One month after NA release and they have already pushed out an expansion that increased the size of the game world by 30 % or more. And did not charge a single penny for that expansion. Unlike some other games where they would have charged you $30 $40 $50 for that amount of content.
There are F2P games that have doubled even tripled the size of the world without charging a cent for the new areas
It's just there are countless ways of monetizing each game.
Also Black Desert's map even with Media and Valencia is not that big - what makes it seem large is that lack of fast travel.
If you could teleport to each major city in BD- the game would feel tiny
It just proves what many of us have known for years, instanced worlds with constant loading screens make game worlds small that shouldn't feel small. BDO proves you don't need a huge world as long as the systems are interesting, and it feels like an old school game continent, not just another instanced area with a different color pallet.
Have bought a costume for the 30$ but I justified it as if I had spent 15$ on two months for a sub for some other mmorpgs:P Then of course I wanted the Panda pug so I had to spend around 40 to get him from breeding other dogs. And of course bought the conq package. but at this point I figure I may buy a costume(or items equal to that)ever 2-3 months that way keeps on track with the 15$ sub justification I go by lol
I bought the $100 preorder pack after the second CB, used some of my points for "bank" extensions in the various areas (+8 in Velia, +8 in Hidel, +8 in Calpheon), which is 100% comfort since I could have gotten the same with storage buildings, but I still have most of my included pearls left for future use.
I will keep on spending $15/month when I need pearls, like a normal sub game.
^That's basically me. Minus the money spent on pets - I spent mine on an outfit instead. Along with some upgrades to make my life easier. (storage and inventory space)
Just like you two, I'll be sticking to my 15$ a month rule. (Maybe with an extra every few months if there's something I really want, much like buying an expansion in the old days xD)
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
I have the pretties Barbie in BDO, with the a couple of the ugliest muts.
The pets are going to be a problem for me I think.
The Cavaro outfit and matching horses barding is incredibly detailed. Blows me away this is an MMO.
PS: 64 slot inventory and 439LT, I didn't buy any of that off the cash shop. I purchased 2 outfits for myself and one for my horse, and I don't consider them cheap, but think that inventory and weight expansions are a waste of money....
I don't claim to be sane.
I think I spent $10 to get a few housing items. I don't care what my character looks like so nothing there. I'm considering getting a pet at some point. I used some loyalty points to get a weight increase...but that's not the cash shop. I see no reason to use the cash shop other than pets. I would never spend more than $15 a month in the cash shop and most of the time nothing.
Honestly I don't find the prices that crazy. But I'm not a cash shop obsessed person and I don't study other games cash shops. I will say GW2's cash shop is the only one that I've raised an eyebrow at (essentially buying gold with real money, in a game where mobs don't drop much in the way of cash..hmm).
I bought the $49 early access, After start of the game while I was waiting to get my early access items, I bought $100 bucks worth of pearls, I went to redeem and they all vanished and I got nothing in return. I was stuck in support with there devs for weeks, even after saying i just wanted my money back. They kept saying they fixed the issue but it was not fixed. This went on all together for about a month. Eventually I did a charge back for the pearls and the game itself at my bank. Next day I got this. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greetings,
Thank you for getting back to me and for your patience.
As the fix apparently didn't work for you, I have gone ahead and refunded your purchase of 10000 Pearls. The money should be on your Bank account as soon as our payment provider, Global Collect, has finished processing the refund. This usually takes a few days.
Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconveniences. Do not hesitate to contact us again if you have any further queries.
Kind Regards,
GM Kaiji Game Master ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I still have not gotten back the money for the game that I will no longer play nore log into. the last day I loged into it was the day they stole my $100 for the pearls.
I haven't bought much for myself but my gf has spent a ton. We're like the Princess and the Pauper lol. But I'm good with it because whereas I am able to manage my inventory and storage, and basically do without, she's has a real problem with those limits. Plus she has pets and outfits and all sorts of stuff which is cool by me because it makes her happy and I want her to have a good time.
I haven't bought much for myself but my gf has spent a ton. We're like the Princess and the Pauper lol. But I'm good with it because whereas I am able to manage my inventory and storage, and basically do without, she's has a real problem with those limits. Plus she has pets and outfits and all sorts of stuff which is cool by me because it makes her happy and I want her to have a good time.
I know a few people like that in game. xD
It's also amusing to see people quickly jumping on those new store releases. There were already a bunch of female characters running around in the Kibelius outfit just moments after that store update went live.
The devs are definitely making some good money from their cash shop.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
Pets, an "angel" costume, extra carrying (weight) capacity, some extra inventory and warehouse slots, will probably get character expansion slots too.
Yep, I would agree that some of the prices are fairly steep, especially for costumes, ah and those dyes with their RNG are quite meh. On the other hand there are other cash shops in many games that heavily rely on RNG boxes, where you could spend 100s and not even get what you want out of them. The BDO shop in our version is far from perfect and not very much in line with a B2P game, at least it isn't full of P2W items (yet).
When I am pressing R I am not killing stuff = loss of XP/time - that's bad for my min/max playstyle - and it's huge deal having to press R 30+ times every minute
No, just no
Treant suit even after the nerf is still a huge advantage - especially in group PvP - as the other guild can't call names in TS to focus people down. Again HUGE advantage.
Weight limit is not a thing for me as I always take breaks to sell/unload at the nearest town.
Same with inventory slots -you do all the unlock quests - not an issue for me - especially with alts
Amazing how a min max style doesn't let a player loot, but allows a player to run back and forth to town much more often.
What we have here are issues of taste and convenience, which the cash shop items appeal to in various ways. They are aimed to catch an area of impulse buy irritation in the hyperactivity of certain playstyles -- they are supposed to annoy you just enough for you to want to make a purchase and not enough for you to rage quit if you can't afford it.
Really, this is why people despise free to play. It's there to annoy you, or alternatively, it's aspirational -- you are meant to wish you could get all the pretties and the things that would make your life in the game sweeter.
However, the average American or at least Anglo gamer is so ill tempered about paying for any entertainment or basic needs -- music, games, sex, whatever -- that he would far rather spend his energy railing against a game company (music company, all women,...) that dares to deprive him of his every desire free of charge, and immediately. It's become a refrain of a generation.
There is not much at all in this game you can't achieve by means other than the cash shop, albeit slowly. You can eventually get a pet from login time. Likewise, inventory can be expanded from loyalty points. Weight limits can be trained, or upped with loyalty points. The ghillie suit is an exception, but not every player needs to compete in PvP at that level, and I know a great number of good PvP players who say the suit just doesn't mesh with their style, and they don't bother.
With few exceptions, the store items that are not cosmetic, trade money for time. That's pretty much the definition of convenience. Poorer people such as myself will spend a bit at the launch of the game on inventory space and weight and pets, and perhaps nothing much more into the future.
Others will feel compelled by their personal neurological quirks and larger budgets to spend hundreds every month. I have one young man in my guild who is already well into four figures into Daum, and unlikely to slow down. If they still allowed gifting, he'd be spending even more.
East Asia isn't quite hung up on inequity in gaming in the same ways we are. They acutely understand that some people, who spend lots on the games, make it possible for the games to be freely available to those who can not afford to pay.
I don't understand how this message gets so badly twisted in the west. These games cost many millions to produce, yet most of you feel entitled to play free regardless of your incomes.
Daum made the game B2P to cover their localization costs -- considerable, for extensive voice localization in three languages for so much content. Beyond that, they are relying on a F2P model to sustain the game going forward.
Not rocket science, if you can get out of your solipsistic "me me me!" headspace for five minutes and try thinking like a game exec.
I severely dislike all you people who support these prices (ok, maybe not severely). But whatever, it just means I'll never play it. I was gonna wait until they came to their senses with those prices, but people obviously don't care that much and just throw their money at them .
So you would want the game to have zero development after launch. People should be grateful for those of us not too tight to spend money that the game with continue to have features and content added.
A purchase from the item store in a MMORPG is supposed to be a spontaneous action. Therefore it should not be making you thing whether it's justified or not. The moment you begin weighting the value of a purchase of a virtual goods proves that the in-game store is flawed!
The game will not be able to sustain the current monetization system for too long. Once the initial hype is gone the money flow will cease and the publisher will be forced to either drop the prices or change the cash shop or even go completely f2p.
A purchase from the item store in a MMORPG is supposed to be a spontaneous action. Therefore it should not be making you thing whether it's justified or not. The moment you begin weighting the value of a purchase of a virtual goods proves that the in-game store is flawed!
The game will not be able to sustain the current monetization system for too long. Once the initial hype is gone the money flow will cease and the publisher will be forced to either drop the prices or change the cash shop or even go completely f2p.
So if you like it all you should just say fuck it to your budget and go ahead and buy it all eh?
Sometimes the convoluted excuses you people come up with to hate on a game's cash shop are beyond comprehension.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
The game is awesome and it only costs 30€. I haven´t spend any money besides the purchasing of it. I dont need pets to get my loot and i dont feel the need to buy anything expensive from the shop. I have loyalty points (earned for playing every day) to improve my inventory and storages wich i think is my greatest need. Its great not having to pay a sub every month but i would gladly pay it as i payed before to have more variety of cloths, armor and all the goodies that they sell in the store. I think the sub system is still the best one if the content being added to the game is updated in a regular basis, but thats just me. Enjoy your games!
Yes I have spent money in the pearl store and I saw it as a monthly sub. I enjoy the game and I want it to stay around. But like all things that's a business if there is no revenue it's not going to be around for long. So I really don't mind spending $20 - $30 on a really good game with no p2w system or sub system.
Hi I'm Ravkeen!
Emilia_Emi Lvl 56 Witch Now Playing : Black Desert Online "America is not at war, the US Military is at war, America is at the mall."
There's a problem for pearl abyss right now though. I bought what I wanted and I don't see buying pearls in the near future. Not because I had issues or anything. It's just ... i got the best looking costume (for me) and a pretty pet. There's nothing that interests me in the slightest :O
I can craft my own exp boosters (e.g. milk tea) and I am crafting my own exp boosters. Same for food for AP/DP/speed
I guess in the future when I reach the soft level cap I'd buy that skill reset scroll to make "meta" build, but my understanding is that i get this scroll for free at lvl 45. Kinda weird.
I don't have weight issue as DMKano stated in some other thread (that +300 weight boost is a requirement). I carry relatively 50-60 large HP pots and I turn my silver into gold bars for storage in the warehouse. I have plenty of weight to go around.
For trading I use the 180k silver wagon which i bought few weeks ago and it still has over 60% stamina and i made millions with it by now.
I have thick fishing poles by the loads and soon i'll be able to carry steel one. So i'm packed with everything and don't feel the need to pay money to one-up people :O
Daum provided my copy free of charge, for review. I'm glad they did, because I've bought like $90 worth of pearls for bag slots, weight limit increases, some damn pants for my ranger, and furniture.
Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.
Daum provided my copy free of charge, for review. I'm glad they did, because I've bought like $90 worth of pearls for bag slots, weight limit increases, some damn pants for my ranger, and furniture.
Lucky! Now I'm wondering which copy they gave you! xD
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
It's like you jumped inside my mind to write this piece. I spent a fair chunk of cash in GW2 for my wife and I to have stuff we liked. And I didn't mind doing it. The prices were reasonable enough that I didn't get sticker shock with each purchase. Consequently, ArenaNet got a good bit of monetary support from me.
BDO is another story. I get sticker shock every time I look at the price of any single item in the store. The only purchases I've made in the Pearl Store were made with the pearls that came with my Conqueror's Package. I dropped $200 for my wife and I both to have this game and stuff we wanted in it. So one can't say that we aren't willing to support a game we like. I'm just not willing to spend $30 for a single outfit.
Daum needs to realize that if they cut the prices by half, they would probably triple the sales. It would mean more money in their pocket and in their players' pockets. Everyone would be happy. Win-win.
Yeah I have spent money in the cash shop... brought a horse costume and a pet.
Is it expensive yes, is it more expensive then other games no not at all. A mount in WoW will cost you $27.50 a pet $11.00 and the little prick wont even loot for you and you are already paying for a sub.
The funny thing is though I am finding it hard to justify spending $29 on a costume. But if they where $10 I would probably already have brought one for each character.
And it's still a fraction of the $$$ I have dropped on Star Citizen which is microscopic compared to WoW over the last decade.
It's far less expensive then games like Neverwinter omg those fucking crystals to level up artifacts WTF.
The OP makes a great point about the relativity to a movie or what ever else you might spend money on. A movie = $30 with snacks and it lasts 2 hours a costume in a game like this could last months years even.
I say buy the bloody costume you big chicken, you might get buyers remorse but that is bound to only last a few days or until your next pay packet.
Playing: Darkfall New Dawn (and planning to play Fallout 76) Favourite games have included: UO, Lineage2, Darkfall, Lotro, Baldur's Gate, SSX, FF7 and yes the original Wizardry on an Apple IIe
Comments
Just like you two, I'll be sticking to my 15$ a month rule. (Maybe with an extra every few months if there's something I really want, much like buying an expansion in the old days xD)
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
The pets are going to be a problem for me I think.
The Cavaro outfit and matching horses barding is incredibly detailed. Blows me away this is an MMO.
PS: 64 slot inventory and 439LT, I didn't buy any of that off the cash shop. I purchased 2 outfits for myself and one for my horse, and I don't consider them cheap, but think that inventory and weight expansions are a waste of money.... I don't claim to be sane.
Honestly I don't find the prices that crazy. But I'm not a cash shop obsessed person and I don't study other games cash shops. I will say GW2's cash shop is the only one that I've raised an eyebrow at (essentially buying gold with real money, in a game where mobs don't drop much in the way of cash..hmm).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greetings,
Thank you for getting back to me and for your patience.
As the fix apparently didn't work for you, I have gone ahead and refunded your purchase of 10000 Pearls. The money should be on your Bank account as soon as our payment provider, Global Collect, has finished processing the refund. This usually takes a few days.
Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconveniences. Do not hesitate to contact us again if you have any further queries.
Kind Regards,
Game Master
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I still have not gotten back the money for the game that I will no longer play nore log into. the last day I loged into it was the day they stole my $100 for the pearls.
I haven't bought much for myself but my gf has spent a ton. We're like the Princess and the Pauper lol. But I'm good with it because whereas I am able to manage my inventory and storage, and basically do without, she's has a real problem with those limits. Plus she has pets and outfits and all sorts of stuff which is cool by me because it makes her happy and I want her to have a good time.
It's also amusing to see people quickly jumping on those new store releases. There were already a bunch of female characters running around in the Kibelius outfit just moments after that store update went live.
The devs are definitely making some good money from their cash shop.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
Yep, I would agree that some of the prices are fairly steep, especially for costumes, ah and those dyes with their RNG are quite meh. On the other hand there are other cash shops in many games that heavily rely on RNG boxes, where you could spend 100s and not even get what you want out of them. The BDO shop in our version is far from perfect and not very much in line with a B2P game, at least it isn't full of P2W items (yet).
Amazing how a min max style doesn't let a player loot, but allows a player to run back and forth to town much more often.
What we have here are issues of taste and convenience, which the cash shop items appeal to in various ways. They are aimed to catch an area of impulse buy irritation in the hyperactivity of certain playstyles -- they are supposed to annoy you just enough for you to want to make a purchase and not enough for you to rage quit if you can't afford it.
Really, this is why people despise free to play. It's there to annoy you, or alternatively, it's aspirational -- you are meant to wish you could get all the pretties and the things that would make your life in the game sweeter.
However, the average American or at least Anglo gamer is so ill tempered about paying for any entertainment or basic needs -- music, games, sex, whatever -- that he would far rather spend his energy railing against a game company (music company, all women,...) that dares to deprive him of his every desire free of charge, and immediately. It's become a refrain of a generation.
There is not much at all in this game you can't achieve by means other than the cash shop, albeit slowly. You can eventually get a pet from login time. Likewise, inventory can be expanded from loyalty points. Weight limits can be trained, or upped with loyalty points. The ghillie suit is an exception, but not every player needs to compete in PvP at that level, and I know a great number of good PvP players who say the suit just doesn't mesh with their style, and they don't bother.
With few exceptions, the store items that are not cosmetic, trade money for time. That's pretty much the definition of convenience. Poorer people such as myself will spend a bit at the launch of the game on inventory space and weight and pets, and perhaps nothing much more into the future.
Others will feel compelled by their personal neurological quirks and larger budgets to spend hundreds every month. I have one young man in my guild who is already well into four figures into Daum, and unlikely to slow down. If they still allowed gifting, he'd be spending even more.
East Asia isn't quite hung up on inequity in gaming in the same ways we are. They acutely understand that some people, who spend lots on the games, make it possible for the games to be freely available to those who can not afford to pay.
I don't understand how this message gets so badly twisted in the west. These games cost many millions to produce, yet most of you feel entitled to play free regardless of your incomes.
Daum made the game B2P to cover their localization costs -- considerable, for extensive voice localization in three languages for so much content. Beyond that, they are relying on a F2P model to sustain the game going forward.
Not rocket science, if you can get out of your solipsistic "me me me!" headspace for five minutes and try thinking like a game exec.
The game will not be able to sustain the current monetization system for too long. Once the initial hype is gone the money flow will cease and the publisher will be forced to either drop the prices or change the cash shop or even go completely f2p.
Sometimes the convoluted excuses you people come up with to hate on a game's cash shop are beyond comprehension.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
Hi I'm Ravkeen!
Emilia_Emi Lvl 56 Witch
Now Playing : Black Desert Online
"America is not at war, the US Military is at war, America is at the mall."
There's a problem for pearl abyss right now though. I bought what I wanted and I don't see buying pearls in the near future. Not because I had issues or anything. It's just ... i got the best looking costume (for me) and a pretty pet. There's nothing that interests me in the slightest :O
I can craft my own exp boosters (e.g. milk tea) and I am crafting my own exp boosters. Same for food for AP/DP/speed
I guess in the future when I reach the soft level cap I'd buy that skill reset scroll to make "meta" build, but my understanding is that i get this scroll for free at lvl 45. Kinda weird.
I don't have weight issue as DMKano stated in some other thread (that +300 weight boost is a requirement). I carry relatively 50-60 large HP pots and I turn my silver into gold bars for storage in the warehouse. I have plenty of weight to go around.
For trading I use the 180k silver wagon which i bought few weeks ago and it still has over 60% stamina and i made millions with it by now.
I have thick fishing poles by the loads and soon i'll be able to carry steel one. So i'm packed with everything and don't feel the need to pay money to one-up people :O
Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.
My Review Manifesto
Follow me on Twitter if you dare.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
It's not you can pick your Region from Launcher same as most games these days
BDO is another story. I get sticker shock every time I look at the price of any single item in the store. The only purchases I've made in the Pearl Store were made with the pearls that came with my Conqueror's Package. I dropped $200 for my wife and I both to have this game and stuff we wanted in it. So one can't say that we aren't willing to support a game we like. I'm just not willing to spend $30 for a single outfit.
Daum needs to realize that if they cut the prices by half, they would probably triple the sales. It would mean more money in their pocket and in their players' pockets. Everyone would be happy. Win-win.
Is it expensive yes, is it more expensive then other games no not at all. A mount in WoW will cost you $27.50 a pet $11.00 and the little prick wont even loot for you and you are already paying for a sub.
The funny thing is though I am finding it hard to justify spending $29 on a costume. But if they where $10 I would probably already have brought one for each character.
And it's still a fraction of the $$$ I have dropped on Star Citizen which is microscopic compared to WoW over the last decade.
It's far less expensive then games like Neverwinter omg those fucking crystals to level up artifacts WTF.
The OP makes a great point about the relativity to a movie or what ever else you might spend money on. A movie = $30 with snacks and it lasts 2 hours a costume in a game like this could last months years even.
I say buy the bloody costume you big chicken, you might get buyers remorse but that is bound to only last a few days or until your next pay packet.
Playing: Darkfall New Dawn (and planning to play Fallout 76)
Favourite games have included: UO, Lineage2, Darkfall, Lotro, Baldur's Gate, SSX, FF7 and yes the original Wizardry on an Apple IIe