leprechaun, y u so expensive?
By
Acroyear2,
Posted on: 2012-03-13 12:10 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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I think this boat sailed some time ago with the other vanity pets.
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Originally Posted by LordAethar
It'll only encourage them to further overprice things, which could work negatively towards the overall game if the prices drive people away.
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The development team and this community deserved better than this from NC Soft. Best wishes on your search.
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People paid for the other vanity pets? And can I ask, as a returnee, why there's a frisbee power mentioned in the launcher as well? What the hell is that about?? I'm enjoying the game, but I'm beginning to recall one of the main reasons I'd left in the first place, the plethora of overpriced crap which kept appearing in the store. |
Originally Posted by LordAethar
I think I see how they came up with the 800 point cost. They took the 500 points that people paid for the other recent novelty pets, and added 300 points because of it's 10% Influence bonus.
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Although given that in Ireland we use Leprechauns chiefly to make tourists pay over the odds for tat I suppose it is appropriate enough that Paragon Studios do the same (we also use them for slave labour in our underground Guinness mines).
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So somebody killed a leprechaun and that is what crashed the servers.|
Originally Posted by Thor's Assassin
Not as of 7am this morning no, it doesn't die. They made a change throughout the overnight it looks like.
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Once they buffed the leprechauns with Invul, the servers came back up.
Works as much as any other theory.
"How do you know you are on the side of good?" a Paragon citizen asked him. "How can we even know what is 'good'?"
"The Most High has spoken, even with His own blood," Melancton replied. "Surely we know."
Nice that it doesn't die after all then, but still not paying ten bucks for this.
I was planning on buying this because I have one of the 4 characters in the game that would look appropriate being followed by a leprechaun. I figured it would be overpriced, but some of the sting would be taken out by the bonus inf.
Turns out it's overpriced and then they tacked on more overpricedness to cover the inf bonus.
Someone needs to buy them a dictionary and a bookmark so they can always find the page with the prefix "micro-". Then they need to take that dictionary and repeatedly smack someone in the head with it.
If it added 10% to prices from selling to vendors and claiming inf from the market, then I might be interested. That would basically cancel out market fees, which would be significant when selling lots of purples and the like. But if it only works on inf gained from defeating enemies, and it can be killed by those enemies? That works out to pretty much 0 value. I would only get it if I really wanted a Leprechaun following me around, which sadly is not suitable for any of my characters. I'd much rather get the German Shepard, but I haven't because it's kind of pricey for me, for a non-combat pet.
Avatar: "Cheeky Jack O Lantern" by dimarie
I hope it is expensive. That last thing I want to see is a bunch of leprechauns on every ITF.
Sermon
@sermon
One of Six, Cannibal 6
I was looking forward to getting this...
But not at 800pp. Nope. I'll buy the windfalls or use my reward tokens. Influence is cheap in this game.
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I lol'd at the second paragraph.|
Originally Posted by Carnifax_NA
People paid for the other vanity pets? And can I ask, as a returnee, why there's a frisbee power mentioned in the launcher as well? What the hell is that about?? I'm enjoying the game, but I'm beginning to recall one of the main reasons I'd left in the first place, the plethora of overpriced crap which kept appearing in the store.
Although given that in Ireland we use Leprechauns chiefly to make tourists pay over the odds for tat I suppose it is appropriate enough that Paragon Studios do the same (we also use them for slave labour in our underground Guinness mines). |
Yes, people paid for the other vanity pets. Some were easily justified as "funding development." (For example, many people bought the German Shepard pet to fund further use of the four-legged rig.) And the "flying disc" (because "Frisbee" is actually a trademark, like "Kleenex") may be a testing ground for something a little more substantial down the line, using similar animations or tech. For the record though, I haven't bought the German Shepard nor the flying disc.
Personally, I have no use for any vanity pets, so I would not have purchased the leprechaun at any price. As much as I want to fund further development for the studio, I am only going to fund the things that I feel are worth funding (which is mostly power sets and costumes).
@Winter. Because I'm Winter. Period.
I am a blaster first, and an alt-oholic second.
I could spend 800pp on a super pack, sell 3-4 ato's in 2 minutes, create a new toon, and be rich 10 minutes later. someone wanna do the math on that verses the 10% inf boost?
Way to overpriced. I'm thinking the marketing peeps got hit with the new "possess power" or this might be an early Aprils fools day prank they are testing
NCSOFT may take away our servers and beloved dev team, but they can't break our spirit and community. with all your power, NCSOFT, your victory will be bitter-sweet. I, personally will be there to laugh at you when you face-plant into the ground.
Oh this is just hilarious.
So when this thing hit beta there was this omghuge knee jerk reaction of "YOU CAN'T DO THIS. PAY TO WIN. PAY TO WIN" and how the 10% inf gain was huge and would cause cascade failures in the wave form of the market or some such.
Now it's actually out and priced at a range to ensure it won't be snatched up by the thousands and people are kvetching that they can't get it.
Also, good show whoever started the rumor it dies. Nice touch of trolling there. It never died on the beta either, so this isn't any kind of change, it's always been like this.
Maybe they're in a revenue contest with another NCSoft F2P converted game to see which one has the better business model?
GDC excerpt from NCSoft publishing director Steve Levy
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ACK! I forgot i had my tinfoil hat on this morning. Sorry let me take it off.|
"I wish we'd developed all of these as F2P from the beginning," Levy said. "If we could go back and develop City of Heroes as F2P seven years ago, it would be a totally different game." It also would have avoided many of the costly challenges inherent in the game's recent business model conversion. "We're all learning, right, we're all testing how this works," he continued. And that's why NCsoft took a totally different approach with its next F2P conversion. Lineage II, unlike CoH, lacks VIP or subscription options of any kind and instead opts to sell convenience items and cosmetic gear to everyone. "In a year," Levy says, "we'll look and see which model performed better. We simply don't know yet because we haven't collected enough data." |
Hmm, now that it's off, that other poster who mentioned their pricing could be based on how they priced previous vanity pets and upped the anty a bit because of the leprechaun's function seems reasonable.
Maybe the take-away is if you want to support the game but don't want to support a $10 vanity pet...buy something else like a server slot maybe?
I am under no illusions about these types of things as some others here seem. These kinds of things are here to stay and for whatever price they decide. Guess what, despite the complaints here I am more than sure that they will sell a metric ton of these as they have the other OP items on the market.
One thing I learned while playing a no holds barred space game is people say one thing and do something completely opposite of what they say when it comes to buying these micro/marco transaction items....Surprise! LOL!
Paragon is apparently not listening to what people say here and are rather listening to the cha ching a ling of their cash register lighting up whenever they put these items on the market.
WINNING!
The development team and this community deserved better than this from NC Soft. Best wishes on your search.
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I really hope that is not their mentality. That's poor business logic if ever I heard it.|
Originally Posted by Pebblebrook
Maybe the take-away is if you want to support the game but don't want to support a $10 vanity pet...buy something else like a server slot maybe?
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I'm frugal with this game. I prefer to maintain my subscription and live off my stipend. However, the quickest way to get me to start forking over extra dough would be to put highly desirable items on 25% off (or more) week-long sales.
@Winter. Because I'm Winter. Period.
I am a blaster first, and an alt-oholic second.
I take back everything I said on the beta forums about how a 10% inf-boosting pet could potentially contribute to further inflation of the game's economy. This will affect the game's economy by exactly zero.
That being said, I don't think that sticking a head-pantsy pricepoint on it was exactly the best way to deal with the game balance concerns such a critter might have raised...
My postings to this forum are not to be used as data in any research study without my express written consent.
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The one main difference is the effect on the economy. If you make money on the market, you are essentially taking money out of the game economy (WW fees) and transferring a larger amount to yourself. It is moving money, not making money.|
Originally Posted by asgard_NA
I could spend 800pp on a super pack, sell 3-4 ato's in 2 minutes, create a new toon, and be rich 10 minutes later. someone wanna do the math on that verses the 10% inf boost?
Way to overpriced. I'm thinking the marketing peeps got hit with the new "possess power" or this might be an early Aprils fools day prank they are testing |
But the pet creates more money.
From a personal standpoint, it produces less value, but from a game inflation standpoint it causes more damage. So, they price it high to prevent the problems it could exacerbate, but in doing so, they price it out of the range of the personal value it provides to the players.
Basically, it's a stupid design choice given to even dumber marketers to try to flog.
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If you're going to blatantly mischaracterize the concerns that were raised, you might consider waiting until after those forums are purged and people can't see for themselves that you're doing nothing but posturing and shooting at straw men.|
Originally Posted by Agent White
Oh this is just hilarious.
So when this thing hit beta there was this omghuge knee jerk reaction of "YOU CAN'T DO THIS. PAY TO WIN. PAY TO WIN" and how the 10% inf gain was huge and would cause cascade failures in the wave form of the market or some such. |
Oh, wait. It's the internet. Carry on, then.
My postings to this forum are not to be used as data in any research study without my express written consent.
erg...
Yeah. Tad high there, guys.
(Of course, if you're running Force Field or Ice - better yet, on a team of them - you *can* keep them alive. Did that to a buff pet once - had a little ice man floating around behind us that a few people were buffing for laughs. Ended up with more HP than half the team, IIRC.)
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Considering how many ethnic groups this guy hates, this is oddly appropriate.
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Originally Posted by Chad Gulzow-Man
As I posted elsewhere...
 You know how it ends. |
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You are a few weeks early for April fools day.
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You might have been right this time, but I wouldn't trust Paragon Studios to ever refrain from cheating you when it comes to pricing on the market. We're talking about a company that sells the High Collar Cape individually for 40 more points than the pack that includes it. They've shown from the start that they are more than willing to take you for every dime you have. Assuming any good faith in the pricing system is a bad idea.
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Originally Posted by knightofrage
If someone has a character on virtue I'll be more than happy to prove it, sides I trusted the dev's enough that they wouldn't make a purchasable pet able to be killed especially given the price.
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"Mastermind Pets operate...differently, and aren't as easily fixed. Especially the Bruiser. I want to take him out behind the woodshed and pull an "old yeller" on him at times." - Castle
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The part you quoted wasn't really from a business logic stance...more like from a customer voting with their money but still support the game...stance.|
Originally Posted by Winterminal
I really hope that is not their mentality. That's poor business logic if ever I heard it.
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But i suppose from a business standpoint, pricing it really high then later release it at 25% off would still get you profit and some goodwill because it's a sale and probably hype up demand for it.
I probably wouldn't have bought it if it was free, to be completely honest. Leprechauns are creepy.
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That makes some sense for a normal item, like the doggie pet. But unless they're planning to put it on clearance next Tuesday with all the other shamrock fluff in retail stores I don't see it happening. It's only available for two weeks.
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Originally Posted by Pebblebrook
The part you quoted wasn't really from a business logic stance...more like from a customer voting with their money but still support the game...stance.
But i suppose from a business standpoint, pricing it really high then later release it at 25% off would still get you profit and some goodwill because it's a sale and probably hype up demand for it. |
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