Add-On store - Why the early retirement of items?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Arradin, Apr 3, 2015.

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  1. Arradin

    Arradin Avatar

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    Hello!

    With the news of shroud release being pushed to possibly next year, it was said that the finances still looks good enough that it should not be a problem..

    Right, so far so good, but it makes me question something;

    - Why was the decision made so early to start taking things out of add-on store without replacing them with new items!? This must be a HUGE loss of income, and even though i dont have any inside numbers, i would assume a large portion of overall money must come from add-ons being purchased?

    For those that have been here since kickstarter, we have bought most of what we wanted, and even though i missed a few items that now have retired from the store, i have nothing much more i can buy.. otherwise i would have had interrest in it by now.

    For those that are new, i cant but help but feel like its a huge drawback for them not to being able to purchase some items like prosperity without being forced to buy the entire pack ( $50 is alot of most people i would assume ).

    So, Are the plans now to NOT add new items to the addon store - and if so, why not open up items for sales again? I doubt anyone would mind, most are happy to see the money roll in for the team?!

    Those are my thoughts on this subject.
     
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  2. Kitty2

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    Great question, Duke!

    They should pull a "we re-opened the vaults" like Disney used to do when they'd release their old movies on DVD!

    But in all seriousness, it really does seem to be win-win: more cash for Portalarium, more fun for players! I love this idea.
     
  3. ThurisazSheol

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    agreed. i came in fairly late and was unable to purchase the ring of stones.

    i'd think the only reason they are retiring them is because they want them to be rare.
     
  4. Spoon

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    Fully agreed @Duke Arradin.

    Well at least partly. The weekly expiring item drew a lot of attention and created an enforcement to check out the addon store. So I fully understand that part. But not adding new items? It's one of the few things I completely don't get about their business. I mean even if they don't make a killer profit on them it still drives people to the store to check things out - and I could bet that some people doing that ends up with a pledge increase.
    (Don't drink and browse people).



    There are assets already in the game that if they were purchasable would be really popular.

    For instance how about an obsidian pack? Those banners seem popular.

    Ornamental marble Titan statue, anyone? at about 1.5m+1m pillar? (Just scale the one we got down and repoly)

    Villain pack? (Clear lack of such items for players but they can be found in dungeons)

    Also each new deep dive or hangout could have a theme and an object in the store related to the theme.
    For instance when we had the Nature to Nutrition talk how cool wouldn't it have been with a Chef pack? A Prosperity Pot + Cleaver, a book of recipes, a bag of ingredients to make the recipes, and one unique teachable recipe.

    Also just a change if clothing options would be popular.

    I've done a dozen threads with ideas for the addon store, so have others. Usually gets a lot of attention. So there is an interest to buy.
     
  5. SantiagoDraco

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    Here's what bothers me about this whole early adopter, rare items thing when sold for cash. It benefits those with disposable income and penalizes those without.

    A game that is supposed to do away with that type of thing simply embraces it. Elitism continues.
     
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  6. High Baron O`Sullivan

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    is everything.
    I think part of the allure of pulling items is to give them a sense of exclusivity for the buyers. An example would be the Oracle head statue. It was marketed as a limited supply item, it would be quite wrong to re-release an item (beyond the stated original supply) that was previously advertised as a limited supply. Another example would be the Darkstarr moondial, when it was first marketed it was said it will only be obtainable through pledging at a certain tier. Then they did a complete 180 and decided to sell them in the add-on store and kinda screwed over the people that upgraded their pledge specifically for the purpose of obtaining the moondial. My opinion is the opposite of yours, if something is advertised as a limited supply or exclusive to a pledge it should NEVER be offered in the add-on store beyond it's stated supply numbers.
     
  7. Satan Himself

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    Disparity in available cash isn't elitism. It's just the way things are, and always will be. However forcing equality across the board, regardless of economic ability, is socialism in its purest and most evil form.

    Pixel jealousy, very bad thing.
     
  8. Kara Brae

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    I would like to see some new add-on items replacing the expired ones, but I'm not sure I like the idea of bringing the old ones back, even for a limited time. The fewer oracle heads I see in the game, the better. As a rare item they're nice, as a commonplace item they would be ghastly. The same goes for many add-on items.
     
  9. PeteWi The Disoriented

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    Several new items have been added such as the Spotted Rabbit, the Carnival Mask, the Lepus Mask, the Buckler and Jabbering Bertha. I think it's about time they start clearing out those items and I hope they keep going. I also venture to say it's time to start dropping off the lower pledges as well and hope they don't "reissue" any of them. I feel there should be rarity to them and considering these are $20 or less items, they're available to everyone. I'm actually more upset that I bought some items at their full price and then they discounted them when they were set to expire. I felt about cheated by that. They should have gone up in price. If you want one, you need to act and get one or accept that they'll be gone. That's just the way it is.

    These are decorations, trinkets, trifles. You won't advance in the game by owning one so not having one doesn't put you at any sort of disadvantage. It's the same thing as the in-game hats, they're just for fun. If you missed R10, you missed the hat. I hope they don't start recycling because, as stated, that ruins the exclusivity of an item.
     
  10. Drocis the Devious

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    Although I'd really enjoy seeing new items, I love that there are items that are already rare and hard to find. I hope we always have a flux of items moving in and out of the store. The more limited the items the better.
     
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  11. Moiseyev Trueden

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    I hate that I discovered the game late and there were lots of items that were discontinued. Having said that, as much as I would like to get those items, I have no desire to see them reopened in the market. I think the exclusive restriction of items is nice. I just wish they were replaced by something else. Its sad seeing 4 times more discontinued items than live ones. Makes me feel like that section of income is being ignored, or only an after thought. I know it takes a lot of work to code random items when the focus is elsewhere, but c'est la vie.
     
  12. Arradin

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    I agree with that, but those are the only real examples of limited items out of ALL the items we have had on the Add-on Store.

    When i last saw the oracles head, it still had some 850 out of 1000 availible.

    But all in all, i agree with what you just wrote.
     
  13. Zayne Osgood

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    I would also agree that the add-on store needs some ...freshening up. I've pushed my pledge to the point where I believe I'm comfortable at so I've found myself browsing the add-on store in hopes that it'll be updated with new items or housing types that I could possibly purchase. I found the add-on store a bit late and my main interest, different types of housing, is a bit bare at the moment. Options yes, but none I'd like to purchase, whereas while wandering the world I've come across several types that are no longer available and wish they were :(.

    I'm all for saving items and to a point house designs for them to be rare, but see no problem with downscaling certain items so that the extra income helps fund the game. I've no idea about development of games and how large a task this may be, but if it turned out to be simple to draw in the extra funding, hell yeah :) I sincerely hope some similar village plot types become available or even the retired ones be reintroduced to the store. I'm unsure but maybe they will be purchasable in game with gold? For example, with all the waterfront properties open in game, I'd think there's a plan to fill them right?
     
  14. Spoon

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    I think Blake Blackstone had a good point. That is that if one knows that one can wait until the final discount then there is no sense of urgency.

    If one instead reverse that and for each one sold the price goes up the next day until all are sold.
    Then there is a sense of urgency+reward to buy in early instead of late.
     
  15. Moiseyev Trueden

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    Yeah, I didn't really think much of the idea when I was first thinking of it, but then I realized that's what the PoTs are doing and it seems like a good idea the more I think about it. Generates more income in the long run by staying available, but at a slightly higher price, while driving up the urgency for those who want to save a bit.
     
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  16. Karuson

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    Most games that I've played only add 4 to 5 items a month. And when your focus is developing a game not add-ons. The rate is much lower. Once the game is done. 90% of what they add is add-ons.
     
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  17. Interitus

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    While I understand not bringing "limited" items back. And unique items like some of the cloaks. But couldn't items like houses be put back on sale? The more people that has access to them, the more that may buy them and the more variety we see in the town. Now some of these houses might have been limited, I don't know, I didn't really follow that. But all the really unique houses (Druid home, wizard tower etc..) are still for sale. This would just be bringing back more regular looking houses. Again this is just for houses, not for decorations ( I agree, too many Oracle heads). But it's probably an easy way to fill up the add-on store for new players without having to create new content.
     
  18. Ciciro

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    I just hope there to be a mask pack eventually.
     
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  19. Rasmenar

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    I suppose technically you could buy addon store items for cash, just from other players instead of from portalarium.

    I do wish that some items that I missed the chance to buy would come back, but I won't have disposable income anyhow as I'm having to start chemo drugs again and they're expensive.
     
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  20. Themo Lock

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    I am irritated that i missed the very early release hats and the chance to buy easter eggs and the white bunny XD
     
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