Shadow of War loot boxes and premium currency will soon be a thing of the past. On May 8, developer Monolith will be stopping the purchase of Gold. Then, on July 17, Gold, War Chests and the Market will be permanently removed. (Players who have Gold in their inventory will want to spend it before the July 17 deadline, as afterwards it will be converted into in-game items.)
Here’s the official announcement post, which confirms the removal of Gold, War Chests, and the Market from the game.
The core promise of the Nemesis System is the ability to build relationships with your personal allies and enemies in a dynamic open world. While purchasing Orcs in the Market is more immediate and provides additional player options, we have come to realize that providing this choice risked undermining the heart of our game, the Nemesis System. It allows you to miss out on the awesome player stories you would have otherwise created, and it compromises those same stories even if you don’t buy anything. Simply being aware that they are available for purchase reduces the immersion in the world and takes away from the challenge of building your personal army and your fortresses. In order to fully restore the core promise of the Nemesis System, we’ll be permanently removing Gold, War Chests and the Market from Shadow of War. This means the option to purchase Gold with real-world money and the ability to gain Orc Followers from War Chests will be removed. There will be a specific amount of time given for players to utilize their unused Gold. If players have unused Gold by the end of the time allotted to spend it, any remaining Gold will be converted to in-game items.
In addition to the removal of microtransactions, the developer will also be updating the final chapter of the campaign, with “new narrative elements and streamlined for a more cohesive experience.”
Additionally, we’ll be updating the Shadow Wars section of the campaign, where players defend their fortresses against Sauron’s repeated counter-attacks. This portion of the game will be improved with new narrative elements and streamlined for a more cohesive experience. For players who choose to continue with these on-going fortress defense missions, the Endless Siege update released last November will still be available. We’ll also be incorporating many other gameplay improvements that will be detailed in future build notes, including Nemesis System updates, new player skins, skill tree additions, gear system upgrades and progression updates, just to name a few that we’re excited about.
The removal of microtransactions can only be a good thing, right? Let us know your thoughts on this huge change in the comments below.
Source: WBGames Community Forum