Extended Freebie Friday feedback

I just have to say, guys, that extending Freebie Friday over the weekend was pure genius!

Seriously, I hope that you see a rate of participation that is significantly higher enough to justify making this change permanent. It was really, really nice not thinking at work on Friday, "Crap, I forgot to log in last night!" I actually claimed my princess hat this morning (Sunday), and I have to say, I look mighty pretty in it.

If the goal is to get more people (especially so-called "casual players") active in the store, this was the best way to do it. Before, practically speaking, most players had a very small window on a weeknight when, frankly, most people are busy and have a lot of real-life stuff going on. Now, they can hit the store at their leisure when most people will be playing more anyway.

In short: VERY high approval rating on this one!

Gotta agree entirely with this.

Meh to this weeks freebie hehe... I have no female toons so this is not something I will ever use

So far this is the only freebie I have found absolutely no use for...who knows maybe next weeks freebie is a male hat of some kind

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paladiamors I love you, I Burnt the Toast!

It lasts long enough that it can't be easily forgotten, and although I have no use (at least, currently) for a princess hat, it's far more exciting than an inspiration or a rez.

A free new costume piece every week is probably not realistic, but even just knowing that the freebie might be such an item will make future Freebie Fridays an "ooh, wonder what we'll get this week" for me, rather than "eh, might as well claim the freebie".

captain-electric
stamp of approval

Wait, princess hat? I was abroad and had no time for City of Heroes. What did I miss? Was it exclusive? New? Can I get it after the fact for real money?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

Ah, I see. Thank you. I checked and it's still free. Says it will be for another 10 hours or so. I still hope it's purchaseable for actual money after the free grace period expires, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

/sign.
Over a whole weekend meant I could leave messages in SG MOTD's and tell friends and random Pugs about it.

I dont get why Freebie friday starts on thursday and ends friday afternoon. Why not have it start friday morning and run to saturday morning?

I'm going against the grain on this. Limited time offers like this aren't a new business strategy. They aren't a Paragon Studios thing. They're an industry staple. I don't think you can change this reality with a forum thread. These events generate interest and reward participation. It's a strategy that works. Events like this get people to log in and talk about the Market to their friends, something that may be less likely to happen when something is just always going to be there and can be taken for granted. I even suspect the player base at large and MMO players in general appreciate the diversity that emerges out of sporadic freebies, exclusive offers and contests.

I think I saw you at the Player Summit. And yes, you'd look striking in the Princess hat.

When the piece is available for a very short time with no warning and no way to even know what the freebie is from the announcement, I would hope it returns in some way or another in the future.

I'm... not sure what grain Captain-Electric is going against, but I think limited time offers are great. Like I said, this Freebie has me actually excited for future Freebie Fridays, even if surprises like this are rare. I just hope that if I'm out of town for a weekend or whatever, I don't come back to "oh man, the freebie was awesome, too bad it is forever out of your reach".

Well, I'm not arguing against your sentiment, Sam, I'm arguing against the likelihood that your sentiment is worth its weight in profit by comparison to what we're getting now.

You don't like the way they're experimenting with the Market at the moment, and you hope they'll stop. But they have to weigh that dissatisfaction against even harder data, like, "Did we make a profit?" If they make a profit, then people are buying it. In which case your ire might be better directed toward your fellow player-consumers.

If you don't like the style of marketing used by Paragon Studios, definitely let them know. But definitely get other people who don't like it to let them know, too, because (and this isn't meant as a dig) the same faces who complain about every issue's features aren't ever going to have as much impact as the player base at large.

And I don't recommend throwing the "I can never have it ever?" line around, because Paragon Studios never says never anymore, and they have reiterated this with every limited time deal (such as tier 9 sets and holiday-themed costume powers) in recent history. You know why.

This isn't EA style marketing. I can tell you horror stories.

I'm throwing "never" around as a hypothetical situation, just to describe the kind of thing I don't want to see. I don't know how much money Paragon Studios marketing think they're making, but JUST getting people to acknowledge the Paragon Market exists is not enough to turn a profit. These people need to go there and specifically see something they want to have.

I'll give you an example - the Steam Store. There was a time when I'd order Steam to start straight in my Games Library since I thought to use it just to launch my games. But then I spotted something in the Market, I think it was L4D2, at a 75% discount and thought... "Wow, I didn't really care much for this game, but for that amount of money, sure. Why not?" I bought it, I loved it, and then a while later I went back to look for more discounts. This time I snagged Portal dirt cheap. Possibly even for free, there was a giveaway at one point. Then after a while I caught myself logging into Steam, going to the Store, browsing the "Specials" and promptly logging back out without even playing a game. Eventually, I apologised to Steam and asked it to start logging me into the store first anyway.

My point with this? I wouldn't go to a store and shop if all I wanted was a specific item, especially if I'm forced to log in and claim it at a time when I don't feel inclined to shop. I'd go shopping if I log into the store and see something that's either so awesome I gotta' have it or something at such a discount I might as well get it, and the Paragon Store "Featured" section is a FAILURE on both counts. The featured stuff is crap most of the time and the only discounts I ever seem to see are for consumables like enhancement recipes.

Generally speaking, I fail to see how getting me to go to the store and get an item for free is earning Paragon Studios any money, when the store I have to visit has crap in it that has pretty much zero chance of getting me to make an impulse purchase. That's twice as unlikely when I have to log into the store in a hurry for fear of missing the exclusive giveaway where I REALLY don't want to shop, but I gotta' so better hurry. This doesn't put me in the mood to buy, it puts me in the mood to cash in and run.

I don't need free bait to go to the Market. What I need is discounts on expensive items. And I don't mean week-long discounts. Swap them around every day. If every day was a new discount, you bet I'd be going there all the time just to see if what I want isn't at a discount. Crap of the Hunter at a discount? Pass. Maybe tomorrow. Enhancement inventory increase at a discount? Hmm... Yeah, I'll buy that. What's next? Experience boosters at a discount? No thanks, I have plenty. What's next? Character slots at a discount? Yeah, I can always use some.

Trying to get people to just open the Market and see it exists with about the same subtlety as my mother insisting that no, really, I'll like olives if I would just try them is not something I foresee working. There needs to be stuff in there that I want to BUY, which going there for the freeby would show me, and there just simply isn't. Their discounts, as far as I've seen, have not been exciting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.