Are Demi and D3 panicking?

mkmagius

Yeah I don't understand what d4n13 is trying to say. Maybe our definitions are different? F2P means free to play right? Meaning don't spend any money? How is a game without any advertising supposed to make money if the only players in the game don't spend any?

animaniactoo

D4Ni13 said:

Vhailorx said:

D4Ni13 said:

Vhailorx said:

D4Ni13 said:

It is clear that you don't know how the economy of a game like MPQ works... you cannot have it without all the players (f2p & buyers alike). Every HP has a value in real money & it doesn't matter where that HP came from when you buy something in game. It just matters that you spend it and roll it in the system (that's why they don't like hoarding by the way). So if I earn 100 HP in game and buy a token, it's the same thing as if you spent money and then bought the same token with your 100 HP. They cannot differentiate my HP from your HP. The only thing that matters is that HP to be on a profit in the system all the time (same concept as the bitcoin if you like).

Of course if you buy a large amount of HP, you will spend more than someone who earns HP, but the idea is that you cannot maintain the economy without every f2p user in the game, because you see buyers spend a lot but in instances, while f2p users generate fewer HP but constantly. It's like having a small salary & a big prime once in a while. You could say that the prime makes a huge difference, but the constant value in your life is actually the salary. You can plan around it because you know it is there all the time, while the prime is something that you can receive or not, so you cannot plan around it.

And as a short anwser, no, they are not panicking. The only ones that are panicking right now are the players impacted by the CP loss (if it will be revealed to be true).

I really don't even know where to begin.  Your first two paragraphs read like they are responding to an entirely different thread.  honestly what are you talking about?  buying HP v. earning HP?  Whales v. f2p? salary v. prime (bonus?)?  none of that really has anything to do with my post. 

And the last paragraph is just a retread of the standard "stop being an entitled millennial!" post that everyone uses to respond to argument they don't like.

Yes it does. You assume that a company with millions of players are afraid that a handful of users are upset, and you also assume that without buyers this game would die. These are clear signs that you don't understand how the economy of such a game works, because both your assumptions are false. So I explained how the economy works, so you would know that demi/d3 have no reason whatsoever to panic.

And I don't like this topic because it gives me the sensation that you think you are above everyone else. How can you even comprehend that demi would be panicking because of you and few other players ? You are either naive or arrogant to think that you are so important to them... trust me, everyone is replaceable.

I didn't say they were afraid of a handful of users.  I suggested that perhaps they afraid because revenue was down significantly in 2017.  If you don't think that a company like d3 would be concerned about dipping revenue than I don't really think we will agree on anything.  The game WILL die without buyers.  But that's not at all the same thing as saying that the game doesn't need new/f2p/casual players too. 

I feel like i wrote a post suggesting one potential chain of events that might have led to the recent, significant changes in MPQ.  It had nothing to do with me as an individual, or with whales v. seals, or spenders v. f2p, or vets v. new players.  I didn't even suggest any prognosis or advocate for any particular future action on the part of players or demi (at least not in this thread).  It was just a theory as to why demi/d3 might be making some of these most recent changes.

And then you wrote a diatribe telling me that it wasn't about me, that I don't understand anything about the game economy, and that I am arrogant to think that I am so important to MPQ.  ?????  I am honestly quite confused as to how how you can read my original post and come up with that response. 

First off, the game will not die without buyers. The game is made to have profit with f2p users only. Of course any extra buy is extra profit. And now they probably upped their target because they can, but even in hard times, the game can sustain itself if it has the required number of players. Don't believe me, you can search to see how this actual games work. 

Secondly, lets leave it as it is now. It seems you don't want to understand what I'm saying (and it's fine). But again: the game is not dying, nobody is panicking and if you take the time to understand the tehnical mechanism underneath the game you will actually understand that. 

Sorry, I work in PD and I have to butt in here. Your understanding of the economics of a game like this are severely off. There is NO source of revenue built into this game if it is entirely f2p. None. Zero. For awhile they tried to have ads with the bonus intercept rewards but found there were technical difficulties with the ads and removed that aspect. Those ads would have been the only other income source available here.

The value of an f2p player is that they are bonded into the game as "additional resources" in terms of a large enough playerbase for alliancemates, PVP/PVE competitors, etc. for those who are paying with real world money.

Therefore all profit comes from the additional in-game purchases and this is what the game thrives on. If they cannot entice people to make in-game purchases and only f2p players use it, the game will indeed die. It is not extra profit, it is the ONLY profit.

The devs must be paid with real world money. They cannot pay their rent or buy food with CP or HP. They get paid cash money. Same goes for paying the licensor for the contract rights, both the baseline minimum guarantee money and the profit percentage rate.

bluewolf

You forgot the HfH evolution to the current "buy this to avoid wasting covers".  It did not start that way.  First they offered a single cover every day, then every 5 days, now it is tailored to your roster as well.

It seems obvious that they are trying to increase revenue, especially with the shield training.  It is harder to say if that is due to lost revenue or simple capitalism (must make more and more and more).

I believe that the more diluted the character pool, the less a single cover is worth (especially now that they give them away in progression).  So incentivizing people to rapidly pursue a new character is possibly good for their revenue.

At some point the game will fold. It has already lasted longer than the average ftp game.  Enjoy it in the moment.

MaskedMan

No.  It is easy to see when an online game company is panicking, seen it many times before.  When they see revenues drop dangerously they:

A) Finally start listening to players - much too late.
Give away the store - lower prices on everything or make rare items much easier to get

As you can see from Nighcrawler and 74 wins to get a 4 star cover they have no intention of the second and we are still waiting on the first.

Thorstienn

Moot discussion. They haven't lowered "stark salary" prices... so people are still obviously buying (never me at those prices!)
Oh... and there are no ads