Originally posted by Chieftan

Originally posted by FrodoFragins
That's going to be a VERY biased sample group.  Hard to read much from it considering it's a Star Wars fansite.  There are also a lot of one time unlocks that will show up with early purchases.

2500 darthater visitors voted and 26% of them spent $100 to $200...

Conservative estimate from that sample group alone:  $70,000

 

 

I hate cash shops and think people who spend large amounts of cash in em are idiots, yet when ever I see a poll asking how much I spent in the cash shop I always pick the highest value available regardless of whether I even play the game. You can take $100 from your total, that was me.

Originally posted by meddyck

Originally posted by Rocketeer

2500 people is not a small sample group. Medical tests on life and death medicamentation(like cancer) is done on far smaller sample sizes.

2500 is indeed not a small sample... in a properly randomized public poll or scientific trial. This is anything but one of those. The respondents are self-selected from people who like the game enough to follow a fan site for it and who care enough to take the time to fill out the survey. This is made obvious by the fact that the vast majority of the respondents to the poll are subscribers. If the same poll was conducted here on MMORPG.com the results would be quite different.

To be fair, no polling on mmorpg.com would be indicative of any MMO reality...

Originally posted by ObiClownobi

Originally posted by Chieftan

Originally posted by FrodoFragins
That's going to be a VERY biased sample group.  Hard to read much from it considering it's a Star Wars fansite.  There are also a lot of one time unlocks that will show up with early purchases.

2500 darthater visitors voted and 26% of them spent $100 to $200...

Conservative estimate from that sample group alone:  $70,000

 

 

I hate cash shops and think people who spend large amounts of cash in em are idiots, yet when ever I see a poll asking how much I spent in the cash shop I always pick the highest value available regardless of whether I even play the game. You can take $100 from your total, that was me.

i agree wholeheartedly with this statement as well. People who have to spend money on pixels ina  video game to feel ahead of the rest need to go see a doctor seriously. Obviously though there are way more of them than people like me or we wouldnt see the success these shops see in all these annoying games. I know when i was playing SWTOR before i cancelled my account everyone was riding around on thrones and using purple/pink lightsaber crystals from the cartell packs so im sure EA is laughing its way to the bank. But if you think its so bad in SWTOR you are in for a serious issue as EA does this in all their games especially the ones on android like the sims. Hell you have to buy unlocks on the sims on tablets just to get them to sleep faster or eat faster as its super slow if you do not. IMO the shadiest company in the history of gaming. But as long as people have money to burn they will thrieve , i just feel very sorry for their families if they are spending thousands of dollars in cash shops instead of spending it on their wives or kids seriously.

Originally posted by Loktofeit

Originally posted by meddyck

Originally posted by Rocketeer

2500 people is not a small sample group. Medical tests on life and death medicamentation(like cancer) is done on far smaller sample sizes.

2500 is indeed not a small sample... in a properly randomized public poll or scientific trial. This is anything but one of those. The respondents are self-selected from people who like the game enough to follow a fan site for it and who care enough to take the time to fill out the survey. This is made obvious by the fact that the vast majority of the respondents to the poll are subscribers. If the same poll was conducted here on MMORPG.com the results would be quite different.

But doesn't that make it much more relevant? It's a poll of people who play and subscribe to the game. A poll here would definitely skew in the other direction, but it would be useless data. It is irrelevant whether some guy who doesn't play, wouldn't play or actively hates on the game would use the item mall or not.

Quite naive if you think they are answering honestly and not out to prove something.

it looks like the CC is bugged too

some of those, who actually WANT to spend money cant get anything

and IF they were making such a big pile of cash,,,why did they still choose to charge for makeb?

this will continue as long as the the fans will throw money at them,,now lets see how much of that money

gets reinvested in the game

Originally posted by simplius

it looks like the CC is bugged too

some of those, who actually WANT to spend money cant get anything

and IF they were making such a big pile of cash,,,why did they still choose to charge for makeb?

this will continue as long as the the fans will throw money at them,,now lets see how much of that money

gets reinvested in the game

None will get reinvested, they have huuuuuuuuuge debt to service and interests arent going down.

Makeb was just a hint at how things stand at EA.

Originally posted by mikahr

None will get reinvested, they have huuuuuuuuuge debt to service and interests arent going down.

Truly, we are fortunate to be graced by so many with insider knowledge of EA's financials and business plans.

Care to share some specifics, please -- say the size of this 'huuuuuuuuuge debt' and to whom it's owed? You know, the kind of information that's meaningful, verifiable, something beyond the vague claims mindless forum trolls routinely pull out of their arse?

Originally posted by Myria

Originally posted by mikahr

None will get reinvested, they have huuuuuuuuuge debt to service and interests arent going down.

Truly, we are fortunate to be graced by so many with insider knowledge of EA's financials and business plans.

Care to share some specifics, please -- say the size of this 'huuuuuuuuuge debt' and to whom it's owed? You know, the kind of information that's meaningful, verifiable, something beyond the vague claims mindless forum trolls routinely pull out of their arse?

http://ycharts.com/companies/EA/debt_equity_ratio

http://ycharts.com/companies/EA/long_term_debt

Originally posted by ObiClownobi

Originally posted by Myria

Originally posted by mikahr

None will get reinvested, they have huuuuuuuuuge debt to service and interests arent going down.

Truly, we are fortunate to be graced by so many with insider knowledge of EA's financials and business plans.

Care to share some specifics, please -- say the size of this 'huuuuuuuuuge debt' and to whom it's owed? You know, the kind of information that's meaningful, verifiable, something beyond the vague claims mindless forum trolls routinely pull out of their arse?

http://ycharts.com/companies/EA/debt_equity_ratio

 

http://ycharts.com/companies/EA/long_term_debt

Well that proves everything.  I'm sure a company that generates revenue in the billions has you on speed dial for financial advice.

yes and i wouldn't call the people that visit and post on these forums a "sample group" of those who play MMO's either.

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Originally posted by cronius77

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Originally posted by ObiClownobi

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Originally posted by Chieftan

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Originally posted by FrodoFragins That's going to be a VERY biased sample group.  Hard to read much from it considering it's a Star Wars fansite.  There are also a lot of one time unlocks that will show up with early purchases.

---

2500 darthater visitors voted and 26% of them spent $100 to $200... Conservative estimate from that sample group alone:  $70,000    

---

I hate cash shops and think people who spend large amounts of cash in em are idiots, yet when ever I see a poll asking how much I spent in the cash shop I always pick the highest value available regardless of whether I even play the game. You can take $100 from your total, that was me.

---

i agree wholeheartedly with this statement as well. People who have to spend money on pixels ina  video game to feel ahead of the rest need to go see a doctor seriously. Obviously though there are way more of them than people like me or we wouldnt see the success these shops see in all these annoying games. I know when i was playing SWTOR before i cancelled my account everyone was riding around on thrones and using purple/pink lightsaber crystals from the cartell packs so im sure EA is laughing its way to the bank. But if you think its so bad in SWTOR you are in for a serious issue as EA does this in all their games especially the ones on android like the sims. Hell you have to buy unlocks on the sims on tablets just to get them to sleep faster or eat faster as its super slow if you do not. IMO the shadiest company in the history of gaming. But as long as people have money to burn they will thrieve , i just feel very sorry for their families if they are spending thousands of dollars in cash shops instead of spending it on their wives or kids seriously.

---

yes spending that much money is pretty excessive but i could make that same argument about people who spend 1000's on any form of entertainment.

people can spend more than that on one afternoon of NFL football, are they also neglecting their families?

i think most people probably don't spend anywhere near that much. i have spent maybe $100 total on CC and i don't think its that big of a deal at all.

people play the games they like and spend money on the entertainment that they like, there is no need to see a doctor lol

Originally posted by cronius77

 

i agree wholeheartedly with this statement as well. People who have to spend money on pixels ina  video game to feel ahead of the rest need to go see a doctor seriously. Obviously though there are way more of them than people like me or we wouldnt see the success these shops see in all these annoying games. I know when i was playing SWTOR before i cancelled my account everyone was riding around on thrones and using purple/pink lightsaber crystals from the cartell packs so im sure EA is laughing its way to the bank. But if you think its so bad in SWTOR you are in for a serious issue as EA does this in all their games especially the ones on android like the sims. Hell you have to buy unlocks on the sims on tablets just to get them to sleep faster or eat faster as its super slow if you do not. IMO the shadiest company in the history of gaming. But as long as people have money to burn they will thrieve , i just feel very sorry for their families if they are spending thousands of dollars in cash shops instead of spending it on their wives or kids seriously.

If you have to think twice before dropping $$$ for a video game, you have bigger issues to deal with (like not having money) than feeling sorry for anyone.

Originally posted by Rocketeer
I don't see whats the big deal with spending a couple hundred bucks on a video game, i do however see the deal with getting very bad value for your money. For me the problem is that these cash shops are usually very bad value, you can spend 200 bucks and still have a crippled game, albeit with fancy clothes, buffs, pets and mounts galore.

The value has yet to be seen. There hasn't been enough time for development since the team changes and the influx of money from teh cartel market. Keeping to their 6 week content schedule and the quality of the expansion will show us if there is indeed an impact. I hope there is but if their isn't the proof will be shown soon enough.

This game requires both end game and lateral content expansion and soon but I also would like to remind everyone that a game out their called Wow raked in far far FAR more cash than Swtor has and over the years put out laughable amounts of content compared to the revenue flow. Where did all that money go? Where did the tens of millions a month (hell maybe even weeks) go in Wow? Why did players have to wait 2 years for expansions, up to a year for major class issues to be addressed and long months between minor content patches? Wow has been out for years and only now Blizzard finally makes promises to push out regular and frequent patches. Hell they don't even pump out that many other games either.

If Bioware keeps to their 6 week schedule and an expansion yearly with even questionable content size it would still double the output Blizzard put in the first few years of their game (all the while ignoring vanilla Wow cotent until a total remake wiped it all out).

Rift may be seen as the content king with even smaller income but only creates greater contrast between Swtor and Wow if there is any proof in the pudding at all between now and March. I'll be highly critical of Bioware if I don't like the quality and size of content but the greater question in my mind is:

Where the f$ck did all the money go from Wow over the years? Why the f$ck don't players question it as much? Why the f$ck did the company who had the greatest golden egg in gaming have to sell out to Activision, have constant delays putting out more or less copy and paste games they previously put out and still not keep up with content other mmo developers can do with a fraction of the budget? 

Bioware spent their money poorly but Blizzard? Where the hell did that money even go?

Originally posted by jpnz

If you have to think twice before dropping $$$ for a video game, you have bigger issues to deal with (like not having money) than feeling sorry for anyone.

Nice philosophy. Do you also enjoy paying ATM fees? Do you feel like a bigger man by overpaying for things in general?

Do you like to call people entitled? Generation Me?

It's amusing that a game which has gone freemium because it can't justify a subscription also expects its hardcore playerbase to pay extra money each month. (or day for that matter.)

If everyone paid a sub, they would be even (for the most part)

In a cash shop people see spending money as 'getting an advantage' over those who don't..

Kinda silly to say but some people would only spend money on cash shop games where they hope it would give them an advantage.

Paying for power a lucrative seduction? Who woulda thunk it!

No matter how many people say they hope it isn't, truthfully I think that the larger part secretly or even desperately hope that it IS pay2win..

Originally posted by Tamanous

Originally posted by Rocketeer
I don't see whats the big deal with spending a couple hundred bucks on a video game, i do however see the deal with getting very bad value for your money. For me the problem is that these cash shops are usually very bad value, you can spend 200 bucks and still have a crippled game, albeit with fancy clothes, buffs, pets and mounts galore.

The value has yet to be seen. There hasn't been enough time for development since the team changes and the influx of money from teh cartel market. Keeping to their 6 week content schedule and the quality of the expansion will show us if there is indeed an impact. I hope there is but if their isn't the proof will be shown soon enough.

 

This game requires both end game and lateral content expansion and soon but I also would like to remind everyone that a game out their called Wow raked in far far FAR more cash than Swtor has and over the years put out laughable amounts of content compared to the revenue flow. Where did all that money go? Where did the tens of millions a month (hell maybe even weeks) go in Wow? Why did players have to wait 2 years for expansions, up to a year for major class issues to be addressed and long months between minor content patches? Wow has been out for years and only now Blizzard finally makes promises to push out regular and frequent patches. Hell they don't even pump out that many other games either.

 

If Bioware keeps to their 6 week schedule and an expansion yearly with even questionable content size it would still double the output Blizzard put in the first few years of their game (all the while ignoring vanilla Wow cotent until a total remake wiped it all out).

 

Rift may be seen as the content king with even smaller income but only creates greater contrast between Swtor and Wow if there is any proof in the pudding at all between now and March. I'll be highly critical of Bioware if I don't like the quality and size of content but the greater question in my mind is:

 

Where the f$ck did all the money go from Wow over the years? Why the f$ck don't players question it as much? Why the f$ck did the company who had the greatest golden egg in gaming have to sell out to Activision, have constant delays putting out more or less copy and paste games they previously put out and still not keep up with content other mmo developers can do with a fraction of the budget? 

 

Bioware spent their money poorly but Blizzard? Where the hell did that money even go?

Hmm yeah i see your point. Then again thats how business works in capitalism. We have a local supermarket/convenience store brand here which grew being known as having the cheapest goods for daily life. Milk, bread, chips, meat, etc. And yet their owners are billionaires many times over. How did that work out?

EQ 1&2 also had very good content additions over the years i believe, yet never got due respect for it(and neither does rift imho). Personally i think that for all the bazillion MMOs we have there are not enough big titles to foster real competition. And its competition that drives advances, not money(well money helps but you get what i mean).

Wasn't it the threat of Warhammer online that made blizzard include quite a few features from it? Like archivements, guild levels, leveling through pvp? Thats whats missing these days. The frantic "OMG did you look at the beta previews from upcoming xyz? We have to include abc aswell, dman can't imagine we didn't think about it" going on in dev houses. These days everyone seems to be complacent with his own piece of the pie. LotRO, TSW, SWToR, Tera, Aion, GW2, planetside 2 they all brought cool new ideas to the table, maybe the rest of it was crap for one, but they had some gems and nowadays nobody seems to care copying the good stuff.

Screw innovation. You didn't see people going around after the wheel was invented saying "oh we have to find some better way to do it, maybe a triangle would be good instead". Lets face it, there are old MMOs out there that have survived their successors because they have been better. DaoC vs Warhammer is just one example.

Is it really so hard to recognize whats fun and what is not? Like does it take rocket scientists to figure out that if you want FFA open pvp in your game you should pick a gameengine that can handle more than 20 players in a zone? Is it that hard to make a roundtable early on in developement where everyone brainstormes ideas for what players should be able to do once they reach max level?

Originally posted by Chieftan

http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/29/swtor-fan-site-posts-cartel-market-poll-results/#comments

 

So....if one person spends $100 in the Cartel Market that's the equivalent of 6 people subbing for one month.

And because I was reminded here SO MANY times that even a small sample is an accurate indicator of what the playerbase as a whole is doing, that must mean EA's making money hand over fist right now.

It is a Fansite...........which means is a place where SWTOR fans gather to share the love for SWTOR

These are Bioware customers.............it doesn't surprise me that a fanbase support their favorite game by spending money on it.

C'mon that is just BS

It's like asking how many people in an Apple Fansite own an Iphone 5............look I can even guess the numbers without making a Poll

Get real

Originally posted by Tamanous

The value has yet to be seen. There hasn't been enough time for development since the team changes and the influx of money from teh cartel market. Keeping to their 6 week content schedule and the quality of the expansion will show us if there is indeed an impact. I hope there is but if their isn't the proof will be shown soon enough.

 

This game requires both end game and lateral content expansion and soon but I also would like to remind everyone that a game out their called Wow raked in far far FAR more cash than Swtor has and over the years put out laughable amounts of content compared to the revenue flow. Where did all that money go? Where did the tens of millions a month (hell maybe even weeks) go in Wow? Why did players have to wait 2 years for expansions, up to a year for major class issues to be addressed and long months between minor content patches? Wow has been out for years and only now Blizzard finally makes promises to push out regular and frequent patches. Hell they don't even pump out that many other games either.

 

If Bioware keeps to their 6 week schedule and an expansion yearly with even questionable content size it would still double the output Blizzard put in the first few years of their game (all the while ignoring vanilla Wow cotent until a total remake wiped it all out).

 

Rift may be seen as the content king with even smaller income but only creates greater contrast between Swtor and Wow if there is any proof in the pudding at all between now and March. I'll be highly critical of Bioware if I don't like the quality and size of content but the greater question in my mind is:

 

Where the f$ck did all the money go from Wow over the years? Why the f$ck don't players question it as much? Why the f$ck did the company who had the greatest golden egg in gaming have to sell out to Activision, have constant delays putting out more or less copy and paste games they previously put out and still not keep up with content other mmo developers can do with a fraction of the budget? 

 

Bioware spent their money poorly but Blizzard? Where the hell did that money even go?

There isnt any 6 weeks schedule, its now 6-8 weeks with next one being 9 weeks :)

And SWTOR has one....minor...inconvenience - huge debt to pay off and company that has stock price down the drain.

If i cared that much i would dig up some of my old posts that deal with what you mention, but it seems that noone really wants to deal with real issues.

Originally posted by Rocketeer

Is it really so hard to recognize whats fun and what is not? Like does it take rocket scientists to figure out that if you want FFA open pvp in your game you should pick a gameengine that can handle more than 20 players in a zone? Is it that hard to make a roundtable early on in developement where everyone brainstormes ideas for what players should be able to do once they reach max level?

They did brainstorm it and came up with - copy WoW. What is vague is was it brainstorming from devs in BW or corporates in EA/LA (i lean to EA/LA having most impact on "copy WoW" mentality, its typical for corporations way of thinking, no innovation just copy stuff).