Why did the subscription price quadruple during this quarantine?

Discussion in 'Gotham City (General Gameplay)' started by UnbreakableII, Apr 27, 2020.

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  1. TheLorax 15000 Post Club

    Scroll up.
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  2. UnbreakableII Well-Known Player

    Okay, unfortunately this update came at a time when the dollar broke the record high in the price with the Brazilian Real.
    In addition, there is the QUARENTINE factor, the economy is at a standstill, 70% of the trade is closed, unemployment at around 15 million, and increasing the subscription price now is like throwing a shovel at the game's burial for the Brazilian public.
    @Mepps, if you allow me one last feedbak, stay tuned or ask whoever is responsible for that to watch this variation because, the company put the price of the game using the highest conversion value in history, if, for reasons political / economic the exchange rate returns to the "normal" level of Brazil, about US $ 1.00 = R$ 3.00 then, using this lower rate, you would be charging almost double the subscription value if you do not perform the conversion.
    I say this because, if we spend so much time without any change in the amounts charged then there is also the possibility that you will leave the price unchanged again, this time, 245% higher.
    I think this is not good for business.
    In any case, there was an adjustment at the moment of a very high exchange rate, almost uncontrollable, unemployment, commerce and closed cities, population isolated at home.
    I think it was a bad time, as simple as that.
    Thanks for everything.
    • Like x 1
  3. Jack T. Chance Devoted Player


    Okay, that right there confuses me greatly. So, on the Lifetime Subscription, they correctly converted the currency, but on the normal subscriptions, they didn't? That's just really weird. o_O

    As for "why now?", it's simple: The whole WORLD'S in the same situation, or at least most of it. The COVID-19 Pandemic is global. Non-Essential businesses are shutdown around the planet, EVERYONE'S economy is taking a hit, revenues are down across the board for all businesses. Daybreak Games, being a business, has to maintain as much revenue as they can right now. And when one country is receiving an unintended discount (of 82% based on the math earlier in the thread, not the 70% Mepps quoted) they can't afford that lost revenue right now. Brazilians were basically getting the equivalent of "pay for one month and get 4 months FREE!" Daybreak can't let that continue.

    So, like Mepps said, be glad you got that discount for as long as you did.
  4. UnbreakableII Well-Known Player

    So, precisely because of this confusion that I created this topic, the case is precisely that the exchange rates were not used only in the subscription, but existed for any other Market Place service and even other games on Steam, Ubisoft, or another service of that type. So that it became so recurrent that the idea that there was a predefined value as the base value of the currency was "implicit", as if the exchange rate, perhaps because it is fluctuating and constantly changing, was not considered, and, without no warning it was applied to us.
    The result of this was an absurd increase (and yes, I know it wasn't Daybreak that increased anything, it just converted the amounts) but that does not change the fact that the amounts charged are currently out of the economic reality of 99% of the population .
    And if you are considering asking, I will go ahead: I have no idea how to solve this problem.

    Jack, you seem to me to be an intelligent person, enlightened and knowledgeable about politics and economics, and you are well aware of the world economic situation, before that I will ask you a rhetorical question, just answer for yourself: in the current situation of your country, with the undeniable problems of the world economy, COVID, unemployment, if the monthly fee for an online game had a 250% increase in the real value (I am not criticizing or pointing out the culprits) just by going to the real fact that the price has gone up by 250%. With 15 million unemployed in the country, would you continue to pay this subscription?
    I know that the intention is to seek to recover losses, I do understand the moment that all companies go through, but in reality, what will happen is a massive withdrawal of subscriptions from Brazilian players.
    Most of these payments are made by parents, and they will not be happy to pay R$ 85.00 when it was R$ 25.00 until yesterday.
    Those who make their own payments, well, these are either unemployed or have no money left over for that, not in that amount.
    I know and recognize that the attempt is to increase profits, but, precisely because of the economic situation in Brazil today, I do not see this as a good alternative because, instead of having a low income, this profit will be totally lost.
    We have closed shops, streets in São Paulo, which is a city comparable to New York, are empty, here where I live in deserted streets, closed shops, unemployment, 15 million unemployed in the country, 1 dollar worth 5.4 reais, and , an online game has its rate increased by 250% in the middle of this chaos.
    It does not appear that there will be a profit increase with this scenario.
    Nobody is happy.
  5. Proxystar #Perception

    In an ideal world Daybreak would probably localise all their markets in a more particularised manner that reflected things like costs of living and local economics, they would then offer the game at a price point particular to that economy.

    Unfortunately that doesn't happen because it's more efficient for them to simply offer an international based subscription for $14.95USD per month (as a maximum) or by and large the local conversion rate of that sum.

    It would be hard work for them to consider the unique ongoing and fluctuating circumstances of every global economy they might choose to market too and it's probably unreasonable for them to do so. Sometimes companies will do the largest countries within their desired market but not the smaller ones simple because its not practical.

    I think the point that's being made is that everyone in all countries is going through hard times, there's lots of closed businesses, lots of locked down cities and lots of unemployment, that's probably going to get worse before it gets better.

    The first thing that generally tends to drop off is external entertainments and luxury foods and the like, because when unemployed that simply isn't feasible.

    I don't know how much you might have been spending in say DBC or other mediums of entertainment that sort of thing and I don't say this to diminish whatever plight you might be going through beacuse obviously it's difficult, but if DCUO is important to you then you'll either need to sacrifice elsewhere so you can get just the basic subscription or possibly get by as a premium member spending less frequently as funds allow and just buy the parts of the game you're more actively playing for example.
    • Like x 3
  6. Axell Wind New Player

    It's called "dumb conversion" and perhaps Daybreak don't have someone to take care of the external markets. We have Blizzard, Square Enix and Even Cipsoft offering their games on brazilian market and only Blizzard work with local market, Cip and Square works with Euro and Dolar but they know how insane is to simple convert dolar for brasiliam Real and make us pay. Let me show with numbers:
    For americans who have minimum wage of US$1600,00. The game costs per month US$15,00, what gives about 1,1% of their wage.
    For brasilians, our minimum wage is R$990,00. The game costs per month R$86,00, what gives almost 10% of our wage. The situation is ever worse if we talk about anual pass: almost 70% of our wage.
    Can you see now how insane is this? Can you imagine spend 10% of your wage in a monthly subscription? Every publisher works with R$26,00 ~ R$32,00 because they know how insane is make us pay it in dolar, and no, Cip and Square doesn't have local market here.
    • Like x 1
  7. RoBotkin Well-Known Player

    You might just want to consider forgoing the subscription until the economy recovers. People all over are making sacrifices, some more than others, but when looking at my monthly expenses and the things that get cut first the monthly subscription to an online game is pretty close to the top of the list.
    • Like x 3
  8. BeastGamingSkill Level 30

    It's not Daybreak/Dimensional INKs fault though. Like they said, they try to charge $15 a month everywhere. If Brazilians want to pay 25 real ( around $4.50 ) then I want to pay $5 too instead of $15 a month.
    • Like x 3
  9. Coelha Well-Known Player

    Yeah, they updated it to match currency fluctuations. It is just unlucky that they kept it the same for about 8 years and choose to update the currency in the exact day the BRL reached it's lowest in 18 years lol. Thank got I quit or I'd be really mad, I'm sorry for everyone who will need to stop playing because of this.
  10. SekretVillain Loyal Player

    Guess the 'whales' are drying up ;)
  11. RoBotkin Well-Known Player

    No, they just realized they were giving some people an 80% discount for no reason and decided to fix it.
    • Like x 1
  12. BUDOKAI101 Committed Player

    I think they should have left the prices where they were. because this only makes the game lose a massive amount of membership player base once their membership ends. Anyone who has their membership ended is now waiting for a membership sale. 30% or higher to start playing again. or I mean so they can use in game cash more then 2000k that's the only reason we pay for a membership which is crazy. We definitely don't pay for a membership for all dlcs. because at end game we only need 2 eps which is also hella crazy for the cost of the membership. So I have to wonder why there even is a membership to begin with. they are making money in the market place. Replays and artifacts and other stuff how much money does this game need. Ì know too many people buying a butt ton of mc every month. because they can Because they bought the membership for a year on sale. That tells me if they drop the membership entirely it would help revenue. by tripling market place sales entirely. therefore having no need for a membership therefore increasing player base which will further increase marketplace sales.
  13. UnbreakableII Well-Known Player

    Yes, in an ideal world, analyzing the reality of each location would be great, but I understand that this is not feasible for Daybreak, few companies would actually succeed.
    I am just contesting that the increase was sudden because if you have a product for sale and it will receive an adjustment of more than 200% I believe that at least informing in advance would be possible.
    As for having to choose to cut something to stay in the game, I think you didn't understand it well, the average salary in Brazil is R$ 1,000.00, the US salary is approximately US $ 1,600.00, but the Brazilian currency worth 5.4 times less, so our base salary for you counts as $ 185.00. That's just $ 185. And this increase took the subscription from $ 15.00 to $ 85.00 ... There is no way to even think about cutting something.
    The evasion of Brazilians will be massive.
    Last point I would like to note, I did not make this topic because it was expensive for me, until I have 5 months of subscription yet and I do not know if I will stop, this topic is supported by several Brazilians, people from various leagues came to me because they know that I'm active here.
    So, to clarify, I am not just talking about my situation, I am exposing the general, the financial reality of my country now with the currency worth almost nothing.
    Thank you for your always very polite and conscientious comments.
    • Like x 1
  14. DCUO Post Loyal Player

    Yeah its the worst timing of having to adjust to the correct pricing. The only thing I find at fault for DBC is the communication. This should of had an advance notice for the incoming price adjustment.
    • Like x 1
  15. UnbreakableII Well-Known Player

    You got where I wanted friend, now I see that, at least for one person this topic served, this is exactly the situation, the monthly income that Daybreak is committing is not the same, saying that 85 reais here is the same as 15 dollars in the USA it is not true, because in the USA you earn more and services are cheaper, currency valued, services accessible, so putting this value, especially suddenly, without warning and in a moment of stagnant economy will not make the company increase profits , will create a resource drain.
    Still, I understand the point that simple conversion is done this way, but I am very afraid that this rate will not be revised as soon as possible.
    See, we spent more than 8 years without updating the rates, it wasn't our request, I don't even know if it was Daybreak's wish but that's how it happened, now I wonder if this is repeated, only using the highest level of currency devaluation in history of the Brazilian currency, which was used for this adjustment.
    This means that, it may happen that the real returns to the normal rate, which is about R$ 3.00 = US$ 1.00 and the daybreak website continues to charge 5.4 x 1, which almost doubles the subscription price. Iddo may mean that many will never return to DCUO again.
    I would very much like Daybreak to pay special attention to these exchange variations with the Brazilian currency.
    • Like x 1
  16. dresserball Dedicated Player

    Where are you getting that wage from in the US? Minimum wage is $7.25 an hour federally. That means before taxes a month of 120 hours only makes $1,160. It would be $15,080 a year.
  17. UnbreakableII Well-Known Player

    First of all, I must say that it is not Daybreak's fault, but it is a lack of perception of the moment and empathy for other countries that are also being economically affected.
    Second is not as you are saying, we did not ask Daybreak not to update rates for 8 or 9 years, there is also no such request, nor now, however it updated at a difficult time economically and did so without warning, putting the value 243 % higher than what was being charged, no matter how much it seems to be equalizing something, it is not, the amount paid before was feasible here because our average salary used to be that, now it does not.
    You speak as if paying 85 reais for those who live in Brazil is the same as 15 dollars for those who live in the USA, it is not. Our currency is worth almost 5.5 times less and our salary is almost 60% lower than the average American salary, just to mention the obvious problems, which can easily be checked on any website about the global economy. So that you can have an idea of ​​the impact of what happened it would be something close to you waking up tomorrow and seeing that the value of the sub went to almost 200 dollars. This is not equal to 15.
    Finally, Daybreak decided to make an adjustment using the exact day of the biggest devaluation in the history of our currency, at least a bad perception of time or moment.
    We do not want to pay 5 dollars, we want to be able to pay the normal value, what I ask here, for the Brazilian community that is huge in this game, is that you have the nobility to warn when adjustments WILL HAPPEN, and Daybreak frequently review these rates so that we do not have another 8 years of absurd value even when the economy returns to its natural course and the BRL returns to normal exchange rates.
  18. Hraesvelg Always Right


    I'm sympathetic to your situation. I really am. The problem is that the servers and dev teams aren't in Brazil. To keep their lights on, they can't set their prices so low as to be losing money. There is a break point in every transaction where no sale is better than too low of a sale. The next hurdle is if they start making allowances for regional differences in median wages, do they do that for every area they operate in? Because things in rural Alabama here aren't as good as Silicon Valley. Median wages are vastly different. Does Alabama get a discount, now? And even if they base it country wide...there are ways of making your marketplace appear in an area with a greater return on your buck. I've seen it happen in tons of other games. Russia, Korea, and Brazil were notorious havens to park your banking region/VPN in to soak money from the dev team. It's not a great situation and there are no easy answers.
    • Like x 1
  19. UnbreakableII Well-Known Player

    There must have been an information or typing error anyway, friend, in your calculation the average base salary is US $ 1,160 and from these you subtract US $ 15.00 for DCUO. Now notice, in Brazil the base salary is R $ 1045.00 only that our money is worth 5.4 times less, so to give the dollar value of effective purchasing power, we would have a salary of US $ 193.00. That's it, only 193, but we will take the same 15 that you take out of 1000. And all of our services and products are more expensive. Does it still look like we paid the same?
  20. UnbreakableII Well-Known Player

    I really appreciate the support, and yes, there are no easy answers.

    I need to say again, I'm not here asking for discounts, I just wish I had notice in advance of the action that would be promoted and, more than that, I'm asking Daybreak to constantly review these rates because the value of the Brazilian Real is not as low as that historically.
    They happened to use the worst possible value, at the worst possible time, hence the problem generated.
    Today we have a value that is more than 240% higher, this is surreal, I just ask that this value is not fixed again for 8-9 years, check this month by month because if you do so I believe that after some time, when If the economy is reestablished, we can pay again at an affordable price.
    Just as we suddenly woke up with 250% more in value, it would be very good if in 6 months we woke up with 150% less, due to the exchange rate variation.
    And Daybreak, please: let us know about changes in billing modes and fee amounts in advance, this alone would be fantastic.
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