Why Is Platinum So Affordable?

[stacey69]

At the end of the day it's how much fun you received while shelling out the money. If you are having fun, so be it. My friends called me a fool for buying SimCity but in all honesty despite all the bugs and server issue i was having fun with the game. I did not regret my purchase.

This hits the nail on the head for me. My shoes were not wrecked after 2 months by the way. Just not as shiny and i didn't feel so special when i wore them. My Boltor on the other hand gives me pleasure of the nether regions still. It is an amazing game gun. One of the very best i have used in a pc game. The Glaive also. I'm really trying to show the difference in price between 2 items that most people would never think to compare and how those items make you feel from day 1 to month 2 for xxx amount of real world money. Its about money to how that item makes you feel. Thank you RedFaceGeneral.

 

Ryanshow i can not continue here as i do not know the ins and outs of DE's finances. I do know though that comparing a shoe company to a tech company that makes games is as bad as comparing Dolphin hunting to Mountain climbing for the disabled. Impossible to compare as both are completely different. One requires an expensive boat, low man power but specialized equipment. The other is based more on logistics, more man power but less specialized equipment. The overheads do not compare. My daughter has Spina Bifida so i know a little about Mountain climbing for the disabled, sorry if this reference upset anyone. I also do not condone Dolphin hunting or seal clubbing or anything that harms animals for pleasure.

 

Cedric I don't understand your borderline comment. I tried to inject some fun into a heated topic, so did many others who posted. I see no issues. I have also been civil and i believe everyone else has thus far. Not unless you had to delete something but i wouldn't know about that.

 

JollierThanThou: Are you saying people pay different amounts based on their founders package status? If so i did not know this. 

 

So the Vauban would cost me around £10 to buy. If i compare this to buying another full game on Steam it does not seem good value. If i compare it to my awful burger and chips last night at the same price it seems amazing value as i am still playing Vauban and enjoying it a lot. The food however was crap, lasted 5 minutes and made me want to say hello to my friend Armitage shanks.

 

I believe now from reading peoples comments that if the Vauban was around £2.50 to £5.00 then more would have shown interest in buying him with real world money. Maybe DE have large overheads and simply can not offer us Blizzard prices. It would be nice to have some kind of feedback from a DE employee who could shed light on why items cost what they do and maybe explain the process of making these items financially. There seems to be a market out there for DE but they are not tapping into it correctly.

 

Would you have bought Vauban if it was £2.50 ?

Would you buy Platinum if it was half the price of its current price now?

 

Do you feel DE should increase its prices and aim for a more niche market? They only have around 10,000 customers online at once mostly and a lot of people wont play the game due to bugs and bad design. If they made more money from higher sales maybe we would get a better product and bring in more niche gamers who are looking for something special to invest in over a long period of time. 

 

Do you feel DE should lower its prices and aim for the masses?. Maybe getting 100,000 customers online at the same time. How would this affect DE in terms of being able to cope with more customers in a short space of time.

 

Thank you.

[Grilleds]

Platinum, affordable? Not even close. Even if you are very very rich, you don't get much with what you spend in this game, even compared to other FtP games.

Price of one Warframe in this game would net you about 7-8 premium tanks on World of Tanks, with some money left over.

It would also net you every character in Super Monday Night Combat, as well as some cosmetics, and you would still have $10 left.

You could also buy whole games for some of the prices of items in the shop.

This game has one of the least affordable cash shop's I've ever seen. Only some games by Nexon are worse in that regard.

I've paid for virtual goods before, but those were in small increments, and I actually felt like I got what I paid for.

This game is fun, but its prices are too damn high by a very large margin. Its way outside of my price range as a college student.

[stacey69]

Platinum, affordable? Not even close. Even if you are very very rich, you don't get much with what you spend in this game, even compared to other FtP games.

Price of one Warframe in this game would net you about 7-8 premium tanks on World of Tanks, with some money left over.

It would also net you every character in Super Monday Night Combat, as well as some cosmetics, and you would still have $10 left.

You could also buy whole games for some of the prices of items in the shop.

This game has one of the least affordable cash shop's I've ever seen. Only some games by Nexon are worse in that regard.

I've paid for virtual goods before, but those were in small increments, and I actually felt like I got what I paid for.

This game is fun, but its prices are too damn high by a very large margin. Its way outside of my price range as a college student.

So really DE need to identify their customer base and then target it at the right price. If their customer base is mostly people who come from a background that earns high wages etc then the current price would be too low. If most are students and younger people who may not be working then micro transactions would be the way forward.

 

It would be very interesting to hear DE's point of view on this. Thanks for replying.

[Grilleds]

So really DE need to identify their customer base and then target it at the right price. If their customer base is mostly people who come from a background that earns high wages etc then the current price would be too low. If most are students and younger people who may not be working then micro transactions would be the way forward.

 

It would be very interesting to hear DE's point of view on this. Thanks for replying.

I don't know about that. From my experience, high wage players would just end up making more purchases to cover the price difference if the prices were lower.

If the prices were about halved, the increased number of players who buy platinum would make up for the difference. Its not the price per unit sold that solely determines income, but also the amounts of units sold in general. So lower prices = higher affordability for low income players, and higher amount of sales for high income players, which would overall garner a higher profit in general.

[JollierThanThou]

Are you saying people pay different amounts based on their founders package status? If so i did not know this. 

 

That's right. If you buy 75, it's $0.07 per platinum. If you buy 8875 with the Grand Master pack, it's $0.03 per.

[rksk16it]

lol to this thread  everyone has different way to spend his money 

 

some : i dont wanna pay for game its to much and they squishing lot of money on fast foodxD

 

some: save and not buying lot of fast food to get some ingame currency 

 

some: have everything and can buy both 

 

in last  my bud   ( money goes and come btw) spend your money on things u like dont hear to people barks !! :P  spend it to something precious to you before it gone / or u die and regreting for it !! xD 

 

How can you regret AFTER dying ? :P

[BoompigXD]

I bought new shoes for £50 and they lasted me 2 months.

I bought Boltor for £5 and it lasted 2 months and i still use it !

 

Platinum compared to real world money is so worth it.

 

The fun i had on Vauban. O how we chuckled as be bounced around... Best £5 i ever spent on a game.

 

 

So your basically asking for platnium to be more expensive? The title is misleading and if you are saying that you want it more expensive then get out of here.

[stacey69]

That's right. If you buy 75, it's $0.07 per platinum. If you buy 8875 with the Grand Master pack, it's $0.03 per.

Ah yes i understand this and is why i bought a package. You can only buy 1 package per account though so my next amount of Platinum costs the same as everyone else.

 

So your basically asking for platnium to be more expensive? The title is misleading and if you are saying that you want it more expensive then get out of here.

I can't see anywhere i said that. Paste me this info you read please. Also read the whole thread.

[KvotheTheArcane1]

Ah yes i understand this and is why i bought a package. You can only buy 1 package per account though so my next amount of Platinum costs the same as everyone else.

 

I can't see anywhere i said that. Paste me this info you read please. Also read the whole thread. true, I don't think you ever asked for more expensive platinum

The thing is, at 75plat for $5, you get 15:$1, but at the 4300 plat to $200, you get 21.5:$1, so the problem is that it favors those who spend a lot of money in one go (heavily favors those who spend it, if you bought $200 worth of $5 packs over time, you'd only get 3k platinum). (

 

don't get me wrong, bigger packages should have more value, but the $5 pack currently gets you so little, but it's also the most easily accessed pack so it should have SOME appeal to it, more than a few items (20 items at most, including cosmetics))

Edited May 23, 2013 by KvotheTheArcane1

[BoompigXD]

 

 

I can't see anywhere i said that. Paste me this info you read please. Also read the whole thread.

I did read the whole thread however the title is misleading and it made me think you were asking it to be more expensive

[VScipii26]

And £50 for decent shoes is pretty normal, I have to spend £60+ to get shoes in a size twelve that aren't made of cardboard.

 

Then stop buying designer/canvas shoes.

My size 11.5 Vans were $30 and have lasted me a year, and still going. And I do heavy-duty backpacking in them.

 

As for the price of things, yes it's fairly decent, but it's high enough that people choose not to purchase. It's barely in the "pricey" range. Maybe instead of having to choose between 550 alloy plates and 12 hours or $5 fo a weapon that isn't actually that desired, it could be $2.50, or even just knocking off a dollar. That's an extra weapon for the same $20.

[stacey69]

The thing is, at 75plat for $5, you get 15:$1, but at the 4300 plat to $200, you get 21.5:$1, so the problem is that it favors those who spend a lot of money in one go (heavily favors those who spend it, if you bought $200 worth of $5 packs over time, you'd only get 3k platinum). (

 

don't get me wrong, bigger packages should have more value, but the $5 pack currently gets you so little, but it's also the most easily accessed pack so it should have SOME appeal to it, more than a few items (20 items at most, including cosmetics))

I think reading this thread people would prefer to buy 20 items for £10 and not 1 item for £10. The problem i can see if that they are thinking about micro transactions from other games where they buy skins and stuff. I think the idea of buying a new frame or gun is that the use of it lasts a lot longer than say just a skin or spell you may not use very often. Hence this is about value for money. Quality over quantity.

 

So this Vauban cost me around £10. The enjoyment i have got from it compares to a night out at the cinema for £10. I think Vauban is much better value than spending 3 hours at the cinema to the 60 hours + i have enjoyed from using the Vauban.

 

On the other side. I could have spent that £10 on a months subscription to WOW and got a months gameplay. I could have bought Deadspace 1 and 2 for the same price. The list would go on. So comparing Platinum to real world things like food or a night out gives Platinum and the items you buy with it good value. It does not give good value if you compare Platinum to another games micro transactions or games you can buy out right.

 

Hard one this. It seems DE are trying to entice free to play people to come and play their game but also aim at a niche market of gamers who can afford to buy their ingame currency that keeps them in business. This also causes a gap between players and a rift of attitudes that can cause forum upset and in game arguments.

 

So to conclude this thought. DE seem to have it wrong. They should be selling more items at a cheaper price. We will have to wait and see how update 8 changes Warframe. None of us have any idea what is coming apart from basic information like 2 new Warframes etc.

 

Bring on update 8 then:) 

[KvotheTheArcane1]

-snip-

 

So to conclude this thought. DE seem to have it wrong. They should be selling more items at a cheaper price. We will have to wait and see how update 8 changes Warframe. None of us have any idea what is coming apart from basic information like 2 new Warframes etc.

YES. THIS. THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO SAY THIS ENTIRE TIME. Most people don't get enough out of their platinum, because things are either too expensive, or you don't get enough platinum when you buy platinum.

 

Bring on update 8 then:)  yup yup! Can't wait!

[stacey69]

Well KvotheTheArcane update 8 is here. I bought Vulkar, Kunai, Dual Cleavers and Deathcube. Looks like I'll be buying more Platinum for the new Warframes and weapons in future as I'm almost out. Might wait and see if they discount it first. Bargains are always cool :)