Curse

Ctb · Apr 15, 2009, 05:25 PM // 17:25

Quote:

Everything about a character is one big BLOB

Well, that explains why changing storage is so difficult.

Never mind, I give up. I refuse to defend them on anything ever again, because every time I do, I learn something like this.

Gargle Blaster · Apr 15, 2009, 05:33 PM // 17:33

new storage tabs are cool but they are not $10.00 worth of cool.

You can get double storage slots with a mule for the same dollar amount.

Daesu · Apr 15, 2009, 05:34 PM // 17:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lourens

Why are you attacking him? maybe he is right.

He is simply stating the obvious.

It doesn't justify why ANet should lower the cost of each slot. In fact, he seems to be suggesting that the gross profit has to be enough to cover the overheads too.

If the demand for the slots is high enough (and I dont mean just the small gamer population on this thread), that justifies a higher cost for each slot. ANet probably looked at the numbers and made an informed decision already.

For those who prefers the cheaper option of another account, then go for it. Some people have the money and dont really care to transfer items across accounts.

Makkert · Apr 15, 2009, 05:38 PM // 17:38

/NOT signed for obvious reasons.

Targren · Apr 15, 2009, 05:48 PM // 17:48

Quote:

If the demand for the slots is high enough (and I dont mean just the small gamer population on this thread), that justifies a higher cost for each slot. ANet probably looked at the numbers and made an informed decision already.

For those who prefers the cheaper option of another account, then go for it. Some people have the money and dont really care to transfer items across accounts.

Already have. ordered 2 factions boxes from newegg for $9.99 ea. Part of the reason I have the money is because I know how to get the most value out of it. My PC is 3 years old (Rebuilt to play oblivion. Waste of money that was. :P) and can run GWx2 just fine, so yeah. For me, the accounts were better value.

Fates · Apr 15, 2009, 05:53 PM // 17:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Targren

Already have. ordered 2 factions boxes from newegg for $9.99 ea. Part of the reason I have the money is because I know how to get the most value out of it. My PC is 3 years old (Rebuilt to play oblivion. Waste of money that was. :P) and can run GWx2 just fine, so yeah. For me, the accounts were better value.

and you can sign up for free money (zkeys) with that new account. win-win.

Daesu · Apr 15, 2009, 05:54 PM // 17:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Targren

Already have. ordered 2 factions boxes from newegg for $9.99 ea. Part of the reason I have the money is because I know how to get the most value out of it. My PC is 3 years old (Rebuilt to play oblivion. Waste of money that was. :P) and can run GWx2 just fine, so yeah. For me, the accounts were better value.

Then go for the accounts. Some people prefer to pay for the extra convenience.

It is just dumb to "hate" ANet for this and boycott, when you can already order a new account from egghead.

king swift · Apr 15, 2009, 06:06 PM // 18:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gun Pierson

You know what would be funny? Anet reacting with: 'We drop the project alltogether, forget about the April update, we'll continue with next month's skill balance'

Then the QQ's would be EPIC

Anduril_0923 · Apr 15, 2009, 06:13 PM // 18:13

So, I clicked on this forum thread because I was interested to see what the consensus might be on the guru community regarding the planned price of the additional storage tabs they are releasing. Little did I know I would also get such a high level of entertainment from Orange Milk and Targren.

On point, I actually agree with both sides of the debate. $9.99 seems a little steep for the amount of value you're getting. However, I also will probably purchase them anyway, if only for my main account. It's a total outlay of $30, after the promotional one. While I think A-net was a little silly in charging for it, I also understand the need to recoup some costs and maintain some level of viability in the revenue stream.

Having recently started my own business, I know that overhead is paid for regardless of whether there is income by making use of business loans or some other source of liquidity. Any *good* business has some amount of liquid assets to support themselves in the event there is no income. How else do you think a development team (like the one for GW2) gets paid?

While overhead is taken into consideration in developing a business model, it generally does not dictate the price of the product/service being offered because there would be no way to definitively say how many of a particular unit might be sold. Theoretically, if your sales had to pay for your overhead, you'd set your price at the amount of your overhead just to make that amount back. But then no one would buy it.

Long story short: a good business model takes total cost of operation into account when pricing a product, but there's also consideration of market demand, viability, and 'value' (as nebulous as that term is). Essentially, if ANet wanted to recoup the costs incurred in developing the upcoming update, they would charge for the whole works. You think Linsey works for free?

Shasgaliel · Apr 15, 2009, 06:15 PM // 18:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ctb

Well, that explains why changing storage is so difficult.

Never mind, I give up. I refuse to defend them on anything ever again, because every time I do, I learn something like this.

I was also surprised when I read about it from the link on the previous page. When I was studying SQL databases I was told not to use BLOBs unless there is no other option. Now I understand some of the explanations from Gaile and Regina that something we thought is fast and easy is actually very hard to implement.

Targren · Apr 15, 2009, 06:34 PM // 18:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orange Milk

I can see that you are good with your money by the fact that you waste it.

WAIT! WHAT?

Yep, Irony. I got all hyped up for Oblivion, rebuilt the machine with all the wizz-bang gaming goodies, and... Oblivion sucked.

Rather than let it go to waste though, I took that gaming tank, I picked up GW.

8000 hours later...

Targren · Apr 15, 2009, 06:37 PM // 18:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shasgaliel

I was also surprised when I read about it from the link on the previous page. When I was studying SQL databases I was told not to use BLOBs unless there is no other option. Now I understand some of the explanations from Gaile and Regina that something we thought is fast and easy is actually very hard to implement.

Just read the link...
Oh... my... gods... I'm now surprised the game's as stable as it is... I just died a little inside.

Daesu · Apr 15, 2009, 06:41 PM // 18:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anduril_0923

While overhead is taken into consideration in developing a business model, it generally does not dictate the price of the product/service being offered because there would be no way to definitively say how many of a particular unit might be sold.

That is usually done through market projections.

Quote:

Theoretically, if your sales had to pay for your overhead, you'd set your price at the amount of your overhead just to make that amount back. But then no one would buy it.

Yes it is theoretical, and nobody in his right mind wants to jump into a business without doing some form of market research first. Your investors would bulk at it. Doesn't guarantee success of course, but what legitimate business does?

DreamWind · Apr 15, 2009, 07:17 PM // 19:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fril Estelin

Anet Monday briefing, 13/04/2009, 8:00:
Mike O'brien: ok guys, big news, I decided we're going to give away the additional extra storage for FREE, as our reasonable customers expect.
James (from the finance department): Wait, but, but...
Mike O'brien: yes James, it means we'll make a loss on it so this means...
James: we're not getting paid this month?
Linsey, Regina, Martin: WHAT??!!??
James: ok ok let's calm down, what about $5 a pane?
Mike: well you'd all get half your salary but I'm afraid we'd break the trust of our customers who expect us to deliver everything completely free
Regina: I can already see the thread on Guru...
Linsey: I <3 this game but, hmmm...
Martin: I just moved to Seattle!
Mike: well I'm sorry guys, we can't afford to loose our customer's trust, read the threads on Guru and you'll understand what I mean
Linsey, Regina, Martin: GURU??!!??

Let me give you what the meeting should have been:

Anet Monday briefing, 13/04/2009, 8:00:
Mike O'brien: ok guys, big news, I decided we're going to give away some additional storage, as our reasonable customers expect.
James (from the finance department): Sounds good, we have a nice profit from our loyal fans already and this will keep them loyal in the future for even more profit.
Mike O'brien: yes James, we may a very minor short term hit for a larger long term gain but it will be well worth it when our customers know that we take pride in making quality games with as minimal shortcomings as possible.
James: and we will still get paid this month due to the success that GW1 remains in terms of unit sales, as well as the sale of everything else in our store.
Linsey, Regina, Martin: Sounds great! I love working at this company!
James: ok ok wait a second I was thinking, what about $10 or $5 a pane? We should get something out of this right?
Mike: First of all, $10 is ridiculously stupid. As for $5, I'm afraid we'd break the trust of our customers who expect us to deliver updates that rid them of game shortcomings. Fans have been asking for this for years, and to charge them would be a disgrace to them. UAX should have always been free as well but since we screwed that up its too late to go back as it would piss off everybody who already bought UAX. I don't want to make the same mistake selling extra storage.
Regina: I can already see the thread on Guru if we tried to sell extra storage. I wouldn't be able to respond to the legitimate criticism of that.
Linsey: I <3 this game and this company!!!!!!!
Martin: I just moved to Seattle! I'm so happy!
Mike: we can't afford to loose our customer's trust, read the threads on Guru and you'll understand what I mean
Linsey, Regina, Martin: We agree! Guru is one of the more respected fan sites and contains many loyal customers. We value their opinion on the matter.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fril Estelin

Same question as to DreamWind (not answered yet?): what kind of game advantage does the Xunlai chest panes give you?

It gives the obvious advantage of you being able to hold more than me. Bryant explained it well in his post. This is a little off topic, but skill packs give a game advantage as well. Are you of the opinion that those should be in the store too? (I criticized heavily when those were released as well).

Quote:

Originally Posted by eht123

Here's how it works: If you don't like it, don't buy it. Pretty simple, really.

It's not that simple, and if you and everybody else who keeps using this argument actually read this thread you would all know why.

Lastly, I am getting kicks out of the fact that I agree with Yawgmoth, Bryant, and Red Sonya in this thread (of which at least 2 I have strongly disagreed with in the past). Maybe everybody is slowly starting to see the light that I have seen for years...Anet's slow but drastic turn for the worse.

Fril Estelin · Apr 15, 2009, 07:23 PM // 19:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamWind

It gives the obvious advantage of you being able to hold more than me.

Can you give me examples of how this affect the game, rather than its economy? Because Xunlai chest panes are accessed in towns/outposts where we don't play the game. You may see something that I don't see.

EDIT: P.S.: Do you still play the game? And would you buy one pane at $5? (just for my information)

Daesu · Apr 15, 2009, 07:26 PM // 19:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamWind

Maybe everybody is slowly starting to see the light that I have seen for years...Anet's slow but drastic turn for the worse.

Even if ANet's pricing for the slots are expensive, you can understand why. When was the last time they release a campaign?

Even though they are working on GW2, GW2 is a new game and whether it would be as successful as GW1 or not, remains to be seen. They would probably want to reduce risks there too.

I find it wierd that some people here want everything to free free free without working for it. Maybe you should sign up to be a GW2 game tester/dev and work for free, in exchange for all free game content.

In the real world, if price of something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Targren · Apr 15, 2009, 07:28 PM // 19:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fril Estelin

Can you give me examples of how this affect the game, rather than its economy? Because Xunlai chest panes are accessed in towns/outposts where we don't play the game. You may see something that I don't see.

Only way I can think of is farming. Take the recent easter weekend for instance...

Permasin heads out to Jaga. Fills up 2 stacks of bunnies and a 40 unid golds. Oh no! She only has 4 panels, three are filled up! Better go to Kamadan and spam for 40 minutes to sell half of them off...

vs.
Drop the gold on the new panes. Return to farming. Mo money mo money mo money...

Honestly, that's what annoyed me. Ended up two-boxing, selling the golds with a mule on the 2nd acct so I could go back to farming.

Not that I call that an "advantage", per se, other than being able to spend more time farming on the weekends, but it does effect how much time you spend in the field, playing as opposed to in an outpost.

Targren · Apr 15, 2009, 07:29 PM // 19:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daesu

Maybe you should sign up to be a GW2 game tester/dev and work for free, in exchange for all free game content.

As a computer programmer, I just want to say:

Hand me the pen and the contract. I'm in.

Daesu · Apr 15, 2009, 07:30 PM // 19:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Targren

Only way I can think of is farming. Take the recent easter weekend for instance...

Permasin heads out to Jaga. Fills up 2 stacks of bunnies and a 40 unid golds. Oh no! She only has 4 panels, three are filled up! Better go to Kamadan and spam for 40 minutes to sell half of them off...

You can just pay $10 and get a new account with even MORE storage space, problem solved!

Actually I think getting a new account that cheap, along with zkeys would be unfair to those who buy storage slots. Which do you think affects the game more?

Targren · Apr 15, 2009, 07:32 PM // 19:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daesu

You can just pay $10 and get a new account with even MORE storage space, problem solved!

S'what I did. Plus I get 4 slots for Bday gifts, and extra zkeys. ^_^