Originally Posted by
Serancha
When the question, "What was your favourite season in AL?", is asked, the answer by veteran players is almost always season 2 or 3. The reason season 2 and 3 were so popular was because it was before inflation and there was no gear gap. The very best gear was 1-3 damage better than the next best gear in season 2. Mythic helms came out in season 3 and were still only 7 damage better than the legendary.
Until the Mythic helm came along, there was no gear that cost more than 900k, and the benefit to using plat was that you could get elixirs and vanities - which were non-tradeable. Hammerjaw was the only arcane pet, and did not give the owner a large advantage over those using legendary pets. Yes, it was stronger, but people could still compete well if they didn't have it.
I believe STS is moving closer to that model again, where prices are not out of reach for anyone who is not a crate popper or plat farmer. I believe this is a good move on their part, since there is nothing more discouraging than an item that gives a 100+ damage increase over the next best item, that you will never be able to obtain, either by farming it or trying to farm enough money for it.
If the price is so high that there is no way to get the money (before the item is outdated) without popping crates, it is no longer a F2P game. It is then pay-to-win.
It's not realistic to expect people in a mobile mmo to play for several hundred hours in an effort to earn enough gold for something that will be obsolete before they ever get the money together. It's also not right to give that huge an advantage to spenders in a game that is marketed as F2P. Because then it is no longer F2P at all (and yes, I speak as a non-whale plat user).
I believe that the instant-level-to-41 thing was a very bad idea, but for the rest? I can't see much wrong with it. The lower prices just mean your gold is worth that much more. After all, getting 25K from a crate in today's economy would be the equivalent of getting 250k from it a year ago.