Why would anyone buy companions more than a few times?

bigredbrent · December 2014

I will NEVER buy a companion with zen if it is not bind to account, or at least redeemable by all characters on my account in the same way that the mounts are. It will just NEVER happen.

They just simply cost too much to justify buying them so that they can only be used on a single character. And I am absolutely sure that this is the opinion of the vast majority who don't go around tossing 20 dollar bills into random fireplaces for the fun of it.

Also, all companions and mounts sold on the zen store should be able to be purchased at epic purple quality.

Just add more options with different pricing. All companions and mounts in the zen store should have the option to be purchased as epic purple quality and account wide unlocked for a reasonable fee. If people want to buy them without being account wide so that they can sell them on the AH or to give to a friend, then allow that option also at a lower price. Just give people what they want at a reasonable price and they will buy it.

Also, if you want people buying these things like hot cakes, why in the hell would you have limited space to store them? Get rid of the option to buy more idle companion space (because that is just insane) and make it unlimited.

While you are at it, add unlimited idle mount space as well. Or do you just not like your customers buying mounts and companions for some reason?

greensai · December 2014

My idle pet space is full, I don't see my self buying more pets as I would also have to by more idle pet space. Also , I like the option of having it account wide.

Now if there was a zen purchased token to make a few of my pets account bound, that would be awesome.

aulduron · December 2014

My characters generally don't use the same companions, except Stones. Especially not Zen companions. My CWs Wild Hunt Rider would be wasted on my others, for instance. I suppose my Combat HR wouldn't mind my GWFs Blacksmith, but it would be wasted on my CW or DCs.

beckylunatic · December 2014

There are people who wish to collect all the companions and now there are too many different companions released for the idle slots available to buy, since this is capped. Yes, they have made their complaints known.

Players trying to optimize active bonuses will buy a few companions and maybe upgrade some of them, but they won't make an effort to collect everything and will only replace companions when a better option is released. This can still chalk up to a fair number of sales when something with a really excellent active bonus is available.

Players who want a cool battle companion to summon may switch between several or stick to a favorite.

Just think, companions have had permanent price reductions a couple of times now.

zekethesinner · December 2014

beckylunatic wrote: »

Just think, companions have had permanent price reductions a couple of times now.

IIRC it was only once, but around 60% which was rly nice.

dadanddragons · December 2014

What I want is to have more than one companion active at a time. Like, 2 would be great. It would screw up the balancing somewhat, but it would be so much more fun in terms of atmosphere and imagineering.

mehguy138 · December 2014

Each of my 16k+ characters has the stone and my main has also a few more epic companions to run SCA. I would buy some more from the zen store if they were account wide.

two30 · December 2014

I bought the Hunter Ranger, Scourge Warlock and Bahamut's Champion Booster Packs just for the account-wide companions.

I rarely buy the single-character companions.

Unknown · December 2014

This content has been removed.

charononus · December 2014

I bought stones for the characters I main. The rest get bought with AD thru the ZAX. ZAX is the way to go for single character purchases.

bigredbrent · December 2014

charononus wrote: »

I bought stones for the characters I main. The rest get bought with AD thru the ZAX. ZAX is the way to go for single character purchases.

I actually prefer to buy zen instead of exchanging ad for zen. But I am not going to buy zen when what I would buy it for is just not worth it with its current limitations.

bigredbrent · December 2014

greensai wrote: »

My idle pet space is full, I don't see my self buying more pets as I would also have to by more idle pet space. Also , I like the option of having it account wide.

Now if there was a zen purchased token to make a few of my pets account bound, that would be awesome.

My idle pet space is almost full also, from the pets I have purchased from the auction house.

angrysprite · December 2014

Companions used to cost as much as 4500 Zen. Those same Companions now cost 2500 Zen and the rest cost equally less respectively.

The argument made by the OP is the same argument I made almost two years ago and I was very vocal about it: Either make them account-wide or lower there prices.

So Cryptic lowered their prices.

Twice.

I was the loudest, shrillest, most vehement voice against Cryptic over this issue. They answered the complaint and it was (at times) a painful exchange (I even spoke with Cryptic Staff directly in private about it all). Cryptic finally came through with what I believe to be a good-faith solution.

And after all that I will now defend the current state of Zen Market Companions with equal effort. You can call me anything you like, but if you were there to witness the fight between myself and Cryptic on this issue, you'd know well what I speak of. Threads like this need to die.

This is now a moot argument. The current pricing is fair. Anyone who feels it is too expensive should simply choose not to buy them. Besides that there are dozens upon dozens of free companions available through other means in-game or by simply transferring new Zen into Neverwinter during certain promotions or even he current promotion of just buying stuff in the Zen Market.

Threads based on Zen Market Companion Pricing have no place in the community discussion any longer the way I see it.

I suppose 'you had to be there' to understand.

bigredbrent · December 2014

angrysprite wrote: »

I suppose 'you had to be there' to understand.

I guess I would, because I am not buying it. If a lowered price was all that was required then I would agree with you, but it is far from what is needed. In fact, they could slightly raise the price if they added this change and it would still be better than it currently is.

Just because you feel like you made a victory because they lowered their prices is actually inconsequential. If they were actually making more money with the higher prices by selling fewer companions, then I am sure that they would have left them that high. I am willing to bet that their bottom line did not take a hit with the discount to companions. I am guessing that people might have actually started to purchase a few of them for the first time.

At any point, the other suggestions I have brought up in this post are just as valid if not more so. But I feel for you. You should not have to so vehemently argue with a company before they are willing to follow sound advise. A company that disjointed with reality might not exactly deserve to thrive.

frishter · December 2014

angrysprite wrote: »

The current pricing is fair.

Hardly fair for the most expensive companions to cost the same as a full game tbh. That's like saying a builder deserves full payment for a house for only doing the basement. The fact is that they just got the price so so so very wrong. The companions aren't event that good.

Why people justify overpriced prices on a $#!+ job I have no idea.

Seriously let me know what they provide to justify the price? All I hear is "well if you don't want it don't buy it". Which is great but I also have the option to not buy a box for the cost of a console from those that want to trick you. It doesn't mean that the price is fair.

charononus · December 2014

frishter wrote: »

Hardly fair for the most expensive companions to cost the same as a full game tbh. That's like saying a builder deserves full payment for a house for only doing the basement. The fact is that they just got the price so so so very wrong. The companions aren't event that good.

Why people justify overpriced prices on a $#!+ job I have no idea.

Seriously let me know what they provide to justify the price? All I hear is "well if you don't want it don't buy it". Which is great but I also have the option to not buy a box for the cost of a console from those that want to trick you. It doesn't mean that the price is fair.

Yeah most of them aren't worth it. But considering you can get them without paying a dime, I'm not sure what the problem is. Yeah there's a lot of stuff that you may want but you can get it all by playing a game rather than spending money. It will take a while but it's a while of having fun. I know the argument is that in terms of $ value per hour it's a low return, but that's because it's coming during an activity you in theory enjoy.

frishter · December 2014

charononus wrote: »

Yeah most of them aren't worth it. But considering you can get them without paying a dime, I'm not sure what the problem is. Yeah there's a lot of stuff that you may want but you can get it all by playing a game rather than spending money. It will take a while but it's a while of having fun. I know the argument is that in terms of $ value per hour it's a low return, but that's because it's coming during an activity you in theory enjoy.

Which is great, but I still think it's a problem when to me, the free option is the only cost effective option. Something that I feel is harder to do, but don't experience anymore. It is good to have the majority of stuff available in some form for free with or without working for it. It's just as an actually customer I feel is where you actually get screwed over. I mean if you never paid a cent, it doesn't really matter, you didn't lose out on anything. If you feel like you want something you feel like you get less out of it than spending it some other way. Of course it's a generalisation, but the costs are **** high. Something that could possibly be justifiable had they not been so horribly neglectful of bugs and issues. Then we'd be paying for a good service, instead they seem to be pocketing it without putting care into the product.

cheesegromit · December 2014

angrysprite wrote: »

This is now a moot argument. The current pricing is fair. Anyone who feels it is too expensive should simply choose not to buy them.

I suppose 'you had to be there' to understand.

Fair enough to a degree. I would agree with you from an AD --> zen --> companion perspective, the current prices aren't bad. Of course I've been around a while and had several characters with level 20 leadership so AD accumulates slowly but surely.

In terms of $ --> zen --> companion, it's too expensive, for me at least but that goes for most things in this game.

Subjective and dependent on how you value money and time.

ainarel · December 2014

I've bought the Neverwinter Guardian pack for just the account-unlock Dire Wolf companion. One of the best combat companions out there, imho, with proning the foes feature alone, plus decent damage and interrupting. Not sure if the panther is better or equal, but that wolf is almost a life-saver sometimes.
And I'd totally buy some other epic companions, like Owl, but only if they were account-unlock or at least account-bound to toss them between the characters when needed. As a single character purchase - nope, not gonna buy any. I don't grow money in my basement.

rollingonit · December 2014

Why would anyone buy companions more than a few times?

They have more dollars than sense.

angrysprite · December 2014

cheesegromit wrote: »

Fair enough to a degree. I would agree with you from an AD --> zen --> companion perspective, the current prices aren't bad. Of course I've been around a while and had several characters with level 20 leadership so AD accumulates slowly but surely.

In terms of $ --> zen --> companion, it's too expensive, for me at least but that goes for most things in this game.

Subjective and dependent on how you value money and time.

I'm thinking your comment is oxymoronic; if you can exchange AD->ZEN to buy a Zen Market companion then it's free to you. However, if someone chooses to buy Zen with Cash to buy a Zen Market Companion then the price is fair *to them*. So your comment is canceling itself out.

As for any pricing in-game for anything: the prices are always fair enough to those willing to spend the money; either cash for Zen or AD for Zen. For those who feel the prices aren't fair the price is too high and they will not buy. So the question of "fairness" in pricing (for anything in the world, really) is kind of a moot point and an academic argument at best; what is fair to you may not be fair to me, etc.

As for the OP argument: Making Zen Market companions account-wide or even account bound (only one, but transferable throughout your account) is not going to happen. Zen Market companions are making too much money for the company for them to change things like this willy-nilly (and they've had a year since the last change to consider it). There also are too many free companions that can be obtained in other ways.

I am not trying to defend the company, but rather I am trying to step into their shoes as a business maintaining a going concern. Put yourself into the company's shoes, put on your Finance Manager hat and remember that your job is to raise money in order to pay all those hard working people who create this stuff. If the way things are right now is making good money, will you change that? Really?

I'm just trying to inject some logic from a business standpoint, that's all. Do I agree with the OP? Certainly. I'd love it if our Companions could be made account-bound or even better: account-wide. But I've made this argument a year ago until I was blue in the face. What we got were price reductions (twice) - and when I say this was a good-faith effort on the company's side and is "fair" - I am taking into account the business aspects that must be considered.

azahron · December 2014

I would love it if they added an option to get an account-wide unlock version of the companion. Similar to what The Secret World does with outfits.
You pay extra, but instead of getting the companion on only one character, it becomes redeemable for every character you make. For example, when a companion costs 2000 Zen for one character, the account-wide version would cost 3500 or so.
I kinda doubt it'll ever happen though, but yes, I would most definitely buy more companions then.

Currently I just buy the packs, or I aim to get the promotional comps, which are generally account-wide.
The only Zen market companion I've ever bought was the Accolyte of Kelemvor, back when the game was still in "open beta". And I don't really see myself buying any more except through the means I've mentioned above, unless something changes.

hustin1 · December 2014

Depends on the companion. Most Zen store companions aren't worth it IMO, but a few are. The Cave Bear is a great way to make yourself much more tanky. 1200hp at purple is nothing to sneeze at.

That said, there are some that I simply like (e.g. quickling, powrie) and don't mind buying simply because I enjoy having them around (I know, they come from special promotions, but buying is buying). Since at the endgame summoned companions are in no way viable, my choice for companions is mainly out of whether I enjoy doing dailies with them. A Thorn or Giantsoul has the potential to be loads of fun, for instance, but neither would last 5 seconds in the Tiamat fight (nor would any other companion).

bigredbrent · December 2014

azahron wrote: »

You pay extra, but instead of getting the companion on only one character, it becomes redeemable for every character you make. For example, when a companion costs 2000 Zen for one character, the account-wide version would cost 3500 or so.

That sounds a lot more reasonable than the way it currently is. This isn't rocket science.

But limited space to store them just has to go. I mean, kill that now!!!

Why do you think most people don't complain about the space? There just isn't enough reasonable options to justify getting them in the first place to make limited space an issue anyway. I know I don't worry about the space issue, because I will not buy any more companions the way they are now.

rashylewizz · December 2014

I bigger question is, why couldn't they just make ioun stones a separate category.

Have regular companions as regular summoned companions who are unable to attack/draw aggro on their own without the owner making a first move.

bigredbrent · December 2014

rashylewizz wrote: »

Have regular companions as regular summoned companions who are unable to attack/draw aggro on their own without the owner making a first move.

I like where you are going with this. But they could add combat modes for companions too. Like: passive (do not attack at all but still buff or heal), aggressive (the way it is now), assist (will only attack what you have already attacked).

mjytresz · December 2014

Something like what Tera does would be marvelous.
You buy a Companion from the cash shop, now it's claimable by every toon on the account. Even the ones you make after you make the purchase. It's a little silly to have buy the same companion or mount half a dozen times just because you're active on more than one toon. Considering how you're forced to make, level, and grind different classes just for the class-specific artifacts.

geoffreys · December 2014

mjytresz wrote: »

Something like what Tera does would be marvelous.
You buy a Companion from the cash shop, now it's claimable by every toon on the account. Even the ones you make after you make the purchase. It's a little silly to have buy the same companion or mount half a dozen times just because you're active on more than one toon. Considering how you're forced to make, level, and grind different classes just for the class-specific artifacts.

I agree completely.

This would go far to increase value. I know if the companions were account wide, I would purchase a lot more than I do.

It would also give me a much better impression of PW, which in-turn would make me stay and play longer. As it stands, I really like Cryptic games, but I have a very unfavorable impression of PW, because of the way they monetize this game.

If they made more things account wide, people would buy them more. I don't think they get that

bigredbrent · December 2014

geoffreys wrote: »

If they made more things account wide, people would buy them more. I don't think they get that

I don't think they do either. Lets enlighten them...

obsiddia · December 2014

Well, now I feel pretty stupid for spending tons of time collecting the winnable ones.
All of them are drops for Christmas.

angrysprite · December 2014

"Lower the price and people will buy more" = untrue. Most people never put their money where their mouth is. This has already been proven when the Dragonborn (race only) was offered exactly the way people were shouting for in shrill tones and for the price they demanded. Did they put up?

Seriously, economics 101: race to the bottom lowers value, it does not increase it. If somethings too expensive for you then it's too expensive for you. This isn't a question of "fair" (fair is subjective at best) - it's a question of perceived value and worth.

TL;DR: Too many people talk the big talk, then when it's time to put-up or shut-up they often do neither.

~shrug~

Here's a little food for thought, directly from the Horse's Mouth (official word) - read it and weep (highlights are mine):

[–]PWE_Community 3 points 1 day ago
I will be the first to admit that some mistakes have been made with pricing some items in the Zen Market.
For instance, I am still baffled that anyone buys the Trained Grizzly. It is a rare (blue) mount for 3000 Zen. Same for the Wolf of the Wild Hunt, which is 2500 Zen for an uncommon (green) mount. WHY?! The cost to upgrade those things to epic (purple) makes them the most expensive mounts in the game (aside from lockbox ones).

I have been reviewing the prices of everything as we prepare to launch NW on the Xbox One. While I don't have a concrete date yet, I am proposing that all of the pricing changes that I suggest get carried over onto the PC. Some things will have their prices increase and I anticipate some players being angry about that... but some parts of our Zen Market are simply insanely cheap compared to other games. Mounts definitely do not fall under that category.

Coalescent Wards will probably not have their prices changed. They are balanced %-wise to be slightly better than buying stacks of Preservation Wards of equivalent value.

Link to original thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/Neverwinter/comments/2pm9pz/sup_reddit_ryan_aka_heyrogers_here_back_for/

Why would anyone buy companions more than a few times?

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