Will the Over-priced Cash Shop Ruin the Allods

Perfumes allow players to PvP and raid, for about half an hour. A set of twenty allow players to raid and PvP for a mere ten hours. Their function doesn't end there, though. Perfumes are also used to remove the "Fear of Death" (FoD) status, a de-buff that penalizes players for dying by lowering their offensive stats by 25%. Worse still, the effect stacks. Lastly, Perfumes are also powerful buffs, meaning they are incredibly potent and useful (to the point of being over-powered).

The average pay-to-play subscription is about $14.95, and gives players access to all the PvP, PvE, bags, mounts, and content players want, and month of playtime. A critical gamer can satisfy their MMO needs for a much more reasonable price elsewhere.

Players were absolutely furious at the pricing, especially when compared to the Russian versions pricing model, which is estimated to be some ten times cheaper. They didn't not hesitate to voice there thoughts on the gPotato forums.

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Since the cash shops' opening the Allods Team has made an official statement regarding the issue:

"Over the next several weeks we will continue to evaluate the details of our item shop and we will begin to introduce new items to help assist you throughout your Allods experience. We wanted to make clear that beyond the introduction of the item shop nothing has changed in Allods that wouldn’t allow you to enjoy the game just as much as you did during closed beta. You can still enjoy the entire game without ever having to spend a single cent. Additionally, many of the items available in the item shop are tradable in-game, appear through a number of quests, and can be auctioned off by other players."

While it certainly sounds nice to hear from the developers regarding the matter, how they address the cash-shop remains to be seen. Unfortunately, the Allods Team also addressed the "Fear of Death" complaints in a lengthy statement that can be summarized simply as "we'll look into it". The same statement also mentions that the FoD mechanic was introduced to supplement the Cash-Shop, which is very disconcerting.

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We will just have to wait and see what changes the Allods Team actually makes. The recently released Russian Patch Notes for Allods Online suggests that the cash-shop pricing for Perfumes (called Incense) has been reduced (again, in Russia). Of course, the item is already me ten times cheaper than it is in the U.S. Whether this translates into more inexpensive items in the States remains to be seen.