Sell Super-Pack items a la carte but for more

Why would the devs want to swap one method of making money for a method that makes less?

What it comes down to is that superpacks make a ton of money. They will continue to make more money as long as new players show up and want what's in them, or old players want the pack-specific repeatable content like ATOs.

Personally, I don't like superpacks and I only buy them with tokens (which is a concession I very much appreciate). But I can't deny that they're a hellishly effective way to pull in the cash, and ultimately that benefits me, because more money = more profits for NCSoft = a brighter future for CoX.

Or if they're reasonable, they pick up those 30-50 packs, decide that it's not worth gambling for and give up, in which case Paragon doesn't see another red cent from them. That's what I ended up doing. I would still like to get the black wolf, but it isn't worth the investment.

At least if the wolf were an option in the store, I might yet drop some money on it, but as it stands I'm not throwing good money after bad trying to get the random drop.

Says the VIP who doesn't have to spend a dime on any Super Packs because he can get them for free with the Paragon Rewards he gets each month.

Let's say the sell the Black Wolf for $250. Would you buy it?

Could, but so long as they keep cycling in new costume sets in the tier 9 VIP level, probably won't.

They don't cycle thru them that fast. The Tier 9 costumes are available for at least 6 months before rotate off the reward table, and you only need three tokens to get a full set.

Probably not. But then again I didn't buy 50 packs looking for the wolf either. I bought however many I needed to get the Elemental order costume set, which were fairly reliable drops, and decided the wolf was a lost cause. I think the real question is: would the number of obsessives who throw a whack of money down on a gamble like that be outweighed by the number of people like me who would be willing to drop, say, $20-30 for a super pack "exclusive" up front?

Sure, it may be nicer to have 50 people shelling out $250 each on a pack purchasing rampage for the "must-haves", but if you can get 625 people dropping $20, you've got the same profit. Plus, if the pet were also available from the packs, then you'd probably get some interest from people who aren't willing to drop that much on a vanity pet but are willing to buy packs from their stipend or their PR tokens or the extra few hundred points that always seem to kick around every time you buy something in-game.

Mind you, I have no particular regard for artificial exclusivity, as implemented in MMOs. The only reason to restrict supply of an object that is infinitely replicable is to establish it as a "positional good," which is annoying and particularly out of character from a game that's gone out of its way to be so inclusive as to develop systems like exemplaring and sidekicking.

Yes, they most certainly do.

But more to the point, most people won't spend $20-30 for the wolf, but would spend $1 over and over and over again for the wolf because the way super packs work is that they stimulate your pleasure centers over and over. You always walk away with something from a super-pack. Getting a nice ATO or 100x merits or an Enhancement Catalyst makes it feel like your money wasn't wasted even if you didn't get what you want.

I know that's not a satisfying answer, but it's the truth. The super packs are almost perfectly designed to get people to buy them over and over. It's diabolical really. So no, I'm quite sure that the folks who are willing to spend money on Super Packs where 'everyone is a winner!' outnumber folks who are willing to spend an excessive amount of money on one digital item.

Unfortunately for your example the devs already have the hard numbers on the success of both the vanity pet sales and the super pack sales, and the company made half a million on super packs while the amount made on the vanity wolf sales was so insignificant it wasn't worth mentioning.

They have no reason to believe that the Black Wolf would make any more money than the regular wolf did if it was sold seperately.

hal million? wow that is a decent amount of bread.

Originally Posted by mauk2 Evil_Legacy became one of my favorite posters with two words. "Kick Rocks." I laffed so hard. Never change, E_L!

So, if I were the sort to want that wolf a probable course of action would be to do pretty much what I did to get the costume set- buy the discounted 25 pack and see what happens.

Oh, I didn't get it- dang!

Well, I'll just get another handful and see what....darn, didn't get it that time either.

Oh well.

*later*

Huh, I've got a few points left after buying that powerset...guess I'll grab a few stray packs and see if I get that wo....darn, missed it again..

*later*

Well, nothing to spend this reward token on, I'll pick up some packs and check on that wolf again.....shoot!


*later*

Ok, this time I'm serious!
*buys another 25 pack*



etc etc etc.


Which is another reason not to put it in the store- presumably there are players who want the wolf, haven't gotten it yet and are still picking up packs here and there hoping to get it.

Sounds like the basics of gambling. Keep them coming back and spending as long they think they have good chance of getting it.
From a buisness stad point, it's sound strategy.
From the other end, wish they would just sell the dang thing for a set price.

Originally Posted by mauk2 Evil_Legacy became one of my favorite posters with two words. "Kick Rocks." I laffed so hard. Never change, E_L!