question about buying HP

Lucifier

I just saw a strange thing, in iphone, check the buying resource it says 20,000 HP for 99.99$

while a different account (in android device), check the buying resources it says 32,000 HP for 99.99$, to be more accurate it says 20,000 HP and below it says 32,000 HP for 99.99$

why there is discount (or +bonus value) in one device but not in the other?
is this bonus happen for all or does it happen to random players?

DFiPL

Seems to be random and seems to be restricted to mobile. Never seen the random sale pop up when playing on Steam, and my Android account sometimes gets it and sometimes not despite having never spent.

Lucifier

mine still don't have the 32k HP.
i agree with you should be some kind of indication to the bonus, and it should be for all at same time.

Lucifier

aesthetocyst said:

This is a business not a fairness.

Theyre (apparently) trying to convert nonspenders into spenders. Trying to tap new revenue streams. Got to grow those metrics and KPIs!

well wouldn't that make spenders to spend less, when they find out (they are excluded from bonus) "i mean if this is the case".

Daiches

Lucifier said:

aesthetocyst said:

This is a business not a fairness.

Theyre (apparently) trying to convert nonspenders into spenders. Trying to tap new revenue streams. Got to grow those metrics and KPIs!

well wouldn't that make spenders to spend less, when they find out (they are excluded from bonus) "i mean if this is the case".

Certain big spenders have also gotten the Boosted offers. There's no rhyme or reason to their testing.
But you can't plan around using these bonuses for a buy club as they may disappear again just by restarting the app.

I - and all Europeans - already pay 10% more than non-Europeans on iOS, who pay more than Android. All pay significantly more than Amazon. Hell, last year there was an Amazon coin sale that worked out to 34$ for a Stark Salary instead of 100$.

Lucifier

what !!!!!!!!!

the device OS (operating system) what does have to do with application (in game price) !!!!

Daiches

Lucifier said:

what !!!!!!!!!

the device OS (operating system) what does have to do with application (in game price) !!!!

Each store has own prices and currencies and sales. Amazon purchases are through coins which have a permanent 20% sale if you buy them per 500$ for instance.

bluewolf

Also, Apple probably takes more $ out of the sale than the Android store.  Hence prices need to be higher for the publisher to get the same revenue out of it.

Lucifier

bluewolf said:

Also, Apple probably takes more $ out of the sale than the Android store.  Hence prices need to be higher for the publisher to get the same revenue out of it.

but we are talking about more than 50% of its value, assuming the base value of 20kHP is 100$ then 32KHP = 160$
32kHP in Android cost 100$
32HP in iPhone (iOS) cost 160$  (60$ more).

non-sense.

i don't know, is the same game have different prices between xbox1 and ps4 (like "call of duty")? if so, is the difference is more than 50%?

bluewolf

I did some research (I am not a developer in any sense) and found that both Apple and Android take 30% from app sales.  So another thought is: what drives in app purchases?  If Android users respond more to discounts, then the publisher would offer more discounts there.  If Apple iOS puchases don't change much whether or not there is a discount, then there isn't much incentive to offer that discount. I might speculate that in general, higher costs of Apple products suggest less concern among iOS users about price.

I don't know if it is any easier to target discounts through the Android app, or if targeted discounts are easier to execute through Android's platform.  Those factors could be the main reason behind the variable sales.

It's all speculation,but I think it's safe to assume that variable pricing is only implemented because it results in more sales.  The game has been around long enough that they have a lot of data to help them make those decisions.

Daiches

Lucifier said:

bluewolf said:

Also, Apple probably takes more $ out of the sale than the Android store.  Hence prices need to be higher for the publisher to get the same revenue out of it.

but we are talking about more than 50% of its value, assuming the base value of 20kHP is 100$ then 32KHP = 160$
32kHP in Android cost 100$
32HP in iPhone (iOS) cost 160$  (60$ more).

non-sense.

i don't know, is the same game have different prices between xbox1 and ps4 (like "call of duty")? if so, is the difference is more than 50%?

No store offers 32k HP. Only people with tiny kitty AB testing luck get offered a sale for 32k HP instead of 20k HP. It's a load of tiny kitty, but that's the way they conduct business. Nothing we can do about it. 

Lucifier

bluewolf said:

I did some research (I am not a developer in any sense) and found that both Apple and Android take 30% from app sales.  So another thought is: what drives in app purchases?  If Android users respond more to discounts, then the publisher would offer more discounts there.  If Apple iOS puchases don't change much whether or not there is a discount, then there isn't much incentive to offer that discount. I might speculate that in general, higher costs of Apple products suggest less concern among iOS users about price.

I don't know if it is any easier to target discounts through the Android app, or if targeted discounts are easier to execute through Android's platform.  Those factors could be the main reason behind the variable sales.

It's all speculation,but I think it's safe to assume that variable pricing is only implemented because it results in more sales.  The game has been around long enough that they have a lot of data to help them make those decisions.

first of all this is not exactly a discount, this is an HP bonus (the price still 99.99 $) and it is just giving more HP, not reducing the price (which also means this is d3go thing, not apple(iso) or Andriod thing).

mmmmmmmmmm, let see if i understood you:

if you mean by 30%, and as an example, stark salary = 100$, so basically Android get 30 $ and d3go get 70$, and Android will make 10% discount (does this 10% will be deducted from Andriod or from d3go, or from both)

  1- if deducted from Android, like Android get 20$ and d3go get 70$, then it still make no sense, because the current HP bonus worth 60% (not 30%),  that mean Android is losing and have to pay like 30$ to d3go / each purchase.

  2- if deducted from d3go, then why Apple (iso) bother, they will get their 30% (30$) anyway, so still make no sense.

  3- if deducted from both of them, so in this case it will be like 60% of 30%, so it will be dropped down to 18%, but as i mentioned before there is no deduction in price, they are just giving more HP (and i find hard to believe this thing can be decided by Apple or Android, this is d3go thing), so still make no sense.

plus iPhone/ISO/Apple is one thing, But Android you can find it in Samsung/LG/other company products.
and from my understanding Android is an open code (shared) like comparing Microsoft windows with Linux/Unix.

plus when we buy a tablet or a phone (we are paying hardware/software) already, so why we pay additional for application that run on an OS that we already payed for (and that its job), I am not sure about that, so i do not know.

do Xbox/PS have a share of game sales, or their revenue is from selling the Xbox/PS (or a computer that also can run games)?

Beer40

Daiches said:

Lucifier said:

bluewolf said:

Also, Apple probably takes more $ out of the sale than the Android store.  Hence prices need to be higher for the publisher to get the same revenue out of it.

but we are talking about more than 50% of its value, assuming the base value of 20kHP is 100$ then 32KHP = 160$
32kHP in Android cost 100$
32HP in iPhone (iOS) cost 160$  (60$ more).

non-sense.

i don't know, is the same game have different prices between xbox1 and ps4 (like "call of duty")? if so, is the difference is more than 50%?

No store offers 32k HP. Only people with tiny kitty AB testing luck get offered a sale for 32k HP instead of 20k HP. It's a load of tiny kitty, but that's the way they conduct business. Nothing we can do about it. 

Not entirely true. You can do what I do when I get the "recommend game" in game survey. I give the game a 0 and then list the reasons why, one of which is "different amounts of digital goods for the same price lacks integrity and I won't recommend anyone getting into that trap". Then I back that up by not buying HP (I've never bought ISO, but still the same principle). 

Me doing that won't change anything. But we never know how many people think the same way. If there's enough, then it will change, and we'll have done something about it.

bluewolf

I am not an expert in the game business nor its revenue generation, but:

1.  You are correct that this is not a discount (more HP for the same $).  The preferred method of making purchases more appealing is to increase the amount of virtual goods you get for the same amount of money.  I assume this is more appealing to the developer; and results in more consistent revenue.  So the difference in what you get is a cost, in a sense, to Demi/D3go.   They are simply offering more goods for the same amount of money.  The hope is that the user feels it is now a more worthwhile purchase.

2.  If one is inclined to spend, it does not feel good to know that some people have better offers.  Of course.

3.  I am not 100% about the current console revenue model, but I believe it basically works such that the makers (Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo) sell them at very close to cost (at least at first, and efficiencies make them a profit eventually), and make money from publishers who give them a fee to publish on their platform.  (Also making more money from selling their own in-house games.)  I don't know how they split digital goods sales on those platforms.  It may be similar to the app stores with a set %.

4.  I believe that the tablets/phones we buy are sold at a profit for the manufacturers.  Which is fine.  App developers are trying to sell digital goods to us to help us be more productive/entertain us/etc.  Most of them are not the same company as the device manufacturers.  Most of them make very little money as well.  An application that runs on a device is using a software environment that was created by Apple/Android/Amazon, but was created by people who got nothing from the sale of that device.  So of course, they should be trying to make money from their apps.