Feedback on New Microtransactions

I don't reward companies that ignore feedback. In the past you did some good things and I rewarded you for it.. it was going alright until the "vision" happened.
So yeah.. change your methods in general first then we will discuss about the microtransaction daily spam later and how pretty the pixxels are..

VAULT PRICE ITS JUST WAY TO HIGH, IT SHUOLD BE LIKE 10$ PLUS Mystery box feels kinda like a scam with "no duplicates" message on chat and then you get same stuff but different colors

I love alot about where the the art and mtx are headed. Particularly the variety such as level up animations, identify scroll animations etc, Excellent stuff. I am going to ignore what I like and focus on what appears to need attention for the longevity of the ip. An ip I love.
The following is given from a users perspective with little data to analyze. That being said, I will focus on customer facing facets that may be harming the image of GGG.


Kirac's Vault

-Vault pass not purchasable with supporter pack currency. This looks greedy.

-Item or skill specific mtx are not desirable for those who play something different each league. I understand this is to cater the sale to certain builds or trends but it has low value and narrow scope of customer if the chances of using it are slim. High price + low value in a game where mtx already command exorbitant prices does not look like a recipe for success. Most battle passes in games are aimed at providing value and alternatives to high price mtx. Probably what most multi-genre gamers expected when they first saw a pass in PoE.

-Price of battlepass is 300% what most free games charge, with maybe 10% of the significant or impactful rewards like skins and animations most free games give. Minor rewards like currency and single image assets boasting 0%. Kiracs pass roughly gives 1/30th the value of many other popular titles seasonal paid rewards, excluding the minor rewards because PoE offers none.

Experimentation is great, but Kirac probably has a hard time selling this. Maybe Zana has a keener eye should she return.

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Gender lock

-Gender unlock 2022 might be achieved by mixing and matching mesh/models/rig from different currently existing classes. Re-using assets is a no brainer.

-Charging money for gender unlock will frustrate many.

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Mystery box duplicates

When you change the color of your hair, are you then a different person?
When you paint your car, is it then a different car?
The realistic answers are no.
At times, the answers may be yes.
This depends on the value the observer gives to the weight of color when answering these questions. Color can have value.

The object that is changing appearance is as it was before just with one modification.
Color is only one of many aspects that make up a whole.
Changing just the color aspect of its many constituent parts does not typically weigh heavy enough to warrant calling it something different. So we don't. Especially if it is using the same or duplicate file rendered in a different color like ethercraft and sentinel mystery box.

Riot Games eventually learned and is now upfront about the massive difference between a skin and a color variant aka chroma. This is appreciated as the value of a color variant is far below the object itself when you already own the original or another color variant. Something that is guaranteed to happen eventually in PoE mystery boxes. Quantifying this relational value may lead you to a more modern and prosperous path. Similarly, allowing the choice of color or chroma for a base model would be rejoiced. Charging double for an additional color on a model you already own is pretty ridiculous. Lost ark isn't even this bad and its pretty bad. GGG's "new" approach to color is frankly archaic and certainly looks like an out of touch step in the wrong direction.

Loot boxes are a form of gambling, frowned upon for predatory and unfair nature. If you must use them, consider the following.
Customer retention is arguably more important than extracting whale money. Whales being the few will not play a game if it is not popular, to be popular you must have the favor of the many. Favor and respect can be earned when someone feels their money is well spent and faith that future money will also be well spent. Lose faith > lose customers > lose popularity > lose invested whales > lose relevancy. In that order.

GGG like Riot games has typically set itself apart and generated faith that it will remain free to play with cosmetic mtx. The biggest new player turn offs being purchasable stash tabs in PoE and rune pages in LoL. Expanding the players in game ease of use at the cost of retaining new potential customers. It's hard to get hooked on trade league if you can't trade. I assume this is a new account/bot tax but there has to be another way. Perhaps a grindable way to participate and acquire premium stash tabs.

To retain customers and grow the business, I would suggest making stash tabs free or earnable in game, compensating those who have purchased them and making true the goal of using realistic expectations with mystery boxes. Starting with the debatable duplicate slogan you may reduce how often a player is feeling let down by the gamble, so they have faith in continuing to gamble. Otherwise you create jaded gamblers, a vicious cycle of customer loss. In fact, it will take 15 boxes or less to receive a duplicate and create this negative emotion in the purchaser. Who then loses faith in your product and business. No one should be afraid of purchasing too many of your product, yet many are. Posting drop chance percentages simply isn't enough and looks more like a legal requirement.

The surface level transparency and claims for the sentinel box might seem true at first, until you realize calling a color variant a new creation or unique work is simply a trick to save on production or talent. This box is no less shady than its predecessors and somehow more predatory. Still with no recourse for those who have received a duplicate, past or present. Perhaps making them tradable or steam marketable would give these some value. Perhaps a try again system or mtx grinder might restore faith in all of the players who never purchased a box again after receiving a duplicate.

This new no duplicate slogan is misleading, clickbait, and not realistic of the product within. Chris looks like the fall guy for this one and many of us clearly feel let down. Mystery boxes in PoE still contain duplicated/repeated content now with color variations.
Color can have value, so let's be upfront, honest, and pedantic with the terminology we use to sell it.

1) Arcanist/Reaper packs: not bad in general, BUT those mtxs that glow more in fights are such waste of effects since we barely see anything in fights > i cannot see e.g. the cloak stacks from Reaper pack.
Hideouts are cool yet Reaper one has a lot of unremovable objects which locks it to less ways to be decorated. And dont have the timechanging thing which imo should be either an ho mtx or added to each hideout.

2) Kiracs vault pass: real BS thing! Afaik, if we get one, we need to use it in league and then its mtxs are gone into STD >> so we cannot buy in STD nor use the mtx in next league! Not to say that those mtxs couldve be rewards of events /ssf sc too/ or even league rewards.

3) Sentinel boxes: dust in our eyes. Those variations you call em, are chromas in other games and free after buying original mtx/skin/. We needed recycling system for our dublicates of previous boxes. 50 points per box hurts too since we can buy 4 instead of 6 >> some of us prefer random but more mtxs out of boxes just not 3 copies in a row /which you could fix ezpz if wanted/. Else the quality of mtxs is good, but the jebait in total is real.

4) Maroider skin: looks hilarious, like 5x invisible mtx thing.

i know its kinda stupid but the gender locking for classes is why i never ever touched some classes. looking forward to those options

Polaric Hide-out is stunning, but can you release Polaric map device can combine with this hideout to make portals floating/opening around central orb.
Or Map device have separate dynamic relocated of Device and portal open location.

I liked that direction, however remember to also give love to the spells and not release in a batch of ones.. I really wanted to have a Forbidden Rite mtx, and unfortunately I can tell two mistakes in my point of view were made.
1.- The mtx color is pretty similar to the original one
2.- The cat, Im not against getting funny or childish on skills, but not on the only one that exists

The button on the atlas tree annoys me, and everytime i hear kirac talk i have to think about his stupid vault and the overpriced season pass. I will never buy it, all it does is making me quit the league sooner. Let me disable it or smth, because i hate being constantly advertised to when i just want to map.

I love the idea of interactive MTX, but I found the options available to not be within my taste so far. Some feel too forced on the mtx so an armor that has a cool shape can otherwise be ruined by the focus on making the effect stand out (the scintillant/ngamahu armor from the box for example). Some effects aren't very dynamic outside of leveling. Things that scale with a stat that never changes much once you hit maps can look cool but it's almost like it should just be part of the armor piece.

or they are just too specific like the stuff in the vault pass. I think the kirac vault pass stuff looks amazing but the fact you can't have an effectless version of it on anything else has made it so I don't have much desire to get it.

Despite what I said earlier, the maroider armor is great.

I love the game.
I buy supporters packs when they come out if I enjoyed the prior league. It doesn't really matter what they have in them. (The quality of the new style micros is top-nothch though)
I bought the 3.17 battlepass because firstly 3.17 was good, and secondly the aegis aurora unique skin looked like something I'd enjoy using in 3.18 (didn't expect to have to pay 8 ex for aegis this league tho :-p )
3.18 sentinel mechanic is good, but the whole league has issues (due to rare balance and lack of manifesto on it prior)so won't be buying battle pass this time. It's not personal, I'm enjoying the league now. Hopefully I will support again in 3.19.