Just unvault all the vaulted stuff already and keep heritage crates in market place... I have never understood why they cycle them out if they are never bringing them back. I can understand prices for premium things like Gold Armor that was tied to RaF being sky high. For heritage crates, make the old ones a set cost, and the new ones come in at a discounted price to encourage spending. Honestly I have a ton of DB cash and nothing to spend it on because half the things I would buy have been vaulted. The game is niche and the people left are the loyal player base that have been with you for over 2 decades, it's not like you're encouraging anyone to stick around to spend money on items that are never coming back around. Going the gacha route is not something that will endear you either. Seriously, just bring back the vaulted stuff permanently and you open yourself to more revenue.
FOMO (fear of missing out) or limited edition runs are marketing or psychological tactics to generate more sales. Ngreth used the McRib analogy to describe the marketplace scheme. If people feel that the crates may not return for 3 or more years, they would be more willing to spend hundreds of dollars now instead of waiting and spending that money elsewhere. Saturation is also a concern. If items are deemed common or attainable, the market will not move. Take it as you wish.
I disagree. Market saturation isn't really a thing when you are a vintage game, running on nostalgia. Don't get me wrong, I play because I love the game. But it's not going to make money keeping the player base chomping at the bit buying more gacha crates like ESO. Heck GW2 recycles their item shop plenty. I can't honestly remember in the last several years seeing many of EQ's vaulted items make a come back other than halloween, xmas, and other holiday's recycled selections. The McRib is also not an out of date pixelated item Ngreth is comparing apples to pickles.
They've always had poor marketing strategies and I don't mean any disrespect by that. But you made several valid points that are most likely just going to be ignored. I disagree about the costs of the Gnomework and Golden Hero's Forge sets. I think those are both way too high and discourage sales by being so high. Just because they were part of a long defunct program that can no longer be utilized (another thing they should do every year or two) no one can buy them without dropping $100 to $200 per set or $1200 for all 8. It's just way too much for an unnecessary cosmetic and I think the total sales will be limited and the net revenue from those particular items will be minimal. I have no problem supporting the game with purchases that are useful and beneficial. I bought 1 FNF, 2 CE and 12 or so base versions of ToL & I also spent about $350 or $400 in kronos in the last 6 months for example. But there is a fine line between those types of purchases and milking the cash cow.
The gray area of this debate hinges on what is considered a sufficiently frequent cycle. Many games like to keep some cosmetics in the "ultra rare" categories. Heritage crates tend to be on the ultra rare side because of those long cycles. It forces people to buy now instead of "I'll get around to it but this other game has rare cosmetics un-vaulted so I'll spend there." The long 'heritage crate' cycle also forces retired/semi-retired players to check on and return to the game to keep up with the heritage crates. As a result, they may also purchase membership and the latest expansion to rejoin the game. If these items were truly "out of date", why is there continued demand? It's not the physical nature of the item but the marketing psychology used to influence purchasing decisions (FOMO, limited editions, limited stock, etc). NFTs are mere pixels but garner value due to the limitations placed on them.
Ice Giant Facade is like a limited edition Nike sneaker. The prestige not only due to the unique cosmetic characteristic but the overall rarity.
Since you always support ultrarare availability of EQ products, it was no surprise to see this response from you. While I do agree that FOMO and keeping some items more rare than others, I disagree to the magnitude that Daybreak goes through to not have items available to players. One per year on some items or once every few years on others is pretty rare. Most games don't last long enough to vault items for a decade or more.
Some heritage crates have been vaulted for around 3 years. Since Fortnite is a very popular game, the game has some examples where some of their most sought-after cosmetics have only been only released once: Travis Scott, Lebron James skins. Other cosmetics are only unvaulted once every 365 to 1000+ days. Take yesterday's unvaulting on Fortnite: These 'ultra rare items' (one-time release, 3 year vault) acts to create uncertainty to force people to buy from the shop now for all subsequent cosmetics. Gaming companies (and literally all businesses) do not want you to take your money elsewhere in the meantime; they want you to spend now or you may never see that item again. Even if they lose 'potential' revenue on specific cosmetics, they gain more revenue by creating that uncertainty ("You missed out on Ice Giant Facade so you must splurge for Visage of the Tae Ew Lizardman"). (Daybreak has the internal marketplace data to have decided that the long cycle is worth it).
BUY NOW, SPEND NOW, NEVER AVAILABLE AGAIN, GOGOGOGOGOGOGO SSSSSSSSPEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNNNND. Its like Taco Bell. Just sell the stupid taco with the nacho cheese and red chips and/or nacho fries all year, and I'd eat your food once in a while. Instead, I eat it once or twice a year, for the reduced promotional price. Why? Because thats what the marketing department and bargain bin staff psychologist says works best. Does it? In some markets maybe. Not where theres 6 taquerias on any given block, you arent even the cheapest option, and your tacos are bottom tier when they arent promo'd. Its like selling out of virtual goods. Thats not a thing. Its just a way to trick people into "MUST BUY" Mode. Its the side of psychology that employs the kind of people the rest of the field warns you away from; the ones doing actual harm to people.
There are many items that have never come out of the vaults. Most items Daybreak unvaults are $100-$200 ornaments. I understand why Daybreak thinks they have to do this, but not unvaulting items loses pleasure in the game for many players, and that means a lower player base. This isn't Fortnight. If it was, I never would have started playing it to begin with.
1. This is a necro post. Granted, it is not too old. 2. I thought you had me on ignore? I think we've reached the point of "agree to disagree" on this topic. 3. Rotations with variations (sprinkling of ultra rare items) occurs in all game shops. This is not a revolutionary marketing model. Companies are banking on the "limited edition" FOMO purchasing reaction.
I (for one) am holding onto several ogre heritage items in the hope that three months from now I can sell them at 2-3 times what I can get for them right now...
I would love to see the Flame Nekhon illusion return. I bought it when I played on Test full time and went to get it again when I went back to live to find it gone. I seem to recall having a Warden Hanvar illusion and don't see that one in the store either. It's silly.
