entrailbucket said: No one is spending thousands of dollars in a sitting anymore, because they figured out that they don't have to. Getting cover swaps is a huge part of that.But when players who spend a few bucks here and there, or nothing at all, become dominant, that's a problem. F2p players love to talk about the community and the health of the game, and those things do have some value. But in games like this, revenue is the single most important metric. When f2p players drive spenders out, revenues take a hit, and revenues are the only reason this game still exists.
ThaRoadWarrior said: Why would good, uniformly applied customer service cause other players to never start spending?
Sekilicious said: entrailbucket said: No one is spending thousands of dollars in a sitting anymore, because they figured out that they don't have to. Getting cover swaps is a huge part of that.But when players who spend a few bucks here and there, or nothing at all, become dominant, that's a problem. F2p players love to talk about the community and the health of the game, and those things do have some value. But in games like this, revenue is the single most important metric. When f2p players drive spenders out, revenues take a hit, and revenues are the only reason this game still exists. To these two points.If no one spends thousands of dollars who are your best customers? Please pick among the options that you think are in the game, not some pie-in-the-sky ideal that you think will miraculously appear if the developers become more stingy with the people that are here, now, playing their game.You have moved the goalposts on the second point. $600 is more than most have ever spent on any game that isn't World of Warcraft. It isn't 'a few bucks here and there'.
entrailbucket said:Because the high-level f2p players teach new players how to dominate without spending anything, and actively discourage them from spending.
ThaRoadWarrior said: I would say that the use case we are discussing, F2P players who can immediately 550 multiple 5*s, is pretty close to one of those steak restaurant "if you can eat this 5lb steak in one sitting, it's free! deals." The amount of times they have to pay out on it pale in comparison to the people who attempt it I'm sure.
ThaRoadWarrior said: I mean, if the solution is "sit at the table and take one bite a day for 6 years," I don't know how many of us are really, truly doing that.
ThaRoadWarrior said: How playable is a champed Ultron? Mine isn’t there, but I kind of want to run Knulltron because I like the name…
entrailbucket said: Sekilicious said: entrailbucket said: No one is spending thousands of dollars in a sitting anymore, because they figured out that they don't have to. Getting cover swaps is a huge part of that.But when players who spend a few bucks here and there, or nothing at all, become dominant, that's a problem. F2p players love to talk about the community and the health of the game, and those things do have some value. But in games like this, revenue is the single most important metric. When f2p players drive spenders out, revenues take a hit, and revenues are the only reason this game still exists. To these two points.If no one spends thousands of dollars who are your best customers? Please pick among the options that you think are in the game, not some pie-in-the-sky ideal that you think will miraculously appear if the developers become more stingy with the people that are here, now, playing their game.You have moved the goalposts on the second point. $600 is more than most have ever spent on any game that isn't World of Warcraft. It isn't 'a few bucks here and there'. If you ran a store, who's your best customer? Someone who buys something every few weeks or someone who comes in every day to use your bathroom without buying anything?
dianetics said: I would say a "whale" would be someone who spends more than $300 per year.That would be a VIP who also buys into monthly promos every other month.It is double a WoW sub, but you, presumably, also have people who go way beyond that.How many people realistically spend more than VIP per month on the game? Anybody who is over double the sub should be the entry to whale territory.
dianetics said: Are they providing whale tier customer service? I would say they really aren't.Tens of thousands in a lifetime doesn't sound crazy to me really knowing other games life Fifa or NBA 2k. It is not out of my price range if I perceive the value. As to your point there is no real benefit to buy hand over fist with no sure jump in power level.Even if you buy into the special deals you might get 1 5* cover per month for 30-40 bucks, and you can only buy in once.This is beneficial for the community at whole though, so I accept and appreciate it.I'm not a games economist but I imagine getting a wide net of low to mid tier players paying lower amounts consistently may be more profitable, and should be more steady and easier for the devs to manage monthly income than hanging on to a few big spenders who may leave at the tip of a hat.
entrailbucket said: dianetics said: Are they providing whale tier customer service? I would say they really aren't.Tens of thousands in a lifetime doesn't sound crazy to me really knowing other games life Fifa or NBA 2k. It is not out of my price range if I perceive the value. As to your point there is no real benefit to buy hand over fist with no sure jump in power level.Even if you buy into the special deals you might get 1 5* cover per month for 30-40 bucks, and you can only buy in once.This is beneficial for the community at whole though, so I accept and appreciate it.I'm not a games economist but I imagine getting a wide net of low to mid tier players paying lower amounts consistently may be more profitable, and should be more steady and easier for the devs to manage monthly income than hanging on to a few big spenders who may leave at the tip of a hat. The "whale tier" customer service we were talking about is a special, unadvertised service that they provide if you have the 3 latest 5* at 550. When you have that you can trade their covers in for any other 5* cover of your choice.Initially, they offered these swaps to players who had any character at 550. Eventually they discovered that players would spend big once to get a 550, then exchange covers forever without spending any additional cash.The policy was changed so that cover swapping was only available if you had the current 5* maxed out. This was done to encourage continuous spending.
dianetics said: Is the 550 swap still a thing? If that is, then it should be evidence enough right?