Cosmetic store

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Ashes of Creation cosmetic store.[1]

There is going to be legendary cosmetics that can be earned and achieved in the game through the game systems, but that's going to take a significant amount of effort and work; and those cosmetics are going to be on-par with the cosmetics offered in the marketplace... What that does is it provides additional revenue to the company so that we can continue to fund the development of content as well and bridge the divide that not having a box cost would have and not having any pay-to-win mechanics whatsoever.[2]Steven Sharif

The Cosmetic store enables players to purchase Cosmetics for use in Ashes of Creation.[3] The cosmetic store offers limited time, limited quantity items to help sustain game development.[4]

  • Equitable cosmetics, both from a quantity and quality standpoint, are achievable through in-game means.[4]
  • Nothing in the cosmetic store will be pay to win.[5]

Nothing in our shop will ever be pay to win as we believe this practice greatly hurts the MMORPG genre.[5]

  • Cash shop cosmetics will offer a diverse selection of unique looks.[6]

I want to incentivize purchase in the cosmetic shop for sustainability of what expansions we have intended, since we are not a box cost. I want to incentivize purchase by offering limited items: limited time, limited quantity, so you have confidence that when you purchase them, they won't be offered later on in some other way.[4]Steven Sharif

  • All cosmetic store items will be non-tradeable.[7] There will be no gifting mechanism for cosmetic items.[8]

I don't want cosmetic items that can be purchased from the market to be transferable... because it is in a way a transfer of money for potentially something in-game.[8]Steven Sharif

Cosmetics

Rime and Regal‎ pre-order pack cosmetics.[9]

We are very transparent in the business model of subscription with cosmetic only marketplace... I respect and understand the opinion of rather having a box price in-place of cosmetics, but that is not the direction I’ve decided to take. After weighing the benefits to the game and its population, I believe a lower barrier to entry is healthier in the long run, and the steady content release and quality of the product will sustain the retention for subscription and in-turn provide a healthier content release strategy for Ashes.[10]Steven Sharif

Cosmetics provide a wide array of customization in Ashes of Creation.[11]

All skin cosmetic items are cosmetic items only and do not grant the user any other benefit. The lore text is flavor text, and background of the creatures and items in the world of Verra.[9]
  • Equitable cosmetics, both from a quantity and quality standpoint, are achievable through in-game means.[12][4] Cosmetics achievable in-game will be on-par, and in the case of legendary skins, even more elaborate than shop items.[13][2][10]
I want to make sure that equitable cosmetics both from a quantity and quality standpoint are achievable through in-game achievements. Time, effort should let you be happy with what you can accomplish.[4]Steven Sharif
In my opinion quality of cash shop cosmetics should be equal to in game achievable cosmetics, but offer a diverse selection of unique looks.[6]Steven Sharif
The most grand looking cosmetics will be from in-game achievment only.[14]Steven Sharif
From an armor standpoint, we cut armor sets up into many different pieces. These pieces can sometimes be used as part of other sets, that may include helmets, wrists, gloves etc. So while you will not see an achievable white version of the corvid castigator set in the game for example, you may see its shoulder piece used in another set, or its leggings, or wrist piece used in another set (not every piece as to form the whole set, but perhaps a couple pieces). This would be difficult to notice at first glance, due to the material, texture and color variation used, but this modular approach to content creation makes achieving a wide variety of looks achievable for an MMORPG of our size.[13]Steven Sharif
  • Different variants of store purchased cosmetic creatures (Pets and Mounts) may exist in the wild.[16][17]
While the exact same skin will not be available again in the future once it's gone from the Shop, these skins are all variants of creatures that you can expect to see across Verra - so perhaps you will find one with a similar style in-game![16]Sarah Flanagan
  • Cosmetics can be used by all races but there may be slight variations to make them work with the body builds of each race.[18][19]
  • There will not be mascot looking/furry cosmetics.[20]
It's important to remember, Ashes is a NO-BOX COST subscription only game, with an optional cosmetic marketplace. This achieves a few things from a monetization model. Having a lower barrier to entry for players to try the game when they don't have to fork out $60 for the box price is good, our box price is 0$. This also places an emphasis on the game's retention and our continual updates and content creation to keep players playing and staying subscribed (a put your money where your mouth is sort of philosophy for us as a company). It also means players don't have to spend $60 every time there is an expansion.[13]Steven Sharif
Is there an answer that satisfies everyone? Nope. And that's ok. We are open and transparent with our philosophies and business model. You know what you are getting with Ashes and to me, given my experiences in other games, it is a nice breath of fresh air.[13]Steven Sharif
I know there have been quite a few questions regarding cosmetics over the years. As we get further along in development, we'll be providing more specific information regarding what specific buildings, items, etc., you can place each cosmetic on. We'll update this for all past items.[23]Margaret Krohn

Skins

Cinderhorn Steer pre-order pack cosmetic mount skin.[25]

Providing these limited options that collectors out there like when it comes to achieving and/or purchasing cosmetics. It means something I think when players make that decision to purchase or they go through the rigorous portion of achieving those things in game that it is not just everywhere around them and becomes meaningless at that point.[26]Steven Sharif

Accessories/armor, Buildings, Caravans, Mounts, Pets, and Ships sold in the cosmetic store are skins.[27][28][29]

Owning cosmetics does not guarantee the acquisition of the item the cosmetic can be used on. Players must still achieve the corresponding item/building.[30]Steven Sharif
  • The lore on store cosmetics is flavor text.[9]
  • The best skins will be in-game achievable.[36]
The best skins will be in-game achievable (obviously “best” is subjective, so I’d say the most ornate and detailed/unique).[36]Steven Sharif

Pay to win

Ashes of Creation will not be pay to win.[26][2][37]

Ashes of Creation will not be pay to win, that is our pledge to the community. One of the core principles we set forth with Ashes of Creation is a very strong desire to maintain the game's even playing field.[37]
A lot of developers and companies have come along in the past- and I've been hit by this too- and they've said we're not going to have pay-to-win and then boom they roll out some pay-to-win. We have consistently said we won't be pay-to-win and in the pre-orders that we provide and even in the Kickstarter there were absolutely zero pay-to-win components whatsoever. So not only will we talk the talk but we will walk the walk as well.[2]Steven Sharif
Because we are a non-box purchase game, meaning there is no box price to play Ashes of Creation, it is only a subscription; and that's beneficial because it reduces the barrier of entry and we want a high population obviously; but at the same time one of the ways we augment the revenue flows to sustain constant updates and new chapter releases and additional content within the game is through a cosmetic-only marketplace; and that means absolutely no pay-to-win whatsoever; and that will be adhered to forever.[26]Steven Sharif

Inventory slots, RNG loot boxes and XP potions are considered pay-to-win.[38][39][40][41]

We will not use a loot box system for cosmetics either. We currently have a cosmetic store that offers limited time, limited quantity items to help sustain game development. These items are purely decorative and do not offer any in-game benefits.[38]
My definition of pay-to-win is really anything that affects the in-game economy, the in-game action pool, your abilities and/or skills... In my opinion the inventory slots and the XP potions would be considered pay-to-win.[40]Steven Sharif
  • Items sold in the store that are also obtainable through gameplay are still considered pay-to-win.[45]
It undermines an achievement when you remove the need to achieve it.[45]Steven Sharif
Q: Will there be RNG boxes?
A: I dislike RNG. Archeage made me loath rng monetization gimmicks.[41]Steven Sharif

Obtaining cosmetics

Some cosmetics can be obtained in-game:[3]

Achievements may unlock some cosmetics.[3]

Not all cosmetics are obtainable through in-game means. These will be purchasable through the cosmetic store.[3]

Cash shop cosmetics will be limited in quantity, limited in time for purchase. They will be unique, but you will also have extremely difficult to gain cosmetics in game as well as unique cosmetics that look great and better... There will be a lot of cosmetics that are achievable in the game because that is a very fun aspect of MMO play.[46]Steven Sharif

Pre-order packs

Pre-order packs were available from the Cosmetic store up until they ended on January 17, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific.[47][1]

We offer cosmetics for players who wish to support the project early. The exclusive nature of the limited availability is something I think collectors value. If you buy cosmetics as an MMO player, I know I enjoyed if the cosmetic is rare and not every girl at the party is wearing the same dress. In addition, these cosmetics are used to populate the world through NPC variants and color/texture changes so their offering aligns with our production schedule. The good thing about these packs is they contain no P2W advantages and there is no box cost, so from a mechanics standpoint you do not need to buy them to excel in the game on launch. And also, there are comparable and subjectively more grand cosmetics achievable in game as well.[15]Steven Sharif

Cosmetic binding

All cosmetic store items will be non-tradeable.[7]

Transferring cosmetics between alts

Ashes of Creation web site design preview (WIP).[49]

The account management page is used to assign or reassign cosmetics to characters within an account.[24][50][51][52]

  • Cosmetics can be reassigned to other characters (alts), but can only be active on one character at a time.[24][51][52]
  • There will likely be a cooldown for reassigning cosmetics between characters.[24]

Cosmetic items

info-orange.pngSome of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

Cosmetic items allow players to customize their character in-game.[53]

  • Eye color.
  • Skin color.
  • Hair color.
  • Hairstyles.
  • Tattoos.
  • Scars.

Cosmetic items that produce in-game cosmetic effects will also be available.[54]

Dyes

Dyes in Ashes of Creation may refer to:

Dye usage

Dyes are one-time use items that apply a cosmetic color change across all dyeable items that are equipped on a player's character (paper-doll).[57][58][59]

  • Two dye channels are provided per character that together influence up to 50% of the gear that is equipped by that character.[57]
    • The first dye channel is for lower grade dyes that influence 10 to 20% of armor appearance on that character.[57]
    • The second dye channel is for higher tier dyes that influence up to 30% of armor appearance on that character.[57]
  • The original design allowed individual items to be dyed with different dyes.[58]
One of the things that we want to do- again talking about player agency- is we want to give them the ability to change the appearance of their armor sets that they're wearing; and the way we've approached the dye solution is through a channeled system. We have a two channel dye system where the first channel is a lower grade dye that it has influence over between 10 to 20 percent of your overall armor appearance; and then the second channel dye is a higher tier dye that you have to acquire; and by doing so you can influence the remaining thirty percent- up to thirty percent of that armor appearance: So up to a total of fifty percent influence that can occur across all the pieces that you wear. Now one unique approach to the way we're doing this dye system is we're not allowing individual dyes to be applied on individual items, but instead we keep a cohesion across the set by applying that dye channel to your character; and when you equip a piece with your overall character it will assume that dye channel from your paper doll. So you apply the dyes to your character and when you equip a piece of item it will take that dye and it will influence the channel over that particular piece so that it comes into alignment. And what the reason that we're doing that is there's a lot of options with regards to customization for your character appearance, whether it be through transmog, through costumes, through mixing and matching sets and pieces that you can wear; and what we want to avoid is the rainbow effect where these pieces do not look good together and it creates the clown that's walking down the street.[57]

The Kickstarter dyes are sets of unique colors that are not obtainable by players who did not participate in Crowdfunding. These dyes are not usable as normal dyes are. Instead they are used to override the color of another dye obtained in game.[60]

  • They are assigned to a character from a user's account management page.[60]
  • They do not expire, so they may be used to continually override dye colors.[60]
  • Once a dye has been overridden it becomes a bound dye to that character, so the colors cannot be sold for in-game benefit.[60]
  • When an item is sold or transferred, color changes are reverted.[60]

Armor appearance

Alpha-1 female plate armor 3D render.[61]

We want to be realistic with the application of particular types of armor, such as plate armor. In this regard for the different sexes there's a fine line that has to be drawn between accentuating the form of the sex as well as making it somewhat realistic and actually applicable to the environment.[61]Steven Sharif

  • Armor will not be overly sexual in appearance.[61][63]
    I'm more of the mind that it wouldn't really serve a purpose to have bikini plate armor, just in like reality, if you're going to have armor, it should be protective. I think from a fashion statement is enjoyable for some people, but it's a an immersive issue.[62]Steven Sharif
    • Some armor and costumes will be more revealing than others, but there will not be nudity in the game.[65]
    There might be sliders, but there are not gonna be naked sliders.[65]Steven Sharif
Each race is getting its custom geo pieces, which then will share thematic components such as color palette, attachments, design filigree. Those types of things will get shared across the geo but generally you're going to see unique races with unique geo.[69]Steven Sharif
  • Cosmetics can be used by all races but there may be slight variations to make them work with the body builds of each race.[18]
  • Hair will likely be masked if helmet display is toggled on.[76]

Appearance slots/Transmogs

Gear will have appearance slots (Transmutation/Transmog/cosmetic slots) that are used to copy the appearance of an item (in some cases).[80][81]

  • There are rules when applying cosmetics to specific items, unlike costumes, which don't have level restrictions.[22]
  • Cosmetic slots can be toggled on or off on their character by the player.[82]
  • A "default player appearance" may be automatically applied during sieges or other large scale battles to improve client-side performance.[83][84]
Cosmetics, whether purchased from the shop or earned in game, are an important component of MMORPGS I personally enjoy; and there's a lot of collectors out there who spend a great deal of time either in-game achieving these things or spend money purchasing them from the cosmetic only marketplace; and we don't want to demean or reduce that achievement or that expenditure. So it's going to be situational where the default appearance will be applied and can be activated.[83]Steven Sharif

Attachments

Attachments are able to be unlocked as flair pieces to armor to create a customizable look.[85]

  • There will be hundreds of attachments available ranging from a small clasp to the front plate of a breast plate.[85]

Caravan cosmetics

Caravan skins ("Pimp my caravan") were available in the cash shop (cosmetic store).[29]

  • The skin changes the appearance of an in-game mount and in-game caravan that are hooked up to each other.[34][35]
  • The caravan and mount components of the skin are not able to be utilized separately.[34][35]
  • Building, ship, caravan and mount cosmetics require an in-game item to be obtained first to apply the cosmetic.[21][22]

You'll need your own creature and caravan hooked up to each other, and then the caravan cosmetic skin goes over all of them to make it look like what's pictured. you're not able to split out separately that caravan mount skin, hence why you'd want the separate mount skin if you wanted to ride it independently.[34]Sarah Flanagan

Merchandise

Merchandise for Ashes of Creation was planned to be available by fall or winter 2021.[87]

I had a lovely meeting yesterday with our merch team and what they are cooking up for this fall/winter.[87]Steven Sharif

List of cosmetics

External links

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Ashes of Creation cosmetic store.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Livestream, July 25, 2020 (1:53:46).
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 cosmetics obtaining.png
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (58:29).
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 kickstarter microtransactions.png
  6. 6.0 6.1 equitable-cosmetics-quote.png
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 cash shop non tradable.jpg
  8. 8.0 8.1 Interview, May 11, 2018 (32:36).
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Rime and Regal.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Ashes of Creation Reddit - Heat and Harmony.
  11. Livestream, May 8, 2017 (48:52).
  12. Livestream, February 29, 2024 (1:12:23).
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 steven-cosmetic-variants.png
  14. steven-grand-cosmetics.png
  15. 15.0 15.1 steven-cosmetics.png
  16. 16.0 16.1 toast-creature-variants.png
  17. Livestream, June 28, 2019 (1:25:55).
  18. 18.0 18.1 margaret-gear-appearance.png
  19. Livestream, June 26, 2020 (1:42:55).
  20. Podcast, November 15, 2020 (49:02).
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 cosmetic-levels.png
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 Livestream, November 30, 2020 (57:50).
  23. freehold-skin-clarification.png
  24. 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 steven-cosmetic-reassignment.png
  25. Ashes of Creation Store: Cosmetic store.
  26. 26.0 26.1 26.2 Livestream, November 30, 2020 (56:02).
  27. cosmetic skins.png
  28. Cygnus.png
  29. 29.0 29.1 Pimp your caravan.jpg
  30. 30.0 30.1 30.2 steven-cosmetic-skins.png
  31. Livestream, December 6, 2018 (41:43).
  32. Livestream, June 30, 2023 (1:15:34).
  33. Livestream, August 28, 2020 (2:14:06).
  34. 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 34.4 toast-caravan-skins.png
  35. 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 margaret-caravan-skins.png
  36. 36.0 36.1 steven-best-skins.png
  37. 37.0 37.1 kickstarter p2w.png
  38. 38.0 38.1 38.2 loot-boxes.png
  39. 39.0 39.1 Livestream, July 25, 2020 (48:28).
  40. 40.0 40.1 Podcast, August 4, 2018 (1:57:56).
  41. 41.0 41.1 RNG boxes.png
  42. Interview, June 13, 2021 (48:27).
  43. steven-multi-boxing-3.png
  44. steven-multiple-accounts.png
  45. 45.0 45.1 steven-pay-to-win-items.png
  46. Livestream, July 9, 2018 (55:20).
  47. Newsletter - Pre-order packages are ending reminder.
  48. Livestream, April 30, 2021 (1:20:03).
  49. Livestream, January 29, 2021 (46:48).
  50. Livestream, May 26, 2017 (18:10).
  51. 51.0 51.1 Kickstarter item application.jpg
  52. 52.0 52.1 kickstarter mounts.png
  53. Livestream, May 8, 2017 (48:49).
  54. Livestream, May 26, 2017 (32:14).
  55. Alpha-1 screenshot.
  56. 56.0 56.1 Livestream, July 28, 2017 (9:47).
  57. 57.0 57.1 57.2 57.3 57.4 Livestream, June 30, 2022 (1:06:02).
  58. 58.0 58.1 Livestream, October 30, 2020 (1:14:34).
  59. Livestream, May 26, 2017 (3:04).
  60. 60.0 60.1 60.2 60.3 60.4 dyes.png
  61. 61.0 61.1 61.2 61.3 Livestream, May 29, 2020 (50:20).
  62. 62.0 62.1 Livestream, May 26, 2017 (19:51).
  63. 63.0 63.1 Reddit Q&A, 2019-01-8.
  64. oversized.jpg
  65. 65.0 65.1 Livestream, December 23, 2021 (1:34:07).
  66. Livestream, February 29, 2024 (1:15:51).
  67. Podcast, August 4, 2018 (53:43).
  68. Livestream, October 28, 2022 (1:41:06).
  69. Livestream, September 24, 2021 (1:25:27).
  70. Livestream, November 30, 2023 (1:40:11).
  71. Sparkly.jpg
  72. Livestream, November 30, 2020 (1:05:22).
  73. Livestream, May 24, 2017 (24:19).
  74. Livestream, July 18, 2017 (54:56).
  75. helmet.jpg
  76. Livestream, October 30, 2020 (1:13:22).
  77. weaponslots.png
  78. Livestream, September 3, 2017 (48:56).
  79. Livestream, May 31, 2023 (58:37).
  80. Interview, August 24, 2018 (5:28).
  81. Livestream, November 17, 2017 (22:33).
  82. Livestream, February 9, 2018 (50:29).
  83. 83.0 83.1 Livestream, July 25, 2020 (54:10).
  84. Livestream, November 22, 2019 (1:08:05).
  85. 85.0 85.1 Interview, October 20, 2018 (3:34:46).
  86. Ashes of Creation Store: Ramstone Hauler.
  87. 87.0 87.1 87.2 87.3 steven-merch.png
  88. PAX 2017 Merch.
  89. Ashes of Creation 3rd Wikiversary Giveaway prizes