So who would be willing to pay 5$ (USD) for just the beta key?

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gmx09 wrote:

They control the valuation of their intellectual property and name their prices.

If you aren't happy with that, either wait until the open beta or the full release, or alternatively, play something else. You aren't a potential customer for this type of business model if you're asking for lower price brackets, since the developers will rely on microtransactions once the game is released.

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stevencrotnik wrote:

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Boogiee wrote:

WoW.. I love the ungrateful attitude of some people.

Yes, thank you for your comment. Your level of Self-righteousness or "feeling of (usually) smug moral superiority" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-righteousness is quite on par with my supposed ungratefulness. I really am astounded.

...and you still don't notice what you're doing. Are you really that dense?

If anything, buying the game for 5$ will INCREASE their revenue. Because if someone decides he wants to have some of the cosmetic changes, or other things, then he has to pay another 10 bucks, which adds up to 15. (Whereas people who paid 10 bucks for the beta will already have 10 bucks worth of cosmetic items.)

He's just asking for an option that is cheaper overall, but has less bang for your buck. Seems fair to me.

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Tagek wrote:

He's just asking for an option that is cheaper overall, but has less bang for your buck. Seems fair to me.

Some of us are just pointing out the reasons that the current minimum payment option is suitable. First and foremost, they aren't selling beta keys but a "pre-purchase". How would it even make sense to charge for a beta key when they won't be charging to download and play the game at release?

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Britannicus wrote:

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Tagek wrote:

He's just asking for an option that is cheaper overall, but has less bang for your buck. Seems fair to me.

Some of us are just pointing out the reasons that the current minimum payment option is suitable. First and foremost, they aren't selling beta keys but a "pre-purchase". How would it even make sense to charge for a beta key when they won't be charging to download and play the game at release?

Again, though, the developers know the majority of the sales are happening because there's a beta key included.
Although it's not how it's advertised, the 10 dollar credit is the bonus, not the beta key. It's a good deal, but it's selling a beta key none the less.

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Tagek wrote:

If anything, buying the game for 5$ will INCREASE their revenue. Because if someone decides he wants to have some of the cosmetic changes, or other things, then he has to pay another 10 bucks, which adds up to 15. (Whereas people who paid 10 bucks for the beta will already have 10 bucks worth of cosmetic items.)

He's just asking for an option that is cheaper overall, but has less bang for your buck. Seems fair to me.

You're forgetting a key mechanic. If someone buys the game for $5 (and before said purchase creates a thread and several posts on the game forum indicating that the game should be cheaper and that $10 is too much), chances are they're not going to be in a rush to spend more on the game because they weren't originally that happy to part with only $10.

By purchasing the $10 option, they give you a universal beta access key and 100 microtransaction points. Not only are they allowing you access to the game, they are introducing you to your first free purchases from the online store, meaning that if you spend 90 of those 100 points and have 10 left, then decide you want another item that costs 20 points, you're likely to purchase another 100 points. It's the F2P microtransaction model, and it's been tested and proven by tens/hundreds of games.

I personally think that it's a great method of attracting customers. Anyone wanting a cheaper option should simply wait it out. You shouldn't feel entitled to get beta access, it only comes to those who want to contribute to a level that the developer is happy with.

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Tagek wrote:

Although it's not how it's advertised, the 10 dollar credit is the bonus, not the beta key. It's a good deal, but it's selling a beta key none the less.

No, the beta key is the bonus. Sorry, this isn't reader-response. You can't just declare that the beta key is what people are buying and make it so. Additionally, if you look at how the pre-purchases scale, the points scale exactly with the dollar value, and everything else is extra to go with the bundle.

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Britannicus wrote:

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Tagek wrote:

Although it's not how it's advertised, the 10 dollar credit is the bonus, not the beta key. It's a good deal, but it's selling a beta key none the less.

No, the beta key is the bonus. Sorry, this isn't reader-response. You can't just declare that the beta key is what people are buying and make it so. Additionally, if you look at how the pre-purchases scale, the points scale exactly with the dollar value, and everything else is extra to go with the bundle.

Well I'm sorry, but thinking that anyone without a beta key would spend 10$ on a game they don't have access too is just dumb (no offense). People without beta access buy it because it gives them a key, and the 10$ credit is very nice extra incentive.

I know how it scales, and I said it's a good or even a great deal. But some people simply can't afford, or don't want to pay 10$.
I can, and I probably would have if I didn't already have free beta access, but I just think a 5$ purchase would be a nice option for people who are desperate to get into the beta.

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Britannicus wrote:

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Tagek wrote:

Although it's not how it's advertised, the 10 dollar credit is the bonus, not the beta key. It's a good deal, but it's selling a beta key none the less.

No, the beta key is the bonus. Sorry, this isn't reader-response. You can't just declare that the beta key is what people are buying and make it so. Additionally, if you look at how the pre-purchases scale, the points scale exactly with the dollar value, and everything else is extra to go with the bundle.

Exactly. The beta keys have no value, so they are bundled with the microtransaction points as a thank you from the developers for contributing ahead of schedule.

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Tagek wrote:

Well I'm sorry, but thinking that anyone without a beta key would spend 10$ on a game they don't have access too is just dumb (no offense). People without beta access buy it because it gives them a key, and the 10$ credit is very nice extra incentive.

I know how it scales, and I said it's a good or even a great deal. But some people simply can't afford, or don't want to pay 10$.
I can, and I probably would have if I didn't already have free beta access, but I just think a 5$ purchase would be a nice option for people who are desperate to get into the beta.

...but if you were that desperate that you felt entitled access to the beta, you'd find $10. It's not some government-level unobtainable amount of money, it's $10. 1/6 of the price of a standard retail game.

That desperate to ask for a 5$ option?

Sure, everyone has that amount of money.
The question is, do you want to spend it?
If you see a 5$ bag of candy you want do you instantly buy it, because you can? No, you don't, because you don't always want to spend 5$ on a bag of candy when you don't have to.

A 5$ pricepoint would bring in a lot more sales from people who feel like they can't, or don't want to spend 10$.

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Tagek wrote:

That desperate to ask for a 5$ option?

Sure, everyone has that amount of money.
The question is, do you want to spend it?
If you see a 5$ bag of candy you want do you instantly buy it, because you can? No, you don't, because you don't always want to spend 5$ on a bag of candy when you don't have to.

Although that's an incredibly odd way of comparing the situation, I'll bite.

That's candy. A bag of candy that probably took about 5 minutes to make entirely and package, and was probably shipped in bulk to save on costs.

This is a game. It has taken years of development, planning, research, thousands of dollars in investment and potential losses, etc.

The two could not possibly be any different, and although I understand on a very basic principle what you're trying to present, the two are different entirely in terms of economical impact. One is physical, one is digital, they're both entirely different products.

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Tagek wrote:

A 5$ pricepoint would bring in a lot more sales from people who feel like they can't, or don't want to spend 10$.

What you're forgetting is that the $5 pricepoint would be useless. The beta key isn't what they're selling, they're selling points (which you can then redeem when the game reaches a completed status), and giving you a beta key as a reward for contributing. People have assumed that they are selling beta keys because they are giving them as bonuses for a purchase.

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Tagek wrote:

That desperate to ask for a 5$ option?

Sure, everyone has that amount of money.
The question is, do you want to spend it?
If you see a 5$ bag of candy you want do you instantly buy it, because you can? No, you don't, because you don't always want to spend 5$ on a bag of candy when you don't have to.

Of course.. why pay $5 for a bag of candy when you can run up to the cashier and wack that bag of candy on the corner of the counter, there by ripping the bag and causing half the candy to fall all over the floor.. then you can just tell the cashier you'll just play $2.50 for the bag of candy.

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Tagek wrote:

A 5$ pricepoint would bring in a lot more sales from people who feel like they can't, or don't want to spend 10$.

not necessarily. I bet most people that paid the $10 would've probably only bought the $5 option had it been available. There by loosing the company a bunch of money. And I really doubt that having a $5 option would bring in enough people to offset that.