So they came up with this strategy several times now:
A character is probably worth 50$ (max gear, 7*, max lvl).
However, they do something really crazy in step one:
Set an enormous paywall, so everybody complains.
Step2: reduce the price just a little bit.
Now, everybody is so happy, the new content is cheaper (from 600$ to maybe 500$).
This is clever.
Is slowly gets worse, and I feel treated like a fool.
Well played EA/CG
And why should we even agree to 200$?
Even 100$...
This is ridiculous!
The real kicker here to me is that, since they've made it so any team can be beaten, they have partially brought this on themselves. The way I see it, let's say I have a meta team, we'll call it team A. But there is always at least one team that can beat this team. I may beat team B but lose to team C. If I want to keep team C from beating me, I have to swap in my team D. However, with my team D in, team B, E or F may now beat me.
When I look at it this way, there is no longer much value to me in paying for things such as this pack. There will always be a team who can beat it no matter what. Not to mention these two toons will be replaced by others in the very near future. Things like this can often have a negative impact and likely cannot be easily reversed.
I feel that the devs used to listen but must follow a chain of commands like we all do. It's sad that this game has taken a turn such as this. I'm sure the devs are cringing just as much as we are over this, unfortunately.
I don't know what's more absurd, the price of the Citadel pack or that you think not having an "unbeatable" team breaks the game
When did I say I wanted an unbeatable team? I said that there is little value to me in purchasing in-game items if there is no benefit. Re-read things before you make yourself look ignorant.
If you spend $1000 you should expect an unbeatable team.
i love this game. i pre-registered, and started playing at 5AM the day it was available. like many of us here, i too spend a bit too much on this game (probably average +150$/month, plus all the quarterly $ packs, as i can (thankfully) afford it, and have a couple of small cash sources of income that i basically use to pay most of this) so i've never really had to sweat the costs. but i remember when you could by a PC game for $50 (still can) and get insane enjoyment from it for months (still can). heck, i still play Civ V every now and then, and it's been 5 years. i realize you have ongoing costs for server space, and you do develop the game (tyvm), but i also have a good idea of the economics on this, and it is not breaking your backs.
i took 1 stab at the Tie Attack pack the other day. got my full Reaper (would have been **** if i got the Advanced) and figured $30 was enough. at least i got a full ship.
Now this. $30 for 2@5 shards is flipping insane. have you watched the SmithyD video?... i counted, the dude dropped 47 packs, close to $1500 and got 2@5 shards 43 of those times- of the 47, he got 2 @ 30 drops of each character (approx. 4% rate on a 30 shard drop). worst part is, when he leveled up, he had 30 Krennic shards left over that would convert to 450 shard shop coins. (dimes to donuts the dude already has Grievous and K2).
as to the concept of the extra content to justify extra cost? coins? please. dude got 47@250k = 11.75 milion, or basically enough to level 85 and 7* ONE of the two characters... not even both! Omegas? ppfffff. if you don't already have them, why not just wait 2-3 days? purple (and blue!) ability mats? are you flipping kidding me?
after all this, dude has to actually gear the characters... so to do that, you either have to wait a month to grind it out, or again spend another couple hundred $ in shipments over a few days (or already had in anticipation).
after that, dude has to mod. so another $3 million coins, plus any farming/purchases.
thanks for the offer, but this pricing is rapacious. i'll just keep doing my thing... and for the insult, I've moved one notch closer to just going FTP.
Anyone play Simpsons Tapped Out? That's an awesome EA game, very fun and f2p accessible (if you like sim city type games), and I've never seen them charge an exorbitant amount for any of their in game purchases. Not encouraging anyone to leave this game; it's easy to play both.
This Citadel Pack just blows my mind. Id love to know the line of thinking of the individuals who set this pricing. It actually reflects a lot on their approach for why fear drop rates are so bad, and haven't grown w the game as characters have become more accessible (credit heist grew w the game, for example).
Surely they know it's more prudent to have 10,000 customers spending $20, than 1,000 customers spending $200. The total sales numbers may be the same in both cases, but the margin is made by LOWERING THE COST OF CUSTOMER ACQUISITION, by having people purchase 2nd and 3rd times and refer friends to play. Plus, erosion of spenders isn't as impactful when you have 10,000 spenders vs. 1,000.
(Sorry for the caps, but I wanted to ensure the team setting these prices understands it is not a fiscally beneficial decision for them, on the slim chance chance they are given a synopsis of our feedback.)
On the positive side, I've never seen the forums unite over an issue like this before! There have always been dissenters, contrarians, and trolls, but I haven't seen anyone advocating this ridiculous pricing yet!
Someone once said "if people arent complaining about the prices, then your not charging enough". I actualy prefer this way than tournaments. I get to choose if i want to 7* the toon. Price is irrelevant since i have the choice. They gave us for free the base toons. If they only charged 50$ to 7* them then almost everyone would have them and wouldnt make it much of an exclusive. I also agree that the price is insane but people are paying or they wouldnt be priced that way. You are also guaranteed the shards vs an empire pack where you could spend the same amount but have 6000 storm trooper shards when you finally completed Krennic. At least the choice is yours and you know how much your in for. Im still waiting for them to release chirrut shards so i can get past 3 stars on that guy. just my 2 cents
We are talking about a game people. This isn't new. If people are gonna drop $20k on a game, then they are gonna drop $20k on the game. I think it is absurd, and many others think it is fine. Their money they can do whatever they want with it. As long as those people still think that amount of money is ok to spend on a game, then EA has no problem with prices.
My main concern with this pricing is if they charge this much for 2 characters that are not that great story wise, what will Jedi Luke cost? I've been telling myself for over a year now that when Luke comes out I will reach in them jeans and pull out them greens. Not at this pricing structure.
Normally I dont post to these forums, but completely disgusted with these packs and the RIP OFF they are, EA should be ashamed. You can buy and XBOX 1 with Games and extra controllers with the Price of a 7 Star Krenic and Death Trooper. Whatever EA is smoking I want some!!!!!!
I have never posted on this forum myself. However I thought it was finally time. I belong to a guild that is always in top 100 on the leader board and usually is in top 50 and sometimes top 20. Over the last several months I have seen over 20% of my guild that were spenders become 100% FTP and several of us that have spent since November have been leaning more on becoming FTP due to some of these new toons.
I personally only have 52 7 star toons, but I have only played since may and am only a dolphin.
We loved the tournaments but hated there was so many cheaters.
Many have complained that since ships were rolled out thearly appreciation of players has greatly decreased.
Many complained about the Shoretrooper pack cost over a month ago. I myself wasn't exactly thrilled but still maxed my shoretrooper.
I have not bought 1 Citadel Pack and have no intentions of doing so. Out of everyone in my guild we have yet to have 1 person get above 5 shards. Even a couple of members that many would call kraken but they call themselves whales had said they would NOT be buying any more of the citadel packs and if this is how everything in the future will be they will just quit the game.
I am writing this because I enjoy my guild and the group we have. However, when over half have converted to FTP and many more considering it. Before this happened and the new toons that made all our old toons look like crap happened, many that were "FTP" still atleast bought a vault every now and then for refreshes at a minimal. And due to everything stated I feel that our guild will collapse or atleast become less active. We were one of the few that survived the HAAT surprise. We also have a few members that can solo heroic rancor (the kraken that call themselves whales, lol). And if things continue this way I can honestly say I don't know that I will even continue to play.
As of now I keep my subscription active but haven't bought any crystals in the past month. Had the citadel pack been closer to the Shoretrooper pack I would have considered it but probably wouldn't have due to you now making shore available in shipments and farm able.
Maybe you will read this and take it into consideration. More than likely you will just ignore it and from what I hear give me a forum suspension (first post so not like I plan on posting much more). But I hope this doesn't fall on deaf ears and maybe you will make changes for the better and start caring about the players enjoyment over theiron pocket books. The less a player feels appreciated, the less likely they will open that pocketbook and more likely the player base will continue to decrease in size
So they came up with this strategy several times now:
A character is probably worth 50$ (max gear, 7*, max lvl).
However, they do something really crazy in step one:
Set an enormous paywall, so everybody complains.
Step2: reduce the price just a little bit.
Now, everybody is so happy, the new content is cheaper (from 600$ to maybe 500$).
This is clever.
Is slowly gets worse, and I feel treated like a fool.
Well played EA/CG
And why should we even agree to 200$?
Even 100$...
This is ridiculous!
This week I honestly expect them to reduce the price to 1999 or 2499 crystals so people think they're getting a deal while reimbursing crystals to people who already spent, which will still be so far in the stratosphere of overpriced.
I wouldn't pay anything over what the Shoretrooper pack was and even that was high.
I became F2P after they wouldn't honor my tournament rewards stating their system showed that I was awarded the items that I was "supposed to get" regardless of what the in game mail told me that I should have received. Along your same line of thought, once players aren't appreciated and accommodated, they stop spending and some even stop playing.
Have your guild mates gone f2p because of the price of the new packs, or because you have the right squads at high level to have enough nearly maxed squads to be competitive in arena, raids, and GW, and there's really no need to spend big on the newer items due to the return of investment. I don't think krennick and death trooper are complete game changers, and a wiggs boba lando team can still compete, and with close to end game gear levels on all your toons, multiple refreshes aren't needed as much to stay at the top? Paying for the newest toons is more of a novelty than a necessity. Newer players will get greater benefits from this than older players.
I agree the price is high but the price wouldn't be like that if people weren't willing to pay it. My guess is there are more people going F2P to P2P than there are P2P to F2P. Either that or they are still making way more selling packs at 6x their worth while only decreasing the P2P base by a small percentage.
1. R1 Rebel (R1R) for $$$
2. R1 Empire (R1E) directly counter R1R for $$$. R1E > R1R.
3. Improved R1R > R1E for $$ (introductory to crystal shop).
4. Improved R1E > R1R for $$ (introductory to crystal shop).
5. Nerf R1E = R1R.
6. August.......
Or I am totally off the mark?
I just watched that pack opening on YouTube. The guy did 44 of them. Only 4 had either dt or k 30 shards. That's 9 vaults!!!! 9 friggen vaults. Why didn't you put them in shipments at 3 shards for 300 crystals. You would have made a way more money then this ridiculous money grabbing concept.
Normally I dont post to these forums, but completely disgusted with these packs and the RIP OFF they are, EA should be ashamed. You can buy and XBOX 1 with Games and extra controllers with the Price of a 7 Star Krenic and Death Trooper. Whatever EA is smoking I want some!!!!!!
I haven't read a couple of the pages here but the fact that people that don't normally participate in the forums are taking the time to create an account and post definitely says something.
Normally I dont post to these forums, but completely disgusted with these packs and the RIP OFF they are, EA should be ashamed. You can buy and XBOX 1 with Games and extra controllers with the Price of a 7 Star Krenic and Death Trooper. Whatever EA is smoking I want some!!!!!!
I haven't read a couple of the pages here but the fact that people that don't normally participate in the forums are taking the time to create an account and post definitely says something.
A few people in this thread made accounts just to profess their disgust.
The people angered are potential paying customers. Think of the thousands who don't voice their opinions on forums who would have bought the pack. I honestly don't know what they could have been thinking with this. If the pricing wasn't a legitimate mistake it's pure insanity.
So I've spent some money on this game, though not as much recently due to the price of the R1 characters. After seeing that they were releasing DK and DT I was excited and going to spend some money again. However after the price of this pack I'm left wondering why I even play.
This was probably a very well thought-out "high-ball, low-ball" move. By raising the spending bar to a previously-unthinkable height, they can (and probably will) release lower-priced packs in the future that many would previously have grumbled and balked at, but now, by comparison to the Citadel Pack, those same players will happily take as more reasonable and affordable. We're being played like the psychologically-malleable consumers that we are.
This was probably a very well thought-out "high-ball, low-ball" move. By raising the spending bar to a previously-unthinkable height, they can (and probably will) release lower-prices packs in the future that many would previously have grumbled and balked at, but now, by comparison to the Citadel Pack, those same players will happily take as more reasonable and affordable. We're being played like the psychologically-malleable consumers that we are.
You are right.
They also know that this would cause the pitchforks to come out and lots of ill will that 10 Chewie shards won't fix.
So, Tuesday (because that's become the old Friday), they will announce said price adjustment. At they the same time they will announce that the Darth Nihlus event will be out soon and will award everyone a free 7* Nihlius in the style of Palpatine and a Yoda.
Because, in their eyes, we are no more than fragile minded geeks, they know this will result in a nerdgasmic explosion of forgiveness and praise.
The latest money-grab from Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes by EA and Capital Games is called the Citadel Pack. Featuring a chance to get shards of Rogue One Characters Director Krennic and the Death Trooper this “Limited Time Offer” features ability materials, credits and more. “Each pack guarantees 5 shards each for Director Krennic and Death Trooper with a chance to get 30 shards!” All for just 2,999 purple crystals.
Since sometimes numbers speak louder than words, I took the liberty of gathering some numbers on the Citadel Pack. They show the number of Deathtroopers and Krennics at each star level on synced swgoh.gg accounts. Keep in mind that 3* DT (5/30) and 4* Krennic (5/65) is what you can get from the event alone without buying the pack.
Some conclusions that can be drawn from these numbers:
Less than 1% of users (0.78%) bought enough packs to even get DT to 4*, which would take 25 shards (5 packs max)
Only half of those users (0.4%) bought enough packs to get Krennic to 5*, which would take 60 shards (12 packs max)
At most 0.13% of users bought enough packs to max out both characters at 7*. That's only 13 out of every 10,000 users.
Given that high spenders likely make up a larger percentage of the swgoh.gg synced userbase then they do the total SWGOH userbase, these percentages are probably generous if anything. And given the not insignificant sample size, it's fair to conclude this pack did not pan out well financially, even before accounting for any potential loss of players from the poor community response.
Developers, please share these numbers with whoever decided on the pricing for the Citadel Pack. The community has spoken, both with their words and their wallets, and the price was clearly too high.
Replies
A character is probably worth 50$ (max gear, 7*, max lvl).
However, they do something really crazy in step one:
Set an enormous paywall, so everybody complains.
Step2: reduce the price just a little bit.
Now, everybody is so happy, the new content is cheaper (from 600$ to maybe 500$).
This is clever.
Is slowly gets worse, and I feel treated like a fool.
Well played EA/CG
And why should we even agree to 200$?
Even 100$...
This is ridiculous!
If you spend $1000 you should expect an unbeatable team.
i took 1 stab at the Tie Attack pack the other day. got my full Reaper (would have been **** if i got the Advanced) and figured $30 was enough. at least i got a full ship.
Now this. $30 for 2@5 shards is flipping insane. have you watched the SmithyD video?... i counted, the dude dropped 47 packs, close to $1500 and got 2@5 shards 43 of those times- of the 47, he got 2 @ 30 drops of each character (approx. 4% rate on a 30 shard drop). worst part is, when he leveled up, he had 30 Krennic shards left over that would convert to 450 shard shop coins. (dimes to donuts the dude already has Grievous and K2).
as to the concept of the extra content to justify extra cost? coins? please. dude got 47@250k = 11.75 milion, or basically enough to level 85 and 7* ONE of the two characters... not even both! Omegas? ppfffff. if you don't already have them, why not just wait 2-3 days? purple (and blue!) ability mats? are you flipping kidding me?
after all this, dude has to actually gear the characters... so to do that, you either have to wait a month to grind it out, or again spend another couple hundred $ in shipments over a few days (or already had in anticipation).
after that, dude has to mod. so another $3 million coins, plus any farming/purchases.
thanks for the offer, but this pricing is rapacious. i'll just keep doing my thing... and for the insult, I've moved one notch closer to just going FTP.
I agree with this but also increase credits, drop blue mats, double purple mats and omega and add fleet arena tokens. For $30 we should see value.
This Citadel Pack just blows my mind. Id love to know the line of thinking of the individuals who set this pricing. It actually reflects a lot on their approach for why fear drop rates are so bad, and haven't grown w the game as characters have become more accessible (credit heist grew w the game, for example).
Surely they know it's more prudent to have 10,000 customers spending $20, than 1,000 customers spending $200. The total sales numbers may be the same in both cases, but the margin is made by LOWERING THE COST OF CUSTOMER ACQUISITION, by having people purchase 2nd and 3rd times and refer friends to play. Plus, erosion of spenders isn't as impactful when you have 10,000 spenders vs. 1,000.
(Sorry for the caps, but I wanted to ensure the team setting these prices understands it is not a fiscally beneficial decision for them, on the slim chance chance they are given a synopsis of our feedback.)
On the positive side, I've never seen the forums unite over an issue like this before! There have always been dissenters, contrarians, and trolls, but I haven't seen anyone advocating this ridiculous pricing yet!
That is all
I have never posted on this forum myself. However I thought it was finally time. I belong to a guild that is always in top 100 on the leader board and usually is in top 50 and sometimes top 20. Over the last several months I have seen over 20% of my guild that were spenders become 100% FTP and several of us that have spent since November have been leaning more on becoming FTP due to some of these new toons.
I personally only have 52 7 star toons, but I have only played since may and am only a dolphin.
We loved the tournaments but hated there was so many cheaters.
Many have complained that since ships were rolled out thearly appreciation of players has greatly decreased.
Many complained about the Shoretrooper pack cost over a month ago. I myself wasn't exactly thrilled but still maxed my shoretrooper.
I have not bought 1 Citadel Pack and have no intentions of doing so. Out of everyone in my guild we have yet to have 1 person get above 5 shards. Even a couple of members that many would call kraken but they call themselves whales had said they would NOT be buying any more of the citadel packs and if this is how everything in the future will be they will just quit the game.
I am writing this because I enjoy my guild and the group we have. However, when over half have converted to FTP and many more considering it. Before this happened and the new toons that made all our old toons look like crap happened, many that were "FTP" still atleast bought a vault every now and then for refreshes at a minimal. And due to everything stated I feel that our guild will collapse or atleast become less active. We were one of the few that survived the HAAT surprise. We also have a few members that can solo heroic rancor (the kraken that call themselves whales, lol). And if things continue this way I can honestly say I don't know that I will even continue to play.
As of now I keep my subscription active but haven't bought any crystals in the past month. Had the citadel pack been closer to the Shoretrooper pack I would have considered it but probably wouldn't have due to you now making shore available in shipments and farm able.
Maybe you will read this and take it into consideration. More than likely you will just ignore it and from what I hear give me a forum suspension (first post so not like I plan on posting much more). But I hope this doesn't fall on deaf ears and maybe you will make changes for the better and start caring about the players enjoyment over theiron pocket books. The less a player feels appreciated, the less likely they will open that pocketbook and more likely the player base will continue to decrease in size
-Noe
This week I honestly expect them to reduce the price to 1999 or 2499 crystals so people think they're getting a deal while reimbursing crystals to people who already spent, which will still be so far in the stratosphere of overpriced.
I wouldn't pay anything over what the Shoretrooper pack was and even that was high.
2. R1 Empire (R1E) directly counter R1R for $$$. R1E > R1R.
3. Improved R1R > R1E for $$ (introductory to crystal shop).
4. Improved R1E > R1R for $$ (introductory to crystal shop).
5. Nerf R1E = R1R.
6. August.......
Or I am totally off the mark?
I haven't read a couple of the pages here but the fact that people that don't normally participate in the forums are taking the time to create an account and post definitely says something.
A few people in this thread made accounts just to profess their disgust.
The people angered are potential paying customers. Think of the thousands who don't voice their opinions on forums who would have bought the pack. I honestly don't know what they could have been thinking with this. If the pricing wasn't a legitimate mistake it's pure insanity.
https://forums.galaxy-of-heroes.starwars.ea.com/discussion/91155/are-you-buying-the-citadel-pack#latest
You are right.
They also know that this would cause the pitchforks to come out and lots of ill will that 10 Chewie shards won't fix.
So, Tuesday (because that's become the old Friday), they will announce said price adjustment. At they the same time they will announce that the Darth Nihlus event will be out soon and will award everyone a free 7* Nihlius in the style of Palpatine and a Yoda.
Because, in their eyes, we are no more than fragile minded geeks, they know this will result in a nerdgasmic explosion of forgiveness and praise.
Well played EA/CG... well played indeed
That post is the pure TRUTH
Some conclusions that can be drawn from these numbers:
Given that high spenders likely make up a larger percentage of the swgoh.gg synced userbase then they do the total SWGOH userbase, these percentages are probably generous if anything. And given the not insignificant sample size, it's fair to conclude this pack did not pan out well financially, even before accounting for any potential loss of players from the poor community response.
Developers, please share these numbers with whoever decided on the pricing for the Citadel Pack. The community has spoken, both with their words and their wallets, and the price was clearly too high.