Why do they rotate items in the shop?

[Timmy]

I was interested in getting something but its not in the shop now. Do they really think this transparent artificial scarcity tactic will work? It honestly makes me less interested in buying anything O_o

[Morghy]

Fear Of Missing Out tactic.

[q0de]

doesn't help that the latest skins have been awful compared to the older ones

[die-wc-ente]

I'm stingy - I ignore the shop

[varicose 'vascular' vinny]

Originally posted by Phantom Limb:

It is mindboggling, I tell you. Because the same time VT2 has all skins available for purchase at any time. Yet DT is stained by this dumb decision.

Because there's 3x the purchase price of the game in DLCs, so if they take you any farther with MTX it's a bonus.

[Timmy]

Originally posted by Runic Tunic:

It's not about if it works on the majority but the few it does work on. Specifically, the ones with a lot of expendable income and poor impulse control. These people will end up spending hundreds of dollars more than than the average player. So much so that despite making up only a fraction of the community, it's more "financially viable" to encourage their spending habits with FOMO tactics than opening up the shop and/or reduce the prices.

It's why it's so prevalent in free/always online games. Also horrible business practice, but clearly it's paying off, otherwise they'd abandon it by now.

The thing I don't understand is how do they know it would work better than having everything in the shop. Its not like they've tried it both ways. It just seems like a lot of guess work and looking at what other games do.

[Timmy]

Originally posted by Spaceman Sareth:

Originally posted by Timmy:

I was interested in getting something but its not in the shop now. Do they really think this transparent artificial scarcity tactic will work? It honestly makes me less interested in buying anything O_o

It's because your bird brain would be confused by having such power at your hand. Fatshark themself said so and why you still want to give them money is beyond me at this point.

"It’s important to note that the store is on rotation to give players some variety while at the same time not creating clutter. We feel that unlimited store pages are likely to create confusion and a bad user experience. Rest assured, the cosmetics are not gone forever and will likely reappear."

I have disposable income and I want the game to continue getting updates because I like it. I forgot they said that's the reason they're really out of touch lol

[2D > 3D WEEB 4 LIFE]

Originally posted by Timmy:

The thing I don't understand is how do they know it would work better than having everything in the shop. Its not like they've tried it both ways. It just seems like a lot of guess work and looking at what other games do.

I'm sure that developers have tons of data since the industry has been (ab)using whales for well over a decade at this point.

You can forget about the old "vote with your wallet" mantra because more than enough money is being spent by a small subset of people with addictive traits and the FOMO systems that prey on them aren't going to stop without aggressive regulation which is decades away with the fossils in charge.

[Katou]

Originally posted by Moon:

Nothing wrong with maximising profit - it's the job of literally every business manager to do this.

I disagree.

From my perspective, maximizing profit and business managers have been part of reason why the quality of video games have been on a decline as of late. Less focus has been put on making games fun and more has been put on whether or not it can be crammed with microtransactions or DLC. They've also been chasing the "live service" model which has already flooded the market.

if you prioritize quality in whatever goods or services you produce, you have a better chance of retaining customers. They may learn to trust your brand and they may keep buying your products, keeping you in business longer. Maximum profit for minimal effort (which is what cosmetic stores in games are) may briefly net you a large sum, but you break a lot of trust and good will with your customers. How many games have you played where parts of the gameplay are broken, but the cash shop works just fine?

You have also developed yourself into a corner by doing this. You're now on the hook to provide more content for your players. You need to provide more models, textures, maps, and other content to keep players interested. Otherwise, players lose interest and you lose money. All of that new content should be fresh and new to keep players interested. All of this could be avoided if you simply made a good game from the start.

Originally posted by Moon:

And it's far from greedy too, when this is a completely optional cosmetic shop that pays for ongoing FREE development for you, me, and everyone else who plays the game.

Could you please explain to me how paying for a game and then having that game ask for more money is not greedy? Also, if the company has to keep asking for more money to keep developing the game, isn't that the fault of business management? Lastly, if that "ongoing FREE development" requires a "completely optional cosmetic shop," then it isn't free, is it?

[ThePaleHunter]

Remarkable when people rush to defend despicable sales and marketing practices because it's the most efficient at manipulating and ripping people off.

[Zsrai]

Originally posted by ThePaleHunter:

Remarkable when people rush to defend despicable sales and marketing practices because it's the most efficient at manipulating and ripping people off.

I'm pretty sure most, if not all, of us are just pointing out how and why it works, not defending it.

[JuX]

In all honestly lot of "fear-of-missing-out" practices should be illegal. There is no valid argumentation for a digital product being limited when it's not constrained by same limitations as physical products.

Even built-in community marketplaces should be illegal as there are games where fomo items have scarcity to hike up prices substancially and being sold for real currency. With developers pocketing the sale entirely, while only reimbursing the seller with store credit.


No matter how you personally feel about FOMO digital goods. You cannot deny it's extremely consumer unfriendly practice.

[spice_]

Originally posted by Timmy:

I was interested in getting something but its not in the shop now. Do they really think this transparent artificial scarcity tactic will work? It honestly makes me less interested in buying anything O_o

yes because you are not their target demographic

[Hampton Wick]

FS/Tencent can swivel on my mid digit. Been here since . Bought 3 skins with my ing currency from beta never touched the store since. They can rely on those who should be watching commercials where it always says at the end 'Gamble responsibly'.

Let us never forget how much they micturated on the community, am personally never buying FS/Tencent collaboration game on launch. Will wait till they have finished it and it's on sale. That way don't have to look at coming soon ™ whilst feeling like a chump yet again.

[Weltraummann Sareth]

Originally posted by Timmy:

Originally posted by Spaceman Sareth:

It's because your bird brain would be confused by having such power at your hand. Fatshark themself said so and why you still want to give them money is beyond me at this point.

"It’s important to note that the store is on rotation to give players some variety while at the same time not creating clutter. We feel that unlimited store pages are likely to create confusion and a bad user experience. Rest assured, the cosmetics are not gone forever and will likely reappear."

I have disposable income and I want the game to continue getting updates because I like it. I forgot they said that's the reason they're really out of touch lol

I get the first part but after the things they sometimes said and did, some support is hard to understand.

[Kristian]

I see people wearing cool stuff
Hey, I want to look cool as well
Can I buy it? Nope! Not available

I would have spent a lot more money if I could choose from anything they had previously released. The shop is infuriating. There are several items I would have bought a long time ago if I had the chance