The very boring default nameplates and ID plates should be free, like Victor.

[NebbyOtt]

Who's with me? If i'm gonna pay $3 to have my ship's name on my ship, I'm not going to pay to have the most basic least appealing one, I'm going to pay for one that looks cool and fits my aesthetic. There are free decals, after all.

[Witcher]

Ofc there are tight arses in game lol but if FD allowed some basic customisations, they won't be able to keep servers running, free updates, etc. without turning over some profit same time.

Incidentally, those who have been crying for space legs, atmospheric planet landings, etc., don't hold your breaths until the next paid expansion

[Manwith Noname]

Well, from my perspective, offering some basic paintjobs and decals for each ship is likely to encourage those who play with the customisation to consider purchasing more choices than simply blocking them out entirely unless they pay extra.

It's not that dissimilar to their current tactic of harbouring "free" content behind the store. It's just more consumer friendly and being more consumer friendly wins "hearts and minds" better than "shock and awe".

[Captainn]

I fully support paid cosmetics, but I'd love ways to earn them. With that said, I've heard the Frontier store has 50% discounts now and then, and I planned to buy a skin or two whenever that happened since $1.50 is fair imo

[Witcher]

If FD starts to see players more supportive from your perspective, they will do it but based on the number of salty players crying foul play, no content, game is dying, for refunds, (need I go on?). I bet half the cryers if not more didn't pay more than $20 for cosmetics.

[Manwith Noname]

I tend to view a lot of that as different things and not really having much relevance to cosmetics with the exception of "game is dying" and "no content" crowd. These are players who like the premise of Elite in general but are otherwise disappointed with the execution. Maybe, if they all bought lots of cosmetics the game would be different but I'm not convinced. There's a distinct vision behind Elite and it doesn't fit everyone.

[Dolphin Bottlenose]

Originally posted by Manwith Noname:

Common mistake, people pay for the game and the expansion, ergo, it's not "free".

Common mistake: people pay for something, and they expect to get everything else, including extras and future addons for free.

Hint: cosmetics are not a part of the basic game, nor the Horizons expansion. And paying for those doesn't grant you the free use of cosmetics.

It wouldn't be a terrible move to allow players some basic customisation as "goodwill" which encourages further spending on more fancy offerings.

Some customisation exists in the game. Many ships come in different colours. You can put free decals on them. You even have some free cosmetics for your commander.

But that's not enough, and you want more free stuff. There is nothing wrong with wanting more of free stuff. But the line has to be drawn somewhere. And Frontier drew their's. It's their content, after all.

[Manwith Noname]

Originally posted by Dolphin Bottlenose:

Hint: cosmetics are not a part of the basic game, nor the Horizons expansion. And paying for those doesn't grant you the free use of cosmetics.

Ok...

Some customisation exists in the game. Many ships come in different colours. You can put free decals on them. You even have some free cosmetics for your commander.

...which is it?



Maybe I need to check but I don't recall any ships coming with extra paintjobs unless you pay extra for them. Problem there is, I have paid for extra paint jobs. Not much of a problem but not sure I can be bothered working it out ;D

[Dolphin Bottlenose]

Originally posted by Manwith Noname:

Originally posted by Dolphin Bottlenose:

Some customisation exists in the game. Many ships come in different colours. You can put free decals on them. You even have some free cosmetics for your commander.

...which is it?

My FDL came in "Ferrari-red". My Python - in gan-green. My Diamondback Explorer - in strange-yellow.

You can have these free cosmetics for your commander:
https://www.frontierstore.net/usd/game-extras/military-flight-suit-pack.html
https://www.frontierstore.net/usd/game-extras/avatar-metal-framed-glasses.html
https://www.frontierstore.net/usd/game-extras/avatar-plastic-framed-glasses.html

Maybe I need to check but I don't recall any ships coming with extra paintjobs unless you pay extra for them.

They don't come with extra paintjobs. They came with different paintjobs by default, that you don't have to pay for. But you have to pay, if you want to change it to something else.

Problem there is, I have paid for extra paint jobs. Not much of a problem but not sure I can be bothered working it out ;D

If you have paid for them on the Frontier store, they should be instantly available. If you bought them through Steam, you probably should add your key, issued by Steam, to your Frontier account.

I usually buy cosmetics directly from the Frontier store - it's always hassle-free, I have them available as soon as I login into the game.

[Witcher]

Originally posted by Manwith Noname:

Some customisation exists in the game. Many ships come in different colours. You can put free decals on them. You even have some free cosmetics for your commander.

...which is it?



Maybe I need to check but I don't recall any ships coming with extra paintjobs unless you pay extra for them. Problem there is, I have paid for extra paint jobs. Not much of a problem but not sure I can be bothered working it out ;D

Here are some free decals, CMDR customisation and ship paints:

• https://www.frontierstore.net/game-extras/elite-dangerous-game-extras/powerplay-decal-pack.html (There are others that needed to be earned in CGs);
  
• https://www.frontierstore.net/game-extras/elite-dangerous-game-extras.html?extra_type=216 (look for 0 monies);
  
• free ship paints for Krait II and Anaconda were sent to CMDRs who registered to receive weekly newsletter and FD's 5th or 10th anniversary celebration - can't remember which ;P

[Manwith Noname]

Due to circumstances I cannot discuss, I'm just going to point the both of you to my prior comment...

Originally posted by Manwith Noname:

I would even go as far as saying the "free" stuff on the store should be in the game and not require "shopping" to get them but I can understand why they do it that way, even if I don't like that tactic.

I have the things I have paid extra for in my game, no worries there, not sure why you are pointing me to the store. I feel you're both missing the point of the OP and the further discussion by trying to "win" something that isn't possible.

This is just a discussion about what is available within the game after you purchase it and I say that as someone who paid for cosmetic items. There is a "customisation" screen and you cannot use it without having gone outside the game and paying extra to use it, a couple of CMDR suits aside.

[Witcher]

OP wants free basic name plates given FD has given away some basic free decals, CMDR costumes and ship paints, right. So why not give away free name plates?

Reason I can think is because all name plates are basic looking and usable on all ships, PLUS you can customise different wordings on different ships. You can do these on free customisations (hope you can see the fundamental differences). They may look basic but they are more functional and what looks like ♥♥♥♥♥ to someone may look like an angel to another - e.g., Corvette vs Cutter lovers ;)

Dolphin and I are not trying to win anything or get any perks from FD though I wish At least I'm just trying to explain with reason why customisations aren't free in my first post in this thread although I can see this thread digressing or splitting hairs like the other thread that went > 100 pages before t'was locked due to bickerings like this one...

[Dolphin Bottlenose]

Originally posted by Caeris:

It would be nice, if you can complete a heavy/long mission to get a special skin for your ship, which you can´t buy in the store.

Not a skin, but you can get a special decal for doing something like that:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1743869253

[Liduska77]

Originally posted by Dolphin Bottlenose:

Yeah, and basic food should be free at grocery stores. And basic clothes. Oh, and let's not forget basic houses, electricity and gas for cooking.

And the opposite is true, too: you are obliged to spend some hours of your day, doing basic jobs for free. How would you like that?

This 100% nails it.

But, alas, it's lost on those who have no shame and would happily see people who have spent their time working on this game give their work away for free.

Do try applying that to other areas of your life, see what happens.

[Manwith Noname]

Originally posted by Witcher:

OP wants free basic name plates given FD has given away some basic free decals, CMDR costumes and ship paints, right. So why not give away free name plates?

Ok. I guess my view might be slightly different in that my past experience with the franchise lead me to expect ship ID would be displayed in a simple form and anything more fancy would cost extra.

Originally posted by Witcher:

Reason I can think is because all name plates are basic looking and usable on all ships, PLUS you can customise different wordings on different ships.

Granted, customised ship ID wasn't previously a thing but the lack of a default label displayed on your ship still feels like a regression to me. When I think of the joy I previously experienced when buying a ship that had an ID I could make some reference to...

Originally posted by Witcher:

At least I'm just trying to explain with reason why customisations aren't free in my first post in this thread although I can see this thread digressing or splitting hairs like the other thread that went > 100 pages before t'was locked due to bickerings like this one...

Well, I agree they need to fund the server costs. The thread I'm thinking of was a pure "I shouldn't have to pay for cosmetics, at all!" rather than "why can I have a basic version of X but not Y?" It turned out alright in the end because the OP in the other thread realised why cosmetics existed, regardless of any bickerings.

Originally posted by Liduska77:

Do try applying that to other areas of your life, see what happens.

Gladly. I've worked a couple of years worth of hours with no financial reward as a volunteer in my life already. Hopefully I'm only half way through.

G'night everyone ;D

[Liduska77]

Originally posted by Manwith Noname:

Originally posted by Witcher:

OP wants free basic name plates given FD has given away some basic free decals, CMDR costumes and ship paints, right. So why not give away free name plates?

Ok. I guess my view might be slightly different in that my past experience with the franchise lead me to expect ship ID would be displayed in a simple form and anything more fancy would cost extra.

Originally posted by Witcher:

Reason I can think is because all name plates are basic looking and usable on all ships, PLUS you can customise different wordings on different ships.

Granted, customised ship ID wasn't previously a thing but the lack of a default label displayed on your ship still feels like a regression to me. When I think of the joy I previously experienced when buying a ship that had an ID I could make some reference to...

Originally posted by Witcher:

At least I'm just trying to explain with reason why customisations aren't free in my first post in this thread although I can see this thread digressing or splitting hairs like the other thread that went > 100 pages before t'was locked due to bickerings like this one...

Well, I agree they need to fund the server costs. The thread I'm thinking of was a pure "I shouldn't have to pay for cosmetics, at all!" rather than "why can I have a basic version of X but not Y?" It turned out alright in the end because the OP in the other thread realised why cosmetics existed, regardless of any bickerings.

Originally posted by Liduska77:

Do try applying that to other areas of your life, see what happens.

Gladly. I've worked a couple of years worth of hours with no financial reward as a volunteer in my life already. Hopefully I'm only half way through.

G'night everyone ;D

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realise that fd was a registered charity?

If it is, my bad :)

If not, you're confusing things, so, yeah, sleep well. Clear your head ;)