Come now rootsrat let's not be playing the delusional consumers game. The free ARX are provided to entice you into spending, not to save you money.
ARX store inflation
- Thread starter Fnord Velkor
- Start date
I wouldn't do it because the Titan stuff bores me to tears. So boring they decided to offer bribes to get people to participate. I didn't do PP for the modules either, it was that boring.
Funnily enough, the bribes must have worked because they now felt the need to sell some 'accessible' ships to allow some to get these free arx...by paying more arx. There's one born every minute....
rootsrat
Volunteer Moderator
Yes, that is also correct, depending on how you look at it.
It's not mandatory
If FD had wanted to fleece every player of the game, then, surely, they would never have been givng a single Arx away, just for playing.
Since they were introduced, they have saved me a few pennies for inconsequentials that otherwise I'd not have bought for some time, and made a reasonable contribution toward getting my P2 pre-build.
A game store's ultimate aim is relieve the player of cash, for vanity or whatever, FD have been pretty laid-back in store marketing until recently, their current price hikes are a bit steep, but, ultimately, it is up to me if I reject these increases, or not. At 400 Arx every week by playing, I may just be waiting months for my next piece of vanity tickling cosmetic.
There's people (like me) who would otherwise never get cosmetics and more people with cosmetics makes the nonhavers want them more out of envy maybe.
Fdev is missing the crucial step of adding "buy a spoiler for your sidewinder in the arx store" as the final step of the newbie tutorial before you can leave the starting system.
I feel like if Elite had a more healthy ecosystem and more good skins worth buying they could've made more money from just releasing the Python mk2 like a normal ship and making bank off people buying cosmetics. Instead of losing more goodwill and getting actual bad press (in both quality and sentiment).
As it is though -- the cosmetics store is stale and most of the new paintjob sets have been duds and people thought it was overpriced even before the price hike. This has made more people hoard the free ARX in hopes something good releases. The python mk2 also released with only a few paintjobs which imo is a major missed opportunity either way.
Our opinions are the same, it is strange that only 3 varieties of the same was offered... A nice corroded skin (along the lines of the last Titan freebie) would have done me!
Isn't that what Pachino's character used to say in "The Devil's advocate"? "Vanity, my favorite sin"
I'm very glad that I've bought all the paint I'm interested in...
The pricing change is overly ridiculous.
The pricing change is overly ridiculous.
But this "stolen" money bought you a valuable lesson: don't trust FDev. This is also worth something and shouldn't be underestimated.
Theoretically every currency has no intrinsic value. (Coins have the intrinsic value of the metal they're made from to confuse things) That is almost absolutely true of digital currency, and the fiat currency you paid with (Which is why inflation exists).
Yes but with adulteration even a currency based on gold coins has what is effectively inflation, old copper nosed Henry VIII being an example.
EDIT - Ignore this, I found what I was asking for.
I've never been a fan of the "buy currency to buy items" model. One of the very few things I appreciate about that star resident game is that they don't bother with that and just put a real price for everything on their store. IIRC Blizz games also sell their wares directly for real money.
I haven't played a lot of games that use this buy currency for stuff model but I've never seen or heard of this sort of price adjustment that screws over people that have already bought the currency. Admittedly I've never looked for a case like this before.
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to be honest it would have been fairer for FD to have increased the cost of the Arx in the store.
doing it this way I just can't see any motive for it other than to deliberately reduce the value of the Arx already in people's wallets.
that isn't a good look imo. but that said, it's not the hill I am gonna die on to stop me playing the game. my stuffs are still my own (not that I have that much)
doing it this way I just can't see any motive for it other than to deliberately reduce the value of the Arx already in people's wallets.
that isn't a good look imo. but that said, it's not the hill I am gonna die on to stop me playing the game. my stuffs are still my own (not that I have that much)
I think it smacks of laziness - they decided to have certain price points for repaints and have just applied those without consideration:
So repaints come at 1600, 2750, 5000 and 10000 - so items that were 380 or 460 now cost 1600 - just because that is the lowest "bucket".
Same thing is true to a lesser extent in the other categories.
They said they wanted to make the store easier to navigate - well they have achieved that, less choice and price levels that mean you can only pick a smaller number to buy.
So repaints come at 1600, 2750, 5000 and 10000 - so items that were 380 or 460 now cost 1600 - just because that is the lowest "bucket".
Same thing is true to a lesser extent in the other categories.
They said they wanted to make the store easier to navigate - well they have achieved that, less choice and price levels that mean you can only pick a smaller number to buy.
That still doesn't explain certain things - like what if you want your CMDR to have a tattoo. Well, you if hadn't already bought it you can't. None of the tattoo options are available for purchase anymore. I doubt anyone will go "I can't get the thing I wanted so instead I'll buy a paintjob I don't need"
Also, most of the vibrant paintjobs are gone, but the red coloured one is still available for all ships... why red specifically???
Go faster with red, everyone knows this - so P2W!!!
it wasent weekly maintennace. and i dont even post doom .. mostly defend the game. but i lack the energy now for it . and im seeing a more realistic outcome to it
Absolutely agree that inflation is weighing very heavy on everyone of us. But I don't think it can be used as an "excuse" for this case here.
I've waited to post in this thread until I felt I was out of "knee-jerk rage" mode and could be a bit more considered. With that in mind...
I am one of your core audience. I have played Elite since the C64. I have that 5.25" floppy in a frame on my wall. I bought every sequel that succeeded that. The only reason I wasn't a kickstart supporter is because I didn't know it was happening. I have composed music and written songs about the game and its universe.
I've stuck with ED through
If FDev had raised prices on Arx, I wouldn't have been thrilled, but it wouldn't have angered me, maybe just a bit pickier on specific purchases (I built a spreadsheet in 2021 to figure out exactly what things cost). I would have continued making the occasional Arx purchase to support the company, albeit maybe a lower tier package than previous.
Devaluing my existing Arx, though, was entirely the wrong move. I won't be purchasing any more "support the company" Arx because the bean counters in the company have shown that they have no regard for the loyal customers who have kept ED, a 10 year old game, in the black*. If they have no regard for me, then I no longer care that much about helping to keep them afloat.
The new pricing is ludicrous for decade-old skins or setting my laser beams to #FF0000 instead of #FFFFFF. Inflation isn't a valid argument here. There is no development cost - those were recovered or claimed as losses years ago. There is no manufacturing cost. There is no upkeep cost. There is no distribution cost. At best, there might be a QA cost when updates are released, but (snarkily) the QA costs obviously can't be that high given the general state of the game for the last several years.
Any future purchases (and those are, frankly, pretty unlikely unless this decision is reversed) will be the bare minimum I need to get the product I want. The goodwill is gone. Every time I open the Livery panel now, I get a bad taste in my mouth and pulled mentally out of the game. You've burned me.
This shouldn't be the case with a game that I and others have played in some form or another for the last 39 years. I've easily spent at least an actual year of my life (8,700+ hours) in an Elite universe of some kind. It's my favorite game series of all time. But you let some echo chamber in the marketing department undo all of that. Whoever came up with the idea is either really inexperienced, or very experienced and cynical about the value of keeping loyal customers happy and loyal. This "adjustment" should have been shot down in the first meeting - it's not difficult to predict the reaction.
If this was all because your VC or investors are griping for more revenue, this was exactly the wrong way to get it. Want more money? Do some of these things instead:
You're increasingly making decisions that negatively impact your core players in the hopes of making up the difference on whales. But this isn't some "save the king" or gambling game, it's an incredibly complex semi-simulation that takes weeks to grasp and much longer to master. It requires a dedicated, motivated customer willing to invest the time and money. The kind of customer who would buy Arx simply as a thank you. Not valuing that person's time or money, and angering the people who have hundreds or thousands of hours in the game is not a great strategy long-term or short.
I hope you'll reconsider this decision.
*(no pun intended, but I'll take the shame)
I am one of your core audience. I have played Elite since the C64. I have that 5.25" floppy in a frame on my wall. I bought every sequel that succeeded that. The only reason I wasn't a kickstart supporter is because I didn't know it was happening. I have composed music and written songs about the game and its universe.
I've stuck with ED through
- FDev first not releasing Horizons for Mac and then abandoning the platform entirely (console folks, I feel your pain, but you weren't the first)
- The horribly botched EDO release
- The introduction of the customer-hostile / dark pattern use of Arx and virtual currency bundles
- The jumping shadows, the invisible planets, and all the other weirdness.
If FDev had raised prices on Arx, I wouldn't have been thrilled, but it wouldn't have angered me, maybe just a bit pickier on specific purchases (I built a spreadsheet in 2021 to figure out exactly what things cost). I would have continued making the occasional Arx purchase to support the company, albeit maybe a lower tier package than previous.
Devaluing my existing Arx, though, was entirely the wrong move. I won't be purchasing any more "support the company" Arx because the bean counters in the company have shown that they have no regard for the loyal customers who have kept ED, a 10 year old game, in the black*. If they have no regard for me, then I no longer care that much about helping to keep them afloat.
The new pricing is ludicrous for decade-old skins or setting my laser beams to #FF0000 instead of #FFFFFF. Inflation isn't a valid argument here. There is no development cost - those were recovered or claimed as losses years ago. There is no manufacturing cost. There is no upkeep cost. There is no distribution cost. At best, there might be a QA cost when updates are released, but (snarkily) the QA costs obviously can't be that high given the general state of the game for the last several years.
Any future purchases (and those are, frankly, pretty unlikely unless this decision is reversed) will be the bare minimum I need to get the product I want. The goodwill is gone. Every time I open the Livery panel now, I get a bad taste in my mouth and pulled mentally out of the game. You've burned me.
This shouldn't be the case with a game that I and others have played in some form or another for the last 39 years. I've easily spent at least an actual year of my life (8,700+ hours) in an Elite universe of some kind. It's my favorite game series of all time. But you let some echo chamber in the marketing department undo all of that. Whoever came up with the idea is either really inexperienced, or very experienced and cynical about the value of keeping loyal customers happy and loyal. This "adjustment" should have been shot down in the first meeting - it's not difficult to predict the reaction.
If this was all because your VC or investors are griping for more revenue, this was exactly the wrong way to get it. Want more money? Do some of these things instead:
- Reduce pricing or provide value bundling for older cosmetics. Bring back things like the "Vibrant Pack" or the "Ship ID" packs. Give me some reason that I can feel good about throwing money at you.
- Make new, compelling cosmetics. Price these at a slight premium for the first 6-12 months, then bring down to baseline for similar lines.
- I'm not personally interested in paying for beta access to new content or ships, but I think it's a decent strategy.
- Release (and charge for) the actual content people have been begging for over the last 10 years. This doesn't have to be an Odyssey-sized overhaul...
- Go back to thinking about value instead of just lazy quick-fixes. Admit this was a misstep, roll back the pricing on existing cosmetics.
- Host a user-created cosmetics store. If you can't/won't spend the time to make quality cosmetics, open it up to the people who are passionate about the game and take a cut. I'm not a huge fan of this approach, but Microsoft sure is making bank on Flight Simulator content created by the outside world...
- Treat your customers like they're actually important to your survival. Because we are.
You're increasingly making decisions that negatively impact your core players in the hopes of making up the difference on whales. But this isn't some "save the king" or gambling game, it's an incredibly complex semi-simulation that takes weeks to grasp and much longer to master. It requires a dedicated, motivated customer willing to invest the time and money. The kind of customer who would buy Arx simply as a thank you. Not valuing that person's time or money, and angering the people who have hundreds or thousands of hours in the game is not a great strategy long-term or short.
I hope you'll reconsider this decision.
*(no pun intended, but I'll take the shame)