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Klingon legendary pack pricing
ucgsquawk
Member Posts: 279 Arc User
I apologize for what will likely be a bit of a rant, and I hope this doesn't get removed.
I wanted to bring up that it is now release day for the Klingon legendary pack on console and console players so far appear to be being screwed over on the price vs. PC.
Ever other time we've had the same pricing but now for whatever reason they appear to have decided that console players will just have to start paying more during sales.
I've seen that they are having another zen sale, but this isn't anything new and still doesn't change the pricing. All it does is reinforce the idea that Cryptic doesn't want console players to ever buy zen unless it's the day of something they want and then to only spend enough to buy that item/bundle otherwise you will lose out. Any player who put away or bought zen in preparation for this pack is now being forced to pay more.
I'm going to keep waiting today, but I thought it was important to point this out as it just isn't being given enough notice. Cryptic is specifically TRIBBLE over Console players vs. PC players on the price of a legendary bundle.
Is this the way it's going to be from now on?
Either way - unless there's some other 'surprise' coming to make it a better deal, this higher price is a big 'TRIBBLE you' to console players and I for one will not spend a penny with them ever again if this is going to be the way of the future.
I wanted to bring up that it is now release day for the Klingon legendary pack on console and console players so far appear to be being screwed over on the price vs. PC.
Ever other time we've had the same pricing but now for whatever reason they appear to have decided that console players will just have to start paying more during sales.
I've seen that they are having another zen sale, but this isn't anything new and still doesn't change the pricing. All it does is reinforce the idea that Cryptic doesn't want console players to ever buy zen unless it's the day of something they want and then to only spend enough to buy that item/bundle otherwise you will lose out. Any player who put away or bought zen in preparation for this pack is now being forced to pay more.
I'm going to keep waiting today, but I thought it was important to point this out as it just isn't being given enough notice. Cryptic is specifically TRIBBLE over Console players vs. PC players on the price of a legendary bundle.
Is this the way it's going to be from now on?
Either way - unless there's some other 'surprise' coming to make it a better deal, this higher price is a big 'TRIBBLE you' to console players and I for one will not spend a penny with them ever again if this is going to be the way of the future.
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on
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I just don't want to believe that they would mess over console players like that for a few thousand zen...even if just for the amount of bad will it would generate. I guess we'll see soon enough.
I've done some 'quick' math. Now, bear in mind I'm in the UK so not sure of the Dollar price of Console Zen. Here's the 'current' price of the pack based off the 3 'cheapest' options. I say cheapest because I'm using the higher value Zen packs. I am also using a conversion of $1.30=£1 (the current X-rate is $1.39).
Option 1: Buy packs 500, 2000 and 5300 Zen together. UK price £48 - US price $62.40
Option 2: Buy 11k Zen. £51.99. Extrapolated cost (51.99/11000)x7800. UK price £37 - US price $48
Option 3: Buy 23k Zen. £91.99. Extrapolated cost (91.99/23000)x7800. UK price £31 - US price $40
So, no, no-one has been 'shafted', it's cheaper than PC in cash value (which was $60) with the current sales for the 2 best options, and a couple of dollars for the first option is nothing. Now, I may give it too you if had ground ALL the Dil for it....but you still got it free then!
I disagree on this, because console players who had already purchased the Zen definitely DID get shafted.
I'll only partly agree, but buying Zen at full price is not the recommended way of things these days.
Option 2 and option 3 are not really options because they force the player to buy more zen than necessary. This is the same reason stuffing a bunch of fluff into a bundle and inflating the price does not make it a "good deal" if the person only wanted the ship. Let me give you an example.
(Not my example, borrowing from another poster) You are going to an amusement park on your only day off work, but that particular day the amusement park is having family day meaning that family passes (4 tickets) are half off. Unfortunately, on this day, they are only selling family passes, so the only way for you to enjoy the amusement park on your day off would be to effectively pay for two regularly priced tickets. Sure, if you do the math, you are only paying half price for each ticket, but who cares. You are alone so you don't need the extra 3 tickets.
What you are proposing in option 2 and 3 is exactly the same. Why pay for 11k or 23k zen when all you need is 7800?
Also, what if someone bought zen on sale a while ago and has been waiting for this ship only to find out that they have to pay more than their friends on PC? What good does this zen sale do them?
Because if you keep playing the game, you'll eventually want something new. ...
... Like these people, buying zen to use later. If they bought to use later, they probably did it when zen was on sale so your concern for them is unnecessary.
Neither of those points address the fact that on PC the bundle was 6000 initially, while on Console, we get shafted with a 7800 initial price tag. How you get the zen is moot. It does matter if you bought it during the sale or you traded in a whole bunch of dil or you happen to have enough laying around. Console players have to spend more to get the exact same thing as PC players with no explanation from the devs.
This is not the first time Console players have gotten the short straw, and it won't be the last. It is getting to the point where I may not even open my wallet for a Romulan ship with my dream specs. Certainly not if they think they can charge us Console players higher prices to subsidize the no longer profitable PC side of things.
I agree they should be clear with us if it is because of paying 30%(?) to Sony and Microsoft (as one possibility). Without a clear explanation we're forced to speculate based on vague comments about "not being able to do" things like one past zen sale that was on Xbox but not on PS4.
It's possible that Sony and MS have some secrecy rules about disclosing things, like how Apple doesn't let IOS apps tell their users how to make purchases using a web browser instead of in-app. But that seems far-fetched.
This makes absolutely no sense at all.
You say that you don't buy zen outside of a sale...fair enough. You show the big zen packs in option 2 or 3.
PC players bought those zen packs at the same discounted prices...and yet they get the bigger discount on the bundle correct? So - console players get shafted.
Let's say console players bought those big packs last sale just for this...they get less of a discount and so are shafted.
Let's say console players buy the packs THIS sale to buy this...they get left over zen so next time cryptic does this they are shafted.
You forget that PC players get the same zen sales to buy their zen...yet they get better discounts on their pack. Doesn't matter how you look at it, console players got screwed on this deal.
I can understand if you feel the need to defend them for some reason, that's fine, but you have to look at it properly to see that they really did create a situation in which console players are just screwed.
Everything you said about console players and the sales goes the same for PC players...the difference is PC players ALSO got a better sale.
Well said.
Here is another nugget of thought. Why THIS sale, and not sales in the past? What has changed that prompts Cryptic to start giving Console players smaller sales? Is this the new normal for us?
NFW am I blowing 20k console zen on the Ani bundle, but as much as I want the D7, can’t really justify @8K console zen on just one ship, add-ons or not.
And I say “console-zen” bc yes, we are and have been screwed. As a “lifetime idiot” on console, you get nothing but the kit. On PC you get (or at least “got”) monthly zen payments for the LT sub.
Zen is harder to come by on console, sells in deliberately cumbersome increments and apparently sells for more compared to PC.
Any word on this bombshell announcement that’s supposed to be/has been revealed?
If too many players buy into this price difference then we're bound to start finding them do this to us all the time.
I bet 99% of the players that bought this pack on Console don't even know there is a price discrepancy.
I forsee many price discrepancies in the future where Console players will be paying for than PC players for the same content in order to subsidize the diminishing profitability of the PC game.
...or to cover the x% cut that Microsoft and Sony take off the top. Not everything is a conspiracy, though it's easy to think that when we get dead silence from Cryptic instead of transparency.
No one said anything about a conspiracy. Using one platform to cover the losses accrued on another is a standard business practice. If they were trying cover an percentage taken by microsoft and sony, why start now? It looks bad, whatever the reason.
When all we get from the company is silence, naturally people are going to assume the worse. In this case, that is a new precedent of higher costs for Console players for the exact same content.
If they are just trying to cover the cut taken by Microsoft and Sony, then they should distribute that cost across all three platforms. That way, no one would notice and no one would have anything to complain about.
Except that it isn't PC that's the loss maker, it's the consoles, and proof is in the pudding in that they struggle to patch the game on console. More proof is that PC has more online than both the consoles, proven by let's say QWW population. PC had nearly 90 instances at one point I was on, on XB it had just over 20 (at the same time I was on PC), and the PS has similar population. And before anyone throws the infographic, remember that's TOTAL accounts, NOT active accounts.
No..PC highest 2 tiers are waaaaaay more expensive than console. £40ish more for the top tier and £25ish more for the tier below.
Star Trek Online volunteer Community Moderator
Except that the number of map instances does not necessarily correlate to the profitability of the platform. In general, Console players tend to log on and play for an hour or so and then log off and play something else. Also, Console players tend to move more quickly from one game to another, meaning that the average player on console is "newer" and thus are more likely to buy things because they don't have a stockpile of ships already.
Of course I have no numbers to back this up because only Cryptic has those metrics, but this is the impression I have gotten after playing a lot of games on Xbox. The story is always the same.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
Yea, I think this is more Microsoft &/or Sony putting their foots down, not so much Cryptic.
Really? What is the reason Microsoft and/or Sony could have for telling Cryptic they can't have a 50% discount and instead must have a 35% discount? Why would they care? They never objected to Cryptic having 50% sales before.
Because it's going to be a high demand item and less of a discount means they make more money. Not saying it's right or wrong, simply giving a reason why they might want it that way. it's going to depend on what kind of items the sale is for as to whether or not sony or microsoft would object.
Star Trek Online volunteer Community Moderator
Seems far-fetched to me. How would Microsoft/Sony know whether or not an item being sold in a low-popularity game like STO would be high demand? And why would they care? I can guarantee any money they get from STO is not worth their time trying to maximize profit.
Truth be told dude none of us know for sure unless one of the 3 decide to give us an answer. Until then it's all speculation. Since they're business partners Cryptic would likely have shared some sales data with Sony and Microsoft on the D7 prior to it hitting console. Another alternative explanation is what davefenestrator just above this post about possible sales cuts going to microsoft and sony. We can debate why they did it all day long until the cows come home, but it is what it is at this point.
Star Trek Online volunteer Community Moderator
Very true. In the end, the companies will do what they do, and my wallet will stay firmly shut.
"Socialism works just fine! Until you run out of other people's money." Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Why should a PC player accept an additional cost to cover someone else's choice to play Star Trek Online on a console?
Your problem is with how Sony and Microsoft decide to charge money to use their service.
Not Cryptic. Pretty sure the people at Cryptic and PWI raised the cost enough to offset whatever Sony and Microsoft charged them to maintain a reasonable R.O.I.
I have no reason at all to pay for you to play this game on a console. Always thought the money and time Cryptic spent on porting this game over would have been far better spent on more content and bug hunting.
The suggestion that suddenly after years they decided to come down and say "Hey - that D7 is pretty swanky, lots of people will want it so we have gotten together (PS and Xbox) and decided that it should be more expensive for out players just because" is a bit insane once you think about it a bit.
And for those who are anti-console and "They shouldn't give you a game they should only make mine better!" not really much else to say other than TRIBBLE you.
There are a lot of players on console and whether you're smart enough to see it or not that's income that would be lost if it was only PC...so that would probably either raise prices or cut content on your precious PC version...get over it.