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Would You Buy More if Prices Were Lower?
writerdg
Member Posts: 51
I have this theory that they would actually make more money in the long run if they lowered prices on things. For example, would they rather sell 1000 bags per day at $10 or 10000 bags per day at $2. So this is my question. Would you be more inclined to spend more money if prices were lowered?
I'm just using bags as an example because I think it's something that most everyone would like more of, but I think they would sell more of everything and make more money overall if prices were lowered. There's a thing in marketing that's called an "impulse buy". It's something that's a somewhat trivial amount so people don't think twice about spending it, but usually end up spending more. It's the reason that services such as itunes or low priced apps have been so successful. People think nothing of spending a dollar or two on something they want, and usually end up spending more once they get going.
I'm just using bags as an example because I think it's something that most everyone would like more of, but I think they would sell more of everything and make more money overall if prices were lowered. There's a thing in marketing that's called an "impulse buy". It's something that's a somewhat trivial amount so people don't think twice about spending it, but usually end up spending more. It's the reason that services such as itunes or low priced apps have been so successful. People think nothing of spending a dollar or two on something they want, and usually end up spending more once they get going.
Kinset Drake - Lvl 60 GF - Legio Draconum Guild Leader - Mindflayer
Post edited by writerdg on
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(I would simply put yes, but this thing told me that was too short a post.)
There are certainly some things I would like in the store, mainly companions, but the rational part of my brain cannot coprehend shelling out $20-25 for a pet. Especially when there's no real rhyme or reason to the pricing structure of them.
I would buy a lot more stuff if they kept the prices the same but granted them across the account instead of per character. That would include -
There are obvious exceptions like Retraining Tokens, Rename Tokens, etc... that should be per character...
The second thing I'd like to see then is that these be moved to an AD Shop and out of the Zen store, and made a reasonable amount. (Maybe 100k AD to respecc and just 50k to do only Feats at 60? Maybe 2k AD per level, 1k per level for Feats only, which would 120k and 60k at 60?)
As for things like Wards, Lockbox Keys, etc... they can keep them in the Zen Store as an incentive to still trade AD for Zen.
This second idea would get a lot more Zen being traded for AD, since popular services would now require the AD form of currency, and there wouldn't be as much AD on offer for Zen, which would increase the value of AD against Zen. That would make them more money as players who spend IRL money for AD in general would have to spend a little more across the board, and the ones who spend IRL money for Retraining Tokens, etc... would become part of that group.
This would also serve to sink more AD directly out of the economy, which doesn't happen easily enough at the moment. The AD Shops aren't pulling enough, and the only reason AD seems to be draining is that it's actually stagnant in reserves as people sit on it, or trade it around the AH, slowly draining it, but still not well enough. Which is why the Zen to AD rate is hovering above 300 : 1 so easily. I think.
- Zesban
What Class Are You?
Agreed. Even if I did have the zen, I see no point in purchasing an awesome companion because who knows what new classes or balance chances or paragon paths or whatever are coming? If I level up a class and it turns out to be broken ( As half of them are atm ), well now I have $20 invested in it going to waste.
I have a different theory. I believe that if you make up your numbers than you can make any scenario seem reasonable without the bother of actually knowing any facts. People have said over and over that PWE are idiots, that if they sold stuff for dramatically less, they'd "make it up in volume." The problem is that not only are PWE the only ones with actual data, they're also the ones with years of experience selling millions of dollars worth of virtual goods.
Is it possible they're making a mistake? Absolutely. But if I had to bet on one or the other, I'm backing PWE.
Personally I'll never buy a respec token for $6. Would I buy six $1 respec tokens? Absolutely. PWE shouldn't try to draw money out of the players in big chunks - smaller chunks are far more tempting and easier to justify to oneself.
Neverwinter Thieves Guild
Yes, yes, we know PW employee bot, "Thanks for the feedback".
If I felt it was good value for money I would have no hesitation and I do have the money to spend.
The MMO may change but the inventory tetris stays the same.
The problem is that I say this by feeling and not by fact. Maybe even though it goes against every fiber of my being, they already found that sweet spot. Maybe lowering the price does not make them earn more in the end. The problem is that we don't know, we may feel like we do and every bit of logic in me says that they would, but we have not done the extensive research.
I hope of course that prices will drop a lot, or at the very least make the companions count for all alts.
They clearly went with macro-transactions instead of micro-transactions and I am not sure which one results in more revenue for the company.
Btw to the one asking about 5 bags for $10 is the same as 1 for $2 I think they OP means that in a situation where it costs 10$ for 5 bags, a seperate bag would cost perhaps something like 3$, making it cheaper by buying in bulk.
1: Just fix the game
2: lower the costs in the zen store
3: See number one.
I will not spend a dime on this game until its fixed. But at this rate of fails after fail. I can see myself and 100,000s to millions of people leaving to play ESO when it gets launched. ESO if its a success that game will kill this game and the dev's know that.
Thats why they started this cash grab early with a totally unfinished game. They were on the way to running out of funds to keep the game in development and started the cash grab early. So prices wont drop if anything like STO they will go up alittle.
No, it means you would ONLY buy one bag for $2 or you would not hesitate to drop $10 on 5.
I'd be glad too. Please tell me how to make a decent enough amount of AD in this game to be able to. After rolling one toon to 45, then deleting and another to 60 and running well over 70 Epic dungeons, I've yet to figure out how to make any AD in this game. I literally have gotten maybe 3 items from epic dungeons that sold anywhere over a couple thousand AD, and even those items were only about 40k AD. I'm not trying to be sarcastic either. I would really like to know how you make enough AD to spend on zen.
Here is news for you if you have not figured it out already: Microtransaction games do not make their income off of the average player. They make their money off the whales. Those people that have a large amount of disposable income who buy everything they can. I discounted the whale theory until I started playing Dragons of Atlantis for fun in my free time. It was a microtransaction game that had high prices. I thought, how are they making any money? Then I found out that there were entire guilds of players paying $2,000-3,000 A WEEK on the game. Then I found out how much these companies are pulling in overall, which is more than the sub games with the same amount of players bring in. If the company lowered the prices of the items, they would get less from the whales and therefor less overall.
TLDR: Cash shop is priced for people with disposable incomes, not the average gamer, so complaining about high prices, while PWI is making bank, will get you nowhere.
Edit:
You forgot an option on your poll, which most average gamers fall into, that supports the whale theory. That is "I will spend X amount of dollars on this game no matter what the prices are, I will just get more if the prices are lower."
The same goes for several friends playing the game. They've all held back and spent nothing, hoping the prices will go down a fair chunk.
PW, would you rather have 1 * $40 or 5 * $20? It's your choice really. I say take a lesson from other industry leaders in F2P gaming and lower your prices, please. Getting more sales will only benefit you in the long run too as users that spend more money will feel a greater attachment and commitment to the game to make their spending feel more worthwhile. The longer they stick with the game, the more they will likely buy over time. As it is now, the majority of players are simply put off, left with a bitter taste in their mouths and having spent no (or little) money on the game will feel no attachment and move on when the next "big thing" MMO launches, several of which are right around the corner. It'd be much better to respond before it's too late.
I'm not going to whine and drone saying this MMO is dying, because I don't think it is. It's got a tonne of potential and is fun to play. The problem is that so are lots of other games so competition for time and investment is fierce. If you can get more players stuck into your game, why wouldn't you?
In the veiling of the sun we will walk in bitter rain.
But in dreams I can hear your name,
And in dreams we will meet again.
Don't be a fool, Open Beta with working cash shop=Live Release
I actually think the character slots are the only reasonably priced thing on the market. $5 for two more characters isn't bad really. The thing is, if they'd lower the prices on all the stuff people need and want for their characters, they'd sell even more character slots even if they left the price on them the same.
Burninator of Wasabiburn, Maker of Dreamz, Breaker of Heartz
I mean if you buy a purple mount, companion, couple bags, some bank space, maybe some booster packs or want to sell some zen to get some AD.... before you know it you have spent a couple hundred dollars or more... and you have not even been playing this game very long, not to mention its extensive list of issues.
To the average person living on a budget that is just insane to ask of them.
The only people going for it have large amounts of extra money and don't have to worry about a budget.
You see them posting in this thread. People saying they spent 350$ or more already when the game is practically new. To the average person on a budget thats a new phone, tablet, or laptop which is quite a bit more valuable than some virtual video game items.
have to agree with that - totally
If they want to go the route of few sales that's fine with me, NW will just be one of those forever free games for me. I will never spend a dime based on principle alone, as in, you are not going to rip me off, thank you though. Like I said I really don't think it is necessary to spend money in this game anyway, and at these prices, laugh out loud.
Don't be a fool, Open Beta with working cash shop=Live Release