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

[Cifrer]

All weapons and warframes come with a reactor/catalyst + slot on purchase. So, for Warframes, whatever the price of the frame is, you should deduct 20 for the reactor and 20 for the warframe slot to have the real price. That this reactor is pre-inserted and thus loses some usability is true, so maybe discount 30 platinum of the total price of the frame.

For weapons, with the same mechanics, the cost of slot+catalyst of every weapon is approximately 20 platinum + weapon price. That would make the Viper in game, for example cost actually 49 platinum (20 catalyst+6slot).

That is less than $5, though you have to spend $5 because of the catalyst and slot. Okay. Still not outrageous.

I also don't think the weapons should be available for purchase without a catalyst and slot. Just personal opinion there.

 

 

This right here is why I suggested there should be an option to buy them without the extra slot and reactor/catalyst.  Thus the edit to the original post.

 

I fully believe that people would buy the weapons and warframes for a cheaper price without the catalyst/reactor and slot simply to avoid the grind for mats and the wait time on making the item.  However if you can also have the option of buying it with the slot and reactor/catalyst as well, people would also buy that.  I view it as a simple matter of more potential options increases the potential profit margin. 

 

If someone has an extra slot or two open and wants to try a weapon at a reduced price right now, why not let them buy it without the slot and catalyst/reactor?  I also know people who have extra reactors and/or catalysts who would be willing to buy a weapon or warframe without one for a reduced price and then slot in the potato which they already have.  That would basically be paying for the convenience to avoid the grind and RNG and wait time for crafting, without also spending the extra on the upgrade and slot.

[Falkes]

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[BobDillinger]

At the current point, the only things I'm willing to purchase are catalysts and reactors, the occasional colour pack and a few other similarly priced bits and bobs, with this, you can guarantee I would actually be spending my plat regularly.

Edited May 27, 2013 by BobDillinger

[State-Wide-Coma]

These guys are money hungry sharks... they build a really good game, and then turn people away with there ridicules pricing. Most people will pay for the game like the hunter pack because it is a great game and they want to continue playing. But they make some weapons untouchable by not supplying blue prints and pricing the weapons and or bundles THE SAME AS BRAND NEW GAME... WTF. I used to play this game everyday because i loved farming and having fun. Now that most the stuff i want is only through plat and no blue prints.. i dont see a point in playing anymore. Between the nerfs and price increase ... its just not fun anymore. I dont like the fact that they dont appreciate their fan base. I feel like they dont even have any respect for their players. If they keep stuff like this up im likely not to return.. Gona go play some load out .

[xection9]

+1 the whole idea

WARNING : If you're poor, watch out! Warframe market will b*tch slap you.

[austinrelis]

And then what happens to people who bought anything with plat? EVERYONE would have to be refunded.

[BobDillinger]

And then what happens to people who bought anything with plat? EVERYONE would have to be refunded.

A rather unfortunate side-effect of fixing an entirely broken system, people would have to be refunded.

[Luxangel7]

A rather unfortunate side-effect of fixing an entirely broken system, people would have to be refunded.

 

That will never happen. 

[Hafilgar]

A rather unfortunate side-effect of fixing an entirely broken system, people would have to be refunded.

nope...it's too much work to revamp the market and refund everyones plat. We're just gonna have to deal with it and move on. IT's better this way anyways. I'd rather have DE change up the market for cheaper plat items and have people complain for about a week or 2 than to blankly stare at these overpriced packs forever without spending any of my own platinum because we all know for a fact how much of a ripoff everything in the market is right now.

[cyclopsbob]

i do like the idea of purchasing items for that dont come with preinstalled ctalalyts for a bit less plat i would like that option

[SymphNo9]

And then what happens to people who bought anything with plat? EVERYONE would have to be refunded.

 

Does not make sense.

 

Do you ask for a refund after you bought a new graphics card only to see the same card to half the price two months later?

[BETAOPTICS]

Yes, if DE ignores this they are out of their minds. Not once have I seen such a well construct, well though-out post that is fair for everyone and not only just to one side. This is also the most supported thread I have thus far seen, even out matching some of the developers posts. If DE really care about their jobs, they should reply here and address this problem as well as confirming this as a official upcoming change for this game. I'm not asking it immediately implemented but soon, a near future implementation.

You have my fullest support for your idea, you'd be a lot better financial adviser than the one they currently have, assumed they even have one that is.

[BraveDude8]

Please DE. If you want money, this is the way to do it.

[Guest]

That will never happen. 

They need to change the market, regardless of whether they can refund everybody or not.

 

People will be mad, sure. But a lot of people will be happier. The current market prices are nuts.

[The_Lunatic_]

Micro transations work best if they're cheap.

 

Honestly, I've not much interest in actually buying warframes and weapons, however.

 

I think it sorta detracts from playing the game, the purpose is to work towards things, and I like that at the moment.

 

However, the more cosmetic items are rather pricey and just don't seem worthwhile.

 

 

Thus, often, it's just a case that I don't spend much platinum at all. Certain things just not being worth it, others just not appealing.

[Sideway]

Very nice post, OP. Currently Platinum Policy is extremely discouraging. Only Orokin's, Forma and Slots are worth their price in Platinum.

[BraveDude8]

Micro transations work best if they're cheap.

 

Honestly, I've not much interest in actually buying warframes and weapons, however.

 

I think it sorta detracts from playing the game, the purpose is to work towards things, and I like that at the moment.

 

However, the more cosmetic items are rather pricey and just don't seem worthwhile.

 

 

Thus, often, it's just a case that I don't spend much platinum at all. Certain things just not being worth it, others just not appealing.

 

$5 for colours is a bit excessive, but it's the weapons that are worse.

[BraveDude8]

Y'know what, I'm bumping this. It needs to be seen and discussed.

[Guest]

Y'know what, I'm bumping this. It needs to be seen and discussed.

It's good to see people support this idea enough to feel the thread needs bumping, thanks.

[Mak_Gohae]

Micro transations work best if they're cheap.

 

Honestly, I've not much interest in actually buying warframes and weapons, however.

 

I think it sorta detracts from playing the game, the purpose is to work towards things, and I like that at the moment.

 

However, the more cosmetic items are rather pricey and just don't seem worthwhile.

 

 

Thus, often, it's just a case that I don't spend much platinum at all. Certain things just not being worth it, others just not appealing.

 

Isnt everything that is cosmetic just five bucks?

And, yeah, if every warframe and weapon was cheap then the number of people farming for stuff would be lowered since there is no need for it. And that would create a tremendous split in the players.

[Guest]

Isnt everything that is cosmetic just five bucks?

And, yeah, if every warframe and weapon was cheap then the number of people farming for stuff would be lowered since there is no need for it. And that would create a tremendous split in the players.

Not really when I can gather the materials of 90% of the individual weapons in less than an hour.

 

You pay for the convenience of having it now and not using any materials, instead of in 12 hours.

[Story4]

Does not make sense.

 

Do you ask for a refund after you bought a new graphics card only to see the same card to half the price two months later?

 

Not the same thing, since it deosn't cost DE ANYTHING to refund the platinum. If it then then yeah, it would be a problem, but since it's all digital they can refund everyone's platinum.

Not to mention that it would be a good step to reconcile with the community which would trust them more.

[BraveDude8]

Not really when I can gather the materials of 90% of the individual weapons in less than an hour.

 

You pay for the convenience of having it now and not using any materials, instead of in 12 hours.

 

If I can spend two hours farming it, or spend $5...

 

I'm honestly not sure. I'd definitely consider spending the money, unlike currently.

[Guest]

If I can spend two hours farming it, or spend $5...

 

I'm honestly not sure. I'd definitely consider spending the money, unlike currently.

And THAT is exactly what DE needs to make their market do. Make people actually consider the market as a way to get items instead of just farming them up.

 

A person may not want to farm the materials for a weapon then wait 12 hours, he might instead be happy with dropping $5 instead and getting what he wants now.

[Niryco]

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.

 

Maybe because they don't want players to buy their way through the game and reach the end within a matter of days or weeks. They want to retain their playerbase, to have them commit their time and effort to their masterpiece. That every map is a work of art that is to be awed for its amazing depth and simplicity, that every moment as a ninja you are working towards a goal to be better rather than worse.

 

Also another reason could be the 80/20 principle. Since Warframe is kinda new on its own, i am guessing the demand is quite niche and only a small handful of people do not mind continuously spending money on the game. Thus if you were to make it cheaper, the chances are profits may not improve even if sales of virtual items went up since they would probably be making the same had they done the opposite.

 

Not to mention by doing the opposite they maybe even profiting more since players are less likely to buy on impulse, but continue to spend over time. Warframe from this point of view plans to be an expanding game with long term goals, not simplistic short term economic and business decisions. They can choose to benefit short term, but at that they won't be moving to long term players would will still enjoy the satisfaction of this game even after 2 or 3 years of play.

 

Doesn't it make sense? Make all the items that require the hardest time to grind, the cheapest in the market so people buy in bulk and make items grindable in-game more expensive so they would think twice and still spend on those cheap hard to get items but at the same time play for an even longer time.

 

Thus by doing this, they retain their players as well as the players willingness to purchase or demand for virtual goods for a very long period of time and ensuring a constant and good flow of income.DE has way bigger plans than being a small game company or game, they probably plan to make this as a direct competitor to rising F2P titles of late.