Game Cost Balance

[DotE]

New to game but first post is a rant (not a good Omen).

Buried in the topic 'HALL OF SHAME, Sorry Cannot let this go...' is a rather startling / worrying / troublesome claim by retro that "iv been spending between 20 to 50 quid a day since sol opend"

Is anyone else with me that this is totally unacceptable?

Now, I know its retros money. To do with as he / she sees fit. That's not the point of this thread but I would suggest to the Devs that something is seriously wrong with the game balance here. Normally I would just brush off such a claim as idle boasting but it only mirrors my own experience.

The usage of 'e' in this game is astounding. The supply is woeful given the demand. It has been pointed out by the Dev's that this game can be played free and, it can, but it isn't any sort of satisfactory game playing experience, is it?

A couple of minutes blasting followed by 10 times as long collecting e is not my idea of fun. So, in order to make things fun I buy the e boosters, and here in lies the problem.

I have about 5 'game days' under my belt and have already spent approx £25. I am not yet level 30. Most of this has been spent on e. I have bought a few other boosters but I am not moaning about that. BP boosters, Cry boosters etc. etc are not essentials. Buy them or don't buy them, it makes no difference to my enjoyment of the game. But e is different.

I don't know if this issue gets addressed when you reach a higher level. I would think not. I don't think that with things as they are I will ever get to find out.

My suggestion to the Devs is either increase the size of e contained in the spheres or lower the e usage by weapons etc. You cannot go on like this. I cannot go on like this. You need to get less income from more people rather than a lot of money from a (and I include myself in this) gullible few.

Do as you see fit with BP boosters, cry boosters, pilot name change etc. but please sort out the e. £25 should really have provided an enjoyable game experience for a couple of months, its lasted a matter of days

Thank you.

Oops! Forgot to add that the above is in addition to paying for standard membership. Maybe that's the solution? Up the e reward for monthly subs. However I would suggest that it needs to be many times what it's set to at the moment.

 

[DotE]

Wow! No replies.

Do you think that the cost is fair and can be justified or have I less of a grip on reality than I thought...

 

[SpaQuetti]

Yeah, I use up all my energy in just a few minutes in Gemini, and have to spend like half an hour refilling.
No, I am not giving you one cent for those "energy charges". But that membership does look promising...

 

[BucaneerBill]

Heya,
I think the key is getting standard membership or higher, finding a good spot for energy and then just filling your ship. Get a storm ship and not the others classes as their more efficient. Their are not many decent places for energy in the first system, the best being vega 4. As you progress during the game and your rank goes up, you can hold more and more energy, have better spots for collecting it (350 in Sol) with faster collecters so it becomes less of a problem. Weapons do use more but they are very powerful when used in the lower systems .

 

[datajam]

You should of read further in the original post for the thread you mentioned. My costs calculated to play this game presently are approimately $250.00 USD per month. Granted this is two players, but when lag causes me to have to play missions upwards of a dozen times and SplitScreen's consitient messing with the game settings so that the mantis are stronger and my ship is weaker, it costs me more and more daily.

At the high end, this game should not cost more than $50.00 USD per month, with $25.00 USD being the reasonable cost. But, after you spend the money for your membership and buy all the boosters so you can enjoy a level playing field . . . You'll see.

I love this game. I enjoy the people. I even like a couple of the GM's. But, they just do not seem to understand that as a Consumer, expect the game play to represent what I purchased, not what they choose to make it after they receive my payment.

datajam

 

[BucaneerBill]

I still don't get how people can be spending so much. I only got standard membership at the moment and doing ok with it...

 

[DotE]

I still don't get how people can be spending so much. I only got standard membership at the moment and doing ok with it...

I can see how, and that's what's worrying me. If I have got thru £25 in a couple of days, just think what a month is going to cost? And no, it aint gonna happen!

The problem is, I think things such as the missions are well put together but most of these entail killing things. So, the hunt is on for e even when taking a rest from grinding Cry or lvl.

As stated, I think the reward for membership is very poor. At my lvl of membership I don't think I should be able to grind 24/7 but it should be a damned sight more than it is at the moment.

Maybe I am missing something here. If one is not grinding lvl (killing things) or grinding Cry (killing things) or hunting BP's (killing things) or doing missions (killing things) what else is there to do?

A GM input would be nice here. I am on the edge of saying 'stuff it'. I want to see Sol, but doing it the 'free' way really is not going to happen. I am prepared to pay, but I am not prepared to be ripped off. What is good value is, I know, subjective but even the Devs can't be happy that people need to spend £100's. This is not sustainable.

I know that the need for e is a way of slowing down progress and putting the brakes on but I think that someone has their sums slightly wrong.

Can the benefits of monthly subs (ie the things that give you, the Developers, cash flow confidence) please be looked into. The 'e' generator really needs a major boost.

 

[defacto]

If you don't like the membership, don't buy it!

Unlike other games, pirate galaxy lets you have full game function without paying. Paying is just for lazy guys that want to save time

 

[spocklet]

Have to agree with defacto here, you CAN play the game quite well without having to buy memberships, boosters etc, it just takes a while longer is all.

You have to remember, too, that there is no actual ending to this game, unlike console games where you are trying to achieve a particular solution or whatever, then it ends. PG was always designed to be 'open-ended', allowing further expansion as the devs think of them, and to provide the players with the opportunity to revisit earlier levels and complete unfinished mission lists rather than doing them all before moving up.

Now, I like the harder game (I think I may have a masochistic streak in me), so taking forever to complete this game isn't a problem for me. You've come a long way in a short time - took me waaay longer than 5 days to get to level 30 - so I think you need to slow down a bit, and enjoy the game for the game, rather than just to get to the end as quickly as possible.

 

[Shooey]

You've done exceptionally well to get to level 30 in 5 days therefore if you want that level of progression then its going to cost you that much.

I generally spend about £30 a month, which to me stops me going down the pub and is a good investment.

But i cannot ever recall SS coming around my house and forcing me to pay it

When i was at the lower levels the big e booster used to last ages, and were better value for money as the higher level ship just use that e

 

[DotE]

Hmmmm....some good posts but I don't think I am getting my point across too well.

No one forces me to hand money over to ss. That is true. Also, the game is 'open ended' and can be played for free. I understand these things.

I actually thought that for 5 days game time I was doing pretty poorly. I am no power leveller and have yet to see my next system (and as I understand it there are 2 more after that). Almost all the games I have played have the same basic game mechanics i.e the early levels are easy and then things just get harder and harder with the 'points' required to reach the next level increasing, sometimes exponentially. Are the game mechanics of PG different?

So, I do plod along in my own time and I do enjoy the many good parts of PG. But the game mechanics around 'e' really detracts from both my enjoyment and ability to play.

In most of the games I play / have played, there is the element of 'gathering'. In no other game I have played does this element of gathering have such negative impact upon the game. It should be part of it, not most of it!

I still say that its morally bankrupt that some players are spending so much but I guess that's just me. I would argue that if ss sit back and rely upon this for future revenue then they will 'catch a cold' and that's not good for our game.

I never said I was unhappy paying for membership, just that the reward for doing so is poor. I am no freetard. Running and developing this game cost. Hell, some of ss probably have families to feed, as do I.

My ultimate point is that the game balance around 'e' is wrong. It is not right and cannot be justified that in order to make reasonable progression in this game (or make it playable) players are spending real money in order to address this issue. (Again, please note that I am NOT talking about other 'boosters')

Monthly membership brings rewards to the developers that should be acknowledged. By making this 'acknowledgement' fair and attractive more players will pay monthly subs.

Maybe I can pose a direct question? Do players think that the game balance around 'e' is correct? If yes, what am I doing wrong? If no, should the 'e' generator membership reward be tweaked upwards?

 

[sir-vivol]

E is their biggest income... giving ingame more E would result in a decrease of the monthly profits.

if u have a family to feed, would u take the risk to lower ur monthly profit in the hope that u get more costumers and end up with a higher profit then ur montlhy profit used to be.
if u wake up in the morning and look at your family.do u think yeah today im gonna risk this and turn in profits for a new business tactic?

e is their biggest income.. u can buy it big or in small porportions..
not everybody can buy boosters/memberships but a little bit of extra e is affortable most of the times.

they dont need to raise the e ingame but the e cap they could extend so we could carry some more e and dont have to reload every 10 minutes. imo.

but my voice has no weight in this game and my opinion neither so i dont expect things to change at all.

 

[DotE]

E is their biggest income... giving ingame more E would result in a decrease of the monthly profits.

if u have a family to feed, would u take the risk to lower ur monthly profit in the hope that u get more costumers and end up with a higher profit then ur montlhy profit used to be.
if u wake up in the morning and look at your family.do u think yeah today im gonna risk this and turn in profits for a new business tactic?

You make a good point and one I had not considered. My view is that the game balance is incorrect. Yours is that this is quite deliberate game mechanics by ss.

Do ss really see 'e' as the primary revenue source? If so, I have badly misjudged the game and, sad to say, I will be off.

I will pay extra for 'luxuries'. I will not pay extra for 'necessities'. £25 spent on mostly 'e' boosters is one luxury I cannot and will not afford.

You say that ss giving out e will result in a drop in revenue. I would argue that by not sorting it out ss will lose a lot more. At the moment it would appear that a few people pay a lot. I argue that this is not sustainable. However, I do acknowledge that one business tactic is to fleece early adopters and then move on to the next new thing.

I am not saying that this is how ss intend to, or indeed do, run this game. I don't have enough experience to call it either way. The cheaters aspect does seem to show that ss intend on running the game professionally. I just wonder if they intend on running it responsibly.

From my perspective I will pay for another months membership, heck, I may even upgrade to 'enhanced' to see if this addresses my issues. One thing I won't be doing is handing over £25 every few days to an on-line game or putting up with this for much longer.

 

[sir-vivol]

well u brought up the family feed thing.. that made me think about it and if thats the scenerio then this is the outcome.

but im not SS so dont be offing them on my words.this is still a good game tho.
no need to leave it. and maybe they will change something bout the energy coz of ur topic..
as long as they dont make a statement u dont know.

 

[matey]

As for me i rely on the free gold splitscreen gives us, my enhanced membership runs out in 3 days, and i have enough for standard next, but soon, it will be back to collecting energy all the time. I think players' energy cap HAS to be increased, it simply is not enough, especailly if your grinding for rares or doing story missions (which most people do anyway).

 

[Dark_Lord]

I dont think it costs much.I have never payed a cent to this game and I am a sol pilot.
I know collecting e is very boring and it runs out in less than 5 mins with no membership but im doing fine even without membership/boosters.As others said e cap needs to be increased because its very small.For me my max e is 5300 which is very small and I need to reload every 5 mins in sol.

Regards
DarkLordADP

 

[DotE]

My last post on this subject, then I promise to shut up

I have no gold left so thought I would play for free (the last of my gold I used to buy a BP booster). So, can the game be played for free? Yes. Would I want to? Not a chance in hell.

The 1/2 hr (give or take) I spent replenishing 6,100 e comes straight out of my BP booster time. And, farming e at 50 - 70 e per pop then waiting for the cool down on my collector is as boring as I remembered (and feared).

When I next log in (probably tomorrow morning) my e will have risen to, what, 9,000(ish). That will last me all of 30 minutes? blasting then its back to farming again.

I dunno, maybe this isn't the game for me.

 

[BucaneerBill]

That sucks lol. 6100 e at 50-70 at a time. I think your going through a bad point, later on energy becomes easier to get as it goes up to 350 per orb with faster collectors. Also you can destroy many lower level mantis in 1 shot so it all becomes far more efficient

 

[spocklet]

Done a few missions recently that needed a lot of 'e', but not being able to get to an e field without fighting both ways, I was glad of the free gold SS gave us, and bought some. When that gold runs out, though......!!

Agree that the e cap is set too low, am lvl 39 with a 4,050 e cap, which gives me about 5-10 mins fight time (depending where I am), then 10-15 mins refill (again, depends where I am). So if SS wouldn't mind raising the e caps for players, please......??

 

[CapnSanta]

Yes E is the main problem in this game.

If ss make most of their money through e sales then they really need to give much better value for money. With Sol I now find my e use dwindles rapidly! So either double the E received from direct gold purchases OR halve the E use from the ships equipment. It is starting to get a bit ridiculous!

It has been claimed that there is a good balance, though I must disagree. Sol equipment use is higher (as u might expect), but the E collected is max 350 odd on "Mount Doom" on Earth and still takes a fair amount of time to collect. Time is the real issue here anyway. That is why we buy E but after doing the last few missions on Earth I have seen that it is impossible to finish them without stopping fighting and running away to get more E (if you collect). I used over 10k E shooting Lord Fam Doom alone! I am level 63 and can store only 6450 E if I don't buy any. It is claimed that the game can be played without buying gold and that may well be true but it would be almost impossible to do the last mission without extra E (unless you boost your pilot higher and can store more E (10k at least) ).

ALL I am really saying is this... you want to make money ok??? Yes???? WELL try this and see what happens.... for the instant energy boost try DOUBLING the amount from 103k (which is basically what I get at the moment) to 206k per 5100 gold and then see how many MORE people will buy gold for use!! WHY do I think it will increase gold purchased?? Well simple.. BETTER VALUE!!

Try it and you will see!