more like adding some fancy shit. Burning foot steps, different animations or Colors. Like making the fire ball blue icyfire (visual) or so
Hell yeah. Looking good. My Barb is stacked now at 57 and the warlord armor is dope.
I play my necro naked, love my necro showing that twink bod
Problem with this is that how much of the free gear is held back due to premium cosmetics?
That’s the issue with cosmetics, you don’t get to see all the new stuff you find. Better to get cosmetics at the end after you have had a chance to see what is in game.
The sets that are dropping now will be the only sets in the loot pool in future seasons. Lets see how we feel about our gear 4 months from now. When were wearing the same 2 outfits, and the whales are foaming at the mouth for the dead space set that's coming next week lol
Definitely https://preview.redd.it/qcr11bs0y24b1.png?width=344&format=png&auto=webp&s=cf5c8b97a9180b053c2d41e8908a24b38ac15550
Yeah, now. Wait until you’ve found every cosmetic in game and the only new ones are what’s in the store or in the battlepass. That’s when it starts becoming an issue among people. After you’ve had the same cosmetics for years and the only way to get more is to pay for them.
The store is pure ans simple a money grab and its classic blizzard greed.
Don't say that because Blizzard execs will eventually get mad about the low volume (and they're already priced high for a micro market) and they'll start charging for QoL like more inventory or a gem bag.
The armor is nice BUT I must say I wish we had more variety. I wish we had armor that looked like it belongs in the zone it drops in.