Hello,
Quick Background
I played CoA back in 2024 for about 2 months where I spent around 200 euros in just 2 months. I used to love RoM as a kid and this was an improved version of RoM in every way so I was very happy about finding this game. After those 2 months i needed to stop for irl reasons. I've been wanting to come back now but for a couple of reasons i am about to share with you right now I am hesitant to come back.
Problem
The amount of important stuff you need to buy on a regular basis is too expensive in this game. Here is a quick summary of what I consider important with my knowledge of the game:
Magic Perfume - 999 Diamonds Per Month
Summoning Stone Travelling Merchant - 299 Diamonds Per Month
Provisions Courier's Ostrich - 5750 Diamonds Per Month
Fancy Boots - 3500 Diamonds Per Month
At the very least Regular Prestige - 7~ Euros Per Month
These items alone add up to 10,548 diamonds per month. Diamonds being "8548 Diamonds for 50 Euros" without any discounts, the bare minumum you need to spend for these items alone is around 60~ euros considering the prestige aswell.
This obviously doesn't factor in the hundreds of other things you need diamonds for in this game; consumables, transformations, upgrading materials etc...
Considering all of this, even if you bought diamonds when there is a bonus and you bought all these items when there is a sale (i don't know if these monthly items go into sale every month at the same time as well) you are probably still looking at 20-30 euros per month just for the "basics".
You may argue that the Ostrich and Fancy Boots are not necessities and you'd technically be right, they are not needed but they are so incredibly powerful that it feels like its needed if you want to be somewhat efficient.
One of the ways I could reliably farm diamonds as a new player was to farm gold in easier dungeons, without Ostrich/Perfume/Merchant that wouldn't even be possible and I don't even know what I would do as a new player to farm diamonds and catch up to others so I can do endgame content.
Possible Solutions
There is a couple things I can think of
- Sell a timeless version of Ostrich/Perfume/Merchant/Boots, so you don't feel like you need to pay a crazy amount each month, you can just buy those items once and be done with it.
- Integrate Ostrich/Perfume/Merchant/Boots into the prestige battle pass. Not in a way where you need to unlock it and it takes weeks to unlock. It should be instantly unlocked if you buy the prestige. (These benefits could be in the "Plus Pass", paying anything more than 15-20 euros per month on a battle pass feels expensive for a small game like this when comparatively wow subscription is like 9 euros with regional pricing)
- Not really related to this topic but the reworked prestige system also feels predatory, I think prestige should go back to being time-based instead of season-based. If the price/time left of a prestige doesn't go down proportionally it seems predatory. (I believe this is the case? If you buy prestige at the last day of a season its like 5 euros for a day)
- Significantly lower the prices of these items.
Conclusion
I loved this game and want to return, but right now the cost of some of these items that I feel are necessary are just way too overwhelming. Lowering the burden of essential items would go a long way in keeping both new and returning players engaged long-term.
