About EXCLUSIVE Alternate Art Cards

[White Russian]

Let me say that I've been here since the beginning and have received all the exclusive alternate art cards. However, I think it's completely ruthless on TESL that there is no other way to get them. You cannot craft them. Weren't here when a special grand melee happened. Too bad. Had to work the entire day or lacked access this past weekend? Too bad. You had one shot, and now the opportunity is gone forever.

I really think they should be craftable after the event. Make the crafting cost really high if you want, but I - like many others - are completionists and people who just love the general feel of collecting cards. And more than that - someone may really like the alternate art card but will NEVER have that opportunity to have it (no matter how much money and time they invest into the game).

Thoughts? Comments? I am sure I cannot be the only one with this grievance.

[licker34]

I think they should just sell them for cash. Dunno what price point makes sense since I don't give a crap about alt arts.

[Tomohiko(A欄既卒.JP)]

yep, should be another way to get it.
What i think is add (old) art cards into 6 of Ticket pack ($10).
So some people who love cosmetics cards will pay for it.
or noone buy 6 tickets for $10.

[Arcanis]

I with pleasure would buy alternative cards, it is possible to make also avatars others and pictures on packs with which you play - at people are money and for good game it isn't a pity for them

[Cryptic]

If I had to speculate on their motives, making certain cosmetics 'exclusive' is a way to incentivize people to participate in certain events that will flounder without enough people in them (nobody is going to want to do a Grand Melee if the queue times are long). I suppose having exclusive cosmetic incentives is better, at least, than offering better/more powerful in-game items, as that becomes P2W.

I wouldn't be opposed to letting people pay real money to get these exclusives--the Monthly Bonus cards are craftable, and the alternative art cards from the Madhouse event can be bought in the store, so there's precedent.

Of course, if the window for the Melee were open longer, this wouldn't be a problem, and I can only grasp at straws to speculate why it isn't. Maybe they have metrics indicating that number of interested people is relatively small, so keeping a smaller time window is the best way to prevent the pool from being stretched thin and having excessive queue times?

I don't understand being aggrieved over not having cosmetic cards, but that's because I'm not a completionist or all that into cosmetic items myself. I do empathize though, and I *definitely* see the beef that people who work weekends or live in Australia or whatnot have, that the time window simply isn't feasible for them to participate at all, regardless of whether they care about the primo art or not.

[Zsrai]

Originally posted by CrypticReference:

I don't understand being aggrieved over not having cosmetic cards, but that's because I'm not a completionist or all that into cosmetic items myself. I do empathize though, and I *definitely* see the beef that people who work weekends or live in Australia or whatnot have, that the time window simply isn't feasible for them to participate at all, regardless of whether they care about the primo art or not.

Those people are full of ♥♥♥♥, FYI. I'm in EST but work 10 hour night shifts (so basically am on SEA time, a few hours off from Aussie) and still had time to register. I didn't get to play the full 12 games, but you don't need to play a single one to get the cards; just pay the fee.

The reason they have a short window on the Grand Melee is so that the cards are actually exclusive: you have to log in in that small window and pay a (relatively) high enterance cost on purpose. Same reason with the alternate art Laaneth (had to preorder RCC) or The Night Mother (had to preorder FotDB). If they gave them out over the course of a 48 hour event then everyone would have them, or if you got the expac alt-art just for getting the story expacs then everyone would have them too. Then they wouldn't be "exclusive" anymore.

I wouldn't be opposed to some kind of bundle being for sale at some later point though. Probably for RL cash only, I'd imagine.

[shadowshiv]

Originally posted by Zsrai:

The reason they have a short window on the Grand Melee is so that the cards are actually exclusive: you have to log in in that small window and pay a (relatively) high enterance cost on purpose. Same reason with the alternate art Laaneth (had to preorder RCC) or The Night Mother (had to preorder FotDB). If they gave them out over the course of a 48 hour event then everyone would have them, or if you got the expac alt-art just for getting the story expacs then everyone would have them too. Then they wouldn't be "exclusive" anymore.

I wouldn't be opposed to some kind of bundle being for sale at some later point though. Probably for RL cash only, I'd imagine.

I didn't start the game until after FotDB was already in place, so I am just wondering if you mean an alternate art card for The Night Mother card itself, or the Title that you received. It is a shame that I can't get that title (unless something changes in the future that would make it possible), but it doen't really bother me too much. However, I would feel differently if they made Achievements for the game and one of them was to get all the Titles in the game.

[Zsrai]

Originally posted by shadowshiv:

I didn't start the game until after FotDB was already in place, so I am just wondering if you mean an alternate art card for The Night Mother card itself, or the Title that you received. It is a shame that I can't get that title (unless something changes in the future that would make it possible), but it doen't really bother me too much. However, I would feel differently if they made Achievements for the game and one of them was to get all the Titles in the game.

There is an alt-art for The Night Mother. I don't have it, or the titles, either, as I started after FotDB.

[shadowshiv]

Originally posted by Zsrai:

Originally posted by shadowshiv:

I didn't start the game until after FotDB was already in place, so I am just wondering if you mean an alternate art card for The Night Mother card itself, or the Title that you received. It is a shame that I can't get that title (unless something changes in the future that would make it possible), but it doen't really bother me too much. However, I would feel differently if they made Achievements for the game and one of them was to get all the Titles in the game.

There is an alt-art for The Night Mother. I don't have it, or the titles, either, as I started after FotDB.

Dang. Well, hopefully it will get a release in a Mad Prince sort of package someday.

Thank you for letting me know.:)

ETA: I did some digging, and it looks like it was only a regular Premium version, which means that anyone can craft it with Soul Gems. The title remains something that neither of us will be able to get (barring a future change, of course).