The obvious micro transaction cash grab?

Its all because of that 500 point Infernal Basilisk isn't it?

Look here: for whatever reason the people at GGG did this pricing set up they obviously did it for a reason. They simultaneously want to make money off of micro-transactions today and in the long run. They probably studied lots of models and companies and liked this pricing scheme the most. This reminds me a lot of Riot Games in a way, and Riot Games is a very successful company (their champion skin pricing).

By making micro-transactions powerless in game they get to call the shots on all their pricing schemes while keeping with "ethical micro-transactions". Look it doesn't matter if bumper stickers are 50cents or 100$ a pop, the seller is still ethical in the sense that no advantage is being sold. It is up to the customer to determine if the subjective utility of this product is worth it. This isn't a champion in League of Legends (affecting real player choices)... this is a purely arbitrary cosmetic perk that subjectively enhances the visuals of the game.

As for the ethical portion. What GGG meant by ethical micro-transactions is the fact that these micro-transactions dont give you power in game. It doesn't matter how many stash tabs or character tabs you have, you aren't killing monsters faster and your character isn't doing more damage. It might give you an advantage in say storing up lots of good loot, but it doesn't make the loot any better, nor does it give your character extra stats.

GGG is being ethical, even if GGG charges a million bucks for a micro-transaction, as long as the micro-transaction doesn't confer an actual advantage then it is fine. It is YOUR choice whether or not to spend.

If GGG isn't making money off of the game, then they will alter their pricing schemes. Just because YOU can't afford to buy, doesn't mean they aren't making the money they want.If you are so disgruntled over this simple truth of the world, then you have the right to not play POE.

TLDR: There is no ethical or moral problem with the pricing scheme. If they aren't making money they will change.

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Baksteen wrote:

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HolyDragon wrote:

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Baksteen wrote:

It would be better maybe to put in a system where you put in an certain amount of money and it automaticly compensates that too coins. But it's day one of Open Beta, GGG is still finding what works best for all of us give them a little break and i'm sure they'll improve. Just hold with buying coins if you don't like it now, i can see why everybody wants some right now cause it's new but yeah you gotta hold for now if you don't like it.

dude, i like you. you are the only one giving out sane reply as the opposite side.

anyway, yeah, i believe i will hold back until there's a need to get as much as $20.
And of course i have faith in GGG.

don't worry about me, i still have 250 and my kiwi with me. that would be enough for now.

But it is a real pity if they lost the potential customers just because the $5 and $10 seems unfair.

It's just how people see it i think. No need to be mad at GGG or anything on the way they price at day one of Open Beta. It's their first game their finding their roots, if they feel the need to change it, they will if not, then they don't. It's still and always will be their decision to do so. But i can see your point in here even the OP's point even though he implied it in a kinda bad way.

It's hard to argue over something that has 2 sides to it :x

Well, im not mad at GGG, for starter. im a huge supporter.

But i heard those haters are the newly joined Open Beta Members.
well, i do hope they will reconsider. Judging by how this problem manage to raise a 50 pages post in such short time.

Holy flying crap monkeys...

This thread is still going, @ 50+ pages. Un bloody believable. GGG ftw.

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Baksteen wrote:

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Elynole wrote:

52 pages of rabble over 4 GGGCoins, amazing.

Clearly if you would've taken the time to read it's not about that.

I've read through enough of the comments to be well informed that most of them are audacious. It amuses me to see the community state that GGG is being unfair, or is cheating players out of money when the game is completely free. If you want something "cool" to show off then bite the bullet and pay for it.

GGG announced multiple times that supporter packs were going off sale come OB, and that what you got in the supporter packs may not be equivilant to what you'd pay for when it went to public consumer pricing. The supporter packs have been up for grabs since March 2012. Those that supported the game early to help with the development of finishing act 3 got to reap the benefits - those that didn't are now paying set consumer pricing. I'm not sure what's so hard to understand about this.

It does not hurt the individual one way or another if they buy or do not buy from the item shop, im sure there are a good amount of supporters and fans of the game that wouldn't stoop so low as to accuse GGG of such Hackett, going as far as saying some of the things that have been stated in this thread. These people will continue supporting the game.

Maybe everyone here should form a unity and start boycotting and fighting warehouse stores for consumer goods because it's obviously unfair if you buy in bulk and get a discount. Oh noes!

One other thing I'd like to point out is the fact some have made a point of saying that most of the people concerned about the $5 and $10 point distribution haven't contributed anything yet. (as in, been involved in CB supporter packs)

This is important because these are the people who aren't that invested yet, and the people that are potential supporters. They may have a different perspective than someone who has given 100s or even 1000s of dollars so far. It would be very unwise to dismiss this entire group of people, because they are desperately needed.

I'm not calling anyone out or anything, but I think it's easy to overlook that fact.

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Jaya5602 wrote:

Ill admit I dont know what Im talking about in advance, but, wouldnt it be better if they just put an actual dollar amount on items rather than have coins or whatever? No one would complain about how many coins you get for x amount of dollars and GGG still gets money. Unless theres some kind of transaction fee they have to pay that would make them lose money that way?

I'm guessing it has something to do with how their finances are setup. Like, maybe they couldn't offer small $1 transactions and could only earn money from as small as $5 transactions, because with the overhead/administrative/processing costs, they might not earn money from transactions as small as $1... so they're forced to do the point system that they do.

I still think they should offer their packages in round numbers though. No idea why they changed it from a round number to an awkward figure that ends in '6'

I agree with the OP. I see this used all the time in games, especially free to play and it greatly lowers my respect for the company. As the Micro transactions are for the most part cosmetic, and not pay to win I don't care what they set the price point at. I don't think it is reasonable to charge 50$ for a pet, but I feel they should be able to ask as much as they want.

BUT, when you cut off 4 points from what would other wise be an even purchase it really bothers me and I hope they decide to change it. That said though, this is my only complaint about their business model, and everything else seems fine.

Also, I should add. Just because a game is free to play does NOT mean they are allowed to get away with bad business practice. I hold Free to play, Buy to play, and Pay to play to the same standards when it comes to these issues.

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Elynole wrote:

52 pages of rabble over 4 GGGCoins, amazing.

Like what has been said to a lot of people:

No, it's not a matter of 4 GGGCoins. And: Read. The. Thread.

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heisenbergman wrote:

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Elynole wrote:

52 pages of rabble over 4 GGGCoins, amazing.

Like what has been said to a lot of people:

No, it's not a matter of 4 GGGCoins. And: Read. The. Thread.

Did. Not seeing the point. Community was fairly warned that packages were going to change, community decided to ignore such warnings and now are QQing about it.

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heisenbergman wrote:

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Elynole wrote:

52 pages of rabble over 4 GGGCoins, amazing.

Like what has been said to a lot of people:

No, it's not a matter of 4 GGGCoins. And: Read. The. Thread.

Did. Not seeing the point. Community was fairly warned that packages were going to change, community decided to ignore such warnings and now are QQing about it.