Concerns About Cash Shop Pricing

soukyuu · September 2008

roxy wrote: »

Well like I said, there will eventually be price adjustments in near future. ^^;

Let me guess, the "near future" is when PW-MS starts and PW-US will have no other way to stay alive than to lower the prices?

Blancheneige - Heavens Tear wrote: »

It's also much cheaper to live in the US than in Europe, yet PW-Europe stated many times their prices will be similar to those offered in PW-MY.

*nods*

matthew, even if it's true what you're saying, it still doesn't mean you have to insult people. Grow up, kthxbai.

chise · September 2008

The prices are a bit high ^^ but its not the end of the world. I am willing to wait for how ever long it takes to change them! Good job so far dev team!

Cat - Heavens Tear · September 2008

roxy wrote: »

Well like I said, there will eventually be price adjustments in near future. ^^;

So is the official word? Because I havent seen any Admins say this, just that they are listening to us and taking what we say into consideration.

If this is the offical word where did it come from, and how come the Admins arent saying this?

So you are guarenteeing the prices are going to be lowered in the near future based on what?

chise · September 2008

Cat - Heavens Tear wrote: »

So is the official word? Because I havent seen any Admins say this, just that they are listening to us and taking what we say into consideration.

If this is the offical word where did it come from, and how come the Admins arent saying this?

So you are guarenteeing the prices are going to be lowered in the near future based on what?

You shouldnt be so hostile towards her, it could be taken as an attempt at trolling, or flame baiting.
It is pretty obvious they are going to make changes, they already started here Just be patient.

Poison - Heavens Tear · September 2008

What Cat is saying is that on 99.9% of forums out there moderators don't have any pull over the company and aren't paid company employees, they are just overworked, underglorified users. She's stating things as if she knows something, yet the people on the companies payroll, and the ones who actually make the price decision has said nothing. I don't know if she's actually attacking Roxy more than she is just plain skeptical that she's providing an official word.

Cat - Heavens Tear · September 2008

chise wrote: »

You shouldnt be so hostile towards her, it could be taken as an attempt at trolling, or flame baiting.
It is pretty obvious they are going to make changes, they already started here Just be patient.

Asking questions is not hostile nor is it an attack. Its an attempt at getting accurate information from the right sources.

Its not very obvious to me they are going to make changes nor to the hundreds of other posters in this thread or they wouldnt be posting here. If offficial word has been said they are going to lower the prices, I would like to see the official word.

Im sorry but the 40% off charms for 2 week sale IS NOT a valid arguement. 2 weeks of lower prices on charms is not lowering the prices. Its having a 2 week sale on 1 item.

Im not new to the game or to the forums, I know what information is on the homepage and what events and specials are going on. My patience with PWI ran out 2 weeks ago. They have had time to make changes and lower the prices. All they have been doing is stalling, using lame sales to try to placate us, and/or just flat out ignoring us.

Poison - Heavens Tear wrote: »

What Cat is saying is that on 99.9% of forums out there moderators don't have any pull over the company and aren't paid company employees, they are just overworked, underglorified users. She's stating things as if she knows something, yet the people on the companies payroll, and the ones who actually make the price decision has said nothing. I don't know if she's actually attacking Roxy more than she is just plain skeptical that she's providing an official word.

Exactly..

kazzierod · September 2008

xarfox wrote: »

Hello Everyone,

We realize that there has been a lot of discussion recently regarding cash shop item prices. We here at Perfect World Entertainment wanted to give you guys an official response and address some of the feedback that you guys have been giving us.

Now a lot of you have noted that our cash shop item prices are more expensive than the prices of Perfect World Malaysia. Now initially one looks at that fact and two questions come to mind:
1. Why is PWE charging more?
2. Why should I play here when other regions have cheaper prices?

The answers to these two questions are actually connected.

There are a lot of factors at play when a company decides what prices to set for their game. You need to look at supply and demand, potential inflation, and characteristics of your region's economy.

According to the CIA's World Factbook, these are the figures for GDP per capita in the US and Malaysia:
Malaysia's GDP = $13,300
United States' GDP = $45,800

All of these are based on 2007 figures and can be found on the above links by searching for 'GDP - Per Capita.'

Per capita income means how much each individual receives, in monetary terms, of the yearly income generated in the country. This is what each citizen is to receive if the yearly national income is divided equally among everyone.

Now what do these numbers signify? A number of things. The most obvious point that comes to mind is that, on average, an American citizen probably has a larger chunk of disposable income. However the more relevant point is that people in the United States are paid a higher salary on average when compared to Malaysia.

The cost of operating and maintaining an MMORPG in the US is much higher than it is over in Asia.

The average salary staff members is much higher.
High speed bandwith costs money.
Having enough staff to maintain optimal response times on e-mails costs money.
Having enough staff to monitor in-game for bots and gold spammers costs money.
Having GMs that are not corrupt that do not favor players or guilds costs money.

We just want to provide you guys with a glimpse from our side. We want you guys to understand our perspective on the matter.

We would be stupid to not listen to our community, and as it is our community that supports our company. You guys pay our salaries, and it's in our best interest to make sure that we provide you guys with the best experience possible. We value all the feedback that we've been getting and will continue to keep our ears to the ground.

Feel free to fill this thread with your feedback and suggestions.

actually u r very high priced compared to other games. 1 dollar for 1 gold
i for one will move on to a new game when it comes time i cant play without spending money. unless the prices r more reasonable

roxy · September 2008

I'm just saying based on what I heard from them. I don't know when it's going to be done, but they're planning to.

daikyu · September 2008

Ya know....back when this cash shop pricing thread began, I will admit I was one of the people who commented to the tune of "oh...how bad can it be?" or "if you dont like the cs in a f2p service, then dont use it". Well, after progressing a ways into the game...I really can see why the complaints still remain. While, I enjoy certain aspects of this game, I feel I have to say....spending money out of my own wallet (at a pretty fast clip) simply to complete missions that are nothing more than grind x-number of mobs...is highly dissapointing for a game that I initally liked quite alot and had high hopes for. I think the bottom line for me is...I dont have a problem spending money on a game I enjoy...but the mind-numbing boredom associated with doing something as pedestrian as leveling, simply doesnt make it worth it. I may revisit PW at some point later on down the road when things have calmed down a bit...and I will certainly continue to read the forums to listen to everyones thoughts and issues....but sadly, I have returned to WoW where I am familiar with the subscription system and am not obligated to spend above and beyond the $15 a month I give them.

Twilyte - Heavens Tear · September 2008

Cat - Heavens Tear wrote: »

Im not new to the game or to the forums, I know what information is on the homepage and what events and specials are going on. My patience with PWI ran out 2 weeks ago.

Exactly..

Then why are you still here? Remember, it's just a question, not an attack.

There must be some redeeming factor to the game for you to still be here after your patience ran out. I am just curious as to what the appeal is, because, rather than constantly painting a horrible picture to impressionable newcomers based upon what you don't like, or are dis-satisifed with, perhaps you can explain the good points that still keep you here.

If you can't think of any good points to share with the public, then there must not be anything to keep you here.

Cat - Heavens Tear · September 2008

Twilyte - Heavens Tear wrote: »

Then why are you still here? Remember, it's just a question, not an attack.

There must be some redeeming factor to the game for you to still be here after your patience ran out. I am just curious as to what the appeal is, because, rather than constantly painting a horrible picture to impressionable newcomers based upon what you don't like, or are dis-satisifed with, perhaps you can explain the good points that still keep you here.

If you can't think of any good points to share with the public, then there must not be anything to keep you here.

My paitence with them lowering the Zen price, their customer service, and the lack of response to player issues, has nothing to do with keeping me on game here. My toon on this version is over lvl 30 now, so I can come on and do my eunice everyday to lvl. The rest of the time I spend sitting in a stall and talking to my guild, or here on these forums, my guilds forums, I make skins for my guilds forums, logos, banners, signatures etc, or working(I work from home).

The game itself isnt bad, I played on PW MY and still do. The ONLY reason I left pw-my and came to this version was because of the pk. Wasnt the lag, the asians, the GMs, the customer service, none of that. I simple hated being forced to pk or be pked. If PW MY released a PVE server I would run back with open arms and spend 24/7 there and never look back to this version.

However I KNOW how dependant you become on the cash shop at later lvls, which is why I dont actively lvl anymore. There is no point. I will not pay the cash shop prices when they are so ridiculously high. Until they are lowered I will simply do my eunice and be here on the forums. After 3 weeks of waiting(count some of closed beta) for them to change the Zen prices, I HAVE ran out of paitence with them on the issue and hearing word on when or even if it will be changed. If they just come out and say no we arent lowering prices, then I can say cool back to pw my I go till pw ms goes live. But not giving any official response at all grows tiresome.

And impressionable newcomers need to know what they are getting into before they waste their money on this game. I mean if I bought a new car and next week someone told me I could get the same car somewhere else for 1/3 of the price, I wouldnt be very happy. Before I buy anything I scope around and see whose selling it and for what prices and where I can get the best deal. If someone comes along and points me in the right direction, or lets me know if Im about to get ripped off I appreciate that information. I can still make decisions for myself regardless of what they say and so can newcombers. But they have a right to know what they are getting into and not having some rosy picture painted for them.

Samiup - Heavens Tear · September 2008

i totally agree with Cat, stuff gets more expensive as you lvl up, and that the side of PWI that they are explicitly hiding from new comers. i already spent like $70 on the cash shop which i don't really appreciate...

i think if the prices are not significantly reduced, then im just gonna get AOC and pay the $15 / monthly for the FULL experience rather than ending up paying much more, always missing something cause im not a millionaire and feeling ripped off by PW...

YES i am for a cash shop in MMOs but ONLY for accessories not for necessary stuff.

Lawin - Heavens Tear · September 2008

Look I bought $30 worth of Hiero's to show that I am not blowing smoke and that I would support this game if the price is reasonable. You do have a good product but your asking price is too much for what is worth.

I think this will carry me to level 40 or something but I will make it last two months being I am low level yet. The price of a regular P2P.

However, I will not purchase any further than that. If the prices remains expensive. As you can see, it is just enough to make it last until WoW expansion comes out.

Lower the prices. Do whatever you need to restructure to keep your cost down.

velvatina · September 2008

It's not necessarily how much the gold costs, but how much of the gold we have to use for some of the items that puts me off.

Just to reset the mess I made when not knowing how to appoint my attribute points, extend my inventory, bank and to buy a pet would in the transfer of real money to Zen to gold, cost me over

Amunet - Heavens Tear · September 2008

OMFG i jsut started playing this game and decided i was goign to buy some cash shop items- after lookign at hecost of the items ingame i then proceded to the zen place to buy it- i looked at it and it said $20 for 2000 zen and after i converted it to gold its like 20g - Only after I did that did i realise how damn expensive is that!! FFS what a scam!" I have played alot of F2P games and none of them are this expensive!!!! to hell wit hthsi game - I will sooner pay a monthly sub to warhammer then carry on playing this game with such exorbarent prices.
Talk about trying to rip your customers off- I can see this game failing miserablly after a few months when ppl wise up to how expensive it is- SHOCKING!!! and whats worse is that they made items that are a necessity cash shop items so yoru forced into paying the exubarent prices tio play this game- what a sham!!!!! disgusted in the company running this.

saylum · September 2008

1. PW is FREEEEEEEE I mean common people what more do you want from them???
2. About gas prices, America is not the only country in the world hurting from this I hope you know ('you' being those who made a statement about it), basically the entire world is hurting from this.
3. No one said you had to buy the items.

It is kind of unfortunate though that they want to charge people out the **** for items so that they won't buy them :>
Who knows, maybe they themselves are struggling financially?

roxy · September 2008

What I'm trying to say before was: it is understandable to me that the prices are higher than Malaysian server; however, like most of you... I also do think that it'd be nice if the prices of pwi item mall goodies was a bit cheaper.

Deirdrea - Heavens Tear · September 2008

While I think there is too much griping since all the items are optional . . .

The stats about the financial status of people in the United States is grossly off. The GDP of this country may be $45,800, but that is a misleading number because 99% of the wealth in this country belongs to the top 1% of earners. We have people playing games making dozens of millions a year, and that throws the numebrs way off.

People who make over $100,000 a year don't play MMORPGs generally. You have to make $22 an hour at a full time job in order to make $45,800 a year. Sorry, but most people do not make that much. That average is severely tilted by the rich in this country. The average salary of an MMORPG player is, most likely, under $25,000. Probably less. Wealthy people, for the most part, don't play these games. In short, yes, the prices are too high. Hell, a marriage in the game costs triple a real life marriage license. That's insane to an extreme.

Americans aren't as wealthy as you think we are, sorry. This country is dang near in a recession, jobs are unbalanced, unemployment is going up, and we're close to collapsing. That and the value of the dollar is in the toilet. Basically, the powers that be need to go back to Economics 101.

Their best bet is to either clash prices by at least 50% or move to a monthly model and have it all done in-game.

moyles · September 2008

saylum wrote: »

1. PW is FREEEEEEEE I mean common people what more do you want from them???
2. About gas prices, America is not the only country in the world hurting from this I hope you know ('you' being those who made a statement about it), basically the entire world is hurting from this.
3. No one said you had to buy the items.

It is kind of unfortunate though that they want to charge people out the **** for items so that they won't buy them :>
Who knows, maybe they themselves are struggling financially?

PW IS NOT FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
To level beyond 60 YOU NEED CHARMS
CHARMS ARENT FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Kahlan - Heavens Tear · September 2008

Deirdrea - Heavens Tear wrote: »

While I think there is too much griping since all the items are optional . . .

The stats about the financial status of people in the United States is grossly off. The GDP of this country may be $45,800, but that is a misleading number because 99% of the wealth in this country belongs to the top 1% of earners. We have people playing games making dozens of millions a year, and that throws the numebrs way off.

People who make over $100,000 a year don't play MMORPGs generally. You have to make $22 an hour at a full time job in order to make $45,800 a year. Sorry, but most people do not make that much. That average is severely tilted by the rich in this country. The average salary of an MMORPG player is, most likely, under $25,000. Probably less. Wealthy people, for the most part, don't play these games. In short, yes, the prices are too high. Hell, a marriage in the game costs triple a real life marriage license. That's insane to an extreme.

Americans aren't as wealthy as you think we are, sorry. This country is dang near in a recession, jobs are unbalanced, unemployment is going up, and we're close to collapsing. That and the value of the dollar is in the toilet. Basically, the powers that be need to go back to Economics 101.

Their best bet is to either clash prices by at least 50% or move to a monthly model and have it all done in-game.

Lindsay,

You're mostly right and I agree with your intent, but your stat about wealth distribution is waaaaay off.
As of December 2006, the stats are

In the United States, wealth is highly concentrated in a relatively few hands. As of 2001, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 33.4% of all privately held wealth, and the next 19% (the managerial, professional, and small business stratum) had 51%, which means that just 20% of the people owned a remarkable 84%, leaving only 16% of the wealth for the bottom 80% (wage and salary workers). In terms of financial wealth, the top 1% of households had an even greater share: 39.7%.

This comes from http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

Wealth is still very heavily weighted towards the wealthy, but the top 1% does not control 99% of the wealth. Thank God for that.

kamao · September 2008

Thank you to the staff of PWI because of your failure to make this game affordable I started to look around for alternatives and I found Warhammer Online. It is great flawless quest system and pvp system just endless fun.

If you made things affordable, I might have missed that one. Thank you once again. My only regret is that I could not fly, well I do not know I am low level yet but we will see. If I need the fix to fly and double jump, I will log in from time to time.

For that FREE access, I thank you as well.

velvatina · September 2008

It's not necessarily how much the gold costs, but how much of the gold we have to use for some of the items that puts me off.

Just to reset the mess I made when not knowing how to appoint my attribute points, extend my inventory, bank and to buy a pet would in the transfer of real money to Zen to gold, cost me over

Thienvota - Heavens Tear · September 2008

xarfox wrote: »

Hello Everyone,

We realize that there has been a lot of discussion recently regarding cash shop item prices. We here at Perfect World Entertainment wanted to give you guys an official response and address some of the feedback that you guys have been giving us.

Now a lot of you have noted that our cash shop item prices are more expensive than the prices of Perfect World Malaysia. Now initially one looks at that fact and two questions come to mind:
1. Why is PWE charging more?
2. Why should I play here when other regions have cheaper prices?

The answers to these two questions are actually connected.

There are a lot of factors at play when a company decides what prices to set for their game. You need to look at supply and demand, potential inflation, and characteristics of your region's economy.

According to the CIA's World Factbook, these are the figures for GDP per capita in the US and Malaysia:
Malaysia's GDP = $13,300
United States' GDP = $45,800

All of these are based on 2007 figures and can be found on the above links by searching for 'GDP - Per Capita.'

Per capita income means how much each individual receives, in monetary terms, of the yearly income generated in the country. This is what each citizen is to receive if the yearly national income is divided equally among everyone.

Now what do these numbers signify? A number of things. The most obvious point that comes to mind is that, on average, an American citizen probably has a larger chunk of disposable income. However the more relevant point is that people in the United States are paid a higher salary on average when compared to Malaysia.

The cost of operating and maintaining an MMORPG in the US is much higher than it is over in Asia.

The average salary staff members is much higher.
High speed bandwith costs money.
Having enough staff to maintain optimal response times on e-mails costs money.
Having enough staff to monitor in-game for bots and gold spammers costs money.
Having GMs that are not corrupt that do not favor players or guilds costs money.

We just want to provide you guys with a glimpse from our side. We want you guys to understand our perspective on the matter.

We would be stupid to not listen to our community, and as it is our community that supports our company. You guys pay our salaries, and it's in our best interest to make sure that we provide you guys with the best experience possible. We value all the feedback that we've been getting and will continue to keep our ears to the ground.

Feel free to fill this thread with your feedback and suggestions.

Yes, I agreed that US and majority of countries in Europe do hold a substancial amount of GDP per capital, BUT you've forgotten that this is Perfect World International and a lot of players are not neccessarily from US nor Europe. Players from countries in South America whose GDP per capita only 1/4 from US may found too hard to obtain zen. As you can see, there's a big gap between 40,000+ and 7,000+ in term of GDP per capita for the zen pricing.

elishae · September 2008

Well, I want to thank all of those posting here. I started downloading the game, as it looked quite good, and the free to play part was interesting but I knew a catch was somewhere. I have been browsing the main website for awhile and have yet to locate anything about having to spend money in the game, with the exception of a news article stating that you could buy cards for t he game, but it had no explanation of what the cards were for. Then I stumbled in here.

Apparently there is a huge catch to play this game and one that is apparently designed with full intent of taking advantage of the US and our financial standing in the world (granted that standing is dropping due to numerous situations). Regardless, as many have mentioned here all ready, We tend to look for things that give us good value for our money. The US is known for spending lots of money and even doing so frivilously for pointless things, but that doesn't mean we are stupid. Although your other versions of the game in other countries may be doing well at reduced prices, we do thrive do to our capitalistic market and sense of competition to control each individual market. PW is entering directly into the US into an already well established market here, with pretty standard price structures for these kinds of games (avg monthly cost to play of $10-15 a month, whether that is a monthly subscription or free to play with side costs to enjoy the game). PW idea to enter this market with a free to play game (yet making it hard to find any mention on the costs actually involved in playing), and then ending up charging extrordinarily high prices for items equalling 3-100x more month to play is insulting to the players (but is of course their choice to do so).

I have been playing MMOs since they first came out and originally started back during the original Telnet DIKU 1 MUD days, and have been playing at least one the entire time since (quite often playing 2-3 or maintaining more than one account on one with monthly fees). I have a decent group of friends I play with but they task me with locating new games to get into when we get burned out on one. As such I am now on this task again and was downloading the game as I write this. However, that is now over with and due to your pricing scheme (and making sure little to no mention of these costs are mentioned on your site), I will not even begin to play this game and will take my group of friends elsewhere.

As other mentioned here also about the first post and how PWE has determined their pricing, their methodology is severely flawed, and shows no real interest in determining fair value for the product in the US, rather determining PWE can instead just try to overprice the customers here because of extremely por use of statistics.

I am one of the average US citizens, the working class, bordering on poverty level/middle class. Having just bought a house, have a car that is paid for and maintaing the usual bills, while single and living alone. As with most average US citizens (and most likely the majority of the players who will play such MMOs), we live on budgets. We have a set amount of money we will spend on things, especially gaming entertainment. Becuase of this, some of the top MMO are not the free to play ones with side fees, because such games do not fit budget needs since the costs are not set. The monthly subscription based games tend to be more popular because we know what the cost to play is and that is all there is (except for those who wish to go against game rules and purchase gold or items from other sources, but even they are extremely cost effective and competitive). Your prices are ridiculous from what I see. I even help my friends by paying for their subscriptions on occasion, which I do not mind even forking out $100 a month for such games, because I know what I will get I know that everyone is on equal ground. I would not give a single dime to this game by the methods PWE is choosing to sucker people into paying. Sure the game is free to play, and as some mentioned is no big deal for awhile, until later on in the game where you have to spend alot of money to continue or compete. It is a cheap tactic that will not exactly garnish US player support or preference. You would probably do far better to make it a monthly subscription based service than the method you are using now. The game started just recently, and already you have 50+ pages of complaints over your fee structure...that is a bad sign.

All the other non-capitalistic countries you have this game in is one thing, but trying to maintain that frame of mind when entering the US is not a good idea. I would hate to think of the thousands of dollars I have spent on MMOs over the past many years, most of which I do not regret at all, but I will certainly not be offering up anything to PWE over this tactic. Your competition in the US is very high in the MMO market and it probably wont do to well if you maintain the road you are starting, as there are far too many other options here that are much less expensive.

Good luck though, but I'm taking my money elsewhere.

Kingofhearts - Heavens Tear · September 2008

elishae wrote: »

Well, I want to thank all of those posting here. I started downloading the game, as it looked quite good, and the free to play part was interesting but I knew a catch was somewhere. I have been browsing the main website for awhile and have yet to locate anything about having to spend money in the game, with the exception of a news article stating that you could buy cards for t he game, but it had no explanation of what the cards were for. Then I stumbled in here.

Apparently there is a huge catch to play this game and one that is apparently designed with full intent of taking advantage of the US and our financial standing in the world (granted that standing is dropping due to numerous situations). Regardless, as many have mentioned here all ready, We tend to look for things that give us good value for our money. The US is known for spending lots of money and even doing so frivilously for pointless things, but that doesn't mean we are stupid. Although your other versions of the game in other countries may be doing well at reduced prices, we do thrive do to our capitalistic market and sense of competition to control each individual market. PW is entering directly into the US into an already well established market here, with pretty standard price structures for these kinds of games (avg monthly cost to play of $10-15 a month, whether that is a monthly subscription or free to play with side costs to enjoy the game). PW idea to enter this market with a free to play game (yet making it hard to find any mention on the costs actually involved in playing), and then ending up charging extrordinarily high prices for items equalling 3-100x more month to play is insulting to the players (but is of course their choice to do so).

I have been playing MMOs since they first came out and originally started back during the original Telnet DIKU 1 MUD days, and have been playing at least one the entire time since (quite often playing 2-3 or maintaining more than one account on one with monthly fees). I have a decent group of friends I play with but they task me with locating new games to get into when we get burned out on one. As such I am now on this task again and was downloading the game as I write this. However, that is now over with and due to your pricing scheme (and making sure little to no mention of these costs are mentioned on your site), I will not even begin to play this game and will take my group of friends elsewhere.

As other mentioned here also about the first post and how PWE has determined their pricing, their methodology is severely flawed, and shows no real interest in determining fair value for the product in the US, rather determining PWE can instead just try to overprice the customers here because of extremely por use of statistics.

I am one of the average US citizens, the working class, bordering on poverty level/middle class. Having just bought a house, have a car that is paid for and maintaing the usual bills, while single and living alone. As with most average US citizens (and most likely the majority of the players who will play such MMOs), we live on budgets. We have a set amount of money we will spend on things, especially gaming entertainment. Becuase of this, some of the top MMO are not the free to play ones with side fees, because such games do not fit budget needs since the costs are not set. The monthly subscription based games tend to be more popular because we know what the cost to play is and that is all there is (except for those who wish to go against game rules and purchase gold or items from other sources, but even they are extremely cost effective and competitive). Your prices are ridiculous from what I see. I even help my friends by paying for their subscriptions on occasion, which I do not mind even forking out $100 a month for such games, because I know what I will get I know that everyone is on equal ground. I would not give a single dime to this game by the methods PWE is choosing to sucker people into paying. Sure the game is free to play, and as some mentioned is no big deal for awhile, until later on in the game where you have to spend alot of money to continue or compete. It is a cheap tactic that will not exactly garnish US player support or preference. You would probably do far better to make it a monthly subscription based service than the method you are using now. The game started just recently, and already you have 50+ pages of complaints over your fee structure...that is a bad sign.

All the other non-capitalistic countries you have this game in is one thing, but trying to maintain that frame of mind when entering the US is not a good idea. I would hate to think of the thousands of dollars I have spent on MMOs over the past many years, most of which I do not regret at all, but I will certainly not be offering up anything to PWE over this tactic. Your competition in the US is very high in the MMO market and it probably wont do to well if you maintain the road you are starting, as there are far too many other options here that are much less expensive.

Good luck though, but I'm taking my money elsewhere.

Wow, you haven't even started playing the game, and you're quitting because of a "gripe thread" on the forum. If you gave the game at least a chance you would see that there's way, way, way more people playing and actually enjoying the game rather than sitting here on the forum complaining about the prices. For instance, the guild I'm in won our first Territory War tonight and got our first piece of land. Everyone died a lot and it took like 3 hours to do it but it was so much Funnn!!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you haven't started playing this game yet, you can't even know what the prices in the item mall are, or what is available. True, things are higher priced than the malaysian version, but that's life, at least until they change the prices it they ever do.
I'm surprised that you would take the time to write a lengthy essay over something which you can have no way of knowing about other than reading this "gripe thread". Pretty unusual if you ask me.
And it is a ftp game, you don't have to spend a single dime unless you want to. Oh yes, the "hit the brick wall at lvl 60" argument is alive and well. But there are different opinions on that matter, too.

Kahlan - Heavens Tear · September 2008

Kingofhearts - Heavens Tear wrote: »

Wow, you haven't even started playing the game, and you're quitting because of a "gripe thread" on the forum. If you gave the game at least a chance you would see that there's way, way, way more people playing and actually enjoying the game rather than sitting here on the forum complaining about the prices. For instance, the guild I'm in won our first Territory War tonight and got our first piece of land. Everyone died a lot and it took like 3 hours to do it but it was so much Funnn!!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you haven't started playing this game yet, you can't even know what the prices in the item mall are, or what is available. True, things are higher priced than the malaysian version, but that's life, at least until they change the prices it they ever do.
I'm surprised that you would take the time to write a lengthy essay over something which you can have no way of knowing about other than reading this "gripe thread". Pretty unusual if you ask me.
And it is a ftp game, you don't have to spend a single dime unless you want to. Oh yes, the "hit the brick wall at lvl 60" argument is alive and well. But there are different opinions on that matter, too.

I'm both playing and griping. I love the game and will keep playign it, I will just limit my spending until it has value.

I saw the message of your TW victory pop up while running FB51.. grats on it!

Kingofhearts - Heavens Tear · September 2008

Kahlan - Heavens Tear wrote: »

I'm both playing and griping. I love the game and will keep playign it, I will just limit my spending until it has value.

I saw the message of your TW victory pop up while running FB51.. grats on it!

Thank You.

The credit goes to the planners and the higher levels that did the heavy lifting but it was a Blast!

frigid · September 2008

What I find funny about everyone griping and complaining about the amount of real cash you have to spend to get the fake money to buy the stuff from the item store. IS THE FACT THAT YOUR STILL SPENDING THE MONEY!! You also have the people that are spending the money because they want to see the game prefail and continue being around. But these people are also complaining and griping about the money they have to spend. Honestly if you want the people running this game to take notice about this pricing system THEN STOP SPENDING YOUR MONEY. To me as long as they have some people spending the money the system is probably never going to change. I played the game, I like the game but when I actually found out how the system was set up it has really discouraged me from playing. Especially knowing that at higher lvls you will need items from the store to continue playing. I really think the people who set up this system really dont know the american consumer. For myself I want more bang for my buck. With this current system I wont get that. From what I was told is 1GP = 1 dollar real money. Stuff in the game store if I remember correctly ranges from 50sp to 10 to 20gp. I could be wrong on the low and high end since I don't have the game open to verify it. If I'm wrong I will correct myself. So on a final note and my opinion IF EVERYONE STOPS SPENDING THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY ON THE ITEM SHOP GP I HAVE A FEELING THEY WILL GET A CLUE AND CHANGE THINGS FOR THE BETTER.

Titan - Heavens Tear · September 2008

so many complaints and guess what nothing has changed so i say its useless

Twilyte - Heavens Tear · September 2008

Personally, I do spend some of my "hard earned money" on the game. But, because I earned it, I have the right to say whether I am "wasting" or not. I am the father of a family of four, and to take my family out to a new release movie on the weekend will cost me nearly $60 betwen tickets and concessions. What do I get from that? Two hours of "entertainment" and some very unhealthy food.
Or, I can spend that $60 in here, and get far more than 2 hours of entertainment. I could buy 4 panthers for less than that and my whole family can run around from place to place, saving tons in teleport fees. I don't "need" to do AoE parties to level, I am not racing, so most of the time mana regen pots (not store bought,player made) suffice to keep me charged up. I'll cross that "must use the heal bubble" later on, but then that's what the heiro is for. If (and I know that's a big IF) they keep the heiros at basically $1.50, I personally can live with the pricing on those. Sure they make life easy, and sometimes because of the way a party is made up, almost a needed item in high level areas. But, for the price of a couple sodas, I could live with that to run a high level dungeon (and yes, I am from PW-MY, and have much experience in most of the HH's and higher level FBs, and many many times, heal bubbles weren't needed). A good solid group with good communication and understanding what each other's skills can and can not do goes a lot further than the most common "brute force attack and the cleric will keep us alive" approach.
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Most impacted of my purchases because of the higher pricing...fashion. Mounts, aerials...these can be one time buys if you pick the one you want and save for it. No need to buy them and switch them out all the time. If there is a mount not in the game yet, wait until it's here if you want to save for it. Same with wings. Fashions, however, are way to pricey to be playing "Dress up" until you find the look you want. Honestly, thank God! At least that keeps my wife from doing that in this game!! She is content with the looks of the armor, unless the prices drop on fashion. But, my personal opinion, I am glad most fashion prices are kinda high because a lot of the fashion makes no sense for the "feel" of the game. Special Forces Commando fatigues?? A Business Suit?? French Maid out fit?? Were the Chinese makers on crack when they added those into the game? Nothing like a French maid wielding dual axes....

Be it right, or be it wrong, we will spend money. Money that my family earned and has the right to say where we spend it. We may not spend as much as we did in PW-MY, but it's up to the company to decide how to react if they want us to spend more. We will not "stop spending" simply because it doesn't fit into "your grand master plan" of getting them to lower prices. It is our right, if you don't agree with it, that's fine. But like it or not, you can't stop us no matter how much you complain.

Concerns About Cash Shop Pricing

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