DE being predatory; Deluxe skin packs

[Authoritycat]

Today I was once again contemplating buying the Mag deluxe pack, including a tonfa skin I really want, a Mag skin I MIGHT use, and a Syandana I will NEVER use. Then it dawned on me, this is a predatory microtransaction method. For someone who just wants the tonfa skin, like me, I am being asked to pay over twice the amount the tonfa skin alone would cost. With all the talk about how good DE is about their marketing, even implementing changes to the prime vault recently, this is an outdated and predatory model that needs to be changed.

Another side effect is testing the skin on a different frame or Mag skin is impossible since the skin is bound to the pack, and therefor not available in the "skin" tab under tonfa weapons. At the very least, make the skin visible under the skin tab, and link it to the pack. Not being able to test skins easily is one of Warframe's biggest problems right now. 

[Zavenosk]

Would you prefer these skins be locked in a lootbox?

[(PSN)DicedSevens]

I kind of felt that way with Nova's skin bundle.. at first it looked like the hands were apart of the syandana so I bought it when it was only apart of the skin. I know the backtracked and apologized but I still spent and wasted the Platinum for a syandada and polearms skin I won't use..

[Xirka]

Breaking the packs up would be nice, but it is not predatory, attacking the devs like this wont get you anywhere.

[bluepheonix13]

1 minute ago, (PS4)DicedSevens said:

I kind of felt that way with Nova's skin bundle.. at first it looked like the hands were apart of the syandana so I bought it when it was only apart of the skin. I know the backtracked and apologized but I still spent and wasted the Platinum for a syandada and polearms skin I won't use..

You could have asked support for a refund at the time, but it's too late now. 

[(PSN)DicedSevens]

1 minute ago, bluepheonix13 said:

You could have asked support for a refund at the time, but it's too late now. 

I wasn't apart of the forums at the time. The only notification I saw about this was posted as news in your ship where it said they were sorry they made it look like you needed the syandana for the hand animation. No mention of refunds. That there was where they should have posted that they were giving refunds. I shouldn't have to dig for this information. I understand going to the forums might not be 'digging' but it shouldn't be somewhere other than the news page.

[Kyryo]

As far as i know, humans need to eat, computers need energy and employees need salary. That's how the game keeps running, no-one is forcing you to pay for it, considering the fact that platinum can be stolen for free from other players.

[Xirka]

Also you should remove the PSA tag, it is meant for Dev use only.

[VentiGlondi]

1 hour ago, Zavenosk said:

Would you prefer these skins be locked in a lootbox?

Unrelated.

Lootbox being worse doesn't make this behavior good.

1 hour ago, Kyryo said:

As far as i know, humans need to eat, computers need energy and employees need salary. That's how the game keeps running, no-one is forcing you to pay for it, considering the fact that platinum can be stolen for free from other players.

A person who is only looking for one of the skin will be discouraged by the fact that it's in a bundle, and won't buy anything in result.

I don't see how this is supposed to help with salaries.

Edited July 15, 2018 by VentiGlondi

[(XBOX)HAPPYHapyJ0YJoy]

Pretty questionable definition of "predatory."

They aren't preying on anyone's addiction. They aren't subjecting anyone to questionable odds. They aren't forcing you to do or buy anything. They aren't selling incomplete products. They aren't attaching hidden fees or restrictions.

All they're doing is offering a package deal. You can decide if that package is something you believe is worth the price or not. The contents and price are made known upfront.

You not liking something doesn't make it predatory. Them not offering a precise package you want isn't predatory. Them not offering to sell you the contents of a package individually isn't predatory (me wanting six Oreos instead of a whole bag doesn't make Nabisco an evil company looking to exploit my cookie needs).

Seriously... You wish you could buy something without having to buy a package deal. Fine. Say that. Don't try and make this into a consumers rights thing with a big bad exploitative evil company when it ain't one.

If you want something say so, ask for it, and maybe leave the hyperbolic rhetoric at the door because it's not likely to sway DE in your favor, if anything quite the opposite. Catch more flies with honey and all that...

Edited July 15, 2018 by (XB1)HAPPYHapyJ0YJoy

[Firetempest]

Predatory for ftp: Selling a game effecting item like a gun or character only in a combo pack with other things you might not want.

Funding a ftp in a pretty decent manner: Selling the rare cosmetic you might like but only in a combo pack with other things you might not want. Already happens every Prime Access. You can get the accessories but they are still combo'ed with 90 day boosters I don't need to inflate the price. Hardly anyone complains about that.

 

[Marvelous_A]

And I just want to say how they made a single Frost deluxe a gift in Twitch event and now I need to pay the full bundle for the damn sword skin only. Free stuff is good, but it effectively locked your choice of purchase. I'd say it's clearly not considerate at least.

[Kurienno]

That's a very long stretch for predatory practice.

You know what you're getting in the pack and are not rolling odds over what you are getting. You may not like that a skin you want is only available through it's respective package but that does not make it predatory in nature. It's a mild inconvenience at best

Edited July 15, 2018 by Vindicative

[Felsagger]

2 hours ago, Authoritycat said:

" this is an outdated and predatory model that needs to be changed."

 

 

DE gave you a game free to play, giving you the option to make platinum grinding if you do not want to pay for cosmetics. DE is not EA, Ubisoft, Microsoft or Activision. Those are the once doing predatory practices. 

 

Predatory market is Star Citizen 42 that almost reach 200,000,000 dollars without results, worst scam ever in history after more than five years. 

Predatory practices are the ones used by EA with loot box and micro transactions for game progression like Battlefront 2. 

Predatory practices are the ones used by Microsoft promising exclusive titles for four years repeating the same Halo Gear Forza Model. 

Predatory practices are those of Bungie and Activision that charge you for an outdated product without features such as Railjack. 

 

 

Edited July 15, 2018 by Felsagger

[Madway7]

Yeah it's really annoying that if you got skins for free or on discount you would need to buy the entire pack to get the other stuff rather than just being able to buy them seperately.

Atm I believe either the Mag or Ember deluxe syandana is sold seperate. It's probably unintended, but all the items should be like that.

[(PSN)Chel-El]

I too have this remorse: 

One for the Mag Deluxe Tonfa skin because I couponed everything else in that set, not realizing that the tonfa is a bundle only purchase 

The other for the Tennogen 11 Syandana when I made the same mistake (!) of buying one at a time locking me from the Aquiros cape 

So my solution is to content myself with the Kronen P which I’m grinding for. Same with the syandana

[Goodwill]

If anything, Warframe being a Free-to-Play game is more predatory than the deluxe bundles. Look at it this way, I roll up next to a kid and say that I have free candy if he gets in my van. I'm pretty sure I'd be labelled a child predator. But hey, free candy.

Snark aside, I think you are overreacting.

Edited July 16, 2018 by Goodwill

[Firetempest]

Real talk for a moment.

[_Urakaze_]

1 minute ago, Firetempest said:

Real talk for a moment.

^the real elephant in the room

[AzureTerra]

Its a entirely optional cosmetic skin pack ~ you don't need it to play the game which means it being in a Bundle at X price is fine and an apt marketing strategy in that you might be willing to spend that extra amount to get thing thing you want. 

[LordOfScrugging]

34 minutes ago, Firetempest said:

Real talk for a moment.

I honestly didn't know they sold endo. that's a pretty bad deal if you ask me. you could buy an ayatan on trade for way cheaper and get more endo

 

[Hayabusa97]

50 minutes ago, Firetempest said:

Real talk for a moment.

No one buys those even if they were offered by Baro

 

3 hours ago, Felsagger said:

 

DE gave you a game free to play, giving you the option to make platinum grinding if you do not want to pay for cosmetics. DE is not EA, Ubisoft, Microsoft or Activision. Those are the once doing predatory practices. 

 

Predatory market is Star Citizen 42 that almost reach 200,000,000 dollars without results, worst scam ever in history after more than five years. 

Predatory practices are the ones used by EA with loot box and micro transactions for game progression like Battlefront 2. 

Predatory practices are the ones used by Microsoft promising exclusive titles for four years repeating the same Halo Gear Forza Model. 

Predatory practices are those of Bungie and Activision that charge you for an outdated product without features such as Railjack. 

 

 

I'd wait on Star Citizen before calling it a scam, it's currently in the glorified tech demo alpha phase (I haven't been following it much outside of occasional subreddit viewing). The rest there have no excuse when they are worth billions and selling games for $60 yet they play like those mobile games with 5 star reviews propped up by Click Farms and Review Bots.

[Firetempest]

13 minutes ago, Hayabusa97 said:

No one buys those even if they were offered by Baro

Yeah, if you play the game regularly.

I have seen too many new players waste plat of things like resources or mod packs because they have no idea when and where they might get these things. If this is their first mmo like game or free to play, running to a wiki database is a pretty foreign experience. People take for granted that their knowledge may not be common knowledge.

Edited July 16, 2018 by Firetempest

[Beartornado]

31 minutes ago, Hayabusa97 said:

I'd wait on Star Citizen before calling it a scam, it's currently in the glorified tech demo alpha phase (I haven't been following it much outside of occasional subreddit viewing). The rest there have no excuse when they are worth billions and selling games for $60 yet they play like those mobile games with 5 star reviews propped up by Click Farms and Review Bots.

It's funny because I do think Star Citizen is past the point of scam being a certainty about it. There's like a timeframe within which you'd expect the game's support and devs to just disappear with the money for a scam, and yet they're pressing forward and actually showing progress on the game. Its basically achieved Half Life 3 tier of infamy, but unlike Half Life 3 it might actually be a game one day. I'll be thoroughly blown away if it delivers, and honestly I almost hope it does because it's another win for an ambitious game that the AAA market won't be able to match with its typical business model.

But if it fails I have no investment, it has taken so long that it's past the point of being a cautionary tale of investing too early even if it succeeds. So really why do more than sit and watch and see if it pulls it off.

Edited July 16, 2018 by Beartornado

[(XBOX)Evilpricetag]

4 hours ago, Firetempest said:

Predatory for ftp: Selling a game effecting item like a gun or character only in a combo pack with other things you might not want.

Funding a ftp in a pretty decent manner: Selling the rare cosmetic you might like but only in a combo pack with other things you might not want. Already happens every Prime Access. You can get the accessories but they are still combo'ed with 90 day boosters I don't need to inflate the price. Hardly anyone complains about that.

 

They do, but what baffles me is these packs come with a discount amount of plat for the price your paying.

The cosmetics are sold as the featured items, but its really the plat, that comes with practically free boosters & cosmetic. Mind you the boosters are valued ar 1200p total also.