Even though I rarely buy transformable items, removing this option is the worst idea Subeta has ever come up with. It beats the removal of the vault interest.

I apologize ahead of time for the post length. I AM NOT CONCISE. D:

(BAH Sorry once again Ariel for confusing you with Amber! A names, apparently I read them all the same. blush It's cuz you are both awesome.) Thank you for clarifying which items are being discussed here. :) So is this pretty much the list of items to be "fixed?"

My stake in this: When Beaky was in the cash shop, I wanted the eyes, companion, and lips along with other items on sale in the shop at the time. While it was more spendy than other items, I figured it was worth it since Beaky was transformable and I could switch it to use as the bird, lips, or eyes, depending on which I wanted. This also meant I only needed one copy as I decided I could deal with not using them at the same time. This left CSC for me to get the other things I wanted as well. Had the item NOT been transformable, I would have at least bought two copies, the eyes and the bird, and possibly a third copy for the lips. When the transform option is removed, I will have to choose one of these items, even though I paid a price with the understanding that I was getting three items for my money. (Didn't care about the other versions)

That's like.. buying an electronics bundle (TV/computer/game console/6 smaller items free - or for a lower cost comparison, a boxed book/tv series set) and after you've paid, they send the repo guys and demand you pick one thing out of all that and relinquish the rest. "But don't worry you can come back and buy it all for much lower prices if you want." WTF? That store would basically be committing fraud, or at least false advertising, and there would be customer backlash and possibly legal consequences.

so yeah... tl;dr -Charging people 250 for a bundle of products and then taking all but one away seems like bad business. Some compensation needs to be figured out. -I'd love it if we could change your minds and grandfather the old transformable minions in, putting a link in the description to their variations. -If it MUST be done, getting all the items is overboard but better customer service-wise than telling us "TOO BAD! You get one." -I hope a solution is chosen that allows the wardrobe fiends to keep access to all the wearables since that is why we only bought one. -I understand being upset at paying twice as much for the cool wearable version as it costs to buy the ugly one, but that's our own fault. And the rash decision making skills/greedy business practice of some shouldn't lead to these consequences for the rest of us.

Decided to quote my news posts since there are 1-2 little things I forgot to bring up (like the fact that this is another ~10 day deadline! I understand wanting to get stuff done but this is too far in the other direction for such 'big loss' changes).

I could re-summarize but this seems like the easiest way to not miss/forget anything.

After Ariel seemed to rule out multiple versions:

Initial post:

Edit 2: Oh sorry for the extra ping @ Keith , forgot that was in there :d < why does that turn into : smiley :, lol.

Anyways I just posted on another thread about gendered overlay items transforming (not just breasts, there are a few older items that are totally different) and it made me go look for the stuff about the plans for in-wardrobe transformation. Since it applies here too, I figured I'd add it. Spoilered because this post has too many quotes already.

Like I am very concerned about how you go forward with this, even though the collection items will supposedly be exempt (still worried about that, sorry). I have a Kiteet which is a transformable minion. I usually keep him happily ensconced in my adorable gallery, but on occasion pull him out when I want to wear the hairdo. Logic would dictate I keep the hair, as that is the most valuable in user shops, but I love him as a minion. I paid a lot for the option of having access to both and it really upsets me that a few people who don't do their research before buying, are going to ruin this minion for me.

Everything said, I second.

Well, see, I was worried beforehand about something that wasn't a minion. However, now I've gotten the from the Spooky Chance Machine.

I love bats, one of my pets has a treasure chest for them, so there is no way I can choose what I want that to be. 😞

WOW that was a lot of concern and uncertainty for a bit! Staff can we work on being more specific and clear when it comes to updates please? I'm interested to see what the outcome is for the minions, and I'm very glad not all transformable items are going to have the option removed. I don't personally see the choice to remove the option just for minions as ideal. Glad you're considering other ideas.

I paid 250 CSC for a transformable Crowley. I wouldn't have paid 250 CSC for just a minion. That's overpriced.

Removing the transformable option is silly.

I rarely buy transformables, rarely buy items in the cash shop in general lately, but people pay extra for a transformable exactly because it's transformable. I'm 50/50 about using transformables as sometimes I stick to one option( if it's a plush, for instance) and then automatically stick it in a collection which negates the transformation, but I'd like the transformation to be available at least.

If someone paid more csc for the option to have an item be transformable then might as well keep it transformable.

There are a couple of things I want to agree with in this modified quote:

1. The electronics/book box sets/etc. It couldn't be a better example. You buy a set as it's a set. You bought it for a set (no pun intended) price; usually it's a discounted price. It comes with all the bits and bobs that that set has. How would you feel if you were then, however much time later, told that you must choose one item out of that set and the rest would be taken away from you by whomever but in parting they say, "Come to our store to buy the individual pieces as we're no longer selling this as a set"? You'd be so angry you wouldn't be able to know where to begin to start getting your stuff that you paid for back.

That's the same issue here. We paid a set price for a set of items. Yes, it's a transformable set of items, but we bought it as a set. 1 item that could be transformed unlimitedly giving us, ultimately, a set of items to use to our heart's content. Now it's being said that our set's being "repo'ed" and that we have to choose one out of the set then be forced to buy the individual pieces. Not right. Not fair. Uncool.

2. The splitting the transformable minion (or its already transformed forms. Someone has a Crowley Feather instead of the Crowley, for example) and giving everyone a complete set for however many of the minion they bought (once again this includes the transformed versions of said minion). Technically we already DID buy the complete set when we bought a single of the minion. We just had to transform it ourselves. Now it's being done for us so we should still be entitled to the complete set without having to pay further (think of the example above in the previous point). If you missed out on the transformable minion, then you're out of luck. Sets/collections in stores in real life only last for a limited time, this is proving to be the same thing. However, those of us that did manage to buy the set at a reduced price are entitled to keep it for such.

This I agree with. I fell victim to this a few years ago as a newer player when I bought a wig that was a collection item and transformable. I didn't know really what all that was back in the day and learned later that day that it was transformable and that the male version was cheaper than the female. I was really upset for a bit, but it was a learning curve for me and it really helped teach me about transformable items and to really check things out before I bought them!!! This could really help teach others the same lesson if this happened to them! In fact, I believe it would be an excellent teaching tool. If it weren't for that incident, it may have been a lot longer before I learned the same lesson.

This is extremely worrying and not okay. I can't even believe that the staff would so much as consider doing this.

My favorite item on site to collect is the Yaakov, a transformable minion. I have a whole little herd in Yellowstone's TC and am planning to buy up the rest I can find. I like them most in their normal minion form, but they can turn into a plushie, sticker, and two wearables if I want them to (well and a food I think, but I don't use that). The plushie and sticker are equally useful for that TC but the wearables are only fun when I need them. I bought them from user shops, but that doesn't invalidate my purchase or the USD purchase their original buyer made. I paid money for these items because they have this functionality.

Why would anyone ever feel comfortable giving Subeta another cent if the items they rightfully purchased may be drastically altered down the line? This isn't a discount or an art revamp, it completely changes the entire item and removes a HUGE portion of what was paid for. I would never support such a change for normal sP/plot/whatever items, but items someone had to pay real money to get? You've got to be kidding me. How was this ever even considered?

Not happy about this. Especially when it comes to my Squibly. I have transformed the wearable several times, and will legitimately have a difficult time choosing just one wear. This is not a good solution for the problem. I support not making any more transformable minions, but I do NOT support the idea of retroactively changing the ones that exist. Many others have pointed out this is essentially taking items away from the players that have bought them. And that's pretty shitty. :/ And kinda robbing us of items.

I'll admit that due to my crazy collecting habit I've bought a number of the minions and their various stages of transformation for 250 CSC a pop. So in all fairness this doesn't truly affect me since I bought unique copies of everything I needed for collecting purposes; however, I do agree with most others who have posted that this situation is not the same as a simple price change.

Say a person buys a Sentinel from the CS for full price, and it's then later discounted by 50% for a sale. That is a true price reduction. Ultimately the person purchased the same item and retained the same benefits as anyone else buying a copy at the sale rate, and so while others were able to purchase it for the lower price that did not affect the original purchaser's ability to use their own copy of the item as they were originally able to do when making the decision to buy it. Now say that the same person bought a Sentinel, and staff decided to take away the combo boosting ability when pairing it with a combo legendary weapon. In that case the user now no longer has the same abilities they did when purchasing the weapon, and in that case the Sentinel would only retain a small portion of it's value after the change. That is the equivalent situation to removing the transformation option. Trying to say it's the same as a price reduction is more like comparing apples to oranges from my perspective, and ultimately I have to agree that it doesn't seem terribly fair to people who paid 250 CSC specifically because those items transform.

On the plus side, I'm really happy to hear it's only the minions that are having the option removed. I do agree that anything released with a transformation option should retain that ability going forward, but if it's going to be changed I'm glad to hear it will only be for a small handful of CS items.

It's almost comforting to know that my wigs and cats will be spared... I am, however, extremely disappointed to hear that my entire collection of transformable minions will soon be a complete waste of money. :( To be honest, I wouldn't have bought half the minions in the cs if they weren't transformable.

Please do reconsider this decision and remove the idea of having a deadline for choosing a permanent form of said minions, because I simply cannot. They are my babies.

It's understandable that the staffs want these items to be very clear as to what they do for the sake of some users who doesn't use SL, but do not punish the rest of us who doesn't scam others or for people like me, who doesn't even resell these collection items. Try to consider the feelings of your consumers and solve this issue with them not against them. For solutions, I agree with those mentioned in the OP and the following ideas:

Just a thought- wouldn't it be simpler to implement something like the 'this item can be found in these locations: quest shop, cash shop, token shop, etc' shop search message?

All it would need to be is a short message that appears when you search shops for the item saying something to the effect of 'this item transforms into x, x, x and x!'

I feel like that's a much simpler way to make users aware that the item is transformable and point them in the direction of getting the best price? It also does not remove the primary function of an item that users paid actual real life money for, which, for the reasons stated very eloquently in this thread, would be incredibly frustrating, upsetting and even more expensive for those affected by this change.

I would appreciate it if you keep us informed what options are discussed. I do not want the users (and myself) to get the feeling staff is kicking the can down the road. After all Morostide is nearly over...

Thank you! :)

Nice.

Yay! :D

Much better. :)