Can we get access to old expansions collector editions via the Station store?

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Issk, May 3, 2021.

  1. Benito EQ player since 2001.


    They make money on $249, $139, and $89 expansion tiers.

    You are basically saying you want it for free (as a result of monthly DBC claim). And they don't make cosmetics in the quantities needed to cash in on "instant gratification." (Fortnite releases new cosmetics on a daily and weekly basis).

    Won't happen.
  2. Niskin Clockwork Arguer

    Let's really test this theory out. The Collector's Edition of this year's expansion should be priced at $1000. If Veblen goods really is EQ's strategy, then pricing it that high will drive demand through the roof. There won't be a single person who won't want it. People will be telling their friends that they don't know how they can show their face in public if they don't own it.

    People will come from far and wide just to own this item, simply because it's expensive and exclusive. They don't even really need to make the expansion content, just the Collector's Edition and the items that come with it. The normal versions of the expansion probably won't even sell anyway, because they are inexpensive and everybody will have them anyway, yuck.

    It's such a simple strategy. I don't know why they don't do this with everything, like groceries. If you can't have the latest most expensive groceries, why are you bothering to eat? Imagine a world where every item isn't a status symbol, who would want to live there? What a nightmare!
    Raccoo likes this.
  3. Jumbur Improved Familiar

    Based on the number of teleport clickies in my guild hall, I don't think a lot of people are buying the collectors editions at those prices.
  4. Benito EQ player since 2001.

    That point further supports the high prices ($249, $139, $89) in addition to Veblen nature of the cosmetics. They can cash in on expansion teleport clicks and limited edition cosmetics at high prices (inelastic demand). Why would they sell it for less than $249 or $139 when an entire guild can use the placeable expansion teleport (both current and at TLP unlock)?
  5. yepmetoo Abazzagorath

    This. Claiming Vanguard died because they didn't milk more money in the marketplace is absurd.

    Vanguard sunset because it had so few PLAYERS that it was down to 2 servers (1 euro and 1 US) for almost 3 years. The only reason it had that many people online was due to all access pass allowing people that paid for their sub for eq or eq2 or whatever who also played vanguard or dabbled.

    If Vanguard access required a Vanguard only sub at the original price it would have died years earlier.
    Yinla, Niskin and KrakenReality like this.
  6. yepmetoo Abazzagorath

    They aren't status symbols when no one cares a day after expansion release and you rarely if ever see anyone use them again. They have value only for completionists that want to tick every box off in the game and the few people that genuinely like the aesthetic.
    KrakenReality likes this.
  7. yepmetoo Abazzagorath

    People buy the expensive editions because:

    1) Someone needs to for the guild port
    2) They want the illusion, or the other mount (for the look or quick access to stat boost)
    3) They spend a lot of random marketplace garbage and the sum total of items makes it worth it to them (bags for alts, heroics, etc etc)
    4) A few people have this weird thing where they think they are keeping the game afloat by buying things they don't need

    If you're an adult with a job (most of us) its not a lot of money. But very few people are buying the expensive editions for more than their main account. That means potential revenue from secondary accounts left on the table.

    Many people buy the cheap edition (or the 2nd tier edition) and then wait until the end of the expansion when they put them on sale (since you only pay the upcharge to upgrade, so if you buy the $90 version first go, it goes on sale for 50% off, then you can pay ~20 bucks to upgrade to the $140 version).

    To maximize revenue they really should:

    1) Continue releasing tiered expensive versions, and be smart and put illusions and mounts and major perks on the expensive versions
    2) Continue dropping the price for a limited time prior to the next expansion to try and get upgrade revenue and people buying the expansion for the first time, rather than waiting a month for the next expansion
    3) Put the exact same expansion UPGRADE options on the marketplace at LIST PRICE, so if you bought the $35 version and want to get the $140 version, its going to cost you 100 bucks. It costs them NOTHING to do so and is just money people may eventually give them. None of this wasting time and money on revamped packs. We should be able to buy any version of any expansion to upgrade whenever we want.

    Would probably give them a small but steady stream of revenue, particularly from the TLP servers.
    KrakenReality likes this.
  8. Benito EQ player since 2001.

    Moorgard's point was that crate revenue was keeping Vanguard afloat even with a small player base. You can watch the interview for yourself on Azaliil's Twitch.

    It applies here as a lesson for people who suddenly want cheap Collector/Premium Edition items. If people become satisfied at cheap prices, say goodbye to high revenue.
  9. Benito EQ player since 2001.

    If "no one cares" about the cosmetics, how do these kinds of threads exist? This debate should be moot. Obviously, some people care enough to beg for their return (but call these items obsolete to hopefully gain bargain prices for themselves).

    If wants were related to completionism, Daybreak would have seen to in-game achievements for Collector/Premium Edition items. People would get a literal "checkmark."
  10. yepmetoo Abazzagorath

    Because ONE person starts a thread on a forums for a game with 70k paying subs or whatever, and 2-3 people chime in that they would like them, and that means absolutely nothing. No one cares what mount or illusion you are in. No...one...cares.

    There is no real money on this no matter what they do. Its smart to keep revenue streams open in general as long as the implementation does not crater initial revenue for launch, because the cumulative effect defrays other costs in the long term.
    KrakenReality likes this.
  11. Benito EQ player since 2001.

    So let's ignore the 2-3 people and end these threads.

    Keep the items vaulted. Only 2-3 people will be disappointed.
  12. Barraind Grumpy Old Bastage

    Because some people might care about some (or one) cosmetic and then expand that to include everything for the sake of completeness, but statistically count as nobody and nothing.

    I would pay a few bucks for a pirate ship house. Trying to sell me a pirate ship house for $100 will make me laugh at you.


    One side of this thread ignores that theres more than two kinds of consumers.

    You have the ones that will literally buy anything you offer them for any kind of sparkly. They are silly, silly people you milk for money.

    You have your people who arent going to pay extra for anything unless its the most fantasatic deal you can offer them.

    And then, you have everyone else.

    The everyone else makes up a massive amount of your market. You arent going to sell them $250 anythings over and over and over again.

    But you can sell a giant percentage of them a truckload of properly priced anything you feel like. TLP bag packs (lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots aaaaaaaand looooots of TLP bag sets, for those counting), old and outdated cosmetics at significant markdowns, and significant 'bang-for-your-buck' packages, where theyre getting things they want for far less than the "standard" value of items (which we all know is nonsense anyway, and the ACTUAL consumer value of items is the lowest price at which they can reasonably be found in the time period before they become a need, which is why you should really never pay for anything video game related at full price if that product is ever sold for significant discount unless you want to support the creators).


    Based on what we know the numbers are, EQ isnt big enough to subsist off the whale spending, and would be FAR better off targeting the mid level consumer. They arent nonsense_asian_browser_game that can sell 5000 people the $500 gem/diamond/ect package every 2 weeks.
    KrakenReality likes this.
  13. Benito EQ player since 2001.

    We shouldn't waste dev and coder time to satisfy 2-3 people. Keep the items vaulted.
  14. FrozenWater Augur

    You actually give me the impression you care more about this than the people requesting the items be made available.

    "We" never waste dev time, we are not their managers. You are not their manager. The language used here is glaring. Not to mention the "Got mine, stuff the rest of you, you can't have it." vibe.

    People are always going to report bugs, suggest features, complain and very very rarely compliment. You can get into every one of those threads and try to negate them if you want, but what a waste of time.
  15. yepmetoo Abazzagorath

    You've stated that position about 15 times in this thread. We get it. And some people disagree. Replying to every single person to say that you disagree doesn't win you any extra points.
    Raccoo, Niskin and KrakenReality like this.
  16. KrakenReality Augur

    Veblen goods…
  17. MyShadower All-natural Intelligence


    It really grinds my gears when I see someone on a raptor mount. One of these gods really ought to send a meteor to Thuliasaur Island.
  18. Benito EQ player since 2001.


    You chose to respond to me. You can also choose to ignore.

    You are right, though; the desire of 2-3 people is not worth dev and coder time. Bringing back vaulted items does not benefit the majority of players. We need to fix lag and Krono first.
  19. Benito EQ player since 2001.


    I want this game to survive. If they change their Collector and Premium Editions to cave to self-interested individuals who want basement bargain prices, then I fear where this game will go (reduced revenue -> maintenance mode or sunset).

    By the way, folks can also choose to ignore my posts (and the entire thread). No one is a captive audience here.
  20. yepmetoo Abazzagorath

    Someone hitting a toggle to put something in the marketplace as an active sku item (an item that already exists) does not take coder time or dev time. It also has nothing to do with the labor used for lag. You can keep arguing against this straw man but its just silly.
    Yinla and Raccoo like this.