1) I did not equate Wal-Mart's practices to virtual store items in NW.
2) Wal Mart does not have anything even close to a monopoly on the retail industry.
I did respond to someone who was using Wal Mart vs a now defunct former competitor (Montgomery Wards) as an example.
My point, all along, was in response to a question from someone expressing that they did not understand why there would be any reason to start with prices higher rather than lower. My point then, as it is now, was that starting with prices higher and then lowering them to suit demand allowed for the possibility that everyone could get an item at a price they considered a good value.
Example 1:
The customer who considered $10 a good value would buy it then.
The customer who considers $6.50 a good value might buy the item when it reached that price.
And the customer who considers $3 a good value might buy it then.
Everyone gets the item at what they consider to be a good value.
Example 2:
If you go in reverse, starting an item at $3 then
The customer who considers $3 a good deal buys.
The customer who considers $6.50 to be a great deal for the item pays only $3.
The customer who considers $10 to be a great deal for the item pays only $10.
Everyone gets the item at what they consider a good value (as in example 1) but the company gets less revenue.
Of course all of this is moot if the product sells well at the higher price. Cryptic/PWE has the data. We do not. I may think that these companies make questionable decisions, some seem outright foolish to me, but I believe it is very likely that they employ someone with sufficient business acumen to realize that if something isn't selling at a desired rate, at a certain price point, it is time to lower that price. Ultimately the power lies with the consumer. If these virtual goods sell well at a price that vocal forumites decry as a, "scam, robbery, etc," then there is no reason for the company to alter the prices.
Example 1:
The customer who considered $10 a good value would buy it then.
The customer who considers $6.50 a good value might buy the item when it reached that price.
And the customer who considers $3 a good value might buy it ( if they didn't see the $10 price and walk away before price dropped )
Everyone gets the item at what they consider to be a good value. (except those that walked away from the overpriced items in the storefront window )
Example 2:
If you go in reverse, starting an item at $3 then
The customer who considers $3 a good deal buys.
The customer who considers $6.50 to be a great deal for the item pays only $3. ( and ends up buying even more, or "bulk buying, since they believe they are already getting 50% off )
The customer who considers $10 to be a great deal for the item pays only $10. ( and ends up buying even more, or "bulk buying, since they believe they are already getting 70% off, this category will even become a reseller, in effect buying in mass bulk, and reselling at a different location, for NW that would be more in AH, at lower AD prices, since the Zen price was lower to start with )
____________
long story short:
high prices chase away more costumers.
low prices, if the consumer thinks it's lower than it should be, will buy MORE of it. ( I'm guilty of this one, as I will buy stuff I actualy don't need/want, if it's at a low enough price, simply so I can give it as a gift to family/friend later )
soda for 25c from a vending machine? I used to buy 4 of them gave 3 away to friends/family.
soda raised in price to 50c in vending machine? I used to buy 2 of them and give 1 to friends/family.
soda raised in price to $1 in vending machine? I used to buy 1 of them and drink it myself.
soda raised in price to $1.25 in vending machine? I walked to a water fountain and drank some water.
___________
edit to add:
not only does high prices in a micro transaction store chase people away, but the costumers what's the target audience?
simply put the average person buying from a micro transaction store, ether makes very little, or sets aside a maximum amount they are willing to spend from each payday, or month. (that #, looks close to $15 a month, by how many different games have forums, that have players gripping about cash shops, with things way over $15 ) ( the players do seem to be fine with some things over $15, if the majority is $15 or less... they WANT TO BUY SOMETHING!!, they just simply do not have the $ in their budget to buy when prices are higher than their budget )
there is a saying "can't get blood out of a turnip"
of course here they are trying to get turnip juice from a turnip, but they are trying for 100oz of juice from a 10oz turnip
________
edit to add more:
at $40 a mount: a player that thinks $40 is a good deal will buy 1
at $20 a mount: a player that thinks $20 is a good deal will buy 1
a player that thinks $40 was a good deal would buy 2-3 ( giving the extras to teammates, so they can keep up while adventuring ) ( and yes they WILL find a way, like... prepaid PWE cards )
at 10$ a mount a player that thinks $10 is a good deal will buy 1
a player that thinks $20 was a good deal would buy 2-3 ( giving the extras to teammates )
a player that thinks $40 was a good deal would buy 4-8 ( giving the extras to teammates )
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gek1956Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
at $40 a mount: a player that thinks $40 is a good deal will buy 1
at $20 a mount: a player that thinks $20 is a good deal will buy 1
a player that thinks $40 was a good deal would buy 2-3 ( giving the extras to teammates, so they can keep up while adventuring ) ( and yes they WILL find a way, like... prepaid PWE cards )
at 10$ a mount a player that thinks $10 is a good deal will buy 1
a player that thinks $20 was a good deal would buy 2-3 ( giving the extras to teammates )
a player that thinks $40 was a good deal would buy 4-8 ( giving the extras to teammates )
You know when I started this thread I intentionally left the mounts out. They are of little practical difference. Average mounts help low level players, the next tier costs a bit but most players can easily get one, but I feel there is room at the top of this market for pure status items. Go a head PWE/Cryptic, put a solid gold horse out there for 100k zen. Make it just a little better than the regular horse so whoever buy it can convince themselves it is really better, even though we all know they just want to be seen sitting around the PE on the silly thing cuz it gets lots of attention. Any regular player with 2 gold in his pocket can get a decent horse. so the poor don't feel walked on.
The real crunch comes with items that you REALLY need, like that extra personal storage, or some nice profession assets so it doesn't take you months of grinding to get a skill to level 20. People resent this type of gouging, and will take it out on the people they feel responsible....ie... PWE/Cryptic. There have been two threads up in the last couple of days crying about how to get that double production rate spot, (2 purple hero assets will do it nicely) and several more noting the drastic attendance drop after the opening was done. (When I looked a few hours ago - 6 AM est - a slow time true, there were only 30 instances of the PE on dragon, and none of them were full.)
So maybe the buzz there was around this game is already gone. TESO is coming up sometime this year. they are sending out more beta invites every week. I 'll probably save my hard earned disposable income to see if another one of my favorite franchises can get over the buzkill hump.......No worries about me quiting, I like this game, but I'll play it just liked I played CO for a long time.. for free, and save my money for another game that might appreciate it more
there is no problem with that... NONE, but that "target group" that does not care what a price is,... they have a spending limit, this guy has $20, think he's going to keep that $20 till next payday to buy a $21+ item from the shop? or do you think he will pass some lemanade stand while walking to a car, that's selling drinks for $1 a sip, and end up broke?
when targeting people that don't care what it costs, you darn well have to charge, something they would be able to afford. (otherwise, someone else get's their money)
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gek1956Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
there is no problem with that... NONE, but that "target group" that does not care what a price is,... they have a spending limit, this guy has $20, think he's going to keep that $20 till next payday to buy a $21+ item from the shop? or do you think he will pass some lemanade stand while walking to a car, that's selling drinks for $1 a sip, and end up broke?
when targeting people that don't care what it costs, you darn well have to charge, something they would be able to afford. (otherwise, someone else get's their money)
You know for all that we talk in this thread about REAL business and REAL economics, the simple truth is that's not why any of us are here. We are here to get away from that stuff, to be heroic, and successful, and be a part of a unique community. That's the secret of WOW. Its a place where people like to go. The problem with PWE communities is simple. Who wants to live where the mayor wants to charge you for parking in your own driveway?
My first MMO was City of heroes, another cryptic property, and it was fine till cryptic bowed out and left it in the hands of NCSOFT, who games I will never play again. When I quit COX I left friends there. The base I built for the supergroup who's leadership I inherited felt very homey and we spent a lot of time just hanging out there. At some point the content begins to get stale and what keeps people on is the social aspect. If they put more effort here into making a community rather than just a quick buck it will get them a large, loyal and lucrative player base.
The problem I have with the C-Store isn't so much the prices as the prices compared to other Cryptic games. Take the costumes for instance. In Champions and Star Trek you can buy a costume set for 475 Zen in CO or 550 Zen in STO, each gives you several parts you can use on all of your toons both current and future forever and mix and match with any other costume parts you have. Whereas in NW you pay 800-2000 for ONE set of costume items that bind on equip and can only mix with other fashion items so no wearing the noble's mask with your wizards robes.
The "problem" I figure is that NW has no subscription plan. STO and CO get constant money trickling in from people paying their $15 a month but NW ONLY gets money from the C-Store so they have to squeeze out all they can from that I guess.
Though at least character slots of all things are much cheaper here than in the other games.
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gek1956Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
The problem I have with the C-Store isn't so much the prices as the prices compared to other Cryptic games. Take the costumes for instance. In Champions and Star Trek you can buy a costume set for 475 Zen in CO or 550 Zen in STO, each gives you several parts you can use on all of your toons both current and future forever and mix and match with any other costume parts you have. Whereas in NW you pay 800-2000 for ONE set of costume items that bind on equip and can only mix with other fashion items so no wearing the noble's mask with your wizards robes.
The "problem" I figure is that NW has no subscription plan. STO and CO get constant money trickling in from people paying their $15 a month but NW ONLY gets money from the C-Store so they have to squeeze out all they can from that I guess.
Though at least character slots of all things are much cheaper here than in the other games.
Yeah but a lot of subs in CO are LT subs... I got mine in the beta. There's a LOT of the original crew still there. The character customization there is unique. I just wish they'd give the game more real estate. They pay ME 400 CP/ZEN month. All the LT subs came with that deal. LOL at least they did, I haven't paid the game enough attention since last fall to really know. I heard em talkin in the cox channel about how prices had gone up, but the only prices that seemed higher to me were the shared bank slots. I remember the old price was 300 for 20, but even at 450 for 20, you still get more for your zen than they give you here PLUS they can be accessed by all your toons. I haven't counted but I bought a couple of hundred of them over time. At these prices I guarantee you that won't happen here.
Haven't spent a dime yet, when I saw the prices I realized I'd be better off buying on the AH. I would gladly pay a monthly fee, but thats not going to work in this model. So I spend nothing. I ran a bunch of surveys to get 500 zen which I used to open up more character slots. I dont mind spending money but the prices are too high for what you get.
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frater00Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 2Arc User
I consider anything over 10 dollars to no longer be a 'micro transaction shop.' A dollar is fine, 40 dollars however for a mount! pffts I'll skip it.
This game is a rip off. They purposely inconvenience you so that you will pay to lesson the load.
For example Drops of Green loot. We used to call DM's who gave everyone magic loot all the time Montey Hall DM's it was meant to be a pejorative. But this company has made it a revenue generating device by giving everyone green loot like mad. your bags fill up quickly.. so you have to buy bags. It is the same with so many things and who wants to ask their wife if they can buy a mont for 40 bucks? When I ding to 60. in about 2 days I am quitting. Not another dime.. I yearn for the day of subscription gaming where the world was there to be mastered not the world beng there to master you and make me a slave to the whims of a greed driven company. I feel guilty I even bought zen now. I will never buy it again.
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gek1956Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
This game is a rip off. They purposely inconvenience you so that you will pay to lesson the load.
For example Drops of Green loot. We used to call DM's who gave everyone magic loot all the time Montey Hall DM's it was meant to be a pejorative. But this company has made it a revenue generating device by giving everyone green loot like mad. your bags fill up quickly.. so you have to buy bags. It is the same with so many things and who wants to ask their wife if they can buy a mont for 40 bucks? When I ding to 60. in about 2 days I am quitting. Not another dime.. I yearn for the day of subscription gaming where the world was there to be mastered not the world beng there to master you and make me a slave to the whims of a greed driven company. I feel guilty I even bought zen now. I will never buy it again.
Monty Haul there's an old gamer I used to give players magic stuff to pad the treasure and lessen the encumberance, but like Cryptic, most of it was stuff you didn't want or need, levels below you. If a player got a wish scroll or a good wand you bet your *** he earned it. But you are right, the junk is a pain.. that you could EASILY solve by investing 30 bucks in the zen store. NOT!
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kelletonMember, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited June 2013
dropped 60 bucks and got an army of green platesmiths - whoo hoo
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gek1956Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
dropped 60 bucks and got an army of green platesmiths - whoo hoo
OUCH.. its ugly man, sell 'em and get what ya want. If ya can ... you could have swapped it in for just over 2mill ADs on the exchange, see if improving em to masters will make ya more of it back.
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gek1956Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited June 2013
Hmm the devs are obviously cutting the AD supply a bit some of the better profession jobs are getting nerfed, and the 'Dailies' have turned into 'Nevers'... Lol you can't sit in the PE all day and WAIT on the $%$##@!!! que . I can see why--- zen in the exchange had gone from 245 to 355 in just 2 weeks. Like inflation always does it eats into the value of your work as a player.. ie your ADs buy less. I just miss the random ques for the big dungeons, guess I'll just have to get my own teams up...
Any thoughts as to what effect this will have on the player satisfaction with the business model here?.. MY call would be pissed at first cause they can't make as many ADs RIGHT NOW, but ultimately happier because they won't be paying three times the curent prices later....
Just move on This is a money grabbing game and if you arent paying, you are not on their priority even for support. They respond according to whether you are a paying customer or not.
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gek1956Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
Just move on This is a money grabbing game and if you arent paying, you are not on their priority even for support. They respond according to whether you are a paying customer or not.
LOL well I am paying... for SOME things... and they could grab a lot more money if they'd lower prices .... O_O
I dunno.
I pray a lot and and barely use the AH.
I'm currently focused on Alchemy.
I spent $5 dollars on Zen and bought 1 professions pack.
I used 5 Celestial coins for 1 professions pack.
And I traded enough AD 335 to get 2 300 Zen profession packs.
All seems worth it to me.
If the prices are too high, speak with your wallet and don't buy stuff.
I'm focused on Alchemy so I won't have to spend any more money on dye packs in the future.
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gek1956Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
I dunno.
I pray a lot and and barely use the AH.
I'm currently focused on Alchemy.
I spent $5 dollars on Zen and bought 1 professions pack.
I used 5 Celestial coins for 1 professions pack.
And I traded enough AD 335 to get 2 300 Zen profession packs.
All seems worth it to me.
If the prices are too high, speak with your wallet and don't buy stuff.
I'm focused on Alchemy so I won't have to spend any more money on dye packs in the future.
And if you read my post you know my opinion on the dye packs and costumes... so good for you. I have been told that when new costume stuff begins to come out that the in game player tailors are going to be making some of it. I did not hear this from a GM though but I still find it credible. The 300 zen packs are way over priced unless you are too busy to go get your own. The celestial packs are nice. What I have found is that the single best source of craft and professional supplies is in the field. Especially as you level. The npc vendor kits will more than pay for themselves later, but you have to keep your eyes open and look in corners and behind stuff. you get lots of stuff you might not use, but you can always sell it for zen to buy what you do need.
Unfortunately to make much of the best stuff you will need assets that you can get only from the zen store or from the AH from those who bought them there. Now here is where I have spent quite a bit of my own AD's. Yes I do spend... when I'm not raising cain about the other horrors in this pricing fiasco. I joined the beta in early June got a good feel with my first couple of days of the potential in professions and decided right there to invest some of my founder's pack AD's for 2 Leadership asset heroes. These are the purples. At the time they were less than they are now, with the zenflation driving AH prices up. I got them both for 400k ADs. The very first thing I did was to shuffle them around between my various alts. I have 2 accounts with 4 characters between them, sent them with some porridge, and did the little feed the needy mission in level 2 leadership. The 2 purples did the 10 minute job in 5.. double speed, and I worked it to give ALL my PCs an extra job slot. IN less than 30 minutes. Plus I still have them around to push hard on jobs that either pay good zen or give me good XP value. I later bought more assets, but just those two proved worth every AD I spent. What I don't understand is why they don't sell them for 200 zen apiece and be done with it.
But I won't buy the packs. Your 300 zen will buy you about 100k ADs. You can spend these on the AH and KNOW what you are getting and how much it costs. The packs and drop boxes are gambles. I advise against them unless you just like to gamble, because PWE/Cryptic's odds definitely favor the house and its very easy to spend much more than you planned for much less than you wanted.
at these prices i reckon you should be able to select a profession in the booster and assets packs so you at least get something you're interested in.
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maisaanMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 166
edited August 2013
I agree a lot of it is to expensive.
A month back I couldn't let a lock box stay unopened in my inventory, now I don't have any problems with leaving them unopened any more, but I guess it's like that when you start playing the game, but the game will not continue to get in hordes of new players.
Same with the costumes, it's too expensive. Do like in Forsaken World where you can buy it piece by piece (and fix the preview!)
And 1600 Zen for a packet you don't know what contains? To much.
Dyes is a one time use and they are too expensive for that, 10 zen a bottle would be ok.
Mounts. Yes, they might be account wide but I really don't need that, when I buy a mount it's for ONE character. There is other mounts in the store I would like for other characters, but I already have 2 (soon 3) that is account wide, so I am not going to buy them. Lower the price, a lot, and make them BOE and trade able.
We were talking about it the other night and keys should drop now and then and give people a chance to get another key out of the boxes. Also, every purchase from the zen store could have a key attached. The way it is now, some ppl are just discharging the boxes.
Comments
Example 1:
The customer who considered $10 a good value would buy it then.
The customer who considers $6.50 a good value might buy the item when it reached that price.
And the customer who considers $3 a good value might buy it ( if they didn't see the $10 price and walk away before price dropped )
Everyone gets the item at what they consider to be a good value. (except those that walked away from the overpriced items in the storefront window )
Example 2:
If you go in reverse, starting an item at $3 then
The customer who considers $3 a good deal buys.
The customer who considers $6.50 to be a great deal for the item pays only $3. ( and ends up buying even more, or "bulk buying, since they believe they are already getting 50% off )
The customer who considers $10 to be a great deal for the item pays only $10. ( and ends up buying even more, or "bulk buying, since they believe they are already getting 70% off, this category will even become a reseller, in effect buying in mass bulk, and reselling at a different location, for NW that would be more in AH, at lower AD prices, since the Zen price was lower to start with )
____________
long story short:
high prices chase away more costumers.
low prices, if the consumer thinks it's lower than it should be, will buy MORE of it. ( I'm guilty of this one, as I will buy stuff I actualy don't need/want, if it's at a low enough price, simply so I can give it as a gift to family/friend later )
soda for 25c from a vending machine? I used to buy 4 of them gave 3 away to friends/family.
soda raised in price to 50c in vending machine? I used to buy 2 of them and give 1 to friends/family.
soda raised in price to $1 in vending machine? I used to buy 1 of them and drink it myself.
soda raised in price to $1.25 in vending machine? I walked to a water fountain and drank some water.
___________
edit to add:
not only does high prices in a micro transaction store chase people away, but the costumers what's the target audience?
simply put the average person buying from a micro transaction store, ether makes very little, or sets aside a maximum amount they are willing to spend from each payday, or month. (that #, looks close to $15 a month, by how many different games have forums, that have players gripping about cash shops, with things way over $15 ) ( the players do seem to be fine with some things over $15, if the majority is $15 or less... they WANT TO BUY SOMETHING!!, they just simply do not have the $ in their budget to buy when prices are higher than their budget )
there is a saying "can't get blood out of a turnip"
of course here they are trying to get turnip juice from a turnip, but they are trying for 100oz of juice from a 10oz turnip
________
edit to add more:
at $40 a mount: a player that thinks $40 is a good deal will buy 1
at $20 a mount: a player that thinks $20 is a good deal will buy 1
a player that thinks $40 was a good deal would buy 2-3 ( giving the extras to teammates, so they can keep up while adventuring ) ( and yes they WILL find a way, like... prepaid PWE cards )
at 10$ a mount a player that thinks $10 is a good deal will buy 1
a player that thinks $20 was a good deal would buy 2-3 ( giving the extras to teammates )
a player that thinks $40 was a good deal would buy 4-8 ( giving the extras to teammates )
You know when I started this thread I intentionally left the mounts out. They are of little practical difference. Average mounts help low level players, the next tier costs a bit but most players can easily get one, but I feel there is room at the top of this market for pure status items. Go a head PWE/Cryptic, put a solid gold horse out there for 100k zen. Make it just a little better than the regular horse so whoever buy it can convince themselves it is really better, even though we all know they just want to be seen sitting around the PE on the silly thing cuz it gets lots of attention. Any regular player with 2 gold in his pocket can get a decent horse. so the poor don't feel walked on.
The real crunch comes with items that you REALLY need, like that extra personal storage, or some nice profession assets so it doesn't take you months of grinding to get a skill to level 20. People resent this type of gouging, and will take it out on the people they feel responsible....ie... PWE/Cryptic. There have been two threads up in the last couple of days crying about how to get that double production rate spot, (2 purple hero assets will do it nicely) and several more noting the drastic attendance drop after the opening was done. (When I looked a few hours ago - 6 AM est - a slow time true, there were only 30 instances of the PE on dragon, and none of them were full.)
So maybe the buzz there was around this game is already gone. TESO is coming up sometime this year. they are sending out more beta invites every week. I 'll probably save my hard earned disposable income to see if another one of my favorite franchises can get over the buzkill hump.......No worries about me quiting, I like this game, but I'll play it just liked I played CO for a long time.. for free, and save my money for another game that might appreciate it more
there is no problem with that... NONE, but that "target group" that does not care what a price is,... they have a spending limit, this guy has $20, think he's going to keep that $20 till next payday to buy a $21+ item from the shop? or do you think he will pass some lemanade stand while walking to a car, that's selling drinks for $1 a sip, and end up broke?
when targeting people that don't care what it costs, you darn well have to charge, something they would be able to afford. (otherwise, someone else get's their money)
You know for all that we talk in this thread about REAL business and REAL economics, the simple truth is that's not why any of us are here. We are here to get away from that stuff, to be heroic, and successful, and be a part of a unique community. That's the secret of WOW. Its a place where people like to go. The problem with PWE communities is simple. Who wants to live where the mayor wants to charge you for parking in your own driveway?
My first MMO was City of heroes, another cryptic property, and it was fine till cryptic bowed out and left it in the hands of NCSOFT, who games I will never play again. When I quit COX I left friends there. The base I built for the supergroup who's leadership I inherited felt very homey and we spent a lot of time just hanging out there. At some point the content begins to get stale and what keeps people on is the social aspect. If they put more effort here into making a community rather than just a quick buck it will get them a large, loyal and lucrative player base.
The "problem" I figure is that NW has no subscription plan. STO and CO get constant money trickling in from people paying their $15 a month but NW ONLY gets money from the C-Store so they have to squeeze out all they can from that I guess.
Though at least character slots of all things are much cheaper here than in the other games.
Yeah but a lot of subs in CO are LT subs... I got mine in the beta. There's a LOT of the original crew still there. The character customization there is unique. I just wish they'd give the game more real estate. They pay ME 400 CP/ZEN month. All the LT subs came with that deal. LOL at least they did, I haven't paid the game enough attention since last fall to really know. I heard em talkin in the cox channel about how prices had gone up, but the only prices that seemed higher to me were the shared bank slots. I remember the old price was 300 for 20, but even at 450 for 20, you still get more for your zen than they give you here PLUS they can be accessed by all your toons. I haven't counted but I bought a couple of hundred of them over time. At these prices I guarantee you that won't happen here.
This game is a rip off. They purposely inconvenience you so that you will pay to lesson the load.
For example Drops of Green loot. We used to call DM's who gave everyone magic loot all the time Montey Hall DM's it was meant to be a pejorative. But this company has made it a revenue generating device by giving everyone green loot like mad. your bags fill up quickly.. so you have to buy bags. It is the same with so many things and who wants to ask their wife if they can buy a mont for 40 bucks? When I ding to 60. in about 2 days I am quitting. Not another dime.. I yearn for the day of subscription gaming where the world was there to be mastered not the world beng there to master you and make me a slave to the whims of a greed driven company. I feel guilty I even bought zen now. I will never buy it again.
Monty Haul
OUCH.. its ugly man, sell 'em and get what ya want. If ya can ... you could have swapped it in for just over 2mill ADs on the exchange, see if improving em to masters will make ya more of it back.
Any thoughts as to what effect this will have on the player satisfaction with the business model here?.. MY call would be pissed at first cause they can't make as many ADs RIGHT NOW, but ultimately happier because they won't be paying three times the curent prices later....
LOL well I am paying... for SOME things... and they could grab a lot more money if they'd lower prices .... O_O
I pray a lot and and barely use the AH.
I'm currently focused on Alchemy.
I spent $5 dollars on Zen and bought 1 professions pack.
I used 5 Celestial coins for 1 professions pack.
And I traded enough AD 335 to get 2 300 Zen profession packs.
All seems worth it to me.
If the prices are too high, speak with your wallet and don't buy stuff.
I'm focused on Alchemy so I won't have to spend any more money on dye packs in the future.
And if you read my post you know my opinion on the dye packs and costumes... so good for you. I have been told that when new costume stuff begins to come out that the in game player tailors are going to be making some of it. I did not hear this from a GM though but I still find it credible. The 300 zen packs are way over priced unless you are too busy to go get your own. The celestial packs are nice. What I have found is that the single best source of craft and professional supplies is in the field. Especially as you level. The npc vendor kits will more than pay for themselves later, but you have to keep your eyes open and look in corners and behind stuff. you get lots of stuff you might not use, but you can always sell it for zen to buy what you do need.
Unfortunately to make much of the best stuff you will need assets that you can get only from the zen store or from the AH from those who bought them there. Now here is where I have spent quite a bit of my own AD's. Yes I do spend... when I'm not raising cain about the other horrors in this pricing fiasco. I joined the beta in early June got a good feel with my first couple of days of the potential in professions and decided right there to invest some of my founder's pack AD's for 2 Leadership asset heroes. These are the purples. At the time they were less than they are now, with the zenflation driving AH prices up. I got them both for 400k ADs. The very first thing I did was to shuffle them around between my various alts. I have 2 accounts with 4 characters between them, sent them with some porridge, and did the little feed the needy mission in level 2 leadership. The 2 purples did the 10 minute job in 5.. double speed, and I worked it to give ALL my PCs an extra job slot. IN less than 30 minutes. Plus I still have them around to push hard on jobs that either pay good zen or give me good XP value. I later bought more assets, but just those two proved worth every AD I spent. What I don't understand is why they don't sell them for 200 zen apiece and be done with it.
But I won't buy the packs. Your 300 zen will buy you about 100k ADs. You can spend these on the AH and KNOW what you are getting and how much it costs. The packs and drop boxes are gambles. I advise against them unless you just like to gamble, because PWE/Cryptic's odds definitely favor the house and its very easy to spend much more than you planned for much less than you wanted.
Caveat Emptor.....
A month back I couldn't let a lock box stay unopened in my inventory, now I don't have any problems with leaving them unopened any more, but I guess it's like that when you start playing the game, but the game will not continue to get in hordes of new players.
Same with the costumes, it's too expensive. Do like in Forsaken World where you can buy it piece by piece (and fix the preview!)
And 1600 Zen for a packet you don't know what contains? To much.
Dyes is a one time use and they are too expensive for that, 10 zen a bottle would be ok.
Mounts. Yes, they might be account wide but I really don't need that, when I buy a mount it's for ONE character. There is other mounts in the store I would like for other characters, but I already have 2 (soon 3) that is account wide, so I am not going to buy them. Lower the price, a lot, and make them BOE and trade able.
We were talking about it the other night and keys should drop now and then and give people a chance to get another key out of the boxes. Also, every purchase from the zen store could have a key attached. The way it is now, some ppl are just discharging the boxes.
I Agee with this. As I said smaller chunks...buy more.