Disclaimer
I am going to say it likely isn’t my place to criticise the Devs and their pricing schemes. I’m aware of that and apologise in advance. Likely, nothing will be done. But I feel this really is an issue that is killing the game, more than the buggy mechanics (or maybe just as much). Without a solid income coming in, the Devs can’t afford to hire everyone, and is therefore firing developers. Meaning fixes and updates take longer, people leave because they take too long, things stay buggy so people don’t spend their money. It’s a vicious cycle. . .
Introduction
Enlisted premiums are far too overpriced. Anyone will tell you that. We have also mentioned how many more people would buy premiums if they were cheaper. However, Enlisted devs believe that more money comes from bigger money value, not more customers. Boy are they wrong. . .
By increasing prices, or having absurdly high prices, you actually drive away potential customers more. Which means that potential money is actually being spent elsewhere, not on your game. Even worse, this money, which $55.00 is no joke, can actually buy Hell Let Loose on sale (it usually goes on sale for $45.95 or something like that). A direct competitor.
Need I say more?
Explanation
Take for example, Snowrunner. One of their DLCs cost A$18.50:
- It includes a new map,
- a bunch of new vehicles.
- countless new mission types
- is really cool
Now look at the Silenced Thompson Pack:
- 5 Guerillas with no Engineer (basically the same as the tech tree variants for all that matters)
- a gimmicky silenced Thompson which is worse than the tech tree version
- a niche squad which I would rather not waste a squad slot on
- other than new weapon, no real gameplay changes
And the best part?
They expect you to pay A$55.00 for it. But don’t worry, it gets even better . . .
Vehicle squads cost even more at A$59.95. This is ludicrous. In no world should any of these DLCs cost more than even games. Case in point, Snowrunner, the whole game costs A$44.95. That is literally $10 cheaper than Enlisted DLCs. Which that $10.00 can buy me another DLC to go with Snowrunner.
So, for the love of God, Gaijin, please reduce full retail price to A$20.00. I will buy any premium offered for that price. But not $60, where I can buy a whole new game for that price.
Not sold? I can convince you one more time.
Comparison to other Gaijin products
War Thunder is just as reasonably priced, if not more so, than Enlisted. This shocked me immensely, but I will break down a couple DLCs for comparison. Basically, all of their Jet premiums are best value:
- with one jet
- a little bit of premium
- and 1,000 Golden Eagles.
For the low low price of only A$119.00 . . .
Now, who the f__k at Gaijin HQ thought this was a good idea? I may be overreacting, but I would rather burn the $119.00 and roast marshmallows over it instead of buying something essentially fake. If I added a couple of 0s behind it - more like $19,900,000 - I could buy the aircraft in real life.
Now we don’t all have $20 million floating around, but it would be a much better investment.
Of course that was exaggerating, but at the end of the day, we are throwing massive amounts of money at something that isn’t forever. One day Gaijin and it’s servers will shut down, and we will have nothing to show for the thousands of dollars spent.
Now onto another DLC. They have released bundles of essentially in game WWII tanks with just skins. Which is fair enough, due to how it works, they are in fact different / new vehicles (as I’m sure you’re all aware). So, in a typical DLC of this sort, we are looking at:
- 3 unique tanks
- premium for a fortnight(1)
- 1,000 Golden Eagles
(1)
For those who are unfamiliar about what a fortnight is, no, it isn’t the battle royale game. It’s a term used in the Commonwealth countries to denote 2 weeks. It’s technically 15 days of premium, but fortnight is easier to visualise.
Which admittedly, isn’t that bad. Even for the price tag of A$54.95.
So essentially, for (slightly) less than half the price of a premium jet, we are getting 3 x the vehicles, the same amount of premium time, and half the Golden Eagles (2,000). Yes, the vehicles in the pack are technically vehicles already in the game, but my point still stands.
If we break it down, it turns out to be A$18.30 for each tank, not excluding Premium Time and Golden Eagles. That I feel is a very good price for premiums in general. It’s in line with other mainstream games, such as Snowrunner, and even at full price, someone can buy 2 or 3 premiums with $59.95 and maybe a touch extra. It isn’t that hard.
Conclusion
Please devs, consider lowering the prices of DLCs. By taking the formula of the essentially skin packs in War Thunder, you can sell way more premiums than before. No squad should cost more than A$18.30 (there can be some variance, but that should be the base price). It would bring in many more purchasers, therefore more money.
It would likely be more money than previously spent too, because the lower prices will trick customers into thinking they can buy more. Either way, I’d be the first to say once premium prices are lowered, I will go and buy premiums (full price or not), for all 4 factions.
On a side note, bring back “discontinued” premiums, or even sell legacy squads at a discounted price, like A$7.50 or something like that. I’m sure they will prove popular and generate income never seen before.
I wonder what everyone else thinks. Mods? Devs? Players?
so they could bring them and sell them for $50-60
