Discussion: Purchasable Character Respecs
By
Acemace,
Posted on: 2008-07-31 10:40 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
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(Obviously, I realize this is not truly a slippery slope the devs will go down; but in principle, I believe they are equivalent. This is the first thing we've seen where there is now way to acquire the exact same thing with either influence in game or real money out of game.)
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IMO, the ability to respec is more of an "out-of-game" feature than anything else in the market, so offering respecs for sale is not the same, even in principle. Yes, we do have in-game means of getting respecs, but those exist simply to allow people to have access to this out-of-game ability. People kept asking for respecs, and so the devs gave us the ability, coming up with ways to tie it into the game after the fact.
Contrast that with IO enhancements, which affect the core game mechanics and balance, and I can see a clear reason why they would never offer IOs for sale, but are fine with respecs. A good rule of thumb for what they would allow to be sold are things that would not affect the balance of the game were they to give them away free.
Those things include costume pieces, character renames, character transfers, character slots, and respecs, all things they have offered for sale and could be given away for free (many of which have). Giving away IOs for free would affect the balance of the game, and thus they would never offer them for real-world money either.
If they ever offer an in-game means of getting renames, transfers, or slots, then those would be in the same position as respecs. But again, I wouldn't consider any of those to be in the same category as everything else in the market.
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Complain all you want to, but this is NCSoft's baby now. They're a Korean company and love microtransactions. Get used to it now, because it's never going to go back to being a strictly in-game economy.
Welcome to the City of Exteel Heroes 
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Well that is starting to shed some light on the subject. Look at all those asain free to play games. Yeah they are free but if you want the kewl stuff you need to buy them from the ingame stores or off their website,
Well Well Well.... is this where we are going with the game?
It stopped being an in-game only economy when they started advertising for shoes and burgers in the real world in this game.
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It stopped being an in-game only economy when they started advertising for shoes and burgers in the real world in this game.
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I guess it depends on how you define the "in-game economy". To me, respecs were never part of the economy. They were not a part of the core game; they were a quality-of-life feature added so that people would not need to start completely over if they wanted different power choices.
The devs added them to the market to give people an additional means of getting them, but I still don't think that makes them part of the economy any more than the advertisements. If we are going to include those, then we might as well say paying the subscription fees are part of the economy since without those one cannot have a character to participate in the first place.
IMO, the only items that should be considered part of the in-game economy are items that the characters use, including enhancements, inspirations, and temporary powers. Costume pieces are kind of iffy because on one hand they don't affect gameplay, but on the other hand the devs have tried to create an economy around some of them by only allowing you to get certain ones via recipes.
To me, the ultimate question comes down to, "Can real-world money give a character an in-game advantage such that the amount of real-world money one has becomes a deciding factor in one's gameplay?" If not, then I see no problem with offering those things for sale.
I think the ability to remove and sell/trade 10 enhancements from a respec makes respecs a part of the in-game economy.
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I think the ability to remove and sell/trade 10 enhancements from a respec makes respecs a part of the in-game economy.
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Okay, yeah, you could technically convert real-world money to influence by doing the following:
1. Level a character to the point where you want to replace at least one enhancement.
2. Pay $9.99 for a respec.
3. Respec, and sell all enhancements that you want to replace.
Doing that gives you more influence than you otherwise would have had without the respec.
But in order for the paid respecs to affect the economy to a significant degree beyond the other respecs that are readily available, people would basically need to buy enough respecs to finance City Of 2 with full power customization, seamless zoning, vehicles, personal living quarters, and much, much more. And personally, that's a sacrifice that I'm willing to make. 
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But in order for the paid respecs to affect the economy to a significant degree beyond the other respecs that are readily available, people would basically need to buy enough respecs to finance City Of 2 with full power customization, seamless zoning, vehicles, personal living quarters, and much, much more. And personally, that's a sacrifice that I'm willing to make.
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Ditto. 
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Okay, yeah, you could technically convert real-world money to influence by doing the following:
1. Level a character to the point where you want to replace at least one enhancement.
2. Pay $9.99 for a respec.
3. Respec, and sell all enhancements that you want to replace.
Doing that gives you more influence than you otherwise would have had without the respec.
But in order for the paid respecs to affect the economy to a significant degree beyond the other respecs that are readily available, people would basically need to buy enough respecs to finance City Of 2 with full power customization, seamless zoning, vehicles, personal living quarters, and much, much more. And personally, that's a sacrifice that I'm willing to make.
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Which might be why they cost $9.99 instead of $4.99 or even $2.99 as one person suggested. Those prices would still probably make such a move cost-prohibitive, but they would tempt more people I'll bet.
(Sometimes, I wish there could be a Dev thumbs up button for quality posts, because you pretty much nailed it.) -- Ghost Falcon
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I can't imagine that I'll ever have the need for this personally, but hey, more options is always nice. And if it brings in some additional cash flow to help with development, so much the better.
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I'm all for being able to buy respecs since it gives players something useful and is a good way to generate more money so we get more and better patches, but then again I did buy the wedding pack. Judging from the number of people interested in this option we might not be talking about an insignifcant amount of revenue either. Just have to wait and see I guess.
By the way, nice Point/Counterpoint in the City Scoop Bowfling.
While I've no problem with purchasable options, I find $9.99 to be a ridiculously high price for this option. It's a fine price for things you can't get in game, such as character transfers and extra slots. For something that you get every new issue, as many veteran rewards, as recipes (although I've never found one), and that you can run a TF to gain, its a bad price. The whole point of making it purchasable is as much to generate revenue for the company (which is a good thing for the players if you want to keep seeing new content) as it is for providing more options. At 9.99, only a very few players are likely to use it. Make it half that price, and you'd probably triple sales. Make it something like 2.99, and you'd probably see sales go through the roof (and the bottom drop out of the respec recipe market). Given that I've just spent about 150 bucks consolidating my toons from being across every server to only using 5 servers, and yet I'd never pay 9.99 for a respec, I don't think I'm too far off on this.
@Doctor Gemini
Arc #271637 - Welcome to M.A.G.I. - An alternative first story arc for magic origin heroes. At Hero Registration you heard the jokes about Azuria always losing things. When she loses the entire M.A.G.I. vault, you are chosen to find it.