The Warframe Market Is A Joke And Actively Discourages Impulse Purchases (Updated, Includes Solution To Installed Catalysts/weapon Slot On Weapons)

[(PSN)munkt0r]

What I don't understand is if you take the farming/grinding out of the game by buying the frames/weapons...well then what is it you will be playing for?

 

Maybe I missed something, but the only reason to play is to farm/grind materials for the blueprints you find to get better weapons/warframes.  If you have said better weapons/warframes haven't you basically "won" the game with money?

 

Just my 2 cents.

[ChileanWarpig]

GIVE OP A COOKIE

[KorbanGado]

The prices do appear pretty steep, no doubt about it. However, its a time versus $$ cost balance, as opposed to simply what we want to pay vs what it's worth.

How long must you play if you were to want and get (say) a Frost? All the time to get to that planet, all the time to do the runs, any extra time to get the resources, then theres the 3-4 day wait for everything to build. Add on to that the Reactor (which can only be gotten rarely) and the slot, and then approximate the value based on that. 

People buying it are less about being rich and more about being impatient (theres 0 wait after you buy it with plats). Beyond that, some of us want to keep DE as a company afloat - remember, they get paid only because we are buying that plat in the first place. The prices are a bit outrageous now, but they kind of need to be to fund the development and allow them to all live while making the thing - game's ain't cheap in this day and age. If anything, I would expect that when it's finally a done deal, completely sealed game that's no longer getting tweaks and hits "actual release" mode instead of the crowd-funded game it is at the moment, that's when the prices would drop on things - as at that point it'd be additional revenue and not need-it-to-live money. Then again, that's probably a ways off into the future, so who can really predict it?

Also, the cost of an item in the real world usually depends on how much it costs to produce it. Ask the developers to get you some numbers on how many hours went into making that virtual sword work right - graphically, sound, animation, all of that. Multiply it by even minimum wage and see what it's initial value would be, then we could do a better job of determining the market value. 

Again, I'm all for price cuts - but considering the only real reason to buy anything outside of slots is because A) you want to support the game or B) your an impatient person who sees $$ as better spent than your time to grind it all out, I don't really see much of a problem with it.

[SolidSp33d]

The prices do appear pretty steep, no doubt about it. However, its a time versus $$ cost balance, as opposed to simply what we want to pay vs what it's worth.

How long must you play if you were to want and get (say) a Frost? All the time to get to that planet, all the time to do the runs, any extra time to get the resources, then theres the 3-4 day wait for everything to build. Add on to that the Reactor (which can only be gotten rarely) and the slot, and then approximate the value based on that. 

People buying it are less about being rich and more about being impatient (theres 0 wait after you buy it with plats). Beyond that, some of us want to keep DE as a company afloat - remember, they get paid only because we are buying that plat in the first place. The prices are a bit outrageous now, but they kind of need to be to fund the development and allow them to all live while making the thing - game's ain't cheap in this day and age. If anything, I would expect that when it's finally a done deal, completely sealed game that's no longer getting tweaks and hits "actual release" mode instead of the crowd-funded game it is at the moment, that's when the prices would drop on things - as at that point it'd be additional revenue and not need-it-to-live money. Then again, that's probably a ways off into the future, so who can really predict it?

Also, the cost of an item in the real world usually depends on how much it costs to produce it. Ask the developers to get you some numbers on how many hours went into making that virtual sword work right - graphically, sound, animation, all of that. Multiply it by even minimum wage and see what it's initial value would be, then we could do a better job of determining the market value. 

Again, I'm all for price cuts - but considering the only real reason to buy anything outside of slots is because A) you want to support the game or B) your an impatient person who sees $$ as better spent than your time to grind it all out, I don't really see much of a problem with it.

 

Problem is the amount of people that inpatient and willing to pay such crazy amounts are pretty minimal. Again, just like the OP said. It's about impulse. Most people may feel kind of lazy and have some money or plat to spend. They decide to check out the prices for what they want to make, but the prices are no where worth it. They wouldn't think to much about it if it was 5-10 bucks. But 20-30 for fairly average items? Please, they could just buy other games with that, or buy a ton of things in other free to play games by comparison. You don't have to think twice about waiting a few days for what you want while you just play the game over spending an absurd amount to get something when the same amount of money could have gotten you a ton father elsewhere. It's no where near worth the time investment of crafting it normally. I'd bet you that MUCH more people choose to just farm a frame and just rush the final build rather than buy the whole thing for a TON more. That's the common sense thing to two. And incredible small time investment in most cases and a load of money saved for you to make other purchases. And you can make that decision on impulse. They would just flat out make much more money if they did something like the OP suggests.The proof is in the pudding with other free to play games.

[SolidSp33d]

What I don't understand is if you take the farming/grinding out of the game by buying the frames/weapons...well then what is it you will be playing for?

 

Maybe I missed something, but the only reason to play is to farm/grind materials for the blueprints you find to get better weapons/warframes.  If you have said better weapons/warframes haven't you basically "won" the game with money?

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

That isn't supposed to be the point of the game. Well I mean it's a component. Gear progression is a part of RPG's. But that isn't supposed to be the entire game. End game. The game needs it. The horizontal progression/playing field. It's coming of course. It's pretty much a huge focus for the game's development this year. Also higher level mods and probably newer types of gear will take the reins for gear profession most likely. Weapons will eventually stop being "better" than past ones and it's better modifications that will provide the better stats. (btw Warframes are already supposed to be on an even plain)

[(PSN)SpaceKingLuna]

I would spend way more money on this game if it was this way.

[Pansoy]

someone hire this guy

[Komatoast]

The best part is you can buy frost for ~$22 from the store or a frost prime package from another player for ~$1.40. The upgraded version is 93.7% less expensive than his counter part. Sure you have to build it but you could buy the slot + potato for only a couple more bucks and still end up spending way less than getting it from the market. Lower prices = more sales.

 

I support this thread.

Edited February 24, 2014 by Komatoast

[(PSN)mkjt88]

Here's the problem with lowering the prices.. First off you can buy blueprints and farm them fairly quick and cheap.. Just have to play the game. But if you want those items now you have to pay a hefty price but you don't just get them you gt the slot plus they are already potatoed for you. Also with the sale prices... People only will buy everything once.. If people could buy everything for so cheap they would and once they have it then DE sits making no money.. Things are high i agree but i just know i don't buy weapons and warframes i grind for them and buy with in game loot. I say keep it where it is. I personally just spend plat on colors slots etc. Also on forma catalyst and reactor etc.

Edited February 24, 2014 by (PS4)mkjt88

[DonZardeone]

Didn't bother reading most of the OP.

 

If you look at other F2P games you'll notice stuff is overpriced everywhere. Some games even go into the thousands of euros for endgame legendary items. Nobody cares about the "average joe", nobody cares about the rich kids, nobody cares about the poor people. What they care about is profit and by adjusting the numbers they can maximise their profit. If profit maximisation means that the average joe and poor people can't afford items or that things like the skana are 150p then that is the way it is.

[Liminal]

Didn't bother reading most of the OP.

Then you just made an uninformed reply which you shouldn't have posted.

[VoidGhost]

Serpentia the Developer team can earn tons of money in a glimpse when alternate suits for 300 platinum each or Armor parts with stats change for 500 platinum each are anounced,they dont need that much of profit yet

 

DonZardeone please have in mind that they(other related genre games) have loot levels and more than Unique items,we cannot call a Prime item epic can we ?

Examples:

1.Prime Warframes have the same skills as the Normal how can this be called epic?

2.The weapons do not leave you astonished they simply have a bit increased stats which can be achieved by using or overusing forma in free acces

3.Loot categories do not exist practically in the game in the following gameplay sectors

A.Warframes:

---Normal Warframe - Available with a few Alternate suits in the series acompanied with forma modind(Prime Warframe=Alternate suit + Forma)

----Super Warframe - Does NOT exist

----Legendary Warframe - Does NOT exist

----Epic Warframe - Does NOT exist

B.Utility items(grapling hook,smoke bomb,traps etc) - Does not exist as a category

C.Garments - scarves only,Hoods,Mantles etc are not available

---Normal Garments - Available with and without Gold parts without stat changes

----Super Garments - Do NOT exist

----Legendary Garments - Do NOT exist

----Epic Garments - Do NOT exist

C.Armor Parts - only Helmets are available  without the great variety or skin change options to satisfy the players stats change need

---Normal Armor Parts - only Helmets available

----Super Armor Parts - Do NOT exist

----Legendary Armor Parts - Do NOT exist

----Epic Armor Parts - Do NOT exist

 

NanakoAC the players are the co employers of the Developers along with Digital Extremes they keep the game alive.If we all decide to leave the game what will happen then? Hmm you just dont know your true power

 

Thanks for your attention

Edited February 25, 2014 by VoidGhost

[Katakuna]

Glad to see this thread is still kicking.

 

The most upvoted OP on the forums, going strong.

[HollowPoint556]

Couldnt agree more. thanks for posting 

[Moojiji]

Strange market screenshots, I thought. Then I look at the date. Wow! This thread is almost a year old and nothing has happened in that regard. Damn.

 

The opening post is a well though-out overhaul of the prices, even with thoughts on sales and more options when buying a weapon. How can anybody in their right mind not adapt anything from that?

[VoidGhost]

Moojiji because it is beta and the players decisions are tested and valued

[KorbanGado]

Problem is the amount of people that inpatient and willing to pay such crazy amounts are pretty minimal. Again, just like the OP said. It's about impulse. Most people may feel kind of lazy and have some money or plat to spend. They decide to check out the prices for what they want to make, but the prices are no where worth it. They wouldn't think to much about it if it was 5-10 bucks. But 20-30 for fairly average items? Please, they could just buy other games with that, or buy a ton of things in other free to play games by comparison. You don't have to think twice about waiting a few days for what you want while you just play the game over spending an absurd amount to get something when the same amount of money could have gotten you a ton father elsewhere. It's no where near worth the time investment of crafting it normally. I'd bet you that MUCH more people choose to just farm a frame and just rush the final build rather than buy the whole thing for a TON more. That's the common sense thing to two. And incredible small time investment in most cases and a load of money saved for you to make other purchases. And you can make that decision on impulse. They would just flat out make much more money if they did something like the OP suggests.The proof is in the pudding with other free to play games.

 

You'd be surprised at the large number of Zephyr's I saw running around on those first 10 days of build time. You'd also be surprised about the number of people running around with the Prime scarf form the prime-access back (that ran what, a hundred or so dollars to get that part). Again, yes, I would love cheaper prices so I could just buy everything in there on impulse rather than being rationally minded and only spending money on it as I needed to (and people buying plat to rush it are still buying plat).

It's like DE is being nice about it - they aren't cashing in on the impulse buyer and treating them like some kind of marketing tool. They could make a ton of money by dropping it down - and then everyone could have everything for 20 bucks, decide they no longer have anything to do in the game (because right now all there really is is grind unfortunately), leave and never come back to have the chance to spend anything on it. Super cheap vanity items work great in things like MMO because there's generally a very large amount of content (as most are released final games by the time people can throw money at them), but super cheap vanity items in a game that's only got missions the common person's main motivation to run is grinding affinity, resources, or blueprints is pretty much a game killer (when I say "common person", I mean a disparagingly large portion of forum post's I've read).

Also to note, people must be buying things, or else the game wouldn't be getting made still (unfortunate truth).

There is, believe it or not, logic on both sides of the pricing here - considering I don't really know DE's financials or the actual user base buying things flat-out, nor do any of us know the actual number of people that would buy things at reduced price (assumingly higher) or keep playing after they bought everything they wanted (assumingly higher), the only person who might have any idea as to the real answer is The Shadow, and afaik he's just a fictional character.

Serpentia the Developer team can earn tons of money in a glimpse when alternate suits for 300 platinum each or Armor parts with stats change for 500 platinum each are anounced,they dont need that much of profit yet

 

Our money goes to funding the game. That's the only thing about this I really wanted to comment on - yes, they can make an insane amount of money when they announce those things, but unless they do it now and everyone buys it now, where are they going to find the money to develop that part and get payed for their work? Development takes time and money, and unfortunately in a business environment time= money. It's a double edged sword - we would all love to see the prices of things dropped, and indeed it might raise up their earnings - but on the flip side, what if it doesn't? What if the majority of people still look at it and go "Why would I spend any money on that when I can just get it in the game?" How will you deal with the "Pay to Win" crowd that will get up in arms over the fact that everything in the game can be bought immediately with a slot and a potato for a buck or less? The crowd that seems to play the game for fun seems small enough as it is already... 

[Mephane]

1172

The upvote count as of this writing. That says everything.

Edited February 25, 2014 by Mephane

[DarKiller123]

This!

 

i actually stopped playing this game, because of the high prices of everything... however, i'm hoping DE read this and change their minds.

[LOKIME]

:D It would be awesome if this happens! i've never bought a single plat... because of this... TOO HIGH PRICES FOR EVERYTHING... the only reason i would buy plat, it's a 75% or 50% disscount... but even in that situation... i would think it twice before doing it.

[Temfist]

OP thank you for taking the time to present this much needed change in a portfolio like presentation to clearly state your points. yours, is the manner in which all Suggestion Threads should be made, if possible, and I really appreciated it.

 

I for one agree with almost every pricing example you named, though I personally would mark all starter frames as 75 platinum, only costing 37 plat when half off, allowing you to buy the other two starters for just $5.00 usd during a sale. Every other frame should go up in price based on difficulty to obtain/location on the star chart (Frames such as Nova, Frost, and Trinity costing more around 200-225 plat, and frames like Rhino, Ember and Valkyr only costing between 100-150 plat max etc)

 

I think DE should have been focusing on this months ago, because they are now trying to add more and more "new content" and correcting pricing seems more and more like an after thought.

[king_ruckus]

I read the original post and through to about page 7 before I noticed there were 40 pages of replies.

 

There's truth to both sides of the argument, but it seems that DE likes their price points because this thread has been up since early last year and they look to be the same now as they were then.  Personally I'm not complaining, though.  You can get all the frames by grinding.  If you're new to the game, just hop in Region chat and ask for a lift to the boss you want.  Same for the supplies you need, which are also up there in plat.

 

I think that's the silver lining involved with DE's price points, they offer added incentive to actually play the game.  It's true that if things were cheaper people would be more likely to spend a couple of bucks, but that also takes away from some of their enjoyment of the game.  If you like playing, you should be able to build most of the stuff you want unless RNG really has it out for you.

[Darzk]

Only read OP.

 

I like this... the main reason, imo, that plat prices are so high is that a good # of the initial population bought founders packages, which came with an obscene amount of platinum, and they have to encourage us to use that up before we'll buy more. I'd still be sitting on thousands of plat if pricing was as suggested... the few items I bought were costly enough that I can potentially see buying more sometime this summer.

 

And there *are* those few people who bought over 10k plat and now complain theres nothing to buy.

 

And changing the prices would really &!$$ off the people who bought stuff.

 

While I'm okay with the pricing above, I still think new weapons (especially clan research or rare drop weapons) should be prices as in-game, but reduced in cost after a month. That way people are paying for the privilege of early access, as well as the weapon.

 

 

Also, re: optional costs, a slot only costs 6 plat. Should only cost 5 more in the bundle >.>

Edited March 1, 2014 by Darzk

[D3ST]

Bump,..

After almost a year, this is still very relevant..

[(PSN)Azmose]

As much as I love this, I feel that it would make the game a bit less enjoyable (at least for me) if I knew I could head to the store and buy a new Warframe for $5 whenever I wanted. The high pricing acts as an incentive to get you to actually enjoy the game.