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Wiseman -> RE: Choices to Artix and Financial staff (5/21/2011 15:46:54)
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I decided to post again, because this has progressed into something a bit different, it's no longer just about this release.
They are not selling two guns for 50$, the money is for the varium package, the guns are a BONUS that comes FREE with the varium package. They could have no promos and just keep the varium package, and that would be within their full rights. However they choose to add promos to the package because it gives players more bang for their buck, on one hand it is a strategy to sell more 50$ packs, on the other hand they want their players to get MORE than what they paid for.
Promo items should have always been a bonus for those players that paid for the package, however they started adding them in game because some promos where hard to obtain in certain countries. They did that because they wanted all of their players to have a chance at the items, however that is not the case with all promos. The ones that are sold in the 50$ package are obtainable by all players including ones who don't live in the US. They do not have to make any of those promos available in game, however they did, for an entire year. That is what the problem is, everyone has come to expect them to do that every time, to the point where they buy varium before promos come out because they assume the item will automatically have an in game price. However this time that is not the case, and suddenly it's an outrage that the developers didn't do something that they never had to do in the first place, and that they where doing out of generosity.
It's not a conspiracy, they are just going back to the basics, back when ED was in its so called golden era "December 2009-March 2010" ALL promos where available in the packages, but not in the game. Then they started adding the promos into the game, and that's when ED started it's apparent downhill slide many players keep talking about. I'm not saying that's why they did this, however if you think about it, they made the best sells and had the happiest players, back when the promos where only offered as a bonus for the packages.
My suggestion to anyone that this release upset because you already have varium and don't need more, is that from this point forward, do not get the varium till you have a reason to. Once you buy the Artix Points (AP), you have already paid, whether the points go to AQW, AQ, DF, MQ, HS, or ED is irrelevant, once you buy the AP the company has made the profit. What that means is, instead of buying varium, SAVE YOUR AP, until a good 10k package is offered, or something nice is added in game that you want. Also never purchase more varium than you need at the time, if you only need about 5k for a weapon + enhancements, then you should get the 5k package, that way you will have more AP left over for large promos.
Once you buy your points, you have supported the company, and spent your money, what you do with your points afterword is up to you. It doesn't matter if you spend it on ED or one of the other AE games, the money for the points all goes to the same place. So the key to success is to save your points for when you see a great offer "like a good 10k pack promo" instead of just spending it all at once for extra varium you may never need.
A lot of the players that enjoy this release, where the ones that save their points for just this sort of thing, and many of them are also long time supporters who have spent old and new money on the game. Buying varium has nothing to do with money old or new because you get varium with AP not money, your money goes toward the AP, and whether its old money or new money saving your AP for special offers is always a good idea.
In Summery: Instead of hording your Varium, save your Artix Points instead, in the end that is a much better strategy when paying for any AE game.
On to the next subject.
As I said before the package prices and the in game varium prices can not be lowered now, too many have paid for them at their current price to lower it, and AE will not refund any money/varium to anyone (their disclaimer in the ToS pretty much says AE doesn't do refunds). However what they can do is increase the amount of varium each package gives, to be more fair to the ones paying. For instance on AQW you get 12,000 AC for 40$ and most good in game AC items cost 500-1200 AC, however on ED you get 10,000 varium for 50$ and most good in game varium items cost 900-1400V and class change cost 1500V and enhancements can cost up to 1700V. So I think for the ED price tag to be on par with the AQW one they need to raise the varium that is given for each package, if the 50$ package gave *18,000 varium it would be worth the price, and when you compare the in-game prices to the amount of varium given and add in the extra 10$ cost over AQW it makes sense.
* 18,000 is just used as an example, and may be too high or too low when actually compared to AQW AC received per package.
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