Snackoo Labs

Dream of Mirror Online’s item mall has finally updated!  Maewen’s must have item this time around:  Pupu Wings Earmuffs.  Of course, this means that she also has to get a pink outfit to match the pink earmuffs.  Female Zombie Outfit it is!  Since she’s getting the zombie dress, though, might as well get the hat; can’t split up a set.  Besides, it’ll look awesome with a Bounty Hunter Outfit.  Well, that Zombie Charm is part of the set, too,  so-

Maewen: That’s enough!  The Zombie Hat already has a charm on it.  And they both cover up my pretty face!  Think of your dwindling inventory space.
Me: Hrrm…I’m only a few AP short of a costume box.
Maewen: You do realize that in one month of DoMO, you’ve spent about five months worth of WoW, do you not?
Me: Imagine if you could wear pink Pupu Wings Earmuffs in WoW!
Maewen: /squeal  That would be so cute!  Wait, don’t sidetrack me!

There are certain quests I will always discard. In World of Warcraft, those would be anything involving PvP. In Dream of Mirror Online, those would be any quest that absolutely requires a group, such as Drill Sergeant or any Eversun Elder Team Quest.  Actually, no that’s not true; I still keep Drill Sergeant around in case anyone ever asks me for help with it so I can kill two birds with one stone–help someone and get a quest done.  What I meant is that I discard any quest that requires me to recruit a group for myself.  I still don’t have the courage for that.

Helping someone else with a Team Quest is a different story.  A hearty thank you from the team recruiter for basically just standing in front of the elder!  Doesn’t it make you feel good?  It makes me feel good.

Maewen: You’re such a narcissist.  Is that why you had me suffer in WoW as a holy paladin?  So you could be thanked?
Me: No, actually, that started because I was too stupid to realize there were other tabs to put the talent points in.  Sorry.

A Star Hairpin from Dream of Mirror Online’s item mall is actually pretty darn expensive when compared to items I can wear on my own head in this place called RL.  As of this writing, the hairpin is 549 points, which speaking in terms of actual cash, is over $5.00.  I realized when I bought it that I could probably get a headband or two in real life with stars on it for less than that and even a friend later pointed that out when I told him, but I like to consider it part of the whole package.  I would need to spend a lot more  than $25.00 to either make or buy something such as an Illusionist Outfit in real life, so it’s actually a bargain!

Maewen: /snort Yeah, keep telling yourself that.

That thing I said about the item mall sucking and being happy that I wasn’t tempted to spend anything?  It’s totally not true anymore, although I wish it were because I miss the money–almost four months worth of WoW–I just dumped on Dream of Mirror Online.  The item mall still hasn’t changed, but I’ve started reading the forums and apparently there are real people behind it, taking players’ suggestions about what should go in there and listening to their concerns about what shouldn’t, killing the in-game economy and whatnot.  Or a person, at least.  Go figure.  I still miss the days when the item mall spoiled me, though.

So how could I have possibly spent so much money if the item mall hasn’t changed?  Great promotional bundles!  Well, not so great because the items aren’t actually things I want.  Why level up twice as fast?  I’d like to savor my dings.  But look at how awesome that Red Bounty Hunter Outfit is on Maewen in the fading sunlight of Collington!  Bah, hateful bundles.  I took the shelf-clogging Nintendogs with both my DS’s because I liked the colors and now I take inventory-clogging items in DoMO because I want things like an Illusionist Outfit.  Oh well, at least I can see myself using the reset stat pills someday.

Maewen: Wait, I thought we were going with that elegant Red Dragon Dress!
Me: I don’t have a red bow that would look nice with it and your black one has polka dots.  It would look strange.
Maewen: It would look strange with an Illusionist Outfit, too!
Me: No, no, I bought the Star Hairpin!  They’ll look great together!
Maewen: You’re just bound and determined to turn me into a magical girl, aren’t you?

Maybe restocking day has changed since I was last playing Dream of Mirror Online, but Monday has almost come and gone on the west coast and the costume section looks no different.  (I’m on the East, so Monday for me actually has come and gone.)  Should I be happy that I’m not tempted to spend anything or sad that there’s nothing exciting to shop for?  Bah, at least I already have my two favorite outfits.

Maewen: They’re your two favorite outfits now because I’ve spent a significant amount of time wearing them in front of you.  You can’t honestly say that they were your two favorites when-
Me: I think Nao misses you.  You should-
Maewen: Actually, this goth stuff is divine and I’m so glad you got them for me!  /twirl

Originally, the post was titled, “Dream of Mirror Online’s item mall sucks” and I was going to rant about how ridiculous it was for virtual items to have limited stock.  I always like to argue everything I post with myself, though, and remembered that there are actually a lot of limited stock items sold by World of Warcraft’s vendors, yet I don’t think of them as ridiculous, mainly because I don’t have that strong a desire for any of those items.  Just because I don’t want those items doesn’t mean I can apply a different set of logic, though, so I had to re-evaluate my rant and demote it to “insane ramblings of a whiny player that even said whiny player doesn’t want to read about”.

That being said, DoMO’s item mall was a lot more exciting when I last visited it a few months ago.  Even on days when it hadn’t just been restocked, there were multiple pages of costumes and now there’s just one.  Prices would fluctuate as sales started or expired, items were constantly being changed to display  the “sold out” label, and there were pricey-but-oh-so-worth-it costume bundles.  Now, it might as well be a static page.

If the lack of “sold out” items means that they aren’t atificially limiting stock anymore or that they’ve just started not displaying “sold out” items anymore, then great.  If the lack of sales just means they don’t want players to expect sales all the time then…well, not great, but I can understand and I can deal.  The diminished variety of costumes, though?  How do you go from what used to be three pages for most of the week to just one?  I don’t know if this is because all temporary costumes were moved to the in-game item mall only, (were they?) but I remember drooling over a lot more than the loli and bunny costumes, and I only drool over non-sold-out permanents.

The itch to launch DoMO and see the prettiest incarnation of Maewen I’ve ever created has come back (yes, I’m that conceited), mostly because I wanted to try to get a friend to try something in addition to Pangya and a little bit because I think I’m finally over having missed that sale on cat ears some months ago.  (I only waited one day!T_T)  She’s still without cat ears and it’s unlikely that I’ll ever buy them now unless they’re on sale again because I know I could have saved then, but having been away for so many weeks just means I’ve gained a new appreciation for the appearance my character has now.  Or I’m just psychologically trying to compensate; whatever, as long as I’m at peace without the ears.

Maewen: You know, the fact that you’re even talking about the ears in the first place means that you’re not at peace.
Me: Just shut up and stay still for the picture.  I could put you back in Mabi-
Maewen: No, don’t say it!  Don’t make me go back! /cry