Thoughts on Cash Shop items? Should they affect the game or be strictly for looks?

[imported_ReMo]

What do you folks think? Should cash shop items DIRECTLY impact the game or should they be only for looks? [Sort of how Nexon ran its Cash Shop with Maple Story back in the day. Players could only buy things that made their avatars look pretty and that's it. No exp scrolls or anything else that gives some players an edge but not others. ]

Any thoughts?

[imported_Maddog]

well i dont think cash shop items should be like really powerful weapons or good armor, but im fine with having double exp or loot scrolls etc. i do think it should be mainly for looks though

[Lordaltay]

I think Runes of Magic has the right idea when it comes to a cash shop. Nothing in the game is unavailable to free players, they just have to sink more time into the game to get the items available in the item mall.

[imported_Shadow]

I dislike games with cash shops in general.
I know that cash shops have and always will be a BIG part of f2p mmo's but in my opinion they ruin perfectly good games.
Cash shops always have something that makes your char overpowered and they make the game unfair.
But thats my opinion.

[archimedes]

Well, the items in cash shops really cater to different people. There wouldn't be any cash shop items that provide exp up or powerful items if people wouldn't be interested. The demand is there and so companies simply provide the supply. Some people prefer to just have the looks modified while others want it to become more powerful. Personally, I would rather have it for customization of looks.

I want my character to stand out. I can be powerful without item mall stuff. But it's a lot harder to stand out visually without any developer intervention.