Need some input : Premium Weapons

[Gank83]

My goal here is to find a way to give newcomers in this game a chance to grow to the point where they can choose how much they want to pay (or not pay). As it stands now newcomers to this game are scared shitless when they find out the extreme cost of gaming here and go running. This proposal is not a cure, but it is a help. Any help that can can keep new players here is a help to keep this game alive.

My point in mentioning what people spend on other more populated games is just to show that you are suggesting going from this game being 20x overpriced to 19x overpriced and thinking it will attract new players. The same new guy that laughed his ass off and left when he found out how much it cost for an upgrade isn't going to spend 30 bucks on a temporary weapon(and still suck because he has junk armor/accessories) just to figure out if he likes the game enough to buy a permanent upgrade. Even if given a free temporary bound weapon at level 100 or something, most people simply aren't going to spend hundreds of dollars on a pixel weapon in an old game with a low population lol.

More reasonable suggestion to be quite honest...5 dollar permanent fully forged +15 upgrades. Let people get their weapons cheap...they'll still spend on armor and accessories and other temporary items in the item mall and game parlor. What's a better game...a dwindling population of morons who spent hundreds of dollars on an OP pixel weapon or make the biggest mistake ever of OP cash only weapons go away by selling them dirt cheap, maybe more people will stick around, and the people the want to pay to win will still have an advantage with better acessories, armors, and scrolls. In the end everyone competitive is going to have an upgrade anyhow, its not like making them cheaper is going to screw up end game "balance" at all...it would hopefully just get more people to stick around.

[OrdinoArcalis]

Are you saying Rohan is an expensive game to play? Well, Duh! You are preaching to the choir bro.

So fine then. IF you don't want to play the game, don't play the game. As you say there are 3 games that cost you less to play and you get pore enjoyment from. Have a ball.

Having said that, you still don't understand why this game is dying and people leaving / not staying after 1 month.


Oh, well.

[OrdinoArcalis]

Funny thing...the amount I've spent on these three games in the last 5 years and have gotten, and still get much enjoyment out of them, and none of them involve any pay to win crap, is still less than either of the two choices you have given me with how much you think people will reasonable spend just for gear on Rohan that may be turned second class the second they decide to sell some more powerful pay to win stuff. Oh yeah...and they all have active populations much larger than Rohan...go figure lol.

I'm playing fifa 16 and i agree with you.

[Emrus]

Just sell the upgrades and have done with it.

I think this is the only solution to "lessen" the chaos.

[bosshunt]

I wouldn't mind at all if they sold fully forged weapons for $5 or pieces for $1 each, and I have bought quite a few upgrades myself either in parts or forged; most of them traded or sold away by now though but I still have about 3 of them. The people who you're going to possibly madden by selling them dirt cheap have either already left or are the diehards who may complain but never quit. The $xxx for epics and upgrades was originally meant to be a quick cash grab method anyway so there's no need to stick to that as a standard -- unless the GM-s want to, of course.. lol.

[PenguinJoe]

You guys do realize that they have to actually make money here to keep the game alive don't you?

Selling upgrades for less than you would pay for SES would be corporate seppuku.

@Gank - If they sell them at $5.00 each, you can bet they would put sockets in them and make them useless without spirit stones (Jainus meet Isen!). Isen is seen by Jainus to be so P2W that many feel it is far cheaper to play in Jainus.

At the end of the day, PWI has to make money out of whatever solution provided. They see a revenue stream for rental weapons or permanent ones that need to be purchased for each character. They do not see a revenue stream from expensive upgrades that cost almost as much as they make in support costs (increased tickets/manual processing for each upgrade). They won't see a revenue stream from weapons that are selling for $4-$5 each.

[Gank83]

You guys do realize that they have to actually make money here to keep the game alive don't you?

Why the hell do you think I mentioned all those cheaper games I play that are thriving? Their models obviously are working better and don't involve spending hundreds of dollars on a weapon alone. They don't don't price gouge their players...and they have much, much larger populations...go figure.

Selling upgrades for less than you would pay for SES would be corporate seppuku.

Or it would be corporate genius. Revenue upgrades are bringing in right now...ZERO. Revenue SES bringing in...minimal. Older players aren't buying many SES, nobody is buying upgrades. Sell 5 dollar upgrades, maybe will get an influx of new players and older players coming back that will buy SES...now your selling upgrades AND SES, and hopefully a larger amount of ASES going forward. Sell more overpriced crap and you'll just sell a handful to existing players willing to over pay and continue to not sell many SES.

@Gank - If they sell them at $5.00 each, you can bet they would put sockets in them and make them useless without spirit stones (Jainus meet Isen!). Isen is seen by Jainus to be so P2W that many feel it is far cheaper to play in Jainus.

Yeah...I do realize this, which is the problem. They want to gouge on every gear slot...they can't just be happy with people paying monthly for costumes and scrolls and dropping an occasional larger amount to forge/enhance things...so they just lose players. They've lost an army of players that would gladly be spending 10-20 bucks a month on costumes, ASES, and some scrolls who instead spend 0 because they don't want to invest ludicrous amounts of money in gear which may very well be rendered obsolete soon as they decide to have another upgrade sale and mod the stats again.

At the end of the day, PWI has to make money out of whatever solution provided. They see a revenue stream for rental weapons or permanent ones that need to be purchased for each character. They do not see a revenue stream from expensive upgrades that cost almost as much as they make in support costs (increased tickets/manual processing for each upgrade). They won't see a revenue stream from weapons that are selling for $4-$5 each.

I'll just say it again...since its obviously hard for you to comprehend. Would it matter if upgrade revenue, which has been zero for months anyhow stayed in the gutter while revenue on every other item went up due to increased player base? I'm not spending a dime on a game where I have to continuously rent everything for a single alt for 50+ a month when some weeks I only have time to play 1 or 2 days yet all my timers are still ticking when I'm not even using the stuff, and I'm not spending hundreds or thousands of dollars to gear up when that kind of money could build literally go build a new PC if I wanted and buy a few new games. PW is literally stepping over a dollar to grab a dime and people can't figure it out lol.

[Gank83]

Having said that, you still don't understand why this game is dying and people leaving / not staying after 1 month.


Oh, well.

He should put an application in at PW...he'd be a great asset to their team.

I wouldn't mind at all if they sold fully forged weapons for $5 or pieces for $1 each, and I have bought quite a few upgrades myself either in parts or forged; most of them traded or sold away by now though but I still have about 3 of them. The people who you're going to possibly madden by selling them dirt cheap have either already left or are the diehards who may complain but never quit. The $xxx for epics and upgrades was originally meant to be a quick cash grab method anyway so there's no need to stick to that as a standard -- unless the GM-s want to, of course.. lol.

I think people like PenguinJoe would get mad because he already over paid for garbage, so if someone behind him got a deal he'd rage initially, but then over time realize it was the right move as the player base grew.

[sunnyangel]

deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerailed and deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelusional

[PenguinJoe]

Why the hell do you think I mentioned all those cheaper games I play that are thriving? Their models obviously are working better and don't involve spending hundreds of dollars on a weapon alone. They don't don't price gouge their players...and they have much, much larger populations...go figure.



Or it would be corporate genius. Revenue upgrades are bringing in right now...ZERO. Revenue SES bringing in...minimal. Older players aren't buying many SES, nobody is buying upgrades. Sell 5 dollar upgrades, maybe will get an influx of new players and older players coming back that will buy SES...now your selling upgrades AND SES, and hopefully a larger amount of ASES going forward. Sell more overpriced crap and you'll just sell a handful to existing players willing to over pay and continue to not sell many SES.



Yeah...I do realize this, which is the problem. They want to gouge on every gear slot...they can't just be happy with people paying monthly for costumes and scrolls and dropping an occasional larger amount to forge/enhance things...so they just lose players. They've lost an army of players that would gladly be spending 10-20 bucks a month on costumes, ASES, and some scrolls who instead spend 0 because they don't want to invest ludicrous amounts of money in gear which may very well be rendered obsolete soon as they decide to have another upgrade sale and mod the stats again.



I'll just say it again...since its obviously hard for you to comprehend. Would it matter if upgrade revenue, which has been zero for months anyhow stayed in the gutter while revenue on every other item went up due to increased player base? I'm not spending a dime on a game where I have to continuously rent everything for a single alt for 50+ a month when some weeks I only have time to play 1 or 2 days yet all my timers are still ticking when I'm not even using the stuff, and I'm not spending hundreds or thousands of dollars to gear up when that kind of money could build literally go build a new PC if I wanted and buy a few new games. PW is literally stepping over a dollar to grab a dime and people can't figure it out lol.

There is one serious flaw inn your logic. That flaw is that this game is 8 years old (In N.A.). Any new game starts off with a huge population. Income is plentiful because of the honeymoon effect. The time to introduce cheap OP gear is while the population is high. YNK made the mistake of taking that too far with the (very) limited sales of epics and upgrades for huge money each. People got pissed off and left. A few of those people returned when upghrades v2.0 and v3.0 were released for about half the cost of the originals, but again, turned around and left because (1) again the sales were limited and (2) they were still too costly and (3) because they messed with the rates to the point where it simply costs too much to make them.

In short the population is lower than what you will find on most indo pservers.

The problem with selling full upgrades at $5 (forged) or $1/part is that there is not enough population left here to really make that a worthwhile venture. Even if 100 people bought them at $5.00 each, PWI makes what, $500 out of the whole thing. $500 would not support this server for a single month. $5000 wouldn't - and Jainus does not have 1000 players. And that $500 is a one off-sale to most players since nobody really needs to make a buttloads of upgrades when they are so cheap and can pass them between their characters.

I would not want to be the GM that approaches his executives with that business plan. GMs have been fired for less.