The F2P Problem !!

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Beatitbozo
2 posts Member
edited March 2018
Before I say anything I wanna be real here and say that I have spend money on this game, and at this point theres probably more people who have than you havn't. But with the sith update its just gotten to much. I've been playing this game since just after release and its changed A LOT. Marquee characters need to STOP !! I get it you have to make money but bragging about how good this February was going to be and how you are going to go above and beyond, then realising 2 new characters in a marquee event only so you can make as much money as possible selling them in packs before realeasing them on 1 single hard node thats going to cost you 100 energy for MAYBE 2 shards is meh !!! ND came out last February and aince then you have only moved him to one single place, yes technically free to play but an absoutley ridiculous farm time. I would have though that with all the hype around this realease and with all the flak EA got for microtransactions you would have showed this community that you care about us and not just our money by giving us these characters f2p but NO. MONEY MONEY MONEY and then maybe down the line (4 or 5 months) throw them on a single hard node to keep everyones mouth shut. Its the same with every new character that comes out (outside of legendary events and raids).
Chances are nobody important will read this message and it will just be lost, and everyone else will probably give me hate for moaning about it, but I think its time for a change. Give us DN, SION AND MARS in arena shipments or guild events or something !! Just having a tough time getting excited about this game at all anymore. Surely I'm not the only one who thinks like this.
Post edited by Kyno on

Replies

  • JaggedJ
    1352 posts Member
    Nature of the beast.

    They can't just release toons for free. No money = no game. On the other side of it, there is always going to be a point where a new toon gets released that can't be 7* without a lot of money and people look at the 9-12 month wait and say "yeah, had enough".

    Fatigue happens. Some take a break and never come back, but the game has to make money.

    It is what it is.

  • JaggedJ wrote: »
    Nature of the beast.

    They can't just release toons for free. No money = no game. On the other side of it, there is always going to be a point where a new toon gets released that can't be 7* without a lot of money and people look at the 9-12 month wait and say "yeah, had enough".

    Fatigue happens. Some take a break and never come back, but the game has to make money.

    It is what it is.

    Yes the game has to make money, but they've gone the route of relying on a relatively small number of whales and not giving much incentive to people wanting to spend moderate amounts of money. If the incentive and reward was there for people with $20/30 to spend every month or two then the game would be just as profitable if not more so. And no, $10/15 packs don't count for new toons who then can't be farmed for a couple of months unless you then want to spend a further $300 on packs that give you 5 crystals each time.
  • Agree 102%
    Ally code 428-543-243
  • AnnerDoon
    1353 posts Member
    I'm curious... Were new characters available for free before the marquee events were introduced? Because, I don't remember that. I remember new releases being locked behind aurodium and chromium pay walls.


  • JaggedJ wrote: »
    No money = no game.

    It is what it is.

    This.

    Relax and enjoy. Or don't.

  • John_Matrix1985
    2276 posts Member
    edited March 2018
    At least you get the toon for free these days. The players from day 1 couldn't get a whole bunch of characters unless they bought chromiums.

    F2P can still hold their own in arena using Empire or JTR teams, and top F2P squads are at 3.2M GP. Resist the urge to pay unless it is absolutely essential to get the 7* character at day 1. By the time id bring a character to L85 G11 he would prob be released at a farmable location anyway.
  • JaggedJ
    1352 posts Member
    JaggedJ wrote: »
    Nature of the beast.

    They can't just release toons for free. No money = no game. On the other side of it, there is always going to be a point where a new toon gets released that can't be 7* without a lot of money and people look at the 9-12 month wait and say "yeah, had enough".

    Fatigue happens. Some take a break and never come back, but the game has to make money.

    It is what it is.

    Yes the game has to make money, but they've gone the route of relying on a relatively small number of whales and not giving much incentive to people wanting to spend moderate amounts of money. If the incentive and reward was there for people with $20/30 to spend every month or two then the game would be just as profitable if not more so. And no, $10/15 packs don't count for new toons who then can't be farmed for a couple of months unless you then want to spend a further $300 on packs that give you 5 crystals each time.

    Mobile games rely on the same psychology and tactics that casinos employ. It would definitely not be more profitable geared towards those with $20-30 to spend each month.

    If those $20-30 deals were any decent value then whales would also gobble them up and the average cost of the toon they pay for now would go down due to the extra value those low spender enticing packs are. The $20-30 a month market would not make up the difference.

    All you have to do is look at the monthly crystal pack to see it in action. Let's not kid ourselves, they did the maths on this one before removing it.They would have known that they could afford x amount of those pack spenders to become f2p as long as x amount slightly increased their spending to the next level and whales increased their spending to compensate for no longer including the packs in their consumption.

    If the bottom line wasn't positive from this move they would have brought the packs back or replaced them with something rather than just waiting it out for people to forget about it and move on.

    TLDR - you can't create packs of reasonable value for a $20-30 spender without it being accessible to everyone, directly altering their bottom line.
  • So spending 100K on a mobile game is reaaonable... please
  • kello_511
    1648 posts Member
    JaggedJ wrote: »
    Nature of the beast.

    They can't just release toons for free. No money = no game. On the other side of it, there is always going to be a point where a new toon gets released that can't be 7* without a lot of money and people look at the 9-12 month wait and say "yeah, had enough".

    Fatigue happens. Some take a break and never come back, but the game has to make money.

    It is what it is.
    If the incentive and reward was there for people with $20/30 to spend every month or two then the game would be just as profitable if not more so.

    And what is this statement backed by? What data do you have to support that it would be “just as profitable if not more so?”

    Since we all know that you have none, consider who DOES have that data. EA/CG are pretty big and profitable companies, do you really think it wouldn’t occur to them to gather and analyze this data? And since this is the model they chose, do you really THINK they decided on this because their metrics supported your claims?
  • JaggedJ
    1352 posts Member
    So spending 100K on a mobile game is reaaonable... please

    Please tell me that wasn't a response to my post. I refuse to believe that someone got 112 from 2+2.

    It's not about being reasonable, it's not about being fair, and it's not about right or wrong.

    It is about one thing only - making money.
  • So spending 100K on a mobile game is reaaonable... please

    It's insane...borderline a predatory practice. Whst happened to paying $40-$60 for a complete console game. Here ppl are paying $300 + for one incomplete character
  • AnnerDoon wrote: »
    I'm curious... Were new characters available for free before the marquee events were introduced? Because, I don't remember that. I remember new releases being locked behind aurodium and chromium pay walls.

    K2SO :D
  • Huatimus
    3669 posts Member
    K2SO was only free for Android. :(
    I believe it was Bodhi and Starck that went straight to a store.
  • BzmR94
    231 posts Member
    calm down the new toons are not meta defining
  • Ive always been and will be f2p.

    Yet, I disagree with you. Marquee events are fine. We need to wait longer to get certain things, and thazs fine. We play the hard mode, and it feels incredibly good to still be able to score at very strong positions in arena. Kicking the azz of people with fancy toys, effectively paying for extra power, feels wonderful.
    Plan ahead, keep yourself to it, and accept youre playing hard mode.
  • Vohbo
    332 posts Member
    The game makes upwards of 200 million a year, so saying that it is "needed" to keep the (most likely very small compared to a triple A game) staff paid is a bit of a hyperbole.

    That said, the problem is not Marquee characters, the problem is pure pay to win characters like JTR and now Darth Traya. Without any real catchup mechanics other than paying money, the game will eventually just spiral out of control. There need to be better catchup mechanics. Older and weaker characters need to become easier to get (not MUCH easier, but having for example, Shore Trooper and Darth Nihilus on a single, hard to get to hard node after more than a year, is really terrible).
  • Vohbo wrote: »
    The game makes upwards of 200 million a year, so saying that it is "needed" to keep the (most likely very small compared to a triple A game) staff paid is a bit of a hyperbole.

    That said, the problem is not Marquee characters, the problem is pure pay to win characters like JTR and now Darth Traya. Without any real catchup mechanics other than paying money, the game will eventually just spiral out of control. There need to be better catchup mechanics. Older and weaker characters need to become easier to get (not MUCH easier, but having for example, Shore Trooper and Darth Nihilus on a single, hard to get to hard node after more than a year, is really terrible).

    Wow 200 million. Where do you find those figures?

    JTR wasn't purely P2W and Nihilus was in the shard shop for a while. For a top toon you accumulate enough arena crystals to buy some character shards every few days. Top toon is one that can fit in lots of teams. Nihilus, shoretrooper, talzin etc
  • I paid like once or twice. I have no problem with characters being locked behind a pay wall.

    My only problem with this game is the price of things. Why does nobody adress this issue ?
    THere are tons of other games that use microtransactions and it's not a big deal since they ask little money for it (like 0,50 cent up to 5 bucks top for many things).

    But this game is like 80 bucks for 50 shards of a character. Not the character. Shards !
    70-80 bucks ! THAT'S ONE WEEK WORTH OF GROCERIES ! It's INSANE !
    If all the prices were cut down by 3/4 or even half, I would consider buying more. But those prices are ridiculous. I was not aware playing games to their full potential became something only the 1% could afford.
  • 600K per day just from iPhones in North America only

    https://thinkgaming.com/app-sales-data/68737/star-warstm-galaxy-of-heroes/
  • While the Whales are still prepared to pay the price then don't expect any change in pricing. It's down to the whales to keep the game solvent and I applaud them for that. Whilst they pay I get to play for free, so I'm not top of my arena, but I'm enjoying the game, we also get hopefully good banter from our fellow guild mates.
  • I've spent close to $90 since the game launched. Crystal pack, Death Trooper(on my bday), special boba/crystal pack, KRU pack and most recently Visas Marr pack.

    They give you in game currency(crystals) daily. If you save all your crystals and buy shipments of shards you need you can realistically get them to 6* maybe even 7* by the time they become farmable. The higher you rank in Squad Arena and Fleet arena more crystals you can get. Now, I'm in an early server so getting any higher than 200 in SA and 50 in FA aren't likely, but it is possible.

    It's all about prioritizing, and prioritizing what you want to spend on. You can put all your crystals into the toon and grind em out in 2 months, but at the same time you sacrifice other components(any refreshes, premium gear in shipments, premium packs).

    They set it up where F2P is very possible. It's not easy, but if you want to play for free and keep it free, you can if you have patience and plan things out properly.
  • leef
    13458 posts Member
    the f2p problem? I'm guessing it's not that they whine too much?
    (i'm f2p)
    Save water, drink champagne!
  • So this post has nothing to do with f2p you just don't like their pricing strategy?
  • And as f2p I'm very grateful that I get nearly every character off the bat once they're released for free.
  • Narseph
    141 posts Member
    People whining about a raid reward character hidden behind a paywall makes me feel young again
  • Kyno
    32087 posts Moderator
    Moved to correct sub Forum.

    The current setup at least allows players to plan. You can save and hold out for a toon you want. Sometimes getting them right as they come out for free, crystals are an in game resource.Or plan after and still get them early through shipments.

    Before this we had toins that would only be p2p and there was no way of knowing when we would get them.

    Yes $$ gets you an advantage, this is true in life too. It's a choice that some can make and no one is forced to make, despite everyone saying this game is all a psychological ploy.

    Love it or hate it, $$keeps this game going. Yes the top players are going to be proportionally more p2p, but that gap closes they can't just stay there. That's the choices and investment we all make. Time =$$.
  • Tman
    257 posts Member
    F2p here, I think marquee events for us. Most toons released here are good at low stars or not good. Think about the other ways you would have to pay without marquee events. They don't look as bad now do they
    I am more powerful than the Chancellor- Anikan Skywalker and Tman
  • Personally I like the challenge of f2p. There's no glory to be had in buying your way to the top in my opinion.
  • Mzee
    1777 posts Member
    The problem with the aggressive marketing strategies, and absurdly high prices for characters is caused by people actually buying them.

    Yes, those with deep pockets fund the game for everyone, but they are also the reason why things are so expensive cause they actually spend $100s to 7* for single characters, and that doesn't even count the gear and mods they buy.

    The raid may be pay to win, but that is normal. It is meant to be a challenge, and it just came out so we need to grow into it. Same thing when each of the previous raids were introduced.
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