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Mount Skins as In-Game Rewards?


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EDIT: People seem to think I want every mount skin as an in-game reward or every skin from now on to be available to earn and that's just not true. I know my post is wordy but I go over exactly which skins I want to see as in-game rewards. If you can't bother to read the whole post and then offer your honest opinion then please save it for another topic.

Something I've noticed ANet has neglected to accomplish so far is filling out skin sets for mount packs. Spooky, Exo-Suit, and Awakened are all mount packs that are "incomplete" now due to the addition of Roller Beetle, Warclaw, and Skyscale. It's my opinion that ANet can decrease player loss by offering a limited time event quest in random lower populated maps to acquire skins to fill out mount packs. The Warclaw skins won't be much incentive for a PvP/PvE player to return but it could boost WvW player retention to offer separate Warclaw specific mount skin reward chains in WvW. I've heard many players wish mount skins were in game rewards and I feel this would be a great way to keep players active in the slow seasons. You may just reason that ANet would rather make us buy Roller Beetle/Warclaw/Skyscale skins in their own individual packs but the only skin type I've seen that done for is Branded and Roller Beetle still doesn't have it's own Branded variant. The average mount pack we've seen for the latest 3 mounts have only included 1 established mount skin "type"(branded) and the rest are either unique to the mount itself(i.e. Funerary Scarab Roller Beetle Skin) or from an unnamed mount skin set(think of the galaxy themed mount skins). I've also heard ANet doesn't want to release mount packs to fill out the others like that so this may be the only way we ever get a complete set if they like the idea.

I'm not saying I want ANet to give me every unfinished mount skin set as in game rewards, the Flame, Ice, Lightning, Sand, Alloyed, Primeval, Exalted, Galaxy, whatever I'm missing, skins can and should all still be staggered releases but I would love for us to get some of the unfinished multipack releases:

Awakened 3 skins missing (RB/W/S)Branded 1 skin missing (RB)Cozy Wintersday 3 skins missing (RB/W/S)Exo-suit 3 skins missing (RB/W/S)Mad-realm 3 skins missing (RB/W/S)Shiverpeaks 3 skins missing (RB/W/S)Spooky 3 skins missing (RB/W/S)sorry there's no sylvari-themed mount skins

Admittedly the hardest skin sets to work around will be those that have a seasonal aesthetic as the player count is already up in those times but a simple collection/login reward type quest chain would help ensure players retention is high even after the event or leading up to it or even make one of the final rewards for the festival ONE of the seasonal skins. In reality it doesn't matter to me what time of year I get a skin like that, I just want a full set. I know people hate collections but if the reward is a unique skin and the work involved isn't insane I would hope players could just suck it up and do it(I know, I know). I don't even care if it's tedious, after completing the Skyscale collection I am unstoppable. I would even accept a requirement to spend a decent bit of gold. Each mount skin, ignoring the exclusive skins, are $5 a piece or roughly 100 g so I wouldn't mind dropping around 20 g and a few hours/days of playtime to unlock a skin I can't just buy off the gem store.

This is just a dream but I feel it would be an relatively easy way to draw players in when they need numbers. What do you think?

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While I very much agree that it would be a good idea to implement mount skins as in game rewards and it would appeal to many to play the game to earn them, I think it would be a BIG negative for ANET, financially.Especially now that the game has gone f2p, their only real source of income would be through the gem store.I cannot quote any stats but just making a educated guess, when they release a new skin in the gemstore, mounts especially, it is purchased by alot of people (you can tell from going to towns or doing metas and seeing people flashing their new skins)I'm afraid it's one of anets biggest source of income and if it had gone 'costless' I am not sure how long they could sustain the game

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If they ever make the skins available through game activity, it'll have to be in a way that makes it more efficient to just buy them with real-world money. At the moment, this means farming gold, trading it for gems, and hoping the skin you want is in the store when you have enough.

Implementing it a different way (like, say, through a series of in-game collections) would mean that the method would need to be long/arduous and maybe even time-gated, but with a guarantee that at the end you do receive the skin you want (maybe in the form of a mount select license) - think of it like a very, very long reward track. No matter how it got implemented, it'd always have to be 'harder' than simply buying with cash, because that's the only way you'd protect ArenaNet's profits while still answering people's requests for more in-game access to gem store items.

I don't think we're likely to see this for a while, however, as the current sales model seems to be working fine for the company.

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@zealex.9410 said:If only, other games do this and its amassive drive for ppl to play the content.

But meh, anet found a cash cow, no way in hell they would ever put resources on something ingame when they could charge for it.

Yes, but other games also charge subscription fees. or are pay to win. Anet makes most of its money off cosmetic items, especially now with no new expansions on the immediate horizon. I'm broke (disability doesn't pay much for my pain), but manage to shell out $10 for gems now and again, then grind for gold for the rest. I got the Shimmerwing skin this way.

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@whoeverxwins.1279 said:

@zealex.9410 said:If only, other games do this and its amassive drive for ppl to play the content.

But meh, anet found a cash cow, no way in hell they would ever put resources on something ingame when they could charge for it.

Yes, but other games also charge subscription fees. or are pay to win. Anet makes most of its money off cosmetic items, especially now with no new expansions on the immediate horizon. I'm broke (disability doesn't pay much for my pain), but manage to shell out $10 for gems now and again, then grind for gold for the rest. I got the Shimmerwing skin this way.

Eso is a sub based mmo now? Glad you gold to gems for your cosmetics, i dont particularly find it a fun and engaging way to earn something by playing the game.

Also, why should the mounts be the exception? Glider skins, weapons, armors can all be earned in game but mounts not.

The game can afford to make good money and generate some good faith from pll by simply dropping some stuff ingame.

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Don't know, have't played it. What else do they sell to make money? People get so into "I want free" that they forget companies need to make money and employees need to eat, pay rent, etc. Sure, I love free stuff too, but I'm not going to bash on a company for wanting to make profit. Soon as Anet ceases to be profitable, bye bye GW2.

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I've nothing against ANet offering skins for in game collections (although, be careful what you ask for; they are likely to involve more work than gathering up 400, 1200, or 2000 gems worth of material).

For now, I'll point out that

  • The only glider skins that can be obtained in-game are associated with their legendary backpack counterparts.
  • Glider skins and MountFits are 100% cosmetic options and many people prefer getting to choose whether to invest in them or not, while not having to pay a subscription fee.

Ask yourself this: if ANet does offer a 4-dye-channel MountFit for each Mount, what are you willing to give up?

  • Would you prefer this to getting another double-set of armor skins in game?
  • What sorts of designs would be acceptable? the 400-gem ones? Or would it have to be the 2000-gem quality/features?
  • Would you be willing to pay more to ANet for other things to make up for the loss of revenue?
  • What happens if 60% of the community hates the one skin? Would ANet be expected to release another? What if it's only 30%? What if it's only 10%, but these are the most vocal proponents of the idea that ANet should release MountFits via in-game sources?
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Why not making both? I mean really, mount skins is one of the most beloved things people want and it would get back players etc. I loved to get many mount skins as in game rewards through meta-achievements in WoW, it was a huge driving force for me. And we get not one single mount skin in game (aside from the original ones). This is just not right. I get that they have to make money, but at least, give us something.

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I'd like to see there be an in game mount skin to earn too, but I'm not sure doing it with gem store related ones is bound to happen. At the very least, I'd like to get in game earned ones that are just the default mount with a few more dye channels, though that may be too similar to other license mount skins.

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@"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:Ask yourself this: if ANet does offer a 4-dye-channel MountFit for each Mount, what are you willing to give up?

  • Would you prefer this to getting another double-set of armor skins in game?I have 6 chars and I like how all of them look currently. I change up their aesthetics from time to time to match a new weapon or armor piece I have acquired but I don't normally make drastic changes to chars unless I haven't played in a while. This isn't the best comparison tho as I can easily find new armor pieces in game to change my chars. Mount skins have NEVER been an option in game and if I wanted to change the look of a mount I would have to spend hours of playtime grinding for gold to convert anyway or just pay out of pocket. Ingame mount skin > 2 armor sets any day.
  • What sorts of designs would be acceptable? the 400-gem ones? Or would it have to be the 2000-gem quality/features?In my post I go over exactly which skins I am talking about so I urge you to give it a read.
  • Would you be willing to pay more to ANet for other things to make up for the loss of revenue?I have already bought a near shameful amount of mount skins for aesthetic, some unfavorable rng drops, and to show my appreciation of the game and the work put into it. I will play until it dies no matter how much I may gripe about a collection or some other trivial thing. I don't want GW2 to die but you can't keep a game running and people playing if player count drops and people aren't playing enough to see all the skins you want to sell them.
  • What happens if 60% of the community hates the one skin? Would ANet be expected to release another? What if it's only 30%? What if it's only 10%, but these are the most vocal proponents of the idea that ANet should release MountFits via in-game sources?This idea is only to fill out skin sets that already exist by offering the "missing" mount skins as in game rewards. By that logic you already bought the skin and want to fill out the set or are someone who didn't care about it in the first place. Either way I don't see how this is a valid argument when the only expense is play time for a cosmetic that is normally only sold on the gem store. I can't say anything about the Shiverpeaks Mount set because I haven't seen a lot of people with it(and didn't on the day of it's release, yikes) but I know for a fact that any time there is a sale for the 5 Mount Packs(Branded, Awakened, Mad Realm) people eat it up. If you don't like the mount set and wouldn't buy it from the trading post, let alone EARN one piece of the total set in game, then you aren't ANet's target demographic anyway.
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