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Nexus... -> Pricing in Omega (11/30/2012 17:52:40)
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Hello everyone.
I haven't posted in awhile because I haven't been playing this game, but I have a few questions about the upcoming Omega release that I hope will be addressed. Going from Beta to Gamma there was all kinds of hype. Enhancements were about to be implemented, and everyone thought the feature would change the game (in a positive way). In my opinion, it was one one of the more negative features that was implemented in this games history, not because of the feature itself, but because of the pricing behind it.
Going into Omega, I am definitely optimistic, and that is mostly because I don't think they have as much room with this feature to mess things up. With this said, they have yet to release pricing information which worries me a little. I have always felt that pricing has short-handed the player, whether it be with things like Sellback, Juggernaut, Enhancments, Styles, or Varium pricing, since the beginning of Gamma I have always felt that the devs in this game (or their bosses) were out to moneygrab more then the developers in any other game I have ever played. So when it comes to Omega, I am crossing my fingers that this time they get it right.
Correct me if I am wrong, but when I read over the design notes for a second time, I realized rearranging stat points was not going to be free feature, which worried me a little.
quote:
Upgrading your gear and rearranging your gear's stats will have both Credit and Varium options available.
With that said, here is hoping it stays under 250 Varium, and 7,500 Credits.
Now lets look at the next feature, which is the one that has the greatest potential to either improve or wreck the game. Gear Upgrades.
The developers have 3 options that I can think of:
[1]
Lets take a scenario that the developers decide to go with a one time "upgrade to your current level" fee (which by the looks of the picture IS NOT what they will be doing).
600 Varium (Armor)
500 Varium (Weapon)
450 Varium (Aux)
400 Varium (Sidearm)
or
10,0000 Credits (Armor)
8,500 Credits (Weapon)
7000 Credits (Aux)
6000 Credits (Sidearm)
* Remember these numbers are just hypothetical, and do not reflect any officially released information
This would extensively take care of the short-term, because level cap players who wanted to use their level 25 Beta Weapons, or Founder Armor, could upgrade them to their current level for a pretty fair price. However, once the level cap was raised, going from 35 to 36 with 1 set of gear, could cost you quite a bit (around 2000 Varium per level).
[2]
The second scenario would involve a set price per level.
100 Varium (Armor)
80 Varium (Weapon)
75 Varium (Aux)
70 Varium (Sidearm)
or
1000 Credits (Armor)
800 Credits (Weapon)
700 Credits (Aux)
500 Credits (Sidearm)
* Remember these numbers are just hypothetical, and do not reflect any officially released information
If the developers went this route, upgrading "your favorite level 6 weapon" would cost a very large sum of Varium or Credits (35-6 = 29*100 = 2,900 Varium or 29*1000 = 29,000 Credits) for an armor. However, this would be a very cost effective path for players who wanted to upgrade their gear 1 level when the cap is raised. With this said, for people who have gear that is currently severely under-leveled, the price would most likely be to much.
[3]
The third scenario, is the one the developers are likely to go with as we have seen it before in the enhancements system. If the developers go this route with the release, we will see scaling upgrade prices. What this would probably mean, is that there is a base price set for your level range, and then each level you upgrade your gear, a multiplier will be applied to that base price to determine the final price for your upgraded item.
Upgrading 10 levels will most likely be the most expensive upgrade you can purchase. Anything higher would probably make upgrading very low level weapons extremely pricey. So my best guess would be that ranges will be split into 10 level brackets, which will be reset (along with the price) every 10 levels. This section will be split into 2 sections, 1 for upgrading a armors 10 levels or less, and the other for upgrading an armor more than 10 levels.
[3a]
I have Founder Armor [Level 25] (I really don't, but lets just say I did), so I need to upgrade 10 levels in order to reach the level cap. For the purpose of this hypothetical, we will say the base for our 25-35 level range is 100 Varium or 1000 Credits for an armor, with a multiplier of 1.3 for Varium users, and 1.5 for those who prefer credits. The expression would look something like quote:
100*(1.3)^10 for Varium, and: quote:
1000*(1.5)^10 for Credits, in order to upgrade our founder armor 10 levels. This would land us near 1375 Varium, or 60,000 Credits respectively. We can use the same expressions to upgrade a level 34 armor to level 35, we just have to switch out the exponent for the multiplier. Upgrading an armor like Delta Knight from 34 to 35 would cost you either 130 Varium or 1500 Credits, which is pretty reasonable.
[3b]
Next lets take an armor like Nightwraiths Duds [Level 20 Version] and upgrade it to the level cap. In this scenario, Nightwraiths Duds is part of the 15-25 Level bracket. Lets say the base for any armor inside this bracket is 75 Varium or 750 Credits, and the multiplier remains 1.3 and 1.5 as established before. The expression would look like quote:
(75*(1.3)^5) + (100(*1.3)^10) for Varium, and: quote:
(750*(1.5)^5) + (1000*(1.5)^10) for credits. What we have done here, is taken the multiplier and base for the remaining 5 levels in the 15-25 range, and added it to the multiplier and base for the remaining 10 level in the range of 25-35. This would cost closer to 1600 Varium or 65,000 credits.
[4]
Another, less likely idea, is that the developers decide to model the gear upgrade system after the retrain system. This would mean that the player pay a set price of say 5000 Credits or 500 Varium, and then he/she could upgrade their item to their current level, no matter how outdated or under-leveled that item is. This would make upgrading armor/weapons that are both far from and close to the level cap very cost efficient, and would probably be the most optimal gear upgrade system for both Varium and f2p players.
*Credit to DanniiBoiixD for presenting this idea
As I have already said, these are just hypothetical's, and I'm still not sure how stat-reordering will work (or how much it will cost for that matter), but I'm sure we will hear more about that as they release details about the updated enhancement system. For the time being, I think we have covered the possible scenario's for the gear upgrade system.
Which one would you like to see in Omega, and which one do you think would work best? Have I forgotten one? Most importantly, what do you think the base, multiplier, level ranges, and end price should be?
Thanks for reading.
Prophet
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