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Some games make a large portion of their revenue from customization of player avatars. Vindictus is a good example. I see lots of people running around with special costumes in that game. I absolutely love visual customization but MWO is doing it wrong, and I think a lot more money could be made with some adjustments:
1. Each color bought is permanently unlocked per variant (or even mech type).
2....
It looks like only #1 is actually necessary to make MWO work like all other MMOs. In other games when I want to buy a special outfit for my avatar, I don't have to pay each time I want to equip it. I'm sure PGI has made some money on this system, but I just can't bring myself to buy those colors. I really WANT to. But I can't, based on the fact that it is a clear rip off.
A lot of game devs cater to the whales, the players who want to feel exclusive, because revenue actually increases sometimes when you make things so expensive that only the whales can afford it. But in this case, I really don't think it's necessary. I'm not a whale but I want to trick out all 12 of my mechs, badly.
Maybe this is a pointless post because the current way it works is just a bug that never got fixed. Or maybe PGI is planning to fix it. Either way, I really hope something is done about this because I'd like my Hunchback to look pretty!
TL;DR - Customization increases retention, I swear.
Edited by ExplodedZombie, 14 January 2013 - 11:17 AM.
