Bundles Need Less Ambiguous Descriptions

Update: The store now declares the total number of pieces it includes, and a disclaimer about lack of auras, emotes and powers. This is an important step, and I'm glad this issue was given the attention it needed. I still hope to see the store fully leverage its potential and be more than just adequate - there is always room for improvement.

There the current store item descriptions are the same whether you open that item on its own page or look at it in the list. There is no reason to be able to click on an item to load its own page if that page has no additional information. The "detailed info" page should list the specific parts, while the summary has the number of parts. The disclaimer can be "Click the icon to the left for a list of the specific pieces" - which is much more encouraging than stating the pack doesn't contain something. The current disclaimer is necessary because the number of parts doesn't indicate what the parts are, but if that issue can be rectified then the bundles can be given a better sales pitch.

It's nice to see improvements within a week or so of their need becoming apparent. Thank you.

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Original post is below for record's sake:

Costume bundles should clearly name what pieces are included. Apparently none of the bundles include auras, which many players consider to be costume pieces, leading to confusion. Some bundles do not include back details. (I believe it was reported that the Steampunk costume bundle doesn't include the wings or backpack?) If the item description clearly listed what it included then there would be no (legitimate) confusion.

There are no official means of determining what a bundle includes, so it's a mystery purchase. That will diminish faith in the store and discourage future purchases; whereas being up-front about what a bundle includes protects the seller, informs the buyer, and prevents misinformation.

Edit 1: Examples of this issue!

In this thread the Origins bundle is being reported as broken. Is it? There's no way for us to tell because we have no idea what the Origins bundle is supposed to include. However, customer service now has to deal with something that may or may not actually be a bug.

Another thread is a question about what's actually in a pack. The original poster replied, post 14, that if someone had told him it didn't include a what it turns out it didn't include he wouldn't have bought it. Building upon that logic, it's possible for rumors to spread about what a pack does or does not contain, and there is no static official source to dispute what we claim about store items. Potential customers may be discouraged from buying something based on hearsay. Sure, you could reply with corrections on a case-by-case basis, but that takes up an employee's time and that information is lost as the thread gets pushed back a page.

Have someone spend the time today to create adequate store descriptions, or more time will be wasted (and sales may be lost) until you do.

Edit 2:

This person is unwilling to buy a bundle until they know what the bundle contains.

There are also reports of support requests being filed over confusion as to what the un-described bundles contain. This should not be taking up support's time!

On the subject of things that shouldn't be taking up support's time: people are filing support requests because they can't see what they spent their points on. By that I mean, there aren't any clearly-visible receipts or purchase logs. The account info only shows purchases of point bundles, but not the spending of points on store items. There needs to be some clearly-marked page for looking at this. I know from reading the forums that there's a /mypurchases command - which dumps a blob of text into the chat window. But a player who's never looked at the forums and is checking out City of Heroes for the first time needs to be able to use the store without special training. (If the /mypurchases thing is explained somewhere in the UI of the store, here's the problem: people filter out information that doesn't look like what they're looking for. If people are looking for a button or a link then they won't look at text even if it's relevant.)

When I have the time I'll make a more comprehensive list of store issue threads. What I've selected here are merely the most obvious and relevant to this thread. (Small note: It's been a few days since I mentioned this. I still intend to do it, but I want to make sure I can make some sort of constructive suggestion based on the issues I compile. And some of them, like the one prompting this thread, have been partially addressed.)

Agreed -- I filed that in feedback during beta for descriptions of everything, but bundles especially need it.

I do totally agree.

I bought the Origin Bundle tonight to notice after the purchase, that it has only the 5 capes included but not auras.

If i had known that only the Capes are part of the bundle, i would have only bought 2 Capes for 100PP each.


I feel ripped off, honesly.

I have to agree with the OP.

I've only bought the Barbarian Pack and the School Backpack so far.

I was expecting to be able to either right click on the item and it pull up a list of what the pack contained, or for it to have a description (like the Booster packs had a list of what they contained on the website), so you know exactly what you're getting for your money. At the moment it's like a mystery bag.

I posted about this as well. They just seem too lazy to really try to explain and SHOW via a true large image what you get.

I just do not understand what the problem is. Honestly there are numerous games that have stores. One of them is even a superhero game as well. Even they show you images of what you get in a pack.

It always seems like someone is trying to reinvent the wheel but not getting it right. Copy what your competitor is doing and just improve on that. If it makes sense and no one is complaining about their store then it must mean they have been doing something right at least in that department.

Its like buying a car and the salesman reply when asked what options come with the car is " It has Stuff ".

I blame supervision or the lack there of, because I just cannot see how this could come out of Beta looking like Alpha.

This needs a bump. I've updated the opening post. There are more questions (and doubts) coming up about what packs contain, as well as other issues that will impair trust in the store.

Let me reinvent the wheel but make one part of it flat. :rollseyes

Just look at your competitors store and mimic theirs. It makes sense. You can see a picture of what your buying and only shows you what you can buy based on your account.

One of the reasons I've held out on buying some things is because I don't know what I'm going to get.

In other words: I agree with the OP. We need better descriptions!

Agree with the OP. This needs to be fixed!

Wan to know the ironic thing? I purchased the Barbarian pack the other night and after the transaction completed, it listed out every item acquired in the pack. So, unless this is a system issue, it really should just be pushed up to the description, even if it means a slight recode to search the db for something tagged in the bundle.

This issue has been partially addressed, and I've updated my opening post to acknowledge this. If a mod has the time, feel free to give the thread a less imperative title like "Bundle Descriptions".