Personally I don't mind the changes. They make the aurum items more prevalent and hiking the prices of the isk items makes the aurum look more enticing but currently i don't fell the need to buy them. I'm perfectly capable using militia items and when more people start using higher level stuff i will have stock piled enough isk to also use them. Also you have to remember on release the free market will decide the prices. What i do ask for is a filter so i can hide either aurum items and items i'm not skilled for just to free up some clutter especially in the grenade and weapon damage modifier section

honestly why do you think its being pushed?

so im fine with the amount of aurum ads as long as they dont interfere with my time in the market.

DIsclaimer: I fully support the AURUM (AUR) microtransaction system. I think it's a great idea, really.


Now on to my review...

Last build I felt like the way AUR was being marketed was really great. I got enough exposure to consider it (I'm personally very frugal, and I wound up buying the Merc Pack), but I didn't feel like I was obligated to do so. In the Precursor build though, my opinion has changed quite a bit about the marketing.

Changes that make me feel that AUR is being pushed too much:

-Get AUR button at the top of every item category.
-AUR items (at least for dropsuits) are often listed above regular ISK items, even though they are being bought with much less frequency.
-Heavy increase in the cost of ISK items, while AUR item costs are the same (as far as I remember).

These changes dishearten me. The first option doesn't really matter, it's no big deal, the ever-presence of it though just changes my opinion a little. The second change makes it more tedious when I'm trying to restock. However, worst of all was the third change. Tier-1 dropsuits are now very expensive, new players are pressured into using militia only instead of playing with the fitting interface, making cheap, simple dropsuits which aren't much better. To me it felt like less of a balancing change and more a marketing scheme.

Well, I suppose that's it, what are other people's thoughts on the changes to AUR marketing in Precursor?

Edit:

Please don't devolve this into a microtransaction bashing thread, it's much more productive to discuss why you don't like something. (Felt the need to post this before it gets bad).

I'll have to go back and check but the real problem is that the AUR items are better like the OP stated.

I personally think the top-tier shouldn't even HAVE an AUR variant, or that version should handle differently - but NOT in a way that makes it definitively better. If they're going to reduce fitting costs, the margins on doing so need to be reduced.

I'm not sure what the issue is, here. Where should the button to get AUR be? Should they hide it so you need to ask on the forums where to get to it or something? These are pretty silly nitpicks. And considering the game is totally free I don't see how it'll be of benefit to anyone for them to try and keep you from being aware of AUR and the stuff you can buy with it.

What if there was a booster we could buy cheap for AUR that gave us a 50% increase to the amount of isk we earn each match just like the skill point version? CCP would get my 2 bucks a week and I would make enough isk to not have to run AUR gear.

That's a slippery slope to P2W in my opinion. Sure you can play for free, you can struggle to get good gear, but even then you won't be able to use it for very long until you're out of ISK. Oh, but this guy? He buys AUR frequently, he should be able to afford things much easier, and not just the special stuff, the regular stuff too.

Perhaps if it was more of a one-time buy, like with the account upgrades for AdventureQuest, Dragon Fable, MechQuest, etc. I feel like it could be good. I'd definitely buy a permanent upgrade for $20 or so. If it's a temporary upgrade though, it'd feel too much like a subscription, and I don't get a lot of spending money, which is sadly why I've had to drop EVE these last two months...

Point taken. I think the market is just fubared right now, hopefully it balances itself out some how.

I'm not sure what the issue is, here. Where should the button to get AUR be? Should they hide it so you need to ask on the forums where to get to it or something? These are pretty silly nitpicks. And considering the game is totally free I don't see how it'll be of benefit to anyone for them to try and keep you from being aware of AUR and the stuff you can buy with it.



They usually have lower PG/CPU/skill requirements and maybe they look nice but that's about it.

Are they better than the base Meta 1 items? Totally.
It looks like the primary benefit will be looks though as the kings of the hill seem to be isk items.

DIsclaimer: I fully support the AURUM (AUR) microtransaction system. I think it's a great idea, really.


Now on to my review...

Last build I felt like the way AUR was being marketed was really great. I got enough exposure to consider it (I'm personally very frugal, and I wound up buying the Merc Pack), but I didn't feel like I was obligated to do so. In the Precursor build though, my opinion has changed quite a bit about the marketing.

Changes that make me feel that AUR is being pushed too much:

-Get AUR button at the top of every item category.
-AUR items (at least for dropsuits) are often listed above regular ISK items, even though they are being bought with much less frequency.
-Heavy increase in the cost of ISK items, while AUR item costs are the same (as far as I remember).

These changes dishearten me. The first option doesn't really matter, it's no big deal, the ever-presence of it though just changes my opinion a little. The second change makes it more tedious when I'm trying to restock. However, worst of all was the third change. Tier-1 dropsuits are now very expensive, new players are pressured into using militia only instead of playing with the fitting interface, making cheap, simple dropsuits which aren't much better. To me it felt like less of a balancing change and more a marketing scheme.

Well, I suppose that's it, what are other people's thoughts on the changes to AUR marketing in Precursor?

Edit:

Please don't devolve this into a microtransaction bashing thread, it's much more productive to discuss why you don't like something. (Felt the need to post this before it gets bad).

Are they better than the base Meta 1 items? Totally.
It looks like the primary benefit will be looks though as the kings of the hill seem to be isk items.

They're not better, they just let you fit better stuff on your dropsuit/vehicle overall if you want to. They aren't in themselves better, though.

But yes, cosmetic stuff is where they should be focusing their attention. Permanent cosmetic stuff and boosters will make them far more money than low PG/CPU items you lose everytime you die with them.

this will be a free game am i right? if so, then i feel like they will do very well off by pushing AUR on a much larger community than the eve community. And pushing is never forcing, it's still up to the person behind the controller.
P.S. the more money people spend on AUR the better your game will be...and of course the bigger and better servers...and more beer for fanfest.

Every item should be aur and ISK priced. I am pretty sure CCP just got like $200 million ( it mightis be 20) in grants and $15 a month from 400,000 subscribers. They don't need money to make the game better and the eve subscriptions should pay for the servers. Sony wants and needs the money, Sony also will do anything to get a fan base like eve's. Dust is going to be around for a while and the ps4 is coming so dust is a ps4 game. Sony needs a hardcore fps that is only on playstation to deal with xbox and computers. Now there is something like 12 million ps3, if half of those play dust and half of those pay for aur $5 once a year Sony has $15 million passing through the network. That's a lot or aur.

The best items are AUR only, at least for now since there's no resell market...

I think the AUR items will generally give you fitting flexibility, but they certainly aren't going to win the fights for you.