Shroud of the Avatar Fire Sale!

Portalarium is really shooting itself in the foot by destroying the value of its own virtual assets along with any trust players have that Shroud of the Avatar assets will be managed well in the future.

The most obvious example of this fire sale destruction is that of the "special" Commission Free Vendors, which were offered to early backers of the game in exchange for supporting the game financially. Eventually, these rare supporter rewards were duped by Portalarium itself, adding the exact same vendors into bundles sold indefinitely to anyone. Portalarium did not even bother taking the simple and obvious step of protecting their early customers, supporters and assets through at least re-skinning any newly sold vendors so that the original vendors would remain somewhat exclusive - Portalarium outright counterfeited these early rewards. Eventually, even with the counterfeiting, the player market determined that the value of these semi-rare SotA assets was approximately $120 and many players bought and sold them at this value.

"Special" vendor Pledge reward ---> "Special" vendor bundle dupe ------------> $19 fire sale


Yet, I see Portalarium is apparently trying to kill itself, shooting themselves again, counterfeiting the exact same virtual asset and selling it for only $19 now. No change in functionality, i.e. POT only? Not even a skin change? This is one of the most poorly managed game assets I have ever seen in any game.

Far worse than the destruction of any one virtual asset is the destruction of any trust players have that Portalarium will manage assets well in the future. This loss of trust results in ruining the marketability and value of all Shroud of the Avatar assets and ultimately the game itself. Nobody wants to play or throw their money away on a game where purchased items will have their value carelessly destroyed by the developers themselves.

 

On the first time of the big sale they made a lot in one day. If the game goes under, it dont matter what price you bought it at, its worth nothing.

 

I think they realized the paywall was a problem for most people. Breaking down that huge barrier will allow them to begin to grow their player base.

With this game I believe they needed the Walmart model and not the Dillard’s or the Macy’s business plan.

 

Excuse me, did you miss the point entirely? Destroying trust and value in your own assets will get you to "worth nothing" real quick.

 

Maybe they will get more people if things are cheaper? Just like they sold a ton more when they reduced the price.

 

They have made some bad choices and I do think they did burn some of the initial investors, with that said I don’t think they had a choice.

 

Everything is really going to be worth nothing if the game shutters it's doors, no ?

The time for worrying about how much your virtual assets are "worth" is long over. We are in full survival mode atm.

 

Bom... to be honest it is the adage, Sacrifce the one to save the many... If they just do nothing and let the game go under will you be happier with your investment? I know I won't.

 

That's not a good excuse to mismanage existing assets, betray customers and destroy trust in the game in general.

 

Did they ever promise the price was going to stay what it was at?

 

So apparently nobody here knows what a re-skin is? Nor do they realize that virtual assets can be modified in a million ways to at least make them different from previous "special" offerings?

 

Ya, keep talking down to everyone, thats the best way to get everyone to agree with you. Could have said that many different ways too.

 

Yep pretty much done at this point.

 

Wuuuut time to get a vendor o.o

 

No... I didn't miss it... I don't agree with it.
I've many many ... Many digital assets... I never afixed the expectation they had any 'value' whatsoever.
They're a series of differentially polarized Fe2O3 crystals on an aluminum substrate somewhere...

People have oft opined that no one should suffer any real emotion over the 'death' of their 'pixels'... I counter that if that is true, no one should suffer any real emotion over the 'devaluation' of their pixels...

Past Performance is no Guarantee of Future Performance...

If you've 'invested' in digital assets, and expect some protection of their value... I think you should likely re-evaluate your investment strategies.

 

Most people do care about their assets, and those entrusted with them, virtual or otherwise. If you don't care, then how about transfering your town to me? It shouldn't matter if you don't care about the value, nor management of this virtual asset.

Further, like everyone else so far defending the unnecessary destruction of game assets and trust as an impossible survival tactic, you have failed to offer a good reason why "special" items could not have remained special and trust maintained simply through a modification or skin change.

 

Quite the straw man you've constructed there... There is a vast difference between 'caring about my town' and 'caring whether my town has retained its real-world monetary value.'

Of course I care about my town... I don't care if I can get what I paid for it or more... because that's not why I bought it.

I've special patterns I can apply to my vendors should I feel the need... If Portalarium chose to make a special vendor pattern and distribute that to every account that bought a Commission Free Vendor through a Pledge or a Bundle, I certainly wouldn't object... but neither am I going to damn them for offering them in the store to anyone who wants one... Personally, I think it was a damn fine idea... They weren't exactly rare, and offering them to the general populace for a reasonable fee actually lowers the in-game advantage that Backers and other 'whales' who could afford to drop hundreds of dollars on virtual 'assets' have over those that can't.

It levels the playing field... and even if my virtual assets have dropped in value, that's a very small price to pay for said leveling.

 

Ahhh speaking for "Most people", I get so sick of that stuff. The folks posting care more about the game continuing and growing than about any imagined investment. That is absolutely a reason, whether one like's it or not is doesn't matter, it's their opinion and they have a right to it. Personally, I totally disagree with you, I spent thousands helping this game over the last 5 years, I didn't invest a dime. Same stance I'e taken on this tired old argument.

 

Taming gear for the win!

 

I wish there was a 20 dex belt in the game!