Just remembered what I wrote some time back and decided to re-comment on it now that Incarna is here with the macro transactions and monoclegate.
Think about it. How long does it take for a graphic artist to create that monocle? Not long. What are they doing, trying to recoup the costs with price of up to five monocles? As an example, Blizzard introduces far more complex models into the game and sells them for far less money (making far more money in the process, though).
I'm just flabbergasted at what's going on.
It's not just artists. It's programmers, the fact that the artist could be working on other projects, etc. If they have a small art budget and have nothing else at the moment for an artist to do, how do they justify keeping them around?
Items for Microtransactions.
I think it says more about the state of CCP's development that they are at this point. Without any real word on the WoD MMO, which will be using (presumably) the same artist that are working on the NEX stuff, they have to justify keeping them on staff. Not just to the players, but to the all-important investors and bean counters.
For an example of how this normally works:
Star Trek OnlineThey have a very small design team, and one ship artist. They have a couple costume artists. But you also have to think about the coding, the QA, etc. that would have to be done to make this all work. Sure, it could take a couple weeks to get an outfit made, but how long would it take to implement?
It's not just one artist you have to consider, it's the development resources going into the art that the artist creates. Again, QA, programming etc. It's not as simple as you'd think.
However, does this justify the whole microtransaction scheme? Possibly... because CCP is a corporation that's out to make profit. It's not about recouping cost for development; it's about seeing a return on investment.
Sadly, CCP has the same problem now as they have always had; managing expectations of their players.