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Lock Box Economics
thadek
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
So everyone pretty much agrees that lock boxes are a pain. We also all know that Perfect World has to make money to keep the servers up and the game growing. Well, what if Perfect World lowered the price on keys? In theory if they dropped the price maybe 25 or 50 zen. Does anyone else think they may sell more keys if the price dropped? Even with the fee to charge credit cards, paypal, etc., I still think they could make a larger profit. Especially if they try to make us believe we are getting a really good deal. Anyone else have opinions?
Post edited by thadek on
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I would'n use a master key if they payed me to do so.
Then find another use for Master Key's.
I'd actually look at adding a "daily bonus level" similar to DCUO's funhouse and make Master Key's used for an extra shot at that.
As for dev time being used, making a box and putting stuff in it and getting $$$ for doing so is a far greater return than debugging, patching, fixing, or creating.
Getting praise ain't getting paid.
If they're purchasable right from the store, and theres a way to turn the green TRIBBLE flying across my screen off, I might go for (a few of) these....
Dropdown arrow on the minimap -> notification settings -> gameplay announcements
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] "I weary of the chase. Wait for me. I shall be merciful and quick."
Centersolace,
There is a new "Notification Settings" menu in the drop-down menu beneath the mini-map. It is squeezed between "Bulletins" and "Music Player". There you can disable messages on "Fly-in" (across your screen) as well as chat. The "Gameplay announcements" one includes Lock-box messages.
Hope this helps.
Edit: Nuts. Beezle beated me to it =P
(UFP) Ragnar
If they want to keep lockboxes, then this last variant is a step in the right direction.
If it's even worth entertaining even to people who were opposed to lockboxes before, they're doing something right.
Anyone who says otherwise have not seen the nightmare scenario that is other PWE games.
Blacklight Retribution which is otherwise a very fine game; their cashshop system of renting and having a chance to permanently keep the stuff you "buy" would give STO players having strokes.
But here's the kicker? Those things still sell.
There are no more snow white virgin MMOs, just varying degrees of skankery, so just be happy that STO's only been with 2 other dudes
*******@******* has just received a gamepatch! His game now works correctly! Brilliant!
Well, they could monetize basically every single other facet of the game instead. Maybe even go so far as to sell microtransaction items at inflated prices. Like, say, put a ship up for the same price as most games would charge for an expansion full of content!
Oh wait, they already did that.
You know, when you attach a dollar figure to basically everything and you still have to bring a questionable gambling aspect into your title you should probably start asking yourself "What in the Hell is going wrong, why are there so few people, and why do they not want to spend money on our game as things stand?"
You how what a good answer to that question might be? People don't like to see a game where everything is monetized. They don't like to see games were microtransactions have macroprices (with single items costing as much as full expansions in other titles, or sometimes the titles themselves). They don't like to see lockbox gambling. And STO doesn't have one of these things; STO has all of them. STO is buried under them.
How many people have quit over C-Store prices? Over the monetization? Over the lockboxes? Over the Pay-2-Win? These are some of the primary reasons people list for leaving the game. This includes previously paying customers, even ones who are already invested in it with a Lifetime Subscription. There are a plethora of people on my friends list who have an LTS and used to invest heavily in the CStore who have since abandoned the game over the monetary abuse they've seen. Being LTSers I've kept them on my friends list because I figure, "Hey, they've got an LTS they'll be back. If nothing else, when something new comes out, they'll be back," you know what... they haven't come back.
What PWE/Cryptic are doing is poison.
Maybe instead of trying to find a way to get a few more dollars out of an individual player, Cryptic/PWE needs to spend some time trying to figure out how to make their game more palatable to attract more players who are willing to contribute... you know, instead of scraping for a buck desperately enough to drive them all away.
Pay to win is silly and needs to be fixed. I use the Zen system as rewards for my fleet members and unlock special ships which, Oh look if i want better versions I need to shell out more.
Really Beezle? Is it true? You're my new best friend! :'D
Still waiting to be able to use forum titles
Yes, they gave us an account-wide way to opt out of lockbox notifications. Then they figured that was too convenient and easily dealt with, so they opted us all back in, hid the option in the drop down (as opposed to putting the option in the, you know, options menu), and made it character-specific so instead of opting out once you have to opt out with every character you run, individually (because obviously while you might hate lockbox spam while you're playing as Murphy@centersolace, you might alternately enjoy it while playing as Dresden@centersolace... because maybe you're so into roleplaying your very thoughts on the spam changes character-to-character...?).
Yeah... we know. And we tell them. We've been telling them. They've slowly been getting there, but I wish they would just go ahead and do it, instead of fudging their way there. They know what we want, the know what we're willing to pay for, and they know what we would huck barrels full of cash at, but the problem is it's "risky".
Aaaaand if there's any chance of risk, people in charge usually respond with, "HELL NO".
............Which is why we have not seen a Star Trek series since 2006. -_-
The suggestion is that Cryptic doesn't want to offer reasonable pricing nor limit the avenues through which they troll for revenue as an attempt to make the game more palatable and potentially draw in more paying customers because, while it's a gamble that could potentially pay off by increasing their install base, they really don't want to take any financial chances.
We're discussing how lockboxes are unpalatable and driving people away.
Do you see where I'm going here?
Alternately, do you think Cryptic/PWE can actually put two and two together with the above information and come up with four?
Tholian boxes will go directly out the airlock just like all the others.
Let Gold players open boxes for free, it's not like we have any real perks as it is.
At least for the LTS, they shelled out alot of money at a time. I always wondered why they didn't give discounts for Monthly/Lifetime Subscribers. They're already paying you!.
Plato
There not going to lower the prices on them because well, they know and Iam sure are maken loads off these lock box's so sitten here wishing they will is kinda mute at this point. People will complain about the lockbox's but in the end because they want that new awsome ship everyone else is getting, theyll spend the cash in the chance of getting one. Also having the person who gets the ship posted on your screen just makes the temptation even more so for people.
Jeremy of Cryptic (formerly Jeremy of the late STOked Podcast) has said a couple of things.
Like that they would have released the odds the first lockbox after there was some hullabaloo, but that it would have been seen as an admission of guilt at that point. It sparked a controversy. Of course, we didn't get any odds released on the lockboxes that followed, despite having fresh opportunities.
He also said that lockboxes were lucrative enough that were a country to make them illegal, that he believed that PWE would sooner cut off access to that country than to stop doing lockboxes. It sparked a controversy.
Basically, no one is going to touch it with a one million and twenty foot pole. Just assume that anything anyone from Cryptic/PWE would have to say about this topic you don't want to hear, and thus they don't want to tell you.
I understand that they make money off of this and that they have to or else they will abandon the game. I do not have a problem with them making money by selling us ships, items, etc. The issue I have is the pricing. I honestly believe That they are missing out by having prices so high. I think they would make more money by dropping prices. Think about it, the Odyssey ship packs cost about $50 I believe for the three of them. Now, if you could sell one pack at $50 or 4 or 5 at $15, or even 20 at $5, wouldn't that be a better business choice when it comes to making money?
Also, think about this, lowering the prices opens up the store to more players. More players=more potential customers, and in theory, more potential customers=more sales.
You see, when I made the thread it wasn't to complain about high prices, it was to argue that lowering prices would make Perfect World more money, even if they don't make the price drop permanent. Maybe just try it for a week or two, see what happens.
They already know what happens. They had their ship sale. I bought two ships simply because of that sale.
I imagine that they had an uptick in purchases. The question is whether they made more money selling in quantity then during normal prices.
That answer we will probably never know.
I agree, these boxes are better. These boxes are a step in the right direction for Perfect World.
When i purchase something i want a fixed product and not a chance of a product.