About The Platinum

[nicopopolis]

This is kind of a funny back and forth about an issue that's a little hard for certain people to grasp, and that's the concept of Whales.  This is a small amount of people who spend a large amount on games.  Whales are the reason there's a $250 founder tier.  They fund the game so we can all play it.  So why 375 platinum for certain frames?  While that may seem expensive to most, a person with a six figure income it's not much.  Imagine if you were gainfully employed and didn't want to spend a lot of time on this game, but still wanted to play.  Spending $50 to get the gear set you want from the get-go is going to really add to your enjoyment of the game and you probably won't have time to play it 100x over like some people.

 

Then you have others who complain about the price of potatoes and slots.  Seriously.  If you have a computer and have an internet connection to decently run this game, you should be able to spend a little money on the games you play.  Also if you got 100 hours to put into the game collecting frames and gear but don't have the money to buy slots and potatoes, maybe you should consider getting a part time job.

 

As for me, I'm 400 hours into the game.  I don't feel like I've grinded hundreds of hours to get rewards.  I'm not frustrated by low drop rates, because the punishment is that I have to keep playing the game I enjoy.  I'm still playing the game, doing alerts that I don't need the money for, farming void keys for missions that have no more gear for me to collect.  Why?  Because it's what there is to do in this game.

[MeteorKing]

I think a big point here that you seem to be missing is that this is a game.  You play it because it's fun.  There's extra content because that's fun, too.  If you don't want to play it you don't have to.  If you want to buy stuff, you're allowed to do so, but it is in no way needed (there is an argument to be made for slots, but not a strong one).  At the end of the day, you do what makes you happy, if that's playing or buying things to play with, that's totally up to you to decide.

[KvotheTheArcane1]

I think a big point here that you seem to be missing is that this is a game.  You play it because it's fun.  There's extra content because that's fun, too.  If you don't want to play it you don't have to.  If you want to buy stuff, you're allowed to do so, but it is in no way needed (there is an argument to be made for slots, but not a strong one).  At the end of the day, you do what makes you happy, if that's playing or buying things to play with, that's totally up to you to decide.

Here's the problem, I'm not debating if it is or isn't fun (I wouldn't play if it wasn't), what I'm trying to get across, is that the price is too high, $15 for a weapon or frame is too much. In other F2P games I can spend $15 and get much more than 1 weapon or frame (i.e. LoL you can get 4-5 champions I think, TF2 you can buy a good amount of weapons, etc)

[MeteorKing]

TF2 is completely different as you do not farm for weapons.  With the exception of the MvM update it is a completely PvP game.  There are no drops, you do not farm bosses, there is nothing to do other than kill eachother, cap points, steal intel, and defend your fellow teammates.  Originally the only way to get weapons was through achievements.  That lasted quite a while, the drop system was horrendously flawed when first implimented, and only after a great deal of time were there non-achievement drops added.  It is not a good system to equate to because beyond the weapons earned from achievements, there is no way other than random, time based, drops to aquire weapons.

 

LoL's price per new champion is about $7.50 with each new skin at the same price. Legendary skins will run you about $15.  There is a system set up to earn a secondary currency through a large amount of gameplay.  No one, or at least very few people, complains because it is seen as a fair mechanism for the company in question to earn money for their product while allowing the players to still play for free.

 

 Your comparision to refute my point, instead, supports it.

 

As to the quality of the burger analogy...it is quite poor, to say the least.  I do not have the time or will to give you a full explanation of formal logic, but essentially, when making an analogy you have to have all parts be equal.  The burger analogy falls short in a few regards:

1) The assumption of attending a BBQ is that there will be food served to you at either little or no cost.  This is different in that WF brings you into a world where you earn your keep.

2) Running around the block has nothing to do with a BBQ.  Playing a game to earn "burgers" in the game has everything to do with the game you are playing.

3) Charging high prices for things otherwise unobtainable.  WF allows for the "burger" to be obtained in game.

 

Where the analogy is strong is that you assume the parties coming to the "BBQ" are interested in the "burger."  As well as needing X amount of free time to go to the "BBQ" and have a "burger."  Further than that, it falls very short.

Edited September 11, 2013 by MeteorKing

[PookieNumnums]

It's awesome that you're a trust fund kiddie that can afford to spend the literally hundreds of hours necessary to do what you propose because you don't have to work or go to school or have a life or friends.

 

Meanwhile in the real world, people play more than one game and have real lives, something which is apparently completely lost on you.

 

no. there are tons of no lifers. you decided ot pick on this dude because he said swag. lol... this games plat is cheap. and callign someone a trust fund kiddie isnt fair. you have high founder status and youre hating on someone who says this game is reasonable and things are achievable... ive been playing like two and a half months, im not a serious gamer like you find in LoL or WoW and i have almost all of the desired frames. anyhow, i think de needs to make things harder to get in game so they can sell more of their stuff which is already cheap.

[Wahooo]

What do you do in this game except to farm parts and mats and mods?  If you bought everything straight out what are you playing for?

The concept is to play for this stuff.  Frames and weapons are expensive to encourage you to play for them instead.  Plenty of money to be had buying all the accoutrements.

 

Back to the BBQ analogy, what if the point of the BBQ IS something different like a fundraiser or a get together for a different purpose?  Is the purpose of Warframe simply to collect frames?  It is an aspect of the game, same as my part of the burger analogy.  Your analogy assumes the burger is the whole point.  Its a part.

[KvotheTheArcane1]

What do you do in this game except to farm parts and mats and mods?  If you bought everything straight out what are you playing for?

The concept is to play for this stuff.  Frames and weapons are expensive to encourage you to play for them instead.  Plenty of money to be had buying all the accoutrements.

 

Back to the BBQ analogy, what if the point of the BBQ IS something different like a fundraiser or a get together for a different purpose?  Is the purpose of Warframe simply to collect frames?  It is an aspect of the game, same as my part of the burger analogy.  Your analogy assumes the burger is the whole point.  Its a part.

For NOW the game is about farming, it's a problem the devs have acknowledged

 

TF2 is completely different as you do not farm for weapons.  With the exception of the MvM update it is a completely PvP game.  

So what? Prices are prices.

 

There are no drops,

...minus the drop system...

 

you do not farm bosses, there is nothing to do other than kill eachother, cap points, steal intel, and defend your fellow teammates.  Originally the only way to get weapons was through achievements.  That lasted quite a while, the drop system was horrendously flawed when first implimented, and only after a great deal of time were there non-achievement drops added.  It is not a good system to equate to because beyond the weapons earned from achievements, there is no way other than random, time based, drops to aquire weapons.

Sure, and it works.

 

LoL's price per new champion is about $7.50 with each new skin at the same price. Legendary skins will run you about $15.

LEGENDARY skins run you $15 roughly. Either way, the price for champions is STILL better than WF's.

 

 There is a system set up to earn a secondary currency through a large amount of gameplay.  

This is something WF doesn't have, don't see how it helps you.

No one, or at least very few people, complains because it is seen as a fair mechanism for the company in question to earn money for their product while allowing the players to still play for free.

 

 Your comparision to refute my point, instead, supports it.

Not really... Both are F2P, but TF2 has decent prices.

Again, $60 for a frame + 3 weapons (a new loadout) is crazy. G on, tell me how 4 weapons/frames is fair and well priced. Any reasonable person would go "Yeah, the prices are kinda high, they don't need to be dropped 90%, but they should be adjusted." (And judging by the fact most people wait for a 50%/75% sale, they could probably be dropped by roughly that... $7.50 for a frame, and ~$3 for a weapon sounds reasonable)

[MeteorKing]

If you're just going to say "prices are prices" then say complain about prices, then you're using circular logic.  The drop system is based off of a timer, nothing more.  There are no amount of people you can kill on any map with any game type to increase your chances of getting a drop.  They are random and arbitrary to whatever you are doing and have a cap per week (I think 12). Warframe has drastically less things to buy than LoL, but LoL is also a much more respected game and ingrained into the gaming community.  WF does have that, it's called farming for drops.  TF2 was also originally part of a package that you had to buy. Additionally tf2's market is funded almost entirely off of consumables, the only consumables sold by WF are for credits, otherwise everything is permanent.  The prices are set to what they are set because DE has decided that that is how much they would like to be paid for that particular service.  If they felt it needed to be more accessable to people, and not something that everyone decided would be worth it to purchase, then they would lower the prices.  They have not done so, so the only thing that we, as a community, can surmize, is that DE's sales on the market are about where they would like them to be.

 

All of your reasoning is just dismissing all evidence contrary to your positions and then claiming once more that you are correct and that prices are too high.  You are not following logic, reason, or proper etiquette (asking me to continuously cite things while you have none of your own), you only redress your initial argument.  This will be my last message because, through these things, you have become infuriating to talk to.

Edited September 11, 2013 by MeteorKing

[KvotheTheArcane1]

snip

 

All of your reasoning is just dismissing all evidence contrary to your positions and then claiming once more that you are correct and that prices are too high.

Kinda like yours? When I said "Prices are prices" I meant that prices are the same in any game (edit, as in they should be reasonable, just because one game is PvP, doesn't automatically mean it's prices are balanced, or that a PvE game automatically has balanced prices), just because one game is PvE, and one is PvP changes nothing on what the prices should be

(reasonable), the game type has nothing to do with prices. You still haven't told me why $15 is a good price for a weapon/frame.

 

 You are not following logic, reason, or proper etiquette (asking me to continuously cite things while you have none of your own), you only redress your initial argument.  This will be my last message because, through these things, you have become infuriating to talk to.

I can say the same thing.

 

But honestly, you STILL haven't come up with a reason why $15 on average is a fair, and balanced price for a weapon or frame. THAT'S what I keep trying to get an answer to. Don't think I've gotten answer to that.

 

To clarify my point: WHY is $15 on average for any weapon/frame a good price? Why is that a good price? Keep in mind, I'm someone who wants to buy a weapon, not farm it. So, now the big question, why should I pay $15 for a weapon? Why is that a good price?

Edited September 11, 2013 by KvotheTheArcane1

[Yefrign]

I personally have no issues with the plat prices...

 

75 plat gives you enough for ESSENTIALS; aka weapon slots, warframe slots, and the resources you NEED (Reactors, Catylists, Control Modules ect)

 

you can get any frame from farming bosses (with the exception of Banshee and Vubran), you can make all the weapons in the game without having to spend plat...

 

the only thing you are really paying for is the convenience of having the warframe or weapon NOW as opposed of working for it. 

 

besides F2P games need to have decent/high prices for convenience or else how else are they going to continue to provide you the GAME?

 

 

everyone almost seems to have forgotten how Blacklight Retribution does things; $3 - $5 simply for a SCOPE, we arent even talking about the trigger, mags, barrel, receiver, muzzle... to me THATS the rip off. 

 

but that might just be me.

 

 

 

EDIT: to KvotheTheArcane1, my answer to that and probably the only thing I can say is that: its the cost of A) convenience, B) supporting the devs, C) the costs of maintaining the jobs and resources for the team (that really fits into supporting the devs)

 

your right $15 does seem like a lot for one thing in the game. but then again say you have played the game for 100 hours without paying a cent. then a new weapon comes out and you want it because its really cool and you cant wait. so you put in your $15 and get your new toy... you've still invested more than 100 hours into the game without paying for anything and the note to take here is that, have you enjoyed your time while playing the game? have you had fun? 

 

meanwhile I can pay $80 for a game and only play it for 30 hours and not really enjoyed my time.

 

 

thats my two cents. 

Edited September 11, 2013 by Fartbake

[Countess_Hapmuhr]

I'm a 30+ year old guy that works for a living. I sometimes after work have very little time to play. My family is dirt poor and if I mess up my life, nobody is going to pay my bills.

 

Despite this, I have invested quite a lot of plat in this game on numerous things. Item rushing, potatos (of both kinds), colour packs and sentinel stuff. Why? Because I really like this game, I feel the prices are right. The reason they're right is that they're high enough for me to only make purchases I truly want. Take the Vauban, when I realized that it was RNG only, I decided to try and wait for the blueprints. A month later when I'd missed systems for the THIRD time in a row, I decided to buy it with plat instead.

 

I'm fine with these prices because it discourages shopping sprees, it ensures you only get what you absolutely want. Sure, it's less money for DE, but it's more playing time and better progression for me as a player. And if anything, having seen this team work on the game, it's very clear that they're passionate about it and want the gamers to play it, not to buy themselves through it.

[Wahooo]

But honestly, you STILL haven't come up with a reason why $15 on average is a fair, and balanced price for a weapon or frame. THAT'S what I keep trying to get an answer to. Don't think I've gotten answer to that.

 

To clarify my point: WHY is $15 on average for any weapon/frame a good price? Why is that a good price? Keep in mind, I'm someone who wants to buy a weapon, not farm it. So, now the big question, why should I pay $15 for a weapon? Why is that a good price?

It has been answered several times here yet you don't yet see it.

 

IF - the design of this game were such that the MAIN way you would acquire more frame is to purchase them with platinum then yes the prices would be absolutely outrageous.

BUT - the main method you are expected to use to acquire new gear in the game is to farm for it an build it.

 

The fact that all weapons and frames are free all you have to do is play the game to get them IS central to this whole friggen argument.  IF you had to pay real money for new frames I would ONLY have my starter frame regardless of cost right now.

[KvotheTheArcane1]

BUT - the main method you are expected to use to acquire new gear in the game is to farm for it an build it.

 

The fact that all weapons and frames are free all you have to do is play the game to get them IS central to this whole friggen argument.  IF you had to pay real money for new frames I would ONLY have my starter frame regardless of cost right now.

Right, you CAN farm the frame, but that doesn't mean the cost is suddenly justified. The fact you can farm the frame is wonderful, but it comes at the cost of TIME, (frames being 3.5 days of waiting) + time spent farming for materials. Honestly, just because you can farm the frame/weapon, SUDDENLY AND MAGICALLY, $15 for a frame/weapon isn't overpriced? Really?

 

I don't give a F*** if you can farm the frame, that's great, it's nice of DE to put that in, but it's beside the point. A frame or weapon costs $15, how is that not overpriced, you're not answering the question, you're deflecting it with "But you can farm it!" Pretend you don't want to farm it, pretend for some reason you want to buy it. Pretend you HAVE farmed the boss 30+ times and have broken down and decided to look at the price of the frame in the market.

[Wahooo]

You have it backwards.  They didn't put in farming as an alternative to buying.  The game is designed to play and farm for your stuff.  Paying for it is the alternative to playing, and if you want to you must pay a premium.

[KvotheTheArcane1]

You have it backwards.  They didn't put in farming as an alternative to buying.  The game is designed to play and farm for your stuff.  Paying for it is the alternative to playing, and if you want to you must pay a premium.

"A premium" that premium being real cash. Just because you're paying in real cash, and not farming, doesn't mean you should be gouged for it. Why is paying a reasonable price so bad?

[lautalocos]

Slots, colors, potatoes, sentinel swag, clan badges, resource packets... All 75 plat or less.

 

$5 is for 75 plat is a very reasonable price. The fact they actually offer discounts is amazing.

 

You can get EVERY FRAME IN THE GAME for FREE, save excal prime(which you can get an almost identical version of). You can get EVERY WEAPON IN THE GAME for FREE, save vandal versions(which you can get a nearly identical version, if you can get it at all).

 

So, there is nothing in the game that you can't get for free that costs more than 75 plat. Nothing at all.

 

This seems completely lost on most people responding here. o.0

that part is fine, but in free to play games, people buy non-cosmetic things (warframes, weapons, helmet skins which affect stats) so that they don´t have to grind/wait. the cost of these stuff is, and excuse my manners, @(*()$ BONKERS!

 

TL.DR: cosmetics have a good priece, the rest is crazy

[CY13ERPUNK]

75 plat for $5 is horrible

i got over 1200 plat for $50

do the math

[KvotheTheArcane1]

75 plat for $5 is horrible

i got over 1200 plat for $50

do the math

it's not so much about how much plat you get, but how much everything costs. (although how much plat you get in a package could be changed too.)

Edited September 11, 2013 by KvotheTheArcane1

[Volume]

Thoughts on slots here.

 

So.... Because you can't buy plat, the prices are fine? Wow. That reasoning sucks.

 

edit: Honestly, are you saying $15 on average for a weapon or frame is fine? Really? Honestly?

 

He was just saying, in response to the OP, "There is nothing wrong with the people" (the ones mentioned in the final line of the OP) - not that there is nothing wrong with the prices (there are, most certainly, at least a handful of things wrong with some of the pricing).

[Mythrex]

I think what all you guys are missing is that all the little things are reasonably priced and frames and weapons should be overpriced (DE even said this was and always will be their business model) because if its not everyone will just have everything and nobody will have any reason to play...

[Mythrex]

I'm a 30+ year old guy that works for a living. I sometimes after work have very little time to play. My family is dirt poor and if I mess up my life, nobody is going to pay my bills.

 

Despite this, I have invested quite a lot of plat in this game on numerous things. Item rushing, potatos (of both kinds), colour packs and sentinel stuff. Why? Because I really like this game, I feel the prices are right. The reason they're right is that they're high enough for me to only make purchases I truly want. Take the Vauban, when I realized that it was RNG only, I decided to try and wait for the blueprints. A month later when I'd missed systems for the THIRD time in a row, I decided to buy it with plat instead.

 

I'm fine with these prices because it discourages shopping sprees, it ensures you only get what you absolutely want. Sure, it's less money for DE, but it's more playing time and better progression for me as a player. And if anything, having seen this team work on the game, it's very clear that they're passionate about it and want the gamers to play it, not to buy themselves through it.

THIS SO MUCH THIS!

[Numot]

DE's pricing is horrible because it strongly discourages spending. High baseline values are fine if you frequently push promotions and sales.

 

I like the game, I've spent money on it. I cannot justify more though. The reason is pretty simple, you can't stretch the value of your plat that far. I actually have platinum sitting around from my founders I rarely touch save potatoes and slots simply because anything else would be an utter waste of my money.

[KvotheTheArcane1]

I think what all you guys are missing is that all the little things are reasonably priced and frames and weapons should be overpriced (DE even said this was and always will be their business model) because if its not everyone will just have everything and nobody will have any reason to play...

You're missing the people who can't get plat for any reason, and you could STILL spend a few hundred dollars on the game if just the weapons were say, ~50 plat each. At that price, 6 weapons cost $30. There are what, 70 weapons available for purchase? that's roughly $233.33 if you only get $5 packs (need a total of 3500 plat, buying the best packs, you could get 70 weapons at 50 plat each for roughly $190)

 

My point is, just because suddenly there are reasonable prices, doesn't mean everyone buys everything. And even if they do, that's GOOD for DE, they get a massive influx of money with which they can expand (i.e. test server, QA team, etc)

[Innosin]

Free to play doesn't mean everything is free, because the dev still has to make money. 

There will alwasy be means for dev to get money from the player base depending on what form of market they choose.

 

And in this game, the dev is simply asking "how much is your time worth?"

as you can see, this question is strongly opinioned, there are no right or wrong answer.

The answer depends on a person's income, age, social status,and spending habbit. There are no right answer for that. Spending 1000 dollar on a camera lens may not be much for some people, but it may sound crazy for others. Each individual values the money and time spend on their entertainment different, and most likely, the best result between two sides of the arguement is agree to disagree.

 

The same conflict happens here, 15 dollar for a weapon is astonishing high for some player, but for some others, it's not a bad price to neglect hours of potential farming. For me, 15 dollar honestly isn't a bad price, it may be for others, but it  isn't bad for me.

(Though ... I do propose the game to let us purchase individual bp/parts at a reduceed price of the main frame, since the RNG can be a pain when it comes to drop from tiem to time)

 

Again, there are no "right price" for each items, because each person has a different value on entertainment. and now, consider HQ of DE is in London and Canada, 15 dollar for them may mean a lot less comparing to some other players.

Edited September 13, 2013 by Innosin

[Ryaezor]

For those who are complaining about the price of platinum, you can get some for free by going to https://www.ugcclub.com?join=17205. All it takes is a little patience.