DUST Search - AUR prices for new players are ten times too high, IMHO.

Fellhahn Aldrenhost wrote:

Yes, these prices are insane.

I'd like to draw a comparison to BF3 when it released it's "shortcuts" packs, allowing users to pay for immediate access to all items along a progression tree, or all progression trees.

The cost of buying BF3 (ie box cost which Dust doesn't have) plus all of the shortcuts, still equates to less than the total cost of buying all available BPOs in Dust.

And while the BF3 shortcuts gave you instant access to the absolute top tier items, sinking all this money into Dust will only provide you with a selection of the lowest tier items in the game. (And a personal annoyance of mine, there isn't even tier 1 BPO for Heavy dropsuits)

I was stunned, absolutely jaw dropingly stunned, when I read the adjusted prices last night. It's utterly incomprehensible that any employee would think this is a viable business strategy/pricing model

I really do want to see Dust succeed, for it to go on and further integrate with EvE and show the industry new and innovative ways to ENJOY playing a first person shooter.

But what I believe is that, before this price hike, Dust was teetering on a tightrope for survival and viability. Supported mostly by it's connection to EvE and the dedicated fan base that exists there. Now after this price hike, it's completely dead in the water, no chance of competing.

Yes you can still play the game without Aurum, and that's quite enjoyable and how I plan to play the game. But from CCP's perspective that does not produce a survivable product. Dust needs to make money, the only way it does that is through Aurum sales. And at these prices any consumer will immediately vomit with anger and reject the idea of ever purchasing Aurum.

You, the client, should be concerned about CCP's profits. They are a business, not a government, meaning they will not poor money into a burning pit just because they like the shiny lights. If Dust can't turn a profit, then the game you're enjoying will close it's servers.

You, CCP, need to come to proper grips with the term MICRO-transactions. $20 AUD to purchase one measly dropsuit BPO? $20 is not a micro transaction. If someone tried to tell you it was, you'd laugh at them, to their face.
$20 is 1/3 - 1/2 the box price of a new game, a game built on traditional marketing which I would never have to sink further money into, which is much more attractive to me as a consumer.
In EvE you have somewhat of a monopoly, as you've created a product that almost nothing else can compare to (grats, honestly). And thus you can afford to take risks with greed.
In Dust, you a trying to compete in what could justifiably be called the most over-saturated genre in the gaming industry. You are fighting against some real giants. Sadly you don't have much in the way of innovation to offer so far, a mildly tangible connection to the EvE universe, and a fitting system that will confuse and repel the average FPS purist.
That just leaves you with pricing to draw new customers in. Instead, you've put forward one of the worst free-to-pay proposals I've seen.

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KalOfTheRathi CowTek 168	Posted - 2013.01.22 12:06:00 - [1] - Quote Wow! When you guys go for the wallet you are not messing around. You must have decided Free To Play means hammer the user's wallet. The standard set of fittings to survive as a noob are more than the Merc Pack. Forget the Booster for Passive SP. That is off the table if they want to survive any of their initial Battles. Sure use the default Medic kit, it is useless with one Equip Slot. It is your game but I suggest you just cut out least half of your potential players off at the wallet. A mediocre Beta of a game with great potential just became an incredibly overpriced Beta with no delivery dates for the critical solutions to make the game playable, no method to track bugs, no promises to fix any bugs currently in their mystery bug list either. Suggestion to new players, Pass. This not quite a game is not worth the risk of Real World Cash. You should add a Cash Counter and a New Player Counter with a trending chart to the Leader Boards. Let me know how it works out for ya, CCP.
tribal wyvern ZionTCD Legacy Rising 675	Posted - 2013.01.22 12:23:00 - [2] - Quote KalOfTheRathi wrote: Wow! When you guys go for the wallet you are not messing around. You must have decided Free To Play means hammer the user's wallet. The standard set of fittings to survive as a noob are more than the Merc Pack. Forget the Booster for Passive SP. That is off the table if they want to survive any of their initial Battles. Sure use the default Medic kit, it is useless with one Equip Slot. It is your game but I suggest you just cut out least half of your potential players off at the wallet. A mediocre Beta of a game with great potential just became an incredibly overpriced Beta with no delivery dates for the critical solutions to make the game playable, no method to track bugs, no promises to fix any bugs currently in their mystery bug list either. Suggestion to new players, Pass. This not quite a game is not worth the risk of Real World Cash. You should add a Cash Counter and a New Player Counter with a trending chart to the Leader Boards. Let me know how it works out for ya, CCP. It's how it goes buddy. In a way it's good business, (find a crack head on hard times, supply his addiction, give him freebies, gain his loyalty, up the price when you know he's hooked)
BMSTUBBY KILL-EM-QUICK RISE of LEGION 95	Posted - 2013.01.22 13:23:00 - [3] - Quote I know they said that package deals are in the "Pipeline" aka "SOON" but IMO they needed them for day one. Its a damn shame that no one will continue to play this FTP game, I had high hopes. RIP DUST you were fun while you lasted.
James Thraxton The Exemplars 75	Posted - 2013.01.22 14:18:00 - [4] - Quote BMSTUBBY wrote: I know they said that package deals are in the "Pipeline" aka "SOON" but IMO they needed them for day one. Its a damn shame that no one will continue to play this FTP game, I had high hopes. RIP DUST you were fun while you lasted. er, just because all they're stuff is overpriced doesn't mean the end of the game, in fact, playing without aur isn't that hard. if you think it is, this game is not pay to win, and you simply aren't that good at FPS games. i manage top 5, 80% of the matches i play, without Aur, so just think before you make flippantly uneducated posts.
Aq'sa L.O.T.I.S. Legacy Rising 44	Posted - 2013.01.22 15:06:00 - [5] - Quote #1Posted: 2013.01.22 10:27 \| Report \| Edited by: CCP Cmdr Wang At its core DUST 514 is all about risk. When you jump into battle and face off against the enemy, the confrontation becomes infinitely more real and engaging if you are putting something meaningful on the line; a victory becomes sweeter and the taste of defeat all the more bitter. Think of the feeling you get when you play poker for matchsticks versus the feeling you get when you play for cold, hard cash. That said, we realize that not all mercs will want to play for such high stakes in every match. As a way to address this need we introduced permanent Militia BPOs (Blue Print Original) to the game. These are intended as a relatively low-powered convenience option for players who either want to have that one fit thatGÇÖs always ready to go or those who want to play a few matches without the adrenalin rush provided by risking their pimped out Prototype or Officer fits. We feel strongly that this is a valid game choice, but one that should carry a price tag to reflect the great value it offers players who want to play that way. In setting that price tag we looked at the prices of all other items in the game relative to the value they offer and industry best practice for pricing permanent items in similar MMO shooter games. The individual item prices are shown below, and you should keep an eye out for some package deals we have in the pipeline. Item name Price (AUR) Militia Drop Uplink9800 Militia Nanite Injector9800 Militia Nanohive9800 Militia Repair Tool9800 Militia Armor Plates4800 Militia Armor Repairer4800 Militia CPU Upgrade4800 Militia Cardiac Regulator4800 Militia Cardiac Stimulant4800 Militia Codebreaker4800 Militia Kinetic Catalyzer4800 Militia Light Damage Modifier4800 Militia Myofibril Stimulant4800 Militia PG Upgrade4800 Militia Profile Dampener4800 Militia Shield Extender4800 Militia Shield Recharger4800 Militia Shield Regulator4800 Militia Sidearm Damage Modifier4800 Militia 120mm Reinforced Armor Plates4800 Militia 180mm Reinforced Armor Plates4800 Militia 60mm Reinforced Armor Plates4800 Militia Armor Repair Unit4800 Militia CPU Enhancer4800 Militia Heavy Armor Repair Unit4800 Militia Heavy Damage Modifier4800 Militia Heavy Shield Booster4800 Militia Heavy Shield Extender4800 Militia Power Diagnostic System4800 Militia Powergrid Expansion4800 Militia Shield Booster4800 Militia Shield Regenerator4800 Militia Shield Resistance Amplifier4800 Militia Locus Grenade9800 Militia Assault Rifle11800 Militia Scrambler Pistol11800 Militia Shotgun11800 Militia Sniper Rifle11800 Militia Submachine Gun11800 'Raven' Assault Type-I19800 'Valor' Scout Type-I19800 'Sever' Logistics Type-I19800 Note: The information in this post supersedes that in yesterdayGÇÖs post on militia BPO pricing; apologies for any confusion. Take all those ^^ above- Divide by 10. There are millions of people on PSN. CCP - you will continue to iterate. Think low density ->high volume.
Django Quik R.I.f.t 220	Posted - 2013.01.22 15:08:00 - [6] - Quote Have you not realised you earn Isk by playing which you can quite nicely buy suits and weapons and stuff with? Why do you think you should be able to run around with no concern as to the cost of the stuff you're carrying?
Oxskull Duncarino Shadow Company HQ 165	Posted - 2013.01.22 15:21:00 - [7] - Quote James Thraxton wrote: BMSTUBBY wrote: I know they said that package deals are in the "Pipeline" aka "SOON" but IMO they needed them for day one. Its a damn shame that no one will continue to play this FTP game, I had high hopes. RIP DUST you were fun while you lasted. er, just because all they're stuff is overpriced doesn't mean the end of the game, in fact, playing without aur isn't that hard. if you think it is, this game is not pay to win, and you simply aren't that good at FPS games. i manage top 5, 80% of the matches i play, without Aur, so just think before you make flippantly uneducated posts. Yep, same here. I've a separate account and name building a HMG toon that has no aurum on the account and I'm doing great. I'll still spend some aurum at a later stage to have a UVT. People just need to use tactics to suit their gear. If you're using militia gear, use militia tactics. Hit and run, ambush(the tactic, not the game mode), greater numbers, etc. It's good training for when you've better gear anyway.
BMSTUBBY KILL-EM-QUICK RISE of LEGION 95	Posted - 2013.01.22 16:34:00 - [8] - Quote James Thraxton wrote: BMSTUBBY wrote: I know they said that package deals are in the "Pipeline" aka "SOON" but IMO they needed them for day one. Its a damn shame that no one will continue to play this FTP game, I had high hopes. RIP DUST you were fun while you lasted. er, just because all they're stuff is overpriced doesn't mean the end of the game, in fact, playing without aur isn't that hard. if you think it is, this game is not pay to win, and you simply aren't that good at FPS games. i manage top 5, 80% of the matches i play, without Aur, so just think before you make flippantly uneducated posts. LOL Yeah I agree with you that you can play this game without Aur. But in order to build a player base, which this game is going to need, you can't stick a blueberry into these pub matches against uber leet proto gear corps and expect them to stay with this free to play game that requires you to grind ISK in order to buy a better pew pew. This game will be down to the hundreds of players playing in a matter of months. Add this whole no SP Cap BS and you have a RIP DUST 514 ticking time bomb. Yes, this game can be played without Aur. I have done it, you have done it all the beta testers have done it. But you see we like this game or else we would not have been putting up with this closed beta crap for so long. Question is, is the rest of the BF3/COD/MAG players going to put up with it. Give them some cheaper ISK free builds so that they can grind SP and ISK with and maybe they stick around a little longer and skill up into some better pew pew's.
Django Quik R.I.f.t 220	Posted - 2013.01.22 18:02:00 - [9] - Quote The whole new player vs vet player is an obsolete discussion due to the fact that having so many more players due to open beta will mean the SP matchmaking mechanics will actually work as intended. i.e. New players with 0.5Mil SP will be up against other similarly skilled players; the vets with 10Mil SP will be up against other vets. The only reason this hasn't been happening so far is because of the low player numbers.
KalOfTheRathi CowTek 168	Posted - 2013.01.22 18:03:00 - [10] - Quote The problem is the game has a huge learning curve, there are no tutorials, no help, no support and these Forums are the best source of support. While they can be entertaining and helpful a wiki would be much better. Oops, there isn't one. I have finished for the day with my last 50 SP match. I had one decent Skirmish all day. It was just a blood bath. Without reasonably priced Militia Blue Print items the cost to get above ground level is too high. Little to no reward for the RPG side, getting trashed every single time by Vets and not being able to afford a good solution for a month ... well, I won't recommend it. Maybe in three years. When they start delivering the game they promised back in 2008.

Parson Atreides Ahrendee Mercenaries Legacy Rising 131	Posted - 2013.01.23 05:08:00 - [11] - Quote Agreed. These prices, in my opinion, are way too high for four major reasons: 1. Quickly replaced by better items. Because these are almost all militia-grade items, they will be quickly replaced. Unless you made a conscious effort to gimp yourself, or are extremely "frugal" when it comes to ISK, there's no reason to use a lot of these for very long, making the price much too high. You might have one or two in a later fit just because you've spent your SP elsewhere, but it doesn't incentivize people to buy more than that. 2. (Related to 1) People will be paying for something that is actually really poor quality. Not only are these BPOs (the militia ones) the least effective, they also take more PG/CPU than regular low-level variants, meaning you're even less likely to use them in the long run. 3. Low price ISK alternatives. When you're getting 200,000+ ISK a match and the item you see priced at 5 dollars costs like 600 ISK per fit, you're either not going to buy the Aurum version, or you're going to be pissed you already bought it, making you less likely to pay for more stuff in the future. 4. Can't switch BPOs between characters. Potentially the only redeeming quality of these absurdly high prices would be the ability to use them on multiple characters instead of having to buy one for each guy. But you can't.
Kovak Therim ZionTCD Legacy Rising 158	Posted - 2013.01.23 05:38:00 - [12] - Quote Wasn't the stuff that was 20 and 30 AUR only supposed to go up to 250 and 500 AUR?
Fellhahn Aldrenhost BetaMax. 3	Posted - 2013.01.23 06:05:00 - [13] - Quote Yes, these prices are insane. I'd like to draw a comparison to BF3 when it released it's "shortcuts" packs, allowing users to pay for immediate access to all items along a progression tree, or all progression trees. The cost of buying BF3 (ie box cost which Dust doesn't have) plus all of the shortcuts, still equates to less than the total cost of buying all available BPOs in Dust. And while the BF3 shortcuts gave you instant access to the absolute top tier items, sinking all this money into Dust will only provide you with a selection of the lowest tier items in the game. (And a personal annoyance of mine, there isn't even tier 1 BPO for Heavy dropsuits) I was stunned, absolutely jaw dropingly stunned, when I read the adjusted prices last night. It's utterly incomprehensible that any employee would think this is a viable business strategy/pricing model I really do want to see Dust succeed, for it to go on and further integrate with EvE and show the industry new and innovative ways to ENJOY playing a first person shooter. But what I believe is that, before this price hike, Dust was teetering on a tightrope for survival and viability. Supported mostly by it's connection to EvE and the dedicated fan base that exists there. Now after this price hike, it's completely dead in the water, no chance of competing. Yes you can still play the game without Aurum, and that's quite enjoyable and how I plan to play the game. But from CCP's perspective that does not produce a survivable product. Dust needs to make money, the only way it does that is through Aurum sales. And at these prices any consumer will immediately vomit with anger and reject the idea of ever purchasing Aurum. You, the client, should be concerned about CCP's profits. They are a business, not a government, meaning they will not poor money into a burning pit just because they like the shiny lights. If Dust can't turn a profit, then the game you're enjoying will close it's servers. You, CCP, need to come to proper grips with the term MICRO-transactions. $20 AUD to purchase one measly dropsuit BPO? $20 is not a micro transaction. If someone tried to tell you it was, you'd laugh at them, to their face. $20 is 1/3 - 1/2 the box price of a new game, a game built on traditional marketing which I would never have to sink further money into, which is much more attractive to me as a consumer. In EvE you have somewhat of a monopoly, as you've created a product that almost nothing else can compare to (grats, honestly). And thus you can afford to take risks with greed. In Dust, you a trying to compete in what could justifiably be called the most over-saturated genre in the gaming industry. You are fighting against some real giants. Sadly you don't have much in the way of innovation to offer so far, a mildly tangible connection to the EvE universe, and a fitting system that will confuse and repel the average FPS purist. That just leaves you with pricing to draw new customers in. Instead, you've put forward one of the worst free-to-pay proposals I've seen.
Bob Deorum G I A N T 14	Posted - 2013.01.23 06:09:00 - [14] - Quote So the biggest issue I see with this move by CCP is the really really bad Public relations they will get from this. One of the first things most players will see on the market is all the aurum products that are immidently shoved in the players face. It will not take long for them to get out a calculator and figure out that it takes about $35 to get a suit that they cannot lose. Since most of the these players will be from your run of the mill FPS's where you do not lose stuff, the only thing they will see is the idea that they need to pay money to get what they get in there normal FPS expirance. SO for them to stay in there comfort zone they will see a 35$ price on a so called free to play video game, on and by the way that is only one suit not all of them. So for all your talking about $150 irrelevant of what this means in the game play side of things, this could go really badly for the game itself, ya sure you will make a couple of bucks but you will lose more players now then its worth. Now is a time when dust needs to shine not look like a get rich quick scheme. I think this sends the completely wrong message to the world at large. It is a PR nightmare on CCP's part, if this backfires and the media gets wind of this in the wrong light, it will just scream that CCP 's a bunch of broke programmers that are just out to get as much of the player's money as possible and not deliver on a promise that is 4 years old.
Doktor Worm BetaMax. 8	Posted - 2013.01.23 10:36:00 - [15] - Quote It does seem odd that the price went from pennies to pounds over night, with a couple of contradictory announcements. Something going on behind the scenes perhaps? Maybe a disagreement between the Dev teams and upper management/finance?
Oxskull Duncarino Shadow Company HQ 165	Posted - 2013.01.23 11:25:00 - [16] - Quote Fellhahn Aldrenhost wrote: Yes, these prices are insane. I'd like to draw a comparison to BF3 when it released it's "shortcuts" packs, allowing users to pay for immediate access to all items along a progression tree, or all progression trees. The cost of buying BF3 (ie box cost which Dust doesn't have) plus all of the shortcuts, still equates to less than the total cost of buying all available BPOs in Dust. And while the BF3 shortcuts gave you instant access to the absolute top tier items, sinking all this money into Dust will only provide you with a selection of the lowest tier items in the game. (And a personal annoyance of mine, there isn't even tier 1 BPO for Heavy dropsuits) I was stunned, absolutely jaw dropingly stunned, when I read the adjusted prices last night. It's utterly incomprehensible that any employee would think this is a viable business strategy/pricing model I really do want to see Dust succeed, for it to go on and further integrate with EvE and show the industry new and innovative ways to ENJOY playing a first person shooter. But what I believe is that, before this price hike, Dust was teetering on a tightrope for survival and viability. Supported mostly by it's connection to EvE and the dedicated fan base that exists there. Now after this price hike, it's completely dead in the water, no chance of competing. Yes you can still play the game without Aurum, and that's quite enjoyable and how I plan to play the game. But from CCP's perspective that does not produce a survivable product. Dust needs to make money, the only way it does that is through Aurum sales. And at these prices any consumer will immediately vomit with anger and reject the idea of ever purchasing Aurum. You, the client, should be concerned about CCP's profits. They are a business, not a government, meaning they will not poor money into a burning pit just because they like the shiny lights. If Dust can't turn a profit, then the game you're enjoying will close it's servers. You, CCP, need to come to proper grips with the term MICRO-transactions. $20 AUD to purchase one measly dropsuit BPO? $20 is not a micro transaction. If someone tried to tell you it was, you'd laugh at them, to their face. $20 is 1/3 - 1/2 the box price of a new game, a game built on traditional marketing which I would never have to sink further money into, which is much more attractive to me as a consumer. In EvE you have somewhat of a monopoly, as you've created a product that almost nothing else can compare to (grats, honestly). And thus you can afford to take risks with greed. In Dust, you a trying to compete in what could justifiably be called the most over-saturated genre in the gaming industry. You are fighting against some real giants. Sadly you don't have much in the way of innovation to offer so far, a mildly tangible connection to the EvE universe, and a fitting system that will confuse and repel the average FPS purist. That just leaves you with pricing to draw new customers in. Instead, you've put forward one of the worst free-to-pay proposals I've seen. To me the prices are double what they should be. It's just about Gé¼10 or $10 for the type I suit BPOs. Chop all prices in half so if people want an easy start then Gé¼20 euro will give a good basic setup. It's not paying to win. What seems like a lot of extra ISK accumulating in the wallet due to not needed to spend it early on, will disappear very fast as you get into the tier 3 and upwards level of gear. As stated in many other posts, you do not need bpos. If your game is that bad that your returns aren't both restocking your gear with ISK left over, you're doing something wrong. Your gear is not priced to your abilities, or, your skill tree and/or class might be wrong for your abilities. At the worst, this mightn't be the game for you.
Parson Atreides Ahrendee Mercenaries Legacy Rising 131	Posted - 2013.01.23 14:50:00 - [17] - Quote Kovak Therim wrote: Wasn't the stuff that was 20 and 30 AUR only supposed to go up to 250 and 500 AUR? Yea...I really am interested to know how one day they say it's going to be 500 Aurum and then, almost literally overnight, it's 10,000.
Nstomper Th3-ReSiStAnCe-SEC.0 205	Posted - 2013.01.23 15:28:00 - [18] - Quote BMSTUBBY wrote: I know they said that package deals are in the "Pipeline" aka "SOON" but IMO they needed them for day one. Its a damn shame that no one will continue to play this FTP game, I had high hopes. RIP DUST you were fun while you lasted. dude you been here for weeks just trolling the forums and saying RIP and i recall you telling someone that they dont have a life and yet here you are wasting time on the forums about a game you dont like who the no lifer now?
Wombat in combat 3dge of D4rkness SoulWing Alliance 2	Posted - 2013.01.24 07:24:00 - [19] - Quote Agreed. I would discourage new players from buying any militia blueprints at these prizes. IMO the only blueprints worth buying now are the Type 1 assult/logi/scout suites. I'd consider buying the militia blueprints if the AUR prizes were divided by 10.


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