Concerns About Cash Shop Pricing

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  • code
    code Posts: 8 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    wow.. I've watched my bf post on this so many times, well this time its my input. I got into a conversation with someone about the soon to come Euro version, well after looking at the site and stuff I feel 100% ripped off now.

    Are the people in charge of this 'international' server lazy?!!! i mean the Euro version IS international, they WILL NOT be having a i.p block on the server. They WILL BE cheaper by far compared to the scam going on here. PLUS get this one they will be getting almost if not all of the items the china server has :) that means ALL the mounts and items from the 1st perfect world server.

    so.. why would people want to stay on this server and pay for over priced items that are lame and are just the basic cash shop items? give the people a reason to stay please, cause the Euro server is looking pretty nice about now thats for sure.

    Really all in all I love this game, i really do but i don't make your dream amount of money that you think Americans make, and I don't have the extra 50$ to spend each time I want to go shopping in your over priced shop. Sure I have extra but I don't feel like spending it on a server that might end up destroying itself due to the moderators not paying attention to their consumers.

    Really I'd spend tons and tons of money on clothes I love in game clothes, or mounts.. wheres all the different mounts?? :( I'd throw away 200$ easy on mounts and clothes and dyes just because i love that sort of stuff, or the so called battle pets.. (we have none so remove the tab or add them.. ).

    Thats all I can think of for now, but i felt like putting in my thoughts on this. And i like alot of people refuse to pay your **** prices! But you can have fun losing over half of your people if not more to the Euro verson when it comes out. :)

    (also on a side note.. wheres our ability to be able to have a avatar image D: comparing our site to the Euro's site as well.. our site hard core sucks!)

    ~better.~
  • irbis
    irbis Posts: 294 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    well yeah avatars... nearly forgoten about that. i am wondering all the way from roots of CB about the avatars issue. i mean rotfl whats the big deal? whats so dificult about them that we cant have avatars lol. totaly unrelevant to our discussion here but oh well, it doesnt cost me to ask that
    ~thx sunshine ;)
    There exist only three beings worthy of respect:
    the priest, the soldier, the poet.
    To know, to kill, to create.
    -severan
  • teesh
    teesh Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    I think all in all we the playerbase, have been very patient as a whole. I would like to hear from an official representative of the company at least acknowledging that they are still listening, and either will or will not make some changes to the CS based on our feedback -- If not detailing what those changes will be.

    Will all due respect, please consider that time is a factor here, many are already leaving or casting about for alternatives to PWI. The more time this issue goes unresolved the fewer overall customers you are likely to have, let alone case shop users.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • poison
    poison Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    teesh wrote: »
    I think all in all we the playerbase, have been very patient as a whole. I would like to hear from an official representative of the company at least acknowledging that they are still listening, and either will or will not make some changes to the CS based on our feedback -- If not detailing what those changes will be.

    I'm going to have to agree, is this information still being passed to marketing or finance or whoever is in charge of Zen prices or has it been decided that there will be no changes? I know that the admins probably have no say so over what happens but are our continued posts in this thread still being read and considered? If you've made up your mind you aren't going to do anything, I'd be happy to know and wouldn't have reason to post anymore about the topic.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • raxcal
    raxcal Posts: 12 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    Thank God I didn't giveaway my stuff or went on PK rampage in PW-MY before coming here, cuz now I have a place to go back to. Bye bye PWI.
  • irbis
    irbis Posts: 294 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    poison wrote: »
    I'm going to have to agree, is this information still being passed to marketing or finance or whoever is in charge of Zen prices or has it been decided that there will be no changes? I know that the admins probably have no say so over what happens but are our continued posts in this thread still being read and considered? If you've made up your mind you aren't going to do anything, I'd be happy to know and wouldn't have reason to post anymore about the topic.

    would be very cool. everything has been said till now. some multiply times even. this topic is dry now. the thing that left is for admins to decide. simple "yes" or "no". and everything else will happend by itself right after.
    There exist only three beings worthy of respect:
    the priest, the soldier, the poet.
    To know, to kill, to create.
    -severan
  • mokong
    mokong Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    Im a guy who plays WOW EU and has 70 warlock 70 hunter and 70 shaman (all can be armoried by these names Saintballer, Mokong , Saintbaler) and i diecided to quit since im have been playing it for almost 3 years now so i decided surfing the net for F2P games my calculation was this

    1 month wow subscriton 15 us dollars (since im paying in euros)
    Ur price for ur so called zhen 15 dollars= 15 zhen that wont even buy me a mount

    hmmm that means if i need to spend about 40 dollars about in a month and wont get almost nothing then ill end up this way

    ill gladly pay 60 dollars for WARHAMMER thats is comming out this month and WILL SUREPAY this good P2P game for 13 euros a month without the need to buy anything else from a cash shop rather to get fooled by a FREE TO PLAY but will surely make u pay as soon as u reach a middle lvl character

    so for that im disintalling the game and wish u luck on ur game hope u listen to what ur customers says anyway even the price changes i wont play any f2p game anymore since i will end up paying more that a p2p game ( u can do ur calculation by urself if u want too :P)
  • pwnyxpres
    pwnyxpres Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    if i feel like i'm getting a decent value for my money i will spend plenty of it. if i feel like i'm being overcharged, i wont spend at all. i dont plan on buying any aesthetic items and will use heiros sparingly. if prices are lowered, i will probably not only buy heiros but things like clothing, and anything else that catches my fancy because prices are reasonable.

    you're driving people away with these high prices. i would donate much more if prices came down, and unless i miss my guess, so would many others. i understand that games are more expensive to run here, but that doesn't mean charging more money is going to be the most profitable. lowering prices will not only get more people to donate, but the people who donate will be more willing to donate more money more often.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • teesh
    teesh Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    Once again here are the salient points for anyone not up to speed:

    1. PWI is NOT PW-USA. It is open to anyone in North America, and other locations that are not already covered by a PW version, not including PW-MY.

    2. Because it is not PW-USA and many other countries that have access to PWI have to pay the same inflated prices at the PWI cash shop, the prices as listed are too high.

    3. With PW-MY still available, and PWE coming out (with prices being promised to be set at or near PW-MY values.) there is NO reason to pay the prices here when the vast majority can go to one of those other markets.

    4. With private PW servers on the rise, many with free or cheap cash shops, there is no reason to pay the prices here when you can go there and get less crowded servers, and more/better cash shop items.

    5. With many other P2P MMOS out there at $14.99, it is much more cost effective to play one of those rather than PWI at the current Cash Shop/Zen prices.

    6. There are several new P2P and F2P MMOs about launch this month (i.e. Warhammer) and this will pull potential and current customers away with the Zen prices being as they are in PWI.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • mountainman
    mountainman Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    Well I think all has been said by now (and some good points at that). The community has spoken. Now what remains to be seen is if the price they quoted bears out through the current market environment. Three things will happen:

    1) The GMs will listen immediately to the needs of the player community and adjust accordingly. I think to be fair they need to make sure they make enough to cover costs and profit from it so the prices may not be as cheap as MY, but certainly comparable. Although I think if they do make it as cheap those that spend regularly on a F2P game will continue to spend at that rate and cash flow will be good enough

    2) The GMs will not change anything and fewer people will buy Zen. This will cause them to reevaluate their current situation and though process. In other words do they continue to look at GDP or do they look at their books, see revenue dropping and realize their current model works about as well as a wheelchair in a high jump contest so they adjust prices and apologize. Perhaps even a free cash give away to win people back.

    3) They continue to stay the course. People play up until a certain level and realize its boring without cash items and leave to another game. Those with plenty of expendable revenue who enjoy the game still pay, but get fewer and fewer each month. Servers become empty and only a dedicated fan base of players remain who sadly enough, despite their efforts cannot support the infrastructure needed for the game.

    All that is left is to wait and see.
  • pwnyxpres
    pwnyxpres Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    well i'll be looking into PWE and warhammer as well as other upcoming games. i would prefer to stay here in PWI, but if prices remain the same that won't happen. as was asked before, an official response would be nice whichever way it goes. if our opinions are still being considered, it would be nice to hear. if not, and PWI's cash shop prices are final, then i'd like to know so i can move along and find a more reasonably priced game.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • dayzd
    dayzd Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    Excuse Me, But Why Are You Comparing Malaysia's Gdp To United State's Gdp When This Is The International Version.

    Ie: Multiple Countries?
  • nounours
    nounours Posts: 453
    edited September 2008
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    I think pw is end for me, i lost all my wanting to play pw.
    Sad it was a great game.
    Anyone knows one realy good F2P game?
    (already played fyff and i still like it, they are aperently losing players.
    I would go back there if they make a new job.)
  • liran
    liran Posts: 14 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    way to go pwi- int you totaly blew it ...

    im really thinking about moving to the pw-eu version now
  • lipe124
    lipe124 Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    Uhm because if you take the average spending money the average person has for spending on games and compare that to what you can purchase in this game with said money you soon realise that this game is HELLA expensive.

    Do you think that if iraq suddenly decided to sell oil at 10x the price everyone would say "oh well its their country and they can do as they like" ooor will ppl respond "zomg thats overpriced lets goto war over this" -get the picture?
    If you are in a business and there is 2 supliers with the same basic product (pw-int/pw my-en(and soon EU)) and one of these companies decide to double their price - will you keep buying from them?

    Need I give you more common sense examples?

    What about players that can't actually afford to donate, do you realise that with this pricing structure zen-gold will probably sell for 500k-1mil in the auction house? So the average poor guy hoping to buy 2-3 gold for a hiero(charm) would need to fork out 1mil - 3mil just for ONE hiero(charm).

    The basic simple easy age old thing has always been to balance quality with quantity, somone else made a post earlier on with 3 posible scenarios and I agree 100%.
    Take note of what 90% of your customers are saying to you and evaluate what you have.

    This isnt a ferrari/lamborghini dealership where u can sell one car a month and pay all your bills. This game isnt going to be the top end of mmo's for long(in fact there is probably other games thats maybe better). You cant price youself as if you're the only kid on the block, you need to be affordable so you can compete with p2p games. If a P2P game costs me 30$ a month and I need to spend 30$ on hieros for one week then im better off going to P2P don't u think?
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Go watch it alone ;)
  • soukyuu
    soukyuu Posts: 809 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    The very reason i'm trying to not get interested in a P2P game is cause i can't afford to spend much money on virtual items.

    So i thought f2p could be an alternative. But no way am i paying more for a "f2p" than for a P2P game. Then i could as well go play a P2P game that doesn't have this cash shop BS and is more likely to have better quality & stability than any f2p.

    In short:
    f2p with reasonable prices - ok
    f2p with current prices / P2P - bye bye
    PW has been endless frustration for me #2
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • teesh
    teesh Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    liran wrote: »
    way to go pwi- int you totaly blew it ...

    im really thinking about moving to the pw-eu version now

    I won't go that far, it's still early yet and there is time for them to fix things... But not much.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • parshath
    parshath Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    kinetikop wrote: »
    BTW for those of you who don't believe the Perfect World Euro will have cheaper prices, here's a link for you.

    You can do your own research if you want to know more. Oh and remember PWE that's your competition, so you might want to get your prices close to those.

    Just to let you know... In no way what-so-ever is PW-MY and PW-EU in competition with PW-US. There is a thing called IP block of foreign countries, the japanese are notorious for this. Many of us that are dying for certain japanese MMOs (Monster Hunter Frontier! T_T) that will never release in US are painfully aware of this ip block.

    Because certain companies have licenses in certain countries, it becomes illegal for other companies to allow gamers from a country that already has a license with another certain company to play on their servers. What I mean is that you cannot play on the EU servers if there is already a server available in the US. The company in the US reserves the right to all the customers in the US. I don't know the exact wordings of it, but from my past experiences with international MMOs, this is all too painfully true. An example I can think off the top of my head is Square-Enix's new MMO, Concerto Gate (still in beta at time of posting). The US version has been licensed to North America (Canada, US, and Mexico) and all other countries have been IP blocked from logging into the US servers (including Europe).

    So as you can see, all other PW versions do not necessarily compete with PW-US. All they have to do is input some codings, and each version will become exclusive.

    However, I do admit that the competition offered by other MMOs from different companies/developers are still valid. *Waits patiently for Concerto Gate to go open beta....*
  • palma
    palma Posts: 2 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    Xarfox,

    Perhaps the calmer thoughts of a middle-aged consultant for IBM might interest you in this matter...

    First, I'd like to congratulate PWI for providing such a fun game. As someone who has played dozens of subscription MMOs and a few of the "free to play" ones, I am very impressed with PWI.

    Take a moment of pride for a good game!

    Setting up a new operation can be hectic and you are obviously in a time of transition. It speaks well for the future of PWI that your launch of open beta went so smoothly.

    All that remains now is to market yourselves profitably so that PWI becomes a strong and healthy MMO.

    The one absolute that you can calculate is what your staff and operations cost, and that must balance against your income (leaving some profit to feed back into future growth and marketing). You do have a huge advantage over traditional markets as you are able to sell items that have no physical manufacturing cost and can be set to any price you want. This is an enviable position to be in, but is absolutely the centerpiece of your marketing.

    Do not fall into the trap of spreadsheet logic! Marketing is not about comparing economies or income (gross or disposable) or even what other versions of PW are charging, it should be based upon YOUR buyer's PRODUCT PERCEPTION and ALLOCATED DISPOSABLE INCOME. (the monthly amount allocated towards your type of product).

    North Americans are used to spending $15 per month for an MMO. Like it or not, you will always be evaluated in comparison to games like World of Warcraft that provide incredible value for a low monthly fee.

    Granted, yours is a different model and it is fairer to compare you to a game like Archlord, but most North Americans will still compare you to World of Warcraft.

    North Americans spend their money differently than Asians and can be quite stubborn with initial product impressions, but once they become a customer will continue to spend freely if they perceive value.

    Make sure that your consumable items are viewed as a good bargain! If you do, it will be your best source of permanently renewing revenue and should be very profitable.

    North Americans are also collectors, so if your virtual clothing is inexpensive enough, many will continue collecting outfits rather than passing on this feature altogether.

    Important permanent items should be much more expensive, but no one item should be more expensive than the perceived monthly value of your competition ($15).

    The bottom line, is that North Americans are all about PERCEIVED value (regardless of actual economics) and will either spend too much (over time) *OR* take their money elsewhere.

    I wish you all the best success with PWI.
  • kinetikop
    kinetikop Posts: 219 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    parshath wrote: »
    Just to let you know... In no way what-so-ever is PW-MY and PW-EU in competition with PW-US. There is a thing called IP block of foreign countries, the japanese are notorious for this. Many of us that are dying for certain japanese MMOs (Monster Hunter Frontier! T_T) that will never release in US are painfully aware of this ip block.

    Because certain companies have licenses in certain countries, it becomes illegal for other companies to allow gamers from a country that already has a license with another certain company to play on their servers. What I mean is that you cannot play on the EU servers if there is already a server available in the US. The company in the US reserves the right to all the customers in the US. I don't know the exact wordings of it, but from my past experiences with international MMOs, this is all too painfully true. An example I can think off the top of my head is Square-Enix's new MMO, Concerto Gate (still in beta at time of posting). The US version has been licensed to North America (Canada, US, and Mexico) and all other countries have been IP blocked from logging into the US servers (including Europe).

    So as you can see, all other PW versions do not necessarily compete with PW-US. All they have to do is input some codings, and each version will become exclusive.

    However, I do admit that the competition offered by other MMOs from different companies/developers are still valid. *Waits patiently for Concerto Gate to go open beta....*

    Neither PW-MY or PW-EU will put up an IP Block, both have stated this already. Do some research before you post please, kthxbye.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • parshath
    parshath Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    kinetikop wrote: »
    Neither PW-MY or PW-EU will put up an IP Block, both have stated this already. Do some research before you post please, kthxbye.

    Thank you for the rude response. But they do not have to keep their words. ;) You of all people should know that.
  • kinetikop
    kinetikop Posts: 219 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    parshath wrote: »
    Thank you for the rude response. But they do not have to keep their words. ;) You of all people should know that.

    I did not mean to be rude, but while they do not have to keep true to what they say, I highly doubt they would announce this just to turn around and block the American IP's. If they do this it would not be done anytime soon and even if it was, it doesn't change the fact that the cash shop prices are too high, and won't stop people from signing up for a different game. That would also not solve any problems for PWI.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • merulz
    merulz Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    So prices are triple what that of in Malaysia?

    New MMORPG time. I really thought this was going to be the game, but I guess not.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

    Perfect World IRC:
    Server: irc.deltaanime.net
    Channel: #pwint
  • xkuramax
    xkuramax Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    well, i don't know i been keep tracking alot of this thread and it doesn't seem any GMs are providing any feedback as why they are doing this or what they are going to do about it other than the initial post/thread itself. instead of people getting mad at each other let's just let them decide because it is obvious that even though some people don't agree about the certain things we can all agree that CERTAIN tings aer just WAY over priced. And the lacking of mounts, flying things, clothing is kind of sad. (used to play china perfect world - 89 mage) Ive spent about 100-200 dollars on that server buying ALOT of things and the pricing is even cheaper than malay.
  • kinetikop
    kinetikop Posts: 219 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    merulz wrote: »
    So prices are triple what that of in Malaysia?

    New MMORPG time. I really thought this was going to be the game, but I guess not.

    Not all of the prices are tripple, but most of them are about that, I mean 60+ dollars to get married in a game, or 10+ dollars for a shirt which gives absolutely no bonus other than looks, and $2.50 for one of the most commonly purchased and quickly used cash shop items (the charm or heirogram)
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • merulz
    merulz Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    kinetikop wrote: »
    Not all of the prices are tripple, but most of them are about that, I mean 60+ dollars to get married in a game, or 10+ dollars for a shirt which gives absolutely no bonus other than looks, and $2.50 for one of the most commonly purchased and quickly used cash shop items (the charm or heirogram)

    So yeah, definitely new MMORPG time.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

    Perfect World IRC:
    Server: irc.deltaanime.net
    Channel: #pwint
  • parshath
    parshath Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    kinetikop wrote: »
    I did not mean to be rude, but while they do not have to keep true to what they say, I highly doubt they would announce this just to turn around and block the American IP's. If they do this it would not be done anytime soon and even if it was, it doesn't change the fact that the cash shop prices are too high, and won't stop people from signing up for a different game. That would also not solve any problems for PWI.

    All too true. The problems will still be at hand. But I'm merely trying to state that competition between the various versions will not be a valid argument because the IP block function does exist. And regardless of what they say now, it can be changed at anytime at their own discretion. Also, according to their contracts it should be that, for example, EU servers service only EU countries (this has been true for most MMOs in my experiences (ever tried to get into a japanese only MMO, I got banned from trying to hide my ip hehehe)). But, of course, their contract could be different...
  • kinetikop
    kinetikop Posts: 219 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    parshath wrote: »
    All too true. The problems will still be at hand. But I'm merely trying to state that competition between the various versions will not be a valid argument because the IP block function does exist. And regardless of what they say now, it can be changed at anytime at their own discretion. Also, according to their contracts it should be that, for example, EU servers service only EU countries (this has been true for most MMOs in my experiences (ever tried to get into a japanese only MMO, I got banned from trying to hide my ip hehehe)). But, of course, their contract could be different...

    Actually they are not calling it EU version, that is just where the servers and company are based. It is called "Perfect World Multi-Language International Version" as shown on there homepage http://www.perfectworld.ms/ But yes it is possible they could IP ban at any time, it is also possible they have it written in there contract that this doesn't have to happen and they won't. I don't have a copy of the contract so I can't tell you for sure, just going off what has been said.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • ishman
    ishman Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    Is it just me or are there no materials in the shop currently for apothecary. I saw the woods and strings and such but I didn't see any of the plant materials. I have to agree with the 90% of the posters that are complaining about the price gouging and boycotting the cash shop and possibly even the game. I have tried too many MMOs to count up to now and felt that I had finally found the one game that could keep me occupied for quite some time. And while I do spend in cash shops (and more than $15/month) I only do so if I feel I'm getting good value for my money. And at current prices, I will not spend a single red cent here on this game. The few things that I would get are way over priced as they stand now. So until I get too high to level without cash shop or unless they heed the voice of the masses I will enjoy the game as I can and hope that things change or I will be looking for a new game to play and spend my hard earned money on.
  • parshath
    parshath Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
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    Sorry I just used "PW-EU" simply because it was the best and shortest description for that particular version.

    On another note, totally off-topic, I wouldn't mind a true international version where all countries in the world could log onto one server. I kind of miss that aspect of FFXI...
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