Paragon Market prices
By
Alexander_Drako,
Posted on: 2011-09-14 10:27 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Quote:
LOL, okay that's funny. Totally ignorant but still funny. |
Originally Posted by PeerlessGirl
The real problem with a lot of things is this entire generation of WEBs we've got growing up since about 1980 and up (and some from earlier who've decided to 'backslide').
WEB=Whiney Entitlement Baby. |
Gang, I hate to tell you but people are going to believe what they what they want to believe regardless of anything that's said on these forums. Trolling, picking fights, and trying to discredit folks with a different opinion because you've no other way to say "I disagree" other than shouting them down and out of the thread/forum won't work.
I've said before in this thread I think some of the prices are reasonable and others are horrendously overpriced and guilty of price gouging (like costume slots #6 - #10 for $10 each). I've worked in procurement for over 10 years; I know how markets work, where the best deals are and when a vendor is trying to price gouge (and negotiations are needed to bring down overinflated pricing). Piss on my credentials all you like but I've got a lot more understanding of the reasoning behind NCsoft's business model than you might ever have. I'm still a consumer though and outside of work, I always push for a happy middle ground between supporting good business practices and splurging for pleasure.
The Paragon Market's prices are *somewhat* overinflated and guilty of price-gouging on certain items. If you want to pay more than what some items are worth, be my guest. As a steady subscriber, booster pack investor, 84-month VIP player, etc. I know what my dollars have done for this game over the years and what more they could do. I have a magic number I can easily afford and I'm willing to spend in the Paragon Market but I won't just throw my money away blindly on NCsoft's uneven pricing just because *I WANT IT NOW.*
I'm sorry you guys can't handle a more civil conversation without shouting people down to make your opinions seem factual. No amount of shouting though is going to convince folks to "buy now" or that the Paragon Market's prices are more than fair. If anything, the more sensible folks will ignore everything you have to shout and either wait for a sale or the inevitable moment when NCsoft comes to it senses and says "We're lowing prices across the board!" which *will* happen eventually. Its just a matter of time and yes, for that glorious day, I and others definitely can wait. Until then...
Ta.
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Yeah, but you're going to try to persuade us anyway, aren't you?|
Originally Posted by Rubberlad
Gang, I hate to tell you but people are going to believe what they what they want to believe regardless of anything that's said on these forums.
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Quote:
| I've said before in this thread I think some of the prices are reasonable and others are horrendously overpriced and guilty of price gouging (like costume slots #6 - #10 for $10 each). |
The Enhancement increases are a wee bit steep, but now I have 30 places to put IOs when doing a respec. So ... was barely worth it.
The other storage increase options, like recipes, salvage, auctionhouse increases and vault size increases, are a total ripoff. Like, at least double what they should be. I'd say triple. 10 bucks (800 pp) for +5 recipes? Even tho its on all characters, its still nuts. Now if it were 250 for +5, then I'd be up for it.
Lewis
Random AT Generation!
"I remember... the Alamo." -- Pee-wee Herman
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Yeah, the Enhances are a tad on the steep side, but the Recipie/Vault/Salvage increases are by far actually the worst offenders though, if you look at their cost versus how many are available, and what you really "get" for that cost. The Vault is probably the most reasonably priced *of the three* (made a little sweeter if you happen to have /vault, because it makes them more useful) but they're still far from reasonable. That may be exacerbated in my own personal view because my main has completed all the crafting badges and has more Salvage and Recipie slots already, thus making those look more unappealing than they might otherwise, and just got more when I hit tier 9. Definately need to be dropped, or wait for a good 25-50% off sale.
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Originally Posted by UnicyclePeon
The Enhancement increases are a wee bit steep, but now I have 30 places to put IOs when doing a respec. So ... was barely worth it.
The other storage increase options, like recipes, salvage, auctionhouse increases and vault size increases, are a total ripoff. Like, at least double what they should be. I'd say triple. 10 bucks (800 pp) for +5 recipes? Even tho its on all characters, its still nuts. Now if it were 250 for +5, then I'd be up for it. Lewis |
"Superman died fighting Doomsday because he allowed his toggles to drop, and didn't beat Doomsday before Unstoppable wore off, sad really..."
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I saw three benefits to the Enhancement expansions: the first was the added space for respecs, the second was more room while crafting, and the third was more enhancement drops during low levels when I might use them.|
Originally Posted by UnicyclePeon
The Enhancement increases are a wee bit steep, but now I have 30 places to put IOs when doing a respec. So ... was barely worth it.
The other storage increase options, like recipes, salvage, auctionhouse increases and vault size increases, are a total ripoff. Like, at least double what they should be. I'd say triple. 10 bucks (800 pp) for +5 recipes? Even tho its on all characters, its still nuts. Now if it were 250 for +5, then I'd be up for it. Lewis |
Now, I'm just waiting for them to sell a version of the portable workbench.
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That's fine. We're not doubting your credentials or saying you have to buy anything. Some people are fine with paying the current prices, some like me have a very low impulse buy price so unless they drop enhancement slots to $2 I'm unlikely to buy them. (My impulse buy price dropped this year after I realised the amount of money I spent on games I was hardly playing.)|
Originally Posted by Rubberlad
I have a magic number I can easily afford and I'm willing to spend in the Paragon Market but I won't just throw my money away blindly on NCsoft's uneven pricing just because *I WANT IT NOW.*
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Nobody would argue with you if you just said that you don't want to pay the current prices and will wait until they drop or go on sale. I doubt many would argue with you that prices will go down eventually on some items (I said it long before this thread). The only argument is with your attempts to "fix" the system, and your unconvincing arguments for them. Arguments like your previous investment or "the game is making money so they can afford to give more" are very weak reasons for actually giving more.
In the meantime, player reaction to today's "Talk Like a Pirate Day" sale of the Ghost Pirate costume for 600 points has been, shall we say, disappointed.
Yeah not gonna happen for that price. In addition the newly added items for this week are well, kinda weak. Looks like i'll not run out of PPs before street justice shows up.
I still dont get why some of the boosters got a raised price*shrugs* as it stands Science Pack is at least is outrageous...
Former Pack: $9.99
Current:
Costume Pieces 400 points $5.00
Super Tailor 800 points $10.00
Experiment Emote 40 points $.50
Calculate Emote 40 points $.50
Drink Formula CC 80 points $1.00
Super Serum CC 80 points $1.00
Grand Total: 1440 points $18.00
Just for science I'll check the Martial Arts one and do the same with the above.
Current:
Costume Pieces 400 points $5.00
Ninja Run 500 points $6.25
bring it Emote 40 points $.50
Push ups Emote 40 points $.50
Smoke Bomb CC 80 points $1.00
Ninja Leap CC 80 points $1.00
Grand total 1,140 points $14.25
I dont want stuff for free. I dont mind paying for powersets if that means it will keep them coming on a regular basis. I didnt mind the, honestly, a bit overpriced character slots(I even bought them, cause I could make good use of them as an RPer)... But when I see that things that dont need an extra effort from the dev's part(cause they are already there, some with small bugs and clipping issues that NEVER got solved) and just gets a bump of price of 50% or more... I dont feel that is ethic. It's simply taking advantage of new or returning players...
Just my two cents.
My thoughts on pricing can be pretty much summed up in one word: Disappointed.
I get the feeling that they really didn't do a lot of research into other micro-transaction models available. Not just other MMOs, but the three major console players and Facebook games. All of these have the model down: Make items appealing but cheap so people buy it, and then make it so that if they want more, they have to buy more, and they will because it's cheap.
In other words, the whole point of micro-transactions is recurring revenue. I can't see where the Paragon Market will enhance recurring revenue with the current price points and the insistence of making each purchase "global".
As Snow Globe rightfully pointed out regarding costume slots, to someone who wants to outfit dozens (or even hundreds) of characters with a new slot, the price is a steal versus someone who only wants a few. However, that will do little to boost PlayNC's bottom line on this game because either side is paying the same amount once. If they were charging 80 points per slot, per character - a price that looks ultra-cheap - people will still shell out the cash, and many of them will not even stop to consider just how much they've spent overall outfitting their characters over time.
Right now, it's very zero-sum. I'd like a few more costume slots on only 3 or 4 characters so, to me, the price is NOT a value. So I don't buy anything at all, which means Paragon/PlayNC sees no new revenue from me at all. If I decide to wait until I have enough points from my stipend, they still aren't seeing any new revenue from me.
To be certain, there are many QoL items I would purchase, and repeatedly, but not at their current prices. The system is still in its infancy and I hope Paragon goes back and reevaluates the prices and setup versus other micro-transactional models. Again, if anyone at PS is reading this: It's about impulse buys; It's the equivalent of the grocery store having the candy sitting at the register isle because they know you're going to be waiting in line so they hope you decide to buy 3 Kit-Kat bars at $0.89 each, not realizing you could buy a 6 pack of the same net weight for $2.50 elsewhere in that very store.
Partial Character List:
LENINA 198-DELTA - 50+3 DP/Kin Corruptor (Main) / Captiosus - 50+3 Energy/Energy Blaster
Highlands.Hellraiser - 50+1 DS/Fire Tanker / SpazRat - 50 Claw/SR Stalker
Col. Gregor Aktaybr - 45 Robots/Time MM
I've been an on and off player for 7 years. Most of that time I've kept my subscription running. This year I've played very little except to keep our bases paid up. So jumped in over the weekend to see how the whole "pay to play" thing works. Figured since I'm a VIP it shouldn't be so different.
Hmmm...
Well, the store is pretty insane on prices. I'm not loving I have to pay for new powers now. Though, granted, I only had to buy Beams to be up to date.
The other stuff, wow. I'd say they they aren't nickle and diming us to death, more like dollar and fivering us to death! The 400 points a month we get certainly doesn't go far.
I made a decision when starting to play again that I would only use my 400 points and the surplus 1700 I got. If I avoid costumes (though I love them) I can probably do it. Though stuff like more enh slots are handy.
I kind of miss the old days. I'll try to keep an open mind but now that everything is for sale, and I mean EVERYTHING, some of the stuff I worked hard to earn just doesn't feel special any longer. This is the first micro transaction game I've tried and not sure I like it.
I hate to say it, but this is the first time I'm considering finally pulling the plug. I've got a stack of 50's, and 2 really upgraded super bases. Hate to see those all go. When this goes live to the unwashed masses, we'll see how it feels then.
Still, in the immortal words of Judge Judy: please don't piss on my leg and tell me its raining. Ill pay what is fair and competitive market value but don't try to price gouge me on a seven year old game engine sporting a fresh new coat of paint and the same old fixtures polished up to look new. I'll pay you what it's worth at 7 years old - on top of what I've already paid into it - but I wont pay you what it's pretending to be worth "new."
As for Tabula Rasa, that one's easy. They shut it down because it massively sucked; and Richard Garriot is more full of himself than most entitlists on the planet, lest I bring up what he tried to do to NCSoft afterward. Nothing he's made since Ultima and possibly UO have really had any relevance to society at all, but he still thinks he deserves everyone's respect and adulation.
The real problem with a lot of things is this entire generation of WEBs we've got growing up since about 1980 and up (and some from earlier who've decided to 'backslide').
WEB=Whiney Entitlement Baby.
"Superman died fighting Doomsday because he allowed his toggles to drop, and didn't beat Doomsday before Unstoppable wore off, sad really..."