Techbot Alpha

^ Agreed. Do want

If people think the Twinshot/Graves arcs are abusive now....C'mon man

Hmn....I seem to be picking up large amounts of Irony, Captain!

This ultimately boils down to what people want, then.

You want one way.
Other people want another way.

Ultimately, this is a game. People play this game for fun. What is fun for you is not going to be the same thing others find fun.
You are, ultimately, saying that YOUR way of fun is the one that people should have to partake in.

While you and others are entitled (and rightly so) to your ideas of fun, that right ends as soon as it encroaches on others.
We're going to have to agree to disagree.

What is stopping you (general 'you') from having pride in getting it anyway? Why is it suddenly 'less' meaningful just because other people can buy things? That just means they have less time/inclination to grind. You can still do it your way and take pride in doing so. No one is suggesting taking away alternatives.

Except it doesn't. He's still got all those badges, and he still got them the time way, by going and finding them. He doesn't/didn't have to pay for them.

He can still enjoy chasing badges. No one is taking that away. Any sense of 'losing achievement' is entirely subjective, in the same way that badge hunting itself is a subjective achievement and a personal choice.

Things that do not directly affect gameplay are achievements when we make them such, like the level 1 Death Race through all Villain zones that was held a while back.

Possibly designed by the same person who did the re-done CoT colours. Since I'm assuming they either have terrible taste or are simply colour blind >_>

And yet those two examples are totally different.

Non-Accolade badges and Costume Pieces = No benefit. They are purely cosmetic

Level 50, PVP IOs, IOs in general, Accolades = Gameplay benefits. They are not cosmetic.

I think it is a reasonable stance to allow purchase of purely cosmetic things in the store, as they have no bearing on other players and no effect on gameplay.

This will neither remove nor effect the ability to earn the same rewards in-game. It should be the players choice whether to spend time or money on a purely cosmetic effect, since it only effects them.
(And I'm in the same camp as Sam in that badges are one of those things I go 'Oh yeah, they exist don't they' once in a while. Just not my thing, really, except when I decide I sometimes need to go accolade hunting on a level 50)

Hope is the first step onto the road to disappointment.

Seriously, Graves is about five times worse than Twinshot's arc. I didn't mind Twinshot too much.
And hey, I got to punch Graves and co in the face. That more than made up for it. >_>

(Mercy itself is decent. Just not Graves. Graves is terribad)

Why not? If people really want to buy badges, more power to 'em.

Except for pre-requisite badges for Accolades. Because those have actual in-game effects on game-play, rather than being purely vanity items.

I think that's reasonable?

Because that 'choice' is depreciating the choice of those who want to choose to buy costumes on the market.

The 'choice' of getting costumes through the game is already there. The only one, in fact. Our choice does not in fact exist yet.
We would like a choice.

Pot, meet kettle.

No one is suggesting removing anything. The in-game unlocks, as they have for Capes, Auras and VG armour/weapons, are still there.

What IS being suggested is an alternative for those who find other unlocks problematic or simply annoying/unfun.

If people seriously think that people will suddenly stop running Phalanx TFs, ITFs or missions with Nemesis just because there is another option made available then...well, I'm going to have to laugh. Because said idea is just laughable.

And all of that is entirely subjective. For me, personally, fighting 100 Fake Nems or 200 Overseers doesn't feel like a reward. It doesn't even feel fun! In fact, it feels like a bloody awful grind that I hate with a passion!

But certain characters simply do not look right without certain parts, and I have no other options. So I have tough out the grind for the sake of continued and future fun.

People who see it as a reward HAVE their option. Those of us who see it as a godawful grind do NOT have any other option. It's as simple as that.

It's as strong an argument as "I think this should be so, and my way is more right than your way" which seems to be the major counter-argument going right now.

Going back to 37s post, the ratio of people who only run the ITF once per character JUST for the Roman armour compared to the people who will and do grind it day in day out, simply because they like it, is an astronomical difference. I once ran...four, five? In the space of one day alone.
The concept that said TFs will somehow die if the costume reward (completely ignoring the inf, exp and component rewards those TFs also give) is ALSO put in the market (note the also) is...frankly laughable.

To some people killing 200 Overseers is an 'achievement'. To many, it's a bloody awful grind that is an un-fun barrier to character concepts.
And this argument STILL boils down to "You should have to earn it!" "Fine, take my money." "That doesn't count!" "Why?" "Because!"

There is a massive difference between "I don't like it", which is all this argument now boils down to, and "This is actually broken and affecting elements of gameplay."

Again, giving people who WANT to pay for instant access to certain costume parts is not going to bring the game crashing to it's knees. Because it's already happened. Capes and Auras are already paid for Global Unlocks in the store.
And you know what? I've STILL seen people running cape and aura missions in game, recently too. There are still people that go 'Meh, I'll just get it in game when I can be bothered' and ignore the store option.

Now, were we arguing 'Paying your way to 50' then, yes, I'd be joining in slapping that down as a patently stupid idea. That WOULD effect gameplay and the player-base as a whole.
This, however, is not even on the same scale. Costume pieces have NO effect on gameplay. None. Nada. Zilch. And while some people consider them a reward, other people, myself included, see that as an incovenience. WE would like the OPTION to pay for that inconvenience to be removed. This, in no way, shape or form, has ANY effect on people that do not want to pay/aren't fussed about having it now. They can still run it the way they want to, and those that would rather avoid grind and annoyance can do so.

Again, there is precedent. And look, the game world hasn't ended. Imagine that.