Topic

Pay for furniture upgrade style every time?

Hi 

I don't mind paying a gifted gaming company money for an entertaining service like Glitch, nor am I interested in creating controversy over the pricing of said product.  However I would like to have a discussion regarding upgrade costs on every piece of furniture, even if I have already purchased that style upgrade once.  Perhaps I don't see the big picture but my point is:

If I build a chair and purchase an upgrade for melted furniture style 25 credits.  That's real money! I don't think their is a way to get credits without money.  I would be unlikely to put this furniture up for auction because I would be throwing away money.  If I want 6 chairs of the same melted furniture style I have to pay 6 * 25 credits = 150 credits !?  That seems a bit like a money grab don't you think?  If I want to change the styles of all the chairs so they match that would be a 150 credits again? I understand business and you do have to charge for your services however this overcharge would prevent me from interacting with Ur and buying all the styles I like and owning that style outright.   

I would sure like to hear everyone's thoughts on this.  If I've got it wrong I apologize

Thanks ...

Webbie

Posted 6 months ago by Webbie Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • I enjoy being able to trade upgraded furniture for currants and other items. This would not be possible if one could apply the upgrades to all pieces of furniture. There are very few ways for TS to profit through their customer base and this is a way of doing so. 
    Posted 6 months ago by Addi Bee~♥ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Well, I don't have much to say, but I'd rather buy a ton of Credit/Subs so that when they launch Glitch they give you double double the credits you bought before beta.

    But, my opinion is that they're not forcing you to buy the upgrades or whatever. It doesn't really effect my gameplay, really. There's not much of a reason to make a house so fancy if you don't even have the basics first. 
    Posted 6 months ago by I Love You TS Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks Addi Bee

    To clarify  I'm OK with having to purchase melted furniture chair, melted furniture bed, melted furniture picture frame just not melted furniture chair 6 times.  

    Sorry I don't understand how this would prevent you from auctioning furniture.

    I suppose the concept I'm proposing is you are buying the melted chair style and even though you may auction that chair, the purchaser will not be able to make that style unless they purchase the style.
    Posted 6 months ago by Webbie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks Pot

    I see your point and understand were you are coming from.  It's just that I'm coming to a point where I've done everything and playing with the house and the styles will be a lot of the game for me.
    Posted 6 months ago by Webbie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think you have to look at it another way. If you have a dining room table, you have to buy six chair to go around it. You cannot pay one price and get six chairs. Yes, they are the same design but they are still separate pieces of furniture.
    Posted 6 months ago by Dinnaga Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I was a little disappointed by that too.
    Posted 6 months ago by Serra Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If you only have to buy it once, then everyone else could just asks you to make the same furniture without much money or spending credits since you can give those to them. And disabling the trades and auctions of furniture would be sad cause then people who can't afford subs/ currants can't get premium items.

    As for the positive part, an item that already have an upgrade, will remember having that upgrade even when you change it to something else. Although for myself, I prefer to just make the upgrade on new item ;P .
    Posted 6 months ago by rosedragon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks rosedragon...I just wanted to say that! YAY :) +1M
    Posted 6 months ago by Atlantis Subscriber! | Permalink
  • rosedragon, I prefer doing that also. One piece of furniture with multiple upgrades can only be place in one spot. Not nearly as useful as separate pieces of furniture used in different spots.
    Posted 6 months ago by MaryLiLamb Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm perfectly happy to pay for upgrades to each piece of furniture.  

    TS has promised that they won't charge credits for anything that impacts your game play.  Changing the slipcovers on a piece of furniture doesn't have any impact on how fast you can pet piggies, or how big your harvest is, or what amount of currants you get from a quoin.  

    If you buy a yellow tablecloth at the store, they don't throw in all the other yellow tablecloths for free.  If you want 4 yellow tablecloths, you buy 4 yellow tablecloths. 

    And they don't give you a free Danish Modern table when you purchase one in the French Provincial style.
    Posted 6 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I will continue to advocate that decorating and design IS game play for some players.  However, stoot and I have long ago agreed to disagree in previous posts about this point on game play...and so it is what it is...some players will have to pay credits for their version of game play if it includes design/decoration, while other players' style of play is for free here because it doesn't focus on design/decoration.  Though I think the ability to gift/trade/sell the furniture for currants is probably an acceptable compromise to this nuance of play style.

    Back to the OP.  Have to say that I agree with the points that have been made that since furniture can be gifted/traded/sold, it's probably unreasonable to have a buy one upgrade get all of them for free for that furniture item.  

    However, I do think that this kind of post points to a needed adjustment to the pricing of the upgrades (which I think stoot has previously said would likely be considered at some point). For the players who have hundreds of SDBs, the current pricing is prohibitive for buying upgrades for each at 10 credits a pop...so instead they are opting for the tolerable free versions, and TS is getting 0 money for those items.  Dropping the prices for certain items to encourage more buying vice the players relying on the free options probably isn't an unreasonable thing to consider.  Paying 25-40 credits to upgrade an item that you will likely only have 1-2 in your house (like a large sofa or a bed), probably is reasonable.  

    Some sort of consideration for sets of furniture might also be another way to look at it.  A dining room set consists of one table and two side chairs or stools. Maybe consider making the chairs/stools upgrades a bit cheaper than a table makes a bit of sense since you will need two of them to complete the set.  Even a .75 reduction for upgrading two chairs (vice a logical .5 reduction), would probably be an easier pill to swallow than having to pay the exact same price for table and chair upgrades.  Though a 1.25 increase in table pricing would have a similar affect, and require more credit purchases for TS.  

    The biggest challenge for TS is finding the right tipping point of pricing the upgrades cheap enough to encourage credit spending, and not so high that players just default to the free stuff.  I think with certain items (especially SDBs), folks are still just defaulting to the free stuff because total credit costs are still prohibitive.

    I'd also recommend that for sets of types of styles, the upgrades predominately cost about the same thing - and I think TS is doing a relatively decent job attempting to do this.  I get that you will probably make one or two of the items a bit pricier to encourage credit purchases; however, it's considerate to your player base that have a design flair to have x set of types of styles for free, y set of types of styles for a basic upgrade price range, and z set of types of styles for higher end/specialized upgrade price range...etc. I think overall right now, this is being done pretty well, and I hope this continues.
    Posted 6 months ago by b3achy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Maybe one thing that makes this confusing is that when you buy wallpaper or floor or ceiling styles you don't need to buy them again if you wish to use them in another room or on another floor.  This seems fair to me as you are not going to use these things many times and you can't sell them. 

    We can sell furniture or trade it or gift it so it also seems fair that we pay for each upgrade otherwise people may pay say 25 credits for an upgrade then maybe make 500 of the item and sell it at auction for a big profit.  That would seem unfair to me though it would allow more Free players the opportunity to have some fancy decor.

    I do miss the opportunity to test different decorations before purchasing.  Maybe at some point we can have a one-time testing of styles for a short period.  I have some ideas I'd like to try but I hesitate to pay real money only to discover that I did not like that style after all.  I suppose I could sell what I decide I don't want at auction but I cannot get my real money back.
    Posted 6 months ago by Brib Annie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I don't think this has been mentioned above (I didn't read every word), but one possibility would be to have two upgrade options for a given style. Option 1: the present system, you pay for each item you upgrade and can auction, sell, give them away. Option 2: you pay a somewhat higher price to buy and own a furniture style, you can then upgrade any furniture you own to this style for no additional cost, BUT all furniture upgraded in this fashion would be soul-bound. (I think that's the term TS uses for furniture that cannot be sold, traded or given away.)
    Posted 6 months ago by Hawkwell Subscriber! | Permalink
  • What about if there was just an overall discount for buying a complete set of items? Say, you want to decorate your house in all melted furniture... Buy the whole set at once and get 40% off the total price or something. The key is you have to buy every piece you want AT ONE TIME. That should prevent (most) people from buying extras to sell for currants, but also gives an opportunity for people to have as many matching pieces as they'd like. 

    It wouldn't be perfect, of course. You'd have to save up the credits to buy all at once. And it wouldn't totally prevent the credit-rich from purchasing extra to sell. But I think it's a good compromise between not punishing those that don't want to game the system, while preventing the largest part of those who would do so by making the cost less attractive. 
    Posted 6 months ago by Kiachan Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Hawkwell, that's a great idea!
    Posted 6 months ago by ~Arabesque~ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • As a sort of side note, I would like to also point out that I seem to recall TS saying that being a paid subscriber/buying credits won't give you a gameplay advantage. It is just a cosmetic issue with furniture & clothes. That's changed, if they want to admit it or not. They've now allowed for basically a way to pay for currants.

    Is there an item you REALLY want that can't be simply farmed fast? Having trouble saving up those currants for a doll? Have some extra credits to spare? Make furniture to sell! Get currants fast with no work. {Heck, I would do it if I had money to pay to play a game}

    to bring it back to the convo at hand however, I think TS may be trying to either limit that or simply cash in on it by having thee need to pay each time.
    Posted 6 months ago by Pixieyelsraek Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @hackwell I like that idea also, I would really take them up on that!
    Posted 6 months ago by Nytician Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Pixieyelsraek, to make furniture *does* take work. You need boards made from planks, snails made from metal rods that are fed to sloths, you need fiber from fox brushing. You need the skills to make all these things, and you must buy machines to make them all. Did I mention fuel cells? Jellisac, white gas, peat. There's a lot of gathering there, and  a lot of prep work before you have the advanced resources to actually start making furniture. Yes, you can make money selling furniture, but there's quite a bit of work involved in making the stuff in the first place.

    To the OP, I don't go to a store to buy a table and chairs and expect to only pay for one of the chairs.
    Posted 6 months ago by glassy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Great discussion.  Based on all the different view points I'm sure TS bounced around these ideas 100 times already.  It would be great if a staff member chimed in.  Maybe just say, "It is what it is" or "There is probably going to be some changes".
    Posted 6 months ago by Webbie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • In addition, once you've made it and upgraded it, it costs you 8% of your selling price just to put it on the auction.

    If no one wants your particular design withing 24 hours, then you've lost your 8% and it will cost you 8% per day to relist it until it is sold.  If you try to recoup those losses, your selling price goes up about 10% per day.  This is, of course, on a piece of furniture that people don't want to buy anyway.  

    It's not a route I'd choose to convert $ to currants.  
    Posted 6 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @glassy - to make furniture the time, work, and/or currants that go into finding materials & processing them is still minimal compared to the costs they go for in the auction house, and some are going to a LOT.

    @windborn I have also seen people looking to hire furniture makers - which means those people don't have to worry about losing money in the AH from people not buying.

    I'm not saying I agree or disagree {I've purchased furniture in the AH if i had a real problem with the whole thing I wouldn't support it}, I'm just saying there has indeed been a change in the "money doesn't equal advatage" issue.
    Posted 6 months ago by Pixieyelsraek Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The other interesting thing is currants hold no interest for me anymore as I would imagine a lot of other people.  If I simply sold everything I harvested rather than donating to the Gods well I would have millions and millions of currant.  I try to keep my float at 1 million currents and donate the rest.

    Now if there were some way to convert currents to credits.  Then we have a game!
    Posted 6 months ago by Webbie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1 to Hawkwell's idea
    Posted 6 months ago by BlackWolf Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I also agree that if I have already paid real money for an upgrade I should at least be able to keep that upgrade on that item if I change the looks and then want to go back.  After all I did pay for it just like clothes, I just don't want to always wear the same thing.  So I would like my furniture upgrades to go in a closet just like my clothes do.  If I buy a multiple (as in chairs etc.) there should either be a discount for buying more than one or be able to trade the items look in i.e. wardrobe recycling.  I did have thousands of credits and spent them on various items, I have no plans to purchase extra credits until a clearer vision of what will be offered since there is no end of what might be offered.
    Posted 6 months ago by xoxJulie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • xoxJulie, if you upgrade a piece of furniture, and then upgrade that same piece of furniture to something else, you can indeed go back to a previous upgrade for free.
    Posted 6 months ago by Fnibbit Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It is what it is!
    Posted 6 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I am fine with paying for the same upgrade on multiple pieces of furniture, because of the trade it enables and the revenue stream it generates for Tiny Speck (they do have to make money somehow, and this is a very clean way to do so that doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the game in any way like most companies would do). If you have to pay twice for the same piece of furniture though, say you upgrade it to one style, then try a different style, then decide you liked the first style better can you switch back to it without paying again? If you can this is fine, if you can't then I have a problem with that.
    Posted 6 months ago by Toksyuryel Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Toksyuryel: you can (see Fnibbit's comment above).
    Posted 6 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ah, missed that post. Good good, then all is well ☺
    Posted 6 months ago by Toksyuryel Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I was a bit disappointed as I'd been saving my remaining credits for something cool, and when I saw an opportunity to upgrade my doors, I did so. I was definitely surprised to find that it only upgraded one door.

    Not saying it's a bad/wrong business decision, just that I was disappointed. Perhaps it could be made a little more clear somehow.
    Posted 6 months ago by Credulous Ralph Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @stoot barfield

    Thanks for the straight forward answer.
    Posted 6 months ago by Webbie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks for the info :) I will go in and see what pieces I have upgraded and which ones I haven't.  That's why I really need a closet type thing like we have in wardrobe or else I will be spending hours looking for that one picture or thing I had upgraded more than several times.  Yikes that would be game hell for sure.
    Posted 6 months ago by xoxJulie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yes I agree I think once you buy it , it should be yours to use again and again.
    Posted 6 months ago by Happygirl Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It IS a money grab, and I don't mind it here, because I love the game and want to support them, and credits are the ONLY way they ask us for money (besides subscriptions, which are mostly credit machines IMO).  :3
    Posted 6 months ago by ♪♥~ Auren ~♥♪ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think Hawkwell's idea has merit.
    Posted 6 months ago by Pascale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Just chiming in to +1 Hawkwell's idea.
    Posted 6 months ago by PhoebeGee Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1 hawk
    Posted 6 months ago by Jessenya Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I posted this thread in the idea's section, which pretty much matches what Hawkwell suggested, but no-one else commented on it.
    Posted 6 months ago by Ffyre Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Also a +1 to Hawkwell's idea.
    Posted 6 months ago by Fleep Subscriber! | Permalink