I think the scaling cost of roster slots was originally put in to keep people from having four or five of a character (in addition to being a money-making factor)
The problem is that with new characters coming out roughly every 2-3 weeks, you start to reach a point of decline in HP earned vs spent where it’s too expensive to keep all the characters. There needs to be a finer balance between the cost of a slot vs the amount of hp earned where you don’t have to actually pay money for every new character just to have a slot.
Devs can’t expect people to always delete characters because there’s no room for the new one. The slots really need to be capped at something more reasonable - even 500 is actually pretty steep for some players to earn every 2 weeks after other hp sinks are factored in.
If they did change the price of roster slots a little, they might even want to about doing it as a stealth change, just to avoid unnecessary negative feedback for trying to do something positive.
I really can’t see them giving out roster slots, because that is their first visible barrier to the f2p player. Either the f2p player has to give up covers, sell a character, wait and build up hp, or pony up. They want to convert f2p players to paying players. Indeed many people on this forum have said that they made their first purchases as roster slots.
I’ll add my “yes please” as I do every time I see this suggestion. There are many improvements/help that could be made, but if I could choose one it would be HP cap for slots. I am quickly losing the ability to keep up in HP cost for roster spaces. I spent money to originally get enough starting spaces - I can’t imagine doing so now if I was just starting out, since so many are needed.
500 for a cap is a good number. 700 or 750 (the current cost for a slot if you have one of each character) is ridiculous, it’s approaching 2/3rds of the cost of a cover to get one more slot!
You’re probably right about cultural differences. I live in America, which is one of the most screwed up places on Earth. You and I may see it for how it is, but where I’m from, people will complain about everything and anything. There will be those that will not take responsibility for any decisions they made. Even if someone is caught in the act of doing something, they will still swear they are innocent. That someone else is to blame. Part of it could also be that I work in law enforcement and deal with such people every day. I’m told that my view of the world is little jaded and I tend to expect the worst of the humanity.
But in my defense, the second I stop thinking that way and let my guard down, some wife beater I arrested a year ago gets out of jail, finds out where I live and trys to burn my house down. All because he thinks that, as the arresting officer, it’s my fault. That his decisions had nothing to do with it. Unfortunately, he is not alone. Where I come from, there are a lot of people that will always refuse to take responsibility for any decisions they make. They will always feel the world owes them something.
And to revisit your mobile phone example once again, you and I see at as fair if the price drops. That’s how the world works. But I, personally have been called out to deal with people causing trouble at a cell phone store for this very reason. The price drops and they come back to the store demanding their money back or a newer, better phone. More than few times this has happened. A few years ago, there was one individual that got so violent over a $40 price drop, that it took me and 4 other officers to take him down. And I don’t even live in a big city.
So it may be cultural differences as you said, because here in the US, there will always be people that complain because they feel the world owes them. No matter how many times you explain it, they will not accept it. Also, you’re right that having a big roster gives players several advantages. You are also 100% correct that purchasing extra slots was their choice, and theirs alone. But some people just won’t see it that way. The only thing they will see is that they paid a certain amount for something that is now being sold for a smaller amount and then ignore everything else.
Now, since I’ve heard that most MPQ players are in the US, I believe any changes to roster slot prices needs to be handled very delicately. Because someone, somewhere, will complain.