The Crystal Shipment Conspiracy

Llewella

The longer it takes for the crystal shipments to return I'm beginning to believe there was no technical issue at all and they will not return until crystal buying subsides. Here's the progression:

1) EA offers an affordable daily crystal delivery. The player base gets used to spending an elevated amount of crystals.
2) The crystal subscription is removed under the guise of a technical issue.
3) Heros level cap increase is announced and raised to 70. A need for more crystals is implemented.
4) Players buy more and more crystals.
5) Profit

This is all hypothetical but the longer it takes for the crytal subscription to return the more I believe it to be true. A technical issue should have been sorted out by now if it was identified last month. I enjoy this game a lot and have been been resisting the urge to to buy crystals until the daily delivery is restored but some people I know have not. Drug dealers have been using this tactic for years and on the surface it appears to be a cash grab. Have any of you had similar thoughts? Thanks.

Qeltar

https://forums.galaxy-of-heroes.starwars.ea.com/discussion/comment/53199/#Comment_53199
Next...

Llewella

"Soon" was. It's been "soon" for a while now hasn't it.

Llewella

@Qeltar nothing you linked supports that the removal of the subscription or the delay on its return was not planned... Only a promise of "soon" ...three days sgo

Powerlifter450

@Llewella , you may be on to something

Qeltar

Llewella wrote: »

"Soon" was. It's been "soon" for a while now hasn't it.

Yes it has, and I've told John directly that it made no sense to me that crystal subs would take so long to roll out. But he flatly said they are returning and I'm not going to call the man a liar without a good reason.

Terrorize89

If I was part of the dev team, I'd deliberately hold back shipments in response to the overwhelming negativity, and in some cases, attacks on the team. Why should they do something to benefit players if they don't get some gratitude for thier efforts lol.

Llewella

@Qeltar I'm not accusing anyone of lieing about subscriptions returning. I am suggesting they could have returned by now and them delaying it till after the release of the level increase is making them boat loads of money.

pay2win

Terrorize89 wrote: »

If I was part of the dev team, I'd deliberately hold back shipments in response to the overwhelming negativity, and in some cases, attacks on the team. Why should they do something to benefit players if they don't get some gratitude for thier efforts lol.

Wouldn't be surprised if that's what they are doing. Every time they release something, the backlash is horrible. Many people are just looking for an excuse to rage.

Llewella

And yes I may have used the extreme example but I believe some parts of this to be true.

Abyss

Terrorize89 wrote: »

If I was part of the dev team, I'd deliberately hold back shipments in response to the overwhelming negativity, and in some cases, attacks on the team. Why should they do something to benefit players if they don't get some gratitude for thier efforts lol.

^^^valid^^^

Qeltar

Terrorize89 wrote: »

If I was part of the dev team, I'd deliberately hold back shipments in response to the overwhelming negativity, and in some cases, attacks on the team. Why should they do something to benefit players if they don't get some gratitude for thier efforts lol.

I don't expect them to do anything to benefit players. I expect them to do what is sound business. And deliberately holding back these crystal subs is not likely good business.
The only way to believe that withholding these subs is making them money is to believe that not having subs available is causing people to buy the standard crystal packs when they otherwise would not. I'm sure EA has well-paid bean-counters who figure these things out, but I have a hard time believing that this is the case.
Most people who buy $5 crystals subs are doing so only because they are cheap. They are not going to suddenly spend $99 on crystal packs. Or probably even $20.
Most of the people who do buy expensive crystal packs would ALSO buy the subs.. because they are cheap. I would be a good example. I will buy the sub because for me it's a "noise purchase" -- I mean, every other day I have to cough up $100 for this expense, $1000 for that expense. What do I care about $5 over 7 days? It's spare change, coins in the sofa, a bill found in the back seat of the car. It means a few extra crystals I could spend. Heck, my Google Rewards will pay for much of it.
There are a lot of folks like me. So really they are losing a lot more than they are gaining by holding this back.
Finally, if they really were trying to money-grub, why was the last new bundle released 3 weeks ago? There are people on the forums literally screaming "take my money!" and there's no bundles. I will fully agree that this makes no sense, and I have no idea why they are doing this, but it is not the behavior of a company that is trying to maximize revenue.
Finally, if they didn't plan to have the subs return, what would the point be in him answering a thread and flatly saying they would be? What is gained by that?

Terrorize89

Qeltar wrote: »

Terrorize89 wrote: »

If I was part of the dev team, I'd deliberately hold back shipments in response to the overwhelming negativity, and in some cases, attacks on the team. Why should they do something to benefit players if they don't get some gratitude for thier efforts lol.

I don't expect them to do anything to benefit players. I expect them to do what is sound business. And deliberately holding back these crystal subs is not likely good business.
The only way to believe that withholding these subs is making them money is to believe that not having subs available is causing people to buy the standard crystal packs when they otherwise would not. I'm sure EA has well-paid bean-counters who figure these things out, but I have a hard time believing that this is the case.
Most people who buy $5 crystals subs are doing so only because they are cheap. They are not going to suddenly spend $99 on crystal packs. Or probably even $20.
Most of the people who do buy expensive crystal packs would ALSO buy the subs.. because they are cheap. I would be a good example. I will buy the sub because for me it's a "noise purchase" -- I mean, every other day I have to cough up $100 for this expense, $1000 for that expense. What do I care about $5 over 7 days? It's spare change, coins in the sofa, a bill found in the back seat of the car. It means a few extra crystals I could spend. Heck, my Google Rewards will pay for much of it.
There are a lot of folks like me. So really they are losing a lot more than they are gaining by holding this back.
Finally, if they really were trying to money-grub, why was the last new bundle released 3 weeks ago? There are people on the forums literally screaming "take my money!" and there's no bundles. I will fully agree that this makes no sense, and I have no idea why they are doing this, but it is not the behavior of a company that is trying to maximize revenue.
Finally, if they didn't plan to have the subs return, what would the point be in him answering a thread and flatly saying they would be? What is gained by that?

While that is true, you must remember that the team are people too, getting a heavy backlash all the time can have an impact on morale and motivation. They are still making money, so by not doing it they aren't losing out too heavily as I'd imagine there are still plenty buying crystals to rush level 70 etc. All I'm saying is a lack of motivation caused by so much negativity could slow down the return of shipments etc, especially if those asking for the shipments, bundles etc are the cause of the negativity. The community has been hounding the devs to raise the cap, and what happened when they did? 90% of posts were instead about GW and very little about the cap they so badly wanted. If that's all the team gets when they do give the community what they want, why would they rush to give into other demands. Like I said, they are people before businessmen and women.

I'm sure we have all experienced this in our life's, from work, school, hobbies etc, where negativity can drain you and cause you to feel meh for a period.

Llewella

I agree with your POV except that this game seems to be impulsive for many people and with the release of new content there is a need for crystals which many people will buy. The weekly "grind" is where the subscriptions come in handy the most, and with holding the return of subscriptions for, lets say a week or more?, offsets any profits lost from their absence by creating additional and potentially more revinue from an increase in normal crystal sales.

DanTom

ahh, the conspiracy theories. What would the forums be like without them. Soon, we'll hear that @CG_JohnSalera is actually George Lucas and @EA_Jesse is actually a jedi in real life and this game is a guise to finance the building of a real life millennium falcon.

JohnSalera

Hey all -

The crystal sub pack will be making a return. We've had other priorities to address, but we know a lot of folks enjoyed them.

In no way would we hold back things to be vindictive against the players. We're not like that and we love you guys.

I got ahead of myself when I last gave an estimated timeframe for their return, so for now I have to go with "soon".

Thanks!

Reddplague

This is a tuff crowd

Sippycup

Not every player has the same buying habits all the time. That is, there are times when someone spontaneously spends as much as they want for the instant gratification. Whereas others enjoy the value and look forward to seeing the gains spread over time. Heck maybe even buying both!

Withholding the subscription, doesn't seem it would make EA more money. They are losing money from those who otherwise would have been buying them every week (me included).

This conspiracy theory is bunk.

Llewella

Thanks, waiting for "soon."

Edit* changed post

ioniancat21

CG_JohnSalera wrote: »

Hey all -

The crystal sub pack will be making a return. We've had other priorities to address, but we know a lot of folks enjoyed them.

In no way would we hold back things to be vindictive against the players. We're not like that and we love you guys.

I got ahead of myself when I last gave an estimated timeframe for their return, so for now I have to go with "soon".

Thanks!

I wouldn't believe the team would hold this back out of spite. What I think is happening is they're analyzing the numbers to see what is more profitable...

Llewella

Agree

Terendol

Terrorize89 wrote: »

If I was part of the dev team, I'd deliberately hold back shipments in response to the overwhelming negativity, and in some cases, attacks on the team. Why should they do something to benefit players if they don't get some gratitude for thier efforts lol.

Yes, bite the hand that feeds you out of spite. That's exactly why you probably don't and never will run a successful business.

Jabberwocky

Terendol wrote: »

Terrorize89 wrote: »

If I was part of the dev team, I'd deliberately hold back shipments in response to the overwhelming negativity, and in some cases, attacks on the team. Why should they do something to benefit players if they don't get some gratitude for thier efforts lol.

Yes, bite the hand that feeds you out of spite. That's exactly why you probably don't and never will run a successful business.

+1 and LMAO

Ztyle

Love that people think that this is main EA game, CG are just a little studio under EA

ThePedroKid

It's EA. CG is working for them. EA owns the SW license meaning they get final say... Well, until they have to get approval from Lucasfilm, lol. The chain goes on and on!

That said, it's never spite or CG wouldn't exist.

It could be data analysis for determining pricing models. Heck, it probably is. But, it is a risky play if so as they have lost A LOT of interest from players already who are frustrated with the lack of crystal deals and toon bundles.

I'm going to go with...

There is a legit bug or flaw or glitch or something that happened during the holidays that has forced them to make some adjustments before re-instating their core crystal subs and toon bundles.

I just hope they fix it soon and we see some genuinely more fair pricing and opportunities to get more out of the game.

Ztyle

I did say Under EA

Crymsonkyng

Despite my fairly mindless raging the past couple days... I'd still buy the crystal sub as soon as it appears. Right now I'm forced to hoard what I've built up, and only do the two 50 refresh and the cantina 100. With 2800 crystals I could do more, bit without a certainty of the sub I simply have to be frugal. With those refreshes the crystals I have hoarded will last a month

ioniancat21

Ztyle wrote: »

Love that people think that this is main EA game, CG are just a little studio under EA

Have to agree there. They also have a couple of Star Wars games out there as well from different devs. I'd think EAs sports titles take priority...

Crymsonkyng

TommySitt wrote: »

Crymsonkyng wrote: »

Despite my fairly mindless raging the past couple days... I'd still buy the crystal sub as soon as it appears. Right now I'm forced to hoard what I've built up, and only do the two 50 refresh and the cantina 100. With 2800 crystals I could do more, bit without a certainty of the sub I simply have to be frugal. With those refreshes the crystals I have hoarded will last a month

Conventional wisdom says that the more you grind on the front-end, the faster your game progress will be overall. Stronger teams will get better rewards from GW and Arena, as well as be able to reach deeper into the Cantina and DS/LS battles for better gear and rare shards. I would recommend to do the 100 energy refill x 2 daily until you get down to a maintenance lvl of 500 crystals or so. Keeping over 2k crystals on lockdown isn't getting you anywhere.

I'm staying withing the top 100...once I get some of the toons I'm working on starred up, I'll probably break down and use some extra refreshes. My team does ok, but doesn't synergize well