I can assure you that is not your average player. Sure, you will have those outliers who have either spent tons of time or tons of money building such empires, but believe me it is not relevant to this discussion. Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, etc., can buy anything they want, but they are not relevant to any discussion of the economic effects of anything in the real world on the average consumer.
Had no way of knowing your knowledge of business terminology nor of it's application in the real world.
Otherwise known as 'the hook,' i.e., the banner in front of the restaurant got you in the door. The restauranter is now hoping you'll buy from the menu at regular price rather than the reduced price buffet.
That would be false advertising if the banner said it was discounted. And if it didn't, then that metaphor doesn't work in this situation. This situation is more like you've been going to this restaurant for years and enjoying their discounted lunch buffet, mainly because it was affordable and not because they had great lunch choices. Sometimes you come back and have dinner at regular price. Then, without warning (or even a reason), they bump the lunch buffet up to full price or more. Now, do you keep coming there for that shabby lunch at full price? Or any meals?
Are you certain it has nothing to do with this conversation? That is contradictory to all the arguments about having to pay cash vs getting it for free Why else would Inno change to cash ?
Diamonds represent one of two things: time or money. You either spend the time to gather them for free, or you skip to the chase and spend real money for them. Since most players get diamonds by spending money, from that perspective diamonds and money are pretty much the same thing.
No, not false advertising. I never said that -- this is the problem when you copy/paste out of context. I said that the banner for the lunch buffet gets you in the door. The buffet and the discounted price is still there but does not mean that there aren't still menu items at full price available to anyone who orders them.
A business is not obligated to inform customers that they are going to go up on their prices, whether they were discounted or otherwise. For customers to expect prices to remain static is not only unreasonable, it's *really* unreasonable. Costs go up. Wages go up. Etc., etc. New/raised prices for existing items must go up or be eliminated altogether for a business to even break even. Most people would agree with this but for some reason this keeps coming back to something that's already advertised as "on special" or a "discounted price." Why should those items be excluded from normal COLA? It's smart business to eliminate anything that is 'discounted' precisely because there is less of a profit margin to begin with.
Why warn a customer that prices are increasing? Again, business has no obligation to warn of anything in terms of pricing. Would you expect your grocery store to tell you when the price of bread is going up? Milk? Gasoline? I highly doubt it. So why a gaming company? What pains me is that the players are given an option to not only earn the event currency -- completely free of real money expenditure -- and still complain that the 'price went up.' Went up from what exactly? It was free. It's still free. If the player cannot obtain the fully leveled item without expenditure of cash they have the option to obtain the kits at a later date. Why is it the company's responsibility to do more than that?
Yes, I am certain. If someone complained that housing costs had gone up and you responded by saying that Warren Buffet has millions of dollars, your response would be irrelevant to the point. Same here. Unless you're trying to say (wrongly) that such players are the norm among all active players. Which I know you're not.
Except that you're trying to say that nothing has changed, and you are factually wrong. Not an opinion or perspective. Something tangibly changed. To deny it is to deny reality.
Except in this case the lunch buffet is no longer discounted. You seem to have trouble with metaphors.
True, but raising them is not an incentive to customers, as you are trying to imply here.
Let's be real here. You're trying to imply that this change is some kind of loss leader or incentive for players to spend more money, which is completely ridiculous. It is what most players would call a "cash grab". I have avoided that term in the past, but in this case it fits like a glove.
It's an incentive to the regular or high-end buyer. Why would a company want to please the the bargain buyers? There's no money in it much less opportunity for future growth. That doesn't spell success in business, that spells bankruptcy.
The hook got you in the door, i.e., F2P. They count on you enoying the ambiance enough to want to continue. They do offer the ultimate prize for F2P but you have to wait OR spend money. You keep telling me I'm missing the point when in fact you are.
How is changing something from basically free to requiring cash payment an incentive to anyone?!? Answer: It isn't.
That has more to do with the main event building being way better than usual. If it had been one of the run-of-the-mill event buildings would you have even spent $15? No, you wouldn't.
Because the so-ca
exactly. I actually paid a lot more when I started the game - now I pay NOTHING - not because the paying rewards aren't good, but because the game when I don't pay ends up SUCKball I would like nice 'free' game, with some payoffs here and there that I'm willing to throw in for - not a game that I need to pay for
You need to read about how to play the mini-game.
