Why should emotes be free?

ModAcademy Kayn·Oct 13, 2017·117 votes·7,751 views

Everyone's talking about emotes costing money, and while I agree on the weird pricing for them, I don't understand why people think they should be free. Why? Why should emotes be free? "Because Riot should give back to the community." That's not a reason, that's you wanting free stuff. Use comparisons, use similar games that have truly free emotes.

Because at the moment, emotes follow the same principle as skins. They are not nessecary to play the game and they're meant to let you express yourself in-game. Runes, which will be free, are integral to the game when it comes to their power. Champions, which are free (In the sense of IP), you need them to play the game.

So why should emotes be free? You can argue well the price of them, but saying they should be free (In the sense of IP), makes no sense unless you actually give some examples and connections to why.

163 Comments

DrCyanideOct 13, 201737 votes

I personally see a lot of similarities in the communities reaction to Emotes and the initial reaction to Chromas.

Both sold for RP
Both priced such that the community complaining about the price
As an extension of complaining about the RP price, alternatives were thrown out (IP price, not bundled, unlocked for Champion Mastery, etc.)
Community made versions of roughly equal quality popping up relatively quickly after release (5 minute custom Chromas, thread with 45 emotes)

I think the next steps that Chromas went through will also follow:

Majority of the community doesn't buy it
An IP sale is announced
Quality of future product is raised to the point the community is ok with the RP price.

I saw someone in another thread suggest that instead of everyone getting the same one emote, Riot might sell more if they gave everyone 3 or 4 emotes so that they could actually experiment with using them in different scenarios. Right now there's no frame of reference for any value of the emotes (if anything the price and the fear of spamming devalue them), Riot needs to convince players that Emotes are cool and worth the money.

LunSeiSleideeOct 13, 20172 votes

{quoted}

Quality of future product is raised to the point the community is ok with the RP price.

I haven't seen it happening with chromas. All what I've seen is only people coming to terms with the overpricing.

DrCyanideOct 13, 201710 votes

Original Chromas: https://am-a.akamaihd.net/image?f=http://news.cdn.leagueoflegends.com/public/images/articles/2015/april_2015/CAN/Lucian_base_chromapack.png http://am.leagueoflegends.com/image?f=http://news.cdn.leagueoflegends.com/public/images/articles/2015/april_2015/CAN/Fizz_Base_chromapack.png http://am.leagueoflegends.com/image?f=http://news.cdn.leagueoflegends.com/public/images/articles/2015/april_2015/CAN/PoolpartyLeona_chromapack.png More

Note the same textures as before, just a flat recoloring
Note that you got 3 in a pack

Newer Chromas: https://news-a.akamaihd.net/public/images/articles/2017/july/pn714/Graves_PoolParty_chromas.jpg https://news-a.akamaihd.net/public/images/articles/2016/september/pn619/Ezreal_Publish.png https://news-a.akamaihd.net/public/images/articles/2016/september/pn619/Malphite_Publish.png

Note that the textures are different, in some cases changing the look of the clothing
Note that there are more in a pack
Note that they're available for IP twice a year

The chromas have definitely been improved since the initial launch.

LunSeiSleideeOct 13, 20174 votes

Nah, different textures and more in a pack does not justify the price anyway.

Selling them for IP is actually good... but, twice a year? Wow.

Should I inform you that Heroes Of The Storm gives away these so-called "chromas", with different textures, and in packs.... FOR FREE, ALL THE YEAR?

DrCyanideOct 13, 20176 votes

Nah, different textures and more in a pack does not justify the price anyway.

You can argue it's still not worth the price to you, and that's fine, but that doesn't change that they increased the quality and quantity you get from what it was at launch.

Should I inform you that Heroes Of The Storm gives away these so-called "chromas", with different textures, and in packs.... FOR FREE, ALL THE YEAR?

That might matter if people played HotS. http://www.asianjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/CrowdOhMyGod.gif Seriously though, it doesn't matter what Blizzard prices their content at any more than it matters what DotA prices their content at. What matters is if the League community thinks the content is worth the price. Some players might be influenced by other games pricing, while others look at it relative to the rest of the content available in League.

LunSeiSleideeOct 13, 20172 votes

{quoted}

You can argue it's still not worth the price to you, and that's fine, but that doesn't change that they increased the quality and quantity you get from what it was at launch.

That might matter if people played HotS.

2015 called, they want their meme back. Next you will tell me that playstation has no gamez?

I suggest you keep up to date with HotS constantly increasing playerbase. :) Perhaps you'll also find out Riot has been copying HotS ideas for all 2017.

What matters is if the League community thinks the content is worth the price.

Yep, you hit the nail on the spot.

"Why give it for free when these suckers will pay for it?"

Oh except HotS gives it for free. :)

DrCyanideOct 13, 20173 votes

2015 called, they want their meme back.

It's more relevant now than it was in 2015. At least then people were picking it up to try it out.

NekoniClawsOct 13, 201721 votes

Well I'm an artist. I'm not saying they're bad but those emotes are a day or two's work (unless they've been reworked after being through 600 focus groups) - a skin is a masterpiece with 3D modelling, animation adjustments, new storytelling aspects, unique animations, clarity testing, and a team of highly professional game designers working on them for months.

So I've not asked for them to be free, but they didn't really cost anything to make and I just can't compare them to skins mentally.

I think people generally like the idea of more communication pings too and them being pricegated feels iffy.

WolfeurOct 13, 201720 votes

Agreed. I do think they're overpriced, but they shouldn't be free, or cost a lot in IP (for people who don't know what to do with it).

JRobin31Oct 13, 20178 votes

I agree. RIOT let's players play for for free and they charge for fluff. Those who play the game a lot will want the fluff and buying the fluff is a way for players to show their appreciation of a game they get for free. The emotes seem blatantly overpriced. I guess that makes the emote bundle look like a great deal (more than 50% less cost). I still think players are going to buy these emotes.

Jet SettOct 13, 20172 votes

SMITE does the same thing with their emotes, they charge half the max price of a god for an emote that has no real impact on the game, while having a pretty good price for it money wise. It's more so a detterant for you to decorate a beloved character while simultaneously having less Favor (which would be IP in our case) to spend on gods, They also function as Favor sinks for those who own all the gods.

Velzard of KozOct 13, 201717 votes

BECAUSE PEOPLE NEED IP/BE SINK

It's been said many times before. Emotes, Icons and Chromas would be good source of IP/BE sink while Skins, Wards and Announcer Packs could've been made source of RP gain. Instead Emotes, Chromas, Icons, Skins and Wards all are RP gains.

Additionally Mastery System still gives you barely anything as rewrad to express favouritism of champion. Yet again, Base Skin Chromas and Emotes could've been continually made rewards from Mastery.

RainbowIceeOct 13, 20172 votes

I rather the IP sink be a mini game or some collectibles or something. Not icon's, or emoji's. Maybe just 3D models of shit you randomly buy with IP and let you decorate your own SR 3D map or some shit, even a cheap card game ¯_(ツ)_/¯ some long term solution that would keep players interested would be much better than a desperate one.

KloqdqOct 13, 201712 votes

Grossly overpriced? Yes

Should be free? No

Icons are 250 RP, something you can't turn off and at some point, something people will be able to see. Emotes on the other hand can be completely turned off, only have one being given out for free at the moment (likely to see a lot more in the future with many becoming free) and cost you 450 RP.

They should be costing around 250 RP at a base because that is a reasonable price point. They are far to expensive and I refuse to buy them simply because their price points are ridiculous.

DariusDemiurgeOct 13, 201711 votes

Overwatch. Does so.

The fact they are tiny, static images that clearly didn't take much time. Only slightly better than icons.

VoidStaresBackOct 13, 201765 votes

You have to buy overwatch. You don't have to spend a cent on League, which means Riot has to make its money off of cosmetics.

DariusDemiurgeOct 13, 20176 votes

{quoted}

You have to buy overwatch. You don't have to spend a cent on League, which means Riot has to make its money off of cosmetics.

And they make plenty. You see it daily people's spent amounts. They make money in plenty of ways from rp sells, lock boxes, skins, crappy icons, champions, and now shitty mission tickets like the world's event. Along with merchandise, and shitty esports.

A few rushed champ images ain't going to kill a billion dollar company.

FYI: I don't care overall, they don't have any cutesy Morgana and Kayle emotes is my main complaint but the $5 price tag is dumb.

ModAcademy KaynOct 13, 201744 votes

I see this idea a lot, believe it or not. The whole "They make enough money" type of thought that's used in regards for big companies. It's a slightly socialistic thought, as it puts the idea of giving to people more over making more revenue. This leads itself into two categories.

More money = more development: As they make more money, they can afford to pay their employees, and also expand their company and product. Whether this means more champions, new changes, cosmetics, the money goes somewhere, they don't just keep it in a bank and drool at it through a camera.
Why should making enough money be a reason to not make more money? Imagine you're working hard and you're making that mad cash. Work too hard though, and you have to start giving your product away for free. What's the point in working more then, if you're not going to reap any benefit?

While perhaps new emotes may be nice for players, might make keeping players easier, but I doubt emotes themselves will keep a player invested in a game. So ya need to ask, what does making emotes free accomplish?

JaxMoonStealerOct 13, 201710 votes

Incredibly well put. Props.

Romans VI XXIIIOct 13, 201711 votes

They shouldn't be free, but they shouldn't cost more than a skin....... They should cost more like 150-250 RP.

Would you buy a new car for $1000, or would you buy a Hot wheel version of it for $2000?

the weeabooOct 13, 20178 votes

I think they should have IP sales similar to Chromas. And I aint paying 500 RP for a lil icon that can be muted. Max 250.

KVbqbFsC8eOct 13, 20176 votes

Yeah, I have to agree, Not sure what all the complaining is about as this is a purely cosmetic option in a free to play game.

HowPlayGAEMOct 13, 20176 votes

Every time I see you post it's always shilling for Riot. Have you applied for one of their PR positions?

ModAcademy KaynOct 13, 20174 votes

Since when has looking at things from a logical standpoint instead of an emotional one become shilling. The arguments people have brought up for emotes being free, stem from self-raised expectations that disappoint themselves, or the feeling that Riot owes them something when they don't. If going against the Boards circle-jerk opinion makes me a shill, so be it.

HowPlayGAEMOct 13, 20179 votes

"$10 emotes are great" "Dynamic queue is the best thing since sliced bread" "Actually, Yasuo isn't an obnoxious champ to play against" "Tencent is not only good for Riot, but in fact the entire western world should be subjugated by Chinese totalitarian rule" "The TSA is your friend" "Bandwidth caps are necessary; ISP's simply cannot afford it"

That's you. You're like the embodiment of all anti-consumer practices that exist.

TyrekGoldenspearOct 13, 20171 votes

You sound pretty emotional buddy.

Good arguments don't come from that

HowPlayGAEMOct 13, 20175 votes

Dismissing dissenting viewpoints as emotional does not support the claim that emote prices are reasonable, sorry champ.

TyrekGoldenspearOct 13, 20172 votes

Ah. But I dismissed your viewpoint as both emotional AND inaccurate. Why? Let's see.

First of all, OP never said the prices for emotes are fine. In fact the OP agrees they are priced weirdly.

If you cannot read the OP to see that your statement is inaccurate on their stance, why should I put weight in the rest of your arguments?

HowPlayGAEMOct 13, 20173 votes

False, the OP does not agree they are priced weirdly. Check his comments in this thread, he only goes as far as saying "maybe" they are slightly overpriced. He never commits to the belief, it is only a tactic in order to offer the illusion of compromise.

You are wrong.

SoonshiLOct 13, 20173 votes

No the OP is infact in favor of the Overpriced Emotes, he prob feeds riot hundreds $$$ per month he's a snob fuck and we all know it.

KnalxzOct 13, 20176 votes

It just feels terrible is all but it shouldn't have to be that way.

I honestly feel they should be like champions. A grind or just a few bucks. Exclusively being owned through RP is garbage since RP is already a system made to suck as much money from you as possible.

AIIanOct 13, 20176 votes

Some main differences :

Skins and the like are just here to customize your experience. Emotes are for communication. Better tools for communication should be free, or at the very least buyable in IP / acquired through missions. The message that a RP cost is sending is that those emotes are just premium teabags. Which is lame and I think nobody wants that, or at least asked for it.
The price is outrageous. I respect the talent that went into the emotes, but each of them took half a day and a single designer max to produce. And despite that, they're more expansive than skins that took month of work and a diverse team of artists from many crafts. It's just ridiculous, and unless they're animated and detailed and stuff like that, it shouldn't cost more than 50RP.
Years of F2P practices are deeply engraved in our brains now, and emotes are in 99% of the games the kind of "rewards" that serves as shitty filler trash in lootboxes to dilute your chances of getting actually cool prizes. Selling them, especially for such prices, is outrageous.

LXIIOct 14, 20172 votes

"Premium Teabags"

The most accurate description I've seen yet.

FlukeoidOct 13, 20176 votes

Emotes are a form of speech. And communication in a game should always be free.

Prestige EveOct 13, 20175 votes

There's far more complaints going on about how overpriced they are than complaints for them not being free. Out of the 40 well thought out, civil threads going on about the pricing not being worth it, why single out the babies crying for freebies like that's where ALL the complaints are coming from? Easy up-votes? This just reminds me of years back when Riot would ignore purposely avoid commenting the many constructive threads regarding a specific balancing issues, but quickly go for the few rage-tier QQ threads... because of how easy it is to get people on your side when you single out the unreasonable guys. I'm sure a lot of people want them to be free but we're aware that riot needs to get some income with everything they're sacrificing with the essence change. 350 RP for a single emote just isn't worth it, and that is where the actual complaints are coming from. Just 2 emotes should not cost as much as a mid-tier skin.

EDIT: Another thing to make note of is how Riot advertised emotes before their release. They continuously made it sound like everyone would have access to them (or at least have some basics to start out with), while teasing the theme of giving players more expression in game. Whether or not it was intentional, it still made a lot of users think emotes would be free or unlock-able via game-play.

DeadUnbornOct 13, 20175 votes

I don't think they should be free, I think at their current price level I am not buying them

TyrekGoldenspearOct 13, 20174 votes

I agree in that Emotes are overpriced.

Whether or not they should be IP is a whole other topic. But I am not likely to get emotes at any rate.

There are no Soraka or Azir emotes so I'm not interested.

Mirai KoOct 13, 20174 votes

I think we should stop and take the time to admire the fact that emotes weren't pushed in with some form of Loot Box nonsense. They're there, on their own, not being used as filler for something else. Meaning if you actually want one, you can straight up buy it, and not have to gamble and pray you get it. Are they expensive? Yeah, sorta.
But definitely, don't make them free garbage. Keep them as Luxury Garbage. That way, folks who don't buy them can feel superior about not wasting money on garbage. As they deserve to feel, really.

SoonshiLOct 13, 20173 votes

I Woudn't Call them luxury items they are poorly made and not very appealing they should be free, they just arent worth any RP to be honest. Adding on they can be turned off, making them even less relevent.

AbyssionKnightOct 14, 20174 votes

I think a few generic emotes being free makes sense, since the point of the system is to allow communication without typing. So give everyone enough basic emotes to cover basic thoughts, then put a price on specialised emotes that have a bit more personality and meaning to them.

Skins ProjectOct 13, 20173 votes

I spent $40 on emotes on this acc ._.

Now i don't have any money for emotes on my alts... SAD LIFE

SweedishGunnerOct 13, 20175 votes

Quite clearly you need to take some finance classes.

LunSeiSleideeOct 13, 20172 votes

[{quoted}](name=Skins Project,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=AoYwULJe,comment-id=0006,timestamp=2017-10-13T09:13:39.790+0000)

I spent $40 on emotes on this acc ._.

Now i don't have any money for emotes on my alts... SAD LIFE

Sad life indeed, if you ended up being the kind of person who spends 40$ on emotes.

I'm sorry for you man, but trust me, throwing money on useless things like that will not fix your loneliness or anguish.

Skins ProjectOct 14, 20171 votes

Ok Stop.

I'm not lonely, I don't have anguish.

I like riot as a company and I wish to support them.

I'v used emotes on PBE and am fond of the idea. I have no reason not to buy something I want.

? So will you hush? I don't really care if you dislike emotes, that doesn't give you the right to look down on me for liking them.

How would you like it if someone shamed you for something basic that you enjoy? "Shame on you for liking cats/dogs/phones"

Because, there is no one true view in this world, opinions will always differ.

LunSeiSleideeOct 14, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Skins Project,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=AoYwULJe,comment-id=000600010000,timestamp=2017-10-14T01:22:40.598+0000)

Ok Stop.

I'm not lonely, I don't have anguish.

I like riot as a company and I wish to support them.

I'v used emotes on PBE and am fond of the idea. I have no reason not to buy something I want.

? So will you hush? I don't really care if you dislike emotes, that doesn't give you the right to look down on me for liking them.

How would you like it if someone shamed you for something basic that you enjoy? "Shame on you for liking cats/dogs/phones"

Because, there is no one true view in this world, opinions will always differ.

Buddy, I do like cats and dogs and phones.

I don't waste 40 bucks on cat pictures or phone apps.

You tell yourself you want to support Riot. First, Riot is not a charity, you're not supposed to "support" them. They're a multimillion company that SELLS a product.

Second and most important. If you thought emotes in a videogame were a good way to spend 40$...... you have an empty void in your soul that you're desperately trying to fill with a fixation on a videogame.

Skins ProjectOct 14, 20171 votes

Omg, you spent 100-1k on a phone what's wrong with you!

Lmao, you support a business by being a customer, stop trying to make bullshit arguments because you know I'm right in this case.

Really? Your a fucking asshole, stop judging others off of your own fucking opinion.

If you fucking don't like emotes, then K don't fucking buy em.

if anyone has an empty void, it's the person who's a HOTS fanatic flaming people for supporting riot on LOL forums.

Yaśuo MainOct 14, 20173 votes

a phone is more useful than emotes, u lost argument kthxbye

RedPanndaOct 14, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Dr Mercy,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=AoYwULJe,comment-id=,timestamp=2017-10-13T05:38:02.453+0000)

Everyone's talking about emotes costing money, and while I agree on the weird pricing for them, I don't understand why people think they should be free. Why? Why should emotes be free? "Because Riot should give back to the community." That's not a reason, that's you wanting free stuff. Use comparisons, use similar games that have truly free emotes.

Because at the moment, emotes follow the same principle as skins. They are not nessecary to play the game and they're meant to let you express yourself in-game. Runes, which will be free, are integral to the game when it comes to their power. Champions, which are free (In the sense of IP), you need them to play the game.

So why should emotes be free? You can argue well the price of them, but saying they should be free (In the sense of IP), makes no sense unless you actually give some examples and connections to why.

Literally no one is saying they should be free, quit making shit up. They should just be reasonably priced which atm they are not.

ModAcademy KaynOct 14, 20171 votes

https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/O5dax2TI-emotes-should-cost-ip

For sake of the issue, I consider purchasable by IP as Free, as you don't pay real world money.

Yaśuo MainOct 14, 20172 votes

It takes time for IP, and a lot. Nobody has free time to the point where it's "free" to buy something that costs IP with IP. Not everyone is drowning in IP.

Also, "you don't pay real world money" Time counts too, I don't wanna spend a day trying to get a 6300 champion, which can be the same but on a smaller scale with emotes. Which probably wont matter anyway, because they can be muted.

Who logically considers an item that requires any type of currency free? You don't pay real world money to work in a job, so by that logic I don't pay real world money for anything that costs RP because I got it for free from my job.