Exactly. They're trying to make as much money as they can off the $200 Founder's pack from people too desperate to wait two months to play drow, because they'll likely never make money out of drow any other way now. They already said they'd be giving regular drow away for free so there's no chance for them to make money out of them now unless they go back on their word in ways that would likely cause an even bigger fallout than holding them back for two months.
Ok, for a moment lets make a few assumptions:
1) that the point of delaying the Drow for 2 months is so more people will buy the $200 founders pack.
2) that now that they have said drow will be free, they can't charge for them because people wouldn't buy them because Cryptic would be going back on their word.
3) that these decisions were most likely made a minimum of 4-5 weeks ago as companies don't just make financial decisions on the spur of the moment they discuss them over and over till peoples eyes bleed.
4) Drow are the most popular race.
5) a small percentage of people who play an MMO ever read the forums.
Why wouldn't they have weeks and weeks ago before they made the 2 months then free promise, decide to just sell the Drow race for $10 or $20 at launch? While this might peeve people a little $10-$20 is SOOO much easier to swallow for the masses than $200. It would seem that the amount of cash they would pull in from a $10-$20 Drow race (especially without all this bad blood) would be startlingly more than the people who will shell out the "massive amount" of $200 (after this "fiasco") just to play a pseudo-Drow race after the "betrayal" of the 2 month announcement. Especially because only a small portion of people that play a MMO ever read the forums and would ever be exposed to this. Most people that will play this game don't even know about this whole situation. But when they logged in for you first time and saw a dollar amount next to the drow in the character selection screen they would be inclined to pay it if they wanted to play a drow when it was such a low cost. If the point was to make money "selling" the Drow race they could have made a <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> load more money other ways than trying to shove a $200 price tag down pissed off peoples throats.
This is all just my opinion, but it is supported by years of marketing and finance experience with companies working in those positions in the past. The mind numbingly long process of this type of stuff is what made me find a new career path, thankfully. That and working in jeans and a tee-shirt is so much better than a suit.
2) that now that they have said drow will be free, they can't charge for them because people wouldn't buy them because Cryptic would be going back on their word.
I wouldn't say that people wouldn't buy them. What I think would happen is that there would be a massive fallout from all the people complaining that Cryptic was suddenly selling drow after they "promissed" them that they would be in for free, plus all the people that bought HotN pack only to get some sort of drow access at launch as well. Some of those people might even leave the game entirely and not look back. But others would probably buy them, even if grudgingly. I would probably buy them without a problem for $10 to $20.
5) a small percentage of people who play an MMO ever read the forums.
Why wouldn't they have weeks and weeks ago before they made the 2 months then free promise, decide to just sell the Drow race for $10 or $20 at launch?
Because the perception that drow would be in for free by launch had already been established--hell, there's even been people on these forums claiming that the devs "promised" they would never sell races, period (something I highly doubt is true and even if it was I'm certain the devs won't keep their word on). And while most people who play MMOs don't ever read the forums, people that have been following this game and all its hype for a while have few places to get their information other than the forums or at least the site, and that information is already there.
Plus news sites get their information from here as well so anything newsworthy that may blow up at the forums could spill over to gaming news sites as well. The sudden decision to sell a popular race like drow isn't something that's just going to be swept under the rug if it ever comes to happen. People will talk about it and not just on these forums. Its something that will come up at some point when talking about NWO even if only to inform people that they can buy access to the drow race as one of the many cash shop options that will be available.
NWO is a game that has generated a lot of interest so there's a lot of eyes on this game's development right now. And while yes, some of the stuff that happens here will die out on the forums, stuff like selling races (particularly races that were "promised" to be free) will spill out beyond this site and potentially affect public perception of this game.
While this might peeve people a little $10-$20 is SOOO much easier to swallow for the masses than $200. It would seem that the amount of cash they would pull in from a $10-$20 Drow race (especially without all this bad blood) would be startlingly more than the people who will shell out the "massive amount" of $200 (after this "fiasco") just to play a pseudo-Drow race after the "betrayal" of the 2 month announcement.
I agree. But frankly I've seen Cryptic make such similarly non-sensical decisions before in CO, I dont think that they're able to think that far head. They could still make tons more money that the $200 a piece from the comparatively few people that would buy the HotN pack if they simply sold access to the drow race for $10 or so right now for as long as NWO is around. And they probably should.
The races thing was just a blown out of proportion interview. The devs stated they wouldn't sell content, people assumed races were content. They did state classes would be free though, I'm assuming they'll all be subject to a waiting period before becoming free though.
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lanessar13Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, SilverstarsPosts: 8Arc User
The races thing was just a blown out of proportion interview. The devs stated they wouldn't sell content, people assumed races were content. They did state classes would be free though, I'm assuming they'll all be subject to a waiting period before becoming free though.
Actually, there was an interview with the CEO, Jack Emmert, where he was interviewed on a panel at a convention. During this panel, he stated that charging for races or classes wouldn't be done. He also mentions charging for content. This was prior to the PWE acquisition though, so I'm not holding a change in plans from years ago against them.
However, announcements made in the past month or two (especially during live stream interviews with Devs)... that's a little trickier to dodge. Hence why FAQ-gate came about.
Comments
Ok, for a moment lets make a few assumptions:
1) that the point of delaying the Drow for 2 months is so more people will buy the $200 founders pack.
2) that now that they have said drow will be free, they can't charge for them because people wouldn't buy them because Cryptic would be going back on their word.
3) that these decisions were most likely made a minimum of 4-5 weeks ago as companies don't just make financial decisions on the spur of the moment they discuss them over and over till peoples eyes bleed.
4) Drow are the most popular race.
5) a small percentage of people who play an MMO ever read the forums.
Why wouldn't they have weeks and weeks ago before they made the 2 months then free promise, decide to just sell the Drow race for $10 or $20 at launch? While this might peeve people a little $10-$20 is SOOO much easier to swallow for the masses than $200. It would seem that the amount of cash they would pull in from a $10-$20 Drow race (especially without all this bad blood) would be startlingly more than the people who will shell out the "massive amount" of $200 (after this "fiasco") just to play a pseudo-Drow race after the "betrayal" of the 2 month announcement. Especially because only a small portion of people that play a MMO ever read the forums and would ever be exposed to this. Most people that will play this game don't even know about this whole situation. But when they logged in for you first time and saw a dollar amount next to the drow in the character selection screen they would be inclined to pay it if they wanted to play a drow when it was such a low cost. If the point was to make money "selling" the Drow race they could have made a <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> load more money other ways than trying to shove a $200 price tag down pissed off peoples throats.
This is all just my opinion, but it is supported by years of marketing and finance experience with companies working in those positions in the past. The mind numbingly long process of this type of stuff is what made me find a new career path, thankfully. That and working in jeans and a tee-shirt is so much better than a suit.
I wouldn't say that people wouldn't buy them. What I think would happen is that there would be a massive fallout from all the people complaining that Cryptic was suddenly selling drow after they "promissed" them that they would be in for free, plus all the people that bought HotN pack only to get some sort of drow access at launch as well. Some of those people might even leave the game entirely and not look back. But others would probably buy them, even if grudgingly. I would probably buy them without a problem for $10 to $20.
Because the perception that drow would be in for free by launch had already been established--hell, there's even been people on these forums claiming that the devs "promised" they would never sell races, period (something I highly doubt is true and even if it was I'm certain the devs won't keep their word on). And while most people who play MMOs don't ever read the forums, people that have been following this game and all its hype for a while have few places to get their information other than the forums or at least the site, and that information is already there.
Plus news sites get their information from here as well so anything newsworthy that may blow up at the forums could spill over to gaming news sites as well. The sudden decision to sell a popular race like drow isn't something that's just going to be swept under the rug if it ever comes to happen. People will talk about it and not just on these forums. Its something that will come up at some point when talking about NWO even if only to inform people that they can buy access to the drow race as one of the many cash shop options that will be available.
NWO is a game that has generated a lot of interest so there's a lot of eyes on this game's development right now. And while yes, some of the stuff that happens here will die out on the forums, stuff like selling races (particularly races that were "promised" to be free) will spill out beyond this site and potentially affect public perception of this game.
I agree. But frankly I've seen Cryptic make such similarly non-sensical decisions before in CO, I dont think that they're able to think that far head. They could still make tons more money that the $200 a piece from the comparatively few people that would buy the HotN pack if they simply sold access to the drow race for $10 or so right now for as long as NWO is around. And they probably should.
Actually, there was an interview with the CEO, Jack Emmert, where he was interviewed on a panel at a convention. During this panel, he stated that charging for races or classes wouldn't be done. He also mentions charging for content. This was prior to the PWE acquisition though, so I'm not holding a change in plans from years ago against them.
However, announcements made in the past month or two (especially during live stream interviews with Devs)... that's a little trickier to dodge. Hence why FAQ-gate came about.