What $ amount makes a whale?

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Parad1sel
234 posts Member
edited February 2016
Simple question, what dollar amount makes a whale in your opinion? I'm going with weekly amounts rather than lifetime because a regular customer is more valued than a one and done. Sure Someone spending $2500 in a month is great, but a customer spending $50 a week for a year is better. Be realistic please. What Amount (on average) makes a whale?

What $ amount makes a whale? 159 votes

$50 a week.
34% 55 votes
$100 a week.
25% 41 votes
$200 a week.
18% 29 votes
$350 a week (50 a day.)
6% 11 votes
$500 a week.
6% 11 votes
$700 a week.
0% 0 votes
$1000 a week.
7% 12 votes

Replies

  • I'm sorry, I missed the "All of the above" option - where was that?
    In game name: Lucas Gregory FORMER PLAYER - - - -"Whale blah grump poooop." - Ouchie

    In game guild: TNR Uprising
    I beat the REAL T7 Yoda (not the nerfed one) and did so before mods were there to help
    *This space left intentionally blank*
  • what a pointless thread why do you care
  • SpeedWeed
    504 posts Member
    edited February 2016
    A what would be out leveling and have higher starred/ gear than all his peers on his server who started at the same time.

    I am saw a 7 star sid leader when mine is 5 and his power is 20k n I am only 15k as a guy who paid $50 at the start
  • Prscustom wrote: »
    what a pointless thread why do you care
    So when the OP has to start calling names, he at least knows which names to call whom! ;)

    In game name: Lucas Gregory FORMER PLAYER - - - -"Whale blah grump poooop." - Ouchie

    In game guild: TNR Uprising
    I beat the REAL T7 Yoda (not the nerfed one) and did so before mods were there to help
    *This space left intentionally blank*
  • $500+ lifetime.
  • Guys this is IRS keeping tabs on you.
  • Mizake_Mizan
    209 posts Member
    edited February 2016
    Yeah your options are kinda off imo. Even $50 a week is $2500 a year.....for a mobile app. Even that is a whale imho. Don't forget even a game like World of Warcraft, the biggest MMO, charges only around $15....a MONTH.

    I would say to be in the top 1% of spenders you would probably would spend over $1000 for an entire year....so more like $20 a week.

    Remember also this board is skewed towards heavy users of this game, myself included. There are literally tens of thousands of casuals who may play the game once a day, even less, who never spend a dime, much less visit the forums
  • Yeah your options are kinda off imo. Even $50 a week is $2500 a year.....for a mobile app. Even that is a whale imho. Don't forget even a game like World of Warcraft, the biggest MMO, charges only around $15....a MONTH.

    I would say to be in the top 1% of spenders you would probably would spend over $1000 for an entire year....so more like $20 a week.

    Remember also this board is skewed towards heavy users of this game, myself included. There are literally tens of thousands of casuals who may play the game once a day, even less, who never spend a dime, much less visit the forums

    The OP is asking for Whale type spending. $250 for the year in not. I dropped over that on a Saturday when I bought a bunch of Chromium to try to level Maul to 6*(failed) and was getting players to purple. I don't consider myself a whale.

    I'd say $3k+ would be whale personally.
  • I think rating it weekly is silly - while that's more valuable to the company, the term we players throw around is anyone who has sunk enough money into the game to have multiple 7* characters earlier than anyone else on their server, or to have a 7* Chromium-only Hero (especially meta-viable ones like Leia or previously QGJ). So the answer is "$1,000+ lifetime spending" as that seems to be the break point on earning, say, 7* Princess Leia or something.
  • Qeltar
    4326 posts Member
    edited February 2016
    I think what's amazing is how game makers have over time raised costs so high -- and gotten so good with the gambling / psychological manipulation -- that the amount for what's considered a "whale" has dramatically increased. I read an article from a couple of years back that defined a "whale" as anyone who spent more than $30 on a game. Around here anyone who has spent only $30 since launch is considered "near-F2P".
    Quit 7/14/16. Best of luck to all of you.
  • The "buy in" to be a whale is big...
    In this game you need to spend 2k minimum for a good rooster. If you want to use the chars later on you going to spend another 2-6k and more. After that i think you can run this without money between the updates.

    Your poll makes no sense without a number of weeks/month/years

    50$ a week over 2 month no whale.
    50$ a week over 1 year a small whale.

    And 2500$ in one time and 50$ a week over a year is nearly the same...
    1 year = about 52 weeks
  • There was a stretch of time when the game first came out I was putting in 50 bucks a day. I haven't made any purchases in a long time so I don't consider myself a whale anymore. There are people that have spent a lot more then even me, but I would consider 10-20 bucks a day everyday to be a whale. That way you can do most of your refreshes for hard mode farming and getting up 400 for energy refresh.
  • I believe a whale is one who dominates in game rather than opening the wallet. If someone spends $50 a month but can't compete in my eys is no whale but a bloated fish. A guy who spends 1 Dollar a month but can knock off anyone at anytime is a whale in my eyes.
  • I'm a baller so, I don't fit into the whale category, lol.
  • Triqui
    2790 posts Member
    edited February 2016
    The problem with the poll is the "per week". As I understand it, many whales frontload the spenditure. So maybe they spend 800$ first week, then nothing next month.
  • It's amazing how many people don't know what a "whale" is in mobile gaming. $50 a week is an absolute joke! These whales have spent so much they have all possible characters 7* and 1000 shards past that.
  • eedarwhales.jpg

    www.google.com
    Team iNstinct -- teaminstinct.net
  • I love the taste of Krill in the morning.
  • Qeltar
    4326 posts Member
    edited February 2016
    @Harmonica - That's what I mean. By that chart I'm a "whale" but I am nowhere near what some of the people in this game have spent. Like, well under 10% of what they spend.
    We need whole new categories I guess. Kraken? Loch Ness Monsters? :)
    Quit 7/14/16. Best of luck to all of you.
  • @Qeltar - Megalodon
    Team iNstinct -- teaminstinct.net
  • Whale should be rated based on how large your fat ash (in Sean Connery voice) weighs.
  • Blam
    113 posts Member
    Findec wrote: »
    $500+ lifetime.

    I think you underestimate how over priced things are and how little benefit you get out of a one time $500 "investment"
  • Telaan
    3454 posts Member
    edited February 2016
    I think that chart more accurately represents gaming as a whole. Some games will obviously be outliers. I think this game is one of them. I doubt there's many who will disagree the the cost of IAP and ROI in this game are abysmal.
  • Harmonica wrote: »
    eedarwhales.jpg

    www.google.com

    Hehe I'm a 'non-player' but ranked 11th on my server.

    Go figure!
  • Nikoms565
    14242 posts Member
    edited February 2016

    Hehe I'm a 'non-player' but ranked 11th on my server.

    Go figure!
    Ummm...non-PAYer

    ETA: And good luck in GW. ;)
    In game name: Lucas Gregory FORMER PLAYER - - - -"Whale blah grump poooop." - Ouchie

    In game guild: TNR Uprising
    I beat the REAL T7 Yoda (not the nerfed one) and did so before mods were there to help
    *This space left intentionally blank*
  • I'm going to say $300 a week or frontload $1000 then $100 a week.

    $300 a week buys you enough crystals to buy 12-14 chromium 8 packs and still have enough crystals to handle refreshes for the week which should allow you to start 7*'ing chromium only toons within 3-4 weeks.

    $800-$1000 frontload gives you up to 62 chromium 8 packs to start which will likely net you some 7* chromium only characters. The $100 a week can then be used to buy 2 chromium 8 packs and still satisfy most, if not all of your refresh needs.

    I believe that should get you squarely into whale territory for SWGoH, and less than that, give or take, is likely going to just be P2P.

    "Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee."
  • It's gonna vary from game-to-game, but the population distribution is probably similar across games.
    From this article: recode.net/2014/02/26/a-long-tail-of-whales-half-of-mobile-games-money-comes-from-0-15-percent-of-players/
    1.5% of players in that game spent money. 10% of that 1.5% (i.e., the 0.15% in the title) spent 50%.
    swrve-whales.png?w=960&h=611
    That's impressive, that 0.15% may definitely be the whales. However, the other 1.35% still spent the other half of the money, and probably were the ones who provided the impetus for the whales to spend more. And some % of the other 98.5% provided the impetus for the 1.35% to spend more than nothing.
  • Anyone who is spending more money on a mobile then on Aaa console or Pc game, who are more expensive to develop and have far more content.
  • There was a stretch of time when the game first came out I was putting in 50 bucks a day. I haven't made any purchases in a long time so I don't consider myself a whale anymore. There are people that have spent a lot more then even me, but I would consider 10-20 bucks a day everyday to be a whale. That way you can do most of your refreshes for hard mode farming and getting up 400 for energy refresh.

    Pretty much the same. I bought all the offered packs, a few Dozen Chromiums, poor luck,lol. Then mainly crystals for refuills. I did a 8, 8x chronmium about 2 weeks ago hoping for some luck, not much better so I stopped. I buy a lot of crystals as I farm several toons and I gear a lot. I do not consider myself a whale either. Between my arena winnings and the crystal spend plan I created I've decreased my crystal purchases a lot.
  • Telaan
    3454 posts Member
    There was a stretch of time when the game first came out I was putting in 50 bucks a day. I haven't made any purchases in a long time so I don't consider myself a whale anymore. There are people that have spent a lot more then even me, but I would consider 10-20 bucks a day everyday to be a whale. That way you can do most of your refreshes for hard mode farming and getting up 400 for energy refresh.

    Pretty much the same. I bought all the offered packs, a few Dozen Chromiums, poor luck,lol. Then mainly crystals for refuills. I did a 8, 8x chronmium about 2 weeks ago hoping for some luck, not much better so I stopped. I buy a lot of crystals as I farm several toons and I gear a lot. I do not consider myself a whale either. Between my arena winnings and the crystal spend plan I created I've decreased my crystal purchases a lot.

    For this reason I foresee a revamp of the chromium system. Once whales blow they're load 7*ing everything there's no further reason to purchase them. Anyone not capable/willing of spending $1-2k has, mostly, learned to avoid them. So the market (players) for them is limited as is the window/reason to purchase them.
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