Concerns About Cash Shop Pricing

mas

kamao wrote: »

Odin is right on.

My 2 cents is why even price it high and suffer the negative publicity?

Look you are selling pixels. Unlike cars and other hardware, there is production cost, transportation cost and insurance cost. These manufacturers get it, mass production, sell more volume for less and make profit on bulk rather than per item.

You have a good product it will sell itself if price right but you chose to be defensive in your pricing securing now than projecting future. Grow your player base and then increase the price if you are struggling.

I myself is planning on leveling all characters (6) which will have mounts both flying and ground. Will use heiros definitely and trumpets. If you have reasonable prices, I would not hesitate to do that but with current prices it gives me pause.

It has been 5 days since OB and what I see in game is fantastic. Better than my experience in PW-MY. I would stay and play here but I would only shell out money if I am secured that you will be in business for longer than six months.

Agreed and pretty well said. It really seems like PWE is counting on all the hardcore players who must have access to cash shop items in order to sleep at night. I spent plenty of money in MY, but until the prices get more reasonable I won't be spending a dime (Btw still haven't gotten my free zen yet -_-). As you stated the production cost to develop this game pails in comparison to the amount they will make, so it would definitely be wise of them to lower the cost and sell more opposed to keeping prices as they are in hopes to make a large profit instantly. It doesn't take a dime for them to actually create these items (aside from paying employees and operational cost) so they cannot reference production cost as a reason.

Lastly it's up to the community to take action. if you complain in forum, but still by a ton of zen you're not helping your case. PWE will notice the drop in revenue compared to MY and lower the prices and the ironic thing is that they will make more money. It's undeniable, so get with the program because the majority here are ready to spend money with you. I would join that majority, but as I stated I"M STILL WAITING ON MY REWARD ZEN!

stryke

nounours wrote: »

You know what guys, stop posting in this thread, they wont change price, just accept it.
As to me I just hope they will add new cs items, i wont buy same items to higter price,
ill wait they add new items, new flying items..new clothes..ect
+glasses(if possible, would be cool)
I think ill use marrige stuff, well just double price than in pw-my, but well...

They should just say it! Why is such a big deal? Always with "in-fact, discussing the cash shop". If you wanna keep these prices and curent "per capita income" let it be, who wanna play here have fun.
Same goes for the server GMT, are you guys "in-fact, discussing the server GMT" also?
Looking forward for news.

celes

odin wrote: »

(Post removed, please keep responses appropriate and productive)

Really xarfox? He made good points and his post wasn't inappropriate and it showed what MMO companies normally do, give excuses to stall.

I'm done with paying for anything 'cause of this alone. You're removing good posts because they were negative to PWi.

How about instead of this ****, you give us a proper answer about whats happening? Enough stalling.

pwnyxpres

well they seem intent on stalling. i've decided to play PWI until warhammer comes out (12 days from now). if prices are reasonable by the time warhammer is released, then it's perfect world for me. if they decide to keep prices where they are or lower them insignificantly, i'll be going to warhammer. i invite others to do the same. give them a deadline so they can't stall indefinitely. i like pwi but i expect more for my money.

odin

I will buy stock again when/if i see cs prices that convince me PWI will thrive.

Will this post be removed too?

xarfox

celes wrote: »

Really xarfox? He made good points and his post wasn't inappropriate and it showed what MMO companies normally do, give excuses to stall.

I'm done with paying for anything 'cause of this alone. You're removing good posts because they were negative to PWi.

How about instead of this ****, you give us a proper answer about whats happening? Enough stalling.

Odin's post was not deleted because of the points he was making, in fact if you look at the edit reason under his post: "You presented a lot of valid points, but dotted those points with inappropriate comments "

I appreciate Odin's opinion very much. Please keep your posting civil. I realize you may be upset, but cursing and insulting PWE will not help either side of this discussion.

troll

xarfox wrote: »

...this discussion.

i'm not too sure why we're even still having to discuss this pricing debacle.

surely it's clear to admin by now that PWI needs to change their rates to something people will actually be willing to pay...ie something like 33 cents per gold (as opposed to one dollar a gold).

there's no way players will pay a couple dollars per hour to level (later in game, with a hiero and maybe an xp scroll on)...play a few hours a day and that'd be like blowing a regular $15 per month gaming subscription in only one day.

keep prices as they are currently or anything close to it and the only people buying will be the insane, and the stupid...a few people getting married isn't going to keep these servers running ya know...the real money comes from making people reliant on hieros and xp scrolls etc, something you guys can only do if the players can afford to keep them on at all times.

end of discussion really.

odin

xarfox wrote: »

Odin's post was not deleted because of the points he was making, in fact if you look at the edit reason under his post: "You presented a lot of valid points, but dotted those points with inappropriate comments "

I appreciate Odin's opinion very much. Please keep your posting civil. I realize you may be upset, but cursing and insulting PWE will not help either side of this discussion.

I have called PWI and left a message and my number, with the hope I would get a return call and have an opportunity to make a more insightful contribution to PWI, about pricing, than is possible in a forum filled with, possibly valid but distracting opinions. Also possibly make a contribution to the success of a company I am interested in investing in, again. To date, I have not recieved their return call.

Please help me understand what is inappropriate so I can make helpful, appropriate posts.

Thanks in advance.

golden0galaxy

the point here isnt that the cost of living in the US is higher than that in Malaysia. the point is that we, the players, can get more for less on PW-MY, and giving people the 'reason' that the prices are more expensive here because of the cost of living isnt going to change that or our views.

ultimusmagus

golden0galaxy wrote: »

the point here isnt that the cost of living in the US is higher than that in Malaysia. the point is that we, the players, can get more for less on PW-MY, and giving people the 'reason' that the prices are more expensive here because of the cost of living isnt going to change that or our views.

Both points are valid, and thus must be taken into consideration in how PWE handles the matter, if they choose to do so at all. If they're going to make the claim that this is an International version, then the zen pricing should reflect that. If not, then perhaps renaming this version Perfect World North America would be a more accurate portrayal of the medium, if only the players from that region will be able to play competitively using the item mall.

Wanting more money is all well and good, but if it's done by sacrificing the client base, that's just bad business. We're not talking luxury car dealerships here, that can get away with exorbitant pricing on "high quality" merchandise. This is a form of entertainment that will keep the customers coming back only so long as their wants are met, with more and more competition on a seasonal, if not a monthly basis. To alienate so many, so early in the venture, shows a lack of good judgment.

The following are examples of what can happen when a company refuses to listen to its clients' needs:

An established game distributor named Persistent Worlds decided to drastically change the business model for a well known free-2-play MMORPG to a monthly subscription. Their client base was outraged and demanded the game be released as F2P, but their cries were ignored. Not only did that game NOT do well, but those same players decided not to play ANY of their other titles, and the company's losses were so great that they were forced to shut down. At the same time, Acclaim, a fairly unknown distributor who bought the famous name to better attract business, distributes the same game as free-to-play with ads and micro payments, doubling its client base as their competitor goes under, for good.

K2 networks and IAH games both acquire licensing for the same game (K2 Version renamed) in the Americas and the Pacific, respectively. Both adopt a monthly subscription model after closed beta on the free-2-play game. Failing to see a rise in business, K2 networks adopts a free-2-play-til-lv 20 model; IAH games opts to return to free-2-play with micropayments. Users not IP-blocked by IAH flock to their servers. Shortly thereafter, K2 networks also switches to a micropayment model, but the damage has been done, and is unable to recover most of their lost international client base, instead having to depend on new additions.

syndicatearts

I'm glad to hear that he said they are "discussing" the item mall prices.
But I'm also worried because he didn't say "discussing lower prices" he just said "more bang for your buck."
That just leads me to believe they will probably not lower the price, just tweek the items.
Or they may try a "buy in bulk" tactic like...
PW-MY Item x1 = 1$
PW-MY Item x30 = 30$
PWI Item x1= 3$
PWI Item x30 = 30$
This wouldn't be too bad of an idea. Lower the price by buying more, but you would lose players that don't get much to spend at one time.
Well, despite what they are "discussing" it's nice to know they are listening.
Throughout this post there have been examples of companies who didn't and have paid the price. cough*K2-Network
So I'm satisfied for now. Thanks fellas!:D

sensational

the pricing in the cash shop is ridiculous...

they are tryin to rob us blind!

dont buy items until they lower the price.

toddish2

The only way I can see that "more bang for your buck" will work is to change the zhen rate from 100/$1 to more like 200-300/$1. Otherwise, the "bang" will be more like a "peep" and nothing will really change. And people will leave and the game/company will go under.

I have played many f2p mmo's and have NEVER felt so robbed/ripped off in my life.

I really hope they quit "discussing" and start acting, and fast.

raxcal

Poll: Under which of the following conditions would you buy ZEN?

Look at that people, apparently lower item prices in general is NOT an option.

glider

I really don't understand why they don't understand.

It costs them nothing (besides initial translation) to provide X number of Charms. Yet they're pricing it as if it takes 3 thousand people 20 years to build one, then put it in the shop for us.

Why don't they go the other way - since they are so convinced that high prices = high profits, why don't they charge 5,000,000 gold for every item in the cash shop. That way, only ONE person has to buy only ONE item in the shop, and PWI has made all their financial targets for the fiscal year.

Well? Why not? According to their logic, that makes perfect sense.

code

raxcal wrote: »

Poll: Under which of the following conditions would you buy ZEN?

That poll is missing the most relevant option IMO, "Lower the price on ZEN", period. I want to buy everything for all my 3 characters. Is it too much too ask? I want to spend money, but with the current ZEN prices I will continue buying Cubi, and freeloading here.

I want rides (yes rides, aviation, clothing (with Dyes of course), storage/inventory extensions, pet cages, CHARMS, equipment upgrades, MATERIALS. So please don't give us such limited options, we just want ZEN to be cheaper.

thank you! Thats what alot of people want to do we WANT to spend money (yes want!), but with prices how they are alot of people who want to spend money aren't going to because it costs way too much to be able to buy everything for every character or even a few characters.

Like someone has already pointed out in here.. its not hard to figure out what we want them to do. Stop reading every little post and do something already. =/ Read the 1st 10 pages and or even the 1st 3 pages and you already know what we want you to do.. not hard to figure out at all.

(and i agree the poll needs the low zen price all together option..)

catica

raxcal wrote: »

Poll: Under which of the following conditions would you buy ZEN?

Look at that people, apparently lower item prices in general is NOT an option.

I agree they dont have all options listed in that poll, and the poll is almost useless. All the options listed above still involve the customer paying the insanely high prices in some other way, or require us to spend lots of money to get a break from the prices.

mojin

code wrote: »

thank you! Thats what alot of people want to do we WANT to spend money (yes want!), but with prices how they are alot of people who want to spend money aren't going to because it costs way too much to be able to buy everything for every character or even a few characters.

Like someone has already pointed out in here.. its not hard to figure out what we want them to do. Stop reading every little post and do something already. =/ Read the 1st 10 pages and or even the 1st 3 pages and you already know what we want you to do.. not hard to figure out at all.

(and i agree the poll needs the low zen price all together option..)

I Agree with both of them, however the longer they wait to do something, the harder it will become to redeem themselves, and the more and more people that won't return just cause they don't want anything similar happening in the future. At the same time if they don't do enough on this attempt at redemption then they could lose even more people.

I enjoy the game, I would really like to enjoy it will the added fun of cash shop items, but there is just no way i can afford to right now with these prices.:(

glider

mojin wrote: »

I enjoy the game, I would really like to enjoy it will the added fun of cash shop items, but there is just no way i can afford to right now with these prices.:(

And that's a point. This game is so much better with all the bells and whistles. Sure, I could play this game with much reduced cash shop. But why should I, when I can get this game plus affordable stuff at just a different internet address.
True, I have a bit more lag and corrupt GMs over there. Lag I've been living with these past few months, and the corruption - just avoid the corrupt areas (don't attack the guild protected by the GMs), and we'll be pretty-much fine.

Oh, I just spent some money for cash shop items today.
To bad it was for a different PW version. So today, PWI got $0 from me.

...so how are high prices supposed to make $$$ for PWI again?

lyrielcrossfield

I think by the sheer fact that three people got married today on Heavens Tear server indicates prices will not be lowered. People are buying massive amounts of Zen. War's over, commoners who actually have to budget their money have lost sadly. -.-

moyles

Well almost monday and still no answer from PWI as to how there going to resolve this,i dont know if there hoping we will just quit talking about it so they can continue to rip people off?
Or if there just going to ignore us, either way i feel this company lacks any customer appreciation by not acting on something that so many feel so strongly about.
I have given my time so far and that is all im willing to give, now and always while these rip off prices are in place.
I wish all the rich people who can afford this game all the best in helping to exploit the poor,good luck.

dagny

moyles wrote: »

Well almost monday and still no answer from PWI as to how there going to resolve this,i dont know if there hoping we will just quit talking about it so they can continue to rip people off?
Or if there just going to ignore us, either way i feel this company lacks any customer appreciation by not acting on something that so many feel so strongly about.
I have given my time so far and that is all im willing to give, now and always while these rip off prices are in place.
I wish all the rich people who can afford this game all the best in helping to exploit the poor,good luck.

I have trouble with this. I'm on your side about lower prices, but how are the rich exploiting the poor? I don't think "exploitation" means what you think it does. The poor who don't buy zen do not benefit the company in any way. There is no advantage being taken of the poor. people buy willingly, not at gun point. Thae game can be played without Zen.

That said, many of us are on your side, but let's not cast false accusations.

xauss

dagny wrote: »

I have trouble with this. I'm on your side about lower prices, but how are the rich exploiting the poor? I don't think "exploitation" means what you think it does. The poor who don't buy zen do not benefit the company in any way. There is no advantage being taken of the poor. people buy willingly, not at gun point. Thae game can be played without Zen.

That said, many of us are on your side, but let's not cast false accusations.

fair enough, the guy's point about exploiting the poor doesnt really stand, but the non-donators do play apart in server success.

without the 'freeloaders' (not meant to be a derogatory term... these players should be appreciated too), the 'donators' do not have anyone to sell zen / cash shop items too, and thus are not able to benefit as much from theit 'donator' status.

however, at the current price structure, the quantities of zen sold on the AH will be low, and the prices it will demand will spiral. at some threshold the 'freeloaders' will feel that just too much of the fluff-content is out of reach, let alone access to basics like charms and scrolls and they will become unhappy too

karmelia

lyrielcrossfield wrote: »

I think by the sheer fact that three people got married today on Heavens Tear server indicates prices will not be lowered. People are buying massive amounts of Zen. War's over, commoners who actually have to budget their money have lost sadly. -.-

That's hardly a proof of anything. 3 weddings a day is nothing. When that option was made available in MY-EN, there was at least 3 weddings per hours for the first few days... and a lot more in the first few hours. In the beginning, the system chat was flooded with wedding announcements...

irbis

i think theres just isnt enough unity for this deal to move forward....
'ah yeah they are ranting on forums. oh well w.e. let them rant - people are buyng our stuff anyway so lets just leave the fire till it burns out by itself"
it looks just like this. but. this is short-term. some of that unpatienced peope, who buy zen now will burn out also when they will notice that besides of them - theres no one else playing. and they will leave also. this is rather sad as last 3 days that i used on searching for new mmo resulted in a big list of games less fun to play then PW but also with better managment. this game as a game, have a great potensional and fun-factor. pity to see again as great things are pulled down into the ash by human greed. such a waste...

raveneye

Hey what I don't get.... the cash shop items are "EXTRA"! You don't have to buy them. If you think they are too expensive, then don't buy them. It's that simple.

vigor

raveneye wrote: »

Hey what I don't get.... the cash shop items are "EXTRA"! You don't have to buy them. If you think they are too expensive, then don't buy them. It's that simple.

Because it's hard to enjoy the game after 30 without things like hierograms. Yeah it's true you can buy them in-game from other players but the less people buy from CS means the less CS items are in-game and that means low supply and high demand which means higher prices for CS items in the game too. And in the end it means screwed up economy

birdie

I played MY version and did not spend any money until i was about level 20 or so. I then bought the starter pack and 20 gold to spend in shop. I believe I paid 12-12 dollars for both of those. the 20 gold was spent on bank expansion (maxed it out) and the biggest heiro's One each. then I bought a faster sword, a dress for my char and some dyes and a couple of the gold bags just to see what I would get. a couple of weeks later after the heiro's were gone i bought 20 gold again. another 7-10 bucks. I then bought a few more dyes to try to make the dress the color I wanted.

Then PWI said they were opening a game with servers in the USA. I am from the USA and I prefer to spend my money here. So I was (and still am) excited to back this version over all the other version. So before CB I downloaded PWI. and no longer had access to MY version. PWI copied over MY version so I lost about 10 gold and 8 Mill in game gold on my char in the MY version. Which is fine as I WANT to play this version. I will not reload MY version on my computer. In OB I spent my 20 dollars and got 20 gold (Half what I got on MY version) I was able to buy 2 heiro's (only silver as the higher ones are not available) and 5 expansion stones. 15 dollars are gone. I am saving the other 5 gold to buy 2 more heiro's.

My point is that although I will probably spend SOME money in the cash shop I will not spend AS MUCH AS I WANT TO due to the fact that I will not get the value for the 20 dollars as I did on the MY version. I will hoard that 5 gold until I absolutely need it. then it will be a good while before I put another 20 dollars down.

Please make the value of my 20 dollars worth it and I will spend it.

PS.
and while we are at it please let us expand our bank past 32 spots by finding materials in game instead of having to use cash shop. The shear number of items needed in game just to make items in game is massive and 32 spots does not cover our needs. I want to be able to gather mats and put them in my bank so I can make items when I have enough mats. As it is I have to go make one or two items just to provide space in my inventory for other mats.
Off topic I know but wanted to get that in somewhere where I know the GMS are watching

irbis

raveneye wrote: »

Hey what I don't get.... the cash shop items are "EXTRA"! You don't have to buy them. If you think they are too expensive, then don't buy them. It's that simple.

if you would know this game a little bit better you wouldnt say its simple. scout around this thread. more then 5 people told WHY it is not that simple as you state.some are extra some are 1000% not. and the big gap betwen CS and non-CS is like a is like trying to swim atlantic ocean in comfort ship and a wooden log as your boat.

coriolis

Yep, and if not enough ppl buy them, they won't make any money.. and fail, it's that simple.

This game will be a fun diversion, but I don't know who's going to spend 60$+ a month on this when warhammer online is coming out in two weeks with just a 15$ a month fee.