Discussion: Purchasable Character Respecs
By
Acemace,
Posted on: 2008-07-31 10:40 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
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Is buying levels, or badges next? 
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Actually, I'd like to see a badge that costs 100 real dollars. Name the badge "Moron".
It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
-- Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World
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Talk about people I have come to expect better from, on the forums.
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Once in a while, something just comes along that makes you... no, just FORCES you to make fun of it. I find this a bit silly, I dont find it an issue at all, but still find it silly. But hey, if NCSoft gets more money out of it to found new cool features, let them be my guest.
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Following a slippery slope to a place that nothing in the history of the game would give us any inclination that the dev team would support (if they remove snake egg farming because it let people get PL'd to 50 in under 48 hours, with millions to spend kitting out such a character, how could they ever justify, with a straight face, letting someone *buy* a level 50?) is fairly remarkable. Was it meant to be satire? If so, it didn't quite work for me.
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It would make them a lot of money? PvP player base would actually "blossom"?
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I'll never use it, and the amount of doom-crying it's generated is a little depressing, but it seems like it meets a viable need in a reasonable way.
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I'm not doom-crying, I'm mocking it. It's funny! As for me using it, heck, i have not used a single of my vet rewarded ones! I rarely respec, I plan well darn ahead!
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Totally lame. If I'm paying real-world cash, I should be able to use the respec without having to go to the Respec Contact.
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Please tell me this is satire.
"if I'm paying real money I shouldn't have to zone a few times!!!!"
It was fun.
You know what I would love paying for, though?
Character Reset. The ability to bring a character to level 1, re-select powersets, and keep all badges, perhaps even change AT. Admittedly, badges would be the reason to do that, to begin with. There are many onetime only badges I will never get again in some toons I don't truly enjoy, that I would love to have. Like my Stone/Ice tanker, that I would love to reroll as a Elec/Elec tanker once the option becomes available, but wont because I don't want to loose badges.
But since now they are adding ways to pay for earnable in game things, how about to give us a task force that will reward us with payable things like server transfers or renames?
A Portal Corps TF that would allow you to go to another server!!!!
or a simple Identity Crisis that allows you to rename yourself at the end! 
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Why cant you guys use developer resources for something we really need like email transfer of items/inf? .
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We don't "really need" those.
Though $10 for a respec... nah. Bit pricy for something that can be done even in casual playtime.
Wanted: Origin centric story arcs.
If you've only played an AT once (one set combo) and "hate" it - don't give up. Roll a different combo. It may just be those sets not clicking for you.
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We don't "really need" those.
Though $10 for a respec... nah. Bit pricy for something that can be done even in casual playtime.
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Tell me about it. I'm boggled every time I see the market prices for respec recipes -- I'm sitting on freespecs, could easily form a team for an actual trial, and have four vet respecs just sitting, waiting to be used.
Are there people who really respec THAT much?
It was fun.
This seems like a bad idea.
You've just created an income stream where your success doesn't depend on the quality of the game, but rather the reverse. From this point on, every change will be viewed by some as simply trying to drive respec revenue.
"Making Gaussian Unique? Oh, they're just trying to make people buy respecs"
"Eliminating Permadom? Oh, they're just trying to make people buy respecs"
etc...
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This seems like a bad idea.
You've just created an income stream where your success doesn't depend on the quality of the game, but rather the reverse. From this point on, every change will be viewed by some as simply trying to drive respec revenue.
"Making Gaussian Unique? Oh, they're just trying to make people buy respecs"
"Eliminating Permadom? Oh, they're just trying to make people buy respecs"
etc...
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I assume by "some," you mean yourself.
Every time they've changed powers in the past, they've given out freespecs. That won't change, as Posi noted.
EDITED FOR CLARITY
It was fun.
Let's Be honest for a second.
If your going to charge $9.99 I want to be able to respec my primary and secondary for a Level 50 toon.
Example would be I want to change from AR/Dev Blaster to something more useful... Like Fire/Em blaster
This is a really awful idea.
Bad Devs, BAD!!!
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Just a quick follow up:
We have no plans of getting rid of freespecs. Each Issue that brings with it major power changes (which is pretty much every single one, eh?) will bring a freespec with it.
We have no plans of getting rid of the respec trials.
We have no plans of getting rid of the dropped Respec Recipes.
We have no plans of getting rid of the Veteran Respecs that your account earns.
This is simply another way to get a Respec onto your character.
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I noticed you also specifically did not say that you would additional Vet Respecs as a reward in the future...
Well, that might keep us from having one of our Vet rewards in the future from being only a respec. So that's a silver lining in this cloud.
I have to say, as someone who's been here through thick and thin, that this is an ominous change and the price is pretty high. $5 (or 2 for $10) would have been far more reasonable for those people that really use respecs a lot.
But the fact that you decided to decide that our money is more important than upping the reward table for Recipe Respecs is not a good sign, in my opinion.
Still here, even after all this time!
If it helps keep this game profitable without having to raise rates to do so, then good deal!
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Let's Be honest for a second.
If your going to charge $9.99 I want to be able to respec my primary and secondary for a Level 50 toon.
Example would be I want to change from AR/Dev Blaster to something more useful... Like Fire/Em blaster
This is a really awful idea.
Bad Devs, BAD!!!
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What you are proposing is called rolling a new character. Try it sometime, it's easy.
If you don't want to pay for what you can earn in-game...DON'T. There is no one forcing you to click on the game store button before you log in each day.
-an aside:
How do we get this many pages of kvetching over an optional feature, and one that affects only the person that uses it?
Loose --> not tight.
Lose --> Did not win, misplace, cannot find, subtract.
One extra 'o' makes a big difference.
To all the negative doomcryers: This move is pure win for people who PvP or play characters in the test server. Now you CAN copy a respec-less character to Test and mess around all your powers without having to hunt down a respec recipe, and only after deciding if you like the new build spend the influence/infamy/cash for a respec recipe on Live. Quityerwhining.
www.SaveCOH.com: Calls to Action and Events Calendar
This is what 3700 heroes in a single zone looks like.
Thanks to @EnsonsDeath for the GVE code that made me VIP again!
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If it helps keep this game profitable without having to raise rates to do so, then good deal!
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If it added 'real' value to the game, I'd say good. But this doesn't add anything really that wasn't there that five to ten minutes for one guy to add in a database to make Respec Recipes drop more often.
I'm feeling scammed.
Still here, even after all this time!
I think I can wait for Vet badge respecs. 9.99 for 1 Respec is a little much if you ask me. Not to mention there's always the respec Trials.. Or Respec Recipes...
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If it helps keep this game profitable without having to raise rates to do so, then good deal!
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If it added 'real' value to the game, I'd say good. But this doesn't add anything really that wasn't there that five to ten minutes for one guy to add in a database to make Respec Recipes drop more often.
I'm feeling scammed.
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The idea is that the extra money they'll get from purchasable respecs will go towards more/faster content, the way that sales of the Wedding Pack allowed them to get VEATs in issue 12. Would you rather we waited until issue 13 for VEATs?
well as on e who usally has more respecs than i will ever use,it is ok,butwhat is next, pay 29.95 and get the ed limtits removed from you char?a simple fix would be remove the restriction of only 3 respec trials,of course this will generate no more money for COx,
Fluffy Bunny 1 Person SG
Rabid Bunny 1 Person VG
Both on Pinnacle
Hobbit's Hole 1 Person SG
Spider's Web 1 Person VG
Both on Freedom
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If it helps keep this game profitable without having to raise rates to do so, then good deal!
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If it added 'real' value to the game, I'd say good. But this doesn't add anything really that wasn't there that five to ten minutes for one guy to add in a database to make Respec Recipes drop more often.
I'm feeling scammed.
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Scammed? Really? Is having yet another option for Respecs so terrible that you actually feel like you're being abused???
This is silly. Based on your Reg Date, even your newest character should begin the game with 3-4 Respecs straight out of the gate. They will still toss us Free Respecs a couple few times a year and the Respec Trials are pathetically easy. Lastly, if you're just that hard up and have managed to burn somewhere on the order of 7-8 Respecs on your way to 50, you can still earn a drop or buy one from the Market. This optional feature may even devalue the price of the Recipe at Market.
Protip : Grab some perspective, it's free.
Sign It : http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
*shrugs after reading stuff*
I don't like the respec trials, hence I don't do them. Not everyone will have VR respecs available (none awarded or all used). A character might not have a freespec, or the inf to afford the recipe.
Most of my characters have plenty of respecs available to them, but one or two don't. So, this is a nice (but pricey) option to have. Time = Money. I'd be paying money because I don't want to spend the time. Its just a respec!
Although I would pay to autocomplete Positron's TF
I do wish they'd added the ability to change a character's Origin type with this.
I haven't read this thread, but let me add my voice to what I'm sure is the chorus of "that seems hilariously overpriced". Purchasable respecs should be $0.99/each. To avoid billing overhead they could just roll these into the next billing of the account (unless the player is using cards, then they'll have to pay right away). If they cancel before the next rebill, then charge the card then.
This is coming from someone who isn't exactly hurting for respecs though. Even my most tweaked character has at least a couple of vetspecs left, although I do tend to make good use of freespecs whenever they're given out.
I wonder how $10 compares with the cost of buying 50M inf (Respec recipes still cost somewhere in this range right?) from some gold farmer?
$9.99 for a simple respec that can already be found ingame in many different forms? That's steep. Unless they allowed me to reselect a primary or secondary and get me to start playing a 50 I've gotten too bored to play, then I'll just either use the other ingame means or simply plan better. But some may like it I guess.
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But the fact that you decided to decide that our money is more important than upping the reward table for Recipe Respecs is not a good sign, in my opinion.
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As far as you know, it isn't. But altering rewards tables sounds like something they would have on a major issue release, which could be possible. However, either statement is purely conjuncture.
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I wonder how $10 compares with the cost of buying 50M inf (Respec recipes still cost somewhere in this range right?) from some gold farmer?
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There's no chance of your credit card account getting stolen, your account banned, or contributing to the financial gain of an industry that commits credit card fraud, account theft, rampantly spams in games, and forces developers to waste time and money trying to stay "one step ahead" to protect their customers and community, in addition to having to scale back what can and can't be done trial accounts.
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City of Heroes has expanded their suite of available purchasable services to include Character Respecs (short for Respecifications). Over the course of leveling up, there are many powers that a character can choose from. A Character Respec allows the character to re-select their powers from their chosen primary and secondary powers, along with any other pools of powers they have access to. To be clear, this optional purchasable Respec does not allow the primary or secondary powerset to be reselected; it functions like existing respecs currently available in game.
Optional Character Respecs are available via the in-game store found at the character select screen for the per transaction price of $9.99 USD.
There are already multiple in-game methods that players can obtain a Respec. Now, if the convenience of purchasing a Respec is desired, it is available. Having a purchasable option has been an often heard desire from the game's customers.
Once players purchase a Respec, they must then visit a Respec Contact in-game to use it, in the same manner as the in-game obtainable respecs are done. The Respec Contacts include: Jack Wolf in Galaxy City and Arbiter Lupin in Nerva.
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Totally lame. If I'm paying real-world cash, I should be able to use the respec without having to go to the Respec Contact. Right now I have so many Respecs coming via the Veteran Rewards, I'll never use them all.
Now if the purchased Respec allowed you to re-choose your Powerset selection or even your Archetype, that would be worth something.
Champion: Luminous Diva, Megamax, Trinity Divinity, CoV: Crime Minister., Mr. Puddums, Hot White Chocolate, Uranium.,
Guardian: Aura., Sparx-, Zero Lad
Infinity: Supertodd, COV: Golden Calf
So, so many more...
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