So... I read comments about "plat players this" and "plat players that" and I'm confused. So I reread the post, now I see it. It says "purchasable in the store" and I hope that means CS and not the plat store.
STS, please, do not put the essence as plat purchasable. Short term, yes this will make you money, but long term it will not. If things skew too far towards plat players you will lose your non-plat players (this is coming from a pretty big plat player) which will mean the death of the game in the end. Pay-for-perks is a hard model to do well, but if you do it well you can profit quite a bit. It's a balance, if things are too far towards paying players you lose the non-paying players. If you lose them, the game gets boring (not enough players) and the game fails.
Keeping them as loot only will still give plat players an advantage. The crafted gems will be sellable (according to your post) and players that want them (and have the RL cash) will buy gold, with plat, to get them quickly. I don't want to waste time, so I'll spend the plat to speed it up. I didn't get superior, so I'll repeat it until I do.
Taking out the ability to buy essence for plat gives the non-plat players another thing to farm to be able to afford the more expensive items. This is good all around, as it keeps everyone (plat and non-plat players) goals that are achievable (but not quick, or easy) to keep them playing and paying.
Please think about it.
Bookmarks