Policroma

Pet hotkeys? Well that's about a decade overdue...

Image search for "radio antennas on top of sandia mountains" and you'll get a better idea of what I'm talking about.

(Actually, I'm being somewhat silly here. Don't touch one of these at all. Just don't. You already have the right idea.)

Greta wrote: »

But i like animations... I don't want to see my character standing awkwardly. Why people overprice item for it's only animation?

So this is mostly me reading between the lines, but I suspect this particular supply/demand conundrum is Nexon's attempt at trying to balance the rarity factor of gachas (to give whales something to chase) with the general demand for the items. And they've been experimenting in various ways for a few years.

There were so many times in the past where a beautiful new outfit was only available to a select few whales or extremely rich players. And while finding a good look in a game can be a lot of fun, it's also extremely annoying when you see an item you want is behind a slot machine and there is no other reasonable way to get it. I remember despairing over the Portia outfit, because I loved it and it was beautiful (still wear it at times, I love to switch it up), but it was only available to a select few who had jackpotted the gacha or paid up for it. And the gacha in question that it originally appeared in was 10k NX a try. I got a bassanio out of that gacha....which nobody cared about, and a ridiculously huge pile of colored weapons. So it's not like I could trade for what I wanted. The thing was just plain unattainable until years later.

This has been the case for many gachas of the past. And while I've gotten sharper at buying and selling over the years, it isn't any less annoying to have something you like behind a slot machine.

At the same time, I understand this is mainly how Nexon makes money now. This is why some things we used to have to pay for are free, such as rebirths. This is why we have so many nice events. This is why the server is still going strong and Devcat keeps unloading new content even on a game that is over 10 years old. Because for all our gripes and whines, those gachas make money, and a lot of it.

Still....people stuck in an unfair situation with their desired item frustratingly unattainable will eventually get bored and leave. So what do you do? You try to find a happy medium. You'll never make everyone happy, but you can let the whales have their jackpots to chase without leaving everyone else unhappy.

And thus we have things like dyeable/enchantable wings that are jackpot rare but "normal" wings that are far easier to find, "special" animation outfits that are jackpot rare but "normal" outfits that are far easier to find, relatively common accessories such as halos that match the theme, homestead items, etc.

It ain't a perfect system...but compared to that 'old $10 monster urn that took my money and spit out colored shop weapons and a male outfit I couldn't even sell for 1m back in the day? I'll take it. Nexon's been experimenting with balancing this system in multiple ways for a good 3 years at least. They know we didn't like those days and they've been rebalancing for a long time. I really don't have any beef with gachas anymore and I'm at the point where I think people need to make their peace with them. They are here to stay. Until then, I'm looking forward to the dress above...that is, without the cringey astrology animation.

If you like a cute animation but don't have the cash to pay up for it? Well good news, you got options in the forms of skill certificates (which are attainable in-game), animation equipment such as the opera glasses or coffee cup(there's lots of stuff like this now, and also usually attainable in-game), "chairs" (the term is very loose these days, I know), mini half-room backdrops, stance cards, etc.

TLDR: I like the way gachas are handled nowadays. If I really want an animation, I can add one by other means.

How to avoid paying 150-200m for fancy new gacha dress:

1. Take note of the insanely rare "special" edition with fancy animation.
2. Okay. You see it? Good. Don't buy the "special" edition at all.
3. Give it at least a week before you buy any version.

I've gotten so many new outfits for reasonable prices by just avoiding the "special" versions. If you don't give a flip about the animation, don't pay 150m for something you could have gotten for 15 (or sometimes cheaper). The animation-less versions are much more numerous. I actually had the special water spirit outfit drop for me a few months back. I sold it and got enough gold to buy the entire set of the version with the pants that I liked much better (no animation), all the accessories and weapons, and still had a ton left over.

Helsa wrote: »

I read the announcement but there's so much listed in there I can't remember what we already had and what is new other than no logout penalty for commerce.

The big ones are the bank/check/auction upgrades. Or at least, those are the big ones for me. I have a *LOT* of crud I need to clear out, and house shops were never good enough.

The return of free Nao rezzes: I don't know if this is going to work the exact same as before, but it's something we had back in the day. It made me very angry that it was removed back then. Now I'm not so sure. I don't really use them often enough for it to matter anymore, but it is one less thing to deal with. Back in the old days you got a rez 3 times per in-game day. I don't know if that's going to be the same now.

No expiration on combo cards, echostone tab, etc: This is mainly a QoL upgrade. One less "thing to do" to maintain your character.