Why was this removed? I am surprised that you would remove the only low end way of supplementing your crystals. Please leave that as an option for those of us who don't want to spend massive amounts of money but who still want to support your development.
-Myth
I think most of the community is in agreement on this. It's a shame, removing the daily Crystal pack has completely overshadowed territory battle release. So rather than being excited we're all upset.
They wont reply, and the last post about it was deleted as far as i could see..... But i think it is removed, so ppl start buying the other packs instead, then use them quickly, and then buy another etc....
There are no posts removed, there's a mega thread about anything related to the recent update and posts are moved in there. If you want to express your opinion on anything related to the update, do it in there.
This thread will probably be merged with it shortly.
Hey everyone. I'm a bit behind on the TB reading. There's been a bit of a difference of opinion in my various shard/guild chats. Can I just clarify:
1. We're expecting there to be a 24 hour period between Tuesday's-Wednesday's where we get a 'break' from TB? and that's will not be affected by the change from 24 hour phases to 12 (or less, whenever they decide to change)
2. When they do decided to shorten the phases, do we think this will just have shorter phases over a 6 day period or will the phases roll on from one another meaning the event can be fit into 3 days (36 hours) or so?
My guild is split between the Atlantic so I have particular interest in the schedule. co-ordinating people on different sides of the globe will be a real challenge.
It's unfortunate that an otherwise solid update has been marred by the stu pid move of removing the booster pack. That was the pack of choice of myself and a few of the other dolphins in the guild. Glad to hear so many echoes of "so long, and thanks for all the fish!" in this thread. The way it metered out crystals was good for strategic, conservative crystal spending, and the cynic in me thinks that's why it's being removed. Poor move. I know I'll be spending much, much less now.
Performance improvements are welcome, especially memory-related ones which I suspect were the reason the game was crashing so often on low end devices (an Acatel my kids have couldn't do any sort of arena without a high probability of crashing, and it was very low on RAM). Looks like AoE numbers are finally appearing on my Android device now, instead of pausing when they're supposed to appear, skipping all the frames, and picking up at the end of the animation when all the numbers are gone.
Beyond that, excited to try TBs, just with a slightly sour taste now.
Even while the majority of this thread will be negative about the crystal booster (and rightly so), I would like to throw in a word of thanks to the devs for the hard work they put into territory battles. Glad to be seeing this new game mode hit our phones.
And I'm terribly sorry that it's not your hard work being discussed here, but the accountant's bad business decision. We should be excited and talking about the new characters and the new game mode, but alas, they made that not possible. As a developer myself, I understand the devs must be frustrated today.
As a suggestion, when you bring back the "alternative" to the crystal booster (which I suggest is done quickly and with apology), I hope that it is not an obvious money grab. Don't just decrease the crystals and increase the cost; that will still get many to say forget it and just farm slower; the daily crystal booster has always been about farming - 100 crystals a day for an extra cantina refresh or something.
Instead, let's make it a monthly subscription that gives you one free daily cantina refresh and a 500 crystal drop at the beginning of the month. Something that gives equal or better value will be needed to make up for this or else that's $20 less a month from a wide section of the fan base. I can understand if it was removed because it was intended to be used for farming but people were just hoarding it or something, so give us equal value in refreshes or something to that extent.
Again, to all the devs, thanks for your hard work. To the marketing/accounting department, shame.
The Dev's did a great job. Not sure who's idea it was for the Booster Packs, but I do not believe in anyway shape or form it was from the Devs.
I know its not much but I have consistently bought the booster for the last year, and every now and then a $20 pack, but not anymore. Shame.....Shame!!
Hmm surprising to say the least and as a ftp user I was actually going to invest in that pack this time round as well. Oh well... That's the way the bantha cookie crumbles.
The daily crystal pack is $10 for 21 days of crystals (or 220 crystals with the free bonus), or 45.45 cents per 100 crystals.
The 'most popular' pack they offer is 2800 crystals for $20. That is 71.43 cents per 100 crystals.
71.43/45.45 = 157%. From an accounting standpoint, you are leaving 57% of your potential profit on the table by selling the daily pack vs the 'most popular' pack.
My assumption is the accountants are going to come in with a 30 day pack (still 100 crystals a day) for $20, with a free 200 crystals to start. The brings the price per crystal to 62.5 cents per 100 crystals.
I got the idea its getting replaced...hopefully with a better version of the same type, or even better several types...
It would be nice to see a booster that gives like 250 gems per day for 14 days for $20
And a 30 day booster that gives 150 gems per day for $20
You can overlap them also.
That would be 8000 gems for just under the cost of a $50 pak or 11500 gems a month for a $60 investment per month.
Instant gratification vs. Strategic planning.
This would guarantee EA/CG a steady stream of income and make alot of players of all types happy....and whales can still directly purchase gems if they so desire.
Overall though... it puts an emphasis on strategic planing since you get a better value for the booster paks... and this will guarantee a $20-60 investment per month from almost all players. And that steady ROI will benifit EA/CG and the players as well.
I cannot guarantee everyone will purchase these... but i belive that most will.
There are 2 large post on reddit with many people upset. I was spending money on this once a month as I considered this like a sub like days back in MMO world. This just screams greed. As a new player I feel like it just one jab after another to get me to quit this game.
I'm curious if it was a marketing decision, or a systems/technical one. When I read it, I almost got the impression that there might be fulfillment issues with continuing to offer it.
If it's just a marketing decision, or a cash-grab to coincide with the TB roll out, then shame (again!!) on them.
If it's a technical or fulfillment issue, I would expect them to offer something of similar value, but probably in a different fashion. Remember, that the 21 day thing benefits them too as a hook to keep you active. You log in more to make sure you get your daily 100, but probably spend that and more because you're a more engaged player.
I'm curious if it was a marketing decision, or a systems/technical one. When I read it, I almost got the impression that there might be fulfillment issues with continuing to offer it.
If it wasn't a greedy marking decision, then they could have avoided a lot of backlash by providing a bit more explanation.
Yeah, mega-bummer that they would do away with this. Great affordable way to try and keep up. Really hope they bring it back, especially considering this isn't the first time they've taken it away.
I'm a big fan of the daily booster packs (as I'm sure many of you are as well), so of course I'm quite disappointed to see they're removing it. HOWEVER- when I noticed that the new Han wasn't available for farming yet, I popped over to the store and saw that they have not yet removed it- so get them while you still can! (Luckily mine ran out a couple days ago).
I won't purchase anything when a "scare" tactic is used to try to encourage (force? coerce?) me to do so. To me, buying "one last pack" is counterproductive at this point. If they are removing it so they can increase the price (i.e. take away it's value), then that indicates a game direction I am not pleased with. In the long run then, I will likely walk away sooner rather than later. I realize that it is still available....which is precisely why I will not buy it.
As such, dumping $12 into a game I won't be playing in a month or two is a poor choice on my part.
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 curious if it was a marketing decision, or a systems/technical one. When I read it, I almost got the impression that there might be fulfillment issues with continuing to offer it.
If it wasn't a greedy marking decision, then they could have avoided a lot of backlash by providing a bit more explanation.
I thought about that too, and I'm not saying they handled it well regardless of the cause. But it ended VERY suddenly, and it felt like a last minute injection into the change notes. Maybe I'm being too generous, and deluded to believe 'there is still good in them - I can feel it!'
But I'll give them 24-48 hours to respond intelligently before I light the torches and drag out my pitchfork.
Even while the majority of this thread will be negative about the crystal booster (and rightly so), I would like to throw in a word of thanks to the devs for the hard work they put into territory battles. Glad to be seeing this new game mode hit our phones.
And I'm terribly sorry that it's not your hard work being discussed here, but the accountant's bad business decision. We should be excited and talking about the new characters and the new game mode, but alas, they made that not possible. As a developer myself, I understand the devs must be frustrated today.
As a suggestion, when you bring back the "alternative" to the crystal booster (which I suggest is done quickly and with apology), I hope that it is not an obvious money grab. Don't just decrease the crystals and increase the cost; that will still get many to say forget it and just farm slower; the daily crystal booster has always been about farming - 100 crystals a day for an extra cantina refresh or something.
Instead, let's make it a monthly subscription that gives you one free daily cantina refresh and a 500 crystal drop at the beginning of the month. Something that gives equal or better value will be needed to make up for this or else that's $20 less a month from a wide section of the fan base. I can understand if it was removed because it was intended to be used for farming but people were just hoarding it or something, so give us equal value in refreshes or something to that extent.
Again, to all the devs, thanks for your hard work. To the marketing/accounting department, shame.
The Dev's did a great job. Not sure who's idea it was for the Booster Packs, but I do not believe in anyway shape or form it was from the Devs.
Bean counters - who, historically, don't give a rip about the game or it's players (i.e. their customers) - just the bottom line.
Their job is to walk as fine a line as they can between maximizing profits and driving people away. I'm thinking their proverbial toe just inched over that line ever so slightly.
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*
The daily crystal pack is $10 for 21 days of crystals (or 220 crystals with the free bonus), or 45.45 cents per 100 crystals.
The 'most popular' pack they offer is 2800 crystals for $20. That is 71.43 cents per 100 crystals.
71.43/45.45 = 157%. From an accounting standpoint, you are leaving 57% of your potential profit on the table by selling the daily pack vs the 'most popular' pack.
My assumption is the accountants are going to come in with a 30 day pack (still 100 crystals a day) for $20, with a free 200 crystals to start. The brings the price per crystal to 62.5 cents per 100 crystals.
IMO.
It's much more complicated like that. It is a bad businessman that would look at it strictly, as you say, cents per crystal.
The daily booster pack did so much more than give cheap crystals.
1) It encouraged daily login, keeping a semi-engaged player tied to the game even during relative dry spots, and giving a new player that much more incentive to stick with the game for at least 21 days, at which point they are hooked. It's about player engagement.
2) It offers a price point for a different level of player. Just like a wine store will offer a $3 bottle of wine, a $8 bottle of wine, a $20 bottle of wine and a $100 bottle of wine. Different price points to be able to get customers with different budgets. Players who couldn't bring themselves to spend $20 - $100 in a pack might be able to bring themselves to buy into an $11 subscription.
3) It's also about farming vs big spending. I'm terrible at hoarding. When I buy a pack it's because I plan on spending it on gear to get a character geared quickly. This pack allowed me to have a decent option to spread it out on 100 crystals a day that I could have available for farming. They removed the option for me to spend on farming (vs. spending on gear or characters), which is another way to alienate more customers.
Looking at it as crystal per dollar is a fairly quick way to tank your business. When people provide coupons or 2-for sales, they're not thinking about price per item, they're thinking about finding more ways to attract loyal customers.
They're real goal here was to alienate and drop a portion of their business. And CG and whales need to remember we need f2p and low-spending players to have a healthy environment in a mobile game like this.
I'm curious if it was a marketing decision, or a systems/technical one. When I read it, I almost got the impression that there might be fulfillment issues with continuing to offer it.
If it wasn't a greedy marking decision, then they could have avoided a lot of backlash by providing a bit more explanation.
I thought about that too, and I'm not saying they handled it well regardless of the cause. But it ended VERY suddenly, and it felt like a last minute injection into the change notes. Maybe I'm being too generous, and deluded to believe 'there is still good in them - I can feel it!'
But I'll give them 24-48 hours to respond intelligently before I light the torches and drag out my pitchfork.
Agreed. But I brought my pitchfork out to prod them into giving us a more intelligent explanation than they did. :P
I am very disappointed that EA has gotten rid of the 21 day crystal booster. I don't mind spending a little money to support the game but think it is greedy of EA to get rid of the best crystal value in the game. Now I am forced to buy packs that are more expensive per crystal. Very greedy IMO. This game is so much fun, but developers are very profit focused which has made it less enjoyable.
The daily crystal pack is $10 for 21 days of crystals (or 220 crystals with the free bonus), or 45.45 cents per 100 crystals.
The 'most popular' pack they offer is 2800 crystals for $20. That is 71.43 cents per 100 crystals.
71.43/45.45 = 157%. From an accounting standpoint, you are leaving 57% of your potential profit on the table by selling the daily pack vs the 'most popular' pack.
My assumption is the accountants are going to come in with a 30 day pack (still 100 crystals a day) for $20, with a free 200 crystals to start. The brings the price per crystal to 62.5 cents per 100 crystals.
IMO.
This makes a lot of sense and clearly demonstrates why the decision may be reasonable from an accounting standpoint. At the end of the day the game is still part of a business and they are in existence to maximize profits. If the 'most popular' pack is the one that people are actually buying more regularly it is only reasonable to bring the daily pack more in line (although probably still at a lower price point to encourage the repeat purchase) with the average cost/crystal that the majority are willing to spend.
Another reason they may be removing the current daily pack could be to implement an automatic recurring monthly purchase pack. It makes better sense to have the purchase happen automatically rather than requiring the player to sign in and initiate the transaction every renewal period. It is a more consistent revenue stream that can be used for forecasting and budgeting over the long term.
They are clearly targeting getting the content update today so that TB can start tomorrow. But they aren't going to commit to that because they are still testing and ironing out things and waiting on things outside their control (app store rollouts), and it's totally possible something will go wrong. Just be patient.
Replies
I think most of the community is in agreement on this. It's a shame, removing the daily Crystal pack has completely overshadowed territory battle release. So rather than being excited we're all upset.
1. XD
2. An image that I can't show
Sorry for my English :]
There are no posts removed, there's a mega thread about anything related to the recent update and posts are moved in there. If you want to express your opinion on anything related to the update, do it in there.
This thread will probably be merged with it shortly.
We will know that tomorrow
Sorry for my English :]
1. We're expecting there to be a 24 hour period between Tuesday's-Wednesday's where we get a 'break' from TB? and that's will not be affected by the change from 24 hour phases to 12 (or less, whenever they decide to change)
2. When they do decided to shorten the phases, do we think this will just have shorter phases over a 6 day period or will the phases roll on from one another meaning the event can be fit into 3 days (36 hours) or so?
My guild is split between the Atlantic so I have particular interest in the schedule. co-ordinating people on different sides of the globe will be a real challenge.
Thanks in advance.
Performance improvements are welcome, especially memory-related ones which I suspect were the reason the game was crashing so often on low end devices (an Acatel my kids have couldn't do any sort of arena without a high probability of crashing, and it was very low on RAM). Looks like AoE numbers are finally appearing on my Android device now, instead of pausing when they're supposed to appear, skipping all the frames, and picking up at the end of the animation when all the numbers are gone.
Beyond that, excited to try TBs, just with a slightly sour taste now.
Yeah, that's what I was trying to say.
Deja vu. That what everyone said in July
The 'most popular' pack they offer is 2800 crystals for $20. That is 71.43 cents per 100 crystals.
71.43/45.45 = 157%. From an accounting standpoint, you are leaving 57% of your potential profit on the table by selling the daily pack vs the 'most popular' pack.
My assumption is the accountants are going to come in with a 30 day pack (still 100 crystals a day) for $20, with a free 200 crystals to start. The brings the price per crystal to 62.5 cents per 100 crystals.
IMO.
It would be nice to see a booster that gives like 250 gems per day for 14 days for $20
And a 30 day booster that gives 150 gems per day for $20
You can overlap them also.
That would be 8000 gems for just under the cost of a $50 pak or 11500 gems a month for a $60 investment per month.
Instant gratification vs. Strategic planning.
This would guarantee EA/CG a steady stream of income and make alot of players of all types happy....and whales can still directly purchase gems if they so desire.
Overall though... it puts an emphasis on strategic planing since you get a better value for the booster paks... and this will guarantee a $20-60 investment per month from almost all players. And that steady ROI will benifit EA/CG and the players as well.
I cannot guarantee everyone will purchase these... but i belive that most will.
I have been playing this game for over a year now and have had the subcription running the entire time.
This is a TERRIBLE move!
If it's just a marketing decision, or a cash-grab to coincide with the TB roll out, then shame (again!!) on them.
If it's a technical or fulfillment issue, I would expect them to offer something of similar value, but probably in a different fashion. Remember, that the 21 day thing benefits them too as a hook to keep you active. You log in more to make sure you get your daily 100, but probably spend that and more because you're a more engaged player.
If it wasn't a greedy marking decision, then they could have avoided a lot of backlash by providing a bit more explanation.
I won't purchase anything when a "scare" tactic is used to try to encourage (force? coerce?) me to do so. To me, buying "one last pack" is counterproductive at this point. If they are removing it so they can increase the price (i.e. take away it's value), then that indicates a game direction I am not pleased with. In the long run then, I will likely walk away sooner rather than later. I realize that it is still available....which is precisely why I will not buy it.
As such, dumping $12 into a game I won't be playing in a month or two is a poor choice on my part.
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 thought about that too, and I'm not saying they handled it well regardless of the cause. But it ended VERY suddenly, and it felt like a last minute injection into the change notes. Maybe I'm being too generous, and deluded to believe 'there is still good in them - I can feel it!'
But I'll give them 24-48 hours to respond intelligently before I light the torches and drag out my pitchfork.
Bean counters - who, historically, don't give a rip about the game or it's players (i.e. their customers) - just the bottom line.
Their job is to walk as fine a line as they can between maximizing profits and driving people away. I'm thinking their proverbial toe just inched over that line ever so slightly.
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*
It's much more complicated like that. It is a bad businessman that would look at it strictly, as you say, cents per crystal.
The daily booster pack did so much more than give cheap crystals.
1) It encouraged daily login, keeping a semi-engaged player tied to the game even during relative dry spots, and giving a new player that much more incentive to stick with the game for at least 21 days, at which point they are hooked. It's about player engagement.
2) It offers a price point for a different level of player. Just like a wine store will offer a $3 bottle of wine, a $8 bottle of wine, a $20 bottle of wine and a $100 bottle of wine. Different price points to be able to get customers with different budgets. Players who couldn't bring themselves to spend $20 - $100 in a pack might be able to bring themselves to buy into an $11 subscription.
3) It's also about farming vs big spending. I'm terrible at hoarding. When I buy a pack it's because I plan on spending it on gear to get a character geared quickly. This pack allowed me to have a decent option to spread it out on 100 crystals a day that I could have available for farming. They removed the option for me to spend on farming (vs. spending on gear or characters), which is another way to alienate more customers.
Looking at it as crystal per dollar is a fairly quick way to tank your business. When people provide coupons or 2-for sales, they're not thinking about price per item, they're thinking about finding more ways to attract loyal customers.
They're real goal here was to alienate and drop a portion of their business. And CG and whales need to remember we need f2p and low-spending players to have a healthy environment in a mobile game like this.
Agreed. But I brought my pitchfork out to prod them into giving us a more intelligent explanation than they did. :P
This makes a lot of sense and clearly demonstrates why the decision may be reasonable from an accounting standpoint. At the end of the day the game is still part of a business and they are in existence to maximize profits. If the 'most popular' pack is the one that people are actually buying more regularly it is only reasonable to bring the daily pack more in line (although probably still at a lower price point to encourage the repeat purchase) with the average cost/crystal that the majority are willing to spend.
Another reason they may be removing the current daily pack could be to implement an automatic recurring monthly purchase pack. It makes better sense to have the purchase happen automatically rather than requiring the player to sign in and initiate the transaction every renewal period. It is a more consistent revenue stream that can be used for forecasting and budgeting over the long term.