Commander Prices: Too much?

Discussion in 'Planetary Annihilation General Discussion' started by tehtrekd, May 23, 2014.

  1. plink

    plink Active Member

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    If you don't like the price, don't buy it. Sheesh, people getting up in arms over nothing. Vote with your wallet. As long as the 'extra purchases' are non-gameplay effecting, I don't see any problem with this.
    FSN1977 and kayonsmit101 like this.
  2. igncom1

    igncom1 Post Master General

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    Bugger it, bought them all anyway.

    Also, thanks for the discount from being a kickstarter, that cut the cost in half for me.
  3. bradaz85

    bradaz85 Active Member

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    A bit late to the party as usual.
  4. chronosoul

    chronosoul Well-Known Member

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    To add my 2 cents to this mound of cash, i'd like to say to say that the custom commanders are significantly cooler looking then some of the standard models we have as commanders. I am okay with this.

    For one, I think I see an issue with people not wanting Uber to devote 100% of their time to purely making skins and models that don't add much depth to the game other then making people have unique pretty commanders. I too don't want this, and i believe Uber has made it a mission to keep supporting the game and increasing the unit amounts as well as updating skins. There is still a ton of features Uber has to add into the game to satisfy the stretch goals, and I doubt they would spend any or all of their time to purely making cosmetic commanders to charge people $10 for each of them.

    Now aside that point and onto the next, micro transactions. I believe everyone is sufficiently butt hurt about the current state of game life where new content is added at the expense of $2 -$10 dollar increments. Guys, there is positive and negative aspects of this that as a gaming culture we have to accept.

    Positive-
    • Lets Mod makers develop new material for the game as well as support their craft in doing so.
    • keeps a steadier income for those who develop, both Uber and modders.
    Negative-

    • Features broken up to extract more transactions per item
    • Expansions degenerated into gradual micro transactions
    • New material is now weighted with content/price instead of generally adding content for free
    I agree with the negatives in how most "DLC" and additions to games have really become micro transactions to finish the game in the first place. Or teased extra maps that if you pay early you get to play them earlier then others.

    If we really want to send a message about this, writing letters or private messages to the developers (Company or Modder) telling them our displeasure with their actions of turning games into mules that keep funneling cash for assets that should be in game already is the best way of cohesion. Writing on the forum is just not the same as a stack of intelligent well thought out letters arguing that they need to change their business practices.
  5. KNight

    KNight Post Master General

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    That works in regards to the initial cost, but I don't really see that as a reasonable justification for the price afterwards. Even thought you guys probably undercut yourselves on the kickstarter pricing you think you should be able to still easily make it back with a more accessible price that would probably result in more sales?

    Also do you think you give us some context on why there are different price points for what is functionally the same product?

    Mike
    Nicb1 likes this.
  6. drz1

    drz1 Post Master General

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    People didn't complain when they had to pay for expansion packs....
    If people are willing to pay for cosmetic stuff, and it funds FREE EXPANSION DLC, then I am all for it.
  7. BradNicholson

    BradNicholson Uber Employee Uber Alumni

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    Maybe? I don't know what you're arguing here, outside of you want cheaper Commanders? Is that it?
  8. monkeyulize

    monkeyulize Active Member

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    They may be priced that high because they are the kickstarter commanders, instead of just regular ones Uber designs to be sold.

    Regular skins should not cost more than $5, unless it had REALLY cool effects (visual effects only obviously).
  9. FSN1977

    FSN1977 Active Member

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    Just got two commanders ,they are so Cool. Uber= Awesome.
  10. KNight

    KNight Post Master General

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    Isn't that what this thread is about?

    Mike
  11. bluestrike01

    bluestrike01 Active Member

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    Seen in Zaphod's youtube Scathis mention that the backers of those commanders have a piece of the sales cake.

    Ontopic, Yeah more then 5$ is over it for me, also how many extra commanders will there be, 50, 100, 200?
  12. Quitch

    Quitch Post Master General

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    Do you know who else was greedy? The Nazis. Do you want to be like the Nazis?

    Case closed.

    DISCLAIMER: This post is sarcasm. This post does not reflect the views of eXodus or its subsidiaries. No endorsement of this post was received from eXodus or its team members. Definition of sarcasm may vary from country of origin.
    Last edited: May 23, 2014
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  13. cola_colin

    cola_colin Moderator Alumni

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    Do you know what a free market is about? Request and demand? How prices are formed in that context?

    Really let them ask for whatever price they want. If nobody buys it the price will go down. If the prices stays up that's fine too.

    EDIT:
    Also to go into the extreme:
    If Uber were to add a "pay 10$ for nothing" option in the store would that be greed? Or just a way for people who like the game to donate?
    As long as there are enough people that buy any offer is fair basically. At least when we are talking about stuff like extra commnders. We are not talking about a global food producer dictating the price of bread after all.
    fajitas23, chronosoul and squishypon3 like this.
  14. KNight

    KNight Post Master General

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    If you feel that will work then by all means wait it out to see what happens but to not use that to be dismissive of the people who want to discuss it.

    Mike
  15. YourLocalMadSci

    YourLocalMadSci Well-Known Member

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    So to throw in my 2 cents, I have no compunction about Uber selling commanders. There is nothing wrong about that.

    I will say for me personally that $5-10 is not low enough to tempt me. I admit that I just don't purchase cosmetic digital goods. At the end of the day, my mental calculation goes along the lines of 3 pretty models + textures or a fully fledged, decent indy game. This is not to belittle the artists, as they are doing some great work, and I really do like the commanders presented. I do appreciate the amount of effort that goes into making a commander, although it should be pointed out that this translates in a capital cost, rather than a marginal one. I just cannot personally justify that purchase when I feel I can get more utility from other forms of digital goods. Some folks have a different mental calculation, and there's nothing wrong with that.

    Now, having said that, I don't think Uber should actually do anything to alter the price of these commanders. They are entirely within their rights to put whatever price they choose to on their digital goods, and consumers have every right to decide to buy or not to buy them as they see fit. However, what I would suggest is (yup you guessed it, as it's coming from the scientist) a little experimentation. Why not release the next sets of commanders at a very wide range of price points? I would have no problem with commanders being priced all the way along the spectrum from $0.01 to $100. This way, consumers get to choose a price point they are comfortable with and the developers get excellent market research data over what people are willing to pay as well as what the highest grossing price bracket is. I cannot speak for others, but if the commanders were in the sub $2 region, then I suspect that my mouse cursor would spend a very long time hovering over the "add to cart" button. Who knows what it would do next?
    liquius likes this.
  16. carlorizzante

    carlorizzante Post Master General

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    Do not waste your time. Brad answers only the original post, then lock down the thread :D
  17. carlorizzante

    carlorizzante Post Master General

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    Scathis actually confirmed right now that those are the first three Commanders, and that the owners/backers agreed to put them on sale. So far, it seems fair to me.

  18. mered4

    mered4 Post Master General

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    If the commanders were available on steam, I'd be interested. Seein as I have a spare five bucks just sitting around....I'll happily throw it at the shadow daemon commander.
    I still hate microtransactions- I just want to support the devs here
  19. Pinworm

    Pinworm Active Member

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    The prices are absurd and insulting.
  20. igncom1

    igncom1 Post Master General

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    I don't agree. :p
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