Let's talk about makeovers...

As wonderful and excited as I was at hearing that my monk could finally change her hairstyle after four years, there was something about the new makeover system that caught my ire. Not the price tag, I can understand how they might need a buck or two.

It was the fact that they're asking us to pay per use.

Nothing else in the store is like this. The Bonus Mission Pack can be run through again and again, as much as you wish. The extra storage panels will work for the entire duration of your account. Another character slot will never go away, and even if you delete the character, the slot remains for a new one.

But the makeover?

If you purchase one set, and you change your hair and end up not liking it down the road......sorry, fork over the money, you need to buy permission to use the service once again. Once you use that two dollar's worth credit, it's gone forever.

Rather than turn this into a rant, I'm just going to pose the question: Is there a physical limitation or technological problem that requires this one service to be pay-per-use? Is there some fluke in the method by which the changes run on the servers that prevents a permanent service, even if it is restricted to, say, one change per day? Why among all the addons, from slots to storage to new campaigns, is this the only one that we have to purchase in pay-as-you-go format?

I'd love to find an answer, because after four years of waiting for a change of hairstyle, this isn't anything like what I had in mind.

probably no technical reasons, just Anet needs money.

Who knows? Maybe in the future we'll get some Cosmetic Elixers that can be used to change a feature for free?

But you do get 5 minor changes for $10. So, if you're just changing the hair, you can change it 5 times...

I told myself that i wouldnt pay money for something like that.

But then i thought about it... and thought a little more.. then when i couldnt sleep i bought the extreme makeover and a name change...

It was a good night's sleep

I think having to pay again is justified, after all, you need to pay your hairdresser everytime you visit. Besides, if you really want the change it really isn't that much money.

What a great analogy. In these troubled financial times I think it's fair that Anet has found a way to make money and still keep away from the monthly fee.

It would have been nice though if any previous looks could be 'unlocked' for your character. So if you decided you'd like to change back to the way you used to look, it wouldn't require another token. I for one would be switching back and forth between two hairstyles a lot.

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Way to drink that Kool-Aid. They don't need money. 300% increase in profits in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. And although GW wasn't the #1 contributor to that profit, it's still profitable. And so you know, that first quarter was BEFORE these microtransactions. It'll be hilarious to see how much their profit grows in their 2nd quarter.

They don't "need" the money. They "want" the money. Which is alright...just don't be Mr. Kool-Aid Man (OH YEAH!!!) and make excuses for them. They have PR people to do that, and they're paid. You? you're just an internet fanboy.

I bought the Makeover Pack yesterday through the NC website with Paypal. After I clicked confirm or whatever there was same error thing (I don't remember what) but then I checked my Paypal and they took the money out. And the Makeover credits are not in my account still today....

x-x So I've been trying to get NC to help but they don't seem very adamant on replying/helping. It's starting to make me mad because I don't want to play until I have it... cause I'm all weird like that. O_o

Look at the cape maker.
You choose a trim shape.
You choose an emblem.
And then you choose two colors.
This has been ingame since I can't even remember when, and it was not free. No! It has a price. The price was paid once, and was included in any content that included a cape maker.
Makeovers are MUCH like cape designs.
You choose a hair shape.
You choose a a face shape.
And the you choose two colors: hair and skin.

You don't pay every time you change the model of your cape, so you shouldn't pay every time you change the model of you characters.

I chose GW because everything was available with a 'pay once' policy, since I am limited to acquire new content or a new game once or twice per year.

If it is not 'pay once' I'm likely not to be able to pay it, and will be out of my reach.
So, I am not really complaining here, I'm stating that unless they add a 'pay once' alternative, the stylist is just a feature to mock me about what I will never be able to do.

If I wanted to pay every single time I want to use something, I'll be playing other game.

So, now all I can do is wait untill a 'pay once' alternative is added... which may never happen.

Don't confuse NC Soft's total increase with Anet. They are making a new game, and, as Flagship Studios proved, it's smart to have as much money as you can get. GW was the second lowest earner on that list, btw. Aion and Lineage II were the top grossing games for NC Soft. Lay off the ephedra a bit.

OT: I didn't mind paying the cost of a few trips to the Star-Bizzle for 5 makeovers. It was a smart thing on their part, and has been very popular, from what I've heard. I just wish they gave new options for the looks of the sins/rits/dervs/paras. I only had one choice for my femme sin that wasn't a butter face.

I would pay for an unlock. I would not pay for microtransaction stuff. Particularly with the Ritualist's limited selection.

that ^^ plus COLOUR/HUE SLIDER

Honestly: I want to change hairstyles, gender, names to my characters and skin colours every now and then, but not by paying every time I feel like doing it, note: colours as in any colours NOT hue/tone as in light to dark, hairstyles as in more new ones not the ones that I didn't choose when I first created my characters, those are already "put aside" in the first place. Why do Anet think I want to pay real money to change to something I already don't like? seriously.

I've checked out the hairstylist npcs, and, well, I don't like all the other styles that much to want to pay USD2.00 (10 bucks in my currency) each time, just to see them in some other styles that I do not previously want.

Infact, comparing the makeover packages to the storage, I might buy the storage if its not over priced, since if you buy all extra 4 it will be for use forever. Yeah, I know I complain about the storage up until now, but comparing it to the pay every time you want to use makeover packages. The storage is better, cos after all you get to keep on using them after the purchase. It would be great if it's not over priced.

A 1 minute change in hairstyle on 5 chars costs more than I get real world haircuts for that take 15 minutes using well-practiced skills rather than a couple lines of code.

I havent bought it yet, but if I do I have already justified it by saying that the money I pay could potentially go into paying some poor guy to do a decent skill update.

/hopes.

Really? That's a pretty good deal, where do you live? My haircuts cost 30 dollars.

As for this, can you imagine the strain on the servers? Everyone which bought the microtransaction (alot of people) would be changing their hair every five minutes.

Local barber shop. I don't use any froo froo hairstylist...but it does take quite a bit more time and a lot more individual skill to get done than a computer program and a few buttons.

I doubt there will be any difference in server speed...instead of those characters out farming or doing missions or trading, they're changing their looks. Whooptie doo. I'm sure buying a customized set of armor and dying it uses the same amount of server bandwidth and cycles.

I have bought an extreme makeover for a character nearly 4 years old that I that couldn't bear to reroll and do over. I would and did pay money for that. I deleted a 3 year old ele that i had never liked the face i chose but would have kept her knowing this was coming up. I would pay for that too. I am pretty sure it's a money making exercise and thats fine with me. People have been calling for it. Anet would like some money. It's a win win as I see it.

Here's the thing about name and appearance changes. They should NOT be unlimited. In an RPG setting, your character should have enduring identity - a kind of permanence. With the makeover packages, you can utterly change everything about your 'toon - name, sex, and entire appearance. A full change like that kind of destroys the idea of a character or an avatar.

However, I understand people will often have something about their current character that just bugs them, and they want to "fix." Some people will want to fix a misspelling in their name. Others regret their hairstyle. It is perfectly OK to want to fix these things and to have the power to. What is not OK is everyone having unimited ability to change everything. That would obliterate the concept of character and create a chaotic world where the people you know routinely become unrecognizable through constant character appearance, sex and name changes.

So, how do you introduce the ability to make changes to your character without bringing the chaos of constant changes? You put some kind of limitation to those changes. Anet could have given everyone a one time (or three time) change. This would have actually been bad. Lots and lots of people would have made arbitrary changes just because they could resulting in the chaos and confusion I talked about. Many others would still be unhappy after running out of their chances to change. The community would be very dissatsified.

Charging real life money is kind of the perfect game design solution. It gives those really motived to change the ability to do so, but the cost is sufficiently high that it limits those changes to just those with a strong motivation. Thus the game doesn't really lose the concept of character as a whole, but the ability to change is there for those who really want it.

No game change will satisfy everyone, but to me, this was close to the ideal solution.

Cape changes are limited with gold. 2K.
Makeover changes should be limited with gold too.

Uh..you aren't paying the time it takes for a player to change his/her toon hairstyle. You're paying the time that A-Net put on making the hairstylist NPC.

But don't let this "simple" difference get in the way of your dumb trolling!