Originally Posted by
Sanjakimo
Edit: I realise I did not say what the purpose of this post was for, after another "Gems are unfair post" today, I decided to try and create a post to stop these threads from popping up. Somewhere for people to reference, if, in the name of all that is good MORE gem whine threads appear. Also i know its a long post so if your going to skim it and comment PLEASE at least know the context of my post.
Hey guys I am writing this as I go along but I can feel it brewing and It's going to be a long one. Just a heads up.
First of all i would like to establish I have spent money on gems in the past, probably around £200 or so worth ranging from a single £70 pound purchases to get a few upgrades I DECIDED I didn't want to wait for (Heros update), but mostly on the £2.99 packages for some cheap army raiding gems.
Ok so first off what were my reasons for purchasing gems? Well first of all, i really enjoy the game. I love the style they took to the artwork, I also love the simple yet deep mechanics and just overall concept of the game. I love the fact it's on my iPad or phone and is highly portable for me to pick up and play anywhere when i get 5-10 minutes or if i want to if i get some time to myself I can pop some movies on or a good TV series sit in for a few hours and raid and chat my socks off! I also work away on residential for good portions of my week, and you guessed it No WiFi (its in the deep countryside). So purchasing allows me to make a few tweaks here and there so I can stay on curve for MY goals. But lastly and the most Important reason, It's my disposable income and I can choose to spend this portion of my income however I please.
The "problems"
Ok so lets see what the primary gripes seem to be about gems:
1. They are too expensive Supercell are greedy and should reduce the price of them, they would get more customers and make more money!! Or it should be a paid for app that would be fairer with a one off price.
2. Its unfair, people who pay get an advantage over those who choose not to pay.
3. It masks player skill so the "most skilled" or "best" players don't get the recognition they deserve!
4. Gems are not anything material, your are paying money for nothing only a Schmuck would do that!
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1. So lets start with the first point. SC pricing is wrong or unfair. I live in England so the pricing scheme I will reference too will be in pounds sterling. Lets look at the options we have to purchase.
£2.99 - 500 gems
£6.99 - 1 200 gems
£13.99 - 2 500 gems
£34.99 - 6 500 gems
£69.99 - 14 000
So first of all you can see, there is pretty much a pricing option available to ANYONE who is playing this game. If you have an Apple iPad or iPhone you are going to be in the demographic that can afford to spend a little bit if you so choose to. We have the low end purchase option that's great for the kids if their parents give them an apple allowance each week or a bit of pocket money, a good way in fact to teach them value for money and yes, PATIENCE!
Then we have the mid range of pricing for the teenagers / adolescents with part time jobs and study commitments.
And last but not least you have the larger purchases generally aimed towards the working individual If they so choose to spend their money this way.
Even not based on a demographic the pricing options are so flexible it really is up to you what you spend on the game. Sure there is a discount on larger numbers of gems to encourage sales but that's standard business 101.
So, "Greedy" SC should lower their prices so more people should buy gems and in turn they make more money. The fact they are making ($600 000 - $1 000 000 a day, again I just saw this figure on the forums its more just a point of reference so please don't quote as an accurate statistic) SHOWS that their pricing system is fair and being fully utilized by it's audience. Also to bear in mind is that, not at any point does it force you to, THIS IS A FREE GAME (and a high quality one in both concept and design in my opinion).
SC also has to cover its costs (including the straight up 30% apple takes from any IAP) and yep you got it, make money!? How dare they.
So after SC have covered all their staffing costs, keep consistently paying the upkeep for their server costs for its million or so users, payed off the backlog of debt accumulated developing the game before it went Live and a whole host of other overheads that most people don't even comprehend. AS WELL as consistently, tweaking game play balances and adding additional content to this FREE game. They get to make a bit of money!
For example say you or I chose to start up a cupcake business offering an assortment of cupcakes at different prices. Our cupcakes are so well baked, and so colorfully and individually designed that the general public love them, and before we know it there is a huge demand for our cupcakes. So we take on more staff, a new premises and expand the business out slowly and start adding other products to our range to meet the increased demand and going off the feedback that our already loyal customers are giving us.
Before we know it we're multi-million pound enterprise and our product was so strong and our business acumen so well implemented its netting us great rewards for our determination, diligence and perseverance in what is an increasingly aggressive economic climate. But now we stop right? Because were making so much money we should stop, its not fair. We check our cupcake forums and a minuscule percentage of people who are buying our product are moaning we make too much money.
I think everyone gets the idea.
Personally i hope the CEO of SC has bought himself a great big boat, and a holiday home for him and his family to enjoy now that his idea that I am enjoying so much is proving fruitful.
(that was the big one folks)
2. Its Unfair. People who pay get an advantage over those who don't.
Firstly there is not a single thing in the game that cannot be obtained free of charge. No premium currency products, nothing. All it saves is time. So, the advantage of having a better base? Better troops?.....compared to who? you?
OK so tomorrow you get given 1 000 000 gems, you max your walls, troops, hero's the WORKS. You have everything you ever dreamed of. Now what?
So lets think, what is "fair"? the person who spends £10 on gems a month so that in between his/her work and family commitments they can still enjoy the game and get personal reward to playing, even though they have a much smaller window in which to play the game. Or the 15 (again not stereotyping just for EG purposes) year old kid on his summer holidays who gets 8 weeks of free time, in which he can raid every hour he so chooses to all day every day. No work commitments, no family commitments.
So to really make it an even playing field lets take out gems completely, and limit EVERYONE'S play time to 1 hour as most people could accommodate this. But 1 hour in a single sitting wouldn't work because of timezone differentials, so lets stagger it to 2 1/2 hours slots each day so that anyone anywhere at least gets there 1/2 hour play and its even playing field. Also new players that start have a new system in place. The game averages the build values of every single base currently in the game, and provides the new player with the mean cost of a base in resources, and lets them design a base to that standard. Again just to make sure its super fair. Sounds like a fun game now right?
3. It lest the lesser skilled players get to the top by (paying to win) so the actual skillful players don't get recognized.
First of all, lets get a grip folks. The game involves placing troops and then watching how they react and occasionally reacting with the odd spell or two. When it comes to a mechanical skill level, the skill cap is somewhat low in this game. I'm not saying their aren't subtle nuances to it or there is no skill at all, but you are not tap strafing to avoid bullet recoil while dodging shots, or a flick 180 jump pad long range head shot with a rail gun, You aren't conducting 300+ APM (actions per minute) strategies with an enormous army that you control every single unit independently, again you get the gist. This lower skill cap however is for 2 reasons, SC market is on the tablet and the tablet has a sole Input method of tapping. As of right now you are never going to get the skill cap that the likes of a mouse and keyboard based game or a console controller based game, period. The low skill cap also makes the game accessible to more people, perfect for the tablet market. Good job SC.
So where is the skill? In my opinion it lies primarily in game knowledge. When to deploy, where to deploy, how and what with to deploy and how to achieve your goals as efficiently as possible; efficiency is the skill. Same with defense, where to place, place what structure with what? So on and so fourth. So i guess my real question to these people who claim this, what do you want to prove and to who? Starcraft is always available if you fancy it.
I personally think the top 10 players will probably have the nigh on best game knowledge if not equivalent to anyone else out there. Also remember that at these levels the players choose to spend a lot on gems to stay competitive as this is their PERSONAL goal, purely based on how competitive it is and they have the disposable income and TIME to do so.
Also remember these types of player are probably funding SC 90% of their income, so they are basically sponsoring the free game you choose to play for you. As far as business is concerned, if you have not payed a dime towards this game, you have not supported development costs, server costs, staffing costs, nothing. Yet you still get to play the same game as those that do however those that choose to pay get things a littler earlier. I just fail to see the big issue, the only issue i see is an entitlement one.
4. People who pay to pay in a games are Schmucks, who would pay for a game, it's not even a material object??
Firstly, i hope you have taken into account all my previous points. So lets get into the "Its not even real" argument. Personally I find this argument so mind numbing and narrow minded but lets go with it.
Personally I don't measure what i spend my money on dependent on weather it is material or otherwise, I measure on cost VS Enjoyment / Enjoyment Duration, these are my personal criteria I'm not saying its right or wrong. So lets work with an example, Ill use an actual example as this is how i see it.
I enjoy CoC, for my money spent so far i have had literally countless hours of fun on this game and it is STILL going to serve me more, being constantly updated and tweaked it is dynamic and evolving.
So I could spend £70 on CoC, Finish a few high level building, Set a high level troop upgrade, pay for resources and upgrade some walls and set some other buildings upgrading, all in all quite a substantial difference to my base. And as my enjoyment comes from just seeing my base develop and grow, this is a long term investment and I get the benefit of this investment for as long as i choose to play the game for.
With this £70 i could by 2 games for my PS3, sure i could probably get a good 80 hours worth of fun out of that £70 if i chose my games correctly, or i could only get only 40 if I disliked one of the games, ore the games completion time was short and had minimal replay value. At least with CoC purchase is a know quantity, and cumulative investment that will serve me for my probably thousands of hours of play time to come.
OR i could spend my £70++ on a night out with friends (which I definitely do don't get me wrong). I get to purchase material alcohol so I am getting something for my money.
As well as a meal to start with, the price starts adding up. Now that has provided me with a good 12 hours of entertainment that i enjoyed. Did i enjoy it more than Coc? Not necessarily, its a different sort of enjoyment. But the bottom line is all I would have to show for that £70 in the morning would be a sore head and not even necessarily the memories of the fun time I had.
So i know I've rambled on and this post isn't very well written I was just trying to get the point across Please just stop whining about it, If gems weren't here, a subscription would HAVE to be. and to make a subscription model work they would have to offer different packages of subscription to appeal to all the price ranges, so there would still be inequalities, as well as re designing the game we already enjoy playing.
Just my 2 cents folks, moral of the story is SC aren't Greedy their clever as they don't push the game to one kind of play type they allow it to be accessible to people of all abilities, ages, play time windows and income levels if they so choose. I know this will never stop the hate on gems, but every time someone spouts of "Greedy" Supercell i cant help but think hypocrite.
