This is an awesome idea! :D

I like this idea

because then there would be no purpose for the whole zombie event.. why should I be infected and participate in the event if I can just simply buy one stage that I like and that's it?

nope, you should get through all the process of the virus and then as an option, you can buy a stage that you like.. this is how a game works..

because why should you go all the way if you don't like the end result or if there wasn't time to get the whole thing? Makes no sense. Go all the way if you like the end result, but why should others be penalized and prevented from getting a certain stage or stages of a strain that they may like but not have to be burdened with the final result? Just because you can buy the stages won't mean that you can buy the end result. The end result would only be available for those that actually got the infection to begin with and carried it through to the end. Your way of thinking is not fair, especially seeing as there are already diluted versions of 4 different viruses on here already that are available to all. It should be available to all or not at all as preventing people who like (a) certain stage(s) of a certain virus, but them hating the outcome of the whole thing, is not cool at all. Not to mention that you can't pick and choose the stages you want after going through the whole thing anyway.

I agree with that it should only be available to people who have gone the distance with the infection. If you don't like the end result of the infection that you want then tough cookies. Don't get the parts at the beginning that you do like.

My worry about tying it to just stages we've unlocked through Rachelle would be programming and complexity. It seems like it'd be more practical just to have all the intermediate stages available and not the final one, although I can understand people not thinking of that as fair. At the same time, though, it might make implementation trickier.

now with the new program of last year you can choose what you want, except for the new viruses, so you can go through all the stages of a virus that you want and then buy the stages..

If we buy any stage we want so no one will participate in being infected..

When you play a game you must go through all the level or number of level to get a perk.. this suggestion is a perk. Like when you can unlock a new special character in a video game after you beat level 100..

what about those people that didn't have the time to get them all? I barely made it last year getting all the ones I really wanted and was at it consistently. This way, even though they couldn't get the infection or buy the outcome, they could still buy bits and pieces of it to feel like they still do have it. While I can see your point of view, I'm looking at it from all angles here and trying to be as fair as possible especially to those that couldn't get all they wanted due to time or RL. This isn't a video game. It's not something you can just come back to. If it was, I wouldn't be thinking in this same way.

They can get it next year.. you're not supposed to get all the viruses in one year.. this is how they planned it.. I'm not going to change my mind on it.. you can only get the stages for a virus that you got to the final stage of it.. no shortcuts..

So if now I buy a stage 2 of a virus, what reasons I have to get a final stage of another virus or even to participate in the event? I have what I want..

I love this idea, but agree you should only be able to get early to mid-stages if and only if you've unlocked the full stage through the event first. Otherwise there's not much point and I'd rather Pandemic not be ruined because "but I want it now!" I didn't put in near the effort as some and I still was able to get 3 zombie skins last year. You have to put in some kind of effort or what's the point?

Support for strains we already have. I'd love to use some stages of my butterfly bruise.

I don't think it'd be fair to make every strain's stages available to everyone. The people who've waited and collected and watched their strains grow basically would probably feel like they've done that for nothing if we can just go, "Oh I like this stage of Lovebug. click Now I have it." TRUTHFULLY, yes, it doesn't take away from anyone. But I know some people would be pretty sore over it.

Getting every skin for no effort seems more unfair than getting the stages you've unlocked. I thought long and hard about what strain I wanted to put the time in for, there are so many I could choose and I chose specifically because I knew it would take time to fully unlock. Why should the time I put into getting the viruses I wanted be undermined by all stages suddenly unlocking for everyone on site?

You can get whatever strain you want now with the new system, but not EVERY STRAIN. That's how they set it up. That logic should follow for unlocking earlier stages.

I'd much rather have it so that we can only get earlier stages on things we've unlocked. It keeps things interesting in the long term. I'm not crazy about the final forms of most strains, and my participation in acquiring strains is going to be a bit limited in the near future, since I'm not really willing to shell out for skins I don't like. Restricted it makes it more hard won, and give us more to work towards over the next few years. I wouldn't ordinarily go for Death Worms, but I will if I can get those faded black hands from stage 2.

You have put the effort in - you unlocked at least one zombie look and that should render you eligible for partials of any other strain. If you've done that much, then the effort has been put in and you should be able to have all other partials available to you. If you have one strain you can access all areas of the Underground without any hitch. So what makes it any different? Nothing. So you want a partial from another strain? So what? The fact of the matter is you ARE a zombie of whatever strain. That should not prohibit you from getting any other partials to you heart's content because you ARE a zombie! What if you thought you might like the mixed look of Blistered hearts combined with a stage of another strain? Why should you be prohibited from buying that stage of the strain to wear with the Blistered Hearts because you haven't unlocked that other zombie strain cuz you didn't like the full thing? You shouldn't be. You're a zombie. Period. You should be allowed to buy whatever benefits come from being a zombie; and this includes being able to purchase whatever stage of whatever strain you want (excluding the finalized form) without a hitch because you HAVE paid your dues and you did follow through with an entire transformation of some zombie strain.

Ehh to me it logically makes more sense to only have access to previous stages of a strain you've already been infected with(unlocked the skin in the wardrobe). Like lore-wise, you already have this strain inside you, and Rachelle would only be forcing it to present a specific stage. Otherwise, where's the incentive to try and collect as many zombie skins as you can over Pandemic, like last year? If you can just get one zombie virus strain and automatically have access to every previous stage of every strain, except for the final one of course, it seems kinda cheap to me. I don't really class getting a zombie strain as "paying your dues" or whatever, I do it 'cause it's fun and in the spirit of the event, and I managed to get quite a few strains last year when I really wasn't all that active s:

Personally I'd kill for some of the previous stages to the Grossfungus one from last year w

What if there IS no chance of getting any old strains again this year? What if that was a one time thing last year? If that's the case, then what? Why should people be denied this?

No one did anything to deserve the diluted forms of 4 zombie strains that are, I believe, still available for purchase in user shops. Why should these be any different? Simple answer - they shouldn't be.

I don't see why the ability to get old strains would be taken away this year seeing as it was so deep-set within the lore of zombies on Subeta. Yanno, with the whole 0 birth rate problem and all that. I'd be surprised if it didn't make a comeback. And if staff take away the option to get older strains it would seem counter-intuitive to then offer the previous stages of them through Rachelle. So I wouldn't worry about that n__n

The diluted strains were given out from completing the 2010 Bobblehead Collection so users would have done quite the achievement to get them. And they have different artwork to the previous stages of those strains :v

I support this, no matter what implementation!

MAJOR SUPPORT!!!!!

I actually tagged Amber about this on another thread earlier, I am glad to hear people have been asking for it for long and that I am not alone!! The last stage, while grand and amazing, is harder to wear on a day to day basis, so I don't care how or where or if it's free or payable or whateverrrr but I would SO wear earlier stages of Death Slug and others!!!!

But I do agree perhaps like Tashamon that it would need to have something to do with a strain you completed/unlocked/own. Once you have it, you'd be able to select any stage you'd like (how? that's the part I don't mind!) :3

PLEASE CONSIDER THIS!!!!!

thank you ❤️

The way I'd love to see this is if you've unlocked a strain (gone through completion and it's unlocked in your wardrobe), then through Rachelle you can buy infected body parts that correspond with that virus, like face, individual limbs...

Then use a creative adjective to tell the user with stage it is, instead of a boring old "Stage Three Freckle Fever Arm." Contaminated, infected, sickly, festering, diseased...

But yeah, limit it to diseases that we've already unlocked completely! There'd be no point in me trying to get [insert disease] next year if I could just buy the pieces needed to look like I had a certain stage.