304 replies to this topic

[Serenaki]

As if reporting them after that is just too logical, right? What if the boxes are sold in player shops? How is that flawed? Lol

There are some items that are not tradeable, meaning you can't sell them in a stall.

[stenreniets]

well, i've never paid any on Ro2 sea from the beginning, now i have almost all high-end things just like cash players. costumes, cape, helmet costume, rune, vip, weapon +10.... im not a hardcore player,im just playing 4h/day on my free time, all you have to do is taking part in every events released and well communication, if you know how to play,and how to earn money, everything will be fine even without cash.

[Yuumei]

well, i've never paid any on Ro2 sea from the beginning, now i have almost all high-end things just like cash players. costumes, cape, helmet costume, rune, vip, weapon +10.... im not a hardcore player,im just playing 4h/day on my free time, all you have to do is taking part in every events released and well communication, if you know how to play,and how to earn money, everything will be fine even without cash.

Do note though that most (if not all) of the events were beta-exclusive, implicitly providing players a teaser as to the feel of cash shop items, possibly encouraging more sales should a particular popularity develop within any one of them. Although of course there could very well be similar events hosted when the official launch is underway.

But yes, if you have adequate knowledge of the game mechanics as well as how to make practical use of it (and have the time to spare) then you can no doubt excel without the aid of cash shop items (some of which are rewards for various quests, usually attaining a particular combat level and level reward boxes (if they're on iRO2)).

[Zuumaru]

I havnt gotten far enough into RO2 to see this myself but it’s disheartened to think about. One of the reason (not main mind you but one of) I left RO1 was when the cash shop was introduced. This was still while there was a sub fee. I honestly didn’t mind paying whatever a month, In fact I left RO for another game that was also just that. The cash shop was innocent at first, buy a cute headgear yada yada, but it quickly turned to top players had to buy stuff.
I agree with the people saying it can be purely cosmetic. I wont name the other games I’ve played in were able to pull this off very well. True you could technically get items to help you along like, EXP buff, crafting buff, more of an item to warp around, but the items never directly effected stats. I think the moment you start buying stat buffs the game starts to go downhill.

Edited by Zuumaru, 21 April 2013 - 05:12 PM.

[IAmOfficerNasty]

There are some items that are not tradeable, meaning you can't sell them in a stall.

But we're not sure yet if they can be sold in the stalls. Even if they weren't, they can still be gifted. I've never known WP to be a BAD company, so if you do get scammed and lose money I'm sure they'd refund you.

[Zuumaru]

But we're not sure yet if they can be sold in the stalls. Even if they weren't, they can still be gifted. I've never known WP to be a BAD company, so if you do get scammed and lose money I'm sure they'd refund you.

I wouldnt be surprised if they didnt help you. After all they are a business, I'm sorry but most people are not honest on the internet when it comes to money. Most companies would probably tell you they cant help you because you were attempting to "buy" through a third person and they wont get involved.

[Niji]

i'm sure you do it at your own risk.

[Zuumaru]

well, i've never paid any on Ro2 sea from the beginning, now i have almost all high-end things just like cash players. costumes, cape, helmet costume, rune, vip, weapon +10.... im not a hardcore player,im just playing 4h/day on my free time, all you have to do is taking part in every events released and well communication, if you know how to play,and how to earn money, everything will be fine even without cash.

I havnt looked into the shop much or gotten to a high enough level in game yet but does that mean most items, or an item similar in stats are available in the game? If so that’s not too bad. Games like GW2 has items that are in game and in shop. So what it comes down to is do you want instant gratification or can you work a little while to get your reward. If that’s the case with RO2 I don’t think it’s so bad then.

[Yuumei]

I havnt looked into the shop much or gotten to a high enough level in game yet but does that mean most items, or an item similar in stats are available in the game? If so that’s not too bad. Games like GW2 has items that are in game and in shop. So what it comes down to is do you want instant gratification or can you work a little while to get your reward. If that’s the case with RO2 I don’t think it’s so bad then.

Pandora items.

[IAmOfficerNasty]

I wouldnt be surprised if they didnt help you. After all they are a business, I'm sorry but most people are not honest on the internet when it comes to money. Most companies would probably tell you they cant help you because you were attempting to "buy" through a third person and they wont get involved.

If what you say is true, my World of Warcraft account wouldn't have been banned for a back charge. As I said, I've never known WP to be a GREEDY company. They helped me a lot with RO after I was scammed so.. :/

We'll just have to see what happens, I guess?

[Nitro]

Yeah id support a FAIR game sure,so i would pay for something cool and not something to be better, and i take it ur one of the fat wallet dudes which like to pay to be good cuz otherwise they fail? if thats the case, u got it all wrong.

LOL! You got to have a fat wallet to subscribe to a game you like. Dude, don't take everything personal when someone disagree with you... better yet, get a job!

[IAmOfficerNasty]

LOL! You got to have a fat wallet to subscribe to a game you like. Dude, don't take everything personal when someone disagree with you... better yet, get a job!

In all fairness I have a job and have absolutely no money to spend every paycheck. I pay every bill in my house so.. :/

[Nitro]

In all fairness I have a job and have absolutely no money to spend every paycheck. I pay every bill in my house so.. :/

If I had to wager, most of us here have bills, family and home to take care of but happen to also like RO. Basically OP is whining over a free game becasue some people want to subscribe for buffs?

RO1: +20 stats, +50 exp, imporove WoE functionality, dudes 1 shotting ppl in PVP for 300k+ damage when most only got 60k
RO2: +5 stats, 10%HP/SP.... more balanced, more fun, I'd like to VIP subcribe plox!

[IAmOfficerNasty]

If I had to wager, most of us here have bills, family and home to take care of but happen to also like RO. Basically OP is whining over a free game becasue some people want to subscribe for buffs?

RO1: +20 stats, +50 exp, imporove WoE functionality, dudes 1 shotting ppl in PVP for 300k+ damage when most only got 60k
RO2: +5 stats, 10%HP/SP.... more balanced, more fun, I'd like to VIP subcribe plox!

If I had the money to spend, I'd gladly pay for it. But if the VIP Boxes will be in stalls, I'll be more than happy to farm till I can get the money for it.

But broke college kid + phone/internet/cable/insurance bills.. Bleh. xD

[Macromega40]

If I had to wager, most of us here have bills, family and home to take care of but happen to also like RO. Basically OP is whining over a free game becasue some people want to subscribe for buffs?

RO1: +20 stats, +50 exp, imporove WoE functionality, dudes 1 shotting ppl in PVP for 300k+ damage when most only got 60k
RO2: +5 stats, 10%HP/SP.... more balanced, more fun, I'd like to VIP subcribe plox!

It´s only +7 stats on ro1

[Lucentos]

It´s only +7 stats on ro1

AFAIK And these +7 to Stats do not stack with Foods(ingame made and cash shop).

[Sakarai]

I take it you are one of those dudes that would like to subscribe to a game and get no buffs. If that is the case, MMOs are not for you.

League of Legends says hi. People spend RIDICULOUS amounts of money on skins which offer no benefits whatsoever because the game is fun and replayable and you don't feel cheated or jaded that someone bought a skin and you didn't. Its cosmetic, the way cash shops should be because they can make bank on it. I've spent nearly $800 on skins alone in League and I love that game to death. The problem for me is going to be whether or not this does become pay to win. I'm not willing to constantly spend money to be a high end raider just because it is otherwise impossible to do so. That might just deter me from playing at all and many others. Realistically though the cash shop is just all over the place with a $20 inventory space upgrade that isn't even account bound, nearly $24 to get half a costume and the pay to win? You have to pick one or the other gravity you can't just milk everything and expect people to not feel jaded. If it wasn't so ridiculous I'd probably spend money on this game like I have many other games I feel I get my worth out of.

Edited by Sakarai, 21 April 2013 - 06:59 PM.

[LordLDF]

I haven't gotten VIP but my question is, is it per account or per character?

Also the only kind of cash shop things I really don't like from WP are boxes... which is basically gambling... and I'm a terrible gambler lol, but in RO1 you could just buy what you wanted with in game currency which is nice, I think it'll be the same in RO2 so anyone who doesn't want to use cash shop can just farm and buy what you want so I don't see much of a problem there.

[chigau]

Some previous posters have mentioned games which have fair cash shops. To a lot of players, paying a bit more than the standard "$15/month" in order to have a fair stance in an F2P game isn't a problem. However, when a game becomes too heavily cash shop dependent, then I don't feel the game is worth playing to those people. If a game offers raiding and pvp contents where I obtain the best gears, but in order to strengthen the gears I have to pay a ridiculous amount of cash just to stay further competitive, then I feel I should go back to the few surviving P2P games where my "safe zone" is.

[Chigikogou]

Actually.. you are missing more than the +5 all stats and 10% HP+MP

VIP Package:

▪ +5 to STR/INT/AGI/WIS/INT

▪ Max HP increased by 10%

▪ MAX SP increased by 10%

▪ Movement Speed increased by 20%

▪ Instance dungeon token (Winner's Point) additional obtain 50% increased

▪ Poring Name Tag

Edited by Chigikogou, 22 April 2013 - 12:19 AM.

[Reifnir]

Actually.. you are missing more than the +5 all stats and 10% HP+MP

VIP Package:

▪ +5 to STR/INT/AGI/WIS/INT

▪ Max HP increased by 10%

▪ MAX SP increased by 10%

▪ Movement Speed increased by 20%

▪ Instance dungeon token (Winner's Point) additional obtain 50% increased

▪ Poring Name Tag

It's not just the VIP, by the way.

While 10% HP buff *is* quite a lot, other items cash nets you include:

Buff pills that increase your Critical Hit chance and accuracy for 10 minutes (talk about beating those enrage timers);
Keys for Pandora boxes, so you can get Graham Potions (increase your maximum HP by 3000 for 60 minutes, unobtainable with Mallets);
Karnium and Spinels;
Rune boosters, allowing you to upgrade +5 stat runes to (potentially) +10 ones;
Slotted timed costume items, which give you more sockets;
Raid cooldown reset scrolls, which allow you to farm any raid instance unlimited amount of times per week.


Simply put, if you're willing to throw money at it, cash shop provides you with enough advantages to outperform any non-paying player in any kind of activity, be it PvP or PvE.

Sure, you can purchase some of those with in-game zeny, but considering there are no reliable ways to get zeny past level 50 when you run out of quests (save for faming stuff to sell on Auction House/stall) you'll be facing a rather tedious endgame experience.

[Chigikogou]

I actually only played until I was level 3. Wasn't too appealing enough for me but in response: Super-Mega-WTF-Item-Powerups are typical in RO1 and I wasn't half surprised how it was accustomed to RO2 too.

Hah. Rich ones pwn the pitifuls.

Edited by Chigikogou, 22 April 2013 - 01:25 AM.

[594164388]

It's not just the VIP, by the way.

While 10% HP buff *is* quite a lot, other items cash nets you include:

Buff pills that increase your Critical Hit chance and accuracy for 10 minutes (talk about beating those enrage timers);
Keys for Pandora boxes, so you can get Graham Potions (increase your maximum HP by 3000 for 60 minutes, unobtainable with Mallets);
Karnium and Spinels;
Rune boosters, allowing you to upgrade +5 stat runes to (potentially) +10 ones;
Slotted timed costume items, which give you more sockets;
Raid cooldown reset scrolls, which allow you to farm any raid instance unlimited amount of times per week.


Simply put, if you're willing to throw money at it, cash shop provides you with enough advantages to outperform any non-paying player in any kind of activity, be it PvP or PvE.

Sure, you can purchase some of those with in-game zeny, but considering there are no reliable ways to get zeny past level 50 when you run out of quests (save for faming stuff to sell on Auction House/stall) you'll be facing a rather tedious endgame experience.

Of course a paying person is going to have advantages, every cash shop is set up with way. Which is should be since that's how they make money. Whether it be through being able to get exp/drop boosting items or getting items that make refinement safer. These items just make things easier to get for people who pay. You can get to the same level as that guy who used exp pots, it just takes you longer. You can get a +10 whatever, it just may take longer since you may have to grind for it again when it breaks. That's not pay to win, that's pay to get there faster.

As you said yourself, you can purchase some of those things with in-game zeny, so it's more of a convenience thing.
Also, they have the crafting systems for a reason. Characters like alchemist and cook are liable to make stupid amounts of zeny with high level pots/foods, so zeny wont be too difficult to get like that anyway. Just make a character that has one of those two jobs, and you'll be set.

Also, every MMO has a tedious end game. In every single one you have to grind the same monster/boss/dungeon/raid until you get that item you need. Majority of MMO's have limits on these bosses/dungeons/raids as well. So really, that's just an argument against all MMO's not just RO2.

That being said, I do think that the keys, sockets, and buff pills will be potentially broken. It kind of depends on if the purple pandora weapons are the absolute best in the game. If not, then it's whatever, that just makes the game easier for the people who bought all the keys, but the person who grinded out that boss/dungeon will still have better equipment.
The buff pills will be a problem though. Especially a crit one paired with a crit based class. Then again, it also depends on how expensive they are. Since they're like $3 for 10min, most people wont be able to afford that, so there wont be many people using them. Especially if a raid or pvp match(like WoE in RO1) is 1-2 hours long. That would be $18-$36 a raid/pvp match to keep those buffs. I just doubt people have that kind of money. They could be used as boosters, but they wouldn't be reliable, and would only be a temporary advantage.
As for the socket stuff. It depends. If you can just get permanent everything and put in a rune, it's not a huge deal. Yes, you'll have to pay for it, but spending like $10-$15 to slot a piece of equipment once isn't a huge deal. Especially considering P2P MMO's charge that much per month, and that this is a completely free game, with no mandatory subscription or initial purchase.

And honestly, if you can't afford such a small amount(the $9 for VIP and the one time costume purchases), but still spend 20-30 hours per week playing, maybe you should go get a less expensive hobby(like bird watching, that's totally free!), try finding a better job(you shouldn't have hobbies that cost more than you make any way), or focus on your schoolwork if you're still in school(which is far more important than anything you'll ever do in a game).

[Lucentos]

It's not just the VIP, by the way.

While 10% HP buff *is* quite a lot, other items cash nets you include:

Buff pills that increase your Critical Hit chance and accuracy for 10 minutes (talk about beating those enrage timers);
Keys for Pandora boxes, so you can get Graham Potions (increase your maximum HP by 3000 for 60 minutes, unobtainable with Mallets);
Karnium and Spinels;
Rune boosters, allowing you to upgrade +5 stat runes to (potentially) +10 ones;
Slotted timed costume items, which give you more sockets;
Raid cooldown reset scrolls, which allow you to farm any raid instance unlimited amount of times per week.


Simply put, if you're willing to throw money at it, cash shop provides you with enough advantages to outperform any non-paying player in any kind of activity, be it PvP or PvE.

Sure, you can purchase some of those with in-game zeny, but considering there are no reliable ways to get zeny past level 50 when you run out of quests (save for faming stuff to sell on Auction House/stall) you'll be facing a rather tedious endgame experience.

Thanks for clarification.

[Astrariel]

You expect a f2p title to not be pay2win? you jest. If you can't afford 10 or 15 a month to spend on a game, you really shouldn't be on the net at all.

There are actually tons of F2P titles that have brilliant cash shops with cosmetics, pets, mounts, and costumes.

A problem a lot of companies have is they don't realize you can make the same amount of money by offering items like this instead of so called "pay to win" items. People will spend tons of money on little things like pets, mounts, and looking cute.

Guild Wars 2 and Path of Exile if you need examples. The only thing is people had to buy a copy of Guild Wars 2 first, still their cash stop is in the right mind.