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Zen Shop Pricing Feedback Thread
fusedmass
Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 252 Bounty Hunter
$200.00 20,000 + 1,300
$100.00 10,000 + 600
$50.00 5,000 + 300
$30.00 3,000
$20.00 2,000
$10.00 1,000
$5.00 500
The above are current prices for Zen. Take into account to get the new healer companion you have to spend 20 dollars or 2,000 Zen. I bought Hero of North. I know this is a free game and I'm entitled to nothing. Yet at the same time. I cannot remember a game in recent memory so expensive as this one.
There are people who say (Just don't buy anything) even to reset talent points cost Zen at (5.00) all I'm asking people look at the prices and what we can get, and say (Honestly, unbiased) if it's worth it. I noticed the max Zen you could buy was 50.00 through one transaction. Now it's up from 100 dollars, to 200.
I know people who said they spent thousands on this game. (Yes thousands) I'd like peoples point of view, without flaming and just sincerely explain in detail they think its good or bad. For long term growth. I played several MMO's since the 90's, including couple free to play. Never before I seen prices sky rocket.
Do you feel you're getting your money's worth.
$100.00 10,000 + 600
$50.00 5,000 + 300
$30.00 3,000
$20.00 2,000
$10.00 1,000
$5.00 500
The above are current prices for Zen. Take into account to get the new healer companion you have to spend 20 dollars or 2,000 Zen. I bought Hero of North. I know this is a free game and I'm entitled to nothing. Yet at the same time. I cannot remember a game in recent memory so expensive as this one.
There are people who say (Just don't buy anything) even to reset talent points cost Zen at (5.00) all I'm asking people look at the prices and what we can get, and say (Honestly, unbiased) if it's worth it. I noticed the max Zen you could buy was 50.00 through one transaction. Now it's up from 100 dollars, to 200.
I know people who said they spent thousands on this game. (Yes thousands) I'd like peoples point of view, without flaming and just sincerely explain in detail they think its good or bad. For long term growth. I played several MMO's since the 90's, including couple free to play. Never before I seen prices sky rocket.
Do you feel you're getting your money's worth.
<Ineractive Gaming>http://www.youtube.com/user/Josh19344
Post edited by fusedmass on
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Comments
The way things are priced makes me think that whomever did the actual pricing was on a roller coaster emotionally. Manic depressive one moment, and joyfully exuberant the next. There's no consistency to it. Sixty dollars for a fluff pack to go with content that will more than likely be burnt through by a large portion of the playerbase in a matter of hours, I predict.
Yes, I feel like buying zen is a fairly even exchange. What isn't to me is the pricing of some of the items. /That/ is outright gouging.
Edit: Oh yes, and I think that probably the wisest thing to spend the Zen on would be respecs, character slots, maybe bank/bag space. Sort of additional boosts. The epic mount is a good thing to get at some point but I guess it would be better to change AD to Zen and then buy it.
Not that I really care, I get to play the game for free. If it turns out the game isn't much fun f2p it's not like I'm being forced to play.
$20 for a single companion on one character, which can't even get to max level (30)?
$10 for a single bag that, again, is only on 1 character?
Other than some small things, like some of the dye packs, prices can hardly be described as "micro" here...
"Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?" -Tony Stark
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. . . . . The poster gave their opinion. There is no reason to go into philosophical and societal debates and discussions, or even conspiracy theories. If you think it is overpriced, give your opinion. If you think it is right on track, give your opinion. If you think it is under-priced, give your opinion. There is no need to pick apart people's opinions and create off topic discussions about philosophical and societal opinions.
These such off topic posts have been moved to the Lower Depths. Stay on topic please and [POST=5311301]read the Rules[/POST]. Thanks!
Clarification:
Please do feel free to give your opinions on whether you do feel the Zen Shop is Overpriced or Not, and/or What Changes you may like to see, and/or other opinions that would Help the Game Grow and Get Better. Thread title is being changed to match the thread's topic.
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I bought the $60 founders pack thinking that this initial buy in cost would set me up for a while, only to find that bags, inventory space, respecs, and other quality of life enhancements are cash shop only. I think the thing that finally pushed me over the edge was that the free companions could not be upgraded, but you could spend $20-$35 to buy one of the good quality companions from the shop, and the "cheaper" ones can't even get max rank! At the later levels, my companion was worthless and spent every single fight dead.
There is another game that I paid $60 for a founder's pack to support them in development and that game has been extremely fair. Not only did they give me some of the cash shop money to buy a couple things, but all of the things in their cash shop also have a chance to be found / earned in game. They are planning to make most of their money on costumes and cosmetic items and not on restricting a player's fun level by not allowing them any inventory space unless they pay $5 per character for 8 slots or whatever.
I want to be clear and just say that I do not mind micro-transaction style free to play games. I usually allow myself $15-$30 a month for MMO subscriptions or micro-transactions, but it's like a previous poster said: there's nothing "micro" about the prices.
This game is fun, and I would like to play it, but if I compare it to other western buy to play or free to play games, it is just too expensive for me and I cannot justify playing it.
However, the way this game is set up, for the people willing to spend big money on this game, can do so and in turn the devs get their pay, and the server stays alive, yay ^.^
and for those who don't want to spend money on the game, then you simply need to run epic dungeons in till you get the pieces of the best set for each class (generally there is the best set, then the others are meh), and once you have a piece, ether equip it, or sell it then use that ad to buy zen.
its essentially a trade of zen (from those who spend money on the game) to those with the gear.
I have to agree the dollar to zen is fine, its these other items and their pricing that is just silly. Mounts at most should cost 20.00, I have 1 toon on this game I see no reason why to make another since I am limited to 2 character slots.
I just see no justification for the pricing in this game.
and also the featured satirical comedic adventure "A Call for Heroes".
the exotic epic mounts in the Zen market costs 3.5k zen, current zen:AD rate is 1:336 (mindfry last time i cheeked)
so that zen mount is going to cost me 1.17M AD, but i also get to claim it free on my other character, so now I've payed 580K for 2 mounts. cheaper than the AH... but now i went and brought myself 2 additional character slots (500zen, 168k zen), get to claim my Bear for free on both of those characters, now that's only 265K for each mount... ALOT cheaper than AH (the thing where the plays decide the costs), infact if i brought a epic mount for each character of the AH thats 2.4M AD, instead since i used the Zen market, i only paid 1.17M for my mounts on my 4 characters... so yes the Zen store might be experience of some things, but epic mounts is defiantly not one of them if you have more than 1 character (which everyone can do free) and sht tone cheaper if you 4 (which quite alot of people have)
I'm sure this will kill the game.
same can go for bags or bank slots 500 for a row on 1 char or 1000-2000z on all characters. this way people who really want that tiger for their cat themed rogue can have it JUST on that char for a reasonable price. and people who say want the wedding gown on EVERY single character can also have their wish.
also consider maybe selling bags from vendors...6-8 slots just so people can have something in the slot. they will still buy bigger when they need room. also maybe add some bag slots to the bank for sorting reasons so people can buy 5 or 6 more bags of holding for more room :P
Also you might want to consider adding a fashion/horse tabs like we have for pets and crafting as of now im not buying a bunch of mounts due to bag space issue. If I wasn't worried about these few items taking up space I might buy a few 30$ mounts for variety. *dangles a carrot*
If they did separate mount pricing like that I would buy a mount, because I don't see myself playing another toon theres only 2 toon slots which imo is just ridiculous enough, but paying 10-20$ for a mount ( I wouldnt pay over 10$ for a non epic mount) seems fair enough, because its almost in the price range of how much p2p MMOS are.
The main problem with prices are with mount prices ... Especially if you are into pvp.
And yet in every review was also a mention about how pricey the offerings in the micro-transaction store are, in the sense that by paying these prices, you're not really getting the value for your money. I certainly feel the same way.
I think it's all to the advantage of Cryptic Studios/Perfect World Entertainment to lower the prices in order to have people more inclined to partake. I mean, it's practically one of the only flaws review sites uniformly state... so, if they 'correct' that, it addresses the more obvious blemish in their reviews.
If I had a suggestion to make, it'd be to adjust it so that the priciest items cap at around 2500 zen (25 USD) rather than 3500 zen (i.e.: honey badger companion), so price reduction overall would be 70% of the current prices.
That's a significant amount of money lost on any single purchase, yes, but that would meet the prices you'd see in another Cryptic game: Star Trek Online; where an endgame ship would cost 2500 zen as well. There's less profit per unit, but more incentivation to buy due to the less prohibitive-looking prices.
Once it ages things will be cheaper. I just hope it won't meet the fate of Rusty Hearts.
I completely agree with this. The price of everything in the cash shop, and the fact that I will never ever be able to get more inventory space or respec my character without paying real life money is such a detractor for me that it makes me just not want to play this game at all.
I feel like I'd be better off to use that money on another game, where I can have more of a feeling of satisfaction with my purchase rather than that reluctant "I wish I didn't have to pay for this" feeling. Guild Wars 2 cash shop is amazing, not only do I feel like my money is well spent, but the only things on their cash shop are fun costumes or convenience items, not things like the only viable late game companions and mounts, the only way to respec or gain more inventory/ bank space, or the only way to combine high level runes without wasting them.
If the game was fixed to a say normal mmo average and the prices dropped by 50% maybe just maybe i would spend some coin
Of course everything I mentioned is OPTIONAL, but some of it is almost necessary. If you use a regular speed mount you are handicapped in PVP and it will cost a fortune to upgrade. If you have no bag space you will run out of room pretty quickly. Without extra bags you really can't even consider holding on to enchants so you can fuse higher level ones. Without professional assets you are going to have a hard time leveling any profession, and without Leadership you will really be struggling to get AD (remember, new character). You can definitely survive without the potion stone and the scrolls of mass life are a joke.
None of these items are worth the money they cost. The best value for the money is the mount because you get it for all characters, but it is still overpriced by at least $10. Of course they get you with the mount because you also have to pay $5 for another character slot to get any real value from that mount. If you don't have an account bound mount and you never plan on getting one you can just create a new account if you want more than two characters.
I think a better idea would be to put some useful items in the store that were actually "Micro" transactions. Shoot for putting in things that are low priced and people would really want to use. Take the Health stone for instance. That is a very useful item but I am not paying $15 for it when I can get all my potions in game for no real money. If it were priced around $3 I would buy them and they would be the only health pot I used. For $15 they should have no CD or at least be on a different CD than regular pots. You could nickel and dime a fortune out of people if you sold useful items.
Once a player reaches 60 and has a bag, mount, and a stone there isn't much use for the Zen store. For leadership assets all you need are a few Man-at-arms and you can get them by praying and using white assets. I bought a Guardian pack to start out so that gave me a big jump. I do feel that the Guardian and Feywild pack are a "Value" but I do not think they are worth what they cost. They are only a value because of the overpriced items in the Zen store. One or the other is all that is needed though. There is absolutely no value in buying both (just epeen).
Edit... I changed my mind. I don't think little "Micro" transactions would help much because of the AD exchange. They would make no money from smaller transactions as long as that exists. If they could add useful, low priced items to the game as some sort of a "Cash only" bound item then they could pull in a few extra bucks by selling them.
You two are really saying the same thing as the OP. The items you buy with Zen determines the 'value' of Zen. As most of the items in the cash shop are outrageously overpriced that does equate to Zen itself being of poor value (it has little buying power).
I said months ago I would happily purchase Zen if it had more buying power. As it doesn't, I have adapted to playing content that doesn't require me to have the best companion or a speedier mount than the one I can buy for gold in game. Fortunately this content has been created by player-authors, not Cryptic, so I don't feel as if I am leeching.
Had the module started in September I would have had no problem forking over the cash, but my car insurance comes first.
Consider lowering prices for the long term health of the game and the folks loyal to this game won't let you down. IMOP.
Right.
I think there could be more items priced at around 200, 300, 400 Zen. STO has that, and some of the other PWE games (the Chinese ones) have that, too. All of the games feature an exchange where players can, in effect, buy the in-game premium currency using RMT, so I suspect that's a pretty significant source of Zen sales for PWE and is unlikely to change.
The Zen store is not completely irrelevant at 60 for people who want to buy AD and gear up that way, which is apparently a legitimate approach per the game design (and likely nets quite a bit of Zen proceeds for PWE).
bank slot = overpriced (bank is not account wide, diff character = diff bank)
bag = overpriced
companion = overpriced (bound to 1 character cant share to other characters)
respec = ok its easy to farm 200k AD
That is one of my biggest complaints. I know I said this before. I never seen a free to play game that intentionally leaves you with limited bag space. You have maybe two bags. In order to get a bag of greater holding. It cost 10.00 or a thousand zen.
This isn't account wide. It's just for one of people you play. The new healer companion to my understanding isn't account wide. You're paying 20 dollars for just one of your alt to hold the honor of having them. That's a tad excessive we have re-buy items, we already paid for just so an alt can have it.
All I'm saying is compared to most games and even free to play ones, the prices are a bit high. Of course if you had tons of money to spend on the game, it may not be a concern. What about the people that don't, they're at a massive disadvantage for bag space, respec talent points. Take into consideration, many bought Hero of North already spent 200 dollars.
It comes with a really fast mount for all alts and some stuff to help level up. It doesn't come with needed bag space. You'd have shell out some cash on Zen Store. I just feel like this game is making a ton of money. (Nothing wrong with that) how else would you explain the max zen they offered in one transaction was 50 dollars on day of release.
Then another option moved to 100 dollars, then 200. Clearly the system must be working. Yet I am concerned long term growth on the game. Will gamers who have the money now, become frustrated spending 50 dollars, getting so little in return. It's a shame because this game really looks nice, polished yet the prices might end up driving people away who otherwise might have played.
In a years time or two years. If you spent thousands of dollars, will you truly be happy or left with buyers remorse. My personal thought is, the prices are a bit high. If they were dropped. You would have more people buying things. More players.
By comparison, in FW, another PWE game, you get 6 slots for the equivalent of 200 zen. Here the bags are 12 for 600 and 24 for 1000, whereas in FW the price scales down a bit more for volume buys, and for 24 slots it would likely cost about $4 less than in NW.
In STO, 12 slots costs 400 Zen, so more along the lines of FW than NW. FW and STO, however, are both 2010 games. I think what we are seeing in NW is premium pricing due to it being a new release.
$35, 3500 Zen, or around 1.2m AD. I'm halfway saved up for the Howler and this Gift of Tymora event is really helping.