I don’t think I need to tell you why over the last few years, whether we’re looking at WoW or TESO or Path of Exile, Guild Wars, more and more game developers have started offering microtransactions and cosmetics in their games 2, League of Legends, Overwatch or Destiny. And for those who still don’t understand the principle behind cosmetics and battle passes, here’s the short version: Most online games are games that are constantly being expanded with content as a game as a service. In order to generate constant income and thus finance the operation of the game, developers build microtransactions into Free2Play games in particular, but also into Buy2Play and subscription games.
Mostly for cosmetic items that are cooler and prettier than the “normal” looks to encourage enough players to spend money on these items. Developers of online games have now learned that cosmetics are the “way to go” because otherwise the players would hit the roof with Pay2Win products from the shop. Nobody should be able to buy a playful advantage, but rather only a visual extension of their own character.
Now that we’ve figured that out, my question is: How expensive can cosmetics be for you? When is a cosmetic expensive enough that the microtransaction becomes a macrotransaction and you shake your head in disgust? I’m interested in when the potential buyer has reached a pain threshold – the developers should also find that exciting.
Blizzard occasionally offers whole bundles of cosmetics. After all: If you have already bought some of these cosmetics, the price of the package will drop. Source: Blizzard
Example: World of Warcraft
Yes, I’ve succumbed to the charms of one or two mounts or pets in my WoW career. 25 euros are now available for mounts in the Battle.net shop, and 10 euros for pets and toys, which appears to be quite moderate. Newer are the transmogrification options, which cost between 8 and 20 euros, depending on the package. And while I personally have a soft spot for mounts in WoW, I would probably never buy transmogs. At least, thanks to account-wide collections for transmogs, I don’t get charged multiple times like I did with a certain other game I’ll get to.
In the back of our minds, however, we have to keep in mind that World of Warcraft (buy now) is an online role-playing game with a subscription. Means that in the worst case, a monthly fee of 13 euros will be added to the prices for cosmetics. From this point of view, a mount for 25 euros seems a little less attractive. And you can’t be sure if the items from the Battle.net shop won’t show up in the trading post sooner or later, such as currently with the guardian package.
In the TESO crown shop you will also find … loot boxes 🙁 Source: Zenimax
Example: The Elder Scrolls Online
Teso is a Buy2Play MMORPG, which in turn means you don’t have to pay a monthly fee if you don’t want to. If you treat yourself to ESO Plus, you will receive additional crowns each month, which you can invest in the extensive range of products in the crown shop. But otherwise you buy crowns for real money, which you in turn spend in the shop, and that’s a point that can be criticized. While in WoW we see the real money price for a cosmetic directly, in Teso it is obscured by the purchase of an additional currency.
I assume that the largest crown package – 21,000 crowns for just under 125 euros – also offers the best value for money. After all, special offers can push the price of the package below 80 euros. I’ll stick with the standard price for the sake of simplicity. I get a little more than 168 crowns per euro. So what does a euro bring me? Mount prices vary, for example, ranging from 900 crowns for the horse Whitemane to a whopping 5,000 crowns for two-person mounts. That’s between 5.36 euros and almost 30 euros! Peaceful companions cost a little more than 4 euros to a little more than 7 euros.
By the way, there is also a second currency, namely the crown jewels, which you get for duplicates from crown boxes or for dismantling consumables. All kinds of cosmetics can be found in the various boxes and you might already have guessed it: crown boxes are loot boxes.
The armor of the guardians in the picture are purely cosmetic. Each class (!) has to put 20 euros on the table for this. Source: Bungie
Example: Destiny 2
Did I mention that I value a mount more than transmogrifications in WoW? Yes? Then I confess that I have a shift in priorities when it comes to the MMO shooter Destiny 2. In the game’s only social space where you can meet multiple people, you obviously want to present something, and that’s where transmogs (ornaments) and emotes are much more important. In the Destiny shop, the Everversum, I also buy with a fake currency. However, the conversion from euros to silver is not that tricky. The largest pack, 5,000 silver, costs $49.99, so I pay about $1 for every 100 silver. Okay, there’s 1,000 bonus silver in the silver package, but for the sake of simplicity I’ll stick with 100 silver for one euro.
In principle, there is absolute chaos in Eververse. Ornament sets can cost around 2,000 silver than 20 euros. A finisher package with three finishers costs 27 euros, individually they cost 10 euros. Gestures are between 2 and 12 euros, depending on “rarity” (and thus also in terms of technical and optical sophistication). What I find particularly annoying is that I can buy the current seasonal ornament set for my Warlock… and the same series ones for my Hunter and Titan as well. In other words: I spend a whopping 60 euros on a collection of ornaments. Uff. Well no, of course I won’t do it, I’m not that big. But at least the silver items come into play at some point in this game for bright dust; this currency is not purchased, only earned in-game.
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The prices in Destiny 2 are quite salty, but at the end of the day that can probably be said about most in-game shops and cosmetics. It is up to you to decide which price you consider good, tolerable or absurdly high. I just want to know: What else are you paying? At what point can the cosmetic be so beautiful, cool or unique that you would never pay the money?
