Feedback on New Microtransactions

Literally the only thing stopping me from buying a Vault pass right this instant is the inability to double the Void Battery skin while dual wielding.

Come on, GGG. It's a weapon that is literally always used in pairs, that cool new MTX needs to affect both of them at once. Like why even make the VB skin for one hand? You guys should have made it only apply to double VBs from the very beginning.

Pachinko scamboxes -> dupes now comes in various colors. They still are dupes. You now have the privilege to look like a multi-coloured clown for an increased price. Well done.

Please add venom gyre mtx. It needs some love ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ

I like the supporter packs but am not a fan of the kirac vault pass this time around. I got some of the MTX boxes with my points, but I felt they were lacking Quite a bit as I didn’t hear any pop or explosion when killing a mob with the treasure hunter MYX applied. I’m not sure if my volume was too low or what, but it dampened my excitement considerably.

Overall a net positive, but I’m also not sold on the MTX prices. I think going back down to the 30-60 model would be better.

First time not buying mystery box, just nothing I wanted in it personally.

I like the supporter packs; mainly for the hideouts, though the effects are super nice.

I might skip the vault pass this time due to me not using those items much.

Suggestions for newer MTX:

More Banner Skins if possible! The demonic eye is amazing, but something similar would be great for more options and so many people run banner skills.
Shield Crush with different colors/waves based on your shield MTX
Spectral Helix possibly a less screen cluttering MTX than the current one, though idk if that is possible due to the way to skill works. Something minimal that adds color or some effect when the projectiles hit might be a better approach.

Overall fan of the new changes all across the board.

Really liked the new stuff toying with. Like the effects with in game events or stats modifying intensity, that kind of thing is so cool.

Love the new idea behind the mystery boxes, where no duplicate and such. I do see why people complain a bit about the color variations. But I rather like having the variations with the colors and themes. Often color is the main aspect to what mtx I chose for certain looks and as such being able to get the multiple color options is a bonus for me.

If I counted right requires 61 packs for full set, so about 305$ or 4550pts and going through estimated pricing based on historical mtx offerings the full set gets to 4755pts if someone were to buy all the things in bundles. Though total pricing would be alot higher for each individual item.

How I came to that number is based on how the current bundles calculate their costs, using the necrolord armour set as the base line; I set a 3 piece bundle at 2x cost of a single item, a 4 piece bundle at 2.25, a 5 piece at 2.5, and 6 pieces at 3x. This is a bit arbitrary and may underestimate costs of the bundles of recolors more then overestimate. But even the under estimate shows the value to be greater then price of full set through boxes but if going for a specific variation the gamble is on for getting it now in fewest boxes possible.

Each bundle estimated costs (assuming since each item has variations this will be release method next league)

Scintillating armour: 220pts like necro lord chest, and 4 variations for a 2.25x multi leaving cost at 495pts

Automoton boots: 70pts like necrolord boots, and 2.5x multi for 5 variations for a cost of 175pts

Nagamahu chest: 220points with 2x multipler for 3 variations is a cost of 440pts

pheonix helm at 120 points like the necrolord and with 2.25 multi for 4 variations is a cost of 270 for this bundle

Detahnotch bow : bows have no bundle but using same method as necrolord set since many bows are around 180pts and there are 4 variations that's a cost of 405pts

flask effects: though there are no direct comparisons they are similar to character effects, and on the lower end thats 150pts per effect with 4 variations so thats 304ptoinits when rounding up to nearest multiple of 5.

shardcrown: 120points like the necrolord crown and if bundles with 4 variations would be 270 points

thunderous gloves: 70 points like the necrolord gloves and bundled with 5 variations at a 2.5x multiplier that is 175pts

Splintering shield: no bundle offers to build off but most shields are around 200pts, and with 4 variations at 2.25x cost for bundle that would be 450pts

Mana tanks: using the necrolord cloaks as a base, and since they too follow a similar multiplier for the 4 variations mana tanks should too, at 6 variations thats 3 x cost at 210pts base which is 630pts

the warp runes: again no direct comparison but due based on cost of hideout decos this would be between 40 and 80 pts, so at 60 point mid way with 5 variations for a 2.25x multiplier that is 150pts

charges: are a new one so don't have any comparators to work off, but I expect to be similar to lower cost character effects so about 150 and since 3 variations if bundled would be 2x cost at 300 pts.

treasure hunter weapons effect: weapon effects tend to be about 180pts and with 4 variations that's 405 pts for the bundle

total for all bundles, assuming my estimations are close enough based on previous mtx released, this full set is 4755 points worth of mtx, possibly more.
even with bundle offers applied.
so the boxes to me appear to be for people who want something now, rather then wait until a bit into next league or are looking to get the full set.

overall 75 out of 100, I like where its going and I like the variations in color personally; would have been nice for full transparency in how they plan to price the items after the box, if they will be bundled or not since they are mostly color variations. Though with full transparency they will mostly only get people who want all the items or who hope to get a specific effect now rather then waiting. Since my estimation is likely an underestimate, even though its 14 items with variations totaling around 61 options, it is still likely to be a bit less to get the items in this form.

though they could do a thing where on release all the items are still 50pts so it matters not about cost but when do you want the items, but that bit seemed like it was unclear unless I missed it somewhere like an faq.

Either way Like the experimentation with kind of effects, like there to have color variations for things more often, also like the step in right direction with mystery boxes.
2 thumbs up

I **really** like a lot of the new cosmetics. However, for Kirac's Vault Pass, and the Supporter packs, I kinda don't like how they're bundled and structured.


Kirac's Vault Pass:

My problems with Kirac's Vault Pass are 1) That it costs money instead of points 2) There is a FOMO element and I can't just buy the ones I want later down the line, and 3) The skins are for uniques.
I **really** hate that it costs money instead of points. I'm someone who finds it very difficult to justify spending money on cosmetics in games to myself. That's part of what makes support packs so appealing. I tell myself "It's such a good deal because the cosmetics are FREE with the points, and then I can spend the points on practical things!". Even if I then go on to spend the points on cosmetics, it makes the prices feel far less egregious.

With Kirac's Vault Pass.... I just can't justify it to myself. No matter how cool the skins are, I can't bring myself to spend 30 dollars on *just* cosmetics.

Now, maybe that price could be brought down if I was able to just buy the one or two skins I really wanted, instead of all of them as a bundle. However.... there's a FOMO element at play here. Which I don't like both ethicially, and also.... because if I really like one skin but not the rest, it means none of it is worth buying. And I have to wonder... does making them permanently exclusive REALLY bring in that much money? The mystery boxes seem to work fine being added to the store later... I would love to see Kirac's Vault Pass work that way too. Even if each skin cost $10, knowing that I could just buy the demonic spider skin when I don't want the rest would get me to actually spend money on these sometimes.

But finally, my biggest problem.... the skins are for specific uniques. And, well... I've been around long enough to see many uniques go from T1 and valuable, to completely worthless and unusuable. And I can't quite bring myself to spend $30 on cosmetics that will most likely be unusuable within a year. 300 Points? Absolutely. But 30 dollars? No way.

Supporter Packs:

I kinda love them, but.... I hate how things are bundled together in weird ways. Like, I really loved the level-up animation, the flower map device, and the graveyard hideout. But the way they're bundled together, I would have to spend.... $120 to get all three!?!? And then... what am I supposed to spend those points on? I certainly can't spend them on Kirac's vault pass, after all.

I'd love to see a structure where supporter packs were just individual series of bundles for $30. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to have increasing tiers anymore when each tier just adds a bunch of arbitrary effects. Plus, I'd DEFINITELY buy more supporter packs (and spend more money) if I could buy Kirac's Vault Pass with them. Right now I have no idea what I'm going to spend the points I just bought on, and being able to spend them on the Vault Pass is the difference between me NEVER buying the vault pass, and it being something I drop 300 points on - every single league, forever.

Mystery Boxes:

Before, I never would have considered buying a Mystery Box. Tbh, their mere existence grossed me out, and made me think less of GGG - and want to give you guys money far less. Lootboxes are manipulative, take advantage of vulnerable people, and wildly unethical. I know people that have struggled with this sort of gambling addiction, and I hated seeing it in my favorite game.

However.

The "no duplicates" thing changes that. Now, it's not, y'know, ethically 100% in the clear, but for me, this resolves pretty much all of my issues. Especially since, with no FOMO element at play, if I only wanted one or two things, I could just wait til the items entered the store.

However, the first time EVER for me (and I've been playing since Closed Beta!), I'm going to buy some Mystery Boxes this league. With no ethical hangups, and with a selection of items that look pretty darn good, I think you guys have nailed it this time.

Having said that, the 50 point price is a BIT hard to swallow, but... as something where I drop 20 bucks and get a few items, it seems more than fair! I'd spend more money if the boxes were cheaper, for sure. Heck, if they were like, 20 or 30 points? I'd prolly end up buying that other $60 supporter pack after all, and converting the points to a bunch of fun mystery boxes. Maybe something to test one league - see if lower prices result in larger volume of sales, now that players aren't as put-off by the existence of mystery boxes??


Cosmetics as item skins:

I love the new cosmetic types, but they have a serious problem - they're tied to being cosmetic "skins" for items. While this isn't a huge problem now, it's GOING to be, if you keep making cosmetics of this type. What happens when you want a level up animation, a kill animation, and a passive tree skin, when all three of those are cosmetics tied to the "ring" slot, and you can only equip two? How does that play with other cosmetic MTX like armor skins?

Things are gonna get real annoying, real fast. I think GGG needs to update the cosmetics UI, and give these sorts of cosmetics their own category, where we can equip an unlimited number of things that wouldn't be mutually exclusive with anything else, like level-up effects.


Overall, I love these changes to PoE's monetization. I'm a player that has only purchased "practical" items in the past, but with PoE moving away from the "new stash tab per league" fiasco from a few years ago, and with its cosmetics becoming far more interesting, I'm definitely looking to start spending money on cosmetics. I just really don't like how they're bundled together, and give me points that then feel useless when I can't spend them on certain types of cosmetics.


TL;DR - I would spend more money if I could spend points of Kirac's Vault Pass, the Supporter pack items were broken up a bit more, and if the new cosmetics had better support for stacking different effects.

I really like the new marodierer skin and the idea behind it. Really hope to some more like this.

One thing that I wanna see changed is the stat requierement. I think 1500 str for the final stage is too much for most players. This is an MTX people pay quiet a bit of moeny for, its unreasonable to have such a high req. for sometihng which is only cosemtic and was payed for in real money.

1200-1300 would be a lot more reasonable in my opinion.

Mystery Boxes not having duplicates: HUGE win. Should have always been like this. I haven't bought a sentinel box but I had already put boxes out of my mind BECAUSE of the constant duplications - I have opened about 6 boxes and gotten 3 duplicates so they were barely worth buying at all.

Supporter Packs providing more then equipment MTX: Perfectly fine although I think sticking a Hideout in the middle packs was a rough move - those should have been at the top. I'm unlikely to buy both supporter packs because they have hideouts crammed into the middle of them.

Kirac's Stash: I love it in theory but the fact that you don't get coins is a HUGE HUGE HUGE downer for me. In my opinion, if I'm giving GGG money, I should get coins, full stop. Add coins to them, even less then the market value (like the old supporter packs), and I probably would have bought them both. Without coins, it's really really hard to mentally wrap my mind around them. Add coins and I'll buy every single one. Also, it would allow you to bring back older Stash micros (once you've gone through the first major pass of uniques) into a pack for either newer players or players who missed them, while still giving value to the people who already have those micros.

Basically, Kirac's Stash should function closer to the Supporter Packs in terms of coins. If the players are giving you money, they should be getting Coins in return, with the Kirac's Stash being a bonus ON TOP of those coins, like the Supporter Packs.

Absolutely love all of the MTXs and the box. I know a lot of people don't like that it says no dupes but then has color variations but I think that's awesome for allowing more outfit options. The fact that these items both look great and DO something cool is a major bonus for me. Only complaint I would have is that you need two teleporter items in order to make a two-way when I had assumed you had the one portal and it would go to and from a location. Not a major issue but still unexpected and slightly annoying.

I also don't know how hideout creators are going to be able to handle putting portals because what if someone has blue but not red and they use red for the template?

For the Kirac Pass I think it's very nice because it's not very hard to complete and you can also just hold off on buying the pass and once you're at a point of progression where you like what you can earn then you buy it. The skins it offers are also pretty interesting ideas.