Commentary on Micro-transaction Pricing

I was reading the forum pages and was thinking the entire time....
"I can't wait for Charan to come in here and stomp them."


OP I do see your point with them being so expensive, although that is perfectly fine since there are already tons of cheap microtransactions available. Plus we are only 3 weeks into the existence of the Store.

the OP needs a business lesson. First of all the game is free lets start there. WHAT COMPANY DO YOU KNOW THAT DOESNT GIVE SOME TYPE OF BONUS OR DISCOUNT THE MORE YOU SPEND????? Think of it on large scale level yes that .30 cents seems insignificant to you but to these guys across thousands hopefully millions of players it adds up. This should be deleted because he is arguing against common sense.

Wow. Have you no shame? Whining like a spoiled baby! Waaa.

Just give this bro everything for free. The game, every item, and a chocolate milk.

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PussMunkee a écrit :

Just give this bro everything for free. The game, every item, and a chocolate milk.

Do you even realize how stupid you look?

Clearly not.

As if the first awful post wasn't enough, you then decided to not only edit it to add another line, but instead to make an entirely separate post directly below it that was of equal non-value.

Tone it down, both of you.

The argument that 'the game is free, stop complaining about the voluntary pricing!' is completely valid but expressing it in such a childish way is really inappropriate.

On the other hand, if there is a counter-argument that the pricing model might not be to GGG's advantage, I think we should be open to that too.

In other words, one of the big reasons why this is important is both sides have a point, and there is no clear right or wrong here.

"

My giving money to GGG is not about supporting them, but rather about what's in it for me (free game aside because that's already free). And GGG people, I sincerely hope you read this. Up to this point you have been riding on the upfront money of fans who positively love your work, but out here in the F2P world, the majority of gamers don't care if you have food on the table and the ability to go see doctor when you need it. If they don't like what they can get from their transactions, they won't put money into a game; they still get to play PoE either way.

This, unfortunately, is a good point. I think the real problem is going to be whether or not the original supporters of every level continue doing so, because as of now there are far fewer cheap items than many people would prefer. I'm a Diamond Supporter because I want to see this game succeed, by getting it through the early days, when it's possible that a large amount of the server architecture is going to be used on people who will not return after a period of a few weeks of months. I plan to continue supporting GGG as I can for the forseeable future, but if it weren't for my desire to support, I would not spend money in the shop, because the prices are so very high.

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Charan a écrit :

The argument that 'the game is free, stop complaining about the voluntary pricing!' is completely valid...

Actually it isn't. Far from it.

When you are paying for a microtransaction you aren't donating anything, people really need to get out of this mindset. Nothing about this pricing scheme is even remotely "voluntary".

A donation is a totally altruistic act of giving up something for nothing in return. When you are rewarded for a donation, it ceases being a donation and becomes a service.

Now, in this specific case, people tend to glance over that fact because "Huur its just pets!" That doesn't change the fact that they are still incentivizing you to purchase something, ergo it isn't a voluntary act of you giving your money, you are paying for a service. Now your motives for that service may vary, but they are usually a far cry from being voluntary.

We aren't criticizing people handing out money voluntarily, we are criticizing the pricing schema of an in game store. There is a huge difference there.

Now, back to the discussion. Yes, OP, I agree completely. The pricing is just dumb, and its why I have yet to buy anything. When I brought up the same issue I was told the "reason" for this was CC transaction fees, making smaller purchases more costly for GGG. But lets be honest, thats so obvious bull it isn't funny.

If the above is true, why is $20 arbitrarily set as the 1:1 price ratio of points to cash? They could have easily made the system so that it still rewarded higher spending, without forcing buyers to make larger purchases for items.

Example:

$5 = 50 points
$10 = 125
$20 = 250

^You still incentivize higher purchases, you still have a greater point/price ratio for larger transactions, but you also don't fuck over the customer if they only want to spend $5. Then why don't we see anything like this? Because they want to fuck over people wanting to spend less, in hopes that they spend more. Which is dumb, and why I personally haven't bought anything (being a medstudent I only really had $10 this month to spend on this game, but sadly it seems like they don't want my money. Too bad I guess....)

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Ooshkii a écrit :

(1) Why should I be docked because of the .30$-.45$ that credit cards make them pay?
(2) Why should I be penalized for only being able to put $5 into the game right now?
(3) Why can't $5 be $5? This is so confusing/irritating/agitating. (take your pick)

1. GGG is a business and they need to make money in order to provide the service you are now enjoying. To question GGG's motives is I feel a bit naive. Businesses regularly pass on the cost of doing business to their customers in order to remain profitable. GGG has looked at the CC fees and have decided that they can not be profitable if they absorb that cost.


2. You are not being penalized in any way. Your decision to do business with GGG is always your decision. The goods and services you receive for your money are stated up front and you need to decide if the transaction you enter into with GGG is fair and equitable. You have considered the money you have at hand and decided that you can spare $5. GGG has evaluated the quality of services and goods they can provide for the fee. To turn your own question back to you, why should GGG be penalized because you only have 5$ to spend?


3 I would assume that GGG has put some effort into these decisions, and again, it comes down to them making decisions based on their ability to provide a service at a good value, while managing to be profitable.

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Ooshkii a écrit :

So, to conclude this wall of text:
(1) I, as a gamer well versed in the F2P universe, feel that there are some fundamental flaws in PoE's microtransaction system.
(2) The depreciation of $5 and $10 transactions comes off as cheap, even given that there are reasons for it.
(3) The current exchange rates and item pricing seemingly cheat players out of their points.
(4) Just buying more points to fix issue 3 sets a dangerous precedent, and is a moot point anyways.
(5) Most gamers outside of the kickstarter group don't care that the GGG folks need to eat, so the classic rhetoric regarding the game's F2P status doesn't work.
(6) What I can get for my money in PoE seems to pale in comparison to most other games.
(7) Without looking at other games, it seems like I have to fork over a truckload of money just to equip one character with cool stuff.

1) ROFL what F2P have you played? Calling PoE's flawed have you even bothered to check cash shops on the majority of other F2P's??? All signs point to NO.

2 and 3) Welcome to the world bud. Go to any store and tell me what you see. Generally buy more get more for cheaper. Should I go to all the stores in the area and demand they give me the same price for 1 2-liter of pop because people who are smart buy the 3 2-liter deal and get them at almost half price? What madness they will go out of business with those practices how dare they!?

5) plenty of people who started in OB that have sunk money into the game you handful with this idea no ones does needs to get that out of your head. Sorry buy you come off as cheap.

6) Once again how many F2P's have you played? lol Most f2p yeah maybe you can get more out of the shop for your cash but they also sell xp scrolls, gear, hotbars ROFL, and other P2W items.

7) Have you even play PoE at all? Serious question?

After reading some of your super wall of text that crit my eyes for 5,000. I've come to believe you either new to pc gaming or pretty new and have yet to see anything that is out there. I'm guessing you have based all of you info and ideas off of a handful of games if that.

I've been around since the mid 90's gaming. I've tried just about every single F2P that hits the market (at leat if it hits mmohut etc I love to try them out because you do find gems).
Cash shop here is a dream compared to most.

But the simple fact is after "4 minutes" of thinking some of you will never be happy it's a fact. Some of you they could give everything to you for $5 and you would still find something to cry about. /FACT