So when it comes to the pirate emporium and it being used to help fund Rare, I do not mind it at all. They can make as much content for it as they want. However my issues, start and end with in game content that I can and should be able to earn through my abilities rather than my wallet. So stuff like certain emotes, costumes for animals, pirate costumes like a splash tail or Greek god like outfits or related tools and weapons, or the halo spartan ship set. Cool! Those work for the store and I’m all for having.
However, stuff like splash tail and other animal ship sets, pirates of the Caribbean items, monkey island items, curses, ect. These should be in game! Tall tale items, as tall tale unlock-ables just like tall tales year1, world/faction unlock-ables like animals for reaching max level on their hunters call item or a merchant challenge, should be in game not stuck behind a pay wall that is the emporium.
Now, some may say “But we got unlocks for pirates of the C during those tall tales.” For pirates, we got a coral ship set that didn’t match the tall tale at all, and then a song. The ship set should have been the black pearl. We should have had a jack sparrow outfit, we unlock through a hidden treasure in the swamp tall tale akin to why so many fans were asking why there is a map of the swamp next to Jack sparrow when he is in the treasure room. Or maybe the chest you find if you take the classic movie ride path way. Stuff like this should have happened in the pirates tall tale rewards. A same can be said for monkey island instead of just the tiny figures we received.
This is the only issue I and a lot of fans have with the emporium. So awesome, that it was addressed in a video but Rare/sea of thieves, you still didn’t understand the issue/problem with all of it. Please address it on what items should be in the world and what items should be in the emporium for the current momentum of both stores. As both sides kinda suck in this idea of world building.
Pirate emporium issue/7/10 video
I didn't take it as them not understanding the criticisms
I took it as "y'all want the free updates still? this is how we gotta do it"
Imo it's more them saying they are sticking with it to continue to offer the same product that (some/many) people enjoy while acknowledging that not everyone likes it.
They gotta sell stuff and they feel this is how they gotta go about that. They know the numbers, they are gonna know what sells and what doesn't. People might want them to sell/not sell certain stuff but they gotta go by the numbers.
The game is in its 7th year. Monetization has to happen. A curse behind a paywall is fine by me, as it supports the developers. There has to be a way to increase revenue going forward to continue the updates. It's no different than other top games that don't receive such criticism.
However, if they were to add curses that were obtainable through achievement and effort as a purchased item, then that's where I draw the line. If they add the gold curse, skeleton curse or blessing that is a deal breaker for me and I would uninstall.
If it's just the stone curse and lightning curses and nothing that allows you to bypass in game effort for an instant reward, I'm fine with that and don't understand the problem.
I think there needs to be a little bit more of a middle ground and implementing the IKEA effect. Unlocking the skeleton/ghost curse at 100 is completely fine but I think a small subset of those curses could have been further obtained behind a paywall.
Like, if I was told that I could get Verdant Bones (for getting the 50 * 4 streaks) as well as an optional curse for a few dollars more I would actually get both and rock the paid version as it shows that I support the game and I'm a sweat.
