Crown Items Added to Add On Store

Greetings Avatars,

Prior to Release 53 there were items that were only available on Crown Merchants. These items were not available on our Add On Store. In Release 53 we have added many of those items to the Add On Store (while leaving them on the Crown Merchants as well). We have done this to provide options to players on how they wish to acquire these items (crowns or currency).

The added items include:

• Concept Art Paintings
• Denis Loubet Portrait Paintings
• Concept Art Tapestries
• Concept Art Rugs
• Elven Globe Homes
• Elven Tent
• Tombstone

 

Hey @DarkStarr, thanks for adding these to the Add-On Store. However, I noticed some disconnects with pricing on these items:

• Landscape Paintings Set 1 and Set 2 each contain six painting available in-game from Caravaggio's Wolf. Each is available for 1 COTO, but the set shows a regular price of $10. At $1.25 per COTO (assuming you buy 5 at a time, 6*1.25=7.5, and round up), the regular price should be $8. Contrast this with the Portrait Paintings Notables Set contains six painting, five that are 2 COTOS and one that is 1 COTO, with a regular price of $14 (11*1.25=13.75). At least with the current sale, you save one COTO over buying the landscapes in-game, but you get a much better deal on the notables. There is the same issue with the Tapestries and Rugs sets.
  
• The Portrait Leaders Set only contains three painting, each 1 COTO, but shows a regular price of $6. This should be (3*1.25=3.75) a regular price of $4. With the current sale price, you save nothing over buying in-game.
• The Paintings Mega Set contains all of the above, and has a regular price of $38. It should be (26*1.25=32.5) regularly priced at $33. At least at the $19 introductory price, you save quite a bit!
  
• The Rectangular Tombstone is available in-game for 2 COTOS, but shows a regular price of $4. This should be (2*1.25=2.5) a regular price of $4. Again, the current sale prices don't save you anything over buying in-game.

Because these items are available both in-game and on the Add-On Store, I think we should try to make sure the pricing is fairly consistent.

I agree with the sentiment, however the differences in pricing is not insubstatial. Even with the whole-dollar-rounding that the Add-On Store does now, there is a case to be made that (barring buying the mega sets) it is more worthwhile to purchase COTOS than to buy anything directly from the store. Which, in that case, why have it?

 

Hey @Berek, also on Landscape Rugs Set 2, the image for the Ardoris Rug is shown. However, that rug is not included in the list of included items for the set. It IS shown in the list for the Landscape Rugs Mega Set, however. Should it be included in Set 2?

 

Yes, I'm adding the line item to the description. Thanks for noticing!

 

Why does the price have to be the same? Are we all afraid to actually explore the game and find the content for a less price than on the store? Convenience costs more? I guess I think that it's fine that the prices are different

 

Because of the backlash that will invariably happen when someone buys something in the Add-On Store, and then finds the same item available for less in-game. It sets a bad precedent that you have to be wary of buying from the developers, which should be the most clear-cut way to shop. To find them for less, you should need to seek out player vendors.

This was actually one of the reasons I was glad to see items moving from the Add-On Store to the COTO vendors in-game (from the same seller!). COTOs should be the only thing you can buy, except when specials are bring run. That said, the crown merchants need to be broken up a bit and there needs to be more of them; right now basically everything is available on two vendors, which take forever to load and then a long time to search through.

 

Would be great to break them down at least by the equivalent of tabs on the add-on store.