@sweetsandman said in Rare's unclear attitude toward re-released cosmetics [Wish You Were Here]:
@thepretenduk said in Rare's unclear attitude toward re-released cosmetics [Wish You Were Here]:
Being able to find the time to island hop and do a few forts in order to get some cosmetics early is not the same as actively taking part in event that define the sandbox in which we play.
The Whaling Barnacle stuff, as an example...all you had to do was log in and buy it from Duke. That's it. You didn't have to actively take part in anything.
The Arena Ships didn't require you to take part in Arena (plenty of people just bought levels from Duke/Larinna)...aside from The Good Boy...unless you were a SOT partner, then you just got it without having to get to level 50...so, bit of a mixed bag there...
All the "log in on this day to get 'cosmetic X' " items didn't require active participation. It was just "hey log in and you get it"
Don't get on the "active participation" wagon, it plays into Rare's hypocrisy.
Regarding the original barnacle stuff, that's not entirely accurate.
During year 1, you bought stuff from Duke with doubloons, not gold. You could only earn doubloons from commendations. And a bilge rat adventure (BRA) launched with just enough commendations to have enough doubloons to buy the cosmetics that were also time limited to that BRA. Even more importantly, when a BRA ended, the commendations that were attached to it no longer gave doubloons. That didn't change until shrouded spoils if I recall.
So yes technically you could do commendations during one event and NOT buy those cosmetics to Dave the doubloons. And then "just log in" during the next event and buy THOSE cosmetics. But literally almost nobody did that. The structure and time limited nature of both the cosmetics AND doubloons heavily incentivized doing the commendations and buying the cosmetics and a unified experience.
There were no reapers chests. Or tomes. Or ritual skulls. The items that became a source of stockpiling doubloons. So of you wanted a limited BRA cosmetic, you really had to do stuff, not "just" log in. And particularly in year 1, with both barnacle and bone crusher cosmetics, that stuff was specific and required interacting with new world changes. Sitting on skellie thrones, blowing up gunpowder skellies, attacking mermaid statues that didn't give gems. And many required cooperation. Sitting on a large skellie throne with someone from another crew. Hooboy.
I have no particular stance on time limited cosmetics. But I do see mostly a consistency. Things and events that changed the world permanently (introduction of thrones, megs, gunpowder skellies, skellie ships) especially early on had permanently time limited cosmetics, and most "pass the time" events did not.
Yes Rare has broken that a few times (really only once that I recall with a forken shores item) but this isn't one of those times. This event brings no new mechanics. It doesn't add any new commendations to bilge rats. Even chest of fortune did that. It's just a "do stuff" event. Not a "new stuff" event. And I've never been a fan of revisionist history, and claiming that barnacle stuff only required logging in is exactly that.