Predict AC prices..

[RocSage]

Premium Set 30days = 1000-1500AC or $10-15

I doubt it will be the same but 60 and 90 days seem to give huge discounts if they are the same though 60 will be around $22.5 and 90 will be $30. I would bet the discount will be closer to something like $27 and $40

My Room = $5
My Shop = $5

Trading seems to be only available via premium set according to the beta.

Extra Storage bins $5 for 30days and $10 for 90

Item pack expansion = $1
x5 = $4

Additional Skill Tree = $5-10

Skill Tree Reset = $1

Mag Ticket = $5-10

Mag Reset = $1

Aesthetic (Makeup) Counter Pass = $1-5 (depending on what exactly it allows you to do)

Scape doll x1 = $2.50
Scape doll x3 =$5
Scape Doll x5 = $10

Cosmo Atomizer x3 = ~$5
Cosmo Atomizer x5 = ~$10

New Character = $10

Scratch ticket = $1

This is what I predict, or something close.

So if you want everything for a year
4x Premium Set 90days ~$40 = $160
4x Storage A ~$10 = $40
4x Storage B ~$10 = $40
4x Storage C ~$10 = $40

$280 / year

of course there is also getting max inventory for the character and possibly getting skill trees all open and MAGs

That's 20 exta skill trees $200
inventory = $4
i think someone said there is a max of 6 MAGs so x5 x10 = $50

so another $254 to completely max a char more or less in terms of storage and that type stuff.

Thinking about this one might actually create more characters in place of storage...

Storage = 500 slots for $40/year
1 char + inventory maxed = 100 slots for $14/permanent

That's just what I think...

[Chik'Tikka]

i like some of it, except the scape dolls, other F2P mmos I've played sell revive items like that between 10 cents to 50 cents per item (usually in packs of 10 or higher) so i think that 5 scape dolls would be at most $2.50+^_^+
also I'm hoping the premium ticket will be along the lines of $6-$10 a month+^_^+

[RocSage]

yeah I'm using former knowledge plus relative prices in closed beta. I think it's a bit much myself, but in the beta they have it for 30 AC which is odd and it might indicate that the prices might be higher than we usually think for some things.

So, I would bet it is far lower as well, but there is a possibility it might be higher.

[skuld01]

I heard them assuming 1 yen = 1 AC

[RocSage]

I heard them assuming 1 yen = 1 AC

So either multiply all these amounts by 1.25 if they aren't global or maintain these for a US release.

Generally companies modify prices for the region rather than make the price universal.

So...
JP servers 1000 AC = 1000 yen
US servers 1000 AC = $10
so the US get .25 discount if the servers aren't global. Though I don't know how the whole conversion is if its a global thing, but more than likely they'll maintain the same thing as above for convenience

btw... this is why Australia gets kicked in the nuts with games. $60 is standard or something and even though the Australian currency is worth more than USD they get massively shafted and it would be like a US resident paying $120 for a game, or something like that.

[Spellbinder]

My gut tells me SEGA is going to be lazy and keep everything in yen.

[Hrith]

That is absurdly expensive. If your estimates are based on prices in other online games (I have never played any game with microtransactions), needless to say I am not buying anything from this one.

The total expenses to obtain what previous games offered should not exceed what a monthly fee was in those games.

A Premium account is basically the monthly fee SEGA had promised would disappear from PS games :roll: Except it contains less, so if it's more expensive... Less content for more money...

[RocSage]

That is absurdly expensive. If your estimates are based on prices in other online games (I have never played any game with microtransactions), needless to say I am not buying anything from this one.

The total expenses to obtain what previous games offered should not exceed what a monthly fee was in those games.

A Premium account is basically the monthly fee SEGA had promised would disappear from PS games :roll: Except it contains less, so if it's more expensive... Less content for more money...

What you have to realize is if those options weren't paid for they would be there for the most part, even down to the create character thing.

PS has generally given us 3-4 (it was unlimited originally due to it being VMU based and if i recall correctly VMUs only held 1 character which would equate to the same price)

You would have those storage options. The scape doll thing i find convenient. Mags are convenient to have like they are now and they had to do them this way with the reset thing which I like. Make a mistake, reset and remake it.
The Skill trees wouldn't exist. The extra storage wouldn't exist. The skill reset wouldn't exist. The inventory slots might exist, but i doubt it.

So we're not paying for things that would be there, but stuff that wouldn't be there.

And yes. It can be expensive, BUT it doesn't have to be.

i like the 90day Premium Set and it might be as little as $30 which is $10/month which is a really nice thing.
Many people won't care about trading or any of that stuff so they might never spend money on anything and they'll not be affected any more than had they returned to the F2P of PSOv1. A little worse or better depending on your outlook.
Same server 2 chars = 200 storage in total which is easy to transfer between the two. It took a lot of hoarding to fill that 200. if you have 2 on dif servers you have 400 total. The only thing you lose from PSOv1 is the ability to trade via drops, but you also gain the ability to trade between characters. It's a tradeoff and not a bad one.


Also... yes, that's actually the point of Freemium games. It can be cheap, but for plenty of people it can be expensive. That's the beauty of a well crafted shop. It's scalable to the player and their wants.

[Hrith]

I understand your points, but I fail to see any beauty in it, only dishonesty towards the customers.

[RocSage]

I understand your points, but I fail to see any beauty in it, only dishonesty towards the customers.

Well if you're not buying something you're not a customer.

I don't think it's dishonest to say you don't need to pay them to play. From what I see they are way beyond fair with what they are offering for free if you look at the market. They are offering you the complete game, save for 1 minor function which i don't like that they removed, but I get why it was. Everything else is additional and convenience so I don't see what the problem is.

I could guess why people who feel the way you do feel that way, and it has very little to do with the game itself, because i would bet you you would feel the same way no matter what they did with their shop. You'd likely only be happy if they got rid of the shop all together. This is nothing against you. This is just how the brains of people works.

I think it's dishonest to call it free to play or freemium, but again, that's the label of what their doing. It wasn't created by them. It was created by advertisers and general population of people. So if anything it's the users being dishonest to the users.

From what I can see and from my experiences in other games this is an extremely fair if not, better than average, model for this type of game.

[Peejay]

I'm disappointed since I made this thread and it immediately got derailed anyways. But whatever.

Also, I think a lot of these prices are way too cheap. I can imagine most of it to be twice as costly, but again, I can't be sure until the thing is released. We won't be able to get AC in the Open Beta, I mean.

[LokinModar]

I like your pricing bets... My only concearn is how the outsiders will buy the AC if the game is not released outside of japan.

For US ppl it is easier but i live in south america. Here the things are far more difficult regarding paying with international credit cards because of the billing address

I'd like to see they accepting things like Ultimate Game Card even though it is more expensive this way than buying the AC directly from sega.

Just as a comparison: down here we have to rely only on PSN cards. Buying credit directly from US sony with an international card is not accepted, again, because of the billing address...

[RocSage]

I'm disappointed since I made this thread and it immediately got derailed anyways. But whatever.

Also, I think a lot of these prices are way too cheap. I can imagine most of it to be twice as costly, but again, I can't be sure until the thing is released. We won't be able to get AC in the Open Beta, I mean.

The point of prices in a cash shop are to make you want to buy things.
Because of psychology works prices are almost always close to a 5 or 10 multiple and don't go above $15. When you go over that it is always when it is a bundle of things already sold in the shop and you'll get a discount on it if you add it up.

So Premium Set would be a maximum of $15 but Premium set x2 or x3 will always be a multiple of the base price with a discount.

Sometimes bundles are just convenience items, but the items i see aren't going to be like that.


I like your pricing bets... My only concearn is how the outsiders will buy the AC if the game is not released outside of japan.

For US ppl it is easier but i live in south america. Here the things are far more difficult regarding paying with international credit cards because of the billing address

I'd like to see they accepting things like Ultimate Game Card even though it is more expensive this way than buying the AC directly from sega.

Just as a comparison: down here we have to rely only on PSN cards. Buying credit directly from US sony with an international card is not accepted, again, because of the billing address...

If worse comes to be then you'll just have to buy a game card from some company that deals with imports. If I remember right these cards are pretty fairly priced due to them not having to actually export them to you.

[Ryo]

I think everything will be 10x more expensive. Especially based on PSU prices.

[HeartBreak301]

Welcome to Cash Shops. Enjoy the ride everyone.

[Priest]

Gacha is so boring, but i hate lottery tickets too. At least let us play slots, or pachinko! Then maybe I would be spending my life savings on this game.

Also, 1AC=1Yen will probably be right, but everything good could be 1000AC. I'd actually be pretty upset if I couldnt get the 30day my room plus trading and shop for about the same price as a monthly MMO cost. They should know scape dolls is where the money is to be made!

[Zeo_Forsaken]

I dont mind spending AC on what I NEED.. But "Gambling" is going to be replaced with gatcha, scratches and probably more betting games. I don't mind spending AC on what I need. I had 800+ ac from the end of the Closed. I spent it all and wont a Rappy suit with plenty to spare, so I bought room decorations with the rest, then got ANOTHER 1000 to spend! I don't think its going to be as expensive when you can read and tell what Items you're spending on.

"Things I need" count for Item expansions, palate expansions, storage expansion, all warehouses. It covers 90 days, so thats more than enough time to pay for storage. Scape dolls if needed.

[D-Inferno]

Even if the Cash Shop wounds up being a bit expensive, I'm still going to be playing the game. The thing that worries me the most about the cash shop is if the actual gameplay is hindered by it even if you payed for the essentials. Example: Gear Gauges on the Skill Tree; I don't want to have to go to the counter every time I want to be "better" in a certain weapon, or be limited to which ones I put into one of my Skill Trees. Same goes for the Force Skill Tree with the Elements. I do wonder though what the final tree is going to look like, since the remaining Hunter Weapons as well as Wind, Light, and Dark need to be placed onto the skill trees. And I got a felling the amount of points you can put into a skill will be reduced from 10 to 5.

The extra character fee might end up being a bit steep, but you'll only be using it once or twice. If you are trying to play efficiently, you'll probably end up using a cast for Hunter and Ranger, and a human/newman for Force.

The Skill Tree Fee hopefully is cheap; 2 bucks at the most. Same goes for extra mags. My Room needs to be cheap, or else no one will use it; as it has no impact on the real game. Storage space hopefully is cheap, but I think one can manage space by cleverly managing their belongings.

While Overpowered weapons likely won't be priced high/be available, the three units and mag cells/feeding material may or may not be pricy. Units don't have the same "appeal" as weapons; the most I see a unit being high priced is a back unit with epic Agastya-like wings. I can see Mat Cells going for AC though (hopefully mag cells aren't permanent).

As for ARKS scratch, it isn't that big of an issue anymore thanks to the new ruling in Japan. Getting the clothing/part you want probably can be just a matter of trading the ones you got for the desired ones, assuming they all have an equal chance of showing up. The requirements for the color change in the Dressing room worries me though, since in CB, you needed both 12 ARKS Scratch Clothes (for the pass) AND need to pay the Dressing Room fee.

Overall, my concerns in the P2P format mainly lie in it affecting the overall game design (like not having gear gauges for all weapons at once). We'll just have to wait and see.

[Omega-z]

It could be like PSU in term's of buying your AC.

500AC = 500Yen or $6.25
1000AC = 1000Yen or $12.50
2000AC = 2000Yen or $25
3000AC = 3000Yen or $37.50
5250AC = 5000Yen or $62.50
10500AC = 10000Yen or $125

This how PSU's GC is done. But the individual item's will be in AC and could be listed between 10AC - 1000AC and bundle's up to 2500AC (90 day one) in this game. which would be bewteen 12cent's to $12.50 and $31.25 with a bundle base on the current exchange rate.

[RocSage]

It could be like PSU in term's of buying your AC.

500AC = 500Yen or $6.25
1000AC = 1000Yen or $12.50
2000AC = 2000Yen or $25
3000AC = 3000Yen or $37.50
5250AC = 5000Yen or $62.50
10500AC = 10000Yen or $125

This how PSU's GC is done. But the individual item's well be in AC and be listed between 10AC - 1000AC which will be bewteen 12cent's to $12.50 base on the current exchange rate.

Normal MMO = $60+$180($240) for the first year
Assuming you only use the AC shop for 90 day Premium Set = ~$160
That's not a bad deal

I'm thinking that they might go with your numbers Omega because they've used the $12.50 price point in other PS games right?

[Omega-z]

Yeah they use it for the Sub for PSU and when the Yen was weak the dollar was stronger before the rescission it was $10 USD, the same as PSO's Sub. They could most likely go this route especially with what saiki said about it being 1 AC=1 Yen but you never know.

[moorebounce]

I wonder if Sega will let people use PayPal.

[Magical Trevor]

I like the 1 AC for =1 yen conversion. It makes logical sense to avoid confusion in purchase, and more than likely sega will give discounts for buying in bulk like with BB and PSU.

$10 /mo (when purchased for 3) for the premium pass, to me seems fair and is consistent with their prices in the past. For those of you complaining about the "freemium" concept, have you played one? Good examples are Maple story, Gunbound (idk if this is still going), League of legends, and the ever popular farmville. You can easily enjoy these games for free without spending a dime. Those that do pay are in a way being rewarded for supporting the servers, and salaries of those who keep the game in development and running. And yes, some players do go crazy with it too.

What I would like to see Sega do, if they haven't already, is to find other ways of creating revenue with this. The easiest way I can see this happening is to use the information screens, which are everywhere, to show advertisements. This could help lower costs to us or even eliminate AC, but lets be real its sega. They could also make it so that for a $1/mo (or as a rare drop :-D) you could disable the ads.

[Hrith]

$10 /mo (when purchased for 3) for the premium pass, to me seems fair and is consistent with their prices in the past.How is that even remotely consistent with their past fees? In previous instalments, you paid USD10 for everything, this AC system is a lot more expensive.

People saying USD280 a year 'sounds fine', compared to an already expensive USD120 a year in previous PS games. What a repulsive thought.

[RocSage]

How is that even remotely consistent with their past fees? In previous instalments, you paid USD10 for everything, this AC system is a lot more expensive.

People saying USD280 a year 'sounds fine', compared to an already expensive USD120 a year in previous PS games. What a repulsive thought.

You're not playing 280 a year unless you want and for that amount you would get more than you would get for 120 in other PSonline games.

The fact is you are getting a product that is for the majority "free." You pay standard for standard, and then you can pay more for extra stuff.

You're thinking of it as "No I'm paying more for stuff that I would already get" and tat simply isn't true, at least not in the best freemium games. Go look at CoH's freemium. When they went Freemium it allowed them to create a ton of new stuff because they could then justify spending the 10 or 20 thousand dollars to develop something because they'd make a profit off it where as previously they wouldn't so they wouldn't make it previously.

So. What you are paying for is not what you would be paying for, but rather you'd be paying for stuff you would otherwise not be getting.

[Magical Trevor]

How is that even remotely consistent with their past fees? In previous instalments, you paid USD10 for everything, this AC system is a lot more expensive.

People saying USD280 a year 'sounds fine', compared to an already expensive USD120 a year in previous PS games. What a repulsive thought.

Funny thing is that this thread started on predicting prices anyways, we are getting too tied up in this right now. Just making the point that its a reasonable prediction. BTW, you didn't have EXP and meseta boosters in the previous PSonlines without it being an event. So these things I would indeed consider extras.

Second, have all of us forgotten how much WoW is a month? As long as we can play a full game below that, i think we are fine.

We can get into a full on flame war later when we know for sure the AC costs. I am more surprised that people didn't get more upset at my suggestions of ads for sega to fund this.

EDIT: we also forgot that most of the original games costs $50+

[Macman]

I am more surprised that people didn't get more upset at my suggestions of ads for sega to fund this.
That's because it's such a dumb idea that nobody wanted to even bother refuting it. Ad revenue is never ever translated into consumer savings.

[RocSage]

i don't have a problem with ads in games if they are placed right, but Sega hasn't done it right thus far and i've never seen the idea be successful

[Spellbinder]

They had a clickable add for the beta in the loading screens. I couldn't see it being too annoying that way.

[Macman]

They had a clickable add for the beta in the loading screens. I couldn't see it being too annoying that way.
Cept a lot of my friends complained that whenever that banner was up, their loading times doubled/tripled.

[ShadowDragon28]

Yeah, wtf was with that horrible banner. When it was *not* there, my loading times where very fast. When they brought it back, the loading was way way slower. >:-/

[Magical Trevor]

That's because it's such a dumb idea that nobody wanted to even bother refuting it. Ad revenue is never ever translated into consumer savings.

LOL note that my original post about that did imply that sega wasn't going to help us. Would be nice. Wanted to know the feelings of the crowd on it, apparently you feel strongly against it.

Also I personally didn't notice much of a difference on loading times when that popup one was on. IDK if that had to do with the fact that I am in the US trying to access JP durring peak hours and the lag+loading didn't change much, or if it just wasn't an issue with my computer.

[Ark22]

1 AC = $1.50 USA

Or

10 AC = $1.50

[Blackheart521]

The AC prices might be something like Microsoft Points for Xbox Live (400MSP=$5, 800MSP=$10 etc.). But that is if they take the 1 Yen=1 AC option in japan considering 400 yen is roughly $5 so that might be the format they take.

[Gama]

about the the advertising withing the game, they could do it in a non intrusive way.

put the ad's on the city,video walls,make custom items for certain company's "yahoo mag anyone?"

they could do it, but i don't think they will.

[Spellbinder]

1 AC = $1.50 USA

Or

10 AC = $1.50

Sakai already said it's best to think of it as 1 AC = 1 yen (about 1.2 cents).

[Macman]

"yahoo mag anyone?"
Name one person who unironically liked the Yahoo! Mag.

[Ark22]

Sakai already said it's best to think of it as 1 AC = 1 yen (about 1.2 cents).

Would be the most logical thing to do. I mean they would bank of it pretty well. I will buy clothing and hair styles.

[Gama]

Name one person who unironically liked the Yahoo! Mag.


just an example :3

[Angelo]

Name one person who unironically liked the Yahoo! Mag.

I like the Colonel Sanders NPC in Infinity.

[Macman]

Well that was just hilarious. It's better than turning your character into a walking billboard.