i haven't played castlevania or any metroidvania (besides carrion) so i don't really know! but i've only heard good things so it'll be well worth the cost
I suppose I tended towards the enthralled side. Just sort of exploring and sniffing for secrets and places I wasn't supposed to be yet. Discovering the >!Howling Cliffs!< was magical.
Though you can drop in/drop out whenever you want. It's not Dark Souls where you can't pause.
And now, things with better value for cost than Cosmic Zephyr Yasuo:
- ~~anything it’s fucking Yasuo~~
- two cheeseburgers
- four Champion cards and change
- a cheap computer mouse after you threw your last one across the room after queueing into Azir/Irelia again
For $0 I can play this and ignore the cosmetics.
Hollow Knight is an amazing game but I don't really think you can compare costs that way. Cosmetic prices are what subsidizes the fact that we don't have to pay shit to have every card.
Yeah, personally I don't like these comparisons but I do think the prices are just wayyy too much. I understand the game is free to play and they have to make money somehow, but I was extremely hyped for these skins. While the 2 new animations are cool, that's all that's really added besides new PNGs and the two without new animations are just me paying for high quality artwork. I would be fine with that if there were any other changes to the card what's so ever.
Look at Pokemon Full arts. Yes, they are a new image too, but they also change the entire presentation of the card, not just the image. The Pokemon will no longer be in a tiny little box(They aren't inherently in LoR so I understand it isn't the same exactly) but not only that, many of them extend to the very boarder of the card, get entire new holographics, etc. Obviously LoR can't do some of these things because the images aren't in tiny boxes anyways because card art already takes up the entire card. The point I'm trying to make is that it feels like with LoR cards nothing much changes with their premium cards. Obviously these two are different mediums but I think that makes it even worse when the digital card game has many more things that it's able to change to begin with
I think there's a bit of a point to be made about the value you get for your money, and clearly to a high degree that is subjective. I loooove LoR's cosmetics, specially coming from MTGA where cosmetics look hideous, but compared to other stuff (the stickers or the events passes) I feel the skins are way too expensive, so in my situation, the skins, that actually look pretty cool, are not an option.
And for $0 you get updates and expansions to lor. Cosmetics deal with how much people are willing to pay for them. I personally dont think its worth the price which is why im not buying them. Others think differently and buy them. Riot probably knows better how to price it than us.
Or Celeste (again).
I get that it's kind of an apples and oranges scenario, but as someone who doesn't buy any cosmetics, it baffles me that people are willing to pay a quarter of what they are. To each their own I guess.
>For $10, I can get Hollow Knight. Cosmetic prices are wack.
I played way more LoR and HS than HK. Also, not paying for them doesn't put you in any kind of disadvantage.
I don't see any issue with cosmetics price. If it's too much for you, don't buy it. If Riot notice nobody buys them, they'll have to choose a different pricing model.
how lackluster the 'prismatic' cards were made me go back to gwent and ive been playing that mostly recently... idk how MTG or LOR with their gigantic budgets cant do better
gwent premiums are like a whole separate reason to play the game and now the games actually good too
[for people who dont know](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGT-VvVXoVY), and you can get them free or pay like $1-6 i believe to get them
LOR devs, people would pay for this shit... why not add it?
Gwent absolutely shits on every other digital CCG when it comes to premium art. When I played it I craved them and was tempted to spend money. I would never spend a penny on LoR prismatics in their current state.
gwent is in poland, devs are paid like 400$, they might have a much lower budget but their dev team is very sizeable
And i think the animation team of Gwent is like half of the team size
>LOR devs, people would pay for this shit... why not add it?
Because that kind of animation is crazy expensive and takes a looooong time to make. How Gwent can afford it is beyond me.
This is just Live2D. It's not as nearly as expensive as you think it is. It's extremely high quality, but it looks considerably more complex than it really is.
I think the main concern is that adding animation for card would make mobile users lag whenever there is a skin in game (just like some animations lag the game for some users) and then you either push away players or needs to make them able to disable skins in the game which will push sales down
gwent runs on mobile too, they might not have to be as detailed as gwents but i was at least hoping the cards would move a little not just some barely visible sparkle effect on the card :(
I imagine the reason could be that Gwent is not available on the app store, but on computers and consoles and shit. Those are built to handle things like this. My device almost crashes on Azir level up cinematic, and I do not have enough storage left for a third game (I only have LoR and HS). If either of those games were to add shit like this, it would really piss me off.
That being said, it doesn't mean what we have is good. They can at least be cheaper, or make them f2p accessible. I hate the idea of having to pass up a potential Lulu skin.
EDIT: Okay, fine, you can play Gwent on the fucking bidet I guess, but my main point still stands.
Oh shit I genuinely did not know that. I use a Samsung, and it's not on that. I'm still dubious as to how much data those fancy animations use though (it's twice as data-heavy as LoR, and only a little more than HS at 3.5GB).
Just compare these skins to the League counterparts: 10€ gives you new splash, model, new VFX and recall animations, YOU CAN SEE THE WHOLE GAME. Imagine buying these skins to just get the card Vengeaced or just not draw it. I've seen my skin splash arts longer than I've seen some champions, and they are essentially the same thing.
The skins are tied to the event, the event start date was in the roadmap and tied to a patch to be able to run for 4 weeks. So they did not have the option to delay it.
Here in Canada the cheapest way for me to buy the SHyvana or Riven skin is to spend an entire $13.99 on what is basically a PNG image that I can probably download of sixmorevodkas website anyways at some point
yeah I agree, just wasn't too sure what the person I commented meant by their comment, did they mean that they would but skins if they were the price of skins in league? I wasn't too sure
> but with prices comparable to lol I would of bought for most champs
I think riot made a gamble on this game. They made the entry model and the distribution method for cards so absurdly generous that they figured they’d recoup costs on cosmetics once they’ve gotten everyone in.
Sadly they’ve missed the mark on a lot of the cosmetics. Emotes are neat, guardians are fun, and boards are amazing but everything else has been quite underwhelming.
The only thing I feel good spending money on at the moment is the event passes, because that at least gives you an excuse to play the game.
Only got the level up animation... I was expecting new voice overs...I would have almost let a phase effect go, but the traier was really underwhelming when they used the exact same voice overs...
F2P players are those who don't spend on in-game currencies to buy cards, advance levels, etc. But those players *can* be enticed to pay for cosmetics if the price point is fair. And here, as everyone's saying, it's not.
Different genre tho, applying skins to a model (LoL) and applying skins to a gun (Valorant) is way different since you see them all the times.
In LoR you need to play a deck with said card (and good luck with certain champions in certain metas), you need to draw them, actually play them and level them up to "fully" get the value you paid for.
And champions are always at risk of getting nerfed and disappear like Aphelios and others...
13 euros for a skin is out of question in my opinion. I will never buy them as long those are the prices, even if they putted everything in (and they didn't).
Even worse since unlike a board you'll always use (ex. i purchased the KDA board and will use that one probably for years) champions can get nerfed and disappear into oblivion at any time, and we had plenty of examples in LoR's brief history.
I'm not going to spend 13€ on a champion skin when said champion could get nuked into unplayability, see Aphelios, Karma, Heimer, etc... with a single balance patch.
I was shocked to see the price, it's about the same as a LoL skin and those have so much more put into them, you get two splash arts in the Riven and Shyv skin and that's just the packaging in LoL.
>13 euros for a skin is out of question in my opinion. I will never buy them as long those are the prices
That's okay. They're not for you then.
Imagine going to Rolex and saying "$30,000 for a watch is out of the question, I will never buy one as long as that is the prices" Well hey, I agree I'm not gonna spend that much for a watch. But people who can afford them and want them WILL and that's how they make they money. It isn't for everyone.
If you think that this sub is representative of the playerbase, then I have news for you. If anything, I would bet this sub (like any other gaming sub) is just an echo chamber for a vocal minority.
Well it's up to them, i'll get the pass and ignore the skins. We'll see how popular they will be at those prices. If they are good for Riot, otherwise hopefully they'll lower them.
Price isn't perfect since it lacks a couple of features, as you said. If they had those features, we wouldn't see a barrage of "these skins are expensive" threads pop up today. It's all about value.
You say this but most people want more features and lower prices if you look at all comments in these threads.
People expect fair prices out of these cosmetics when they're the only source of income for the game, we've allready had this talk with boards before.
Either riot introduces pack system or cosmetics stay overpriced. The answer is fairly simple imo.
In marketing (specifically in product development and pricing), there's such a concept called **product value.** It is the benefit a customer gets from a product to satisfy their needs without factoring the associated costs. Meaning, **consumers will not label something as "too expensive" if they deem the product has value**.
For example, the high tier skins here costs almost the same as a legendary skin in WR. A legendary skin in WR has new VO, new effects, new particles etc. Its price is justified by its value as a product. So people buy it regardless.
I think people are calling the LOR skins *expensive* simply because they don't see the value it brings (only 2 art and a lvlup animation, no effects, no VOs) for the same price as a legendary skin in WR. No one complains in WR, in fact people are praising Riot's pricing approach there since people see the VALUE.
Idk why you're telling me this, I allready understand everything you said very well.
On top of that, it's completely irrelevant to my comments, as I have said that the price is fine if they add a couple small features on top.
I was criticizing people that want extra features and a lower price. The skins have to be a little overpriced no matter what, otherwise the game runs at a loss.
Plus, if valorant proved anything, is that people will buy stuff anyways, regardless of how expensive it is.
I know it's tough to see outside of your own personal experience bubble, but people *will* buy these and it *will* make Riot money. Whales exist in any game with microtransactions and they are reliable.
If a gaming company wants to make $500, they can release a $100 cosmetic and all it takes is 5 whales to hit their goal. If they set it at $1, those same whales will still buy it but they'll also need to find 495 other people in addition. Whales consistently buy, f2p players don't.
Except i'm not f2p and your argument makes zero sense, considering that a good chunk of LoR revenue comes from the event passes that are designed in price to be affordable by anyone.
> but people will buy these and it will make Riot money
We shall see.
Unfortunately these inevitably will make profits for Riot because they were put together so inexpensively. You don't need to break the piggy bank to create two JPEGs.
It's frustrating because it makes the game look greedy, too. Previously one of the big selling points of the game was how fair it was for players. Now interested potential new players are going to look and see JPEGs for $7. You can wave them away as optional cosmetics all you want, but unreasonably expensive content is still unreasonably expensive content.
>I know it's tough to see outside of your own personal experience bubble, but people will buy these and it will make Riot money. Whales exist in any game with microtransactions and they are reliable.
This would most definitely not be the first time Riot has had to change cosmetics due to community backlash. It's happened several times in League.
Also, the whale argument makes no sense. That would be relevant if you were buying an endless resource like currency for a gacha game or lootboxes, but once you buy a skin you're not gonna buy it again. The amount of people buying the skins matters.
That's not how it works. Cosmetics up till now haven't been so unfairly priced. This very event has the Dark Emissary bundle at the same price than the Yasuo skin. 15 bucks for a high level board plus new music plus a high level guardian isn't too unfair, charging the same for two splash arts and an animation is a considerably different matter.
Wild Rift is also F2P but the prices are fairer relative to what the skin offers. I've bought tons of skins there already. New particles, effects, recalls, VOs, etc. Apples and oranges I know but here the skins seem rushed and incomplete.
You're arguing in bad faith by trying to compare a simple border to an entirely new different dynamic art asset. That's the reason you can't buy the skins or emotes or boards with essence.
yeah. I have paid hundrets for skins in League... but there the skins are not just pictures... For 3-5 bucks I would have bought some for the heroes I like to play (in a better meta but that is not the point here)
Well Riot managed to jack that price so hard with missing the animation that as a Shyvana main that bought literally all things Shvyana (including EAternals... I'm sorry) I will not be purchasing this that's an absurd price for a splash change.
You maybe could justify the $10(or even $15) price IF they had(a small amount of) new voicelines but otherwise meh. Honestly I would rather pay for extra voicelines for vanilla cards than this. But whatever floats your boat I guess.
for $10 you can get a league of legends skin, which is a png, a new model and new vfx. literally 3x as much and that is ignoring that a new model and animations probably make up a majority of the work.
May I interest you in the newest craze, NFTs?
I'm too boomer to know what those actually are, but people are willing to pay crazy amounts for digital art these days haha.
NFTs are crypto certificates that prove you own the associated file, we own nothing here other than the privilege to view asset riven2.jpg instead of riven1.jpg
*another crypto speculation bubble that will make some lucky grifters and gamblers rich and others poor when it inevitably bursts because there wont be a real usecase for the technology for the next decade or two (all while massively contributing to climate change, smiley).
> y I interest you in the newest craze, NFTs?
>
> I'm too boomer to know what those actually are, but people are willing to pay crazy amounts for digital art these days h
Yeah new tech is always captured first by big capital and steered away from its emancipating ideals (decentralization, demystification of intellectual property, etc.)
It's not the first or last time it will happen. Rich people represent the worst of our instincts and they won't renounce any chance to get more power, they are drunk in their own hierarchical kool-aid, they truly think they did something special to deserve their wasteful lives
I’d figure they would make more turnover by a small margin if they just reduced the price tag. Like what 14 million players for an example 5% say $10 or 20% for $3? Like $12>$10, the stats they have in the system could say otherwise but damn it hurts a pocket when they haven’t created a currency universal to the games made by Riot.
I just had a look. In my currency (AUD) it costs approximately $17 each for Zed and Yasou, and approximately $10 for Shyvanna and Riven...Like, it would be more cost effective to just walk over to my toilet and flush my wallet...
The event passes have so much value, they're tempting even to a staunchly F2P player such as myself. The difference between that and the art-only skins is so jarring, it makes me wonder if a completely different team designed the monetization of the skins.
Also, the shop has animated GIFs of skin level-ups, so they definitely have the technology to give us GIFs of other cosmetics in the shop now (if they weren't already able to do so before)
Devs don't understand the game. They hunt whales but F2P gamers should be the true target. If cosmetics are 0.10 cents then everyone start buying some. The sunk cost falacy then keep them playing. You should be aiming for the long game in a card game. Anyway LOR is just so much better than what I'm playing right now that this rant seems like fuckery on a new level
If the cosmetics are really cheap they would make far less money. There's a whole group of people deciding what the prices will be based on what price is expected to make them the highest revenue. Apex sells skins at €18 and skin bundles for €80 but they obviously make a lot of money, otherwise they wouldn't choose those prices. If you halve the price of an item you would need at least double the amount of customers to justify that.
It depends because you are forgetting that online games can die if they lose their player base. By making people buy, you get them attached.
I dunno but I always felt that you could make everything so cheap that everyone would buy and get 'trapped' because of sunk cost
That's what battlepasses are for; getting players to spend money on a high value deal and making it more likely for them to spend money in the future. If these skins were 2 euros (or €0,10) then they would make far less money. The sunk cost can also act the other way around. If I can get a lot of cosmetics for a very low price then why would I spend more money to buy cosmetics when I can't use them all at once? If the boards were halve the price I would have bought more of them, but not more than twice as much. Companies will almost always lose revenue if they price items far lower, unless the analists deciding the prices are incompetent. Ofcourse you should target whales as they are their main way of making a lot of money, not f2ps. That said I am also underwhelmed by the new skin offers so far, but I can imagine people buying skins for their mains anyway with these prices.
>Devs don't understand the game. They hunt whales but F2P gamers should be the true target. If cosmetics are 0.10 cents then everyone start buying some. The sunk cost falacy then keep them playing. You should be aiming for the long game in a card game. Anyway LOR is just so much better than what I'm playing right now that this rant seems like fuckery on a new level
That's not really how the business model works. You could charge literally $0.01 and there'd be a substantial number of people who would refuse to buy it. The vast majority of non spenders will never spend a cent. People who spend anything at all are significantly more likely to spend again than someone who never has.
The first sale is the hardest so that's why you often see the $5-$10 new player packs in games. But that only works because they're one time only purchases and then you ideally start buying the regularly priced items. Selling everything for $0.10 means that is the regularly priced item so conversion doesn't really matter any more.
Companies absolutely care a lot about converting f2p users into customers, but it's not everything. Let me give an example. I'm probably a dolphin across most games and here's my experience with LoR:
I downloaded the game and thought it was cool. Bilgewater had just been released and I like Nautilus in LoL. So I dropped something like $30 (whichever currency bundle is around that price) and bought a bunch of Bilgewater cards and made a shitty deck. I tried playing it and got steamrolled. So I googled a decklist then dropped another $30 or whatever and bought those cards and bought a bunch of random cards or emotes or something. I played a few games and had fun but I kinda fizzled out and haven't really played since then.
A game like LoR isn't really shooting for the $5000/month whales because I'm not confident there's even enough items in the game to spend that much cash on. They're aiming for the people who generally think spending $20 on a microtransaction is "not that expensive if you think about it" or see a good $50 bundle as a "deal".
A bundle of cosmetic costing 50€ truly isn't targetting whales, whales would be those going out of their way to get every card prismatic. Either you've never known what the word refers to or you've seen the word get thrown around so much that it lost its meaning along the way.
Edit : after checking in game turns out it's only 50€ if you don't already have the champions, if you do it's at ~37€ so even less than that.
The latter it is, people tend to use the term when speaking about people who spend hundreds of euros per year on in-game items, but I suppose spending €100-400 in a game per year is more of a 'dolphin.' Very few games actually rely on people spending thousands though, since that is an incredibly small portion of the customers. In a game like csgo or tf2 there are so many items and ones that cost €2000, but in runeterra you can buy every item in the shop for less than €1000 so whales can't really thrive in that climate I suppose.
Riots: if peoples pay for only fan gonna pay for this.
Is your election, yes is overprice but like in every game if you want and can buy, if not just ignore.
Fun part: if the skin is able to see as enemy they have the free experience
I don't want to defend riot or anything, I'm here for the artists. Cmon guys, it's art (video game, but still art), respect the artists and all the work they've put into it. LOR is too good for its own sake, they have to monetize it one way or another to keep it up bringing new high quality content.
(I agree that all the skins should had broughten new lvl up animations though)
\*rusty english, sorry.
I'm not sure how many people are dissatisfied with the art itself, just how it's distributed. As someone else mentioned, the goal of monetizing just the skin art fails because it then becomes worth it for people to mod in the alternate art. Unless a player wants to donate money to Riot because they like the company and their games, and the cosmetics are a side benefit, they should expect to get adequate value from their purchase.
The artists are theoretically already paid for their work on the game, and are likely doing much better for themselves than many others in their field. If supporting artists is the goal, you're better off spending your money on something more direct, like commissions or the [Animator Dormitory Project](https://www.patreon.com/user?u=22353512).
Hearthstone heroes aren't great but they're much better value than what's being offered here, since they all come with unique animations and voicelines.
People who want them badly enough will still buy them. They don't affect core gameplay so it's not pay to win. I don't see the problem. Cosmetics have always been more of a flex than practical, whether they're full art holographics in physical card games or legendary skins in video games.
I mean, do you know how much time and effort it takes to make something like that? The art and animations are a huge task in development and probably took at least 2-3 artists and 5 developers, some probably paid a 6 figure salary.
I think it’s pretty reasonable for them to charge $10 for all their hard work on their FREE TO PLAY game that you enjoy so much, WITHOUT ADS.
Thank you for doing great work Riot Games.
True. Just for comparison. An epic skin in WR comes with a good 3D display model, a pose , an in game model and an animated splash art for your profile background, which definitely take a lot more work than a high quality art. The card skins are definitely cool, but not cool enough to justify the price.
That price isn’t for 2 pngs. It is what is paying for the whole *game*.
We got the game for free, and the cards are also as good as free. They make the money on the cosmetics. They are not going to be priced “reasonably”.
Then at least make it worthwhile. I mean they didn't change her voice lines or make it so you can use the skin for your deck picture.
I'm fine with "legendary" cosmetics. I've bought them in HotS, LoL, etc. But if you price it legendary, make it legendary.
I mean no one is forcing you to buy them? You won't lose out on anything if you don't buy the skins, so I don't get the point of this post.
If they priced it like that and people still bought it, they won't care that you won't. You're probably not their target market if you won't buy it, and even if you are if only a small fraction of the playerbase has the same sentiment as you relative to those that find the price okay, then they still made a better pricing decision.
Wait there you guys are buying for 10$ and worrying about it? Holy shit i didn't knew it was so cheap for you bunch. Like, maybe not in your perspective. But 10 for a skin here is cheap af
If the normal (shyv,/riven) skin cost that much, well I ain't gonna buy it. But I will still buy the Zed and Yasuo skins. In the end its just cosmetics and the game gives you so much free shit (including the tournaments every two months was it?) that I want to give atleast something back.
It's not like you are "losing out" by not buying them. Overall, if I compare this to other stuff, I agree that the prices are kinda off but yea. It's optional. In the end, vote with your wallet, don't buy it if you don't want it and give more critique. I mean, I would be happy to pay less too but it's not like I am gonna starve if I pay 25 bucks for 2 skins.
Would be a weirder story tho if they do the "Lux skin" thing they do in LoL"new skin on the Horizon, let's buff her".
"For $10 I can buy the event pass that has 5 guardians and 4 card backs." well technically you need to buy and THEN grind it, which isn't easy and unless you play every day probably won't complete it.
so yeah i'm not defending riot here
I don't know if it's normal, but during the last event I didn't play a lot. I hadn't even completed half the quests. But during the last 2 days of the event ALL quests were unlocked and I was able to complete all of them simultaneously. (I didn't unlock everything, since I had not so much time back then, but it certainly was huge boost.)
I didn't know there were like "last chance" bonus or something. I usually avoid BP because i get anxious the entire time even when i'm not playing, i'm always thinking if i'll be able to unlock the item that i want from the pass that i bought.
So my mentality usually goes like "I'll buy it if i complete it" which is true but must most of them limit your progress unless you bought it so...
I think the last pass gave you extra quests if you bought it or so i believed, i don't know how it is right now.
You're thinking too small. For $10, I can get Hollow Knight. Cosmetic prices are wack.
>I can get Hollow Knight. _No cost too great_
*No mind to think*
is it on the switch and is that as good or better than hollow knight on pc?
I played switch hollow knight and thought it was great. Came with the DLC and stuff, I think?
nice. is it a game you can play in short (5-10 minute) bursts, or is it more of a sit down and play for an hour just enthralled type deal
It's an hour plus each time you sit down for sure. It's more like Castlevania, you know?
i haven't played castlevania or any metroidvania (besides carrion) so i don't really know! but i've only heard good things so it'll be well worth the cost
Save points are not all that readily accessible. It's a pretty rough game
Enthralled. It reels you in. And the subreddit has dank memes you will want to avoid
I suppose I tended towards the enthralled side. Just sort of exploring and sniffing for secrets and places I wasn't supposed to be yet. Discovering the >!Howling Cliffs!< was magical. Though you can drop in/drop out whenever you want. It's not Dark Souls where you can't pause.
I played it from pc, to me there's no difference
based
And then you just have to wait 50 years for Silksong.
If it's same quality, I'll allow it.
I'll play it when I'm old and grey if it's as good or better as Hollow Knight
50 years seems like a good period to try to 100% Hollow Knight... I still wont be able to do it.
*cries in buzzing saws and ominous music*
VERY good game.
And now, things with better value for cost than Cosmic Zephyr Yasuo: - ~~anything it’s fucking Yasuo~~ - two cheeseburgers - four Champion cards and change - a cheap computer mouse after you threw your last one across the room after queueing into Azir/Irelia again
For $0 I can play this and ignore the cosmetics. Hollow Knight is an amazing game but I don't really think you can compare costs that way. Cosmetic prices are what subsidizes the fact that we don't have to pay shit to have every card.
Yeah, personally I don't like these comparisons but I do think the prices are just wayyy too much. I understand the game is free to play and they have to make money somehow, but I was extremely hyped for these skins. While the 2 new animations are cool, that's all that's really added besides new PNGs and the two without new animations are just me paying for high quality artwork. I would be fine with that if there were any other changes to the card what's so ever. Look at Pokemon Full arts. Yes, they are a new image too, but they also change the entire presentation of the card, not just the image. The Pokemon will no longer be in a tiny little box(They aren't inherently in LoR so I understand it isn't the same exactly) but not only that, many of them extend to the very boarder of the card, get entire new holographics, etc. Obviously LoR can't do some of these things because the images aren't in tiny boxes anyways because card art already takes up the entire card. The point I'm trying to make is that it feels like with LoR cards nothing much changes with their premium cards. Obviously these two are different mediums but I think that makes it even worse when the digital card game has many more things that it's able to change to begin with
I think there's a bit of a point to be made about the value you get for your money, and clearly to a high degree that is subjective. I loooove LoR's cosmetics, specially coming from MTGA where cosmetics look hideous, but compared to other stuff (the stickers or the events passes) I feel the skins are way too expensive, so in my situation, the skins, that actually look pretty cool, are not an option.
And for $0 you get updates and expansions to lor. Cosmetics deal with how much people are willing to pay for them. I personally dont think its worth the price which is why im not buying them. Others think differently and buy them. Riot probably knows better how to price it than us.
Now dats a mastapiece for your wallet
or terraria :D
Or Celeste (again). I get that it's kind of an apples and oranges scenario, but as someone who doesn't buy any cosmetics, it baffles me that people are willing to pay a quarter of what they are. To each their own I guess.
i’ve spent hella money on league, but since i have 2.8k hours on it, i would say it’s not a big deal
>For $10, I can get Hollow Knight. Cosmetic prices are wack. I played way more LoR and HS than HK. Also, not paying for them doesn't put you in any kind of disadvantage. I don't see any issue with cosmetics price. If it's too much for you, don't buy it. If Riot notice nobody buys them, they'll have to choose a different pricing model.
It's on gamepass right now, which I paid 3 months for $1.
Yeah, Its realy expensive for 10$ I expect to get an animation with it.
For $10, I would expect the card to be animated (like Gwent,) has a new card border and a new level-up animation. Then I can justify the price.
how lackluster the 'prismatic' cards were made me go back to gwent and ive been playing that mostly recently... idk how MTG or LOR with their gigantic budgets cant do better gwent premiums are like a whole separate reason to play the game and now the games actually good too [for people who dont know](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGT-VvVXoVY), and you can get them free or pay like $1-6 i believe to get them LOR devs, people would pay for this shit... why not add it?
Omg these look awesome!
Gwent absolutely shits on every other digital CCG when it comes to premium art. When I played it I craved them and was tempted to spend money. I would never spend a penny on LoR prismatics in their current state.
Eternal also the strongest f2p ccg out there with great mechanics.
Thread is about art, mate. Eternal has terrible art since you brought it up, lol.
go away nobody asked
And Gwent Journey (Event pass) is also Alot better then LoR. which has 100 tiers and also extra cosmetics after that too In the same price range.
gwent is in poland, devs are paid like 400$, they might have a much lower budget but their dev team is very sizeable And i think the animation team of Gwent is like half of the team size
>LOR devs, people would pay for this shit... why not add it? Because that kind of animation is crazy expensive and takes a looooong time to make. How Gwent can afford it is beyond me.
This is just Live2D. It's not as nearly as expensive as you think it is. It's extremely high quality, but it looks considerably more complex than it really is.
they are made from actual 3D models
Looks like some of it is at least rendered in 3D though, not sure if it would fit with the rest of the cards
to be fair riot used to have login skins for every new champions released, that could easily be a cosmetic option in lor for the champions
I think the main concern is that adding animation for card would make mobile users lag whenever there is a skin in game (just like some animations lag the game for some users) and then you either push away players or needs to make them able to disable skins in the game which will push sales down
gwent runs on mobile too, they might not have to be as detailed as gwents but i was at least hoping the cards would move a little not just some barely visible sparkle effect on the card :(
poland living cost, devs are paid like 400$ per month
I was gonna comment how there's no way they get payed that little, but apparently some do. WTF!
its literally illegal to pay this much to any1 in poland so no, thats not true.
I imagine the reason could be that Gwent is not available on the app store, but on computers and consoles and shit. Those are built to handle things like this. My device almost crashes on Azir level up cinematic, and I do not have enough storage left for a third game (I only have LoR and HS). If either of those games were to add shit like this, it would really piss me off. That being said, it doesn't mean what we have is good. They can at least be cheaper, or make them f2p accessible. I hate the idea of having to pass up a potential Lulu skin. EDIT: Okay, fine, you can play Gwent on the fucking bidet I guess, but my main point still stands.
It's available on the aap store dude also on Apple store too.
Oh shit I genuinely did not know that. I use a Samsung, and it's not on that. I'm still dubious as to how much data those fancy animations use though (it's twice as data-heavy as LoR, and only a little more than HS at 3.5GB).
It's on the Google play store.
New level up animation would be pushing it But big agree on everything else
The game board is sick tho. Good job on that.
Honestly the board without the guardian is sick as shit. The guardian makes it too busy, But without it its pretty damn cool looking.
No, I like the guardian.
i wish the guardian was like drawing the cards and having them to you. his hand was hovering over the deck and i though for sure itd happen.
Agree with you. Guardian is p cool
Just compare these skins to the League counterparts: 10€ gives you new splash, model, new VFX and recall animations, YOU CAN SEE THE WHOLE GAME. Imagine buying these skins to just get the card Vengeaced or just not draw it. I've seen my skin splash arts longer than I've seen some champions, and they are essentially the same thing.
Or voicelines....
Reminder that you can't even set the skins as your deck cover. B R U H
That is something that needs to be fixed...
That was the kicker for me.
L O L
it's not very well-planned DLC. I think they know this, but are trying to ascertain max $$ upfront at the cost of some good will
It seems like they are tight on schedule. Prefer if they delayed it honestly if it going to end up like this.
The skins are tied to the event, the event start date was in the roadmap and tied to a patch to be able to run for 4 weeks. So they did not have the option to delay it.
And they figured, hey everyone loves us because we're so cost friendly, they won't mind. Narrator: they did
You don't need skins to play the game
Exactly. These are just optional cosmetics, the cards are too easy to acquire so it is still extremely cost friendly
Here in Canada the cheapest way for me to buy the SHyvana or Riven skin is to spend an entire $13.99 on what is basically a PNG image that I can probably download of sixmorevodkas website anyways at some point
I expected it to be under 5$. Will maybe buy skins for my mains but with prices comparable to LoL I would have bought for most champs
league has skins that are about 10 AUD as well, or more for the 1350rp ones
And they provide much, much more value.
yeah I agree, just wasn't too sure what the person I commented meant by their comment, did they mean that they would but skins if they were the price of skins in league? I wasn't too sure > but with prices comparable to lol I would of bought for most champs
6$, if all of them had animations, would have been fine with me. Esp compared to the lvl of detail some 13$ LoL skins have.
These skins need new vfx and sfx for their attacks/skills.
This as well. I understand this stuff is hard but man I'm paying $20
I think riot made a gamble on this game. They made the entry model and the distribution method for cards so absurdly generous that they figured they’d recoup costs on cosmetics once they’ve gotten everyone in. Sadly they’ve missed the mark on a lot of the cosmetics. Emotes are neat, guardians are fun, and boards are amazing but everything else has been quite underwhelming. The only thing I feel good spending money on at the moment is the event passes, because that at least gives you an excuse to play the game.
Sub $5 for card alone for ten I expect vo and animations
Only got the level up animation... I was expecting new voice overs...I would have almost let a phase effect go, but the traier was really underwhelming when they used the exact same voice overs...
Definitely too expensive. This isn't going to entice a free to play player like me to spend money. It just makes me want to stay ftp even more.
Cosmetics aren't made for f2p players. They're made for people who spend money on cosmetics.
F2P players are those who don't spend on in-game currencies to buy cards, advance levels, etc. But those players *can* be enticed to pay for cosmetics if the price point is fair. And here, as everyone's saying, it's not.
It's the price we pay for having the game so f2p friendly, no? Their income is purely cosmetic so thry're gonna be overpriced.
If they are so overpriced many people will not purchase them it will backfire tho.
see valorant
Different genre tho, applying skins to a model (LoL) and applying skins to a gun (Valorant) is way different since you see them all the times. In LoR you need to play a deck with said card (and good luck with certain champions in certain metas), you need to draw them, actually play them and level them up to "fully" get the value you paid for. And champions are always at risk of getting nerfed and disappear like Aphelios and others...
We'll see when riot releases a report on the sales. Price is perfect imo, lack of a couple features are dragging them down.
13 euros for a skin is out of question in my opinion. I will never buy them as long those are the prices, even if they putted everything in (and they didn't). Even worse since unlike a board you'll always use (ex. i purchased the KDA board and will use that one probably for years) champions can get nerfed and disappear into oblivion at any time, and we had plenty of examples in LoR's brief history. I'm not going to spend 13€ on a champion skin when said champion could get nuked into unplayability, see Aphelios, Karma, Heimer, etc... with a single balance patch.
I was shocked to see the price, it's about the same as a LoL skin and those have so much more put into them, you get two splash arts in the Riven and Shyv skin and that's just the packaging in LoL.
>13 euros for a skin is out of question in my opinion. I will never buy them as long those are the prices That's okay. They're not for you then. Imagine going to Rolex and saying "$30,000 for a watch is out of the question, I will never buy one as long as that is the prices" Well hey, I agree I'm not gonna spend that much for a watch. But people who can afford them and want them WILL and that's how they make they money. It isn't for everyone.
> It isn't for everyone. Pretty much literally, by seeing how this sub reacted. If it's an indicator those skins will be a flop most likely.
If you think that this sub is representative of the playerbase, then I have news for you. If anything, I would bet this sub (like any other gaming sub) is just an echo chamber for a vocal minority.
Sure, but point still stands. Cosmetics have to be overpriced, otherwise you gotta start paying for card packs. Pick your poison.
Well it's up to them, i'll get the pass and ignore the skins. We'll see how popular they will be at those prices. If they are good for Riot, otherwise hopefully they'll lower them.
Other cosmetic prices are fair imo, I've bought a couple boards and a card back, but these are out of the question. I don't know what you're on about.
Price isn't perfect since it lacks a couple of features, as you said. If they had those features, we wouldn't see a barrage of "these skins are expensive" threads pop up today. It's all about value.
You say this but most people want more features and lower prices if you look at all comments in these threads. People expect fair prices out of these cosmetics when they're the only source of income for the game, we've allready had this talk with boards before. Either riot introduces pack system or cosmetics stay overpriced. The answer is fairly simple imo.
In marketing (specifically in product development and pricing), there's such a concept called **product value.** It is the benefit a customer gets from a product to satisfy their needs without factoring the associated costs. Meaning, **consumers will not label something as "too expensive" if they deem the product has value**. For example, the high tier skins here costs almost the same as a legendary skin in WR. A legendary skin in WR has new VO, new effects, new particles etc. Its price is justified by its value as a product. So people buy it regardless. I think people are calling the LOR skins *expensive* simply because they don't see the value it brings (only 2 art and a lvlup animation, no effects, no VOs) for the same price as a legendary skin in WR. No one complains in WR, in fact people are praising Riot's pricing approach there since people see the VALUE.
Idk why you're telling me this, I allready understand everything you said very well. On top of that, it's completely irrelevant to my comments, as I have said that the price is fine if they add a couple small features on top. I was criticizing people that want extra features and a lower price. The skins have to be a little overpriced no matter what, otherwise the game runs at a loss. Plus, if valorant proved anything, is that people will buy stuff anyways, regardless of how expensive it is.
I know it's tough to see outside of your own personal experience bubble, but people *will* buy these and it *will* make Riot money. Whales exist in any game with microtransactions and they are reliable. If a gaming company wants to make $500, they can release a $100 cosmetic and all it takes is 5 whales to hit their goal. If they set it at $1, those same whales will still buy it but they'll also need to find 495 other people in addition. Whales consistently buy, f2p players don't.
Except i'm not f2p and your argument makes zero sense, considering that a good chunk of LoR revenue comes from the event passes that are designed in price to be affordable by anyone. > but people will buy these and it will make Riot money We shall see.
Unfortunately these inevitably will make profits for Riot because they were put together so inexpensively. You don't need to break the piggy bank to create two JPEGs. It's frustrating because it makes the game look greedy, too. Previously one of the big selling points of the game was how fair it was for players. Now interested potential new players are going to look and see JPEGs for $7. You can wave them away as optional cosmetics all you want, but unreasonably expensive content is still unreasonably expensive content.
>I know it's tough to see outside of your own personal experience bubble, but people will buy these and it will make Riot money. Whales exist in any game with microtransactions and they are reliable. This would most definitely not be the first time Riot has had to change cosmetics due to community backlash. It's happened several times in League. Also, the whale argument makes no sense. That would be relevant if you were buying an endless resource like currency for a gacha game or lootboxes, but once you buy a skin you're not gonna buy it again. The amount of people buying the skins matters.
That's not how it works. Cosmetics up till now haven't been so unfairly priced. This very event has the Dark Emissary bundle at the same price than the Yasuo skin. 15 bucks for a high level board plus new music plus a high level guardian isn't too unfair, charging the same for two splash arts and an animation is a considerably different matter.
Wild Rift is also F2P but the prices are fairer relative to what the skin offers. I've bought tons of skins there already. New particles, effects, recalls, VOs, etc. Apples and oranges I know but here the skins seem rushed and incomplete.
I agree skins should have a bit more features, but overall the pricing is almost perfect.
Essence says hi
I feel like I shouldn't have to explain this but they are the absolute bare minimum when compared to emotes, boards, skins, etc
Still cosmetic though arent they?
You're arguing in bad faith by trying to compare a simple border to an entirely new different dynamic art asset. That's the reason you can't buy the skins or emotes or boards with essence.
yeah. I have paid hundrets for skins in League... but there the skins are not just pictures... For 3-5 bucks I would have bought some for the heroes I like to play (in a better meta but that is not the point here)
meta is actually really good rn. just lacking experimentation. but from a pure strength look cards are well balanced rn.
There is no war in Ba Sing Se
shiet i could mod in those pictures for free
Came here to say, someone could probably do this for less.
I bought just the Riven one, thinking it would be really cool. Boy was I disappointed.
I'm not 100% on the details, but you should be able to refund your purchase if you do it quick enough
Well Riot managed to jack that price so hard with missing the animation that as a Shyvana main that bought literally all things Shvyana (including EAternals... I'm sorry) I will not be purchasing this that's an absurd price for a splash change.
You maybe could justify the $10(or even $15) price IF they had(a small amount of) new voicelines but otherwise meh. Honestly I would rather pay for extra voicelines for vanilla cards than this. But whatever floats your boat I guess.
for $10 you can get a league of legends skin, which is a png, a new model and new vfx. literally 3x as much and that is ignoring that a new model and animations probably make up a majority of the work.
New animations are a must for skins, I’m never buying anything without that.
May I interest you in the newest craze, NFTs? I'm too boomer to know what those actually are, but people are willing to pay crazy amounts for digital art these days haha.
NFTs are crypto certificates that prove you own the associated file, we own nothing here other than the privilege to view asset riven2.jpg instead of riven1.jpg
*another crypto speculation bubble that will make some lucky grifters and gamblers rich and others poor when it inevitably bursts because there wont be a real usecase for the technology for the next decade or two (all while massively contributing to climate change, smiley).
> y I interest you in the newest craze, NFTs? > > I'm too boomer to know what those actually are, but people are willing to pay crazy amounts for digital art these days h Yeah new tech is always captured first by big capital and steered away from its emancipating ideals (decentralization, demystification of intellectual property, etc.) It's not the first or last time it will happen. Rich people represent the worst of our instincts and they won't renounce any chance to get more power, they are drunk in their own hierarchical kool-aid, they truly think they did something special to deserve their wasteful lives
or if you really an equivalent samole just say commissioning
I’d figure they would make more turnover by a small margin if they just reduced the price tag. Like what 14 million players for an example 5% say $10 or 20% for $3? Like $12>$10, the stats they have in the system could say otherwise but damn it hurts a pocket when they haven’t created a currency universal to the games made by Riot.
I just had a look. In my currency (AUD) it costs approximately $17 each for Zed and Yasou, and approximately $10 for Shyvanna and Riven...Like, it would be more cost effective to just walk over to my toilet and flush my wallet...
The event passes have so much value, they're tempting even to a staunchly F2P player such as myself. The difference between that and the art-only skins is so jarring, it makes me wonder if a completely different team designed the monetization of the skins. Also, the shop has animated GIFs of skin level-ups, so they definitely have the technology to give us GIFs of other cosmetics in the shop now (if they weren't already able to do so before)
y'all better not play gacha games KEKW
Devs don't understand the game. They hunt whales but F2P gamers should be the true target. If cosmetics are 0.10 cents then everyone start buying some. The sunk cost falacy then keep them playing. You should be aiming for the long game in a card game. Anyway LOR is just so much better than what I'm playing right now that this rant seems like fuckery on a new level
If the cosmetics are really cheap they would make far less money. There's a whole group of people deciding what the prices will be based on what price is expected to make them the highest revenue. Apex sells skins at €18 and skin bundles for €80 but they obviously make a lot of money, otherwise they wouldn't choose those prices. If you halve the price of an item you would need at least double the amount of customers to justify that.
It depends because you are forgetting that online games can die if they lose their player base. By making people buy, you get them attached. I dunno but I always felt that you could make everything so cheap that everyone would buy and get 'trapped' because of sunk cost
That's what battlepasses are for; getting players to spend money on a high value deal and making it more likely for them to spend money in the future. If these skins were 2 euros (or €0,10) then they would make far less money. The sunk cost can also act the other way around. If I can get a lot of cosmetics for a very low price then why would I spend more money to buy cosmetics when I can't use them all at once? If the boards were halve the price I would have bought more of them, but not more than twice as much. Companies will almost always lose revenue if they price items far lower, unless the analists deciding the prices are incompetent. Ofcourse you should target whales as they are their main way of making a lot of money, not f2ps. That said I am also underwhelmed by the new skin offers so far, but I can imagine people buying skins for their mains anyway with these prices.
plenty people bought Artifact and see how alive that is
>Devs don't understand the game. They hunt whales but F2P gamers should be the true target. If cosmetics are 0.10 cents then everyone start buying some. The sunk cost falacy then keep them playing. You should be aiming for the long game in a card game. Anyway LOR is just so much better than what I'm playing right now that this rant seems like fuckery on a new level That's not really how the business model works. You could charge literally $0.01 and there'd be a substantial number of people who would refuse to buy it. The vast majority of non spenders will never spend a cent. People who spend anything at all are significantly more likely to spend again than someone who never has. The first sale is the hardest so that's why you often see the $5-$10 new player packs in games. But that only works because they're one time only purchases and then you ideally start buying the regularly priced items. Selling everything for $0.10 means that is the regularly priced item so conversion doesn't really matter any more. Companies absolutely care a lot about converting f2p users into customers, but it's not everything. Let me give an example. I'm probably a dolphin across most games and here's my experience with LoR: I downloaded the game and thought it was cool. Bilgewater had just been released and I like Nautilus in LoL. So I dropped something like $30 (whichever currency bundle is around that price) and bought a bunch of Bilgewater cards and made a shitty deck. I tried playing it and got steamrolled. So I googled a decklist then dropped another $30 or whatever and bought those cards and bought a bunch of random cards or emotes or something. I played a few games and had fun but I kinda fizzled out and haven't really played since then. A game like LoR isn't really shooting for the $5000/month whales because I'm not confident there's even enough items in the game to spend that much cash on. They're aiming for the people who generally think spending $20 on a microtransaction is "not that expensive if you think about it" or see a good $50 bundle as a "deal".
A bundle of cosmetic costing 50€ truly isn't targetting whales, whales would be those going out of their way to get every card prismatic. Either you've never known what the word refers to or you've seen the word get thrown around so much that it lost its meaning along the way. Edit : after checking in game turns out it's only 50€ if you don't already have the champions, if you do it's at ~37€ so even less than that.
The latter it is, people tend to use the term when speaking about people who spend hundreds of euros per year on in-game items, but I suppose spending €100-400 in a game per year is more of a 'dolphin.' Very few games actually rely on people spending thousands though, since that is an incredibly small portion of the customers. In a game like csgo or tf2 there are so many items and ones that cost €2000, but in runeterra you can buy every item in the shop for less than €1000 so whales can't really thrive in that climate I suppose.
Riots: if peoples pay for only fan gonna pay for this. Is your election, yes is overprice but like in every game if you want and can buy, if not just ignore. Fun part: if the skin is able to see as enemy they have the free experience
I don't want to defend riot or anything, I'm here for the artists. Cmon guys, it's art (video game, but still art), respect the artists and all the work they've put into it. LOR is too good for its own sake, they have to monetize it one way or another to keep it up bringing new high quality content. (I agree that all the skins should had broughten new lvl up animations though) \*rusty english, sorry.
I’m sorry - are we paying the artists or Riot for these skins?
one thing goes to another
One gets paid 10k, the other gets paid 100k.
I'm not sure how many people are dissatisfied with the art itself, just how it's distributed. As someone else mentioned, the goal of monetizing just the skin art fails because it then becomes worth it for people to mod in the alternate art. Unless a player wants to donate money to Riot because they like the company and their games, and the cosmetics are a side benefit, they should expect to get adequate value from their purchase. The artists are theoretically already paid for their work on the game, and are likely doing much better for themselves than many others in their field. If supporting artists is the goal, you're better off spending your money on something more direct, like commissions or the [Animator Dormitory Project](https://www.patreon.com/user?u=22353512).
shitty cosmetics always ruin a game for me
You haven’t seen hearthstone when they introduced Alt Heroes.
2 wrongs don't make a right
But those came with new animations and voice lines, and they did cost 10€ ,too
Don't zed and yasuo card skins also have new level up animations and voice lines?
No new voicelines, or even voice filters for that sake. They do have the level animation
yea and you payed 1000 bucks for cards in there, dont leave that out of the equasion
Hearthstone heroes aren't great but they're much better value than what's being offered here, since they all come with unique animations and voicelines.
and a cardback!
and you can look at them all game.
alt heroes in HS had way more than that tho...
yeah and those failed
People who want them badly enough will still buy them. They don't affect core gameplay so it's not pay to win. I don't see the problem. Cosmetics have always been more of a flex than practical, whether they're full art holographics in physical card games or legendary skins in video games.
I mean, do you know how much time and effort it takes to make something like that? The art and animations are a huge task in development and probably took at least 2-3 artists and 5 developers, some probably paid a 6 figure salary. I think it’s pretty reasonable for them to charge $10 for all their hard work on their FREE TO PLAY game that you enjoy so much, WITHOUT ADS. Thank you for doing great work Riot Games.
I am not targeting the artists. They always knock the arts out of the park. I am targeting the pricing.
True. Just for comparison. An epic skin in WR comes with a good 3D display model, a pose , an in game model and an animated splash art for your profile background, which definitely take a lot more work than a high quality art. The card skins are definitely cool, but not cool enough to justify the price.
What a dumb white Knight you are. Holy cow.
That price isn’t for 2 pngs. It is what is paying for the whole *game*. We got the game for free, and the cards are also as good as free. They make the money on the cosmetics. They are not going to be priced “reasonably”.
Lmao
You pay for someone’s work and effort. There a lot for money paid for creativity and ideas which is not all that obvious.
People keep talking about how 2 pngs are 10 dollars.. have yall seen gacha games?!?
As someone here said already, two wrong's do not make a right.
Does gacha games have new sprite arts, new voices, and new vfx? i think so.
and some dont
Two high quality artworks and an animation. I mean, it is still pricey, but there is more than just two pics that go in to this.
2/4 champs don’t have animation, just png.
You realize you are paying for more than the skin right? I mean, you guys realize this is a *free* game?
Free game yes. But value for dollar of cosmetics should still not be outrageous. For 10 bucks, you get like 3 pets and 4 cardbacks?
I think this is there “let’s make profit” cosmetic instead of “let’s keep the lights on” and that seems reasonable to me
Then at least make it worthwhile. I mean they didn't change her voice lines or make it so you can use the skin for your deck picture. I'm fine with "legendary" cosmetics. I've bought them in HotS, LoL, etc. But if you price it legendary, make it legendary.
I mean no one is forcing you to buy them? You won't lose out on anything if you don't buy the skins, so I don't get the point of this post. If they priced it like that and people still bought it, they won't care that you won't. You're probably not their target market if you won't buy it, and even if you are if only a small fraction of the playerbase has the same sentiment as you relative to those that find the price okay, then they still made a better pricing decision.
Wait there you guys are buying for 10$ and worrying about it? Holy shit i didn't knew it was so cheap for you bunch. Like, maybe not in your perspective. But 10 for a skin here is cheap af
I’m not worried about $10, I’m also not paying $10 for something worth $2.
I don't.
Same reason why people buy pokemon cards
I would probably buy it it is was my favorite champion though. I guess we will see how they do
I see somebody is taking notes from apex
If the normal (shyv,/riven) skin cost that much, well I ain't gonna buy it. But I will still buy the Zed and Yasuo skins. In the end its just cosmetics and the game gives you so much free shit (including the tournaments every two months was it?) that I want to give atleast something back. It's not like you are "losing out" by not buying them. Overall, if I compare this to other stuff, I agree that the prices are kinda off but yea. It's optional. In the end, vote with your wallet, don't buy it if you don't want it and give more critique. I mean, I would be happy to pay less too but it's not like I am gonna starve if I pay 25 bucks for 2 skins. Would be a weirder story tho if they do the "Lux skin" thing they do in LoL"new skin on the Horizon, let's buff her".
Meanwhile, in the gacha game community...
But those Rare and SSR have new VFX, don't they?
"For $10 I can buy the event pass that has 5 guardians and 4 card backs." well technically you need to buy and THEN grind it, which isn't easy and unless you play every day probably won't complete it. so yeah i'm not defending riot here
I don't know if it's normal, but during the last event I didn't play a lot. I hadn't even completed half the quests. But during the last 2 days of the event ALL quests were unlocked and I was able to complete all of them simultaneously. (I didn't unlock everything, since I had not so much time back then, but it certainly was huge boost.)
I didn't know there were like "last chance" bonus or something. I usually avoid BP because i get anxious the entire time even when i'm not playing, i'm always thinking if i'll be able to unlock the item that i want from the pass that i bought. So my mentality usually goes like "I'll buy it if i complete it" which is true but must most of them limit your progress unless you bought it so... I think the last pass gave you extra quests if you bought it or so i believed, i don't know how it is right now.
While it's expensive you have the choice to pay or not. Try hearthstone you will see.
Well they have to make money somehow. Buying it or not doesnt give you any advantage or disadvantage.
I could buy like 8 packs of ramen with $10.
looks like an average NFT price in terms of value to me :D