test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
Prices to High!
wudwaen
Member Posts: 72 Arc User
The biggest problem with All of the items in the Z-Store is they are priced too high.
Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary. ~ Cecil Beaton
Post edited by wudwaen on
0
Comments
Purchasing C-store items is the gaming equivalent of investing in junk bonds IMO. While you could get a huge reward if the gamble works out for you, you also run a very high chance of getting completely cleaned out. To change this dynamic requires a long-term effort by Cryptic to prove by actions that the investment security is there and that they deserve a higher credit rating with us, the players, than what they have.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
Proudly F2P. Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
Money is invested, with the expected return coming in the form of time of enjoyment. Not the same as return on investment in the form of interest, of course. But the principle is very similar indeed.
The span of usefulness--as in, my time that I am able to spend using and enjoying that item--has a value on it. And while you are absolutely right that I can't calculate it as neatly as a bond risk rating, the same principle does remain in operation and if my confidence that I will receive the span of usefulness that I expect out of an item for what I paid for it goes below the acceptable threshold, then the purchase ceases to be worthwhile.
Right now I do not have sufficient reason to believe that either a) the nerfbat will stop swinging long enough for me to get a reasonable period of enjoyment out of a purchase, or b) the game will remain a going concern for years to come. And until I see sustained proof that I can expect a reasonable span of usefulness out of anything I buy, then I do think the prices are unjustified due to investment risk levels being too high.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
Proudly F2P. Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
The F2P system is designed to work off of a lot of small transactions to purchase items or services to make the game more enjoyable. If you want to see a good store take a look at Rift, its ideal, they sell you conveniences and fun and people pay for it, much more than STO. Nothing in that store really costs a lot, its small purchases you don't need to think about..
Moving to STO and you are spending $25 or $30 on an empty ship... You need to think and debate purchases, so technically.. yes it is too expensive.
Completed Starbase, Embassy, Mine, Spire and No Win Scenario
Nothing to do anymore.
http://dtfleet.com/
Visit our Youtube channel
When an "expansion pack" costs more than two brand new, top of the line games COMBINED, I'd say that something is definitely off with the valuation.
I hate to be a broken record, but this on monetization and microtransactions I think really needs to be watched: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXA559KNopI
You can in theory get stuff "for free" through the exchange, but since there's a direct dollar-zen price conversion the game company has placed a valuation on those "goods" that can be measured. I would say that valuation is absolutely insane, but that's only my opinion.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
Proudly F2P. Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
I agree, and I think they might have the wrong mix of items as well, especially given comparing it to something like the store in SWTOR, where most items are less than $5.00. The variety of clothing available at the c-store in pathetic, especially casual clothing, and there are no ground weapon to speak of.
you can call it a "C-Store" till you're blue in the face...
it takes ZEN...it's a Z-store lol
Posts by Cryptic Employees stating otherwise are simply a PR strategy that failed.
Maybe so. Some of us have been too fed up with Cryptic/PWE as of late (esp post-DR), resulting in no more spending monies on STO.
It's too bad Cryptic/PWE doesn't offer a flat $1k offering: Think uber-LTS.
Unlimited, account-bound items in perpetuity;
Everything (except boosts) in the C-Store (unlimited);
Unlocks on all Reputations to Tier V;
Plus a one-time pay-out of TRIBBLE,TRIBBLE Dilithium.
That means access to the special LoR and DR item, too.
And unlimited access as new ships, items are made available.
I wonder if it would sell...
Also, when you don't buy things with the Zen-Currency Cryptic will look at their metrics and think "Wonder if we need to adjust these".
It's called Cryptic Store, because Cryptic is running it. I know it's really hard to grasp, but try to keep up.
moar grind.
Ain't Nobody Got Time for That
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Other than that, it's fine.
The prices in the SWTOR shop are crazy. 20$ for a costume you can equip on a single character ? A costume which is on the character selection since the beginning of the game (and thus, already ingame, just not available), and was asked for a year before f2p ?
Yeah right.
Not to mention pretty much everything in SWTOR is in the cash shop. Hiding the helmet, showing a title.... And we can't even pay to remove the cash limit, we have to pay everytime we want to retrieve money from the escrow....
lol I love that analogy.
Joined January 2009
Quite - judging from previous pricing, the next StarCraft II expansion is going to cost somewhere in the ballpark of 30-50 $, and believe me, that game (with or without expansions, which - since they've removed Arcade/melee restrictions from people with the appropriate Starter Editions - are just story packs now) will last longer and be more enjoyable than the new ship(s) you'll get for the same price.
Which is just sad.
Infinite possibilities have implications that could not be completely understood if you turned this entire universe into a giant supercomputer.
Things that would sell better if priced affordably and other price changes I would make.
Companions: $3.00 each.
Pricing comperable to other games I play.
Personnel: Between $4.00 and $5.00.
Some more like pets, some functional BOffs, pricing here comperable to other games I play.
Species: $6.00 each. Recommended price: $5.00 ea.
What a very odd price. A price that can be easily related to would be $5.00 and would make more sense. The $6.00 price seems more like petty greed.
Bridge Packs: $4.00 each. Recommended price: $2.00 ea.
There are more than a dozen of these skin packs, only a few of which seem cannon. So, it is over $50.00 (the price of a full game) to get these skin packs.
Shuttles, Small Craft, and Tier 1 Ships: $5.00 each.
They are useful for a few hours of play, then the skin becomes meaningless. Some have special consoles or weapons which are useful, others also act as pets in space - so it is really a Lincoln for: 1) Grappler, 2) Retrofit Phaser Bank, or 3) Enhanced Plasma Manifold (substandard Red Matter Capacitor). Ten of these equal a brand new game.
Tier 2 Vessels: $7.50 each. Recommended price: $5.00 ea.
Also, useful for only a few hours of play. Actually paying for either: 1) Impulse Capacitance Cell, 2) Ionized Gas Sensor, or 3) Photonic Displacer. Why exactly do these pay to win items cost more than the Tier 1 pay to win items? About 7 of these equal a brand new game.
Tier 3 Vessels: $10.00 each. Recommended price: $5.00 ea.
Also, useful for only a few hours of play. Actually paying for either: 1) Point Defense System, 2) Transwarp Drive Coil (now obsolete in game), or 3) Tachyon Detection Field. Why exactly do these pay to win items cost more than the Tier 1 & 2 pay to win items? About 5 of these equal a brand new game.
Tier 4 Vessels: $15.00 each. Recommended price: $5.00 ea.
Also, useful for only a few hours of play. Actually paying for either: 1) Quad Cannons, 2) Antimatter Spread, or 3) Nadeon Detonator. More pay to win items, but at least they are all functional if not on all ships. About 4 of these equal a brand new game.
Tier 5 Vessels: $20:00 to $25.00 each. Recommended price: $5.00 ea.
Useful for however many weeks it take to get to the reintroduced level 60. Wide assortment of pay to win items of varrying usefulness and usually with severe restrictions on what ships with which they can be used. About 2 of these equal a brand new game.
Romulan ships highly limited in range of selection, and not one true science ship available in the Romulan line. Consoles in Romulan Tier 1-4 ships are paired to consoles in $20.00 ships, so the complete sets wil cost between $25.00 and $35.00. Each set equals approximately half the cost of a brand new game.
Ship Bundles: $50.00. Each is the price of a brand new game.
Duty Officers: $2.00 or $2.75 per pack. Recommended price: $1.00 ea.
Random draw - gambling for value produced.
Services:
XP Boost: Limited Value. $732.00 to buy one's way from level 50 to level 60?
Large XP Boost: Better Value? Only $594.75 to buy one's way from level 50 to level 60?
Commendation Point Boost: Limited Value. $150.00 to buy rank 4 in one DOff category.
Large Commendation Point Boost: Better Value. $120.00 to buy rank 4 in one DOff category.
Federation Starter Pack: Useful for a few hours of play. $3.00.
Energy Credit Cap Increase: Turns economy into grindfest and limits chances F2P and non-grind members will be able to afford higher end items in the Exchange. $5.00.
Two Ship Slots: Reasonable at $5.00.
Additional Inventory Slots (12): I have seen worse, but about $0.34 per slot. Recommended: $3.00/12.
Two Costume Slots: Reasonable at $2.50.
Four Character Slots: $10.65. I have seen worse. Would even say increase it to $15.00/4 slots.
Two Character Slots: $6.25. Again, what an odd number. How about $10.00 for 2 slots.
Captain Retrain Token (respec): $5.00. Recommended: $1.00 each.
Captain Rename Token: Reasonable at $3.50.
Additional Bank Slots (12): Reasonable at $3.00.
Account Shared Bank Slots (10): $10.00. Recommended: $5.00 for 10 additional slots after the first 10 free.
Two Bridge Officer Slots: $2.50. Recommended $1.00 per BOff slot.
Costume Packs: $5.50. Again what an odd number. Recommended: $2.50 each.
Costume Bundles: $13.15 to 22.50. More really odd prices. Recommend: Nothing over $15.00.
Thats the franchise problem. Friend of mine pays about 20% of the whole sales per month just for franchise licensing only.
If CBS itself would release STO on their own, then the prices would be lower.
But so PWE calculates the lisence to CBS plus their own handling costs (personal, rent, energy..) into the items.
I do think the complete lack of variety with pricing, combined with a distinct lack of $5-$15 items that are not random/gambling, are a huge problem.
Most developers would approach T6 ship pricing like so for example:
Current T6 Romulan Ships - $30
T6 D'Dedrex with no new costumes/intel boffs/etc just a copy'n'paste plus a copy'n'paste fed/kdf trait and upping an ensign boff to Lt - $15
Or they would price all KDF ships at half price to provide a 'economical' faction so to speak. That way they get the buy in from not just whales but also those who are more, stingy?, with their F2P game spending habits.
and how do you know they are not selling the items?
you have any numbers to prove? would be intersting to see them.
Defending The Galaxy By Breaking One Starfleet Regulation After The Next.
look at Post #21...
Per STOLeviathan99 Dev.s have previously shared that only about 5% of the player base ever buy anything. It would be ludicrous to try for 100% of the PB buys something in a F2P game, but reduce the prices and you could see 60% buying something instead of 1 in 20.
Other games I play sell no Purchase to Win items. Sell most of their below $10.00. Sell expansions at between $10.00 and $20.00. Further they provide good friendly and knowledgeable customer support.
The highlighted is completely incorrect. Buying something on ANY MMO is equivalent to buying a ticket to go see a sports game or watch a movie at the theaters.
Gives a set time of enjoyment, but once you purchase, you are not getting any money back. PERIOD.
Star Trek Battles member. Want to roll with a good group of people regardless of fleets and not have to worry about DPS while doing STFs? Come join the channel and join in the fun!
http://forum.arcgames.com/startrekonline/discussion/1145998/star-trek-battles-channel-got-canon/p1
and yet more and more people come on these forums and expect cheese to go with that whine they prepared. too often you see people making entitlement claims in general and thinking they invested into the game and hoping to devs will get the message because the customer put in some money to it. you may not see it as an investment others will however no matter how much you disagree.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
R&D costs are also 'reasonable', if you can already play 'Advanced' level stfs. If you can't - get that wallet open 'cause you need to pay a few shekels before you can consider being competitive.
And that, in a nutshell is a MMO.
But if you're a new player, starting from scratch, it's gonna be a long haul to get anything you want with the recent nerfs to XP and development.