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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    I´m strange in the ways that ive never been interested in hats. I guess mostly because i will use my Crown, nothing else...

    But i still miss wearables apart from cloaks that i would love to see them put up for sale!
     
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  2. Ice Queen

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    I missed out on some items, but I'd rather them stay expired and make them more rare. I think in addition to the add on store rare items, there should be rare dropped and found items in the game that are only around for a limited amount of time, that way there are rare dropped and found items in game too so that not every rare thing has to come from the add-on store. Perhaps things like parcels of information from bandits when you kill them, like you're intercepting information and you turn those parcels in for items or something. Every rare item shouldn't come from just just add-ons.

    I think the reason they don't have more things on the add-on store currently is because they're working on so many important systems that need to go in game first and they are a small team. So while I'd like them to take the time to create new rare items as well as non rare items, I'd rather them focus on the important systems that are needed for the longevity of the game first. If the game isn't fun, interesting, explorable, first and foremost, we won't have people flocking to the game at release to insure the game will be around long. What good are rare items, if the game isn't built solid. Just my thoughts on it. :)
     
  3. SantiagoDraco

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    Actually I never said anything about "changing" how something is sold so your opinion and mine are on different issues. I never said items that were sold before under certain stated conditions should be reinstated for sale. I don't think they should have been pulled at all and I think that all the items in a cost tier should remain available for all those tiers.

    If I want to support the game and buy a tier but I simply cannot afford it would be better, imo, to leave it available so that those less fortunate can buy it once they have the money saved up. Otherwise these "short duration early adopter" crowdfunding schemes are an unfair money grab. Imo.
     
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  4. SantiagoDraco

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    I can agree with rare drops. They are always nice and give everyone a reasonably fair opportunity as they aren't associated with cost.
     
  5. Prince Guni

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    I think it is a very good thing they discontinued selling some items. This makes room for new items to be offered in the store and it is great for collectors.

    There have been items in the store that were largely cosmetic with limited functionality and others that were usable but got surpassed by better items (e.g. some early houses). Pulling those from the store also makes a lot of sense. By making them no longer available and a bit rare, they still can maintain a value as a collectors item even if no longer the best or most powerful of its kind.

    Building a collectors economy here can be a huge contribution to the funding of the game for all of us. This won't work, however, if you bring back items that you stopped selling before. Please note that we are really talking about non-essential items that do not grant any significant powers. Nobody really needs those to play the game.

    If you are a collector yourself and aim to have everything you will still be able to trade with players for those items later, it is not that they didn't sell a quite decent amount of each before they got pulled. Being a real collector is all about chasing stuff that you can't just get in the mall around the corner. It gives you a challenge and a chance to distinguish yourself as a true collector.
     
  6. Thorin Strongarm

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    As a person who is waiting to accumulate enough money to make a pledge to the game (navigator) the only add ons I was interested in were/are the tools that don't break. Aside from that most of the items being sold are preference items that are not really required to play the game. Do they add a unique flavor to the game? Yes but nothing that I would want.
     
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  7. Amethyst

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    @SantiagoDraco you have a point. I have heard that this way of creating a game is the future. I actually like it until I realize how many people it is angering and hurting. The old-fashioned way was for people like me to invest in the game and get a percentage of the profit and a copy of the game. That was it and people, such as yourself, didn't mind. We actually used to get more than we do now. At present we do not get any money. We only get a copy of the game and digital goodies that everyone else wants as well and must get at a later date with a few cosmetic changes. In addition, if the game does very well, the new copy may even look better because SoTA would be able to afford more designers at a higher price. You would be surprised at how many early backers might be upset that a benefactor's house might look better than their founder house. I am enjoying the experience of being involved in a game even if I am getting less. It is a new experience for me; however, I might stop doing it if it bothers too many people.
     
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  8. Gypsy Lou

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    Where is it said that this game is designed to "do away with that type of thing"? Economic disparity is in fact the thing that makes a game like this possible. The big financial backers provide enough cash to realize benefits that everyone will enjoy. This is not "elitism" because there is no value judgment associated with the acquisition of items. Item acquisition is distributed according to good timing and financial ability, neither of which says anything about the acquiring party.
     
  9. Innessa Lelania

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    1) People who have been around since the beginning, and contributed to this game way ahead of time, now have exclusive rare items (effectively they gave Portalarium their money and did not get any goods in return at the time). If Portalarium now re-sells these same items then they wont be rare anymore, removing the benefit for these early adopters and pissing off a lot of people. Not to mention that they actually told people that they better buy these items before they were permanently gone, which I imagine would cause people to be quite upset if it proved that they were lying just to make extra money. People like rares. If rares are proved to not be rares after all, its not going to go over well with many, and who is going to trust Portalarium anymore if they lie?

    2) I have no issue with them releasing new items at all to raise funds. Go for it.
     
  10. Greyhaven

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    Absolutely!

    For a game funded by pledges and Add-ons, I find the store remarkable. Never have I seen such a place that delights in showing you what you can't have:

    [​IMG]

    There has not been such torment since Jim Bowen still insisted on wheeling out the Star Prize in the game-show Bullseye, after the contestants had gambled and lost it. ( i.e. Look at what you're not getting and weep you losers).

    Yes, let's not remove the expired items from the list, but keep them up there with a big red sign on. After all, people love to scroll through items they can't have.

    Looking at the current stats I see that out of 98 items, 44 are not available.

    I made a decision to treat myself to a deed and house, so let's look at...

    Add-on Store homes

    Total homes
    11 available, 16 "expired"

    Wood & plaster village homes:
    1 available, 5 "expired"

    Wood & plaster Town homes
    0 available, 2 "expired"

    I feel the same as poor Balin Bruchberg, in his post "WTB - Wood & Plaster 2 Story with Overhang Village Home":
    That earned him the reply "They do have the 3-story wood and plaster home still, maybe you can get it and rent out the attic?" Which just goes to show that the Puffin Joke Book is still alive and well (or bearing in mind the realism some players seem too want perhaps that suggestion was serious...)

    This "available for a short time" business paints all items expired as "Rare & Exclusive", no doubt set to spice up any in-game economy, but such a label is best reserved for overtly "Rare" and special items like magic or masterwork tools of prosperity not something bog-standard like a "Shingle-Roof Stone Village Home".

    And is there logic behind what houses have expired" and what is available?

    "Blue Tile Roof 4-Story with Balcony Row House" Yes you can buy that
    "Blue Tile Roof 3-Story Row House" Hell no!

    The result?
    Like Balin, despite my intention I have not bought an add-on home as the ones I was most interested in have expired. The money stays in our pockets then.

    Come now, bringing some of these these expired items back on sale means more money in the pocket for Portalarium, and all that benefits the game. That is not only sound logic but self-evident common sense.
     
  11. E n v y

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  12. Spoon

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    Well, they can't bring back "expired" items. If they did such things would ruin their business going forward since people couldn't trust them.

    What they could do is create variations and put such up. But they have repeatedly said that so far the houses hasn't really sold that well. Other things like pets sell much much more, simply because of the larger demographic. ie anyone can own and thus buy a pet, but to buy a house you need a deed first.
     
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  13. Arradin

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    This is not about bringing back expired items, im all for "rare" items, but i am 94.5% sertain that the decision to make things expire was not to make them rare, i would guess that they started to make things expire to get a cash injection from people purchasing them 'last minute'.

    The question here, which still doesnt have an answer, is why they would remove items from the store without putting new stuff there.

    Yes, we are getting fences.... but still.
     
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