Storm8 layoffs and dragon story

[Clark_Wayne]

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.

absolutely well analyzed
i totally agree with the fact that s8 would gain lot more with lot of small purchases than few big ones

[starship412]

absolutely well analyzed
i totally agree with the fact that s8 would gain lot more with lot of small purchases than few big ones

This idea would definitely work. Low priced items would get people to spend more. I understand the gold prices for premium items like ultra rare dragons so I wouldn't change that but the packs need to be true value packs.

[JustKay]

I'm not really disagreeing with what was said about value packs, however I think the prices of dragons in the market place may be high because they are convenience items. Just look at the prices for common dragons and it's clear that you aren't supposed to reference these in any value discussion. They're there for the people who have too much money and no patience (or dare i say even accidental gold spend). Buying a dragon from the market is like buying something from a convenience store in the middle of the night, expect to be gouged.

The true value in the game comes from speed breeding. There is a risk of failure, but that's simply a justification for convenience. The classic time versus money trade off. Small gold spend speed breeding will probably get you any dragon for less than the price on the market (probably with a few fails you never had). Just as an extreme example, I did a speed breeding session when they had an overlap between the diamond temple discount and the boosted breeding weekend, and managed to get 7 new diamond hybrids, and a few extras that I already had, a few super rare dragons I wanted, all for about 2400 gold (inclusive of the diamond temple cost). A little gold can go a long way.

https://forums.storm8.com/showthread...d-Temple/page9 (an description of what I did)

[marathon2615]

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.

You summed it up quite nicely!! I'm not even gonna try now you did the work for me lol

[katali119]

There's a poster in the GPD thread who just bought gold to buy the dragons. But they aren't happy about it. That's a problem. When people spend real money, they shouldn't feel crappy about it, because then they don't want to do it again, and it puts people off. I understand the employees need to get paid, but I wasn't trying to suggest they gave everything away for free, just make players feel more like they're getting value for money, as someone else explained far more eloquently than I managed

[FlatFoot]

Hey all, I'm still here and will be trying my best to continue delivering quality content to you and your dragons. I'll pass on the kind words to my friends who lost their job.

[starship412]

Thanks FlatFoot and I wish those who are no longer with Storm8 nothing but the best in the future. I hope they can use what they learned to do awesome things going forward.

[ozigal]

Flatfoot: very pleased to hear from you that you are still gainfully employed here and your artwork is continuing as many would have been wondering. Never a good time when redundancy is hanging over your head. Looking forward to more of your skilful art.,and to your mates that have moved on I hope they do well

[papalove1]

Flatfoot:
Maybe you should be promoted.
You seem to make better decisions than your "So Called" Superiors..
S8, Has for Sooo long disregarded everything that it's loyal patrons desire.
Well, now they can drown in their decisions.
It's sad to see bad management costing good people their livelihood.
Yet they probably still have a job....
An undeserving job!

[FlatFoot]

Flatfoot: Maybe you should be promoted.

Hehe, not the first time that's been said on the forums.