Some of you may have noticed a new item in your store on Bullroarer: the Hobby Horse.
The store wizards would like your feedback (well-thought out, non-crazypants) on this item.
1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.
2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?
3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?
4. Any rants about how evil Turbine is for making store items, even those that are entirely optional and up simply for the fun of those who are willing to pay for them, will be disregarded. This item is an experiment item. We simply want your feedback on the type of item presented and what might be added to it or done to it to make it a better item. We are not forcing you to buy it. No one is forcing you to buy it. It's something to be there and be fun for those who may want it.
Constructive commenting and questions ONLY
We know store items cause heated discussion. We know some longtime players find them problematic. Please try to be level-headed. We appreciate the passion you all have about LOTRO.
1. I get it, you're serious about the price.
2. I probably would not buy it.
3.I think the hobby horse would be improved by adding the "dropping coins behind it as it goes" effect of the Treasure Laden mounts from the Treasure Hunt.
Change it to drop coins as it goes, and for each coin that drops, deduct a random amount of coin from the rider's in-game wallet. The more you ride, the more you lose!
Others in this thread have covered most of my thoughts on this issue, so I only have this to add:
I would consider buying this item if with every purchase, Turbine donated a certain amount of money to some charity, a children's hospital perhaps. That way players could justify the purchase to their spouse/loved ones and feel good about the money spent every time they rode their hobby horse, Turbine could justify setting the price so high if the community knew the money was going somewhere good, and everybody would be contributing to something worthwhile. Of course, all this could still be accomplished at a lower price point.
1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.
Fair enough. Ultimately, Turbine can set the prices at whatever they like, because presumably they have some unmentioned reasoning for putting it where they do (Desire to keep an item rare, Unique functionality, etc) that they believe the price set appropriate.
Originally Posted by xRaina
2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?
AS it is, probably not, no. With changes to both function and price, I might:
If I could use it as my Warsteed, I would consider buying it for up to 2000TP (actually, not so much because I would feel it would be worth it, but because then I wouldn't be tempted to spend TP elsewhere in the store to buy warsteed skins and colour packs).
If it worked at the same speed as other store steeds (+68%) and was granted to each character on the account, I would consider it (although I would prefer regulars steeds that work like this, so as to retain other people's immersion).
If it was a lot cheaper (up to ~750TP), I would consider it.
Originally Posted by xRaina
3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?
To be honest, it would have to be something pretty special to get me to pay 5000TP. More importantly, it would have to be something which reduced some form of grind within the game, or provided me with some other long term advantage/benefit that didn't put me statistically above other players. I'd be especially interested in account-wide unlocks. Examples include:
"Enhanced Wardrobe" -> Account wide access to all current and future item skins (excluding store only and deed reward items) in game with unlimited dye options through a second wardrobe UI, retaining the previous wardrobe for store only items.
"Even-More-Enhanced Barter wallet" -> Account wide sharing of all current and future barter currencies and Gold/Silver/Copper.
"Stable Master" -> Account wide access to all mounts (provided the prerequisites are met) available to any other character on the account (effectively a shared Mounts tab).
"My Precious" -> Character specific, when an item reaches IXP level 60, the Forge-master gains a new option to reforge the item to IXP level 1 and add one to the item level (not beyond the current level cap). This one is questionable, as you could get max level first age before intended.
"Character slot exchange" -> Trade in one or more empty Character slot (which would still count against the max slots available to stop people going overboard) to both increase the Personal Vault space of one other character on the account by 120 and allow for an additional set of "extra storage space" unlocks from the Store per slot traded in.
"Ultimate Crafter" -> Character specific unlock granting simultaneous access to all crafting and gathering professions and allowing access to all guilds at once.
"Book Club member" -> Character specific, free access to all current and future Tomes available from the store (both personal and warsteed).
Wow. 5000 TP? Ok. Since it's not a joke, and this is being posed as an experimental question "what would a goof-off item need to have associated with it to be honestly valued at a super high price?"
First of all, it's a hobby-horse, not a real horse. So I honestly think being able to travel as fast as being on a real horse would be pretty silly. That doesn't help with the price point, though. While you could make an argument for the "suspension of disbelief" you have to consider other players who would find someone zipping around on a hobby-horse at top speeds ridiculous and utterly immersion-breaking.
All that being said, I personally would only spend a ton on a steed if it was functionally superior to the ones I already have. Sorry, but I'm not a big cosmetics spender, and being a Premium and not a VIP player, I value the points I do have and have worked for too highly to spend them frivolously.
So how could you tempt someone like me to honestly consider purchasing this item? Here are a few off-the wall ideas:
1. When riding the hobby-horse, you are completely immune to aggro (like being in stealth)
- Useful for lower level characters who want to explore middle-earth without fear of being attacked
2. You can sprint on the hobby-horse at speeds up to 17-20m/s, with a cooldown of a couple minutes. Normal speed would be at the 62-68% mark.
- A slight RNG to the top speed of the sprint could offer an exciting opportunity for races between players. (sort of like a carnival race-horse game). Betting on hobby-horse races, anyone?
3. Riding a hobby-horse provides a 30m buff to all nearby friendly players "Hilarity - the joy of laughter relaxes you in the face of danger. +3 hope, +10% outgoing damage/healing, +10% xp/ixp"
- This would be great for people who just want to be helpers. You can't fight, you don't gain xp yourself, but if you want to have some fun being goofy and still help people you can provide a boost for others by prancing around on your hobby-horse.
You could potentially implement all three of these ideas together, but any one of them on their own might be enough to make me think hard about purchasing it.
These ideas might make me think about it. At 5000TP it should also be account wide.
This is a fluff item, not a convenience item. Fluff should always be cheaper than convenience. I rarely pay $50 for toys in RL, I'm not about to pay that much for a digital toy. Though I suppose if each purchase came with a similar hobby horse shipped to me in RL...
2. No. This item to me is worth no more than an hour spent in a festival to acquire for tokens. I would be amused the first time I saw someone using this item, for a minute or two. I would not like to see a bunch of Elves and Men riding around on this in a supposed time of darkness and war, and especially not in areas that are meaningful because of their beauty and history, like Lothlorien.
3. I would spend 5000 tp gladly on a COMPLETELY redesigned housing system that incorporates a grid placement system for unlimited items and a great many of the other excellent housing/neighborhood suggestions that have been discussed at length over the years. I would consider a new house/neighborhood design as the equivalent of a game expansion if it truly provided the same amount of entertainment over time as a new region.
I would also consider spending 5k on PB toast from Goldenstar's pink unicorn, especially if it's laser eyes could shoot a few of the bugs in my apartment while it's delivering my snack.
4. While I understand the intent of this comment (and I am fully aware that there are people who can't describe their feelings about store items in a civil way), I am an adult and one of your customers, and I would appreciate being spoken to with less condescension and with more of a professional customer service tone. A simple "Please stay on the topic of the specific item, not the Store itself" would have served your purpose without turning people off.
P.S. After trying to post this twice and getting logged out each time, I realized I would also spend 5k tp on forums that work.
An experimental item? Perhaps an experiment in how much people would be willing to spend for a Hobby Horse.
I refuse to believe that this is REALLY the price we'd pay for it.
I might buy it if it was much much cheaper, but I'm not really sure how much I'd be willing to pay for it. It would depend on a few factors, I guess.
-How many TPs I currently had (If I need to buy more TPs for a fluff item, I probably won't bother);
-Why I want the item (not a big RPer, so here would have to be another reason);
-If it was more than just a cosmetic or mount (I don't recall ever buying either in the store before).
Considering these points, I've concluded that I would probably not buy this, for any price unless there was a real reason for it. I might be happy to win one as a deed reward or from a lottery though.
Edit: Yes! Please a forum that works. Got logged out while trying to post!
2. No. This item to me is worth no more than an hour spent in a festival to acquire for tokens. I would be amused the first time I saw someone using this item, for a minute or two. I would not like to see a bunch of Elves and Men riding around on this in a supposed time of darkness and war, and especially not in areas that are meaningful because of their beauty and history, like Lothlorien.
3. I would spend 5000 tp gladly on a COMPLETELY redesigned housing system that incorporates a grid placement system for unlimited items and a great many of the other excellent housing/neighborhood suggestions that have been discussed at length over the years. I would consider a new house/neighborhood design as the equivalent of a game expansion if it truly provided the same amount of entertainment over time as a new region.
I would also consider spending 5k on PB toast from Goldenstar's pink unicorn, especially if it's laser eyes could shoot a few of the bugs in my apartment while it's delivering my snack.
4. While I understand the intent of this comment (and I am fully aware that there are people who can't describe their feelings about store items in a civil way), I am an adult and one of your customers, and I would appreciate being spoken to with less condescension and with more of a professional customer service tone. A simple "Please stay on the topic of the specific item, not the Store itself" would have served your purpose without turning people off.
P.S. After trying to post this twice and getting logged out each time, I realized I would also spend 5k tp on forums that work.
I couldn't have said it better, so I'll just agree. I would pay 5000 tp for a very nice housing system.
[QUOTE=xRaina;6550324]The store wizards would like your feedback (well-thought out, non-crazypants) on this item.
Originally Posted by xRaina
1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.
You must be crazy. Who would spend $50 on a joke item?
Originally Posted by xRaina
2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?
For the right price (less than 500 TP), I might as a joke. I worry this is potentially a lore-breaking item. It should only be useable in town or for short periods. I'd hate to see players riding around the wilderness on hobby horses. I think elves and humans look stupid enough already riding goats. What next? Winged mounts? There's a player on Laurelin (an RP server) who wear a pumpkin mask all the time. I found it very funny at first, but I've got tired of the joke now and just find it breaks my immersion.
Originally Posted by xRaina
3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?
This is the same price as an expansion (or a whole new video game for my PC or PS3). For that kind of money, I'd expect something really spectacular, like a really nice house in a revamped housing neighbourhood.
Um. Historically, hobby horses were affordable only by the parents of rich kids, i.e. for a holiday gift. Irony?
Maybe a charity should be attached to the hobby horse, and make it a holiday-only item. Part of proceeds will go to buying gifts for poor kids for Christmas.
Maybe I should write a blog post about this, actually. Anyway.
In LotRO, I think this is a nice idea for people who are nutty and want to have fun. I do not understand the functionality involved from this thread, but based on the posts, I will make assumptions that lead to the conclusion that this item for 5000 TP is not worth the bad press. I will be a possible purveyor of that press. I mean, setting a new world record at the sparkle pony game is newsworthy. So is beating Blizzard at something.
Last edited by Silverangel; Dec 01 2012 at 12:40 PM.
3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?
Maybe, if it had 6 golden wings like a cherubim, doubled height, flying at triple warsteedspeed, with the steedability that opens an instance to the future event of the epic Dagor Dagorath, where I could crush the endless armies of darkness and challenge the returned mountainhigh Morgoth himself, easily defeating him because it turns out this horse is the incarnation of Illuvatar himself.
Yeah, such a horse I would definitly buy for this price.
Some of you may have noticed a new item in your store on Bullroarer: the Hobby Horse.
The store wizards would like your feedback (well-thought out, non-crazypants) on this item.
1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.
2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?
3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?
4. Any rants about how evil Turbine is for making store items, even those that are entirely optional and up simply for the fun of those who are willing to pay for them, will be disregarded. This item is an experiment item. We simply want your feedback on the type of item presented and what might be added to it or done to it to make it a better item. We are not forcing you to buy it. No one is forcing you to buy it. It's something to be there and be fun for those who may want it.
I'm not saying Turbine is evil, but they ARE most amusing and disappointing.
Constructive commenting and questions ONLY
We know store items cause heated discussion. We know some longtime players find them problematic. Please try to be level-headed. We appreciate the passion you all have about LOTRO.
1. Hahahaha! That statement must be a joke or being crazy is the new common sense. lol
2. Again. lol. Somebody must have been bored and come up with this whole thing for kicks. And if you ARE serious; Never! It looks like a fun item which would be enjoyable for festivals and other fun events, at a REASONABLE price.
3. A free lifetime lotro subscription.
4. "Constructive commenting and questions ONLY."??? You cannot expect people to do this when it is so obviously ridiculous.
Please stop insulting us. Ask yourself your own questions and if you come up with positive answers you are all obviously millionaires. Please get off your "high horse" and come back to reality. You guys at Turbine/WB are obviously having a guilt trip about this. Now note that the players of this wonderful game look down on you with the greatest disgust. Do you take us for a bunch of 2 year olds? I will never even consider buying this until it is 500 TP or less. This whole thing has been completely hilarious to us who play the game because to us it IS a joke.
At $50 I would buy an expansion that would have to be really big. Here's a non "crazy pants" example of content done right in my opinion that I got for $30: Guild Wars: Eye of the North. It had 8 or more dungeons and 1 was an elite dungeon that was multi-boss. It had a ton of new weapons skins, new skills. It added the Hall of Monuments that linked player accounts from GW1 to Guild Wars 2 and added items and titles I could wear from Guild Wars 1 to Guild Wars 2 including armor, weapons, mini pets, titles etc. Additional quests were given for free later on all in a game that doesn't charge a sub fee or limit the content that the player can do all at once. One more thing: ALL of the dungeons were ready to go at release. I didn't have to wait for content to come later. It was all there on day 1 and it all worked.
SO for $50? You would have to give me quite a bit. For $50 in the Guild Wars 2 store I can get quite a bit. I loved playing your game, but it's old hat and paying for any item on your cash shop other than a huge overhaul to some of your systems and release theories is the only "Crazy-pants" thing about this whole thing.
3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?
#2 - Not at that price, unless there were some serious perks;
#3 - At the proposed price, it would have to include a lifetime VIP subscription, instant and free upgrades to all future expansions, guaranteed access to any closed beta. Throw in a housing revamp, with the possibility of us even OWNING a Hytbold-style meadhall, and then you'll entice me.
Some of you may have noticed a new item in your store on Bullroarer: the Hobby Horse.
The store wizards would like your feedback (well-thought out, non-crazypants) on this item.
Constructive commenting and questions ONLY
We know store items cause heated discussion. We know some longtime players find them problematic. Please try to be level-headed. We appreciate the passion you all have about LOTRO.
As a lottery prize or a quest reward, this is a very cute idea.
As something offered in the store for 5000 TP, that hobby horse is so outrageously overpriced as to be insulting to the player community. As others have said, it has little relative value in relation to other items that are of similar or even much lower prices such as buying expansions or additional questing areas. I even regret telling you that for fear that it will motivate you to decide to overprice these other items when the real problem is to LOWER the price of the hobby horse drastically.
I've been thinking about what would motivate me to buy something like this. The motivations in favor are that it's cute and fun as a some time item to play with. I'd ride this around on Halloween or April Fool's Day or to festivals. I group it with other items like pet caveclaws and dowsing emotes and think it should be marketed and priced similarly.
The motivations to not buy it are much stronger. It's not taking LOTRO seriously in gameplay. For a warrior to ride to battle on a hobby horse is ludicrous so I can't ever see myself wanting to have this as a routinely used item. For a character that is supposedly a grown adult to choose this in lieu of a real mount indicates something unpleasant about that character in game. "Oh, don't mind, RobRoy and his hobby horse. He's a might tetched in the head. Please don't let him touch your weapons. We let him play at being a warrior but the guards know better than to let him go out the gates. It's so sad that his mum and pap were brother and sister." That is not a foolish comment. That's about how this item can make someone look like a laughingstock unless it's purely a fun item.
The other motivation I have for not buying it is that it is too Rohan and, as such, reminds me too much of broken Hytbold daily content. I don't want the unpleasant association from Hytbold bugs coloring this item.
Bottom line, unless it's a lottery prize or a festival item, I can't see ever dropping any Turbine points on it.
1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.
Ok, let's pretend this is serious and you are asking what could possibly make this item worth $50...
2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?
In it current state no.
3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?
$50 would be an expansion, so make it a pre-order for the next expansion even when we don't now yet where we are going to. It's definitely not a fair price for just a cosmetic item!
Throw in the next expansion and unlock warsteed skills so I can use it in Mounted Combat Battles and spars and I might consider it.
4. ... This item is an experiment item. We simply want your feedback on the type of item presented and what might be added to it or done to it to make it a better item. ... It's something to be there and be fun for those who may want it.
I guess you want to keep this item as a rare luxury item, like a Ferrari in real life. I could save all my monthly TP's I get and I could buy it in 10 months. But still if I would have that amount, the extras must be really good before I even consider buying it.
I was actually hoping this item would become the next hobby skill the first time I read about it. I already pictured myself doing races through Bree with my kin. Throw in a 6 pack of beers and we would have a hilarious night.
No, I would not purchase this item. I've only bought one steed ever, the Steed of Night, on 50% off sale, and only because it fit perfectly with one of my outfits. I would not be willing to pay nearly this much for this item.
There's a pretty clear balance of what's worth it in the store and what's not. For example, it actually makes good sense to buy the store scrolls of delving. They are very expensive in game, not often needed, and are only 195 tp. Definetly worth it to me. Cosmetics not so much. Having only 140 cosmetic armor slots, I can't really make many more outfits that I'd want, so why would I want to have another cosmetic horse?
Originally Posted by xRaina
3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?
Here are a few:
1. A personal house in each major city, which could not be accessed by other players, but could be accessed by all characters on the account (shared for all). I could choose what city it was in, and could move it as the major game hub changed (or move it for a small TP fee, 595). The house would include 100 storage slots which could accept bound items, with the option to purchase more for turbine points. The house could be decorated like any other house, though it would be smaller.
2. An LI Upgrade Kit, which contained 2 uses of an item that would advance a single LIs to the next cap (example, 75 to 85), preserving all legacies and upgrades already preformed.
1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.
Can state it... but its a joke.. tough a bad one. This can come to live servers ad probably will generate same ammount of incomings as the travelling rations for 10tp. This price is too high, especially for something that most of peoples doesnt wanna ever see roaming in isengard:P
2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?
Definietly never. It has no value, and i vould discourage anyone to buy it, the riding game is inside langhold , but not in middleearth dangerous regions roamed by forces of the dark lord. If i vould got it for free i vould destroy it... just to know.
3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?
Flying mounts - Yes something like gwaihir, fell-beast, or a drake, or gwiber... etc. so something what would give me greater mobility and VERY EPIC. If we thinking about mount this is the only option. Or maybe a ship (erm that is not mount... but also connected to them some way. It would be nice to have a ship (sailing) system in game that would worth so much yes)
A pocket item what disables all invisible wall (u know what i mean!) remove teleportation from fix:me unassigned and and on use would port me to a choosen mileston (with 10s cd on this effect), and useable on the move. Yes i am sure that not only me who wants to see currently hidden parts of game, and would pay for it.
A really revamped housing, ofc with unlimited moveable hooks, and with additional home locations on normal map (not instanced) but in layers, like having hause in tyl ruinen, or a flet in caras galadhon.. etc. there is a lot. These buildings could be upgraded by various methods and player could place mobs in their layer to make a new content for himself and/or for his friend.
The hausing should also have trophy from many landscape mobs, like dragon heads... stuffed animals... etc. I think tehes wouldnot so hard to creat as modells are existing just need some work.
And ofc for an expansion.. that is around this value.
This is a such item what even more out of place for me than an eagle mount (that could be made with some story to not break lore... erm not more than runekeeper XD), but this... its just would hurt my eyes badly to see a hobby-horse rider in isengard... or lothlórien... or angmar... or anywhere except inside of safe towns in safe regions, or shire. But should not allowed to roam freely.
Last edited by Leri927; Dec 01 2012 at 02:32 PM.
Reason: mistake in BB code
Some of you may have noticed a new item in your store on Bullroarer: the Hobby Horse.
The store wizards would like your feedback (well-thought out, non-crazypants) on this item.
1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.
A single-character slow mount should not cost more than a current expansion or an entire brand new game.
2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?
No. I don't even think this item should be a mount. I think it should work like the Prized Pie or Shire Mailbag with a limited channeled duration. You know, similar to how the quest item actually works in the game now. I think it should cost a couple hundred TP. Even if it cost 500 TP per-character, I think you'd get ten times as many buyers as selling it for 5000 TP.
3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?
I would expect some combination of access to new game systems, new landscape areas, or new character classes at this price point. The kinds of things that might be included in a game expansion.
4. Any rants about how evil Turbine is for making store items, even those that are entirely optional and up simply for the fun of those who are willing to pay for them, will be disregarded. This item is an experiment item. We simply want your feedback on the type of item presented and what might be added to it or done to it to make it a better item. We are not forcing you to buy it. No one is forcing you to buy it. It's something to be there and be fun for those who may want it.
Constructive commenting and questions ONLY
We know store items cause heated discussion. We know some longtime players find them problematic. Please try to be level-headed. We appreciate the passion you all have about LOTRO.
I'm disappointed that Turbine doesn't know its customers' purchasing preferences well enough to price this item reasonably. The fact that an employee even has to ask these sort of questions in a public forum implies to me that the company is really grasping at straws for basic operating revenue. It causes me to worry more about Turbine's and LOTRO's futures.
When I first spotted it I'd hoped it was a hidden deed for x hobby horse completions. Now that I know its store-acquisition only I'll be looking to see if any tweaks were made and what the prices are when bullroarer comes up.
Wow..... and here I thought it was the Steed of the Warden....
I'm disappointed that Turbine doesn't know its customers' purchasing preferences well enough to price this item reasonably. The fact that an employee even has to ask these sort of questions in a public forum implies to me that the company is really grasping at straws for basic operating revenue. It causes me to worry more about Turbine's and LOTRO's futures.
The hobby horse was a cute idea for the quest, would be a decent consumable for festivals, but to purchase it, I wouldn't expect it to be more than the cost of an emote. It's meant to be funny and entertaining, much like the fishslappers or the rep gated frying pan weapon. The only thing that would make me laugh at seeing someone using this is their gullibility for spending the equivalent of $40+ for such a ridiculous thing.
If this is a per-character (not account-wide) purchase, and is the same speed/bonus as a starter steed, I would price this high at 695TP.
I personally would never buy it on any of my characters and if I won it in a festival might use it on an alt if it was a consumable while I was waiting for a festival beer race or something to start. Other than that, its not my thing.
The topless dwarf thing was cute as a cosmetic. The price is way more than I would ever consider spending, but its humorous to see them (I usually offer to knit them a sweater)
I'm not really sure about the pricing in the store lately. I live in the midwest where salaries and cost of living are lower than say New York or San Francisco, so maybe that's why I think its absolutely absurd. I certainly would never consider paying the price of my monthly phone bill to buy a hobby horse made out of pixels, even if I planned to use it every minute of the day.
L a n d r o v a l | Aethrien || Aerlise || Mumsy || Aethirien |
If the price is 5K TP, no way I would buy it!! I like the Hobby Horse but not at more than possibly 500 TP (and most likely would not buy it then)
I also feel most prices in the store are steep!!!
I would actually buy more off the store if the prices were lower. For example not going to buy a steed that costs 1995 TP, especially when we now have war-steeds or my toons have horses with 250 morale and 68% speed. Right now for $19.99 you get 1600 TP or I can get 2 months subscription, for $34.99 get 3150 TP or 3.5 months of VIP. Especially when most of the store items only apply to one toon. I do realize other steeds are cheaper, but lets face the obvious who really wants the cheaper horses? Good marketing strategy, bad prices IMO.
I did recently buy the steed of brighter days only because it was on sale. The reason I purchased it was because I listened to some one who said I could equip it cosmetically to my war-steed. That person was incorrect. So I sat here regretting I purchased that steed. I only purchased it 1. because it was on sale 2. MAIN REASON was under the belief it would cosmetically apply to war steed. Will I buy another in the future at sale or regular prices NO!
I love LOTRO, I am VIP, started playing before F2P. I just do not care for the store prices.
Ooh oooh, I just thought of an incentive that would be worth me actually buying this ridiculous little thing...
I buy the Hobby Horse for 5000TP
And you give me 50% TP off all in-store purchases, for life.
The proposed offer is not a joke, Im being very serious.
And if any of you WB cronies are reading this...You're going to get millions of dollars off of the upcoming Hobbit movies, stop trying to ruin our game!!
Last edited by DarkEmpyrean; Dec 01 2012 at 03:58 PM.
So someone in your company -a self proclaimed wizard- has a genious idea. Then they got concerns that maybe their idea was not so genious. So they asked someone of the forum guys if they maybe can help out and try to figure out for them if the idea *is* genious or not. But they somehow feel that they expect an outcry of the community and that they don't want it to happen. So they put a passive agressive note into the post to prevent that. Maybe they should have heard to the doubts that they felt about the whole thing. Or just put it in the store.
First there were MMO's based on subscriptions. Then some money making self proclaimed wizard had a better idea: Free to play! Now there are free to play MMO's with stores that make you pay to play the game for much more than the subscripton based MMO's. But the self proclaimed wizard does not have his mouth stuffed yet (we all know they will never). So now they put some strange luxury items on those stores and they are too faint-hearted to just try it out wether it works for them or not.
If you are not sure if a thing would be recieved well, why don't you just listen to your own doubts?
And why are you trying to lecture people how to behave nice to you? And why don't you see that that alone is not a good thing in any way?
Are you really *that* lost, Turbine? Have you really lost contact to your playerbase to know what works and what doesn't? Have you lost the ability to see your own product from the eyes from a customers perspective?
If you can't stand to being told our opinions why would you ever ask for them at all?
What an epic fail this whole thing is in so many regards.
Don't care about the item; wouldn't buy it at any price and probably wouldn't even barter for it.
Re the attitude in the first post. Look at xRaina's post history. Look at the tone when U9 first came out on BR. Then look at the reaction posts and threads from the players. Then look at the first post of this thread again. Don't tell me we didn't bring it upon ourselves, and don't tell me you're some superhuman that would have no reaction to people defecating on your work. And now we're giving them grief for being human (and yet, still being FAR more polite than many of the players' posts). And don't tell me we've never done this before, because we do it over and over, and they've learned very well from us not to say much. We bring it upon ourselves, and even I, as a player who doesn't invest himself much in games and doesn't get very upset when they change, am visiting and posting less because of the tone of 95% of the players' posts.
Last edited by Nakiami; Dec 01 2012 at 04:17 PM.
A spaceship from another star / They ask me where all the people are
I tell them I'm the only one / There was a war, but I must have won
I'm disappointed that Turbine doesn't know its customers' purchasing preferences well enough to price this item reasonably. The fact that an employee even has to ask these sort of questions in a public forum implies to me that the company is really grasping at straws for basic operating revenue. It causes me to worry more about Turbine's and LOTRO's futures.
I couldn't agree more. I thought the price of war steed dye was outrageous, this goes well beyond into insulting territory. Frankly all the price increases lately, and the "get less for more" attitude of the LotRO store is worrying me a lot. Not because I think you guys are a bunch of greedy jerks, but rather, because you seem so desperate for cash. It makes me doubly wary of buying anything expensive in the store, because it feels like a bad investment. If LotRO is struggling so badly that fluff items like single-character dyes and joke toy items are being overpriced this radically, then I'd be crazy to pay that kind of money for something non-essential in a game with an uncertain future.
I want to support Turbine, and I want to support LotRO, but this isn't the way. They're called "microtransactions" for a reason. Give us more fun or cool cosmetic stuff at cheap prices and we will spend spend spend. Give us stuff like this, asking us to drop $50 on a single joke item, and I tighten up my wallet, as I'm sure others will, and start looking more seriously at other MMOs that seem more secure.
The tone of the original message makes it seem clear that this isn't a message you want to hear, but it's the reality of the situation. I have been hesitant to buy TP lately because I'm just not seeing value for my money. I used to love the store and would regularly spend hundreds there, but the more you raise prices and limit the value of items (to per-character or single-use), the less I want to buy ANYTHING at any price.
What would I buy at $50?
An expansion. A new house that has no limits as to how many housing and yard items I can place in it, or where. That's about all I can think of that I'd pay $50 for in one go.
Also, I would willingly pay you $50 to NOT let lore-breaking hobby horses roam Middle Earth as actual mounts. Make them a 500TP joke item with a cooldown or make them an emote and that would be fine with me, but a hobby horse mount is something I don't want to see in-game. We are at war for gawd sakes!
I want to be helpful, I want to be constructive. I've been playing LotRO regularly for 5 years. I play on several different servers, and I have multiple alts. I want to support the game, I want to keep it alive. But this is just not the way, it's not. More microtransactions at lower prices - that will get me spending again. I just won't be dropping $50 on anything so foolish as a hobby horse. Not ever. THAT is crazypants.
Think about it this way: get 10 people to buy it at 500TP (a reasonable price) and you've made $50 at fair prices. Get one person to buy it at $50 and you've given that person a $50 status symbol and not much more.
Cheaper (as in reasonably priced) items will sell more, you will make more money in the long run. Alongside that, you have the enthusiastic support and participation of the fan-base. WIN-WIN.
We want to give you money. Give us something we can sanely buy for a sane price.
Last edited by frickinmuck; Dec 01 2012 at 04:41 PM.
Don't care about the item; wouldn't buy it at any price and probably wouldn't even barter for it.
Re the attitude in the first post. Look at xRaina's post history. Look at the tone when U9 first came out on BR. Then look at the reaction posts and threads from the players. Then look at the first post of this thread again. Don't tell me we didn't bring it upon ourselves, and don't tell me you're some superhuman that would have no reaction to people defecating on your work. And now we're giving them grief for being human (and yet, still being FAR more polite than many of the players' posts). And don't tell me we've never done this before, because we do it over and over, and they've learned very well from us not to say much. We bring it upon ourselves, and even I, as a player who doesn't invest himself much in games and doesn't get very upset when they change, am visiting and posting less because of the tone of 95% of the players' posts.
are you for real? how much do they pay you to spout such nonsense. on topic: horrid idea would never pay that.
1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.
If it's a joke, it's not funny. If it's not a joke, that's just crazy.
2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?
Not at that price, no. Ever since I first saw the hobby horse in Harwick, I've always wanted one for my hobbit, but that price is off the chart of ridiculousness.
3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?
Nothing can justify that price point. I mean come on, actual full expansions are cheaper than that! It's not even a functional mount. It's just a toy for goodness' sake! I would draw the line at 500TP but not higher.
4. Now, let's see... you're holding out a candy in front of a child and saying "Do you want it? You don't have to eat it. We're not forcing you to buy it, but it's really delicious and it costs $50."
It's just a bad marketing practice. People would LOVE to buy it with minimal complaint had you just released it at a low price, but by using this shock tactic to search, negotiate and skirt around highest tolerable price just doesn't say anything about customer appreciation at all. If you really considered the fanbase, this question should not have been asked and the thought of selling a single player-only virtual toy for this amount of money should not even have come across anyone's mind. It's that inconceivable.
I'm trying to be level-headed, but this just baffles me. I don't get it.
What happened, Turbine? You used to be so good to us...
Don't care about the item; wouldn't buy it at any price and probably wouldn't even barter for it.
Re the attitude in the first post. Look at xRaina's post history. Look at the tone when U9 first came out on BR. Then look at the reaction posts and threads from the players. Then look at the first post of this thread again. Don't tell me we didn't bring it upon ourselves, and don't tell me you're some superhuman that would have no reaction to people defecating on your work. And now we're giving them grief for being human (and yet, still being FAR more polite than many of the players' posts). And don't tell me we've never done this before, because we do it over and over, and they've learned very well from us not to say much. We bring it upon ourselves, and even I, as a player who doesn't invest himself much in games and doesn't get very upset when they change, am visiting and posting less because of the tone of 95% of the players' posts.
Well, this is also in reply to xRaina's post.... when you sell a product or service to customers, YOU have to be nice to THEM, and THEY have no obligation whatsoever to be polite. Showing some understanding if you fail to deliver due to events out of your control (weather, nation-wide internet issues, your country went into a civil war, eathquakes...) IS a moral obligation one has a customer. HOWEVER if your product's quality has been dropping, the price increasing, and the solutions you promise rarely happen, what, in the name of Eru, DO you expect as a reaction to something like this? Praise? Cookies?
I don't know where WB/Turbine execs and staff were raised or by who, but where I come from, if you make customers angry, they'll either give you hell until you get your act together or take their money elsewhere.
In short, Turbine, you can't have our cake and eat it too, then slap us before stealing our steak and expect to be thanked for it.
1. 5000 TP is total overkill for a joke item that should be something that could have been a reward for completing quests in the Wold or an item to be purchased with Riddermark Tokens upon reaching kindred with the Wold. To pay 50 dollars for something like that is insane. If it was something like 100 TP or maybe 200 I'd consider it but with the price as is hell no.
2. As I said before if it's 5000 the no. Make it more reasonable and I'll think about it but as of now no.
3. Features? Well it's to make you look silly and to get a laugh out of other players that's all it should do. But for 5000 TP I better have some sort of herald behind me clacking coconuts for that price shouting how awesome I am.
4. I really think you should reconsider the pricing. You've already gotten flack about how much it's costing to make War Steeds look different and those prices are steep for not being account wide. I understand Turbine is trying to make money but more people would be willing to buy things if they know high point items were account wide much like the lovely wallet you all came out with to help consolidate those tokens and what not for us. If you are willing to make things like example the Class Steeds or the specialty steed account wide you'd see more people buying them along with the various cosmetic looks for the War Steeds as well. People now are more frugal with their points for various reasons. Be more flexible on what you put in the store and bare in mind not everyone can drop 50 bucks a month for points not even the VIP/Lifetimers.
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It should just work. lol
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