1600 Gems for a Jade Bot Skin

[Elricht Kaltwind.8796]

I don't care about the price, but can someone please reassure me that I won't have to look at this horrendous thing in the game just because other players are using it? This is just too much.

[AgentMoore.9453]

1 hour ago, crepuscular.9047 said:

How is it predatory when Anet does not implement mechanics to deliberately hinder your progress?

Well, according to Google:
> Predatory monetization schemes in video games are purchasing systems that disguise or withhold the long-term cost of the activity until players are already financially and psychologically committed.

(The definition is also often expanded to include high prices that use FOMO as a means to tempt people who would normally say hell no; that's the psychological part)

In other words, they're marketing tricks meant to separate people from their money via deception, mind games, or obfuscation of cost. Y'know, like not telling people they'll have to buy living world after they purchase the game's complete collection and offering no way to purchase it all in one go. This skin isn't the first example of predatory monetization in GuildWars2, it's just the latest. I wish it would be the last, but I doubt that too.

Now, people have the ability to self-educate before buying things, of course, but that doesn't change what it is.

[kharmin.7683]

Comparing LW chapters cost to that of a jade bot skin to make an argument that the jade bot skin pricing is predatory is stretching things. 

[Justine.6351]

4 hours ago, Mungrul.9358 said:

I was going to say that if that was the case, they'd be better off pricing it at 200 gems, as then I reckon almost everyone would have bought it.

But at that price point, 200 gems is currently ~60g, which is well within reach of a LOT of the population. So I'm not sure they actually would make more selling it for that much.

Taking that in to account, I think 400 gems is probably the right price point, making it a little too uncomfortable to convert gold for.

 

But 1,600 gems?

I think they're actually going to minimise sales at that point, as then you're pricing it for only the most enthusiastic players or TP barons.

 

Edit: BTW, while I don't agree with the pricing for this skin, I can appreciate your reasons for buying it Julischka Bean.7491 , so have a thanks 🙂

Another problem with making them super cheap is that people may already have a low amount of gems. If they wanted more gem purchases now then they need to absorb what's already out there. But without knowing anet's current finances who can say.

[Moradorin.6217]

21 hours ago, Lottie.5370 said:

Holy kitten. I almost did not believe this one when someone mentioned it in the guild discord.

 

This price is just excessive and outrageous, especially considering just how little we see the jade bot - it's not like there is a toggle to show it all the time. Despite all of this - I probably would have bought it if it was 400-800 gems (I honestly thought it would have been in-line with mail carriers).

 

Curious what others' thoughts on this are?

Do we ever see our bots? Sorry I just dont spend much time in EoD and honestly found it strange cause I never see my bot or care about it exsisting.

[Justine.6351]

Just now, Moradorin.6217 said:

Do we ever see our bots? Sorry I just dont spend much time in EoD and honestly found it strange cause I never see my bot or care about it exsisting.

was already answered.

[Asum.4960]

When the preview image came out I was joking about how it probably was going to be way overpriced at 8 €/$ (600 Gems) for how little we see these things. 

 

20 €/$ is actually hilarious though. I think I rather save that money to buy the next expansion or a whole indie game/AAA game on sale. 

Microtransactions are just a bad joke at this point, but the sad part is to know that there are plenty fools to bite and perpetuate it.

[Moradorin.6217]

9 minutes ago, Justine.6351 said:

was already answered.

His Topic question is, "Curious what others' thoughts on this are?".

Its literally not answered until each person who has thoughts on it has posted. Which I just did my part toward. Did you not like my view?

Edited July 20, 2022 by Moradorin.6217

[Justine.6351]

2 minutes ago, Moradorin.6217 said:

His Topic question is, "Curious what others' thoughts on this are?".

Its literally not answered until each person who has thoughts on it has posted. Which I just did my part toward. Did you not like my view?

someone already answered how often we see them.

[Lottie.5370]

1 minute ago, Moradorin.6217 said:

His Topic question is, "Curious what others' thoughts on this are?".

Its literally not answered until each person who has thoughts on it has posted. Which I just did my part toward. Did you not like my view?

 

Perhaps they meant "how often do we see it?" was answered, though I read it as more rhetorical.

 

Basically it's a few seconds at most, and the skin doesn't even apply in every scenario (i.e. collecting Canach Coins).

[Moradorin.6217]

4 minutes ago, Asum.4960 said:

When the preview image came out I was joking about how it probably was going to be way overpriced at 8 €/$ (600 Gems) for how little we see these things. 

 

20 €/$ is actually hilarious though. I think I rather save that money to buy the next expansion or a whole indie game/AAA game on sale. 

Microtransactions are just a bad joke at this point, but the sad part is to know that there are plenty fools to bite and perpetuate it.

TBH it seems like a poor price point. That said, a large amount of players spend 1600 gems and it becomes a good seller than an its arguably the right price cause players are willing to pay it. I would guess not many people will buy a bunch of bot skins at that price.

[Moradorin.6217]

Just now, Lottie.5370 said:

 

Perhaps they meant "how often do we see it?" was answered, though I read it as more rhetorical.

 

Basically it's a few seconds at most, and the skin doesn't even apply in every scenario (i.e. collecting Canach Coins).

Ahh gotcha, ty

[Zaxares.5419]

I agree. 1600 is kinda steep for something that's fairly limited in how often you see it. Mind you though, I'm not against the general idea of custom Jade Bot skins; that's a worthy goal.

[Moradorin.6217]

8 minutes ago, Zaxares.5419 said:

I agree. 1600 is kinda steep for something that's fairly limited in how often you see it. Mind you though, I'm not against the general idea of custom Jade Bot skins; that's a worthy goal.

Yea same I like the idea of custom skins in general and see no issue with it being a gemshop item. That said, at present I dont recall seeing my bot other than when I did the EoD story and tried the meta (still need to RNG a win some day) so I just dont personally value it at all. However, if I did see it allot I would consider buying a skin for it, I would just NOT be willing to spend 1600 gems for it. Maybe 400-800 but 1600 is too high for me on that little thing.

Edited July 20, 2022 by Moradorin.6217

[AliamRationem.5172]

47 minutes ago, AgentMoore.9453 said:

Well, according to Google:
> Predatory monetization schemes in video games are purchasing systems that disguise or withhold the long-term cost of the activity until players are already financially and psychologically committed.

(The definition is also often expanded to include high prices that use FOMO as a means to tempt people who would normally say hell no; that's the psychological part)

In other words, they're marketing tricks meant to separate people from their money via deception, mind games, or obfuscation of cost. Y'know, like not telling people they'll have to buy living world after they purchase the game's complete collection and offering no way to purchase it all in one go. This skin isn't the first example of predatory monetization in GuildWars2, it's just the latest. I wish it would be the last, but I doubt that too.

Now, people have the ability to self-educate before buying things, of course, but that doesn't change what it is.

I'm not seeing the "deception, mind games, or obfuscation of cost" in this one.  Unless you mean the limited time window for purchase that applies to all cash shop cosmetics in this game?  Seems a little weak to me, honestly.

The only problem I see here is that the price of this item is ridiculously high for such a low-exposure skin.  I might spend 1600-2000 gems on a mount skin I really like, but something like this that just blinks in momentarily when I interact with jade tech?  It seems crazy to me.  It's subjective, though, and I suppose they're welcome to price these things however they like.  In my opinion, they'd get a lot more interest if the price were closer to something like a mail carrier, which has similarly low exposure.

[AgentMoore.9453]

33 minutes ago, kharmin.7683 said:

Comparing LW chapters cost to that of a jade bot skin

That's not what's being compared, Kharmin.

The way LW is marketed (or rather, not marketed at time of purchase) and the high pricing of this Jade Bot skin (combined with the FOMO nature of the gem shop) are two separate examples of predatory tactics. Someone asked how predatory monetization could apply to something that doesn't directly hinder gameplay, and a short-form explanation of predatory monetization/marketing with examples was the answer I gave. I hope that clears things up.

Just now, AliamRationem.5172 said:

Unless you mean the limited time window for purchase that applies to all cash shop cosmetics in this game?

Yes, this is what I mean. Popping the price up arbitrarily while knowing that the gem shop has an irregular and unpredictable schedule is why the cat is particularly bad. It's not great for anything in the shop, but it's especially not great when it's applied to what is essentially a mail carrier yet is inexplicably four times the price. People had similar opinions when ArenaNet started selling armor pieces again, but raised their prices significantly as well.

Again, I was explaining what predatory monetization is and giving examples of where it can be found in GW2. It's a common practice in this and other games, but we may as well call it what it is.

4 minutes ago, AliamRationem.5172 said:

In my opinion, they'd get a lot more interest if the price were closer to something like a mail carrier, which has similarly low exposure.

I agree. If this kind of consistency were applied in several areas of the shop, I'd probably spend a lot more money there. Jade Bot skins and carriers and finishers are like the candy you buy in the check-out line, and it's pretty wild to me that they've chosen to price them like high-end merch instead.

[ShroomOneUp.6913]

when are people gonna learn that skins are p2w in this industry? google "the haves and the have nots"

[Eekasqueak.7850]

Can't imagine very many people are buying it at this price. 

[pielord.7915]

I'd rather buy 20$ worth of junk food and turn it into massive shyte .

[Cernunnos.1365]

My honest opinion is that all artistic work must have a contribution and be able to help the development of the game, however this price is quite abusive, I think the skin is quite simple, it is not something that is used or can be seen much in the game ( like a mount), you can't even dye the skin and on top of that the animation itself is pretty simple too.

I think a fair price would be 700 gems and as long as they were skins that can be dyed.

[BlueTheRaptor.4576]

Gotta say, I'm... incredibly disappointed. 1600 gems was a big stretch of an acceptable price on it's own, but that being coupled with the knowledge that the skin is visible clientside only? That's just inane. 20 dollars/20 euros for a skin that shows up for a few seconds at a time, if that, and is visible only to the skin's user?

Those of us who purchased it- well, I can only speak for myself, and I will continue using it because I paid for it, but lets just say that 'insulted' is the mildest way to describe my state of being right now. And, most definitely, the state of being of many others.

[Trejgon.9367]

2 minutes ago, BlueTheRaptor.4576 said:

but that being coupled with the knowledge that the skin is visible clientside only?

wait, is it?

You mean that if someone has this skin equipped and let's say hops on a zipline they will see the skin and everyone else will see basic jadebot instead?

[Silvia.9130]

I agree, the price is outrageous and feels like a mockery for something that stays hidden for about 98% of the time. 

Seriously, how can it cost as much as 3 mount skins?! (The canthan 3 skin packs) More than two outfits?! 

The rare time jade bot even shows (when I use the res option or the glider skill) all I manage to catch is a bit of green light for how fast it disappears again. 

Sorry but even the fact they added skins without giving an option to always show the jade bot feels like a mockery, let alone the insane price.

 

Edited July 20, 2022 by Silvia.9130

[Kikokuma.9405]

It's almost as if EoD is just a giant cash grab... minimal gameplay effecting systems with extremely high impact in the skin shop. (Jade Bot, Boat, turtle skins...) 


Wait...... 


FK we've all been had. 

Edited July 20, 2022 by Kikokuma.9405

[Zebulous.2934]

hrmmm, if it had been a fairy cat mini with cute idle animations, and you had to do a little quest to unlock the jadebot skin.... it would still cost too much, but it would be better.