[Question] Consumer friendliness | Forums

[evan5338]

I love GRW so much, and I give it some crap because of all of the micro transactions that exist within the game. Does Ubisoft have any plans to rework the ghost credit system to be more consumer friendly?
This could be through one of many ways:

1. Making challenges reward 50-250 ghost credits (the blue ones)
2. Letting us buy every item in the game individually
3. Making credits less expensive it general
4. Getting rid of, reducing the amount of, or giving more credits for dupe items in prestige crates

I get that at the end of the day Ubisoft is a company that has to make money... but how much criticism are they willing to take for the amount of micro transactions. I understand that the development team doesn't get much of a say in how micro transactions are handled. Again, I love the game and I have 15-20 days of gameplay in it, but the micro transactions just wear down on me after a while. No matter how good I am, it still takes me forever to earn items that could be bought in a second.

[Ghost-Ami]

Well, that's certainly an impressive degree of optimism.

Ubi have consistently in effect raised the prices of microtransactions. Over time packs have begun to include fewer items for similar amounts of credits, and battlecrates have begun including fewer items people actually want. Ubi've said they'll sell more single weapons, and some people consider that a victory, but those weapons are likely going to share the same fairly high 1500 credit price tag of previous single weapons.

I very much doubt they'll reduce the cost of anything no matter how many people ask. We'll be lucky if we even get a sale on credits any time soon. Haven't had one since the one that ended when "SO2" deployed.

In the final analysis I think what's best for people who find microtransactions tiresome is to just ignore them. None of those items are necessary to succeed in the game after all. And, hey, if you get something good from a challenge or prestige crate grind that can just be a nice surprise.

[CYBER_PUNK_SEB]

I would personally find it highly offensive if the prices of packs and or items which I have purchased suddenly reduced, and I am sure that most if not all the customers who had paid for this content at the original price would not feel the same way.

Since the discussion entirely surrounds cosmetic items, vehicles, and or additional weaponry none of which is required in anyway to actually play, progress, or enjoy the game I understand all these continual posts regarding such issues to be completely pointless and essentially complaining about nothing.

If you want the extra content available, pay for it just like everyone else.

If you don't keep your cash, it's fairly straight forward stuff.

UBISOFT: I strongly recommend that extreme consideration be given to any ideas you may have of reducing prices and or of selling items separately or individually with regard to their already over inflated value.

If in future I go to the store and see that items which I have happily purchased for ridiculously large prices with my hard earned cash are now available at any kind of reduction in pricing outside of reasonable limits, you will be hearing from me and no doubt countless others shortly thereafter.

[Ghost-Ami]

I would personally find it highly offensive if the prices of packs and or items which I have purchased suddenly reduced, and I am sure that most if not all the customers who had paid for this content at the original price would not feel the same way.

Since the discussion entirely surrounds cosmetic items, vehicles, and or additional weaponry none of which is required in anyway to actually play, progress, or enjoy the game I understand all these continual posts regarding such issues to be completely pointless and essentially complaining about nothing.

If you want the extra content available, pay for it just like everyone else.

If you don't keep your cash, it's fairly straight forward stuff.

UBISOFT: I strongly recommend that extreme consideration be given to any ideas you may have of reducing prices and or of selling items separately or individually with regard to their already over inflated value.

If in future I go to the store and see that items which I have happily purchased for ridiculously large prices with my hard earned cash are now available at any kind of reduction in pricing outside of reasonable limits, you will be hearing from me and no doubt countless others shortly thereafter.

Mostly I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Unfortunately if they do ever reverse themselves and lower prices---other than those "reasonable" limits, you mean like sales and such, I reckon---I'm not sure those of us who paid full price will have a leg to stand on if we want some sort of remuneration.

Plenty of products across industries go down in price over time. Day one costs for games for instance. Or last year's fashions. Or, I dunno, the cost of a car or computer component or phone or something that has been out for a while and is basically deprecated in favour of newer releases. Many such things may be perfectly good still, functional, good quality, not obsolete or anything. Just not as hot and new as other things.

If I buy an expensive top and then find out a year later that the same top is now selling for a fraction of what I paid the clothing shop are not going to listen to me if I want to be paid back the difference. They will say, "Well, you paid to have it at that price a year before others are getting it at this price.

In capitalism things don't have objective value based upon their components and the work it takes to bring those components together. Instead their value derives from what people are willing to pay, and that's extremely arbitrary based on the whims of consumers as manipulated by media, advertising, celebrity endorsement and influence, peer pressure, and other forces.

It's a loathsome system, and I encourage anyone who doesn't like it to support or step up support for socialist candidates in whatever political processes they can participate in.

But the reality is that we don't have a lot of power as consumers---even in the EU with the strongest consumer protection regulations in the world---and we don't have a say in whether the prices will rise or fall. I'm not saying you should bow down and worship the new god that is the Invisible Hand, but you can't fight its influence by attacking individual components in it. You need to slay the entire god and replace it with a resource management system based on inherent value and need rather than perceived value and demand.

In this case I think the Invisible Hand is actually on your side. Ubi have no incentive to lower prices. They will have done market research to determine that it's not worth lowering their microtransaction prices for everyone just to pick up a few customers who might start buying if things were cheaper. That would be to forfeit the higher profits they've been making from large amount of people willing to pay the higher prices.

Their business model has so far involved never permanently lowering any prices and introducing new things at prices that are literally or at least practically higher as I described in my earlier response. This establishes a baseline value for old items and holds that line while making newer items hotter and more exclusive by making them more expensive. A perfect example is "Relentless Fighter" with two weapons and two clothing items at 2500 when Ghost War packs were (and remain) 1500 for the same ratio of two weapons, two clothing items. And you and I and others will pay if we want any of it enough.

The capitalist class will always do what capitalism allows. I'll fight it by voting for socialists in elections, not by trying to convince Ubi or other companies to cut their profit margins.

The state is the fist millions of weak fingers make to give us the power to smash capitalism. Or it can be. If people stop voting for capitalists.

[KingSpawn1979]

Well, that's certainly an impossible degree of optimism.

/fixed

[Ghost-Ami]

/fixed

Well, some people like to just rip off the plaster, but I try not to crush anyone's dreams all at once. XD

[KingSpawn1979]

Well, some people like to just rip off the plaster, but I try not to crush anyone's dreams all at once. XD

I prefer Shock Therapy. Hurts only one Time.

[Ghost-Ami]

I prefer Shock Therapy. Hurts only one Time.

Well, you know that thing where you drop a live frog into already boiling water and it immediately jumps out?

But if you put a frog in room temperature water and then slowly raise the heat to boiling it acclimatises to its fate and dies without protest?

Yeah. That. XD

[KingSpawn1979]

Well, you know that thing where you drop a live frog into already boiling water and it immediately jumps out?

But if you put a frog in room temperature water and then slowly raise the heat to boiling it acclimatises to its fate and dies without protest?

Yeah. That. XD

Admittedly that makes perfect sense in this Case. Here you have it, Ubisoft's Business Model.

[AI BLUEFOX]

A frog will die if you throw it in boiling water and jump out at 25 C or thereabouts no matter how slowly you heat it. Neither the frog nor gamers are actually that stupid, although I do wonder at what some will pay for.