Questions regarding paid content

[Goldman]

I was interested to pick the game up, however I saw quite a lot of negative press regarding monetization model. I have not been however able to see the extent of it so a few questions arose :

- What is the extent of monetization? Is it just cosmetics or actual content?
- Does the game require spending money to bypass ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ "energy meters"?
- How much content is there in the base game (not microtransacted)?
- Can you earn premium currency in game and if so is it at a reasonable level?

[Mally]

• Mainly cosmetics, but the Ursula cosmetic bundle and the Wall-E cosmetic bundles come with new quests that you can't do without purchasing.
  
  
• No
  
  
• There's a lot of content that I haven't needed to pay for. Most transactions are new costumes, new house models, clothing, or furniture. However there are still about 1,000 pieces of furniture that come in the game.
  
  
• You can earn 50 premium currency a day at a minimum by opening a daily chest. You can also get an additional 50 per week by voting in the DreamSnaps challenge, which is where you vote on other players' photos on which one best fits a described scene, like spooky or pirate. Most things on the store cost between 500-3000 premium currency.

[kitsuneblue]

there are 2 very shallow extra quest lines that you can buy, but honestly both feel like they add nothing and are not different, not needed for story, there may be more in the future but all they really bring are cosmetics

yes all other things monetized are strictly cosmetic. you don't pay any premium currency to bypass anything, and in fact can restore energy by walking in your house, eating any food, or if you are going afk for a bit anyway sitting on a bench(the only one that isn't instant)

HOWEVER you don't have to ever buy anything to get premium items, we have a thing called dreamsnaps you unlock after getting the girl from wreck it ralph, you can earn a minimum of 300 moonstones a week though it is possible to get a ton more than that, i have never gotten less than 1200 but also have never gotten more than 4000, with the highest amount being 12000. it is just taking a themed picture and voting on them. voting gets you 50 a week, and you can find a blue chest with 50 every day, atleast 1. the highest priced things are the "bundles" which are those extra quests and those are 4000, the house skins which can also be placed as an extra house are around 3000, everything else has been cheaper.

there is also the starpath (battlepass) which has somefree items and some you have to buy the premium pass to get, it cost about the same as a house skin but you get most back from the starpath so more like 400 after you earn them back

[kitsuneblue]

Originally posted by Mally:

• Mainly cosmetics, but the Ursula cosmetic bundle and the Wall-E cosmetic bundles come with new quests that you can't do without purchasing.
  
  
• No
  
  
• There's a lot of content that I haven't needed to pay for. Most transactions are new costumes, new house models, clothing, or furniture. However there are still about 1,000 pieces of furniture that come in the game.
  
  
• You can earn 50 premium currency a day at a minimum by opening a daily chest. You can also get an additional 50 per week by voting in the DreamSnaps challenge, which is where you vote on other players' photos on which one best fits a described scene, like spooky or pirate. Most things on the store cost between 500-3000 premium currency.

don't forget you also get a minimum 300 from doing dreamsnaps as well.

[Goldman]

I assume the seasonal items are removed from rotation and you can not get them again if you miss them or have not played when they were available?

[kitsuneblue]

Originally posted by Goldman:

I assume the seasonal items are removed from rotation and you can not get them again if you miss them or have not played when they were available?

only if they are in the starpath,those are one and done right now, but for example merlins summer fit was in premium shop a couple weeks ago.

[Mr. Bufferlow]

Currently, you will do fine with the earned moonstones as long as you don't need every frigging premium cosmetic offered. If you HAVE to collect everything, you will likely end up buying moonstones for money.

If you just buy the QOL items (like extra three tasks during starpath) and you generally collect your moonstones every day, you should have plenty to get the few bundles that include some content and even some premium items of interest to you.

I just bought the base game and have more moonstones now than I started with without buying any. I never missed out on anything of interest to me but most of the cosmetics items for sale leave me cold.

We have no idea how things might change when the game goes Free To Play with micro transactions funding it. My guess is it is not going to change radically. They may stop DreamSnaps, which is a quick and easy way to earn thousands of moonstones each week.

It is a good deal IMO. After 600+ hours, I could walk away at any time with no regrets. Another unknown is exactly how Multiplayer will work when it is introduced. I have a feeling it is not going to be a problem if you prefer playing solo, but we just don't know.

[Tilarta]

Mostly cosmetics.
However, the WALL-E and Ursula bundles are content, albeit optional.

Meters are refilled by sitting on chairs.
To supercharge a meter, eat meals prepared in a cooking minigame.
Ingredients for meals are grown or purchased from ingame vendors.

None of the content is microtransacted except for the optional bundles referenced above and the Premium Star Path track.

Premium currency can be earned ingame by opening the daily moonstone chest and voting on Dreamsnaps.
Your own Dreamsnap entries will also earn Moonstones, how many depends on how they rank in the contest.

[wesnef]

Originally posted by Tilarta:

Meters are refilled by sitting on chairs..

Or just visiting your house. Or eating raw/uncooked fruit/food/etc.

(uncooked foods will refill your stamina meter to regular/blue level. Cooked meals will push that into a second yellow stamina bar, where you move faster & can sprint. And higher chance for lucky resource drops when mining/etc? I think?)