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Regarding Crowns

AuthorMessage
Delver
Dec 30, 2012
291
Back in 2008 and 2009, the game was great. It was cheap and affordable, and I think we can all agree, fun.
The game is still fun, of course with many downsides as well as upsides, but there is one major point that is a huge downside of this game.
Crowns.
First, let me explain. The idea behind crowns is a genius marketing move. Premium content brings in more income, and so forth. It isn't necessarily the idea of crowns that is bad, but the amount.
Seeing a mount that is up for 15,000 crowns, the equivalent to about thirty dollars, is ridiculous. While it is an awesome looking mount, do you really think it is worth that much?
Of course, there are those who will buy it anyways, as we have seen.
But to think, that this mount is almost as much as a bundle, is astounding.
This game is becoming empowered by crowns, I would even go as far to say ruled.
There is no way of getting a free permanent mount in game.
Even player ideas, are beginning to be formed around crowns.
For Example, I once saw someone say they wanted a weather machine for their house. They said they wanted it really badly, so much that Kingsisle could charge crowns for it if they wished.
I think that once the community begins to think the only way of getting content they want is through crowns, it shows how much crowns have truly taken the game over. To where people think that Kingsisle will only listen if there is money involved. A sad point indeed.

This is no way is a hate post. More of a rant. I think mounts, on average, should cost 2,000 to 5,000 crowns, either that, or be available in gold. And I mean all mounts in gold.
Bundles should be about twenty to thirty dollars.
Crowns gear should not be allowed in PvP.

Finally, game features should be available to everyone.
Putting a "Build your own House" feature in a bundle is annoying for those of us who understand forty dollars on top of a monthly fee is a lot.
I will admit, I have bought two bundles before, but I now see how much they really cost, in which I have stopped using crowns altogether to prevent any major money loss.

Crowns are addicting. Only when you begin to think of crowns items in real money will you understand exactly how much they are. 15,000 crowns may not sound like much, but remember to calculate how much money you payed for those 15,000. It's more than you think.

Please Kingsisle, from a loyal player and fan, consider lowering your prices.
It is more fair to all of us. Especially when we are already paying you to play your game.

Hero
Aug 18, 2011
776
The game is better than ever. It isn't really free to play. It never has been if you want to get past the first ten levels. It's inexpensive though, and a great value for the hours of entertainment it provides. There is very little need to pay for anything beyond a membership or buying areas. Mounts, castles, and competitive gear is available for in game gold.

Spending crowns - real money - on a specific mount or castle, or gambling on packs (which is usually a bad bet) is a personal choice. Prices are usually based on what people are willing to pay. There are a few items I'd be willing to pay more for, while many others are not worth what they cost, but everyone needs to draw those lines individually.

Astrologist
Aug 20, 2011
1077
Inflation is definitely occurring with crowns prices. There is a sense that we should approach every new crowns item as a drastic improvement over everything that has come before, when really it might be pretty much "on par."

I would speculate that these high costs are in part to cover the costs associated with the larger KI operations, like funding the creation of new worlds. As I'm sure you have seen, every overall world design from Zafaria onward is absolutely exquisite, and I suspect that level of detail comes at a very high cost.

So this is a hard deal. I agree with you, customers are facing higher price tags than is necessary for small, optional things, while KI is paying a whole lot for giant things meant for everyone. How can we make this balanced for all?

Would you continue to play if each new world after Level 100 cost money to access? And how much would be fair?

Astrologist
Sep 19, 2013
1006
You can buy permanent mounts for gold. It's not KI's fault if you don't bother checking.
You can get the Enchanted Broom for free, and a couple of others near it for gold as well.

Defender
May 23, 2009
110
Ruthless Anthony on Jun 13, 2014 wrote:
Back in 2008 and 2009, the game was great. It was cheap and affordable, and I think we can all agree, fun.
The game is still fun, of course with many downsides as well as upsides, but there is one major point that is a huge downside of this game.
Crowns.
First, let me explain. The idea behind crowns is a genius marketing move. Premium content brings in more income, and so forth. It isn't necessarily the idea of crowns that is bad, but the amount.
Seeing a mount that is up for 15,000 crowns, the equivalent to about thirty dollars, is ridiculous. While it is an awesome looking mount, do you really think it is worth that much?
Of course, there are those who will buy it anyways, as we have seen.
But to think, that this mount is almost as much as a bundle, is astounding.
This game is becoming empowered by crowns, I would even go as far to say ruled.
There is no way of getting a free permanent mount in game.
Even player ideas, are beginning to be formed around crowns.
For Example, I once saw someone say they wanted a weather machine for their house. They said they wanted it really badly, so much that Kingsisle could charge crowns for it if they wished.
I think that once the community begins to think the only way of getting content they want is through crowns, it shows how much crowns have truly taken the game over. To where people think that Kingsisle will only listen if there is money involved. A sad point indeed.

This is no way is a hate post. More of a rant. I think mounts, on average, should cost 2,000 to 5,000 crowns, either that, or be available in gold. And I mean all mounts in gold.
Bundles should be about twenty to thirty dollars.
Crowns gear should not be allowed in PvP.

Finally, game features should be available to everyone.
Putting a "Build your own House" feature in a bundle is annoying for those of us who understand forty dollars on top of a monthly fee is a lot.
I will admit, I have bought two bundles before, but I now see how much they really cost, in which I have stopped using crowns altogether to prevent any major money loss.

Crowns are addicting. Only when you begin to think of crowns items in real money will you understand exactly how much they are. 15,000 crowns may not sound like much, but remember to calculate how much money you payed for those 15,000. It's more than you think.

Please Kingsisle, from a loyal player and fan, consider lowering your prices.
It is more fair to all of us. Especially when we are already paying you to play your game.
You are talking more about crowns in relation to the crown shop, rather than crowns itself. KI offers sales such as pack-a-palooza, gear-a-palooza, and so on.

So if there is a mount you like but don't want to pay that much, get it during mount-a-palooza.

I hope you didn't forget crowns can be used to purchase zones to progress the adventure and that they also work for Pirate 101.

Crowns gear are great for showing off your powerful wizard(s) in the commons (just make sure you turn off friend requests first.)

Grace Skullshade, Level 100 Exalted Necromancer
Mycin Skullshade, Level 97 Promethean Conjurer
Destiny Skullshade Level 90 Promethean Sorcerer
Jose Skullshade, Level 61 Legendary Diviner
Valerian Skullshade, Level 15 Journeyman Theurgist

Survivor
Apr 06, 2014
35
It's especially unfair for members, who already pay money to play the full game and are the main revenue for Kingsisle. It is very unfair that we have to pay MORE money just to get some gear. It should all be available for high amounts of gold.

Archon
Feb 07, 2011
3175
while i see nothing wrong with the idea behind crowns (ki is a business and needs to generate revenue to avoid going bust), i understand where the op is coming from.

most of my stuff was bought with in-game gold. i don't buy crowns unless there's something specific i want from the shop that isn't available for gold. i also use them for gear stitching, pet-related activities, and a few of my favourite zones.

as long as people are not able to buy extra training points or bypass entire worlds/levels for crowns, it doesn't bother me.

-von

Survivor
Mar 20, 2011
2
Ruthless Anthony on Jun 13, 2014 wrote:
Back in 2008 and 2009, the game was great. It was cheap and affordable, and I think we can all agree, fun.
The game is still fun, of course with many downsides as well as upsides, but there is one major point that is a huge downside of this game.
Crowns.
First, let me explain. The idea behind crowns is a genius marketing move. Premium content brings in more income, and so forth. It isn't necessarily the idea of crowns that is bad, but the amount.
Seeing a mount that is up for 15,000 crowns, the equivalent to about thirty dollars, is ridiculous. While it is an awesome looking mount, do you really think it is worth that much?
Of course, there are those who will buy it anyways, as we have seen.
But to think, that this mount is almost as much as a bundle, is astounding.
This game is becoming empowered by crowns, I would even go as far to say ruled.
There is no way of getting a free permanent mount in game.
Even player ideas, are beginning to be formed around crowns.
For Example, I once saw someone say they wanted a weather machine for their house. They said they wanted it really badly, so much that Kingsisle could charge crowns for it if they wished.
I think that once the community begins to think the only way of getting content they want is through crowns, it shows how much crowns have truly taken the game over. To where people think that Kingsisle will only listen if there is money involved. A sad point indeed.

This is no way is a hate post. More of a rant. I think mounts, on average, should cost 2,000 to 5,000 crowns, either that, or be available in gold. And I mean all mounts in gold.
Bundles should be about twenty to thirty dollars.
Crowns gear should not be allowed in PvP.

Finally, game features should be available to everyone.
Putting a "Build your own House" feature in a bundle is annoying for those of us who understand forty dollars on top of a monthly fee is a lot.
I will admit, I have bought two bundles before, but I now see how much they really cost, in which I have stopped using crowns altogether to prevent any major money loss.

Crowns are addicting. Only when you begin to think of crowns items in real money will you understand exactly how much they are. 15,000 crowns may not sound like much, but remember to calculate how much money you payed for those 15,000. It's more than you think.

Please Kingsisle, from a loyal player and fan, consider lowering your prices.
It is more fair to all of us. Especially when we are already paying you to play your game.
I agree. My old mega bundle comes with an unbuildable house, but has a different feature. That is just weird. Plus, not to be mean, but, some people aren't just creative. My Sultans Palace (came with Mega bundle) has a 24 hour genie that gives me gold, reagents, pet snacks, and treasure cards. Though they are around level 5 items, so I sell them to the bazaar. My level 43 wizard once got only 20 gold! I usually have 20000 gold. Plus, if you can exchange crowns for gold, why cant we exchange gold for arena tickets? (arena gear is practicly impossible to get). Just make the exchange to one thousand gold is fifty arena tickets or something