Collection unlock tickets for Cartel Market

[Melodyrinselm]

So, one of the things I love most about the cartel market and merchandise-based community in general is that you don't necessarily have to pay real life money to get the items you want- If an item is on cartel market, it unbinds, and you can sell it on the GTN for a tidy sum. This benefits everyone. The person who had the money to buy the item and wanted credits now has credits. The person who had the credits but doesn't have the money to spend on the game now has the item they wanted. The game creators still make their money, all the same. Everyone is happy. However, people still have to spend real-life money to unlock this item. Let's say that an item is made to allow you to unlock your item that is sold in the cartel market. Someone who wants credits, or wants to help a friend out, can pick it up, and when it unbinds sell/give the ticket over to whoever, who then uses it to unlock an item in their own collections. The devs get their money, everyone (once again) is happy. I can also see this being a very popular item, since it means that the people who can't normally pay money to unlock their items can now spend credits for the tokens to unlock the items someone else spend cartel coins on! It's a win-win for everyone.

 

I propose the following system: There will be three items that would be added to the market, following the normal schema for unlocking items and item sets: Tickets that cost 60, 240, and 400 Cartel Coins. In the normal amount of time for items bought off of the Cartel Market (two days), these items unbind to the character that retrieved them, and can then be gifted or sold as the owner chooses. The tickets will unlock an item in the collections (as a on-use option in the collections menu for each item) based on the price of the item in the cartel market.. So a 60-CC ticket will unlock a collection piece that would normally cost 60-CC to unlock. Likewise, a 400-CC ticket will unlock one that costs 400 (or less, I suppose) to unlock. You choose the item, and use the ticket on it.

 

This is something I'm sure would be a hit in the Cartel Market, and would sell heavily, so it's also a great marketing decision. It would spice up the economy of the game a bit more, and would overall only be a benefit to everyone.

[Theeko]

Very bad idea, goes against all the works of the CM itself since the beginning because it always has been you had to have the whole set or item to bind first then you can decide to account unlock or not, but if you just meant to unlock the item itself without having to use your CC to unlock them then yeah I could agree with that, would get more $ and credits flowing.

[Emersyn]

i dont mind this idea - basically everything else can be bought with CC and then re-sold - why not collection unlocks?

 

Perhaps someone at 0 CC doesn't want to spend 5 bucks to get 450 CC when all they need is a unlock for 60 CC - might be easier to just spend 100 or 200k.

[Melodyrinselm]

Very bad idea, goes against all the works of the CM itself since the beginning because it always has been you had to have the whole set or item to bind first then you can decide to account unlock or not, but if you just meant to unlock the item itself without having to use your CC to unlock them then yeah I could agree with that, would get more $ and credits flowing.

 

This is exactly what I mean. You have to have the item already, it's not just giving you the item. It's unlocking it like you normally would with cartel coins, just with an item instead. Literally, just a voucher of exchange transaction.

[Melodyrinselm]

i dont mind this idea - basically everything else can be bought with CC and then re-sold - why not collection unlocks?

 

Perhaps someone at 0 CC doesn't want to spend 5 bucks to get 450 CC when all they need is a unlock for 60 CC - might be easier to just spend 100 or 200k.

 

Exactly one of the places my mind was going with this.

[Unchosen]

If I'm BioWare I don't see a clear benefit of spending resources to implement a feature just because some people are too cheap to spend a few bucks for unlocks.

[Melodyrinselm]

If I'm BioWare I don't see a clear benefit of spending resources to implement a feature just because some people are too cheap to spend a few bucks for unlocks.

 

Then you also fail to see the way the market works now. People already buy sets and authorizations on the GTN that others spend money on, it's just a matter of opening up another source of revenue. People will pay money regardless, just take a scroll through the "unlocks" section of the GTN and you'll see that as a fact. Not only would BioWare get money from these transactions, but there would be more reason for people to buy them, since people interested in earning credits faster will make an in-game profit by buying these tickets and selling them on the GTN. That's the way this game's market has been for a long time. For 500 Cartel Coins you can get one of the Bladesmaster's Attenuated blades straight off the GTN, and get a couple million for it. There's profit for both the company and the purchasee.

[Unchosen]

I understand how the market works but there's no guarantee that your suggestion is worth the resources it would take to implement. It also sounds like a feature that gets complicated because there are various unlock costs and those prices are often changing.

I think you might just be desperate to get a feature that will allow You to acquire what you want without having to buy CC.

Even if this item is implemented the result might only be that many CM customers change what items they purchase but don't spend anymore than they already have been.

So the result could be, no increased profit for BioWare and less gear, weapons and mounts available on the GTN.

[Melodyrinselm]

I understand how the market works but there's no guarantee that your suggestion is worth the resources it would take to implement. It also sounds like a feature that gets complicated because there are various unlock costs and those prices are often changing.

I think you might just be desperate to get a feature that will allow You to acquire what you want without having to buy CC.

Even if this item is implemented the result might only be that many CM customers change what items they purchase but don't spend anymore than they already have been.

So the result could be, no increased profit for BioWare and less gear, weapons and mounts available on the GTN.

 

The resources this would take is a slight amount of coding. There's three pricings that are used, and they actually haven't fluctuated much at all, barring going back and forth as individual sets within the three pricings. 60 cartel coins, 240 cartel coins, and 400 cartel coins for bronze, silver, and gold items/sets respectively. It really would not take much for resources. I really don't see how it could shift in the direction you imply, since people have been more than willing already to buy such things as authorizations for areas of the game, artifact authorizations, and such to sell on the GTN. This would literally just be another form of authorization on the lower key.

I also really don't appreciate the tone you are taking. I'm far from "Desperate" to get this. Realistically, I've spent plenty on cartel coins over the course of my gaming career. But as far as ideas go for such things as sales and gifts, this is also far from a bad one. Even if you take out the factor of selling, this could also open up the ability for people to buy their friends the ability to unlock sets. A present where they get the armor is all well and good, but what if you added in the ability to unlock it? It's not even close to how intensive to set up as you seem to be stating, and would be a useful addition.