Concerns About Cash Shop Pricing

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Comments

  • Djtavo - Lost City
    Djtavo - Lost City Posts: 11 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    Dang right, and for those that HAVE supported and paid cash already we should get some kind of free credit in the store to balance out any differences that are made.

    Be blown if I would be happy that other players get say 100 "boutique Gold" for their 20 dollars when I only got 20 for the same real life cash value.

    nope dude, if you decided to spent because didnt want to wait, its your own fault, maybe its not sure if they will lower the prices , but 1 thing is 100% sure, if they lower prices, you wont get nothing for buying zhen with those high prices,
    thats what you get for being unable to wait, like a kid that wants a toy and cant wait.

    LOL "we should get some kind of free credit to balance out any differences that are made"...hahahah
    yes the only difference is that you dont have a brain, and most of ppl do.
  • Paulytnz - Heavens Tear
    Paulytnz - Heavens Tear Posts: 15 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    For those who bought zen already and are asking for refund or cash back or bonus for doing so, please stop it and do not expect to get any.

    You made a willing decision to purchase the zen at current prices. It only proved that you value those purchases than the dollar amount you spent. Nobody forced you to buy them and I believe that you got your money's worth based on your own decision and value system.

    If PWI lowers the price,they do not owe anybody anything in return. Any transaction made prior to lowering the price are agreed upon by both the buyer and the seller.

    P.S. Please continue spending though because if they do not lower the price then I will be a free loader and be dependent on you rich people to keep the server up. Thank you.

    I would agree with you except for the fact that when you purchase zen it does not tell you ANYWHERE exactly how much Game Gold you would get for your Zen. You have to pay blindly and HOPE that you get your money's worth. Sure yes I took the risk that I would not be getting much for my money's worth but in the end it did help to benefit EVERYONE else.

    All I ask is that if they do lower the prices that they think about us that DID support them before they did so. That's not too much to ask. I wont reply to the guy that quoted me, obviously he is just jealous he can't afford to spend real life cash here himself, that's no reason to ridicule someone else that can who is in the end helping to support and keep going the game that he plays for free.

    I don't mind paying to play games of this quality and I bought this zen because it was the only way that I could do so to help support the game. My ONLY real irk here is the random dye nonsence. I just wish that I got more for my money's worth there.....
  • tinkus
    tinkus Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    I can understand both sides of the arguement. Not compensating the early buyers of Zen if the price drops would most likely alienate those players. They may not spend any more money and might leave the game altogether. At the same time, those players are early adopters, and that carries the same risk as anyone who buys products, especially electronic goods, so early in the life cycle. Whenever something drops in price, be it a cell phone, computer part, or game console, the consumers who purchased the item at the higher price can't really expect compensation. The price they paid was, at the time, the fair market value.

    Though I do hope the early buyers are reimbursed on Zen they already bought (as opposed to, say, a deal on a future Zen purchase), as in-game currency really holds no intrinsic value. Especially since you don't own the item you've purchased.
  • masala
    masala Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    I dont see what the fuzz is all about.

    These prices look fine to me. Though im from europe and we probably earn more then US citizens.

    5300 Zen is just 2.5 hour of work for me and I get a average salary as a 28 year old. The fun I get out of this amount of zen is a fair trade.

    Just leave the prices as they are.

    Regards,

    Masala
  • Od - Lost City
    Od - Lost City Posts: 22 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    tinkus wrote: »
    I can understand both sides of the arguement. Not compensating the early buyers of Zen if the price drops would most likely alienate those players. They may not spend any more money and might leave the game altogether. At the same time, those players are early adopters, and that carries the same risk as anyone who buys products, especially electronic goods, so early in the life cycle. Whenever something drops in price, be it a cell phone, computer part, or game console, the consumers who purchased the item at the higher price can't really expect compensation. The price they paid was, at the time, the fair market value.

    Though I do hope the early buyers are reimbursed on Zen they already bought (as opposed to, say, a deal on a future Zen purchase), as in-game currency really holds no intrinsic value. Especially since you don't own the item you've purchased.

    Also, these are the people who have decided to support your game, if you're going to lower the prices for those who said hey I would like to support you but its too much money, you could atleast give something back to those who said, yeah its expensive but heh you're a great game so I'll spend what I can to support you anyways.
    masala wrote: »
    I dont see what the fuzz is all about.

    These prices look fine to me. Though im from europe and we probably earn more then US citizens.

    5300 Zen is just 2.5 hour of work for me and I get a average salary as a 28 year old. The fun I get out of this amount of zen is a fair trade.

    Just leave the prices as they are.

    Regards,

    Masala

    5300 Zen is about 6 hours of work for me, if they don't take out taxes, if they do its about 8 hours... =] but I am making minimum wage, the same as most of the "kids who actually have jobs" are making in the U.S.
  • Poison - Heavens Tear
    Poison - Heavens Tear Posts: 1,444 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    masala wrote: »
    I dont see what the fuzz is all about.

    These prices look fine to me. Though im from europe and we probably earn more then US citizens.

    5300 Zen is just 2.5 hour of work for me and I get a average salary as a 28 year old. The fun I get out of this amount of zen is a fair trade.

    Just leave the prices as they are.

    Regards,

    Masala

    Less than 2 hours for me. It's also a tank of gas in my convertible roadster, a decent dinner at a nice place for myself, couple trips to the movies, 5300 zen isn't near as fun as any of those so I won't spend it here.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • vigor
    vigor Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    masala wrote: »
    I dont see what the fuzz is all about.

    These prices look fine to me. Though im from europe and we probably earn more then US citizens.

    5300 Zen is just 2.5 hour of work for me and I get a average salary as a 28 year old. The fun I get out of this amount of zen is a fair trade.

    Just leave the prices as they are.

    Regards,

    Masala

    2.5 hours? This makes me really sad that I have to live in a crappy country....Takes almost 3 days of work to earn that much here. Seriously gotta move when I get the chance >.>
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Lost City
  • Agony - Lost City
    Agony - Lost City Posts: 10 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    People are buying now anyways, because they know prices are not likely to change. If nothing has been done already, after numerous threads, a huge poll, two threads full of complaints. Well then...I've lost faith.

    I still believe that increasing the zen:dollar ratio, and then adding the extra zhen to the accounts that have already purchased would be a reasonable solution for all parties involved.

    But the management must be happy with the money they are making, and the prices they are charging, or they would have done something by now.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    CB> Ruin/Cleric
    OB> Agony/Cleric
  • Moogle - Lost City
    Moogle - Lost City Posts: 40 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    masala wrote: »
    I dont see what the fuzz is all about.

    These prices look fine to me. Though im from europe and we probably earn more then US citizens.

    5300 Zen is just 2.5 hour of work for me and I get a average salary as a 28 year old. The fun I get out of this amount of zen is a fair trade.

    Just leave the prices as they are.

    Regards,

    Masala

    It's not a huge amount to me either. However, I refuse to pay 3x as much as the PW MY players just because these prices are based on the US GDP. This is PW international as many have pointed out, and not PW US. Some of the rides in game are 35 zen, which is $35...absolutely ridiculous imo.

    On a side note, does anyone know why google checkout is no longer listed as one of the payment options?
  • Djtavo - Lost City
    Djtavo - Lost City Posts: 11 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    People are buying now anyways, because they know prices are not likely to change. If nothing has been done already, after numerous threads, a huge poll, two threads full of complaints. Well then...I've lost faith.

    I still believe that increasing the zen:dollar ratio, and then adding the extra zhen to the accounts that have already purchased would be a reasonable solution for all parties involved.

    But the management must be happy with the money they are making, and the prices they are charging, or they would have done something by now.

    like i said before, they may lower the price, but forget about getting "extra zhen".. forget it kids.. if you couldn't wait then dont ask for more.

    think about this, maybe if i talk about videogames you kids can understand:
    If i go to buy the new video game that came today from the market, and it cost $100.. i knew that it was expensive, but i wanted to play it now! NOW!, and after a month i see that the price of it decrease because there are another new games... should i go to ask the manager of the market to give me some money back because i "supported" him ? wtf? ....

    Dont ask for "extra zhen" just because you were impatient.. sorry, but no.
  • Harsh - Heavens Tear
    Harsh - Heavens Tear Posts: 51 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    masala wrote: »
    I dont see what the fuzz is all about.

    These prices look fine to me. Though im from europe and we probably earn more then US citizens.

    5300 Zen is just 2.5 hour of work for me and I get a average salary as a 28 year old. The fun I get out of this amount of zen is a fair trade.

    Just leave the prices as they are.

    Regards,

    Masala

    Yes, but everyone playing the game is not of You're or my age and thus cannot earn $50 in 2.5 hrs. If you take average of all players age I'm sure it will come down. When PWI said it's free-to-play, they are bound to attract younger players and unforunately they can't afford the current prices. :eek:
  • Naris - Heavens Tear
    Naris - Heavens Tear Posts: 116 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    masala wrote: »
    I dont see what the fuzz is all about.

    These prices look fine to me. Though im from europe and we probably earn more then US citizens.

    5300 Zen is just 2.5 hour of work for me and I get a average salary as a 28 year old. The fun I get out of this amount of zen is a fair trade.

    Just leave the prices as they are.

    Regards,

    Masala

    I think that has more to do with the fact the Euro still has an advantage over the USD. Kind of like the USD has an advantage over the Malaysian Ringgit right now...

    I still think the prices are too high here though... even if they merely converted the MY-EN version's prices to USD and doubled them it wouldn't be as bad as it is now (with the small exception of the teleacoustics and guardian angels everything would be cheaper).
  • enricoe
    enricoe Posts: 3 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    like i said before, they may lower the price, but forget about getting "extra zhen".. forget it kids.. if you couldn't wait then dont ask for more.

    think about this, maybe if i talk about videogames you kids can understand:
    If i go to buy the new video game that came today from the market, and it cost $100.. i knew that it was expensive, but i wanted to play it now! NOW!, and after a month i see that the price of it decrease because there are another new games... should i go to ask the manager of the market to give me some money back because i "supported" him ? wtf? ....

    Dont ask for "extra zhen" just because you were impatient.. sorry, but no.

    *nods in agreement* I was about to post something very similar to this but you said it all perfectly.

    They haven't even announced that they were going to lower the prices and yet everyone is whining about. Anyone saying that well I already spent money so I deserve to get some back doesn't deserve anything back because you paid what you felt was fair to you at the moment you let the transaction go through.

    Here's another analogy: If I go to a restaurant and pay $10 for a meal and then I see that next week they're having a sale for the same dish for $5, sure I think to myself dammit I wish I had waited a week. But even if I go in and say hey I paid $10 last week for this same dish, they won't give me the $5 difference back. I paid exactly what I thought the meal was worth at the time I paid for it and it was unfortunate that it went on sale on a later date.

    So whining about it won't get you anywhere. If you paid for zen already then you made that decision knowing full well what you were getting into.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Agony - Lost City
    Agony - Lost City Posts: 10 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    I simply said it would be nice, and make everyone happy. Not that I expect it to happen.

    In the end it doesn't matter, because they aren't going to change the prices.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    CB> Ruin/Cleric
    OB> Agony/Cleric
  • teesh
    teesh Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    This thread is about them lowering the cash shop price and/or Zen price. Let's get that done then worry about reimbursing people who bought zen before any pricing was changed. We don't even know IF they are going to lower the prices, or how they are going to do it. So its jumping the gun to start about this yet until we find out what they are or aren't going to do.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • piege
    piege Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    I agree. Its all a little too expensive if you ask me. I'd be more incline to use it if the prices were better. And there was more stuff on it. (Disappointed that all my Cheongsams aren't in the game..yet).
  • bulldogg
    bulldogg Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    I have petiently been watching this forum for 2 weeks now to see what if any positive changes this company was going to make to allow this game to thrive and grow instead of release and fade out. I think it is a fact at this point the current pricing structure is not what lpayers expected and certainly is over priced compared to what most posters are willing to pay in the long run to continue to play a F2P game. Also note worthy is the poll they tried to say were their choices and how they were thinking of resolving the issue was insulting to say the least. Offer a 150 USD package just to get a bonus..insane considering that that amount would pay for a premium pay to play game for a year and everything you could ever need to play is included. So as we sit and watch more and more people slowly leave I just begin to wonder do they get it. Just look at the posts on the forums as an indicator of things. 2 weeks ago this one thread had posts so fast you could refresh to read more..now its literally hours between finding people who care anymore. Are these players just gone to the other version mentioned or did they give in an buy the Zen and gave up on change. I wonder which it is ..lol.

    So please give us some crumb of information about the direction you plan to take this game so we can make our final decision to stay and play or move on and we will reward you with hard earned american dollars !
  • Poison - Heavens Tear
    Poison - Heavens Tear Posts: 1,444 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    bulldogg wrote: »
    Are these players just gone to the other version mentioned or did they give in an buy the Zen and gave up on change. I wonder which it is ..lol.

    Well, not only am I not buying Zen, I'm not buying CS items in-game either as that would be supporting Zen. If prices don't change by the time the other place goes OB, I'm going there.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Od - Lost City
    Od - Lost City Posts: 22 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    enricoe wrote: »
    *nods in agreement* I was about to post something very similar to this but you said it all perfectly.

    They haven't even announced that they were going to lower the prices and yet everyone is whining about. Anyone saying that well I already spent money so I deserve to get some back doesn't deserve anything back because you paid what you felt was fair to you at the moment you let the transaction go through.

    Here's another analogy: If I go to a restaurant and pay $10 for a meal and then I see that next week they're having a sale for the same dish for $5, sure I think to myself dammit I wish I had waited a week. But even if I go in and say hey I paid $10 last week for this same dish, they won't give me the $5 difference back. I paid exactly what I thought the meal was worth at the time I paid for it and it was unfortunate that it went on sale on a later date.

    So whining about it won't get you anywhere. If you paid for zen already then you made that decision knowing full well what you were getting into.

    That's great if it's a sale, and a restaurant, but this wouldn't be a sale, and this also wouldn't be a restaurant its an online business and if you want to **** off a ton of people who supported you even if it was expensive, feel free not to give them some sort of repayment.
  • tinkus
    tinkus Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    That's great if it's a sale, and a restaurant, but this wouldn't be a sale, and this also wouldn't be a restaurant its an online business and if you want to **** off a ton of people who supported you even if it was expensive, feel free not to give them some sort of repayment.

    You could equate it to a price drop on anything. Just because the price drops the day after you buy a product does not mean you automatically get the difference.
  • Kahlan - Heavens Tear
    Kahlan - Heavens Tear Posts: 43 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    tinkus wrote: »
    You could equate it to a price drop on anything. Just because the price drops the day after you buy a product does not mean you automatically get the difference.

    Nobody said anything about automatic, they just asked to be rewarded for supporting the game while prices were high.

    First of all, I see no reason why anyone should care if players do get compensated since someone pays for the F2P games for those who don't. Some of the comments are rather rude. It's fine to say you don't think they should be compensated, but to call them stupid and such (not the person I responded to.. others) is rather mean. Why would you care?

    Yes, in life you buy stuff and then it's cheaper and you don't get compensated, but, if the game designers decide their prices were unfair, then what difference does it make? Sometimes you just do something because it's the right thing to do,e specially for the people who put their money up when others would not.
  • Mysty - Heavens Tear
    Mysty - Heavens Tear Posts: 10 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    At first I was extremely offended by the pricing here in the item mall, compared to the malaysian version, and I was going to go back to the cheap version. But I'm starting to come around ....*ducks*.....Here's my take on it all.

    I don't think they're gonna lower the prices. If they were gonna do that they would have done it by now. As of now this thread is prolly just a place for you to vent. They will probably have specials or something for charms or other items, but I wouldn't count on an overall price restructuring. I'm seeing quite a few mounts and world shouts in the game, which tells me people are spending money.
    I'm seeing more of a focus on quality so far here in PWI. They are holding events, keeping botting down, now forum avatars that show your level, some really good stuff. I see the high prices but I also see more of an emphasis on "community" and quality.
    We can't have the best of both worlds. If you don't mind living in the ghetto slums to pay low rent, theres the malaysian version. If you would rather have a nice home in the suburbs, there's the PWI version. That's how I'm seeing it. Are you feeling me?
    I still haven't spent real money here, but I'm getting closer. I almost bought one of those Ultimate Game Card thingys in WalMart today....
  • xansteel
    xansteel Posts: 9 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    Well it seems like everyone is on full agreement about lowering the prices. However I have an idea on a change that would benefit both sides here. Now I didn't read all the pages cause quite frankly there's to many. So this is my idea.

    If you want to leave the prices for items as they are that's fine, but do this in return since it doesn't cost the company anything more. Increase the amount of Zen received when purchased. Instead of getting only 2000 for 20.00 way not have a pricing list like this.

    10.00 = 10000
    20.00 = 20000
    30.00 = 30000
    40.00 = 40000
    50.00 = 50000
    60.00 = 60000
    70.00 = 70000
    80.00 = 80000
    90.00 = 90000
    100.00 = 100000

    No bonus amount for buying the bigger amount, but at least this way everyone gets an amount they feel balances an offset in prices. You would have more people buying with this price list, because this is a price that everyone can afford at any time. Plus they would be happier with the current prices of items without having to change them. I myself would be happy with this because I have a chance to get the 10.00 one more then I can any other one. 20.00 is just to much for me a lot of the times, so it leaves me out of getting anything at all.

    As far as the economy goes, no it is not doing fine, it's getting better but not fast enough. I was homeless for 5 months (Florida my home state) Luckily by the good graces of some friends, I got the money to move out of state and get a job, and start rebuilding my life again. But during the 5 months I was homeless over 150,000 families lost they're homes that they had been in for 5+ years, either to loss of jobs, and not being about to find any, or decrease in pay. I lived into a apartment that monthly with utilities cost me 1500.00, and I only made after taxes 1800.00 Then add food, and fuel, and I was over 1800.00. Mind you this was just the basics of life nothing extra. And most of the time my food consisted of ramen noodles/ Fuel was over $4.50 a gallon at the time.

    The late George Carlon once said

    The Upper Class keeps all of the money and pays none of the taxes.
    The Middle Class does all of the work, and pays all of the taxes.
    The Poor are just there to scare the Middle Class.

    Xan Steel
  • Codekitten - Heavens Tear
    Codekitten - Heavens Tear Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    soo if they are working on quality .. then why did thier 1st event they held in open beta the whole boss break out end up flopping. Their excuse was the program bugged out and spawned over 100 some of the same boss and it turned into a giant boss square..

    Also on the note of cash shop items we are missing a TON of items. Look up Perfect World wiki and go look at the other Perfect World's a lot of them ( i take that back all of them minus ours) have all the cash items. Even the soon to be released Euro server will have a full cash shop.

    Also seeing you brought up the who avitar issue.. its not that great of a system. It's not what your character looks like just a general class pic of it. Plus a lot of people if they want their levels shown will post in their signature.

    As far as the over all quality of this server and its forums, I think its lacking alot. The Euro server isn't even in open beta yet and has the avatar service, sure its not of 'your' character, but they do at least have the option to add whatever picture you want for it. Plus like I said before they will be having the full cash shop according to them.

    So really i feel like I'm being ripped off in many ways with the so called 'international' server ('ultimate version of perfect world' as it was labeled), the cash shop is very small and over prices (not in gold since more of the real life cash to zen sort of over priced). Plus it takes the mods/admins forever to do anything (good example was the boss breakout that turned into a complete failure, plus this forum for that matter). And as far as botters go.. I've never seen any perfect world server have a problem banning them, the MY server you see at times a spam of banning botters xP
  • Lawin - Heavens Tear
    Lawin - Heavens Tear Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    WTH, the upper class (1% of the population) pays 39% of the USA treasury look at the IRS statistic.

    Even here, the rich is supporting the game because clearly not many people are buying but there are big spenders that somehow sustaining these maddening prices.
  • Mysty - Heavens Tear
    Mysty - Heavens Tear Posts: 10 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    WTH, the upper class (1% of the population) pays 39% of the USA treasury look at the IRS statistic.

    Even here, the rich is supporting the game because clearly not many people are buying but there are big spenders that somehow sustaining these maddening prices.

    I think you just hit on something important....there will be an "upper class" here, a "middle class" and a "lower class". The upper class will enjoy the benefits of mounts, charms, and fashion, the lower class will just grind away and harvest mats for the upper class, and the middle class will be somewhere in-between.....not everyone can be upper class, or else there would be no lower class to gather the mats and herbs....:D
  • troll
    troll Posts: 14 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    I think you just hit on something important....there will be an "upper class" here, a "middle class" and a "lower class". The upper class will enjoy the benefits of mounts, charms, and fashion, the lower class will just grind away and harvest mats for the upper class, and the middle class will be somewhere in-between.....not everyone can be upper class, or else there would be no lower class to gather the mats and herbs....:D

    naw, there will just be an empty USA server of stupid/insane people who spent thousands in cash shop and find themselves suddenly unable to show off to anyone as all the newbs realise how much game actually costs at higher levels - and more importantly at these server rates...as we'll all be gone to the europe server.

    oh yes, gone - kiss goodbye to your profit margin.
  • Blancheneige - Heavens Tear
    Blancheneige - Heavens Tear Posts: 1,494 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    At first I was extremely offended by the pricing here in the item mall, compared to the malaysian version, and I was going to go back to the cheap version. But I'm starting to come around ....*ducks*.....Here's my take on it all.

    It's like having 3 sellers of Toyota in the same city. If someone want to buy a Toyota, he will likely go where it sells the cheaper. Even if the cheaper store don't have all those flashy neon signs and vendors in black suits and ties.

    Sure some people would still buy there, but not enough to keep the store open.

    PWE need to enter something in their heads : they are not alone offering the same product on the market. I doubt the market can sustain 3 identical products. At least one will go down. I doubt it will be MY-EN. And as it goes, I doubt it will be PW-Europe either.

    Unless PWE react. And fast.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

    Thanks Brit for the sig b:laugh
  • Hisui - Heavens Tear
    Hisui - Heavens Tear Posts: 1,369 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    It's like having 3 sellers of Toyota in the same city. If someone want to buy a Toyota, he will likely go where it sells the cheaper. Even if the cheaper store don't have all those flashy neon signs and vendors in black suits and ties.

    Sure some people would still buy there, but not enough to keep the store open.

    PWE need to enter something in their heads : they are not alone offering the same product on the market. I doubt the market can sustain 3 identical products. At least one will go down. I doubt it will be MY-EN. And as it goes, I doubt it will be PW-Europe either.

    Unless PWE react. And fast.

    well... except the 'toyota' in this case is not in the same city. do you buy nike shoes here in the USA? well they sell the same kind of nike shoes in China for like 1/10 of the price you pay. revolt?
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    私の番ですよ。- Sig by Symour

    Check out ForsakenX 's sig thread O_O
    Enrage - We Eat.
  • raxcal
    raxcal Posts: 12 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    Sadly it's been two weeks already and no real answer :(
    I guess it's time to move on for me, I wanted to spend a healthy $60 a month, but with the current item prices I feel robbed.

    If I spend 4 times the amount of money that other p2p MMO's charge, I should definitely be able to get my money's worth of CS items. Seems like my $$$ isn't worth much around here, so FINE, I'll take it elsewhere where it IS worth some.

    P.S.
    The $60 you could have had this month from me, went to a nice 250GB external HDD for my gf.
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