What are your impressions of Lost Ark’s business model?
The recent news, in my opinion, are really positive. Beyond its effect, or whether it goes right or wrong, this is the kind of transparency and communication that we could all wish for from Amazon.
You can read it here: https://www.playlostark.com/en-en/news/articles/lost-ark-business-model
Getting more news is great.
I don’t particularly feel like the Business Model post explained a lot of what people really want to know to be honest, but we’re certainly getting there.
Yeah, I agree. Although the pet system issue is one of the most sensitive. Considering that games like black desert heavily abuse these systems.
I consider it a good first step to talk about it
What were you and other folks hoping we could touch on?
People are upset because there is no way to obtain the extra pet functionalities with in-game gold or crystals.
Personally, I hope crystalline aura will be purchasable with crystals as well.
I think one of the main red flags for me is being able to exchange Royal Crystals for Gold in the in-game currency exchange. I hope there’s something that can be done on that regard since starting from a certain Gear Level, you need Gold for upgrading your gear, and if someone can just buy tons of Royal Crystals and exchange it for Gold, it’s concerning. Other than that, looks promising!
I’m personally curious to see the extent to which upgrading materials are available on the cash shop, and how limited their availability is if at all. I imagine we’ll see this during the beta though.
This! I rly hope so and not as much as i must grind 20 Days 8h for 1 Month of Aura…
Personally I would have loved to see some concrete examples in terms of available items and pricing of items in contrast to pricing of Royal Crystals.
I realize it is quite early for that still, but even some rough estimates would be great.
Also as others mentioned, the Pet System change is not necessarily in favour of players the way it was explained, as it takes substantially more effort to be able to afford Crystalline Aura instead of just the Pet features only.
I hope that the store will not become an important masterpiece by the content offered except for cosmetics. I think limiting the items available or instituting a quota system would be welcome. After that, I don’t have a lot of experience in this type of game but I can advance a bit … ^^
Does that sound more F2P friendly to you guys, or less F2P friendly to you guys? So Amazon is making the business model more profitable for themselves by gating pet buffs behind a strict DOLLAR/REAL CASH paywall. Are we supposed to be happy about this…?
Is this save? have heared in the KR/RU Stores it is possible to get Crystalline Aura in the Marked with Blue Crystal.
In The other Post it says thats you can get Aura with blue crystals.
We should not be alarmed about the change of the pet, apparently it will be possible to get the crystalline aura in an F2P way according to Roxx
I saw someone say “$15/mo” and I’d like to know where that number came from.
Amazon has not specified anything. But I expect something like 9€ per month, which means about 10$ at the exchange rate.
I think a price between 10-15 is acceptable, considering the business model they seem to want to apply.
Assuming the next beta really sells me on the game, I’ll gladly buy a founders pack and would feel comfortable paying $10/mo for premium. I feel like getting too much over that means that they will put themselves in a position to be directly compared to WoW and FFXIV for pricing structure.
The post felt… fairly mushy. Not a bad step just not a step forward. I do like that it is causing discussion though! I hope (and am having more optimism) about Amazon’s handling of the Lost Ark economy. I just hope the straight to 50 aren’t in the shop till quite awhile after release (if ever).
Also wishing there was a bit more differentiation between Crystals and Royal Crystals, perhaps just adding the word Blue to the former? (Also makes it easier when discussing currencies to say BC or RC).
Still hyped and appreciating the post!
Edit: And I just saw the post on the forum! That helps make much more sense of it. Sounds like it is quite similar to KR (I think?), which I feel is a good thing!
If they have a “sub” for $15 a month they might as well rework monetization to pay to play in my humble opinion. Maybe I’m just cheap, but I feel upwards of $10 seems quite steep for something like this especially considering other MMOs where that kind of monthly cost would cut away most “pay2win” aspects.
If there’s still more to Crystalline Aura down the road that’s another story.
The pet rental vs Crystalline Aura functions have come up a few times, and we’ve pinned a post for clarity: Regarding Pet Skills and Crystalline Aura
TLDR; You can purchase Crystalline Aura in game using the Crystals that are earned through play. You will not have to pay cash for this feature.
You may even be right. Although for many $15 is a bit steep per month, considering it’s an F2P game, it’s true that you can decide not to pay it.
That’s when the “advantages vs not paying” comes into play. I understand that the service has to have a fair price. We will have time to see it and know the official price to compare.
