Buying Tattoos/Characters (in General)

Simply put, it needs to end.

It adds nothing to the game.


Buying things like tattoos and characters are simply shortcuts. Buying them allows players to make up for lack of effort by having thick wallets.

I suppose this comes to the USD issue. But if people want to buy CB to augment their gear, fine. I've totally given up there and, judging by the lack of anti-USD threads the past year or more, so has everyone else.

But I do not believe that USD shouldn't buy you everything. I believe that a player should be limited by whether or not they can spend USD. When is the last time CB was accepted for a large character/tattoo sale? Doesn't happen. And why should it? USD is so much easier for everyone involved. Who cares if players without USD are excluded?

There is nothing in CB that rewards players for being dedicated over just buying it with USD. Nothing belongs to a player. Accounts are empty shells. Characters, tattoos, items. Nothing that binds a player to their account. No sense of loyalty to it.


Why not create a multi? How many players would delete their account if it mean they could make a NUB? What does -anyone- own that couldn't be bought with 6 months worth of NUB cash?

Heck, even the largest tattoos and characters are eventually bought and sold.

Even a player's name, that which the community knows them by, can be changed on a whim!

Tattoos and characters should not be an extension of money. Tattoos take so much time and dedication to level. Characters even more so. Bind them to us, give us a sense of place.

I agree but at the same time i don't
i have bought and sold both characters and tats, and they shouldn't be bound to us.
USD on the other hand makes an unfair game to all involved regardless if you have it (easy street) or don't (bummed out)

go ahead call me a hypocrite but i haven't put more than $50 into this game

I agree with the characters part, but I think that purchasing tattoos is just fine. It's a piece of equipment just like any other. Also, because you can't keep a tattoo at your max tattoo level on your own, you pretty much need to upgrade every once in a while.

Also, there are a few old fashioned people who simply don't use tattoos. I was one for a while, until I figured out that you need a tattoo to survive.

What about those of us, /me points to himself, that used a RoE and now want to buy a tat with CBD, none of which they purchased with USD.

I"m another user that has never shelled out a single usd. Sure most likely i'll never see the top, but the top is not really appealing to me anyway. I have no problem with people that want to use usd (aparently neither does jon).

Tattoos take so much time and dedication to level.

I say if people are willing to do the work, why not they be rewarded for it in real life with usd?

Lastly.

Buying things like tattoos and characters are simply shortcuts. Buying them allows players to make up for lack of effort by having thick wallets.

I'm pretty sure you were looking for an insta up not to long ago were you not?

Saying instaing tattoos is a bad/wrong thing does not make him obligated to not do said action, does it?

*Hey mom I dont smoke weed its bad

10 minutes later

*Lights up in his room.

Guess your right rawr saying one thing and doing the other happens every day. =).

That would be lying, and in a case with something illegal, but putting in that situation is still somewhat wrong :).

It would be more like, in that case:

Smoking is bad, but smokers still smoke :(

"That would be lying, and in a case with something illegal"

Prescription mannnn.... /me giggles and goes back to eating munchies.

Your mom thinks you don't smoke weed :O

Smoking is not bad. It is a natural sedative that some people use/need. It calms your stomach and relaxes your mind, some people cannot maintain sanity without this in their daily lives. I fail to see how it is bad.

Simply put there is two sides to every story. I sympathize with you Godwolf, I have used USD because I had no other true route to get the things I needed for my strat(without of course putting myself into serious debt which I hate to do). All the prices for things in CBD are so jacked up overall that you would have to play for a year spending little to no cash in order to have a chance at having a winning bid on any high end item(Without a N*B). However I see no real problem with using USD anyway, that is an individuals property and should have full rights to do what they choose with it including selling it for whatever reason they choose. Some do take advantage of this to make up for "lack of effort by having thick wallets" but I ask you this which effort? The Effort I put in to get MY hard earned dollar means just as much if not a great deal more to me than the effort I put in to get that CBD but I buy CBD with it anyway just to have fun playing the game. Not all are lazy players some just have a bigger chunk of their time taken away from CBing by something that affects us all "Life" and the only way we have a chance to catch up/ keep afloat is to use that almighty Real World Money AKA USD. Am I complaining NO I see it as an expense for something I enjoy if you don't like it that is Your Right but spending MY hard earned USD is MY Right. Let's get back to the basics and enjoy the game.....Happy Blending :)

Oh, and another thing, the post has gone off topic.....

I couldn't decide whether to ignore all the above posts, or address them. In the end though, I decided to make sure I set things straight.

Tal: I'm a bit confused as to why you're against it. You didn't really say.

Raveshaw: The only reason it tattoos need to be insta'd is because other people are doing it. If everyone used tattoos of their own making, no one who didn't outwork you could get ahead of you.

AG: That argument holds no merit. It sucks, and you could easily buy a new tattoo and start levelling it, but you can't counter every argument based on the fact that it doesn't help you. At one point, things should change. Some people are always going to be affected negatively by change, but that doesn't mean it's bad.

Kefeck: "I say if people are willing to do the work, why not they be rewarded for it in real life with usd?" Uhh... Seriously? It's called a GAME, not a JOB. If you want to be payed for effort, try getting a job.

"I'm pretty sure you were looking for an insta up not to long ago were you not?"

Oh, okay. My entire post is void because I followed the same rules as everyone else... Come on, man. Use your head. It's not like I made this post and then turned around and tried to get the last insta up in the game before the change was made. I believe the current system is wrong, but I also believe in playing the game as best I am able. I would prefer that tattoos couldn't be bought or sold. But while they still can, I'm going to get the biggest dang tattoo I can.

Your implication of saying one thing and doing another is, quite frankly, idiotic. If you can't see the difference between your drug reference and this case, then I pity you.

seeing that the character market is pathetic and there is no real demand for characters I don't see a problem.

In the end, I think it's very clear that the majority of people would rather grow their own character, also note that most people only enjoy playing the game during a N*B period where growth is dramatic and you get a chance for top spot.

Tattoos on the other hand are kinda touchy, however they are in much larger demand and have completely bizarre prices.

I feel things are balanced and fine.

Really GW, really do you believe this. I'll just hold onto this for a later date, when every person on CB says something, with even less merit than what I said. I couldn't simply just retrain, much like you could if your stat got nerfed, I'd have to start over, wanna know what that feels like, send blighted over here.

Uhh... Seriously? It's called a GAME, not a JOB. If you want to be payed for effort, try getting a job.

At the current rates i'd hardly say there getting what they deserve.

Kefeck: That post would only lead to offtopic discussion.

AG: I don't really understand your post.

To even gain a decent sized tat, I'd have to start an NCB, understand now?

Umm... And? It's not like I've done TWO NCBs to get my tattoo to it's size...

Updating your tat is necessary when your max tat outpaces it by over 1m level.If it kept up I don't think people would look to insta-up. I think I have done it 3 times now in 2 years. As for purchasing a character to "move up the Ladder"? I can't see any gratification in that. Exactly what did YOU do?

Well, don't it make sense if _tattoos_ where bound to at least the player, maybe even the char or minion?

Tattoos are just another piece of equipment that can be sold or bought. So no if people want to spend heaps of cash on a single piece of equipment thats their choice.

As for character purchases through USD, I really don't see any problem with that. Its probably the seem reason why people don't want to start a ncb.
It takes 6 months for a ncb run. I don't care when you start it or even if you can use all your BA, your social/real life takes up time and you always waist one month of the ncb due to offline time (or atleast time I don't want to put in a game). That leaves 5 months of effective ncb use. The NCB it self is not so rewarding as most people think. For one mpr growth is rather slow. Buying BA is expensive and needs a lot of cash (which can also be bought with USD, trivial thing) and the end result, the character, won't be in the top 10.

Lets make this a short list
Buying a big character with USD
Pro's: Fast easy, relative cheap, don't have to spend 6 months on that character, you know how much mpr that character will have at the end
Cons: Its not "yours", can't exactly mold that character, no real bond, can't set the strategy without massive retrains.

NCB making
Pro's: you can mold the character, try different strategies, its "yours", 6 months of commitment
Con's: huge costs, buying minions is expensive, buying BA is expensive, don't know the final mpr, 6 months of hard labor, always lose 1 month of effective ncb time.

Sure I missed a few pro's and cons on both, but I think all in all I can understand why people buy big characters. Its easy, its fast and you get a huge advantage over others who don't.

Not a bad idea, but I see no good reason to change. It's not really affecting the community negatively if someone buys a top character and fails with it, then resells it. And even if they're successful, they sure invested enough money to attain what they have. Generally the world revolves off of just that: Time is Money. I see no reason why this is a bad thing, even when it comes to a game that's technically free to play. People make an investment when they purchase a supportership and subsequently purchase items from the relatively new supporter store. I see no reason why they shouldn't see any money coming out of their investment of time and/or money. The same goes for those who want to farm money. They are investing time to attain real cash from their investment. You can still attain all this w/o spending real money, but if people want to do that, honestly what's wrong with that? The game hasn't become about money. So even while I don't think the idea is bad, I don't see a valid reason to change things.

I see no problem with tattoos being transferred, the levels attached to it, however, may be a problem. (like transferring a tattoo resets its level = good enough)

Otherwise, reinking tats will be pretty hard I would imagine.

meh, this would certainly increase the price of CB...

I love being able to help a friend keep his tattoo leveling while he is using an RoE, it adds something to the game. Eliminating tattoo transfers would make the price of CB skyrocket, and would ensure that a NUB could never get a tat of reasonable size on the first shot.
It would require a complete reset just to make it fair for those who don't have a 6m+ tat.

Character xfers have always been a indulgence that Jon allowed. Please explain who eliminating them would do to improve the game.

Combined with your tat suggestion a user starting from NUB would have to run three full BA chars, a year and half worth to get a top 20 tattoo. That is unacceptable.

this is more of a vent thread. game has a USD element so someone that works that hard to achieve that character or tat level should be able to sell it if they wish. absolutely nothing wrong with it.

People who want to sell their Ferarri's should be able to.

http://www.dupontregistry.com/autos/Search/DRauSearchResults.aspx?sorttype=1&makeid=31&makename=Ferrari&modelid=41&modelname=575%20F1