The part about anchoring resource values is particularly relevant. The prices for HP and Iso-8 in the cash store are a likely a lot higher than what the developers value them at, and are mostly there as something to measure the value of other deals or in-game rewards. When I reach the next SHIELD Rank, the Iso-8 reward I get isn't really worth AU$129.99 (or I guess US$99.99): that's just the value they'd like me to place on it.
A more accurate way to value those resources would be to take the amount of money spent on HP or Iso-8 and divide it by the total amount of that resource distributed in the game by any means (progression, placement, SHIELD rank, cash purchases, etc). For Iso-8 in particular, I suspect the vast majority distributed in game doesn't come from purchases, so the cash store prices shouldn't be used as a benchmark for valuing other cash offers.
jp1 said: Client may be a strong word, however I disagree that it is debatable whether or not I am a customer. They certainly have no problem taking my money.I am of the opinion that common courtesy would at least entitle paying customers to a response. No matter the semantics.If you like a better comparison, I am a consumer for Netflix. If I contact them through an official channel with an inquiry, I’m likely to get a response. This is just part of running a business. Of course they can’t pacify everyone, but the dismissive attitude of ignoring the people, at least in part responsible for your paycheck, quite frankly is ridiculous.Edit: In regards to your other point. One of the most humbling and valuable lessons I’ve ever learned professionally was to ask someone who was passing on our services what I could have done differently to earn or retain their business. There is always something to learn. Despite the occasional urge to say “Sorry to see you go, take care.” Again though, I guess things are different wherever you go.
While we usually say little about future plans*:
(Sniped irrelevant details)
*: Reasons for this: software development, creative work, and entertaining people are all messy and unpredictable, and when you cross the three together in a live game, making very many promises can lock you into disaster. And we know most of you are happiest with more detail and dislike when something you're expecting changes, so we typically talk about new things when we're certain of the details. Because of the nature of game development, that's usually when the feature's about to come out.
DAZ0273 said: jp1 said: Client may be a strong word, however I disagree that it is debatable whether or not I am a customer. They certainly have no problem taking my money.I am of the opinion that common courtesy would at least entitle paying customers to a response. No matter the semantics.If you like a better comparison, I am a consumer for Netflix. If I contact them through an official channel with an inquiry, I’m likely to get a response. This is just part of running a business. Of course they can’t pacify everyone, but the dismissive attitude of ignoring the people, at least in part responsible for your paycheck, quite frankly is ridiculous.Edit: In regards to your other point. One of the most humbling and valuable lessons I’ve ever learned professionally was to ask someone who was passing on our services what I could have done differently to earn or retain their business. There is always something to learn. Despite the occasional urge to say “Sorry to see you go, take care.” Again though, I guess things are different wherever you go. I'm afraid the Netflix comparison doesn't really apply either. In that relationship you are paying for a service which Netflix are obliged to provide through your subscription. I guess the nearest thing with MPQ would be VIP. However your only rights of communication would be with customer services if for some reason those goods weren't delivered on one of the days specified in the "contract".Otherwise though you are simply purchasing digital goods as one off transactions. In that case as long as you have been supplied those goods as expected, the relationship ends there. It is of course to the benefit of any company to try and retain good relations with a customer base but it is a one sided relationship and if your expectations are that you should be kept updated with plans the company has for it's free to play games then I suspect the relationship you desire is really more like being a shareholder of the company where you have an expectation of both regular communication and being able to hold it to account. Sadly MPQ could disappear tomorrow and apart from refunds for any unfulfilled VIP we as players might not even get a "goodbye,".That is sadly the reality of this.
jamesh said: The part about anchoring resource values is particularly relevant. The prices for HP and Iso-8 in the cash store are a likely a lot higher than what the developers value them at, and are mostly there as something to measure the value of other deals or in-game rewards. When I reach the next SHIELD Rank, the Iso-8 reward I get isn't really worth AU$129.99 (or I guess US$99.99): that's just the value they'd like me to place on it.A more accurate way to value those resources would be to take the amount of money spent on HP or Iso-8 and divide it by the total amount of that resource distributed in the game by any means (progression, placement, SHIELD rank, cash purchases, etc). For Iso-8 in particular, I suspect the vast majority distributed in game doesn't come from purchases, so the cash store prices shouldn't be used as a benchmark for valuing other cash offers.
jp1 said: DAZ0273 said: jp1 said: Client may be a strong word, however I disagree that it is debatable whether or not I am a customer. They certainly have no problem taking my money.I am of the opinion that common courtesy would at least entitle paying customers to a response. No matter the semantics.If you like a better comparison, I am a consumer for Netflix. If I contact them through an official channel with an inquiry, I’m likely to get a response. This is just part of running a business. Of course they can’t pacify everyone, but the dismissive attitude of ignoring the people, at least in part responsible for your paycheck, quite frankly is ridiculous.Edit: In regards to your other point. One of the most humbling and valuable lessons I’ve ever learned professionally was to ask someone who was passing on our services what I could have done differently to earn or retain their business. There is always something to learn. Despite the occasional urge to say “Sorry to see you go, take care.” Again though, I guess things are different wherever you go. I'm afraid the Netflix comparison doesn't really apply either. In that relationship you are paying for a service which Netflix are obliged to provide through your subscription. I guess the nearest thing with MPQ would be VIP. However your only rights of communication would be with customer services if for some reason those goods weren't delivered on one of the days specified in the "contract".Otherwise though you are simply purchasing digital goods as one off transactions. In that case as long as you have been supplied those goods as expected, the relationship ends there. It is of course to the benefit of any company to try and retain good relations with a customer base but it is a one sided relationship and if your expectations are that you should be kept updated with plans the company has for it's free to play games then I suspect the relationship you desire is really more like being a shareholder of the company where you have an expectation of both regular communication and being able to hold it to account. Sadly MPQ could disappear tomorrow and apart from refunds for any unfulfilled VIP we as players might not even get a "goodbye,".That is sadly the reality of this. Okay, if not Netflix...Walmart or Amazon.Same thing. I disagree that Netflix has any more imperative to communicate with me as well. I am a drop in their bucket, and businesses could care less about what is right or fair, they care about your money and how to extract it.Since I would normally spend much more money at MPQ than I would at Netflix, logic would dictate that they have more reason to grace me with a response. People seem to to think the question at hand here is getting the answers “we want”. I’m no child, I realize the answer may often be “I can’t really offer a detailed response to that”. My issue is that when the answer is nothing, it almost comes off as disdain. There are always going to be things where communication is limited for good cause. However, that doesn’t mean communication shouldn’t exist. Anyway, this doesn’t seem like a point we can all agree on...call it a differing opinion. I simply believe that just because something is a certain way, doesn’t mean it has to (or should) be that way. Ignoring your most devoted customers who actively engage with you is poor business practice besides just being straight up rude.
bluewolf said: I do think MPQ is pretty gentle in using these techniques; if it wasn't, I'd have walked away long ago.