Loss of Trust
It is extremely disappointing to see premium cosmetics (Auric Cells Only) offered for free in the Rift.
As a paying customer, I feel betrayed and undervalued.
The premium sticker tag tells me that only real-world money can buy this item, and no amount of time invested in the game will help me unlock my purchase. It is a signifier that this item is one-of-a-kind (even if it exists in a virtual mass market), and therefore holds intrinsic value as a product which I can possess.
I do not support this kind of dubious practice. I will not be paying for future content.
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To those who may be drinking the Kool-Aid, cosmetic retexturing/recoloring is a very simple task. Depending on the complexity of the model, a single artist could create 3 to 10 different texture variants of a single model in one day.
Cosmetics with color & texture variants have grown in popularity as in-game purchases because they are incredibly low-cost to make while creating wider appeal for a cosmetic line.
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Most companies recognize that when customers purchase a cosmetic at a premium they are paying for the exclusivity of an item. Part of a product's value is derived from the amount of versions available.
The more options available, the lower the value of the product.
This is a concept I'm sure many of you are familiar with, as taglines like "One-of-a-Kind" or "Only X number of copies have been made" are popular selling points for lucrative items.
BHVR has said "to hell with exclusivity" and undermined the value of all their products with the decision to include premium products for free.
Comments
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Who told you that it was an exclusive?
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Auric cells have been in every rift #########?
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Cosmetics that appear in the store are exclusives?
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Exclusive (adj.) - restricted in distribution, use, or appeal because of expense
Do I need to hold your hand and teach you how items behind a paywall are exclusive, or are you going to stop trolling?
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This is what made you lose faith? Not the YEARS of broken promises, the sharp decline in any form of communication, the three broken chapters in a row, the worshipping of statistics, the ignoring of the playerbase, or the ever-increasing problems of map gameplay design?
Post edited by Gay Myers (Luzi) on45 -
Welcome to the big brain DbD community. Wallets are open 24/7 here. Doesn't matter if the game is broken like hell. Oh, a new cosmetic? Take my money and ignorance!
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First world problems dear...
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Which cosmetic are you talking about?
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Why do some people have an issue with this? Both the Nea and Hillbilly cosmetics have quite significant differences to their original versions. Not only that but it isn't like buying the original cosmetic pieces prevents you from getting the rift versions.
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I'll take your 8k forum posts as a sign that you and I both continue to invest a lot of time in Dead by Daylight DESPITE its glaring imperfections.
I may take issue with BHVR's design decisions, but something about the game keeps pulling me back in. So as long as I am playing, I am inclined to indulge myself every once and a while with the world building, cosmetics and characters the game has to offer.
As a consumer, I don't want to waste my money on any product I know I can receive for free.
By including premium cosmetics in the Rift for free, BHVR has made it clear that I can expect any and all cosmetics to eventually be made available free of charge in the future. Therefore, I no longer have a reason to spend money in their store. I don't need things RIGHT NOW. I can wait until they are free.
They have lost me as a customer for this reason, and I think anyone with enough self-control would be wise to save their money as well and just wait until their favorite skin is given to them for free.
The Hillbilly cosmetic is hardly a significant change. It is the same exact skin, with different textures. I didn't buy Beach Boy Billy for the texture on his shirt--I bought it for the beach vibes. The texture might be different, but what I paid money for is being offered for free.
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Stuff hidden behind a paywall aren't exclusive.
There are tons of games out there where "premium" stuff you pay real money for are also accessible without paying money.
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Actually, I barely touch DbD any more. I physically cannot play killer since this last update, but that barely effects me since I hate playing killer. And I'm burnt the ######### out of survivor to, since my teammates are either complete potatoes or, more commonly, attempt to set genspeed records and generally act like douchebags, predropping every pallet so I've got nothing or just straight up sandbagging me because that's also unpunished.
I've just been hanging around the forums coasting on my 2 hours of DbD a week, hoping shite's gonna change before I get sick of this game completely.
Edit: and you know what? I've been in this situation with other games and an apology and some openness from the Devs goes a long way. It's nice to feel like the people you've spent the last few years supporting actually give a crap about the people they've been lying to.
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I'm getting to that point where I'm going to stop playing dead by daylight it is unfair for survivors I don't like playing killer why do Killers like to body camp there should be a penalty if you play unfair
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I literally defined the word exclusive for you. When something requires money to obtain, it becomes exclusive.
The more an item costs, the more exclusive it becomes.
Items can also cost nothing at all and be exclusive--as is the case with Legacy Skins.
If people were to attribute a value to Legacy Skins, they would cost more than any other skin in the game because they are the most exclusive item in DBD. But they are not the only exclusive item in the game.
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What skins are we talking about here?
Also
What thread are you replying to? Certainly not this one
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I feel your pain, I made a post called, How can this happen? sharing my anger at bought cosmetics now free in the rift, I wont be buying cosmtics with auric cells again.
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And like I've literally told you, these items are not exclusive because they can be obtained without money.
If a money can be had without spending money, it becomes less exclusive.
You yourself defined the things you are complaining about as being free in the Rifts. So I suggest you think about what you're saying a little before more people start realizing how wrong it is.
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I see it more as BHVR seeing a way to improve the rift in a really cheap way. I don't think the intentions were to screw anyone over, but to address the fact that most rifts have just been charm collecting simulators. People have been demanding that the battle pass become an actual battle pass instead of just filler content to make an extra buck. I'm glad that we got new skins, but this was not the right way to go about it.
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Last Rift there was a blue version of the Jeff Mad Max cosmetic. You had to buy the Rift, but that rubbed me the wrong way because he is already so light on his own unique cosmetics.
This Rift, the free Billy skin is just a retexture of a $7 skin that can only be bought with Auric Cells.
I'm sure there may be others in the past that I was unaware of.
Why are you wasting your time trolling this thread?
This entire post is calling attention to the issue of exclusive skins being made free for all.
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I thought this post was going to be about dogshit killers who pretend they're farming just to get kills because they can't actually earn them otherwise.
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There are people like that? Yikes
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lol, yeah it's been happening a lot to me lately, weirdly. Just had a Pig do it. I almost feel bad for killers like that because they're that bad at the game, but at the same time, it's a scummy thing to do. I'm not going to help any killers from now on when they decide to farm. I'm doing gens and I'm out. It's boring, and I'm not going to give killers easy BP and then easy kills too because they decided to betray that trust. NO SIR.
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For those asking - This is the cosmetic that cost many of us 1080 ACs. The one on the left is free, the one on the right was the premium "exclusive":
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I mean, you gave us a definition of "exclusive." You didn't tell us who told you it was.
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I mean...
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Oh boohoo. BHVR wants to give their playerbase access to popular skins by reskinning it.
As both of you guys said, reskinning isnt really a hard task. The original model was already available.
Not including the fact that many, MANY exclusive skins that were previously available only to people who went to pax, which is a very exclusive part of the audience, leaving codes for those skins on ebay for 1000$.
BHVR has, time and time again, stated that they do not want exclusivity. Money is still a border for exclusivity, hence why they give popular skins a reskin and make it available to those who play the game extensively.
If you're that horny for exclusivity that you want to exclude anyone with not enough money, go buy Apple products.
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I mean why does it matter? You get an extra recolor option if you want. I would NEVER buy the green Nea hair but I ADORE the Blonde hair in the rift rn. Having more options is always good.
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Yeah I just checked the rift and I felt the exact same thing. Honestly most of the stuff in the premium track is pretty bad or meh. I think I'm going to actually stay in the free track this time because the stuff they offer is actually really good. The free track is full of paid cosmetics that I already own so yeah I feel pretty bad about wasting money. I don't know if I can trust buying cosmetics again if they're just going to give them for free a couple months later.
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Goes to show there is no reason to rush n buy cosmetics at release, unless to support the game. Wait awhile and the item or retexture will come around.
Have patience and save a few bucks.
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Its not the exact same thing though. There is a difference between them and all. They are similar, yeah, but not the same. I might be missing something, but yeah
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It matters because:
- Consumers feel conned and/or betrayed
- In-Game Purchases lose value
BHVR should care about the fact that they are losing trust from their player base.
BHVR should also care that they are devaluing their own product, and hurting their own bottom-line.
Objectively, the decision to make premium content available for free after hundreds (if not thousands) of people have already paid for it is a terrible marketing strategy, and an even worse way to build a relationship with their consumer.
BHVR can tout their disinterest in exclusivity all they want, but the reality is they're not 100% against it. There is an undeniable appeal to limited ownership, and DBD has a number of unobtainable cosmetics owned by players who've owned the game since launch.
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Personally, I just expect any cosmetic is up for possibility to be a recolor in the rift. As a result, what I do is, if I really like a cosmetic I wait 2 rifts to see if it appears as a cosmetic. If it does, I pay the ac for the rift and play for the cosmetic and get my money back that I can spend on something different later. If it does not appear, I reevaluate if I want the cosmetic. Generally, if I was actually able to wait that long, I end up not getting the cosmetic and it makes an appearance in a future rift anyways. Very few cosmetics have I actually been impatient about or preferred the one in the shop.
There's no reason for me to get mad at BHVR if I can do that. Now for the exclusive argument, that kind of depends on what definition of the word you're using. I feel, that nothing in this game that stays past a certain point (generally the end of some kind of event), is exclusive. There's not many things in this game that are TRULY exclusive and therefore, using exclusivity as a reason not to trust BHVR comes off as bs and just someone looking for a reason to be mad.
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I... don't see the problem? If they want to reskin popular skins, then why not? I don't remember BHVR ever saying that the skins in the shop would only be purchasable and there wouldn't be any other way to get the skins. In other words, I don't believe they ever said they were exclusive?
In fact, when the first rift launched, they made it pretty obvious that the rift would be a way for players to actually work for these reskins, rather than trying to get a hold of their moms credit card and buy it. Seeing how nobody cared at the time, they proceeded.
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The problem is that they barely touched the one people paid 1080AC for and gave it away for free. They could have made the shirt red and made his beard brown. But no, they just slid a slider one pixel to the left and said to hell with anyone that bought it with real money.
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Imagine paying a battlepass in this game.
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this whole dissciusion give me the vibe i bught some skins with money to feel better then others, how dear the devs give diffrent option of that skins to people so i loose my i better then you bubble.
its not a big deal they have never said that any shop cosmetic will be exclusive, and just so you now you can earn tahat recorol too i know it souds unreal but you trully can do that too
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Sorry but paying money for something doesn't make it exclusive just because of your little definition.
Battlefield 3 for example had timesaver packs were vehicles and gun attachments could be unlocked without farming for real money.
Another example in league of legends and other games you can buy skins or in game premium currency like auric cells to unlock skin but also get them for free in loot boxes.
Third example rainbow six siege. Skins again available for premium currency are also possible to obtain by free loot packs
The argument of using real money for unlocks making them exclusive is as false/useless as it gets.
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I have a few skins I paid $$ for that I really like and have enjoyed playing with. If a recolour of those skins showed up in the free track of the rift, I'd be happy because a) I'd get a recolour of a skin I already like, and b) more people would get to enjoy them. I would still have benefited from all the time I got to enjoy the skin in the time between when I bought it and now.
The only situation where I can imagine being annoyed is if I spent money on skins I didn't really want that much, and then a few weeks later they showed up in the rift. But, I'd be mad at myself for wasting money on something I didn't care about more than I'd be mad at the rift.
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How does it devalue it at all?
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this whole comment gives me the vibe you didn't read anything I've said in this thread.
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This cosmetic is on the free track.
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More power to you.
I provide you with a definition of the word "exclusive," and you resort to belittling me. How mature.
I'd offer you a rebuttle, but its clear you've no intention of even trying to understand the point I'm making.
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My heart breaks for you wounded elitist ego. Really it does, but have you not been paying attention to BHVR's MO or words? They clearly don't want things to be particularly exclusive. Credit where credit is due, they actually care enough about the players to make sure everyone whose active enough gets to have something nice. More than I can say for a lot of other games with bigger budgets and larger teams. I might complain a ton about the direction of gameplay, but when it comes to cosmetics? They've done a pretty good job so far. Rift cosmetics eventually show up in the shop and shop cosmetics eventually slide into a Rift with so minor changes. Everyone benefits. If you want real exclusivity in DBD you should have bought Deathgarden cause then you could have the OG Runner mask for meg and OG Hunter mask for Trapper.
Not that either of those things matter. If you bought in to a cosmetic just consider it a down payment on improvements in the future.
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oh iv read it and you coplaing just becouse devs decided to do recolors of auric cells you started bitching couse you lose your braging right too fell special couse of the skins and if you would take some time to check pices you would see that nea skin is a combination of 3 pices form 3 different set and billis hammer is a recolor of a event hammer from bbq event way back in 2018
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you both get a kick out of trying to gas-light strangers on the internet?
The issue is that myself and many others paid money for cosmetics we were lead to believe were only obtainable with real-world money. The cosmetics we purchased are now being offered for free. We wasted our money.
Thats it.
This practice is a slap in the face to paying customers, and an insult to anyone who would spend money on a cosmetic in the first place.
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so paobably you also feeling slaped in face whenever they relise skins from athers rifts that was on premium track
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If I wanted to gaslight you I'd be a bit more subtle than that, hun.
What people are have been trying to tell you is that this pattern is NOT NEW. If you were under the impression that you'd gotten something that special for dbd Original killer then you played yourself. Very few people are going to take your complaint seriously when we have been able to watch the company do this already.
Very few things for unlicensed killers and survivors are guaranteed to be exclusive. That's been made very plain, hun. Also you do come off as elitist when your very first world complaint is that you spent money on a thing you wanted, but now other people can get a slightly different version of it for just playing the game. You could have waited like others did, but you wanted the item right then and you got it.
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Are they availible for shards actually?
While yes, it has happenned, those cosmetics are usually recolors of stuff you can get also for shards*
This has been the first cosmetic that not only is auric cells only (except the weapon which was an event that is now given to all) but is not that... diffrent. The recolor just looks too close to the original.
*Unless you remind me of one cosmetic on the free track that also only cost auric cells.
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How do you not see the irony in calling me elitist when I'm complaining about having wasted money?
If I was elitist, I wouldnt care. I'd have enough money to sweep it under the rug.
I don't throw money away. I spend it on things I believe have value.
The Hot Bod Billy cosmetic had value to me and it is only available with Auric Cells, so I needed to pay real money for it.
You have no place to judge me or the reasons I place value in things. Even the lowest classes of society place value in material possessions.
The cosmetic I purchased is now available for free. I feel cheated. I feel like I wasted my money.
I don't like wasting money. Period.
I lament my decision to purchase this cosmetic. BHVR has proven that money doesn't buy me anything I cannot earn for free. I will not be giving them any more money. Period.
That is the purpose of this thread.
So what is the purpose of your response?
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Let's break down what you posted.
"The premium sticker tag tells me that only real-world money can buy this item, and no amount of time invested in the game will help me unlock my purchase. It is a signifier that this item is one-of-a-kind (even if it exists in a virtual mass market), and therefore holds intrinsic value as a product which I can possess."
Here you are mentioning the value being tied to perceived notion that the skin was one-of-a-kind(unattainable w/o cost)
"Most companies recognize that when customers purchase a cosmetic at a premium they are paying for the exclusivity of an item. Part of a product's value is derived from the amount of versions available.
The more options available, the lower the value of the product.
This is a concept I'm sure many of you are familiar with, as taglines like "One-of-a-Kind" or "Only X number of copies have been made" are popular selling points for lucrative items."
From the same opening post we have you talking about paying for the exclusivity of the item and stating that more options lower the value. Even though, that was never promised to you from the get go and is pretty sus reason to buy things. Nobody likes losing money, but in order for there to be a loss you'd need to demonstrate that your item lost value. Which it did not.
The price of item is still gonna be the same on store, so bare bones dollar value hasn't changed. The perceived exclusivity surround the item was just that perceived, never a true fact. While perception of an object's value is a definite working concept you can see in other games in this instance people are going to have an easy time paying the exact same price you paid to get the exact same item. We're not dealing with TF2 hats and CSGO skins here. You also have the option to just place the game get the variant and have both one isn't making the other go away.
You might feel burned by this and you can feel however you want. Yet, the way you opened and continued to post comes off as elitist. As for my reason of posting, last i checked it's a free forum and I have a history of posting pretty much all over the place. The real question is what did you hope to accomplish with this thread. Multi-million playerbase and one person feeling a bit put off from throwing cash at the story isn't exactly gonna move the needle.
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