Officially Unofficial Weekly Discussion #49: In-game Currencies

[UltraAlt]

On 10/13/2023 at 12:59 PM, SeraphimKensai said:

Did I miss any?

 

I think it is debatable if the Halloween masks are currency as they are used to purchase a costume slot.

 

On 10/13/2023 at 12:59 PM, SeraphimKensai said:

Influence, infamy, information - basic currency used to buy things from the AE or most vendors.

 

I was against the merger of these currencies.

 

I understand why it was done from a DEV point-of-view, but it never made sense to me that the reward for doing good things was equivalent to the reward for doing bad things.

 

I'm sure some of you remember what it was like.

There was plenty of influence. Goods flowed pretty freely in Wentworths ... because most of the players were playing heroes, gaining influence, and trading good with influence. People were working together for the good of Paragon City.

Meanwhile, the prices were high on the Black Market. Items were scarce. Infamy was fairly limited as well. You could try to sell high because of the rarity, but few had the infamy needed to purchase high priced items. Basically, it's what you got for being a villain.

 

Now that isn't to say that I didn't have villain character back then ... because I did ... I do now, but I still mostly play on the hero side in Paragon City.

 

What? Praetoria? Information?

 

 

On 10/13/2023 at 12:59 PM, SeraphimKensai said:

How do you feel about the current state of in-game currencies?

 

 

On 10/13/2023 at 12:59 PM, SeraphimKensai said:

What do you think about the number of different currencies players need to accumulate?

 

On 10/13/2023 at 12:59 PM, SeraphimKensai said:

Incarnate Shards - used for your incarnate Alpha slot.

Incarnate Threads - used for all incarnate slots.

Empyrean Merits - converting to threads, buying rare/very rare incarnate salvage, previously for converting to reward merits

On 10/13/2023 at 12:59 PM, SeraphimKensai said:

Prismatic Aether - converting to INF via AH, or buying permanent prestige costumes.

 

Mean nothing to me.

 

On 10/13/2023 at 12:59 PM, SeraphimKensai said:

Influence

 

... is where I'm at and with that I get most of my ....

 

On 10/13/2023 at 12:59 PM, SeraphimKensai said:

Reward Merits

 

...through card packs (though I do like hunting Giant Monsters!)

 

And I don't really use Merits all that often because I have enough influence to meet the meager needs of my myriad pre-level 50 characters.

I'm sure I'm not as rich as Yomo, but I get by.

 

On 10/13/2023 at 12:59 PM, SeraphimKensai said:

Does this work to alienate players into the haves and then have nots?

 

When it comes down to it there are those of use who give Influence to other players when they need it.

 

Like Yomo

GM Crumpet

I don't advertise it, but I'm out there lurking somewhere and have been known to help people out from time to time as the situation arises. 

 

Now if you are trying to fill out 50's with all bells and whistles... well, then ...  you are on your own.

If you are a level 50 and you are a "have not" then you built your own cage .... or is that made your own bed ... something like that....

 

On 10/13/2023 at 12:59 PM, SeraphimKensai said:

Or force you to play content you might not otherwise engage in?

 

The only thing that forces me to engage in content that I would otherwise not engage in is "friends".

 

I guess there is my Origins Project characters too. Some of that is getting and some origins arcs have been quite torturous. 

 

...and sometimes I forget and join a team for a task force and confused it with another one and figured I had to deal with it to completion once I joined the team ... but that is very, very, very exceedingly rare.

 

Oh, I guess you are talking about grinding.

Yeah, I'm not going to grind for rewards if I can help it.

 

On 10/13/2023 at 12:59 PM, SeraphimKensai said:

I'm on the fence about prismatic aethers. I think the existing system is essentially a gate to extend a players time in unlocking these prestige costumes, which I think can alienate players especially newer players that might not be able to afford to drop 2 billion inf on prismatic aethers at the AE in, which slows them down especially from a role playing perspective if they have a character concept that requires a specific prestige costume. The drop rate in non incarnate/non hard mode content also could be perceived to penalize players who choose not to play at that difficultly.

 

The whole point of Prismatic Aethers is something for end-game L337 to grind for.

Leave it there for grinding. The L337 need stuff to grind for. They like showing how much they like to grind.

Grind on Grinder!

 

Meanwhile, I'll be enjoying playing the game.

Plenty of costume parts to choose from. Tons and tons of them that I haven't even used yet.

 

On 10/13/2023 at 12:59 PM, SeraphimKensai said:

We transition to discussing the merit of in-game currencies, their exchange rates if convertible, and their necessity.

 

As should be obvious, Influence is really the only currency that I'm concerned with - as with it, I can easily equip all my characters.

 

The Market is the best PvP in City of Heroes.

 

 

 

[High_Beam]

On 10/14/2023 at 12:38 AM, Greycat said:

Forgotten but still in game: Vanguard merits. There's just not much use for them other than a recurring Vanguard HVAS and converting to Reward Merits

Wait.  You can convert them to Reward Merits?  Honestly I did not know that.

Edited October 15, 2023 by High_Beam

[SuperPlyx]

6 currencies is not many.  I played other games with many more. NeverWinter for one ,I swear that game has dozens.

 

[Coyotedancer]

Poor, forgotten Brainstorm Ideas. 

Nobody loves them...

[archgemini24]

22 hours ago, SuperPlyx said:

6 currencies is not many.  I played other games with many more. NeverWinter for one ,I swear that game has dozens.

 

 

First place my mind went to since I started playing that game. 6 total currencies in the City, 1 which is really a subset of another (Shards/Threads) and another which is mostly just for costumes (Aether), means most players will only worry about 4... globally. That is tame, and I hope it stays that way.

[cranebump]

On 10/13/2023 at 12:59 PM, SeraphimKensai said:

1. Incarnate Shards - used for your incarnate Alpha slot.
2. Incarnate Threads - used for all incarnate slots.
3. Empyrean Merits - converting to threads, buying rare/very rare incarnate salvage, previously for converting to reward merits
4. Reward Merits - used for buying converters, boosters, catalysts, ATOs, Winter IOs, IO recipes, etc.
5. Prismatic Aether - converting to INF via AH, or buying permanent prestige costumes.

I rarely play Inc content, and I think I may be outright done with building any more Incarnate toons. So #'s 1-3 don't mean much anymore. I DO use the Emp Merits to get the snazzy super insps and sell them on the market for seed cash (I'll keep a couple few level boosters for emergencies).

 

Primarily Use #4 to get the AT Enhances (though I will convert some to salvage to sell, if I must have Inf on the spot [and am not willing to jump on a "seed toon" that moment].

 

I sell every #5 I get.