Assassin's Creed: Valhalla Fans Unhappy With Transmog
In the latest update for Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, Ubisoft added the ability to change the appearance of items, so called transmog. Unfortunately, the new feature was not to the liking of players who do not intend to pay for it.
- Players are not happy with the way transmog work in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla;
- In a Reddit discussion including over 400 comments, fans have voiced their dissatisfaction;
- Ubisoft has been accused of lacking a unified approach to immersive gameplay and a desire to profit from microtransactions.
With the 1.2.0 update for AC: Valhalla, which we reported on here, Ubisoft has responded to the public's requests and introduced transmogrification to the game - the ability to change the appearance of items to suit our preferences, while keeping their stats and properties. The requests of players, dating back four months, have finally been heard, but the community does not seem to be thrilled - the players dp not like the fact that we have to pay for changing the item's appearance.
Players expressed their dissatisfaction in the game's subreddit. At the time of writing these words, the discussion counts as much as 413 comments, and new ones are constantly being published. The emerging objections relate mainly to two issues: the need to pay for each transmogrification with 50 pieces of silver (in-game currency) and being forced to return to Ravensthorpe, with Gunnar the blacksmith being the only one who can give the old items a new form. Players' frustration is even greater because the previous installment, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, also featured transmog, but for free and from the menu (at any time).
The reasons for the devs' different approach can be seen in the desire to increase the immersion or in the intention to persuade players to spend even more time in the game, earning additional silver. Some would say that Ubisoft's decision was motivated by a desire to profit from microtransactions, which enable us to purchase silver coins for real cash. Whichever reason you choose, the Reddit community has already provided appropriate counter-arguments.
They accused Ubisoft of trying to shoehorn immersion into a setting that has mythical beasts, Norse gods and secret societies. What's more, fans cut off any potential discussion with words that the French themselves have often used in the past:
Players also don't like the idea of having to grind for silver. Especially since the fastest way to get silver is through treasures and exploration side activities, which can only be completed once. After clearing the entire map, the only option left is to earn currency by trading or in mini-games. Boring and time-consuming? Well, that's why we have microtransactions present in all Ubisoft games lately, even those without multiplayer. Even AC: Odyssey - where many players had problems with gaining experience too slowly, so at some point they had to grind to continue the main story - enables us to buy items to boost our XP. Is Ubisoft about to show indifference to fan complaints and step into the same river once again, this time with both feet? Or will the French come to the conclusion that they overdid it and change transmog in AC: Valhalla to something similar to what we know from the previous installment? We'll probably have to wait for the answer until the next game update.
