Coaster Crazy Rein in the price, please

[Photoniq]

Let me say off the bat that I understand that Coaster Crazy is free in general and I'm fine with the delays to open land and territory and the in-game cash prices. I know you deserve to make some money for all the effort so I'm not in general opposed to you charging real money for some things, especially to speed things up.

However, I think the prices of some things are outrageous. A "Hammer Head" piece is 150 gems which is over US$3. And that's for one piece in one coaster. A "Bat Wing" is 125 gems, still US$3 or more depending on how many gems you buy. And I have to buy them in order to compete in the daily challenge. The Steel 3-rail coasters themselves costing 15 gems is not so bad; less than a dollar and purely optional. The Suspended coaster at 5 gems is again reasonable, even if I have to pay it to compete in the daily challenge, because I can earn 5 gems in 2 days of challenges. I can even go along with some of the cars costing 20 gems (more than half a dollar) since those cars are sort of cheats. But 190 gems for a "Free Fall Reverse" special piece are just outrageous prices. That's more for one piece (>US$4.50) than I would pay for a whole game.

I'd like to see pieces limited to something like 15 or 20 gems at most. Or else a way to convert in-game currency to gems, maybe 50,000 per gem.

 

[Ashley Barley]

Let me say off the bat that I understand that Coaster Crazy is free in general and I'm fine with the delays to open land and territory and the in-game cash prices. I know you deserve to make some money for all the effort so I'm not in general opposed to you charging real money for some things, especially to speed things up.

However, I think the prices of some things are outrageous. A "Hammer Head" piece is 150 gems which is over US$3. And that's for one piece in one coaster. A "Bat Wing" is 125 gems, still US$3 or more depending on how many gems you buy. And I have to buy them in order to compete in the daily challenge. The Steel 3-rail coasters themselves costing 15 gems is not so bad; less than a dollar and purely optional. The Suspended coaster at 5 gems is again reasonable, even if I have to pay it to compete in the daily challenge, because I can earn 5 gems in 2 days of challenges. I can even go along with some of the cars costing 20 gems (more than half a dollar) since those cars are sort of cheats. But 190 gems for a "Free Fall Reverse" special piece are just outrageous prices. That's more for one piece (>US$4.50) than I would pay for a whole game.

I'd like to see pieces limited to something like 15 or 20 gems at most. Or else a way to convert in-game currency to gems, maybe 50,000 per gem.

Hi Photoniq,

Thanks for your feedback, however I think that given how much content players get for free the prices are probably ok. It is also worth noting that whilst the initial cost of some special pieces may seem high, once it is purchased it is available in the sandbox permenantly. We also give players several in-game ways to earn gems, which many other free-to-play games do not for their 'premium currency'.

Overall I would say that players are provided with a generous amount of content without having to pay anything if they wish and there aren't many F2P examples where every feature of the game can be unlocked without having to spend a penny.

 

[Photoniq]

We also give players several in-game ways to earn gems, which many other free-to-play games do not for their 'premium currency'.

Please tell me about these several ways. The only two I've discovered are (1) the daily challenge, where I've been earning 3 or 4 gems a day (around $0.10 worth) and (2) being gifted gems by friends, which isn't really earning them.

Overall I would say that players are provided with a generous amount of content without having to pay anything if they wish and there aren't many F2P examples where every feature of the game can be unlocked without having to spend a penny.

I'm not asking that every feature of the game be unlocked without having to spend a penny. As I said it's fine that some of the coaster types and some of the car types are reasonably priced at 20 gems. On the other hand, there are plenty of games that can be completely unlocked (whether they are initially free or not) for $0.99 and even more for less than $3. Coaster Crazy feels to me like a $3 game given that it has a limited number of plots which all have limited sizes of coasters.

While I would not rationally spend $12 just to unlock Hammer Head, Bat Wing, and Free Fall Reverse, if I had in some fevered state made that purchase I would now be furious to discover that I need to spend an additional $7 to get Rotating Tower. I suspect there are more big purchases to follow that.

Current in-app prices are $3.99 for 50,000 game cash and $2.99 for 100 gems. if you'd let me convert 50,000 game cash to 100 gems I'd be very happy.

As it is I'm probably just going to give up on this game unless there's a great way to earn gems that I've missed. The only thing left of interest are the daily challenges but I can't succeed in them because they require these expensive pieces (times 2, since they all come in a separate "suspended" flavor). Which is disappointing because I know a lot of people who enjoy building gizmos IRL who would probably love this game and whom I was going to promote this to but I'd rather encourage them to spend this kind of money on Arduinos.

 

[Photoniq]

Yes, now that I've hit the final level (level 30) and racked up 7,000,000 in cash (in-game) but only 40 gems, I feel I'm pretty much done with this game without having spent any money on it. I'd be willing to spend $3 on it to unlock everything--in fact I'd gladly do that to support the game developers as I've done with other games I liked. As it is I'd have to spend $11.99 to unlock everything for use on the moon but even then I still wouldn't get much use of of things on earth; I'd have to deploy a special piece and then sell it back so I'd have gems to buy the next one and then I'd spend the gems on non-refundable coaster and car upgrades.

Maybe the right compromise is that for $2.99 I can buy a cash-to-gem converter that lets me buy gems for 25,000 each. Frontier would still get $2.99 and I'd still be in the position of having to wait to earn gems and thus having the incentive to buy gems to speed things up. But the wait would be reasonable (days, not months) and then I could really dig into the differences among the different types of coasters and cars as well as unlock all the special pieces.

Certainly for $11.99 I'd want a much bigger pile of gems than 500. More like 25,000. I would want to be sure I'd never have to buy gems again.

 

[sfy]

thier going to nickle and dime you to death until they get the same price as the game would have cost if you bought it at a game store.

and i think it's great. if those of us who game on our specially built PC's have to tolerate the "new" trend of making stuff for the tablets and smart phones, thus dumbing them down even worse than when they were being ported to consoles, then those users should have to pay the same price as we do, even if it takes a bit longer to get the money.


DEATH TO TABLET AND SMART PHONE GAMING!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dlcub]

So I tried the game as I promised. Too many bugs and minor annoyances. Building a small and simple roller coaster is easy - building a large one with various elements that also looks good is impossible.

Oh well. Rollercoaster Tycoon is being re-released on ios next year and today I found out about a new game that seems to be pc based called Theme Park Studio that looks pretty decent:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMtAK5SZ4yU

I was really hoping for Frontier to do something like this. It's never too late I suppose, but after this Coaster Crazy flop I've all but given up on them.

 

[sfy]

funny how the staff wont confirm or deny my point in my previous post. it seems i hit the nail on the head, marketing strategy wise.

go for it, pry every last dollar, euro, yen,juan, kroner, and drachma out of the people. then act surprised when your reputation starts falling faster than ataris has.

 

[Steve O B Have]

funny how the staff wont confirm or deny my point in my previous post. it seems i hit the nail on the head, marketing strategy wise.

go for it, pry every last dollar, euro, yen,juan, kroner, and drachma out of the people. then act surprised when your reputation starts falling faster than ataris has.

I'm not entirely sure what kind of response you're expecting from "DEATH TO TABLET AND SMART PHONE GAMING!!!!!!!!!!!!". It's a consumer driven market that would not exist if the gamers themselves didn't spend the money on the games.

Personally I'm really not a fan of micro transactions in a game but it doesn't suddenly make the game rubbish because of a different transaction scenario. You can't expect the same interface complexity from a touch screen that has at the most 10 input points (i.e. your fingers - I guess it could be more if you had very small toes and were quite flexible) vs a full keyboard and mouse interface. It's not realistic in my opinion.

 

[sfy]

i'm not saying the micro transactions are what make the game rubbish. i've done many such transactions with TDU2 and expect to do so in PCARS and ETS2.

what makes the game rubbish is the product they have delivered. listening to the potential customer base, which in this case is pretty large and well established from such games as RCT 1,2, and 3...and No Limits to an extent....THAT is how a game sells the numbers they need to make a profit.

upsetting the same base is an atari move.

 

[Steve O B Have]

That's a pretty subjective call. Sure if their major target demographic was their previous PC gaming customer base then I'd agree but I suspect that they're more about targeting the broader iPad gaming demographic as they number significantly higher than their previous customer base.

I find the kitsch broad appeal iOS games to be a little grating personally but that shouldn't detract from the fact that the game has had pretty good reviews across the board and has been tailored pretty damn well for the demographic.

I feel for you fella, I've had much the same experiences with other franchises making the step toward the mobile or console markets when I'd rather see them catering to the PC market, more so because I spend a fair amount of ping on my rig and then see them frittering away all my lovely power because they've developed for a low powered console first gets my back up. However it's a little unfair to paint their efforts as 'rubbish' because it doesn't adhere to our expectations. It's just one of those things huh? - C'est la vie.

 

[dlxnr23]

I couldn't agree more, Steve. I've played PC games for more than 10 years, having two national Call of Duty national titles in my belt. With IOS games I intend to have fun and mobility. Coaster Crazy hits the spot.

But I have to agree with Photoniq. Everybody wants to help and support developers, but some prices of some of the pieces are just absurd. If developers use gem prices that are reasonable people are going to use them gladly. Otherwise they're not only aren't but are going to feel angry and frustrated with the game - like Photoniq.

 

[Photoniq]

Price comparison

I have to agree with Photoniq. Everybody wants to help and support developers, but some prices of some of the pieces are just absurd. If developers use gem prices that are reasonable people are going to use them gladly. Otherwise they're not only aren't but are going to feel angry and frustrated with the game - like Photoniq.

Thanks for the support. As I pointed out in this post, you can buy both of Apple's #1 and #2 picks for best iPad games of 2012 for $4.98 ($1.99 + $2.99 with no IAPs at all), which is less than the cost of JUST ONE of "Free Fall", "Thrill Lift", OR "Rotating Tower". To buy all 3 in both versions (regular and suspended) you'd have to spend $36. And that's not nearly all there is to buy, and those prices are for each time you use them on a coaster outside of the sandbox.

The killer part is that these track pieces are not all that interesting. The dominant reason I care about them is because they are required for the daily challenges.

 

[tooexpensive]

Totally agree with everyone's points here. Another example of how this implementation is hurting users: I just bought the Jump-Jet car for 20 gems because my finger slipped on the screen (I use an iPhone, so this happens more frequently than I'd like). Buying 30 gems costs $0.99, but I have to input my password so there's no chance I could slip up and make an accidental purchase. So now, I'm out a buck on something that I don't want nor will ever use, because my finger slipped. This wouldn't bother me at all if gems were easier to come by, but they're so expensive!!! This is quite ridiculous.

 

[Ashley Barley]

Totally agree with everyone's points here. Another example of how this implementation is hurting users: I just bought the Jump-Jet car for 20 gems because my finger slipped on the screen (I use an iPhone, so this happens more frequently than I'd like). Buying 30 gems costs $0.99, but I have to input my password so there's no chance I could slip up and make an accidental purchase. So now, I'm out a buck on something that I don't want nor will ever use, because my finger slipped. This wouldn't bother me at all if gems were easier to come by, but they're so expensive!!! This is quite ridiculous.

Hi there,

Whilst it is unfortunate if this happened to you, you do have to confirm the purchase of a car twice before it actually charges you for it. This should be enough to prevent this happening in 99% of cases and there really isn't much more we can do to protect players from making unnecessary purchases.

I will pass on people's feedback about the prices of some coaster pieces and they may get reviewed for a future update. Please try and remember though that this is a free to play game and we do need some way to support our development costs.

 

[Photoniq]

I will pass on people's feedback about the prices of some coaster pieces and they may get reviewed for a future update. Please try and remember though that this is a free to play game and we do need some way to support our development costs.

Ashley,

As I've said in my previous posts, I agree Frontier should earn money for Coaster Crazy. The complaints are not about free vs. non-free. The complaints are about price vs. value.

This last release brought us the Arctic continent, but at 100 gems = $2.99. As I mentioned elsewhere, I could instead spend $1.99 on The Room and have Apple's 2012 pick for best iPad game of the year and have a dollar left over.


The pricing model that drives the iOS game industry has literally 97% of people spending no money on IAPs and games like CSR Racing earning $12 million a month from the other 3%. Coaster Crazy is just out of sync with the market. CSR can get people to spend money on shiny fast (virtual) cars that help them win races because there are ton of things aligned to make that intensely appealing. And even then very few people do, opting instead to earn the cars for free. Roller coaster track pieces that add points to a non-competitive score are not nearly as compelling.

I don't think Coaster Crazy is well designed to profit from in-app purchases, which is why my best recommendation for compromise between a revenue stream and a total redesign is a $2.99 option to convert cash to gems. It leaves in place your current gem-based revenue model, people will still be able incentivized to purchase gems if they haven't accumulated cash, but mostly it converts the game into a $2.99 paid app with a try-before-you-buy model.

 

[dmotlis]

I have to admit I agree with the comments, and the fact that we need to pay for special track pieces EVERY TIME we use them, as opposed to just pay for them once and then be able to re-use them, is a MAJOR deal breaker.

I have also come to a point where I am only missing one land and after that, I will be done with the game, UNLESS, something is changed with the payment system. Having over $1m in Coaster Crazy-cash but only 20 gems is just not right.

It is ok that you let us use the special tracks again in sandbox, but come on, the interesting part is the campaign mode, where we have a lot more scenery and variety.

Think about it, what is my incentive to continue and pay money to purchase special tracks, when I am almost done with campaign mode? None.

Bring in gems for cash.

 

[Gruven]

I have to admit I agree with the comments, and the fact that we need to pay for special track pieces EVERY TIME we use them, as opposed to just pay for them once and then be able to re-use them, is a MAJOR deal breaker.
Bring in gems for cash.

Agree. Having to pay every time you use a special piece just makes me never want to use them.