Guest Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 (edited) I'm sure everybody by now has noticed how absurdly priced everything is in the Warframe market. DE, why is everything so expensive? I know you're new to the whole F2P scene, but making everything cost an arm and a leg is not how you make a profit. Who are you appealing to with garbage like this? 125 Platinum (nearly $10) for a Dual Skana? And it's apparently on sale? How does this count as a sale? Last I checked, sales were meant to be enticing to at least somebody. 800 Platinum (the price of the average AAA game you can find on Steam) for two poxy reskins and a scythe? Who is going to buy these besides people who have zero sense of what money is worth? When you put things up in the store, you want to appeal to the average Joe. The guy who has $5 left in his account after paying the bills. The kid who got $5 for delivering newspapers and wants to spend it on his favorite game. You appeal to these people because they are your most common customer, the broadest audience that plays your game. You DON'T want to purely appeal to people who apparently S#&$ money and own a Bentley, because that's what it seems you're doing. These are your cheapest Platinum packs, these are the most commonly bought packages. Appeal to the people who will only put money down on THESE packages. Take advantage of the rich folk second. Now I know what some of you will be thinking. "DE can price these things however they want, it's their game and they need to eat!" Fair enough, but pricing items so that NOBODY but rich kids will buy them is not how you make a profit. What's more likely to earn the highest amount of dough; a cheap product that sells continuously or a really expensive product that barely sells at all? I personally spent some time altering some market prices as an example and discussed with others what we agreed they should be. This is in by no means a "DO THIS NOW," it's merely a suggestion we feel would help DE earn more profit and make the overall playerbase much happier. That in the end is what matters. As you can see for weapons, we agreed upon a $5 limit. After all these weapons can be farmed up with relative ease. So what good is it to make half the weapons cost $15 when somebody will immediately jump back and just say "I can farm these weapons up in like an hour of farming, I'm not paying that much." You want to make the ability to purchase these weapons seem like a service instead of a complete con. If the weapons were priced as they were above, a person would actually think about purchasing some of these weapons. "It would take ages to get those Akboltos if I did it normally. $5 isn't that much after all so I guess it's okay to buy them, and it comes with an Orokin Catalyst and a weapon slot as well." The person wouldn't feel ripped off, unlike the current system, because for all intents and purposes he didn't get ripped off, he got a pretty damn good deal. That's what you want, you want everybody to consider buying weapons from the store first, before they even think of grinding the weapon up in game. Here's another one we did for the actual frames. I know I know, we bumped up the price of Loki, Volt and Excalibur. But overall every frame is now in line of $10-$15. That's what we felt would be the best price zone for them and what the average consumer would appreciate more. Instead of crap like Rhino and Ash costing 325 Platinum which is just insane. Did people even buy those? If you did, you got ripped hard. Another thing DE needs to start doing is having sales that matter. Sales are ALWAYS when companies and other businesses earn the biggest profit, people love a good sale and will usually save up some money waiting for one to drop. Look at the above frame prices, they're okay, they'd be purchased a few times, certainly A LOT more than they are now, which is more money in the bank for DE. But what if... ALL FEMALE FRAMES 50% OFF SALE WEEKEND happened. "HOLY @(*()$ S#&$" - Everybody looking for a good deal. You have now got everybody who can only afford the small packages SCURRYING to grab these frames while they're discounted. People who would have never bought these frames normally whether it be due to other financial reasons taking precedence or just refusing altogether to drop that kind of money on a F2P game. Look at Steam, look how much profit Valve earns during Steam sales. They earn MILLIONS, their profits skyrocket. People LOVE sales, so take advantage of them. Well, there's my long &#! post about the market. DE, I'm begging you. Make the market prices actually sane. Everybody will benefit from it. You'll earn more money, and the playerbase will be happier and not feel like they walked into a con house. -UPDATED- After a talk with Cifrer (thanks brah) on Page 5, we quickly came up with a way to balance out the pricing of the weapons in a way that makes them cheap while also taking into account Orokin Catalysts and weapon slots are included. The solution? Make them optional extras. (Excuse the awful obvious Paint edits, I ain't no graphic artist) The person can choose to buy just the weapon, or pay a little extra for an installed Catalyst at a discounted price. And if they want to, even pay a little extra for a weapon slot. This way everybody wins. Edited May 26, 2013 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apinaheebo Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 ++++++++++ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feldgrep Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 just over $5 for a saryn. Saryn is still an amazing frame. I love this idea. Perma sale on dual skana is not a good idea. but yeah, i would feel better about spoending if i could buy more for less. i would buy alot more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asla Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 (edited) Finnaly one guy guy who has a good economic sense. De should read this. I approve this post. According to the incredible amount of weapons/frames right now, i think catalyst/reactor should be worth 10 plat, same for forma. Edited May 26, 2013 by Asla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregio Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 You forget weapons come with a slot and a catalyst.Seeing as catalysts cost 20 and a single slot costs 6 platinum, your viper costing 25 makes no sense.I'm brazilian, whatever platinum I buy, I'll pay around twice as much as any dollar customer and I don't think the prices are quite absurd or anything.Platinum is used to buy commodities, most people buy simply slots and colors, which are fairly priced, specially the bundles.Some prices could be adjusted, sure, I agree, but your outrage is exxagerated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esperiae Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 (edited) oh hey look its a thrift store Edited May 26, 2013 by LeBlaue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mak_Gohae Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 but pricing items so that NOBODY but rich kids will buy them is not how you make a profit. How do you know? There are endless stores around the world selling common items for ridiculous prices and they do fine. Hek, people continuously by the Iphone which costs several hundreds of dollars each time a new version comes out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordofTibera Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 THIS. The phrase you said explaining that the market should be geared towards people who have a little extra money--$5, $10 on the weekend to blow--and then DE can more easily grab that. It makes sense. The 800 plat for the Stalker pack and 300 plat for the ridiculously dispersed Vauban frame is ABSURD. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. DE's making bank on the people who bought those things, though, so I don't doubt that they're laughing all the way to the bank. I mean, I bought Banshee when she came out because I knew that I wouldn't get the BP parts, and SHE didn't cost 300 plat and I felt MORE screwed when I got down to using her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 You forget weapons come with a slot and a catalyst. Seeing as catalysts cost 20 and a single slot costs 6 platinum, your viper costing 25 makes no sense. I'm brazilian, whatever platinum I buy, I'll pay around twice as much as any dollar customer and I don't think the prices are quite absurd or anything. Platinum is used to buy commodities, most people buy simply slots and colors, which are fairly priced, specially the bundles. Some prices could be adjusted, sure, I agree, but your outrage is exxagerated. A Viper is not worth more than 25 Platinum, it is arguably one of the easiest weapons to construct after the Cronus. Take away the Orokin Catalyst and the slot if needs be, I don't care. Charging any more for that weapon is a complete con and nobody but retards would pay the 75 Plat it costs now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strac_CRO Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 (edited) Yeap, some prices are really high. I think prices of warframe/weapons are set high to "force" people to buy them with credits (warframes/weapons or their Blueprints) Edited May 26, 2013 by Strac_CRO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennoSkoom Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 Personally i think $15 is still to high for a frame. But while i disagree with your pricing the point stands and is vehemetly agreed with. Platinum pricing is outrageous and the value is not what it should be. Paying for convenience is a good model, paying out the &#! for it is not. DE's made several hundred thousand dollars (Very conservative estimate here, it could be well over a million) Once those initial sales of founders packages and upgrades trickle off though- they'll quickly find the income to be lacking- because nobody in their right minds is going to spend this kind of money on the smaller items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 How do you know? There are endless stores around the world selling common items for ridiculous prices and they do fine. Hek, people continuously by the Iphone which costs several hundreds of dollars each time a new version comes out. I know because look at any successful F2P game. It's also simple business knowledge when it comes to games like this which anybody can play. Small incremental purchases lead to the largest profit because people don't feel like they're wasting anything. Do you think people are clamoring to pay what must be $40 for the Stalker set? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noponis Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 (edited) i love that the stalker pack costs so much tbh it's supposed to be something special that you ar supposed to obtain the "legit" way and it's not just reskins the stalker kunai even have different models also different stats and even some special effects like being more or less effective on certain enemies or the dread having higher velocity projectiles Edited May 26, 2013 by Noponis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esperiae Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 How do you know? There are endless stores around the world selling common items for ridiculous prices and they do fine. Hek, people continuously by the Iphone which costs several hundreds of dollars each time a new version comes out. the irony is that he is a Grand Master Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 the irony is that he is a Grand Master I gave money to DE in the hopes they will provide a fantastic product. Did you think I paid for that garbage Skana and having my name on a poxy planet nobody looks at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishworshipper Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ All my + Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mak_Gohae Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 I know because look at any successful F2P game. It's also simple business knowledge when it comes to games like this which anybody can play. Small incremental purchases lead to the largest profit because people don't feel like they're wasting anything. Do you think people are clamoring to pay what must be $40 for the Stalker set? You havent seen DE's accounting. You dont know how much profit they are making, other F2P games have no bearing on what DE is doing. And no i dont know if people are clamoring to pay for the set but if a few buy it that's a win. Remember, this game has no publisher so the cash goes directly to them minus whatever transaction cost from whatever pay services they are using. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sojurn Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 I don't see this as a issue realy makes you stop and think about if you realy want to rush to get the frame or weapon or farm it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 You havent seen DE's accounting. You dont know how much profit they are making, other F2P games have no bearing on what DE is doing. And no i dont know if people are clamoring to pay for the set but if a few buy it that's a win. Remember, this game has no publisher so the cash goes directly to them minus whatever transaction cost from whatever pay services they are using. You don't seem to be grasping that if DE made the prices more geared towards people who weren't born in a family that owns a yacht, they'd earn more money. This is a proven fact with many F2P games which remain successful to this day, as well as many mobile games on iPhone and Android. You see those Orokin Catalysts and Reactors which cost a measly 20 Platinum? I can guarantee you they are some of the highest selling items in the store. Why? They're cheap and rarely show up in the game. So tell me why some of the rarest to find and most sought after items cost LESS than all of the weapons, many of which can be made with barebones materials you get just by playing normally? I guarantee you 90% of the playerbase does not purchase weapons or frames, and they have good reason to, because it's a complete con. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheaMatticks Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 Regardless of general pricing, I've always fight like the pricing seems kind of arbitrary. Like, why is the skana, a weapon you are GIVEN to start with and which isn't very good, 150 plat? Who in their right mind would ever pay that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Second_Measure Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 They need to check on the Platinum prices in the EU, since they are horribly unbalanced between their packs in regard of Platinum/€. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzzero Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 I like this pricing model. It does make me actually consider buying some stuff, instead of wondering who in their right mind would pay for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nillard Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 (edited) I've always wondered what makes the frames cost such different amounts of Platinum. I can understand Loki and Excalibur being $5, being starters. But what makes Mag cost more? Why are all the female frames nearly the same price? What makes Rhino and Frost more valuable than the rest of the frames? Differences aside, when you think you might buy one, go to add plat only to see it's $20-30 a frame, you get discouraged. Current prices destroy any impulse buys. Edited May 26, 2013 by Nillard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCatLad Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 I love DE but I do highly question their common sense when it comes to in-game currency/markets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psyked Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 Hey, I could actually see myself buying some stuff aside from weapon and warframe slots with those prices. Go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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