ReasonablySober wrote:MikeIsGood wrote:ReasonablySober wrote:Seeing POE prices for things I don't understand in the Xbox marketplace and I'm sorry but what?
It's literally all cosmetics. You can spend a lot on POE if you want to look pretty; you don't have to.
Ahh, thanks. That is absolutely wild to me.
Detailed explanation if you care to know:
The game is very truly free with no actual P2W mechanics or features, and has been for its entire existance - about 12 years now. This is a studio that literally started in a garage with three passionate D2 fans and has grown to where they are off of contributions from the fanbase through MTX. And POE fans are quite passionate - I know may who have spent in the hundreds, while the sub it littered with people who have spent several thousand.
Certainly, some people are MTX-addicted and spend too much. I think many though just want to support the game they have spent thousands of hours in. I personally have $600 in lifetime MTX spend, but playing since 2017 and with almost 4,000 hours in the game that feels like the best ROI on a game I've ever gotten. I think that's how a lot of people approach it - I want to help support this studio, so they can do rad stuff like POE2 hopefully is.
In practice, there is a store with all of the MTX listed by points, with 100 points equal to $10. You can buy points straight-up, but it's better to buy supporter packs, which offer you the same amount of points and also "exclusive" MTX you can only get through that pack. In expected point value, you usually get about 2x the value from buying a pack, so this is generally what people purchase.
Roughly 1x yearly there are new "core" packs - new packs available that tend to be their best designs, at price points of $60, 100, 160, 240, and 480. Each pack has its own full set of stuff - and the highest two tiers have physical items also - but you also get everything from all lower tiers, e.g. the $480 pack has everything from the 60, 100, 160, and 240 packs. These packs stick around until the next core pack sets are released the next year, and you can upgrade over time if you wish.
Each new league there are new league-based supporter packs that are at $30 and $60 price points. This is the same deal as above, but more fleeting (leagues are 3-4 months in usual circumstances). In all cases, you still get all the points, and all the stuff from your pack plus the lower pack(s).
The way it tends to work for me, and what I gather from others, is purchasing packs at league launch after leagues which you really enjoyed and spent a lot of time with - like paying back for the fun you had the past 3-4 months. And I think that's how people are viewing the expensive packs here. I've spent 4,000 hours with this game the past 10 years, so let's get some pretty looking things and help support GGG.
