Whales

[Sweaty_Pleb]

Why is the term "whales" commonly used for people who buy platinum , what does it mean? Sounds pretty offensive IMO but maybe I'm just deciphering it wrong lol 

Edited June 22, 2016 by Sweaty_Pleb

[TARINunit9]

"Whales" is a term from the mobile games market, made up by the actual developers and publishers, to refer to people who spend way too much money, like WAY too much money, on microtransactions

It eventually got out into the lingo of the actual players. Yes, it does sound offensive, and it's commonly held up as an example of how corporations treat customers like cattle

[(PSN)satsukixpenny]

As I understand it a whale is someone who spends or has a lot of money to spend on the game via real currency or in game currency. Traders will call people who spend big like those who buy frost prime for 1100 platinum whales. 

This is the opposit of a shark who is a player who is cheap with his or her resources and want heavy discounts. 

[Sweaty_Pleb]

3 minutes ago, TARINunit9 said:

"Whales" is a term from the mobile games market, made up by the actual developers and publishers, to refer to people who spend way too much money, like WAY too much money, on microtransactions

It eventually got out into the lingo of the actual players. Yes, it does sound offensive, and it's commonly held up as an example of how corporations treat customers like cattlcattle

Thanks for the answer...I wish I didn't ask the question, I feel hurt:'(

[TARINunit9]

3 minutes ago, Sweaty_Pleb said:

Thanks for the answer...I wish I didn't ask the question, I feel hurt:'(

If it makes you feel any better, DE aren't the kind of company to use a term like "whales" in earnest. I've never gotten the impression that DE wants more than ten bucks every now and then (or, for Prime Access, 50 bucks every three months), and they're genuinely grateful to make even the free players happy

Edited June 22, 2016 by TARINunit9

[Dhrekr]

38 minutes ago, TARINunit9 said:

If it makes you feel any better, DE aren't the kind of company to use a term like "whales" in earnest

Yeah. "Whaling" in Warframe is very reduced, because even buying all cosmetics and all weapons... well it isn't a huge amount of money unless you buy it all at once. Plus, the purchases generally have no RNG - you buy what you want.

There are games where players spend hundreds of dollars weekly. Next to them, Warframe players are at most Tuna-fish.

[Numbsky1]

38 minutes ago, Sweaty_Pleb said:

Thanks for the answer...I wish I didn't ask the question, I feel hurt:'(

First of all whales are great peaceful creatures there is nothing to be ashamed of being called a whale. A whale in gaming terms spends a lot of money on his favorite pass time, games, unless you spend 3 digit amounts of money on a regular basis on a single game you are not even considered to be a whale. 

 

[TonnoTuna]

Just now, Dhrekr said:

There are games where players spend hundreds of dollars weekly. Next to them, Warframe players are at most Tuna-fish.

I appreciate that.

[Talzor]

1 hour ago, TARINunit9 said:

"Whales" is a term from the mobile games market, made up by the actual developers and publishers, to refer to people who spend way too much money, like WAY too much money, on microtransactions

It eventually got out into the lingo of the actual players. Yes, it does sound offensive, and it's commonly held up as an example of how corporations treat customers like cattle

This is not where the term originated. "Whale" is from the casino world, where it's slang for high rollers; People who spend extraordinarily large amounts of cash and as such are often pandered to by the casinos in an attempt to "catch" them from other casinos.

[TARINunit9]

38 minutes ago, Talzor said:

This is not where the term originated. "Whale" is from the casino world, where it's slang for high rollers; People who spend extraordinarily large amounts of cash and as such are often pandered to by the casinos in an attempt to "catch" them from other casinos.

Interesting. Well, my point still stands: developers used it before the players did, just with casino games instead of video games

[(PSN)Magician_NG]

Whales are players who can drop 4k plat on an arcane energize set on a whim.

 

[VisionAndVoice]

1 hour ago, Talzor said:

This is not where the term originated. "Whale" is from the casino world, where it's slang for high rollers; People who spend extraordinarily large amounts of cash and as such are often pandered to by the casinos in an attempt to "catch" them from other casinos.

Well, I can see how one would transition into another, there's definuitely a realtion here.

1 hour ago, Numbsky1 said:

First of all whales are great peaceful creatures

Mate, have you heard of orcas? Or sperm whales? They are hardcore badasses of the sea.

[Hypernaut1]

Whales are why rare items are so expensive in trade chat. 

They're willing to pay more for what they want.

[(PSN)robotwars7]

you know, I always thought that using "whales" was also a potential dig at the player on a personal level, implying that they are morbidly obese and slow moving as well.

if I were a sea creature though, I'd want to be a swordfish. it's a fish with a sword for a nose, that's pretty badass.

[-Dantos-]

Generally "Whale" as a term refers to the person who spends hundreds or thousands of dollars in a game, basically making up for those players who spend little to nothing in a F2P game. It's not a term used to describe any person who spends any amount of money.

In gaming, it mainly comes from the mobile market where, so ive heard, about 95% of people spend nothing, so developers get most of their revenue from people who spend tons.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Vanroe

[Circle_of_Psi]

3 hours ago, (PS4)satsukixpenny said:

As I understand it a whale is someone who spends or has a lot of money to spend on the game via real currency or in game currency. Traders will call people who spend big like those who buy frost prime for 1100 platinum whales. 

This is the opposit of a shark who is a player who is cheap with his or her resources and want heavy discounts. 

Don't anyone else that shuold be the other way around?

A Shark sounds like a person who has alot of power and build-ups, who is filly rich and likes to scam people, while a whale sounds like a cheep player and wants free things

[(PSN)Magician_NG]

17 minutes ago, Vanroe said:

Generally "Whale" as a term refers to the person who spends hundreds or thousands of dollars in a game, basically making up for those players who spend little to nothing in a F2P game. It's not a term used to describe any person who spends any amount of money.

You realize you just contradicted yourself, right?

[Berserkerkitten]

I think it would be nicer if the industry referred to overspending customers as Sunfish. Whee! Go sunfish!

http://i.imgur.com/eUmBPns.jpg

[(XBOX)Dyalar]

First time I remember hearing the term was in the movie Boiler Room (which is fantastic), in reference to a potential investor with tons of disposable income.

[Berserkerkitten]

It's also a term used in medical lingo and it's a lot more unflattering there.

[(XBOX)Drunken Swede]

Sounds about right. Now, if people have tons of spare cash to spend on Warframe there's no issue about it for me. I'd wonder where it came from and why they didn't spend it something more constructive but it is what it is.

I'll throw $5 every other paycheck for platinum just to keep up with my growing arsenal which I think is a bit costly. People who spend $500 a month or so really boggle my mind.

I just hope that the developers don't begin to capitalize on those and make micro transactions more bogusly priced than they already are.

[SenorClipClop]

6 hours ago, Sweaty_Pleb said:

Why is the term "whales" commonly used for people who buy platinum , what does it mean? Sounds pretty offensive IMO but maybe I'm just deciphering it wrong lol 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwI0u9L4R8U

Don't mind the title of the video. I don't think Warframe's free-to-play system is broken or unfair in any way. I actually really like how it works, with the tradeable plat and regular discounts. :)

[Sloan441]

"Call me Ishmael."

Aside from Melville, it's just another nonsense intardwebz term. Using such just invalidates whatever opinion you might have been attempting to trot out. It ranks up there with "soccer moms" for a manufactured term that has no real meaning out in the actual world where actual people live.

 

[(XBOX)EternalDrk Mako]

whalesharks 

there a whole new sub type :D 

[SpeedOfLightPuncher]

I have spent about 20 USD on this game so I am not a whale.