Shop Store pricing

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Mark_GGG wrote:

A thought: if it was $5 for 40 points, and buying it 5 times gave you a bonus 30 points, like one of those loyalty card things they get in cafes, would that be a better 'feeling' way of having (mostly) the same prices? Since it gives you the 'nicer' numbers, and is giving you something extra where currently people seem to interpret those 6 points as taking something away?

No, because now you are taking away 10 points rather than 4!

You guys have to look at issue from the other side of the fence. That is, don't balance around final cost, balance around base points received.

This is how I think your packages should be setup:

Tier 1 Pack - 50 points - $5*
Tier 2 Pack - 100 points - $10*
Tier 3 Pack - 200 points [+ W bonus] - $20*
Tier 4 Pack - 500 points + X bonus - $50*
Tier 5 Pack - 1000 points + Y bonus - $100*
Tier 6 Pack - 2500 points + Z bonus - $250*
* All transactions incur a [P % / $Q Fixed] payment processing fee.

This way, the reason for buying higher tier packages is to get the most points per dollar spent (before fees). The value of those points remains the exact same though, as you are getting "free points" with higher packages. In the end, you are getting more for your money, but the points you are getting aren't actually worth more or less based on the package a person chooses.

This difference is subtle, but important, compared to what you currently have in places. That is, $1 should be worth 10 points of currency, not $1 worth of gross cost is worth 10 points of currency. If you are trying to accumulate points through more transactions, you should have a larger portion of fees as a result. This is (should be) counterbalanced by simply buying a larger package that grants bonus points, since you have fewer transactions.

Either make some cheap effects we can spend those odd pts on, Like someone said earlier- a 16pt pet dye or something

or

Charge us the accordingly for 50 & 100 pt packages and price the items in a way to entice buying larger pt packs


i think most of the complaints have GGGs best interest in mind. Its not really about us trying to "save" money.

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JoannaDark wrote:

GGG incurs Fees is all.

Of course they do. Thats part of business. All companies that use payment processors have the pay the fee. SoE, MS, Ncsoft, Nexon they all have to pay processing fees on transactions.

I mean look at newegg. They pay processing fees, but does the price change? No.

However GGG is taking the most unprofessional method by forcing you the consumer to pay that cost directly for them.

They don't really understand the general concept of what a free to play game means. A hardcore group cannot afford to keep a game alive without subscriptions. Its not physically possible. Thats why free to play games have a cash shop and cater to casuals.

Causals are far more likely to spend money on a game they hardly ever play as long as it was an enjoyable experience. They are also far more likely to spend money on cheap things. "Omg I can get sweet effects and a pet for 5 bucks? oh ya!"

However the hardcore fans here don't understand, and GGG is just continuing to try and play the fool.

This points business is garbage. Why not be honest about it and put real price tags on microtransactions, and have a cart system so we can buy multiple things, maybe get a bulk or promotional discount, and pay exactly what the items are worth?

Right now, if I just want my sword to glow Lavender, I'd have to pay $5 , and I can't do anything with the remaining 21 points. Wouldn't it be less of an obstacle if it was only $2.75 ? Why call them "micro" if you have to buy them in bulk because of a point system?

As for fees: just put a minimum transaction amount, to prevent people from just buying $1 worth of stuff and causing more fees than revenue. It's all about being honest. I didn't expect such scummy tactics from GGG, so seeing an option to buy 96 points really orbited my right eyebrow.

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Metsuro wrote:

Of course they do. Thats part of business. All companies that use payment processors have the pay the fee. SoE, MS, Ncsoft, Nexon they all have to pay processing fees on transactions.

I mean look at newegg. They pay processing fees, but does the price change? No.

However GGG is taking the most unprofessional method by forcing you the consumer to pay that cost directly for them.

They don't really understand the general concept of what a free to play game means. A hardcore group cannot afford to keep a game alive without subscriptions. Its not physically possible. Thats why free to play games have a cash shop and cater to casuals.

Causals are far more likely to spend money on a game they hardly ever play as long as it was an enjoyable experience. They are also far more likely to spend money on cheap things. "Omg I can get sweet effects and a pet for 5 bucks? oh ya!"

However the hardcore fans here don't understand, and GGG is just continuing to try and play the fool.

Actually, these fees would be added to the item or service for sale prior to pricing it and putting it up, which is where I think GGG went wrong with removing part of the item you get instead of increasing the prices to meet the overhead costs. You see this in everything btw. Overhead costs ARE factored into pricing, companies don't just eat these costs...if they did they'd never make any money. Manufactures wouldn't make money on product, distributers wouldn't make money on shipping, and stores wouldn't make money without up-pricing the product so that they can keep their lights on.

Also, I wouldn't consider EVE online for casual players by nature either...and it does just fine...to the point that they totally redo all of their hardware in their datacenters every 6 months.

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Mark_GGG wrote:

A thought: if it was $5 for 40 points, and buying it 5 times gave you a bonus 30 points, like one of those loyalty card things they get in cafes, would that be a better 'feeling' way of having (mostly) the same prices? Since it gives you the 'nicer' numbers, and is giving you something extra where currently people seem to interpret those 6 points as taking something away?

The point is not to have useless leftover points from your purchase. Ideally you could offer direct payment for items.

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sdkaylor wrote:

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JoannaDark wrote:

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sdkaylor wrote:

I'll copy paste something I said to another guy who was bad at point-counter-point.


If you went to a pizza shop, what would happen if they offered pizzas for prices of 4.60, 9.60, and 20.00.. But they didn't accept change, or give change? Only whole dollar amounts?

"I'd like a 9.60 please"

"That'll be 10 dollars"

"What about my 40 cents?"

"Well, you can have 40 cents store credit that cannot be redeemed anywhere else, and we don't sell anything for less than a dollar. So...."

Id keep my money and call Pizza Hut, 5 buck 5 buck 5 buck.

I lol'd.

But seriously, this pizza joint that sells pizzas for 4.60, 9.60, and 20.00 , makes pizza for the people. Tired of supporting the Dominoes, and the Pizza Huts, and the Papa John's. The Ma and Pa shop usually gets it right, and in this case, they got everything else right.

Only difference is Pizza Hut has the 25 cent Gumball machine for your change.


Alternate solution: Add something to that shop that costs 6 points. Add a fuckin.. Trail of mist/fire/water/dust that follows behind your character. Boot item enhancement or something.

We had something similar to these in Knight Online.. They were called Cospre Item's

Basically cheap items within a microtransaction store 6-12 points.. That granted you a consumable item which had a "short" duration.

You could do the "wake" type boot effect's. Place them in a consumable item stack of 5, which sells for 6 points each, and lasts 1 hour persisting through death.

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Mark_GGG wrote:

A thought: if it was $5 for 40 points, and buying it 5 times gave you a bonus 30 points, like one of those loyalty card things they get in cafes, would that be a better 'feeling' way of having (mostly) the same prices? Since it gives you the 'nicer' numbers, and is giving you something extra where currently people seem to interpret those 6 points as taking something away?

it would, but then it would also go against the entire justification people seem to have understood that the lower values are because of charges from credit card companies.

a flat 10:$1 ratio (as outlined for supporter packs during CB) seemed nice and even.

I had planned on giving $10 once the game came out, then saw the pricing and had to change my mind to $20...but (and this will sound mean and ungrateful) I've been waiting to see if the game is worth it to me. I want to support a good product, but I cannot tell if this is one yet because RPG games are all about the end game.

$10 is $10...pfft nothing. for $20, I have to get the wife on board...

I have 6 points sitting in my account unused after purchasing 2 cosmetic weapon effect. It is likely that I will purchase something again and have a remaining balance. Most micro transactions work this way due to fees and to encourage their users to buy more points to use the remainders. While I agree that it is a question of ethics I think we should have the ability to round up and or use the remaining credits. I paid for them I should be able to use them.

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Mark_GGG wrote:

A thought: if it was $5 for 40 points, and buying it 5 times gave you a bonus 30 points, like one of those loyalty card things they get in cafes, would that be a better 'feeling' way of having (mostly) the same prices? Since it gives you the 'nicer' numbers, and is giving you something extra where currently people seem to interpret those 6 points as taking something away?

It has more to do with them understanding and knowing that the coin system is setup to exploit the human psyche. It's a common business tactic to leave leftovers in the hopes the person will have a uncontrollable urge to purchase more "points" in the hopes of depleting them in a way that either rounds their account to an even number, or zeroes their account completely.

It's a cheap business tactic and it abuses the human psyche. Yes, you should change it to not exploit the human psyche in such a disgusting way.