Even if they lower the prices to sane levels, how could this company be trusted not to jack it at leisure in some near future. They've pretty much destroyed the trust their community had in them, and I am not sure there is a lot of room for recovery from that.
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
I'm a huge fan of item shops. On Maple Story alone I spent $200 in one month on plastic surgery, clothing items and hair change items.
Item shops should just be that. Little trinkets that let the players make their characters unique. They should not offer items like bags, or mounts, or things that are pretty much mandatory to enjoy the game.
It really feels like Free to Play is going down a bad road....
They say adjustments can not happen overnight, but isn't that pretty much exactly how patches work? I mean, it went from no item shop to item shop overnight, what effort could it take to change prices? The Russian prices seem fair enough - $700 for the Uber gear, just like that, without the inconvenience of raiding and such.
The bag can be gotten out of a quest, not sure on the specifics, but I know the bag can be gotten in-game.
That's how all item shops should be - the game itself will take a while longer, but if you don't have much time, but plenty of spare cash, you can play with other people who do happen to have all that time and money.
Better yet, I like EVE's system of PLEX, trading between players and such, in forms of subscription payments. It's a nice system.
I am playing EVE and it's alright... level V skills are a bit much.
I think people relate F2P ONLY to the item malls,there is actually a much larger blemish on this design.
The problem is this design does NOTHING to control cheating/exploiting/RMT community,because players have absolutely NOTHING to fear.It costs players nothing to play,so what if they get banned,they can act like total asshats,again nothing to lose.if they get caught botting who cares?you going to ban them lol?
Once the RMT decide to take up residence look at games like Silkroad or Cabal or many other F2P,you can't even login because the bots have the servers over crowded and they also use cheats to bypass server crowding,so it gets worse and lags.
Just imagine that if these cheap F2P games were running good graphics,high poly count,with all the bots running around,they could really lag the servers terribly,it is only because the graphics are ALWAYS so cheap/low end that the games survive at all.If these exact same games ran something like Vanguard ,NOBODY would be able to play it.
What else is comical is that the majority of people that play these games have no intention of supporting the game and many CANNOT because they have no CC or way to support the game.Once again the few people that actually pay money to support these games,could NEVER maintain the server,it is only because of the extremely low bandwidth these games operate under.SO because this design has so many flaws in it's design,you will NEVER have a good looking complete game,not unless you are totally blind and think crap graphics look good.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
The Russian prices seem fair enough - $700 for the Uber gear, just like that, without the inconvenience of raiding and such.
$700.00 for an entry in a database that can be negated or wiped out entirely on a whim or glitch? My Grandparents would rise from the grave and beat me to death with the jawbone of an ass if I ever wasted money like that. Fair? I've worked 80 hour weeks like a slave while in mortal peril for less than that. If my kids spent money like that I'd have them institutionalized. $700.00 will buy you enough smack to put a smile of eternal bliss on the face of every junkie in a shooting gallery, permanently. That's just nucking futz. $70.00 would be ten times too much.
This guy needs his own show, seriously. Like Colbert or something. Haha. I agree, though. $700 isn't fair. That's ridiculous and anyone who pays that has a serious problem. Reminds me of my buddy who traded his car for 2 Magic the Gathering cards.
There ain't no disconnect, they know exactly what they're trying to pull.
Very true. There is no disconnect between gPotato and their customers (suckers). This company has a very long history of underhanded moves. How many of you know that all gPotato games install software that tracks your browsing habits? Look up “iesnare” for yourself. I found it a couple of years ago when I tried out one of their games. Bye Bye gPotato. I do not even want to guess how much money gPotato makes off of iesnare.
Then there is xTrap. Such programming should be a crime. I have no problems with the goal but shoot, even keyboard or mouse drivers can set it off. Unless of course you are using IE 7 or 8 on a 64bit OS in which case, it just won’t work at all.
Honestly, I think that the item shop is another slap in the face after all, most Americans did not notice that they had already been slapped by gPotato. As for the question someone asked about how dumb they think Americans are, I think iesnare’s background installation says volumes.
Its not like other companies dont do this. Jade Dynasty, another Free To Play game by Perfect World Entertainment costs plenty to participate in endgame content. And if you want to enchant your weapon or upgrade your pet, well.... heh.... youre paying thousands to do that. I personally stopped after spending $1500 in 3 months and walked. Others in my guild have spent close to $10,000 USD on that game.
I ... had ... no ... idea. o.O
It is worth that for me??? I wouldn't even spent as much on a real life hobby thing for three month!
Played: Pretty much any fantasy MMO, some did not even make it to release ... Favorites: UO, EQ2, Vanguard, Wurm Online, Salem, ESO, Creativerse Playing: ESO, Creativerse, Guild Wars 2 Anticipating: (sigh) ... maybe Ashes of Creation
Played Allods CB and currently playing OB. They have a great game here but Greed concerning their players...no thanks.
Most gamers arn't guallible fools and will not continue to pay insane prices just to play a game. The phrase "Great game but I cannot afford to compete" will be in the minds of many allods fans if they dont quickly get their prcing down from greedy to affordable.
20 euros for a backpack, no thanks make it 2 euros and if they get a million subscribers all buying 1 bag that will be 2 millon euros right there.
I for one am having a great time in the EU version of allods online. The cash shop is not yet active there as I think Gpotato are still considering the pricing for it...I guess thats why so many Russian players have jumped ship and are now playing on EU servers in the hope that Gpotato will not be as self centred and as greedy as the Russian Cash shop owners.
Preach on Preacher! This industry suffers more player to company disconnects than this in a plethora of other areas, for sure. On topic, it's actions like these that many who opposed Item shops were citing as a big worry about this so-called business model. Many stood around and said those folks were crazy but, lo and behold, it happened in an extremely overt manner (most companies just try to subtly ratchet up here and there) such that it is a major headliner.
I'm going to have to agree here. I would have thought that developers creating for the NA/EU market would have had more of an understanding of how F2P works due to the long and successful history it has had in the East, but it almost seems as if there really is some dude in a corner office with a big cigar shaking rolled up reports at his team....
Big Boss Dude: "Asia is all over this stuff! I'm seeing this corporation leaving money on the table and I don't like it one bit! Johnson, you read in the department heads on this. Williams, get me face time with one of those Eastern game CMOs. I want a cash shop in our game pronto! Rogers, what's your take on this?"
Marketing Guy that got stuck getting sent to the Scream and Ream session: *nervously* "Well, I can touch base with marketing and make sure they have the bandwidth for a viral campaign and some social networking strategies. We've got some low-hanging fruit we can capture with a bit of on-market brandstorming and site redesign to bring our web presence up to Web 2.0 standards."
Big Boss Dude: Get on it! I want to see $30 a month from every subscriber by the end of the month!
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
The problem here is not really the prices. The problem is how this has been handled. This will become very clear when the EU version posts their prices.
The problem here is the management for the US branch of Gala-Net. They just dont know what they are doing, and do not listen to those that do. Part of this has to do with the funding that they have accepted, and the strings attached. However, a large part has to do with their lack of understand of the service industry. They just dont know how to make this work, and despite having some very good staff (who does know) they are not listening. The EU branch doesnt have that problem... watch how they handle this.
The Russian prices seem fair enough - $700 for the Uber gear, just like that, without the inconvenience of raiding and such.
$700.00 for an entry in a database that can be negated or wiped out entirely on a whim or glitch? My Grandparents would rise from the grave and beat me to death with the jawbone of an ass if I ever wasted money like that. Fair? I've worked 80 hour weeks like a slave while in mortal peril for less than that. If my kids spent money like that I'd have them institutionalized. $700.00 will buy you enough smack to put a smile of eternal bliss on the face of every junkie in a shooting gallery, permanently. That's just nucking futz. $70.00 would be ten times too much.
This deserves a 'Best reply-of-the-week" award for sure.
The Russian prices seem fair enough - $700 for the Uber gear, just like that, without the inconvenience of raiding and such.
$700.00 for an entry in a database that can be negated or wiped out entirely on a whim or glitch? My Grandparents would rise from the grave and beat me to death with the jawbone of an ass if I ever wasted money like that. Fair? I've worked 80 hour weeks like a slave while in mortal peril for less than that. If my kids spent money like that I'd have them institutionalized. $700.00 will buy you enough smack to put a smile of eternal bliss on the face of every junkie in a shooting gallery, permanently. That's just nucking futz. $70.00 would be ten times too much.
This deserves a 'Best reply-of-the-week" award for sure.
Indeed, but that is the true nature of what you get from virtual items.
It's already amazing how they manage to charge more than 1/5 of a monthly fee for a virtual item, I don't even have adjectives on how to describe charging more than a monthly fee for a virtual item, and it's not even on my imagination charging $7000 for a virtual item. That's 466 months of MMO subscription considering a $15/mo (and we all know this value can drop as low as $10 depending on the MMO for long-term subscriptions)... 38 years of a MMO subscription. There's not even a MMO that old for us to know if a MMO can live THAT long, not to mention the player interest in the game and actually being alive and capable of playing :P
Flocking, no. Paying, yes. Theres always going to be one person whos pecker is small enough that theyll pay to "dominate" a game, no matter the cost. There's always another player who is trying to compete with the first player.... that person will pay too!
$700.00 for an entry in a database that can be negated or wiped out entirely on a whim or glitch? My Grandparents would rise from the grave and beat me to death with the jawbone of an ass if I ever wasted money like that. Fair? I've worked 80 hour weeks like a slave while in mortal peril for less than that. If my kids spent money like that I'd have them institutionalized. $700.00 will buy you enough smack to put a smile of eternal bliss on the face of every junkie in a shooting gallery, permanently. That's just nucking futz. $70.00 would be ten times too much.
My favoritest post so far this year.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
The Russian prices seem fair enough - $700 for the Uber gear, just like that, without the inconvenience of raiding and such.
$700.00 for an entry in a database that can be negated or wiped out entirely on a whim or glitch? My Grandparents would rise from the grave and beat me to death with the jawbone of an ass if I ever wasted money like that. Fair? I've worked 80 hour weeks like a slave while in mortal peril for less than that. If my kids spent money like that I'd have them institutionalized. $700.00 will buy you enough smack to put a smile of eternal bliss on the face of every junkie in a shooting gallery, permanently. That's just nucking futz. $70.00 would be ten times too much.
Amazing insights! May I subscribe to your newsletter?
If you think that $7,000 was nuts, you should have seen the space station in Entropia Universe that went for $330,000. That would have had all of your ancestors back to cave man times chasing you with that jaw bone. ^^
The Russian prices seem fair enough - $700 for the Uber gear, just like that, without the inconvenience of raiding and such.
$700.00 for an entry in a database that can be negated or wiped out entirely on a whim or glitch? My Grandparents would rise from the grave and beat me to death with the jawbone of an ass if I ever wasted money like that. Fair? I've worked 80 hour weeks like a slave while in mortal peril for less than that. If my kids spent money like that I'd have them institutionalized. $700.00 will buy you enough smack to put a smile of eternal bliss on the face of every junkie in a shooting gallery, permanently. That's just nucking futz. $70.00 would be ten times too much.
Brilliant. Ditto for me. And the best part is the American price of $7000, because as every Russian game publisher knows, Americans are all cash and no brains. Or is that Westerners in general? Unfortunately, as previously mentioned, some underperforming d-bag is going to buy it, thereby justifying the price in some tiny sense. People don't seem to realize you get NOTHING for your $7000. A few bits of data and the satisfaction of knowing you've bought yourself some wins in a video game against other people who, for all intents and purposes, are better people than you (unless they bought their own, in which case they actually suck worse than you if you can believe it).
To anyone who still considers playing this game in ANY capacity after this cash shop was revealed: You are part of the problem. You cannot scream that this company is unjust and wrong to charge so much, and then support their business practices by partaking in their product. It's no different than the message pre-CU vets sent to SOE, even if it doesn't last as long or sound as vitriolic - if a company wrongs you, you cease to do business with them unless they right the wrong. No game can possibly be worth that. These publishers, who are no different than radio or TV or recording company execs, need to be made to realize that life continues for everyone even if they dry up and blow away. Their jobs are at the whim of the consumer, and the consumer is a fickle lover. The right thing to have happen now is this Mail.ru to go completely out of business. Won't happen, but it should.
I basically quit Rappels because of the whole stamina thing. If you were not springing for a tent or stamina potions, the game crawled at a snail pace.
But seriously...have an item that costs as much as a used car is a bit much.
Virtual or materialized items, is there a difference? Aslong as the results remains equal, the only difference is your beliefs. Everything is equal but not as equal as your perspective and logic.
Stop being subjective and start looking at the big picture.
Cash Shops are a gravy train. Every time a cash shop is suddenly introduced the fanboys say don’t worry, while everyone else is concerned. Every time a CS suddenly introduces high prices players react as if they have never heard of a cash shop before and rage at this outrageous event.
Most cash shops start fair, all end up selling the likes of xp potions. I challenge those who support F2P and item shops to name one MMO that has had a item shop for more than 4 years and is not now selling xp potions, uber health shields for pvp or the like.
The death penalty and need to use Perfumes in all endgame PVE content could turn out to be a disaster (IMO).
It could well reduce the number of players that do PVE endgame and there for the PVE endgame might become the a feature alot of ppl feel lacking (cause so few can play it). I personally think putting a high death penalty with mandatory Cash shop items to remove it is just stupid. And if they are gonna make those items to accessable in the game - then why the hell price the items so high in cash shop ?
The death penalty and need to use Perfumes in all endgame PVE content could turn out to be a disaster (IMO). It could well reduce the number of players that do PVE endgame and there for the PVE endgame might become the a feature alot of ppl feel lacking (cause so few can play it). I personally think putting a high death penalty with mandatory Cash shop items to remove it is just stupid. And if they are gonna make those items to accessable in the game - then why the hell price the items so high in cash shop ?
Ayep.
As has been said, and I said it in an earlier post - the Allods people are doing nothing that you don't see in just about any other F2P MMO with a cash shop - only magnified to where it can't be denied or ignored. The cash shops and the games wrapped around them are designed to make people feel compelled to pull out the credit card, even if it's only to get that "little bit" of an edge.
The farther one gets into the game, the greater the stakes,the more likely they are to find them "useful" if not "necessary". That is exactly what the developers intend.
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Cash Shops are a gravy train. Every time a cash shop is suddenly introduced the fanboys say don’t worry, while everyone else is concerned. Every time a CS suddenly introduces high prices players react as if they have never heard of a cash shop before and rage at this outrageous event. Most cash shops start fair, all end up selling the likes of xp potions. I challenge those who support F2P and item shops to name one MMO that has had a item shop for more than 4 years and is not now selling xp potions, uber health shields for pvp or the like.
You're a bit out in left field here. First, the 'fanboys' have shown equal outrage to these prices throughout this thread. Second, the outrage isn't that there is a cash shop. It's not even really the power of the items. It's the cost of them. Since that has been a consistent issue and since it has been mostly agreed by both sides to be a seroius issue, I'm wondering if you didn't read the thread or if you just posted in the wrong one.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Cash Shops are a gravy train. Every time a cash shop is suddenly introduced the fanboys say don’t worry, while everyone else is concerned. Every time a CS suddenly introduces high prices players react as if they have never heard of a cash shop before and rage at this outrageous event. Most cash shops start fair, all end up selling the likes of xp potions. I challenge those who support F2P and item shops to name one MMO that has had a item shop for more than 4 years and is not now selling xp potions, uber health shields for pvp or the like.
Item shops are the very DOOM of the MMO industry! Once they arrive, all manner of HORRORS result... Vanity pets are just the gate way to Item Shop Hell! <rolls eyes> Come on guys, one of the main objectives of this exercise is to make a good ROI(Return On Investment).
They are mainly used for the F2P games at this point(so that the Dev's can make some profit off of their invested time and money). Its just a different business model. If you don't like it, don't play games with item shops. P2P/F2P or some hybrid doesn't matter to me if the game is entertaining. I've no problem what so ever supporting games I like with my money as well as my time.
Comments
Even if they lower the prices to sane levels, how could this company be trusted not to jack it at leisure in some near future. They've pretty much destroyed the trust their community had in them, and I am not sure there is a lot of room for recovery from that.
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
I've repeated basically what's been said.
I'm a huge fan of item shops. On Maple Story alone I spent $200 in one month on plastic surgery, clothing items and hair change items.
Item shops should just be that. Little trinkets that let the players make their characters unique. They should not offer items like bags, or mounts, or things that are pretty much mandatory to enjoy the game.
It really feels like Free to Play is going down a bad road....
They say adjustments can not happen overnight, but isn't that pretty much exactly how patches work? I mean, it went from no item shop to item shop overnight, what effort could it take to change prices? The Russian prices seem fair enough - $700 for the Uber gear, just like that, without the inconvenience of raiding and such.
The bag can be gotten out of a quest, not sure on the specifics, but I know the bag can be gotten in-game.
That's how all item shops should be - the game itself will take a while longer, but if you don't have much time, but plenty of spare cash, you can play with other people who do happen to have all that time and money.
Better yet, I like EVE's system of PLEX, trading between players and such, in forms of subscription payments. It's a nice system.
I am playing EVE and it's alright... level V skills are a bit much.
You all need to learn to spell.
I think people relate F2P ONLY to the item malls,there is actually a much larger blemish on this design.
The problem is this design does NOTHING to control cheating/exploiting/RMT community,because players have absolutely NOTHING to fear.It costs players nothing to play,so what if they get banned,they can act like total asshats,again nothing to lose.if they get caught botting who cares?you going to ban them lol?
Once the RMT decide to take up residence look at games like Silkroad or Cabal or many other F2P,you can't even login because the bots have the servers over crowded and they also use cheats to bypass server crowding,so it gets worse and lags.
Just imagine that if these cheap F2P games were running good graphics,high poly count,with all the bots running around,they could really lag the servers terribly,it is only because the graphics are ALWAYS so cheap/low end that the games survive at all.If these exact same games ran something like Vanguard ,NOBODY would be able to play it.
What else is comical is that the majority of people that play these games have no intention of supporting the game and many CANNOT because they have no CC or way to support the game.Once again the few people that actually pay money to support these games,could NEVER maintain the server,it is only because of the extremely low bandwidth these games operate under.SO because this design has so many flaws in it's design,you will NEVER have a good looking complete game,not unless you are totally blind and think crap graphics look good.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
There ain't no disconnect, they know exactly what they're trying to pull.
Godspeed my fellow gamer
$700.00 for an entry in a database that can be negated or wiped out entirely on a whim or glitch? My Grandparents would rise from the grave and beat me to death with the jawbone of an ass if I ever wasted money like that. Fair? I've worked 80 hour weeks like a slave while in mortal peril for less than that. If my kids spent money like that I'd have them institutionalized. $700.00 will buy you enough smack to put a smile of eternal bliss on the face of every junkie in a shooting gallery, permanently. That's just nucking futz. $70.00 would be ten times too much.
This guy needs his own show, seriously. Like Colbert or something. Haha. I agree, though. $700 isn't fair. That's ridiculous and anyone who pays that has a serious problem. Reminds me of my buddy who traded his car for 2 Magic the Gathering cards.
Very true. There is no disconnect between gPotato and their customers (suckers). This company has a very long history of underhanded moves. How many of you know that all gPotato games install software that tracks your browsing habits? Look up “iesnare” for yourself. I found it a couple of years ago when I tried out one of their games. Bye Bye gPotato. I do not even want to guess how much money gPotato makes off of iesnare.
Then there is xTrap. Such programming should be a crime. I have no problems with the goal but shoot, even keyboard or mouse drivers can set it off. Unless of course you are using IE 7 or 8 on a 64bit OS in which case, it just won’t work at all.
Honestly, I think that the item shop is another slap in the face after all, most Americans did not notice that they had already been slapped by gPotato. As for the question someone asked about how dumb they think Americans are, I think iesnare’s background installation says volumes.
somebody confused Yen with $
I ... had ... no ... idea. o.O
It is worth that for me??? I wouldn't even spent as much on a real life hobby thing for three month!
Played: Pretty much any fantasy MMO, some did not even make it to release ...
Favorites: UO, EQ2, Vanguard, Wurm Online, Salem, ESO, Creativerse
Playing: ESO, Creativerse, Guild Wars 2
Anticipating: (sigh) ... maybe Ashes of Creation
Played Allods CB and currently playing OB. They have a great game here but Greed concerning their players...no thanks.
Most gamers arn't guallible fools and will not continue to pay insane prices just to play a game. The phrase "Great game but I cannot afford to compete" will be in the minds of many allods fans if they dont quickly get their prcing down from greedy to affordable.
20 euros for a backpack, no thanks make it 2 euros and if they get a million subscribers all buying 1 bag that will be 2 millon euros right there.
I for one am having a great time in the EU version of allods online. The cash shop is not yet active there as I think Gpotato are still considering the pricing for it...I guess thats why so many Russian players have jumped ship and are now playing on EU servers in the hope that Gpotato will not be as self centred and as greedy as the Russian Cash shop owners.
I'm going to have to agree here. I would have thought that developers creating for the NA/EU market would have had more of an understanding of how F2P works due to the long and successful history it has had in the East, but it almost seems as if there really is some dude in a corner office with a big cigar shaking rolled up reports at his team....
Big Boss Dude: "Asia is all over this stuff! I'm seeing this corporation leaving money on the table and I don't like it one bit! Johnson, you read in the department heads on this. Williams, get me face time with one of those Eastern game CMOs. I want a cash shop in our game pronto! Rogers, what's your take on this?"
Marketing Guy that got stuck getting sent to the Scream and Ream session: *nervously* "Well, I can touch base with marketing and make sure they have the bandwidth for a viral campaign and some social networking strategies. We've got some low-hanging fruit we can capture with a bit of on-market brandstorming and site redesign to bring our web presence up to Web 2.0 standards."
Big Boss Dude: Get on it! I want to see $30 a month from every subscriber by the end of the month!
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
The problem here is not really the prices. The problem is how this has been handled. This will become very clear when the EU version posts their prices.
The problem here is the management for the US branch of Gala-Net. They just dont know what they are doing, and do not listen to those that do. Part of this has to do with the funding that they have accepted, and the strings attached. However, a large part has to do with their lack of understand of the service industry. They just dont know how to make this work, and despite having some very good staff (who does know) they are not listening. The EU branch doesnt have that problem... watch how they handle this.
$700.00 for an entry in a database that can be negated or wiped out entirely on a whim or glitch? My Grandparents would rise from the grave and beat me to death with the jawbone of an ass if I ever wasted money like that. Fair? I've worked 80 hour weeks like a slave while in mortal peril for less than that. If my kids spent money like that I'd have them institutionalized. $700.00 will buy you enough smack to put a smile of eternal bliss on the face of every junkie in a shooting gallery, permanently. That's just nucking futz. $70.00 would be ten times too much.
This deserves a 'Best reply-of-the-week" award for sure.
SWG/STO/(SWTOR)
$700.00 for an entry in a database that can be negated or wiped out entirely on a whim or glitch? My Grandparents would rise from the grave and beat me to death with the jawbone of an ass if I ever wasted money like that. Fair? I've worked 80 hour weeks like a slave while in mortal peril for less than that. If my kids spent money like that I'd have them institutionalized. $700.00 will buy you enough smack to put a smile of eternal bliss on the face of every junkie in a shooting gallery, permanently. That's just nucking futz. $70.00 would be ten times too much.
This deserves a 'Best reply-of-the-week" award for sure.
Indeed, but that is the true nature of what you get from virtual items.
It's already amazing how they manage to charge more than 1/5 of a monthly fee for a virtual item, I don't even have adjectives on how to describe charging more than a monthly fee for a virtual item, and it's not even on my imagination charging $7000 for a virtual item. That's 466 months of MMO subscription considering a $15/mo (and we all know this value can drop as low as $10 depending on the MMO for long-term subscriptions)... 38 years of a MMO subscription. There's not even a MMO that old for us to know if a MMO can live THAT long, not to mention the player interest in the game and actually being alive and capable of playing :P
sad, but true
My favoritest post so far this year.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
$700.00 for an entry in a database that can be negated or wiped out entirely on a whim or glitch? My Grandparents would rise from the grave and beat me to death with the jawbone of an ass if I ever wasted money like that. Fair? I've worked 80 hour weeks like a slave while in mortal peril for less than that. If my kids spent money like that I'd have them institutionalized. $700.00 will buy you enough smack to put a smile of eternal bliss on the face of every junkie in a shooting gallery, permanently. That's just nucking futz. $70.00 would be ten times too much.
Amazing insights! May I subscribe to your newsletter?
If you think that $7,000 was nuts, you should have seen the space station in Entropia Universe that went for $330,000. That would have had all of your ancestors back to cave man times chasing you with that jaw bone. ^^
$700.00 for an entry in a database that can be negated or wiped out entirely on a whim or glitch? My Grandparents would rise from the grave and beat me to death with the jawbone of an ass if I ever wasted money like that. Fair? I've worked 80 hour weeks like a slave while in mortal peril for less than that. If my kids spent money like that I'd have them institutionalized. $700.00 will buy you enough smack to put a smile of eternal bliss on the face of every junkie in a shooting gallery, permanently. That's just nucking futz. $70.00 would be ten times too much.
Brilliant. Ditto for me. And the best part is the American price of $7000, because as every Russian game publisher knows, Americans are all cash and no brains. Or is that Westerners in general? Unfortunately, as previously mentioned, some underperforming d-bag is going to buy it, thereby justifying the price in some tiny sense. People don't seem to realize you get NOTHING for your $7000. A few bits of data and the satisfaction of knowing you've bought yourself some wins in a video game against other people who, for all intents and purposes, are better people than you (unless they bought their own, in which case they actually suck worse than you if you can believe it).
To anyone who still considers playing this game in ANY capacity after this cash shop was revealed: You are part of the problem. You cannot scream that this company is unjust and wrong to charge so much, and then support their business practices by partaking in their product. It's no different than the message pre-CU vets sent to SOE, even if it doesn't last as long or sound as vitriolic - if a company wrongs you, you cease to do business with them unless they right the wrong. No game can possibly be worth that. These publishers, who are no different than radio or TV or recording company execs, need to be made to realize that life continues for everyone even if they dry up and blow away. Their jobs are at the whim of the consumer, and the consumer is a fickle lover. The right thing to have happen now is this Mail.ru to go completely out of business. Won't happen, but it should.
There's a sucker born every minute. - P.T. Barnum
I basically quit Rappels because of the whole stamina thing. If you were not springing for a tent or stamina potions, the game crawled at a snail pace.
But seriously...have an item that costs as much as a used car is a bit much.
Virtual or materialized items, is there a difference? Aslong as the results remains equal, the only difference is your beliefs. Everything is equal but not as equal as your perspective and logic.
Stop being subjective and start looking at the big picture.
Cash Shops are a gravy train. Every time a cash shop is suddenly introduced the fanboys say don’t worry, while everyone else is concerned. Every time a CS suddenly introduces high prices players react as if they have never heard of a cash shop before and rage at this outrageous event.
Most cash shops start fair, all end up selling the likes of xp potions. I challenge those who support F2P and item shops to name one MMO that has had a item shop for more than 4 years and is not now selling xp potions, uber health shields for pvp or the like.
The death penalty and need to use Perfumes in all endgame PVE content could turn out to be a disaster (IMO).
It could well reduce the number of players that do PVE endgame and there for the PVE endgame might become the a feature alot of ppl feel lacking (cause so few can play it). I personally think putting a high death penalty with mandatory Cash shop items to remove it is just stupid. And if they are gonna make those items to accessable in the game - then why the hell price the items so high in cash shop ?
Ayep.
As has been said, and I said it in an earlier post - the Allods people are doing nothing that you don't see in just about any other F2P MMO with a cash shop - only magnified to where it can't be denied or ignored. The cash shops and the games wrapped around them are designed to make people feel compelled to pull out the credit card, even if it's only to get that "little bit" of an edge.
The farther one gets into the game, the greater the stakes,the more likely they are to find them "useful" if not "necessary". That is exactly what the developers intend.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
You're a bit out in left field here. First, the 'fanboys' have shown equal outrage to these prices throughout this thread. Second, the outrage isn't that there is a cash shop. It's not even really the power of the items. It's the cost of them. Since that has been a consistent issue and since it has been mostly agreed by both sides to be a seroius issue, I'm wondering if you didn't read the thread or if you just posted in the wrong one.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Item shops are the very DOOM of the MMO industry! Once they arrive, all manner of HORRORS result... Vanity pets are just the gate way to Item Shop Hell! <rolls eyes> Come on guys, one of the main objectives of this exercise is to make a good ROI(Return On Investment).
They are mainly used for the F2P games at this point(so that the Dev's can make some profit off of their invested time and money). Its just a different business model. If you don't like it, don't play games with item shops. P2P/F2P or some hybrid doesn't matter to me if the game is entertaining. I've no problem what so ever supporting games I like with my money as well as my time.