Newsletter #8 - Premium change - 2010-03-30

[DeletedUser]

I'm an overclocker... And in server terms if you want something twice as powerful I strongly doubt you'll be paying less than at least twice if not more.

LOL

I rest my case.

 

[DeletedUser]

I am sorry but this just beggars belief.

I have no problem with an increase in price that is relative to inflation and/or to cover any increased costs to InnoGames, but the way this increase has been applied is either idiotic or blatant profiteering.

Just let’s think about this:
Who buys anything less than 20 PP at a time currently?
The answer is simple, people who cannot afford to buy larger amounts, as it does not take a genius to work out that buying anything less costs a great deal more in the long run.
So to near enough double the cost to people who cannot already afford to buy PP in bulk is just crazy logic. Unless that is you realise that it is better financially to tie people into playing and paying for the game for longer periods of time. Don’t forget that you can not recoup the money for PP if you can not or don’t want to continue to play.
Once again the less well off get stung while the better off get a better deal.

Don’t get me wrong, I am one of though that buys in bulk, so I am not affected by the change. But many of my tribe mates are students, children and those out of work, these are the people who get stung and who will no doubt quit the game once their PP run out.

As for the excuses? Sorry but saying that you now get ‘No Ads’ Modes rolled in is a joke, those with Firefox who don’t like the ads just download an Ad blocker Ap and it is sorted. But for the most part I don’t think most people care about the Ads window.


InnoGames need to cover costs for hardware and bandwidth? No, this is just not true. I work in an industry that relies heavily on Servers and leased line bandwith (Think BBC iPlayer and how much storage, bandwidth and CPU power needed for that). In fact Leased pipes, bandwidth, data storage and servers and their support contracts are cheaper than they have ever been.

So InnoGames, thank you for killing this game, as we all know that playing without PP once you get over 50 odd vills becomes almost impossible due to the time needed.

I for one will be deleting my account once my PP’s run out and I am sure that I will not be the only one.

 

[Typhi]

I really dont get this.

It says that 50 points gets you 3 days of play, so that 16.67 points a day cost.
230 points gets you 30 days play, so thats 7.67 points a day cost.
2300 points gets you 322 days, so thats 7.14 points a day cost.

So the cost per day varies depending on how many points you put in/buy?

It has always been that way - both activating and buying multiple premium points at once has always been cheaper.

How can I see what 600 points will buy me then? Going by the above costs per day it could be anything between 36 days and 84 days, how am I supposed to know?

This whole pricing structure seems really weird and confusing and overly complex considering you could just say: 1 point = 1 day. The more points you buy the cheaper it gets!

There are apparently two options to activate premium:
100 points = 14 days and 30 points = 3 days.

Assuming you use the 100 points = 14 days option, 600 points would get you 600/100 * 14 = 84 days.

 

[thegame45]

Odd move?

What an odd move and was it really needed?

Seems as if somebody in Inogames has been working too hard and lost the plot.

If it ain't broke don't fix it


Oh and no ads make here or there and i don't mind the ads.

 

[MasterFire]

LOL

I rest my case.

Lets compare, a simple one this time.

GTX480. Churns out for instance 120fps on Far Cry 2. While a single 4890 maybe throws out what, some 50fps? 4890's when they were just out cost about 200,- this while the GTX480 currently will run me 450,- to the bare minimum.

 

[DeletedUser]

That alone tells me you have yet to get the slightest idea of how an electrical company goes to business. Not to forget I'm wasting my time arguing with you.
I'll just finish my breakfast and go play a game.

You do that. Economics seems to be a bit of a stretch this early in the morning.

 

[Mick876]

Ok if you need to up the price thats fine, but trying to hide that with this new system is just low. Its overly complicated and totally un-necessary. Just keep the old simple system but up the price. All your doing is making it complicated on the hope people will not be able to work out how much its costing them. But in the end someone is gonna sit there and work it out and everyone will find out either by word of mouth or by someone making a thread. This new system is just ridiculous.

 

[TGM1]

Smokefield you are fully aware of the law then.

I know they have been 4 German companys been banned from trading in England and wales due to breeches in there laws.

UTTCR come to mind as well as other laws.

busamad.

you have just repeated the same thing as i have said previously.

It would be helpful if a mod could answer this question:-

Are the conversion rates posted on page 3 of this thread correct, post 43, which l have reposted below.

This is basically whats happening I think, please correct me if I'm wrong.

How many days you get for your money under new regime:

£1.99 - You now get 3 days less premium
£3.99 - You're paying £1 more for the same package
£9.99 - You get only 3 months premium compared to 4 months before
£19.99 - You get 7.5 months of premium compared to 10 months before

So that means to get the same rate as before you need to pay £50 for their 5000 point package.

 

[Typhi]

Ok if you need to up the price thats fine, but trying to hide that with this new system is just low. Its overly complicated and totally un-necessary. Just keep the old simple system but up the price. All your doing is making it complicated on the hope people will not be able to work out how much its costing them. But in the end someone is gonna sit there and work it out and everyone will find out either by word of mouth or by someone making a thread. This new system is just ridiculous.

There has been made no effort to hide the increase in price.

What an odd move and was it really needed?

Seems as if somebody in Inogames has been working too hard and lost the plot.

If it ain't broke don't fix it

Cost increases and inflation come to mind as two things that could cause something that works to break, at least on Inno's end.

 

[DeletedUser]

I was like most here opposed, and I still don't like it, but it's not a huge price hike.

Nobody here really know what is going on with Innogames, maybe there has been a "leveling" of the amount of people actually buying premium or possibly even a decrease. Times are tough and they aren't getting any better. I can't commit to buying a large package and I think my situation fits with the majority, so here is what the extra I will be paying is:

Current system: 5 premium points= 30 days which costs USD 4.90, at this price if I bought this package 12 times it would cost USD 58.80 and I'd get 360 days.

New system: 200 premium points= 28 days which costs USD 5.99, 12 packages= USD 71.88 and I'd get 336 days, to get to the 360 days I'd need to buy one more 28 day package, bringing the total cost to USD 77.87 for 364 days.

77.97 - 58.80= USD 19.07 the total extra I'd be paying.

Personally that isn't much of an increase, not enough to make me quit. I'm probably just fooling myself but I'm gonna pretend that Innogames needs the capital from the increase to keep TW online. It does suck yes but it pales in comparison to the increases in other thing in our lives. Take food for instance (a necessity), or gasoline and pretty much everything else, it has all increased at a extraordinary rate over the past few years. The biggest problem is that incomes haven't increased at the same rates, somethings got to give someday. But for now I don't think I'm gonna cry over 19 dollars and some change, if I can afford it I will pay. If not, most likely there will be somebody to take my place. Hopefully Innogames can continue to offer this very fun online world to all that enjoy it.

 

[DeletedUser]

Smokefield you are fully aware of the law then.

I know they have been 4 German companys been banned from trading in England and wales due to breeches in there laws.

UTTCR come to mind as well as other laws.

busamad.

you have just repeated the same thing as i have said previously.

It would be helpful if a mod could answer this question:-

Are the conversion rates posted on page 3 of this thread correct, post 43, which l have reposted below.

This is basically whats happening I think, please correct me if I'm wrong.

How many days you get for your money under new regime:

£1.99 - You now get 3 days less premium
£3.99 - You're paying £1 more for the same package
£9.99 - You get only 3 months premium compared to 4 months before
£19.99 - You get 7.5 months of premium compared to 10 months before

So that means to get the same rate as before you need to pay £50 for their 5000 point package.

Even the £50 package isnt at the same rate... see my prev post page 10

 

[Typhi]

It would be helpful if a mod could answer this question:-

Are the conversion rates posted on page 3 of this thread correct, post 43, which l have reposted below.

£1.99 - You now get 3 days less premium
£3.99 - You're paying £1 more for the same package
£9.99 - You get only 3 months premium compared to 4 months before
£19.99 - You get 7.5 months of premium compared to 10 months before

That's about right, though there's naturally been some rounding off.

..and whoever posted the bit about the 5000 package has their math right just the same.

 

[DeletedUser]

I still havent seen an answer to a post i made early on....just exactly how (if at all) will the price change/point conversion affect those who credit their world account far in advance after buying premium?

My personal case in point is I just bought premium two days ago (50 points worth) and credited my account directly for 5 months of both premium and no-ads.

 

[TGM1]

Ok now my 2 pence... (yes im in the uk)

I dont mind a price increase every so often to be honest... i know most businesses do, but i dont agree with the changing of the complete system tho, increase the points so players wont know if they are having a good deal or not...

This is the current system

3 Premium points 1.99 GBP 9 days 22p/day
5 Premium points 2.90 GBP 30 days 9p/day
10 Premium points 4.90 GBP 60 days 8p/day
20 Premium points 9.20 GBP 120 days 7p/day
50 Premium points 19.00 GBP 300 days 6p/day

As you can see people paying £19 every 300 days, pays 6p per day... im assuming most people these days gets paid monthly, and waits till pay day to get this package, the other thing to note is that people paying every month would only be paying 3p a day more then the people paying for the expensive package....

The new system

60 premium points GBP 1.99 6 days 33p/day
200 premium points GBP 3.99 28 days 14p/day
600 premium points GBP 9.99 84 days 11p/day
1500 premium points GBP 19.99 210 days 9p/day
5000 premium points GBP 49.99 700 days 7p/day

Now you can see that people paying monthly, is now going to be charged 14p a day, 55% increase, and if anyone in this world has £49.99 to spare on a game, for me thats half a weeks wages, then im pretty sure they wouldnt be playing this game to be honest lol, and still "other hand, buying 5000 Premium Points at once will give you the chance to continue with the same cost/month rate as before" well actually no its not, it means paying 1p more per day, and for that package you get 700 days, which is a £7 increase, but to be honest, whos going to buy that package??? 700 days is a long time, and alot can happen inbetween those days,

Added to this,

I personally dont mind the ads on this website, they are quite interesting to be honest, especially the ones that says your ip is a winner, but never won yet :lol:

so i think you should have a second price, 1 with ads, 1 without ads, and heres how the one with ads should be....

60 premium points GBP 1.79 6 days 29p/day
200 premium points GBP 3.49 28 days 12p/day
600 premium points GBP 8.99 84 days 10p/day
1500 premium points GBP 17.99 210 days 8p/day
5000 premium points GBP 36.99 700 days 5p/day

That way you may actually get players to pay for the big package, especially for your new tax year, also there is still an increase unless you buy the big package, and think of the money you may get over the 700 days, you only need 65 clicks on those ads, (based on 20p a click).


Finally, i think you should allow players to sell things throughout the game, ie one player buys the big package, and then sells 200 pp for £2.50, that way everyones a winner, TW still get money, and players will stay in the game, and then they could also sell villages and other stuff legally...

Smidy.

Yes you are correct in saying who will buy the 5000 points system but l currently buy the 300 days option and share that with my partner which then gives us about 5 months worth each l would buy the 5000 days option and still share it with my partner. I know not many ppl share prem but a few ppl do have other worlds which this package would enable them to have more than one premium world if they can then share it with other worlds still.

 

[DeletedUser]

If this it true then how can you know what the true representatives or Innogames talk about behind closed doors? How can you speak of their motives?

Give your opinion but stop pretending you know why innogames shuffled the whole system.

We have been informed of certain decisions and motives, i am not walking in here pretending to know everything, but neither am i posting blindly.

True..the moderators are volunteers. But unless something has changed, they do get 'paid' for their services....FREE PREMIUM for the time they are working as moderators.

Ergo, they are immune to the price increases :icon_rolleyes:

I have only one account here, which i actually do not pay the premium for, the co-player does. My only other account is on tribalwars.no, which i do pay for every month, and i do not get free premium on. so actually, this does affect me too.

 

[DeletedUser]

I still havent seen an answer to a post i made early on....just exactly how (if at all) will the price change/point conversion affect those who credit their world account far in advance after buying premium?

My personal case in point is I just bought premium two days ago (50 points worth) and credited my account directly for 5 months of both premium and no-ads.

I'm not entirely sure, so you might want to wait for someone with more knowledge to answer, but I don't see a reason why your current premium wouldn't just run normally until it expires.
So everything will be as normal for you until in 5 months, when you'll purchase premium in the new system.

I hope that answers the question.

 

[Typhi]

I still havent seen an answer to a post i made early on....just exactly how (if at all) will the price change/point conversion affect those who credit their world account far in advance after buying premium?

My personal case in point is I just bought premium two days ago (50 points worth) and credited my account directly for 5 months of both premium and no-ads.

If you purchased and activated 5 months of premium, I assume that you will keep that.

 

[DeletedUser]

Thanks for clarifying about that being your opinion, I hope that people read that part because that's one of the main reasons that there is so much anger over this :icon_wink:

Price increases beyond their control are expected, and while it sucks for everyone, nobody is going to blame the company for taxes increasing.

I have to disagree with your last sentence though, and here's why:

Innogames might very well be needing more money for upkeep/expanding/new servers/increases in costs. What leads me to believe that they are using this as an opportunity to charge more than that amount and put a few extra dollars in their pocket is:

1) Innogames doubled their profit last fiscal year
2) "Revamping" the premium system. This is a long known business tactic to confuse consumers and happens in every industry. You change everything to make it seem like you're getting a good deal when you're paying a huge increase for the same services you've always gotten.
3) If Innogames wasn't trying to use this to put money in their own pockets in addition to covering increased costs, then they would have just increased prices using the existing premium point system and wouldn't have eliminated the monthly option - the option that the majority of premium users pay with. Eliminating the monthly option means the minimum you have to buy is 3 months to be practical, or you buy two weeks worth. Innogames knows the majority of people in this situation would find it easier to pay the two weeks instead of 3 months.

My apologies, i thought i had made it clear.

I have heard that, but i honestly did not know before today that they doubled profits. However, this year could be an entirely different matter. Maybe the recession has hit them harder this year, or for the first time in a big way. Maybe maintenance costs are increasing, i know marketing costs are.
I don't believe that was their motive for increasing the amount of premium points you actually get. however, i do not know all the details.
They have re-done the entire premium system - i do not know all their motives, as i said, and i am not well versed in economics as a 16 year old, but i can say that buying every 3 months saves on buying every month? i fail to see how people would find it easier to buy every month rather than every 3 months, apologies. Do you mean payment options?

 

[theFBIman]

I'm an overclocker... And in server terms if you want something twice as powerful I strongly doubt you'll be paying less than at least twice if not more.

If you get twice the amount of people, thus roughly twice the bandwidth if we assume the time they play on and the amount they play is the same as the other amount. Then yes, for the same performance as you had before you will need twice as much. You think that the company that hosts the servers for this game is going to under-capacitate them that much that there is space for a double in the amount of people?

sorry, but you are funnier with every post. Really you are. You negate everything that happened with the technology over the last 20 years. Go for it mate!

 

[DeletedUser]

I have only one account here, which i actually do not pay the premium for. My account only other account is on tribalwars.no, which i do pay for every month, and i do not get free premium on. so actually, this does affect me too.

The italicized portion of this quote shows the truth of my point....you play on .net as well as moderate it...and do not have to pay for your premium.

Just as TW mods dont get free premium to use in Grepolis or West unless they also happen to moderate there as well, the fact that you play (and pay) on a national TW server in addition is moot.

Its already been pointed out, the premium points purchased cannot be transfered between servers, only between worlds on the same server. So making the choice to play a second TW server besides .net (and paying a separate premium point charge) is no different than having to pay the premium costs of Grepolis for example in addition to TW. The reason you pay on those is simply due to not moderating on those servers as well......but does absolutely nothing to mitigate the fact that as a moderator on any server you also play on, you do not suffer the cost of premium.