test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
Zen items are far too expensive
majorbpayne
Member Posts: 46
For me to get the mount that I want (Does not give me ANY advantage except getting places faster) would cost me $40...To get the companion I want, would cost me another $30 (Since they don't let you buy Zen by w/e amount you want..)
So for me to have two little things that would slightly help me and make the game funner, I have to spend $70? And there's no way around it. Sure I could save up enough AD to transfer but my God how long would that take? The prices in this game are a bit outrageous. I know it's F2P and a very high quality game, but I think the prices on Zen items are a TAD bit too high. Just my opinion.
So for me to have two little things that would slightly help me and make the game funner, I have to spend $70? And there's no way around it. Sure I could save up enough AD to transfer but my God how long would that take? The prices in this game are a bit outrageous. I know it's F2P and a very high quality game, but I think the prices on Zen items are a TAD bit too high. Just my opinion.
Post edited by majorbpayne on
0
Comments
http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?567591-Trace-s-Guide-to-AD-Creation-and-Wealth-Building
i'm not sure what mount you're looking at getting but i don't think there are any $40 mounts anymore. the highest price of a mount is 3500z. and companions also, there are no more companions that cost 3000z. the highest priced companion is now 2500z. and even right now the epic companions are on sale at 15% off. so they're 2125z.
so either you're talking about EU prices with VAT or you're thinking of zen prices from christmas past.
either way, with in-game earned AD or even a combination of purchased zen and in-game earned AD offsetting the price, it can be quite painless.
the cheapest Purple quality Mount (which if all you're after is the speed boost is the one you should buy) is 2500 Zen
the most expensive companions are 2500 Zen as well.
thats $50. and there's a $50 Zen bundle, so no need to overbuy (Overbuying occurs when, for instance, there is an item for 2500 Zen, but you can only buy Zen in $10 increments, meaning you would have to buy $30 worth of Zen to get it)
now, $25 is still WAY to much (IMO) for a mount or companion when you consider there are ENTIRE GAMES I can get for that much. so like a said, I agree with your premise, but you need to get your math correct.
(EDIT: cudos to melodywhr for the link. Its a great guide everyone should read.)
It costs the company a lot of money to develop and maintain this game and they are allowing to play it for free, and though they ask often for us to buy things, they never demand it. So the only way they can make money is either the Google way: advertising, or the Apple way: premium pricing.
Personally I do not want to ever see a bunch of advertising in Neverwinter (or any of the other games I play). So to forego advertising completely Cryptic must rely on premium pricing for the 'comfort/vanity' things players are willing to buy. Are these things expensive? Darned right they are. Too expensive for what you get? Yes, to come people.
I am fortunate that (once in a while) I can afford to pay for the fancy things. And I do. Sometimes it hurts and feels like a mistake (Ghost Horse, anyone?) Other times it feels great (Dusk Unicorn, anyone?) - but overall it feels pretty good because I'm getting something I want and I am supporting a great company that is allow people to play a very high quality game for free.
When I buy things, you get to play for free and that's a great system. Not to mention that it's up to the company to create really good things people want or they won't buy it. So for the OP to proclaim Zen Market items are too expensive is really to say "those things are high quality and I want them!" - which is essentially a good thing.
As for obtaining the items in question, I defer to @Melodywhr's post.
Not true at all. The zen store items are nothing of premium quality at all, as in they're not really out of the ordinary of what you can expect. It's great that you contribute to a game you enjoy and can justify doing so. However the prices push away a lot of people also wanting to do so with real money. You can also easily spend $100 on keys or boosters and get nothing of value. This game is no-where near premium. If it was you wouldn't of had the amount of people exploit the hell out of the game. The fact that some of the costs had to be changed drastically to get people to use features such enchant removing and respeccing feats costing more than a retraining token shows that they originally had no idea how to value things at least to begin with. On the plus side they've worked towards reducing these but there are still some ridiculous costs such as the mount training tome which I'd only think of considering if all mounts became 110% permanently account wide, or they massively reduced the cost. If you earn a fairly reasonable wage and can afford to splash out on things then that's up to you. But for the majority of lesser waged people who put more value on their money, I'd keep spending to a minimum and rely on the ad exchange which I find more reasonable. That's my opinion anyway
They are intentionally selling this items high so that when they go on sale, even though they would normally, if compared to other MMOs, still be considered overpriced, we will still be using the original price as reference mentally and thus find them "cheap" enough to make the purchase. This is why sales are done on a weekly basis here when normally sales are once-in-a-while things.
The drawback is that for those who really cannot afford even the sale prices, revenue is not extracted from them. This is probably why there are cheaper variants of green and blue items, though in my opinion, they are still well above what is normally charged for cash shop items in other MMOs.
Don't think of the Zen store as real money. Think of Zen as a special "in game" currency that you'll earn via collecting Astral Diamonds through a variety of methods. You can then exchange Astral Diamonds for special "Zen" tokens, then get whatever you want. If you're consistent with your play, you should be able to earn enough AD in a matter of days to a few weeks to get whatever you want.
And when you put that in the same perspective as other MMOs that require you to grind the same content for weeks or months to get enough "tokens" for an item, or a shot at a rare drop, it isn't nearly as bad as you think.
The prices in the Zen shop are meant to reflect the "cost" of short-cutting getting the items in game by spending real money. If the prices were much lower, it would begin to trivialize the efforts of those players who are actually earning them in game, instead of swiping a credit card.
There are really two ways to get what you want in game: Time or money. Which do you have more of? I have a good amount of time, so I spend it trading, flipping, enchanting and working the AH. Others have money and they don't mind dropping cash on the game.
Regardless, Cryptic is a business and they need to make money. They can charge whatever they like. Be thankful you can play the game for free and have the opportunity to get (almost) whatever you want free of charge.
Join Essence of Aggression: PVP-ing Hard Since Beta!
Farm the game, convert back to zen, everything becomes cheap in the store. No real money needed
So you feel they should fund the game off stuff that gives people a clear advantage, or something more mandatory? You wont find a lot of people willing to agree to that. If given a choice between paying $25 for a fluff item. Or paying $25 to access Dread Ring, Sharandar, or the next new class. What one do you think most people will go for?
As far as your numbers, your belief that lower per unit prices will increase revenue. Perhaps it might, perhaps it wont. But its pure hubris to believe that your way is best, simply because you believe it. Its as if you assume that Cyptic/PWE has never done this before. That they haven't bothered to look at the real numbers. (You know, the ones we can only guess at) Or that they don't have marketing departments filled with people with an actual education in economics. What makes you think you know better then them?
Its pay for convenience. Epic mounts were 300-400k just last month. Read some guides, get into a good dedicated PVE guild. Learn the auction house and the economy. Level up your leadership. Pray with all your alts everyday. I'd say you could make that money in 2-3 weeks of playing casually. 1 week if you don't have work.
D&D Home Page - What Class Are You? - Build A Character - D&D Compendium
Not to mention the sylph companion that can only be had in the Feywild pack. That companion is gonna be OP when module 3 comes out
No, I'm saying don't charge as MUCH for things that don't give you an advantage. These are all wants, not needs. You don't NEED any of the items in the zen store. I also never said my way was the best, I simply offered my opinion of what I think the case would be if they dropped the prices on some of the zen items. Your personally attacking me and my knowledge all because I have a different opinion than yours. That's not exactly fair, is it? I'm a casual player and I don't have a high paying job, just enough to get by. I love playing this game, and it would be really nice to have a good mount and good companion. But I can't see myself spending $25 on something that's just going to get me somewhere quicker, but $10 I would be fine with. That is just my opinion.
Eh, I think Neverwinter is pretty good compared to most MMOs. I enjoy it a lot more than say GW2, for example. I like the combat a lot more than WoW.
And yeah you could buy another MMO, but then you'd have to pay a sub fee on top of it. Plus the mounts are cheaper than a new MMO and they are account wide so depending on how many characters you have, you're getting more than just a single mount.
And you can if you want farm up the AD and get epic mounts/good companions etc. and play completely free.
Personally, I think the payment model is pretty genius. I've already spent more on this game than I have on some sub based games, but I don't feel ripped off or anything.
But the idea that I'm playing for free is enticing, and then when I have extra money around and nothing else to spend it on, I don't mind putting it into this game.
So basically you are agreeing that these items are luxuries. Something you don't need, but would be nice to have. So while cheap, would be nice, I don't know of any cheap luxuries. And Id rather have the luxuries pricy then anything else in the game. After all, you do love the game and want to see it funded, right? And lets be fair, there are not that many games that allow you to earn in game credits for cash store purchases. Allowing ANY player, to get nearly ANYTHING in the store for free, if they are willing to put in the time. That by itself is a pretty nice luxury on its own.
And pointing this out to you, is not an attack, personal or otherwise. After all, my own opinions are no less valid then yours. If you don't wish them commented on, or even challenged. You don't have to express them.
Chiefly, a simple concept really, it's called *drum roll please* THE LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND!
The game developer has the "supply" of purple pets/mounts/gear that they think will net them income to support a F2P business model.
You as the consumer are the "demand" in the process, if the developer has over priced the product, or provided a product you don't desire to purchase, due either because of cost or lack of interest, then they have to adjust what they offer to entice you to spend.
The in essence have too much supply too little demand. What a corporation does at that point is lower the cost of the product in some manner to encourage the purchase, or they phase out the product and introduce something you WILL buy. Since the product offered here is a pixelated vanity item, the cost to make the product is minimal, I doubt the phase out.
So what do you do as the "demand" part of the process? Don't buy, that simple. Don't buy what they are offering and they will have to adjust the cost. If the cost of the vanity items are truly to much as you suggest, then the cost WILL come down, if the price isn't coming down then someone out there is consuming it and the cost stays up.
Like another poster said, they wait for the "sale". What is a "sale"? That is a corporation testing the price point of a item, if a lot of folks will buy something for 2500z, but not at 3500z, they test that concept with a sale, a temporary reduction in cost. If the new price point proves a success, usually a price reset soon follows.
Think of the recent promotion they had, you had to buy something on days 1-4 they wanted you to buy @ their current price point. If you did this, you would be rewarded with several green companions and a title (all vanity items) as a promotion. If you added up what it would have cost you to buy the things they wanted you to buy @ current cost it was approx. $105 in RL currency.
You could have gotten those addition "rewards" easily for less than that, it was a marketing ploy like coupons offered by grocery stores. Would you buy a bunch of these items X,Y,Z that we are having problems selling at current costs just to get item N? If not enough people would jump through the hoops to get something "free" then they would have to modify the cost of items X,Y and Z to a point that they DO sell.
Don't buy something you don't feel comfortable paying for, eventually the cost will have to go down to a point you may feel comfortable with, what did DVD, VCR, Stereos, TVs, microwaves etc. etc. when they first came out? Lots. After the first "I got to just have the cutting edge of this" folks paid lots, the cost had to drop to get the folks that would "like to have it, but can't justify splurging on it" felt comfortable doing so.
I'd say buy the Knight of the Feywild pack or if there is an upcoming pack in Module 3, wait for it.
Think of it as buying a regular full-priced PC or xbox or playstation game.
Or you can spend $60 on zen and convert it to diamonds, which today will get you 2,538,000 diamonds.
I think that is more than enough to gear up a character to make it easily do any tier 2 dungeons and be competitive in PVP if you play a GWF or TR
It's enough currently for pve, though expensive. It's not enough to be pvp competitive. You'l be able to take down the more casual players, but you won't be competitive against the top players. I am interested to see what the new pack will have even though I've not really been tempted to buy one yet.
No, not the top end of PVP. But like I said, if he plays a GWF or a perma TR, he could be a slightly above average player in PVP
I knoooooooow! So tempted to break my F2P streak to get this. However, I don't need anything else in the pack, really. Some sissy unicorn and an extra character slot? Please.
Put hat Sylph in the Zen Store, pronto!
Join Essence of Aggression: PVP-ing Hard Since Beta!
Essence of Aggression
However for things like lockboxes and boosters it makes me wonder. If people actually got their moneys worth then a lot will have the best of tools which they probably don't want. So it makes me wonder if I'm actual ok with everyone getting ripped off just so I can get a better deal from buying what I want form the AH since the buyers don't know better. I actually invested a decent amount into boosters on a zen sale and booster sale. Not one booster made a profit if I remember correctly.
I wouldn't think twice about spending some dough for a mount, some dyes or something but with these prices that's definitely not happening.
It's not even about wages, I could easily afford to buy whatever's on the store. However, the prices are just ridiculous. A mount isn't worth some 10 to 20 bucks and I'm not dishing out another 10 just to dye my armor once.
For that amount of money I'm expecting more value. Long as that ain't happening my money is staying right here in my pocket.
And I'm willing to bet there's thousands of people who think just like me. I have a couple friends playing along with me and when they saw the prices they all were like "ROFLMAO! I'm not buying that ****, 3.5k Zen for a mount... they must be out of their minds o0"
I mean what the hell just look at those prices it's freaking crazy. I could buy ESO plus two or three months worth of subs for like four or five items on Neverwinter. That's just out of this world overpriced.
Well, yeah, but then you'd have to play ESO. Ugh. Wouldn't wish that on anyone.