Black Friday/Cyber Monday

Any tier between Lord and Baron should not include a city lot. The only reason I went from Lord to Baron was for the City Lot. If it somehow comes to pass that a city lot can come about for less then 3800 then I will feel like I have been taken advantage of. It would be very disappointing If I spent the extra 2200 when I could have spent less. Am I wining for no reason?

 

I think that's a fair question. The amount of money I've spent in the add-on store is really starting to rack up.

You know what else would be nice? Being able to see what order number you currently fall in? Maybe this should also count for backers that just bought plots in the add-on store. I think that would really motivate a lot of people to kick in an extra few bucks.

 

At this point, it seems one should wait to pledge more. The way it seems to be going is the closer we get April the cheaper the pledge rewards will get. I'm a risk taker by nature but now it looks like I may need to hedge my bets. Fortunately I can afford the higher tiers and prior to April I can seen spending another 5k, but it looks like 5k in value now will be worth 2500 in April.

 

I'm not sure the demand is currently where the devs want it to be. Everything is on sale now because of black friday and then normally because they are starting everything at an introductory price point. We don't know how much of this "stuff" is actually moving in the add-on store. My guess is that some items are not moving at all while others are being sold regularly.

It's really a VERY interesting experiment in retail economics. The devs can make anything they want, virtually whenever they want it. So the supply is always going to be very high. It's the demand that Dallas will have to manage effectively, and it appears that for early pre-game they have over shot just a little. I'm surprised the land deeds haven't been selling more. I'm glad though because I now have three plots and if they were already sold out by now I wouldn't have had the opportunity. I think eventually a lot of the demand will rise as we get closer and closer to Beta and eventually release.

As far as managing the demand, I think Dallas should probably treat all the add-on store items a lot like Disney treats it's movie collection. Pull out items from the add-on store all together and create an artificial demand by not introducing them again until 6 months later. Just constantly rotating the merchandise on a periodic basis that "makese sense" based on in-game retention data.

Another thing Dallas might look into is not creating more items that are "indestructable". It's eventually going to make it harder and harder to reintroduce these items once this game really gets rolling. That may be something that he's willing to deal with right now because they want the money right now. But long term it's a strategy that doesn't make sense to me. You don't normally want to sell an item one time to someone. You want there to be a point where they need to buy it again.

But back to your point about the prices going down the longer you wait. I think this black friday sale is probably going to be the lowest you'll see any prices until next year at black friday.

Even if they put in additional tiers, they'll have to add some value to the new teirs. Which means that if you paid 5k for a Baron tier, you're going to get that additional value for free. I agree that the whole city lot thing shouldn't change. That's a very big distinction between the Baron tier and those lower than it.

 

Thanks for the reply Venger, for now I will hold off upgrading until the system is less volatile.

 

I'd probably upgrade my pledge for a new digital tier, higher than digital explorer but hopefully lower than digital edelmann. I don't know if a digital citizen is possible. As a nordic warrior I'd definitely consider a digital viking citizen pledge

 

AFAIK you can give up on the physical rewards of any tier, just don't expect a refund. Not sure what we should put on "shipping" in that case, though.

 

True true, it'd just feel a bit silly to pay a part for nothing in that case, but I could do that. Probably won't though.

 

Thanks for clarifying it. It isnt really worth it in that case since the per payment fee is about $14 per payment anyway. So if anything all it does is waive that fee (at least at my level) and at my level, $14-15 is a pittance compared to the jump in cost to the next tier.


Is there a way to just manually give you guys like lets say $200-500 to add to the pledge? Even if it doesnt necessarily bump me up to the next tier. And get the 15% applied on top of that.

 

I am a bit miffed, as I purchased the Edelmann level two weeks ago. With the discount, I would be well on my to Knight! Ugh!

 

I'm not truly upset. I am just hopeful the sales attract more people to the game so it will be as good as we hope!

 

What a mess.

 

I doubt I would go to Lord... but I easily would go up to something around the $1000 to $1200 range with a TOWN benefit... Knight only has a village lot... if you simply charge $200-$400 more and upgrade to a Town lott with the Knight's castle I think that would get a lot of traction.

I think it would be incredibly smart to throw the extra step between the $1600 and $3800 and have there be a unique non-combat benefit to it... like the Cornucopia offers but better.
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I don't think current lords would appreciate a new tier beneath lord that provides the town lot.. just as barons wouldn't appreciate a lower tier providing the city lot. So a new tier between knight and Lord would have to use the village lot, and a new tier between lord and baron would have to use the town lot.

Since Lord is currently the only tier that uses the town lot, I think it would seem more balanced if a new tier was added between lord and baron.. perhaps: Chancelor or Magistrate.

Rather than getting a crown, maybe they get a special chain or amulet to drape over their tunic.

The house itself could be wider than it is deep visually, but with a huge deck and intricate walking garden in the back with a fountain centerpiece.

I am imagining a greek/roman theme in architecture, but it could just be an influence, with pillars to walk through upon entering, etc..

Maybe I'll add more to the newly created thread.

 

Exactly. People will upgrade to get the town lot.


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This is just simply a Huge Marketing mess. It really is. I think the whole issue was created when they extended the upgrade period at founder prices to next year. If they never would have done that, and included those perks then they would be able to run promotions without frustrating the founders.

Look, I'm happy the game is getting more exposure, and I DO WANT them to get more backers. But simply put, I spent $750 back in March before Kickstarter ended because 1. Yes, I wanted to pledge to the success of this game but also 2. Joining an elite club of founders getting perks only available in Kickstarter.

Now, not only can people get the same perks by upgrading later, they can do it for less money? How absurd is that??

I would have totally pledged $50 back then so I could save $100 on the Knight upgrade over Thanksgiving.

Look, I have friends who upgraded because of this deal, and that's great - I want this game to succeed and I HATE crying sour grapes but somewhere in the Marketing department they gotta get thier crap together because you don't go offering EXCLUSIVE benefits to Founders during Kickstarter and then completely negate that fact by allowing anyone who pledged a basic level to upgrade for less money. We put our cash on the line WHEN THEY NEEDED IT, not when it was comfortable, and not 7 months down the line.

This is NOT the same as Retail Sales. We are Investors and Partners in this product and we've basically just been sold out fot the quick Black Friday buck. I'm still a fan of SotA and will continue to be, however from a Marketing standpoint you guys have got to get it together and stop shooting from the hip!

 

And I get this is a BONUS, and not actually cheaper price but it's all just symantics, they are getting Better House placement and pushed ahead of those that backed during Kickstarter....it's just wrong.

 

This is absolutely calling it like it is:

 

As long as portalarium keeps the kickstarter backers (on the ks or SotA sites before the ks campaign ended) placing houses first, it will be all right.


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What he was saying was that people donating now will get better placing due to the bonuses even if they only pledged 50$ during the KS.

One way to make this fairer, would be to make the bonus credit not effect housing priority.