2018 Christmas item prices WAY too high guys.

You know what else is also $9?
A real Christmas tree...

And come on, no one is asking them to be a dollar store either, we're simply asking for reasonable prices.

 

I'm not against the funding model of the game -- far from it, even if it is a bit harder to participate for regular folks in less privileged countries. But it is what it is.

We may not need to buy anything from the add-on store to play, but they need us to buy from the add-on store for us to play. Totally understandable.

As for nickels and dimes... inflation?

 

Take a step back and think about it: they removed that $45 barrier to entry, so yes that was a huge thing to do -- but I'm sure they crunched the numbers and how many new customers they were getting and determined the loss of income vs. potential increase to player population was more valuable.

I think the intent of the OP is driving home a similar argument: lower that barrier to entry for the store as well. They can crunch the numbers here as well to see if doing so would help in the long-term at the expense of some short term loss.

We just know that the rate of new game purchases and the add on store purchases was not enough to sustain the business several months ago. They've dropped one barrier and really should consider dropping the other.

They need to promote the rewards program more and drive more users to it.

 

Well a lot of people have paid them prices so you can play. Nobody has to buy anything.

They are not a big Studio they can't afford to hemorrhage money or develop five other titles to help keep them going .

Of course that stuff is not worth the price any more than Girl Scout cookies are worth the price

People just miss the point why anyone would pay any prices for any of it it's digital nothingness.


They just ask you do what you can do to help fund the project.

 

@Toff etc... There are plenty of Christmas decorations in the game you can craft yourself or buy from an other player.

Teachable
Gift Box 2017
Mantle Garland Swag
Mantle Garland Strand
Small Wall Garland Strand
Small Wall Garland Swag
Wall Garland Strand
Wall Garland Swag
Yule Wreath 2017
Yule Wreath 2016
Gift Box 2016

You need to buy recipe
Yule Stocking 2016
Yule Stocking 2017

Winter themed decorations
Sled
Snowman
Snowgirl
Snowboy
Snowwoman

 

You also have to understand that the guys like me saying all of these things really are saying all these things to have the game actually grow and have more players. I understand 3 or 4 people would actually buy these extravagant items for these prices - some are wealthier; most like me, are regular people that have a normal salary and for that player-base, the game should attract them and sell 100 items for a lower price to players that would actually buy it.

This game is favoring the 1%, come on, how are you not seeing this? You want only elite players roaming in this game and never go beyond 500 player playing at the same time or a million? Like UO.

 

Indeed but that's not the problem here..

 

Hey @smack i'm your pall, I'm with you, I wasn't being smart, just pointing out that this is annoying yes, but its a long way from PTW

OMW! and you too @Gorthyn , cut me some slack!

 

100% agree with you Smack and with the OP. I've posted a few times on the subject also. The price of entry to one of the best and most polished parts of the game (housing) is waaaay too high. I have a feeling that bringing prices waaay down in the addon store would bring in more players and make them spend more money on the game. I can see how new players looking at the addon store prices can be discouraged to buy anything or even scare them away from the game. Which is really a shame. I know funding is ongoing for episode 2, but the game is released. I can understand high prices as a goal for funding game development, but now that the game is released, I honestly think pricing should be adjusted to accomodate the average player, and not just the hardcore like us.

 

I fully understand the role the add on store plays in the games funding. But has Port ever done any exercise to see if lowering prices and selling alot more items will yield more revenue than selling far fewer at higher rates ?

Personally I have my doubts that they have, at least not recently.

Plus lower prices would help improve the games reputation.

 

@smack @Gorthyn @K1000
You do realise, that the Dev Team was reduced a few Months ago & that "crowd-funding" AKA= Us buying off the Store....
(AND most of us waiting until Friday=NOON til MIDNIGHT to buy our Pixelated Trinkets)
.... PAYS the ongoing funding of this Game that we log into... probably everyday, for most of us?

 

Yeah, I mentioned that, and if anything, this thread is highlighting perhaps one of the reasons why the current model was not sustainable. It's a tricky balancing act, and I'm sure, or at least hope, that they've done all of this analysis and modeling. If anything, the ongoing Sales are kinda proving that point -- they know the pricing is too high already and have extended the length of sales for a much, much longer period than historically.

And just as we had with double XP being a limited time thing, it became permanent. If the sales data shows that the reduced pricing is working better, they may just permanently reduce it. I'm sure they're looking at this and threads like this are just giving them the feedback they need to hear. But we'll see.

 

Hi Synergy, yes I understand and do the same. I've spent a lot in the addon store over the years, a lot more than my Lord pledge. But I still think that at 50% sale , most items still cost too much. Take for example the christmas rares. I'll buy them. But even at 50% , it s 89$, more than the price of an average game, for a few pieces of virtual decoration. The same thing goes for most items in the addon store. I'm not against the addon store. I'm all for it, it s just the pricing structure that seems way off to me. The point I think we want to make is that if items in the addon store become more accessible, it will bring in new players who will spend in the addon store and bring revenue up. What we need now is new players, a lot of them. And I really think the game will become more attractive with a more resonably priced addon store.

 

Agreed, the prices should be lower, I think this often deters a lot of potential new players. They should do some model forecasting and see, given current population numbers and add-on store purchases, could a price reduction increase gross revenue through an increase in player purchases?

I mean look at the Atlanta Falcons and their current concession prices. They were able to cut prices of all concessions by 50%, while increasing gross revenue by over 15%! Everyone wins in this scenario, team makes more money (as does the concessions company) and fan satisfaction increases. Great article here about it, for those interested:
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...-more-money-mercedes-benz-stadium-concessions

 

Yes I fully understand your point of view.
Especially since You have obviously been "invested" in this game for a lot longer than I have been....

But they have made this "Discount Friday" deal & are locked into it now...
I hope you that you hang in "there" & join me to see how next Year unfolds for the future of Shroud....
I truly love this game & am hoping to see it begin to thrive next year
♥

 

I am NOW solely a Shroud player, so am clueless as to what other games are doing these days.

The Team we currently have are seasoned professionals at managing a game such as this.
And this is an online game that continues to rely on "crowd-funding/sales from the Store"
& not a sports mad enterprise, with backing of a Major advertiser.

I would say, lets wait until next year & see what unfolds for Shroud.
I still have faith in the Team that are administering our pixelated World....
(Just my opinion)

 

Store deco too expensive ? Depends on your personal perspective.
If you feel something is priced too high, then don't buy it.
Personally, I'll buy what I can afford and leave it at that.
I just want SotA to grow and get better and better each release.
I have good friends who I enjoy and make more as time goes by, and hope that I can continue that for years to come.

No money = no game.

 

Right, but the economic theory is still the same despite them being in disparate industries. I'm not really following your point about the backing of a major advertiser, but the two are similar if you compare the add-on store here to the concessions sold at a stadium. Allow me to elucidate on my point here.

For anyone that has ever been to a major league sporting event, knows the absurd prices charged for food. Concessionaires get away with this because they know they have a "captive market" in the fans having no other options to buy food. It's the same premise here with the items on the add-on store. We the players are a captive market in the sense that if we want that specific new item (not the in-game versions) we have to buy it from the store. The problem in both these examples is that the fans/players lose out. What the Falcons were able to figure out is that everyone could win by dropping the price of concessions in the belief that fans would buy more food and it worked. I believe the same could be done here and to some extent already is with the sales during telethons and streams. There is a direct correlation between the two. So why not do this all the time? Players would be happier because the price point has been reduced, potentially increasing gross revenue to the company in the form of higher sales and dare I even say, add new players at the same time?

Personally I think it bodes looking into. You could very simply model this by comparing the amount of add on store purchases, at full price, during your average week to the amounts made, at half price, during the telethons. I would be shocked if the numbers were less during the telethons.

Look, we all want the game to succeed and be the best that it very well can be, money being a key component of that. So while I completely agree with you that the devs are consummate professionals when it comes to creating and making the game, they probably aren't when it comes to economic forecasting and sales modeling. That's no dig on them, it's just not their area of expertise, which is to be expected. That's why companies have a CFO, COO and number crunching accountants to ensure that they are maximizing their revenue potential.

Again, it's easy for me to "arm chair quarterback" here and make these statements without seeing their financials and internal numbers but it bodes looking into if they haven't already. I mean, why wouldn't they want to potentially increase net profit and make players happy at the same time, right?

Just a few thoughts.

 

An excellent lesson on economics. Selling 5 of an item @ $50/each vs selling 100 of the same items@ $5 each.

Additionally, with virtual products, you only have to model/create it one time (So it is fixed cost). In the above example of the concession stand, prices on the components/ingredients can change over time (usually upwards), so the profit margin for virtual items is higher.

 

Yea, I'd also add that it depends on what they're trying to sell. Holiday stuff is a vanity item in the game that I'm not sure your average RPGer is so into they're willing to pay for it, especially if you already have variations on it from previous years. So, in this case, the devs are basically trying to sell collectibles/rares, to people who like that sort of thing. And they have to make a calculation on whether lowering the price will be worth it because more will sell, or it will be less worth it because it would make the collectible value less, while the people who really want to collect will get them anyway, and in addition to that, the resellers.