Originally Posted by
FireballFarm
I like to make regular purchases to support the games I play. But, out of all my favorite games, DS gets the smallest number of purchases. I want to support the game, I want and need gold...but the prices are just too high. Value does matter. A lot.
I think one of the places where S8 really missed the boat is in their valuation of items and, consequently, the prices on the so-called 'value' packs. Compared to my other mobile games, the dragons are overvalued and the gold is overpriced. That is not a winning combo. One, single pixel dragon does not have a real monetary value of $70. Sorry, S8, but that is simply ridiculous. Are we really supposed to believe a complete set of pixel dragons on a mobile phone game has a real money value of over $50,000? Really?
When I do finally break down and purchase gold (and that's what it feels like- negative, not a positive decision), I feel guilty. I should feel good and excited about what new, premium items I can buy with my shiny new in-app currency, like when I make purchases in my other games.
The most successful mobile games make their money from tens of thousands of micro-transactions. No one really thinks twice about spending $1 or $3, but most people definitely stop to think about dropping $15 on a mobile phone game. For $15, you can buy a couple burgers at Ruby Tuesday, or go see a new movie at the theater, rent 5 movies from Redbox, or go out and get a few beers at a bar.
If S8 offered occasional $1, $3 and $5 deals on small amounts of gold, more people would make regular purchases. I wouldn't bat an eye at spending $20 on gold, $1 at a time, every week...but I won't ever buy a $20 'value' pack with a dragon and food, coins, or maps. Food, coins, and maps have no monetary value because we can earn the (offensively tiny) amounts offered for free in less than a day through game play.
Value packs should consist of a discounted amount of gold and a free dragon tossed in as a bonus item. The gold is what we should be buying, not the dragon. We need gold to play the game. The dragon should be there to tempt you into making a gold purchase and then as a reward or bonus for making the purchase. Plus, the cost of dragons in the menu needs to be reduced. A purchase of $25 should provide enough gold to buy a couple dragons off the regular menu. When individual dragons are priced at 1200 or 2000 gold apiece, that is impossible. But, it's probably too late for all that now.