Cash Shop Inventories - why they're a terrible idea.

[Polantaris]

@Anyone arguing that they don't want to, will lose money, or whatever...

Nexon Japan did it. There's no exclusive cash item inventories for any class in JMS. What you buy on one character can be transferred to every other character on your account. They did this over two years ago (I think with Evan? Though I don't remember exactly when). It's clearly not hurting sales or they would have went back to the old way a while ago. It is certainly a completely reasonable request, and made even more-so by the fact that another version did it years ago with no repercussions.

[Satellite]

Personally, the current system keeps me away from both buying NX and making new classes. Can't imagine either being benefitical for Nexon.

Let's hope that when they've now finally began reading SP, they'll now stumble upon this thread too. Fingers crossed... Too bad this idea comes from Korea and if it works for Nexon there, I'm not so sure they'll change it for gMS

[Dark Link]

@Anyone arguing that they don't want to, will lose money, or whatever...

Nexon Japan did it. There's no exclusive cash item inventories for any class in JMS. What you buy on one character can be transferred to every other character on your account. They did this over two years ago (I think with Evan? Though I don't remember exactly when). It's clearly not hurting sales or they would have went back to the old way a while ago. It is certainly a completely reasonable request, and made even more-so by the fact that another version did it years ago with no repercussions.

Nexon Japan is best Nexon!

[byakugan]

Even a full set of clothes, pet with all its gear, and perma hyper tele rock and safety charm, don't add up to the cost of scrolling and cubing a single endgame equip.

Right now, Nexon keeps forcing us to try out all the new classes (by means of link skills), but the vast majority of those characters are abandoned as soon as the link skill is obtained, and without having a single NX spent on them. People don't buy stuff for a character that will get to 70 in a few days, and playing a character that has no pet or hyper rock is not nearly as much fun as it could be.

By letting people transfer their existing convenience and cosmetic items to a new char, Nexon would greatly increase the chance of that char to be played beyond 120 and especially to 140, and start spending on Wards and Cubes and all that stuff.

I believe their profits would actually increase if they unify cash shop inventories.

Chances are the people that will be sharing their old NX with new chars will also share their equips among their characters instead of invest into cubing or scrolling with NX again. Even if they were to play a char which cannot use those equips, many people first trades or sells their current equips in order to get the ones they need for their new chars. Just because some people are willing to spend money again and again doesn't mean everybody will and Nexon can rely on that to keep their income. There are other factors like duped items which IDK how relevant are today since Nexon's has stepped up. In any case, my point is, since it can't be guarantee that Nexon's income will actually raise or stay stable, and many factors actually point to the positbility of it dropping then they wont do it and I can understand.

@Anyone arguing that they don't want to, will lose money, or whatever...

Nexon Japan did it. There's no exclusive cash item inventories for any class in JMS. What you buy on one character can be transferred to every other character on your account. They did this over two years ago (I think with Evan? Though I don't remember exactly when). It's clearly not hurting sales or they would have went back to the old way a while ago. It is certainly a completely reasonable request, and made even more-so by the fact that another version did it years ago with no repercussions.

Does JMS have permanent NX?

[Curtiss]

Chances are the people that will be sharing their old NX with new chars will also share their equips among their characters instead of invest into cubing or scrolling with NX again. Even if they were to play a char which cannot use those equips, many people first trades or sells their current equips in order to get the ones they need for their new chars. Just because some people are willing to spend money again and again doesn't mean everybody will and Nexon can rely on that to keep their income. There are other factors like duped items which IDK how relevant are today since Nexon's has stepped up. In any case, my point is, since it can't be guarantee that Nexon's income will actually raise or stay stable, and many factors actually point to the positbility of it dropping then they wont do it and I can understand.



Does JMS have permanent NX?

It has permanent NX, yes. I couldn't find substantial info about it with a simple search but I believe KMS also has something like a cash trading system so it's a bit more bearable even though there's still exclusive wardrobes.

I agree too that the playing population may be a large part of why other servers do not have systems such as the ones at JMS and KMS. Regardless, if Nexon is going to release more wardrobe-exclusive classes they will have to evaluate how best to interest people in playing it long enough for them to actually make a profit from it and we can at least agree that fully exclusive wardrobes serves as a great deterrent. It's true that they may get a lot of their income from cubes but unless you need your equips to be 21% legendary or something there's a hypothetical limit to how much you'd spend while such a limit is less easily reached if you're absolutely hooked to the latest fashions.

It's just my two mesos worth though as we don't know how the market surveys of the servers look like. It's painfully obvious to me though that my server would be shafted entirely.

[Coogi]

Everyone's arguing at a brick wall, it'll never, ever change.

[Dudewitbow]

@Anyone arguing that they don't want to, will lose money, or whatever...

Nexon Japan did it. There's no exclusive cash item inventories for any class in JMS. What you buy on one character can be transferred to every other character on your account. They did this over two years ago (I think with Evan? Though I don't remember exactly when). It's clearly not hurting sales or they would have went back to the old way a while ago. It is certainly a completely reasonable request, and made even more-so by the fact that another version did it years ago with no repercussions.

Aren't the NX prices in JMS much higher than in GMS?



as for making items tradable, I can easily name a set of items that would lower in profits if made tradable between characters:

Transparent Clothing. The hat is a highly sought after hat. If people only needed to buy one, they would. but its wanted enough that people are willing to buy more when the time arises.

[Polantaris]

Does JMS have permanent NX?

Yes, although not from regular purchases from what I've seen. Mostly from random chance boxes like the Surprise Boxes. There's no Permanent item events that you can straight out buy an item that's permanent.

Aren't the NX prices in JMS much higher than in GMS?

No. Some things are cheaper, actually, in terms of NX compared to NP prices. The reason jMS costs more for people is because of USD->Yen exchange rates. It's something like 1,000 Yen = $12.60 right now. If 1,000 Yen = $10.00, like it was some years back, then jMS would be mostly cheaper. Items themselves haven't gotten more expensive, it's just that the USD sucks right now. Also, since we cannot buy directly from Nexon (Because they banned US Credit Cards due to fraud years ago), we have to use a middle-man company which increases the price a little bit. If we were actually able to buy straight NP at an equal exchange rate, it would be cheaper.

I suppose you could see that as being more expensive, but it's not Nexon's fault.

[Kubi]

One of the biggest discouragements for me in starting and working on a new character is the lack of trading cash items and equipment over. The reason I was able to make and main a Mercedes was because I was able to transfer most of my archer equipment from my Marksman, and I got interested in the class right after.

I won't main or at least actively play a class unless I fully enjoy playing it all the way, regardless of how OP and flashy it is or not. I can only see the Angelic burster class or whatever as a link skill mule, so I won't really put much effort into something that I'll probably won't play again after getting the link skill.

I think Nexon picked up on this and really thought it was a bad idea or just milking it on how people can just simply transfer stuff over instead of making new ones... Seeing as how they're releasing all this stuff with trade blocks, sharing name tags, scissors, and even making new weapon/secondary equipment type. At least to me, it just discourages me in buying new stuff, mostly NX to start a new character. At least to the degree this game is going, it's pretty repetitive with all these new classes for just damage. I don't play competitively either. I'd be thinking ahead of spending money on something that could be potentially go to waste if I don't enjoy the class to begin with.

[Sephie]

Uh, no? I only ever bought perma clothes and pet+ equips. I did this for 3 different characters. If I could have traded items, I would not have. Therefore nexon would have made less money.

Would I like to be able to trade my equips between all my characters? Absolutely. Would it have made nexon more money from me? Not a chance.
Assuming baselessly that they would make more money by doing this is risky, and I'm absolutely sure they've considered it, and since they know more about how much is spent on NX items than any of us do, the choice they made of not to risk doing it (Because they obviously couldn't change back afterwards) should be telling.

Some would be reluctant to buy things for three characters especially if they weren't serious enough to play all of them. If you had 6 pets, hyper rock, and a few permas, making a new class isn't even an option because you'll be reinvesting items you already paid for. This is an opportunity loss of potential beauty coupons, inventory expansions, and cubing of any gear such as untradeable secondary weapons.


Also, I've already detailed that a new system CAN work and surprise style boxes show that it can work. Surprise Style Boxes themselves show how wrong your mentality is because it goes against everything that supports that old thinking. Every reason you think we have this old system is completely contradicted by the continuing existence of these boxes. Also JMS has already implemented such a feature and I don't believe they are crying about lost profit; if anything, JMS is doing extremely well.

[Jamesie]

Still trying to work out how Surprise Styles show that a non-exclusive inventory system can work. Once you wear that NX item once, it's bound to whatever type of cash inventory the character is. Of course, I could be thinking about it wrong anyways.

[emailbox]

Wish more Nexons would just do what Nexon Japan did and just give everyone shared CS inventories. It might encourage people who normally don't ever buy NX outfits to spend a little on them just so they can shuffle them around on mules. I know several people that don't bother spending money on NX for outfits simply because they have more than one character they play often, and that character has an exclusive CS inventory.

[byakugan]

This is something possible for Nexon America, definitely imposible for Nexon Korea. Not only they got CTS but most of their NX is permanent. This is why they had to start making separated CS for new characters as they confessed in an interview. Heck, the prolly reason why Nexon Korea created potential in the first place was that their player base was big but they were not spending enough NX

On the other hand Nexon doesn't have CTS and permanent items only come from events. Recently Nexon NA has been trying to put up their game in order to keep old players playing and lure in new ones. Making a unique CS ward-robe would be the best decision in this matter, as long as they can guarantee that players will keep spending on clothes and pets and thats where trading permanent items for unique CS would be fair.

This might sound outrageous to many of you but even giving up a month and making all items last 2 months instead of 3 could be fair enough in exchange of an unique CS for all characters.

[Sephie]

Still trying to work out how Surprise Styles show that a non-exclusive inventory system can work. Once you wear that NX item once, it's bound to whatever type of cash inventory the character is. Of course, I could be thinking about it wrong anyways.

My statement in italics is at the top of argument 4. It argues that the entire old system is terrible.

As for specifically how it affects cash inventories: if cash shop inventory was unified, the value of a permanent NX skyrockets in terms of the economy and per player. NX is worth more if it applies to an account rather than apply to a single character. The more value it has, the more players are motivated to actually buy it. This contradicts the idea that Nexon restricts tradeability and permanent option to make money.

For example, the fact that you can buy NX ahead of time in anticipation of another class, something you can't do with the old system, gives that NX value. Tradeability (from SSB) adds value to something that was previously worth nothing to everyone except one person: this value is less since it's consumed on use. Account tradeability (from unified inventory) gives greater value to that one person: this increases the up front value before it is consumed because you will be paying for NX that applies to an account. If you had no tradeability (if SSB is locked to your inventory and you have a non-explorer), the value is nothing to everyone and to you except to the character that holds it: if SSBs were like this, they would sell terribly (this is exactly how our cash shop system is now).

Because it is worth more when tradeable, Nexon could increase the price of surprise boxes and NX clothes and people will still be willing to pay for it because of the increased value.

And bleh, I hate typing on a phone. I want to edit things but it's so difficult.

[Rinax]

The arguments listed are the exact reasons why I rarely buy NX (clothing).
If there were shared inventories, I would buy a lot more stuff. More permanent items could tempt me as well.

[Jamesie]

-snip

Oh, I went back and reread what you had originally typed. Turns out I'm just stupid and can't read.
(I feel if Nexon increased the price of SSBs people would riot because "they were fine as it was." But I tend to be a little bit more sympathetic towards Nexon and a little antipathetic towards players, so meh. Bias.)

[MorbidMagus]

Maybe I have a more simple view on things, but I look at the cash shop items like this. If someone sold you a laptop that you can take anywhere, and is yours to keep forever, or wanted to sell you a laptop for 90 days, but are only allowed to take it a few places, which would you rather buy? If you had some security and flexibility in what you can do with the product, the customer is always willing to buy it.

Personally I have a Cannoneer that I would love to play(Hell, they're the only pirate class I enjoy), but I just cbp'd to train him because my hyper rock, outfits, leftover cubes, warding scrolls, pets, etc etc are all on my Archmage. Since I can transfer these items between my Paladin and Marksmen, I find my experience on them much more enjoyable since I can actually use the items I purchased.

So while my Cannoneer is sitting there collecting dust, I instead only get enough NX to cube for three of my characters for miracle time. If I could transfer stuff to my Cannoneer, or hell, even my Phantom, I would have happily bought more NX to increase my damage output. I'm pretty sure Cubes have become a rather dominate item on Nexon's Market, as well.

You can argue stuff like "But Shaun, what about permanent cash shop items?" which is a valid excuse for stuff like Hyper Teles and a few pets, but I have yet to seen someone in Renegades(or during my years in Demethos or Scania for that matter) actually wear their NX until it expires. People get tired of looking at the same thing every day, and with new Cash Shop items being released oh so very often, I highly doubt Nexon would lose any profits, and I would be highly surprised if they didn't actually make more since people would motivated tobuy more NX.

But the fact of the matter is that separate inventories are here and don't seem to be leaving Korea or America anytime soon.

[SaptaZapta]

You can argue stuff like "But Shaun, what about permanent cash shop items?" which is a valid excuse for stuff like Hyper Teles and a few pets, but I have yet to seen someone in Renegades(or during my years in Demethos or Scania for that matter) actually wear their NX until it expires. People get tired of looking at the same thing every day, and with new Cash Shop items being released oh so very often, I highly doubt Nexon would lose any profits, and I would be highly surprised if they didn't actually make more since people would motivated tobuy more NX.

I have been wearing the same cash outfit for over two years. The first time I got it, it was 90-day. I wore it 'til it expired and then I bought the perma version, which, conveniently, had just been added to cash shop.

My friend has been wearing his cash outfit just as long, and even transfering it among his explorers, along with his pet. But the money he has spent scrolling and cubing gear for those explorers, far outweighs the cost of the clothes and pet. He doesn't play his non-explorers beyond link-skill level, and doesn't spend any NX on either their looks or their gear.

And I have heard any number of guildies and buddies say things like "Damn, my NX just expired!" - meaning that, yeah, they didn't get sick enough of it to buy anything newer.

Yes, there are people who change their look every week, but I believe the vast majority aren't like that.

[Dark Link]

My paladin has had the same NX outfit since the release of Perma NX and I still don't get tired of the look he has.
Yes, I don't really play him anymore, but when I do jump on him for events and whatnot, I still enjoy the look.

[Polantaris]

Maybe I have a more simple view on things, but I look at the cash shop items like this. If someone sold you a laptop that you can take anywhere, and is yours to keep forever, or wanted to sell you a laptop for 90 days, but are only allowed to take it a few places, which would you rather buy? If you had some security and flexibility in what you can do with the product, the customer is always willing to buy it.

When I bought MSDS for JMS, I got a free permanent Beret (The one with the fancy blue petal on the top, you can see it in most of my videos). I've worn that on every single character I've played since. The only exception is when the character's hairstyle makes it look awful, which does happen, because some of the defaults for newer classes don't really agree with it. I've never purchased an NX hat since, nor do I ever intend to.

Now granted it's not an entire set, no, but if I found some outfit that I really liked and really fits a character, I wouldn't change it, just like I don't change the hat. Honestly though some armor looks better than CS sets, which has led me to not buy CS outfits, but that's really not part of the discussion because account tradeable or not, I wouldn't be buying it.