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  • jaddaljaddal Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 19 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    imivo wrote: »
    It isn't. You can play all of the content without ever paying anything. The money has to come from somewhere and there need to incentive for people to fork over some cash, however, so yes, some aspects will be inconvenient or require a lot of time if you do not want to support the game financially. This is not a government-sponsored charity project.

    Do you work for free? I don't, and I don't expect others to, either. I still feel the AD costs for recovering enchants is too high, but I can talk about this without getting all whiny about some hard truths about life, e.g. the one that food doesn't grow on our parents' tables even if for at least sixteen years it may seem so.
    Not only is this stupid but the devs stated that content would be open to everyone. The article that I read prior to release said that their intent was to have people pay money who appreciated their product. What we ended up with is not what they talked about.

    I spent the $60 based solely on that article and what I perceived to be their general attitude in making a game that was not restricted (ala SWTOR, which I really like but is not really F2P). We could make a laundry list of things that are in the game but are effectively out of reach of F2P players; socketing, the AH et al.

    tl;dr Don't be a fanboi
  • terradraconisterradraconis Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 17 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Zen buys AD. AD let's you use the market. Look at the Zen to AD conversion right now. You'll see what i mean.

    ... Snip ...

    Hell, i found out today that you need bars of metal that come from **** lockboxes to get items too! At this point, that is MORE items that i have to spend real money on. Vanity or not, that's a bit insane to have a random token drop from a lock-box that if you spend enough money, you might get a fricking hat! There is money making and then there is just insanity.

    First I don't think I would ever spend Zen to by AD but hey if you have excess cash burning a hole in your pocket and feel compelled to buy AD with zen I'm not going to stop you.

    Second the T-Bars are a completely optional type of currency. Basically they allow someone who keeps opening nightmare boxes to eventually get a nice mount, companion, or bit of gear if the random number generator never ever gives them one over time. Everything thing in the T-bar store has equivalents available elsewhere with different skins.

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  • terradraconisterradraconis Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 17 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    jaddal wrote: »
    Not only is this stupid but the devs stated that content would be open to everyone. The article that I read prior to release said that their intent was to have people pay money who appreciated their product. What we ended up with is not what they talked about.

    I spent the $60 based solely on that article and what I perceived to be their general attitude in making a game that was not restricted (ala SWTOR, which I really like but is not really F2P). We could make a laundry list of things that are in the game but are effectively out of reach of F2P players; socketing, the AH et al.

    tl;dr Don't be a fanboi

    Not seeing your claim as having any truth at all. You can make money selling things on the AH and you can earn AD by farming for it. It takes time but you can do it.

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • sasheriasasheria Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Not seeing your claim as having any truth at all. You can make money selling things on the AH and you can earn AD by farming for it. It takes time but you can do it.

    In STO, we don't even have that option (selling items for refine dilithium). In NWN, you can farm items (all are BoE) and sell on the market for AD. Then you can use the AD and get what you want.

    Now, if you CAN'T earn AD via auction house, then I can understand why people are "whining" about high cost of AD. these are end game level items (or pretty close to it) so it is meant to be expensive.
    To grow old is inevitable, to grow up is optional.
    Please review my campaign and I'll return the favor.
  • jaddaljaddal Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 19 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    elawyn wrote: »
    Which is much the same that you'd pay for a subscription game each month whether you use it or not. Then you end up paying that every month and hardly playing, scared to cancel because you don't' want to lose anything.
    False equivalency. The $60 I spent here is not the same as the $60 I would have spent on a subscription title. The $60 I spent here doesn't even get me additional bag space. In a sub game, I would have already been on my way to having all my bag slots full. Here, I can't even really store the items in my bank for later because there are too few bank slots. In a sub, I would likely have triple or quadruple space in my bank. Here, I can't participate meaningfully in the AH even with my Main who has the diamonds; not to mention my alt who has no real hope of buying anything worthwhile on the AH.

    The bottom line here is that people are recognizing a disparity and don't like it. You can agree or disagree but that won't change the fact that in the end it will hurt the game overall which effects the people that choose to stay.
  • jaddaljaddal Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 19 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Not seeing your claim as having any truth at all. You can make money selling things on the AH and you can earn AD by farming for it. It takes time but you can do it.
    The farming is way too slow.

    The AH is nearly worthless for the more casual player; which make up the bulk of the community.

    I dismantle your argument and you come back with nuh-uh. gtfo diaf
  • sasheriasasheria Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    jaddal wrote: »
    False equivalency. The $60 I spent here is not the same as the $60 I would have spent on a subscription title. The $60 I spent here doesn't even get me additional bag space. In a sub game, I would have already been on my way to having all my bag slots full. Here, I can't even really store the items in my bank for later because there are too few bank slots. In a sub, I would likely have triple or quadruple space in my bank. Here, I can't participate meaningfully in the AH even with my Main who has the diamonds; not to mention my alt who has no real hope of buying anything worthwhile on the AH.

    The bottom line here is that people are recognizing a disparity and don't like it. You can agree or disagree but that won't change the fact that in the end it will hurt the game overall which effects the people that choose to stay.

    in SOME game.

    lets take WoW as a good example. You start off with a SINGLE bag, you need to EARN gold to get MORE bags (same with bank) so you don't start of with "max inventory" even with Sub.

    It is what people call "carrot on the stick" method. You got to have these carrots to get players to play and earn their way. It could unlock new skills (which takes time and possible in-game currency for training) getting more inventory slot (many games does this. I haven't encounter a game that have MAX inventory open from level 1.... yet but I'm sure there are some out there), more bank slot, guild bank slot, upgrade item, shiny enchantment, mounts!! (this is a biggy investment)

    Now the big difference between sub vs F2P that in Sub there are no "legal" shortcuts (i.e. illegally you could buy gold to buy the items you need) but in F2P, you can either earn your way to unlock for bags (in this case in NWN questing), spend dollars to unlock it FASTER, OR grind AD an convert to Zen and buy it said item without spending any dollars.

    Sub method usually takes longer (unless you play a lot) which is not as popular now-a-days with people don't play as much or lack the time. F2P entertain both world. People with extra cash can spend and get what they want, while people without cash can earn the same item but takes a little longer (like a sub would but no actual sub required)
    To grow old is inevitable, to grow up is optional.
    Please review my campaign and I'll return the favor.
  • terradraconisterradraconis Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 17 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    jaddal wrote: »
    The farming is way too slow.

    The AH is nearly worthless for the more casual player; which make up the bulk of the community.

    I dismantle your argument and you come back with nuh-uh. gtfo diaf

    No this is all your opinion. By what measure is farming to slow? Who is the judge of to slow? It's personal opinion. It is perfectly valid to have that opinion but it doesn't make it the one truth either.

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • ceryndrionceryndrion Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I would point out to people that complain that "buying a bag for real money is so unfair, in wow, you only have to pay gold", that they are conveniently missing out the fact that for the luxury of getting those bags for gold, you have to purchase wow, and its expansions, and then pay a monthly subscription. All for the luxury of not having to pay real money for a bag.. as for me, I'd rather just pay for the bag and be done with it.

    As for astral diamonds, well, the AH is in flux at the moment, with the majority of players having very few astral diamonds, and a small proportion, that being the founders, having between 600k and 2mil.. of course there are many that are trading up rapidly, but in the most part, prices are messed up, but they'll settle down over the next few weeks I am sure.
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  • sasheriasasheria Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    ceryndrion wrote: »
    I would point out to people that complain that "buying a bag for real money is so unfair, in wow, you only have to pay gold", that they are conveniently missing out the fact that for the luxury of getting those bags for gold, you have to purchase wow, and its expansions, and then pay a monthly subscription. All for the luxury of not having to pay real money for a bag.. as for me, I'd rather just pay for the bag and be done with it.

    As for astral diamonds, well, the AH is in flux at the moment, with the majority of players having very few astral diamonds, and a small proportion, that being the founders, having between 600k and 2mil.. of course there are many that are trading up rapidly, but in the most part, prices are messed up, but they'll settle down over the next few weeks I am sure.

    Also don't forget the most important part of MMO.... TIME :) it takes time to earn gold and finally buy those extra bag (or even have high enough player to CRAFT it)
    To grow old is inevitable, to grow up is optional.
    Please review my campaign and I'll return the favor.
  • terradraconisterradraconis Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 17 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    sasheria wrote: »
    Also don't forget the most important part of MMO.... TIME :) it takes time to earn gold and finally buy those extra bag (or even have high enough player to CRAFT it)

    Yes it seems to be people dismiss that you can take time and farm AD. Instead there appears to be some fantasy that if the zen store didn't exist the farming for Astral Diamonds wouldn't exist. Yet look at every other MMO you wind up farming for something in every one. Here it looks like AD.

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • sasheriasasheria Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Yes it seems to be people dismiss that you can take time and farm AD. Instead there appears to be some fantasy that if the zen store didn't exist the farming for Astral Diamonds wouldn't exist. Yet look at every other MMO you wind up farming for something in every one. Here it looks like AD.

    True. in F2P, you have the option to FARM (not spend money cause you can buy bag in AH for AD) or Farm Rough AD and convert them to AD and play the market and buy Zen via AD and then use Zen to buy bags (or anything you want) it just takes time.

    The big difference (that people forget) that you STILL have to spend time playing it. or you can take shortcut with your wallet legally in f2p ;) (in WoW example I gave would be buying gold on Gold seller, but that is against EULA)
    To grow old is inevitable, to grow up is optional.
    Please review my campaign and I'll return the favor.
  • holt3holt3 Member Posts: 333 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    imivo wrote: »
    It isn't. You can play all of the content without ever paying anything. The money has to come from somewhere and there need to incentive for people to fork over some cash, however, so yes, some aspects will be inconvenient or require a lot of time if you do not want to support the game financially. This is not a government-sponsored charity project.

    Do you work for free? I don't, and I don't expect others to, either. I still feel the AD costs for recovering enchants is too high, but I can talk about this without getting all whiny about some hard truths about life, e.g. the one that food doesn't grow on our parents' tables even if for at least sixteen years it may seem so.

    What!? How dare you say something like that to these poor people who want something for nothing! You sound like a Tea Party Extremist! Do you own a Pressure Cooker sir??!!
  • sasheriasasheria Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    holt3 wrote: »
    What!? How dare you say something like that to these poor people who want something for nothing! You sound like a Tea Party Extremist! Do you own a Pressure Cooker sir??!!

    I want a pressure cooker. they are awesome ;)
    To grow old is inevitable, to grow up is optional.
    Please review my campaign and I'll return the favor.
  • vyssalarevyssalare Member Posts: 24 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    sasheria wrote: »
    True. in F2P, you have the option to FARM (not spend money cause you can buy bag in AH for AD) or Farm Rough AD and convert them to AD and play the market and buy Zen via AD and then use Zen to buy bags (or anything you want) it just takes time.

    The big difference (that people forget) that you STILL have to spend time playing it. or you can take shortcut with your wallet legally in f2p ;) (in WoW example I gave would be buying gold on Gold seller, but that is against EULA)

    Just because someone can farm it does not make it practical in the least. It's like one of the super rare WoW mounts that cost 20k+ gold (During wotlk). While it's alright for a few super rare items to be like that, pretty much EVERY item is like that. Earning 25k-30k Astral a day requires a good amount of play time. Tie that in with items starting around 900k and it takes 30 days of astral farming to earn 1 item.

    On top of this is the crazy amount needed to resocket/respec feats. The absurd exchange rate to Zen in case you want bags (450k or 15 days of farming for a single bag). There needs to be a good balance between money sinks and money faucets in any mmo. Unfortunately in this game the faucet is a tiny drip and the sink a sewer pipe. Zen to AD prices will only get worse as the easy AD gets used up. Farming AD in the first skirmish takes ~3 minutes a run. The 3rd skirmish (keep) takes around 15-20 due to that boss.

    I don't think people expect the stuff to be super easy to get or free but right now it is hard to justify spending such an extreme amount for so little in return. It costs them nothing to actually sell the finished item so selling 5 for $3 is the same as selling 1 for $15. On top of that they'll have a stronger user base with more invested to prolong the game's longevity. I myself bought $50 in zen since I felt the game (not what I could get for the 5300 zen) was worth it.

    TLDR: The game would be better overall with 1/4-1/3 current AD prices. It's way too slow to earn AD (Often 15-30 days of farming for 1 item) and this will annoy the user base. Cheap purchases keep the users happy and spending. Expensive pisses them off and drives them away. The econ can't work since the influx of AD is so minute compared to costs and will greatly hinder the game.
  • h4wkeye101h4wkeye101 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 3 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    The AD prices are insane for some stuff. Level 3 riding skill book thing costs like over 2 million AD. Seriously? With the 24k daily cap, you would need 100 days to get that much =.= And that is providing you play every day and you manage to reach the cap every day.
  • kaedan69kaedan69 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I'm all for the developers and publisher making money off thier game. It's obvious business practice, that said however some of the prices are indeed rather insane for this game. I started with several friends and already people don't want to continue because of the "EXCESSIVE" pricing for such simple things as bag space, bank space, mounts etc... Also the amount of different currency in this game is just mind boggling idiotic. Who in thier right mind thought Zen, AD, Gold, Seals, Bars, Astral etc... was a good idea should be fired. What a convoluted system just to nickel and dime, oh excuse me, five dollar and ten dollar all the money they can get out of us. They will lose people who just feel the pricing is way too much.
  • cookjkcookjk Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users Posts: 91
    edited May 2013
    Well the current rate is 100zen one AD so you should be happy that you can buy stuff on the IM without paying cash. Which goes back to the Founders pack, you start with 2000000AD that means $2000000 dollars if you bought that with cash.

    $1 = 100zen = 1AD

    I think they may have that backwards otherwise the founders pack is worth over $2000000 real dollars.
  • toyeverdaletoyeverdale Member Posts: 91
    edited May 2013
    You have to understand; the only way they will make a decent income off the free to play model is if they can make us annoyed enough to spend real cash to get what we want.

    So the idea here is the games AD cost is high, so you buy zen to convert and get what you want. The prices of things are deliberate to dangle the carrot in front of you. Since you can quickly, by the cost, asses how much time it would take you to earn it through play; you at the same time weigh that against how much cash it would cost. Once it hits that threshold of gotta have it, this isn't too much, then they will make their millions.

    What's the current exchange? I won't participate in the zen system until a bit after release. Edit: Ahh, 1:100. So clearly the idea is AD is used to buy in game stuff, zen is for perks.

    Players are posting high AD prices to try and establish a want market. What people are willing to pay for their wants. I expect it to deflate soon enough. I think the inflated prices are also partly due to founders pack AD amounts. Again, it will stabalize soon enough.

    I just hope we can ultimately buy the things from the founders pack with Zen, not cash.
  • vyssalarevyssalare Member Posts: 24 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    cookjk wrote: »
    Well the current rate is 100zen one AD so you should be happy that you can buy stuff on the IM without paying cash. Which goes back to the Founders pack, you start with 2000000AD that means $2000000 dollars if you bought that with cash.

    $1 = 100zen = 1AD

    I think they may have that backwards otherwise the founders pack is worth over $2000000 real dollars.

    What the **** are you talking about? The average conversion is $1 = 100zen = 45000 AD.

    2,000,000 / 45,000 = ~$44.50 (two blue companions from the bazaar)
  • norobladnoroblad Member Posts: 556 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    sasheria wrote: »
    in SOME game.

    lets take WoW as a good example. You start off with a SINGLE bag, you need to EARN gold to get MORE bags (same with bank) so you don't start of with "max inventory" even with Sub.

    It is what people call "carrot on the stick" method. You got to have these carrots to get players to play and earn their way. It could unlock new skills (which takes time and possible in-game currency for training) getting more inventory slot (many games does this. I haven't encounter a game that have MAX inventory open from level 1.... yet but I'm sure there are some out there), more bank slot, guild bank slot, upgrade item, shiny enchantment, mounts!! (this is a biggy investment)

    Now the big difference between sub vs F2P that in Sub there are no "legal" shortcuts (i.e. illegally you could buy gold to buy the items you need) but in F2P, you can either earn your way to unlock for bags (in this case in NWN questing), spend dollars to unlock it FASTER, OR grind AD an convert to Zen and buy it said item without spending any dollars.

    Sub method usually takes longer (unless you play a lot) which is not as popular now-a-days with people don't play as much or lack the time. F2P entertain both world. People with extra cash can spend and get what they want, while people without cash can earn the same item but takes a little longer (like a sub would but no actual sub required)

    Not exactly. It takes 5 min to roll an alt tailor or leatherworker who can make at least basic bags to start out, and those are plenty for a new player. Then it takes about a week to meet some other people in game, and find someone who will make you some decent bags for free as a kindness (really, they cost nothing to make, just cloth that drops off higher level mobs, 10 copper worth of vendor thread, and a moment of kindness to punch a button). I know this--- I used to make bags for noobs sometimes to just give them away. A runecloth bag for example, I could probably make 1000 of em in a day for like mob kill's worth of gold in materials and they hold 15 or something objects (from memory, been ages). Here, you spend $$$ or you do without, period. You will take note of this truth: no free to play MMO allows you to craft a simple bag.

    cookjk wrote: »
    Well the current rate is 100zen one AD so you should be happy that you can buy stuff on the IM without paying cash. Which goes back to the Founders pack, you start with 2000000AD that means $2000000 dollars if you bought that with cash.

    $1 = 100zen = 1AD

    I think they may have that backwards otherwise the founders pack is worth over $2000000 real dollars.

    My server is @500 AD per zen give or take a few.
    so it is
    $1 = 100 Z = 50,000 AD
    for my $60 I got 1/2 a million, or $10 worth AD.
  • cookjkcookjk Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users Posts: 91
    edited May 2013
    vyssalare wrote: »
    What the **** are you talking about? The average conversion is $1 = 100zen = 45000 AD.

    2,000,000 / 45,000 = ~$44.50 (two blue companions from the bazaar)

    Look at the conversion 100zen for 1AD. That is what it is this morning when I looked at it.
  • vyssalarevyssalare Member Posts: 24 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    cookjk wrote: »
    Look at the conversion 100zen for 1AD. That is what it is this morning when I looked at it.

    I'd recommend you go buy as much as you can then!
  • angryspriteangrysprite Member Posts: 4,982 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    It costs NOTHING to just put a new one over the top of an old one. Yes, it destroys the old one, but if you're replacing it you're just going to throw it away anyway, right?
  • sasheriasasheria Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    noroblad wrote: »
    Not exactly. It takes 5 min to roll an alt tailor or leatherworker who can make at least basic bags to start out, and those are plenty for a new player. Then it takes about a week to meet some other people in game, and find someone who will make you some decent bags for free as a kindness (really, they cost nothing to make, just cloth that drops off higher level mobs, 10 copper worth of vendor thread, and a moment of kindness to punch a button). I know this--- I used to make bags for noobs sometimes to just give them away. A runecloth bag for example, I could probably make 1000 of em in a day for like mob kill's worth of gold in materials and they hold 15 or something objects (from memory, been ages). Here, you spend $$$ or you do without, period. You will take note of this truth: no free to play MMO allows you to craft a simple bag.

    And how old is THAT game (10 years now isn't it?) ? This game is new, we don't have generous players selling/giving away bag. In a sub game, to make a 24 slot bag is pricy (or 32 slot bags)

    NWN is barely a week old. The big difference is one is sub vs F2P

    What about bank slot? how much does it take to earn enough cash in WoW to expand bank? 1st mount? (before the reduction in levels and cost back in vanilla) flying mount? how much daily need to run and grind?

    The major difference is convenience. F2P ALLOWS you to get these thing sooner, but you can earn them (via quest) if you have the patience.
    To grow old is inevitable, to grow up is optional.
    Please review my campaign and I'll return the favor.
  • sasheriasasheria Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    cookjk wrote: »
    Look at the conversion 100zen for 1AD. That is what it is this morning when I looked at it.

    umm.. I hate to bust your bubble but you CAN'T get 100z for 1 AD :) the min price is 50. The max price is 500 (thus the opening price of AD to Zen was 500:1)
    To grow old is inevitable, to grow up is optional.
    Please review my campaign and I'll return the favor.
  • merrybellemerrybelle Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    The basic things that cost AD in this games are sink holes, and they are meant to completely remove a portion of AD from our economy. Removing enchants and runes, changing companion names and rushing training, faster crafting, and the game taking it's cut of the AD in auction house are all there to keep AD in demand. I don't like it because I'm a paying player and I'm not going to take forever to gather it freely when I can just buy zen and convert it. So I see these sinks as eating my real life cash, because that is what they're doing. But this game isn't going to get much out of me in the sinks because I'm being careful. They are getting a cut from what I spend in the auction house and that is all, and I can't avoid that. Unlike most others, I haven't complained about the zen store prices, but these sinks everywhere hitting me in the face is what I don't appreciate. However, the are probably necessary for the survival of the game's economy, otherwise everyone would become flush with AD and it would become next to worthless.
  • wingedkagoutiwingedkagouti Member Posts: 275 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    jaddal wrote: »
    The farming is way too slow.

    The AH is nearly worthless for the more casual player; which make up the bulk of the community.

    I dismantle your argument and you come back with nuh-uh. gtfo diaf
    "Farming is way too slow."

    How long has the game actually been in Open Beta? A week (disregarding the headstart available to us founders).

    How fast do you expect to get stuff?
  • damarinasaidamarinasai Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 28 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    sasheria wrote: »
    F2P ALLOWS you to get these thing sooner, but you can earn them (via quest) if you have the patience.

    Pretty much this.
    Those who are allowed to shoot are those who are prepared to be shot.
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