What is the appeal of First Appearance champs?

I have been wondering about this since they announced it, but are "First Appearance" champs truly just a cosmetic feature? Are there any functional differences between a champ that is "First Appearance" and the same champ that isn't? I wanted to ask the community how important features like this are to them. I see it as a gimmick, but I might be in the minority. I am truly interested in the opinions of my fellow summoners.

Comments

DannyB01

I see it as a gimmick but it looks cool in BGs rosters. I would much rather see alternate skins champions like White Iron Fist, or have the ability to select different appearances in the same champions. I do think they’re pretty cool though.

spiderknight616

They're the same as shiny Pokemon. Look different but functionally the same. Would be nice if they came with the option to add additional visual effects in gameplay too

ahmynuts

Shinnnnyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Herbal_Taxman

It’s a way for them to make money without selling power. Crashed laid it all out in his original note. If it works, it’s good for the economy and the game over all, whether or not we each agree or disagree with the aesthetics.

kus234

Nope nothing, just a cash grab.. this game is not about skin and colors, it's all about abilities.. if those champs have no ability different then the original, makes no sense to chase them, just for a rainbow shine..

WednesdayLength

It's a way to shift monetization away from power and account strength

MrSakuragi

Zero appeal for me but it allows them to sell things other than building roster strength so I’m all for it if it makes Kabam $.

MaxtheSilent

I’m all for selling cosmetics vs power but I’d like cosmetics to be in terms of gameplay. The profile pic is cool but seems unlikely to motivate a ton of spending on its own. New skins or unique visual effects would be much appreciated to accompany the profile pic

ahmynuts

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2901447#Comment_2901447

Literally designed and implemented to be the exact opposite of a cashgrab but go off i suppose

Herbal_Taxman

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2901456#Comment_2901456

couldn’t have said it better myself. People just can’t recognize the difference between a cash grab that actually works in their interest vs one that works against them.

Feuerschwer

Some people have goblin brains and go ‘ooh shiny’ and want the fancy shiny pic.

It has no effect on gameplay so if you don’t care you don’t need to worry about it.

GroundedWisdom

Some of us enjoy the collection aspect of the game and not just power. However, power is good too! MUAHAHAHA!

GilbertoJunior

80% of my account is based on Champion appearence

Vendemiaire

Cool start. Looking forward to Skins. That's something that will have a cooler value in-game.

CheeseMaster482

Game desperately needs a skin mechanic. The gacha framework is outdated, there's a reason why every other f2p game has shifted to selling skins. Kabam will make millions if they sold skins for $10-20.

startropics

I like the colors but it's too intense and takes away from the champ's avatar a little. Not sure what to think.

ItsClobberinTime

I agree with what's been said here, whole point is trying to shift the direction the game has been in over the last couple of years so whales no longer get such a huge advantage out of their spending sprees (which I honestly can't complain about regardless of whether I think they look funny or not) and that way they close power levels between whales and moderate spenders a little more little by little. All of this without hurting the game's economy because after all, they need to make money to keep the game running.

I see some people mentioning "oh well I wouldn't spend more money just for that", and what y'all need to understand is that that isn't how whales think. Let me tell y'all the story about my alliance teammate who is currently sitting at 43 r4s lol last week he took 6* Groot to r6, the week before that he took Deathless Vision to r4, not because he uses them but because he thought it was funny since he already has all the meta relevant champs at r4 sig 200, he dropped close to 2k on the Cyber deals. When you get to that point in terms of account size you're not spending to get stronger anymore, you're spending either for the sake of spending or just for fun. So, the fact that their accounts aren't getting significantly stronger anymore doesn't really change anything as long as spending is getting them something extra in general, which is why the whole first appearance concept will probably work. However, what I will say is if they sell even more ways to customize profiles and/or animations and actual champ skins they would make a truck load of money, waaay more than with first appearance champs alone.