The Premium store and it's premium currency

[Leo]

It's a free to play game and it needs some sort of revenue to keep going, I understand that.
But it's incredibly annoying when they make "packs" of premium currency that are more than you need or just shy of what you need to buy a cosmetic item or cosmetic bundle.

The items themselves are perfectly fine, but the fact I have to over buy or buy double packs of currency instead of what I need to get an item, It's just bad practice. Makes me not want to support the game.

While I don't think this will change anytime soon. At least I can express my annoyance over this issue. Hopefully this is something not just I find to be not very consumer friendly and that it will reach the Singularity Six team.

[gasrat]

every game does this, and while it is a scummy tactic, at least it's only tied to cosmetics ig

[Fenrir]

Originally posted by gasrat:

every game does this, and while it is a scummy tactic, at least it's only tied to cosmetics ig

There's games that let you buy the amount the skin costs, but this games community is still small and they need the money to keep it running so I don't mind investing in the future of the game. It is a predatory tactic tho which sucks

[kyleblane]

“It’s only cosmetics” means nothing in Palia because there is no item they could create that would give you a mechanical advantage over another player.

In cozy games cosmetics have much more value than in normal games. Add multiplayer and you now have social advantages being sold.

It’d also be nice if S6 told Switch players the game is in beta before selling them their overpriced cosmetics. Super unethical.

[Fenrir]

Originally posted by Whiteless.exe:

But it's incredibly annoying when they make "packs" of premium currency that are more than you need or just shy of what you need to buy a cosmetic item or cosmetic bundle.

You've not actually played the game, have you? Anyone that even looks at the premium shop can point out that the packs of currency are equal to the price of different cosmetics.

The currency comes in packages of 425 / 850 / 1700 / 3400 / 5100 / 11050.

Outfits where one variant costs 425 can have all three purchased as a bundle for 850.
Outfits where one variant costs 850 can have all three purchased as a bundle for 1700.
Outfits where one variant costs 1700 can have all three purchased as a bundle for 3400.
Outfits where one variant costs 2550 can have all three purchased as a bundle for 5100.

Oddly the Alpha Anniversary Celebration Bundle and the Wedding Party Glider Bundle do not follow these, but those are the only two exceptions I can see.

There is no buying 'more than you need' or 'just shy of what you need'! These are EXACT values.

[Leo]

Originally posted by Fenrir:

Originally posted by Whiteless.exe:

But it's incredibly annoying when they make "packs" of premium currency that are more than you need or just shy of what you need to buy a cosmetic item or cosmetic bundle.

You've not actually played the game, have you? Anyone that even looks at the premium shop can point out that the packs of currency are equal to the price of different cosmetics.

The currency comes in packages of 425 / 850 / 1700 / 3400 / 5100 / 11050.

Outfits where one variant costs 425 can have all three purchased as a bundle for 850.
Outfits where one variant costs 850 can have all three purchased as a bundle for 1700.
Outfits where one variant costs 1700 can have all three purchased as a bundle for 3400.
Outfits where one variant costs 2550 can have all three purchased as a bundle for 5100.

Oddly the Alpha Anniversary Celebration Bundle and the Wedding Party Glider Bundle do not follow these, but those are the only two exceptions I can see.

There is no buying 'more than you need' or 'just shy of what you need'! These are EXACT values.

I have a fair amount of hours in this game before it's steam release, and around 14 hours on Steam. And yes, some of the bundles do match up with the amounts in the packs, unfortunately the one item I want, either the single item or it's respective pack that it's tied to are not in that group. I'd have to get more currency than I need. So yes, while there are bundles and items that fits with the currency packs, not all of them do and there is my gripe. Had it been like that across the board I wouldn't have written this post.

[Fenrir]

Originally posted by Whiteless.exe:

And yes, some of the bundles do match up with the amounts in the packs, unfortunately the one item I want, either the single item or it's respective pack that it's tied to are not in that group. I'd have to get more currency than I need. So yes, while there are bundles and items that fits with the currency packs, not all of them do and there is my gripe. Had it been like that across the board I wouldn't have written this post.

Except that you are incorrect.

There are 77 different cosmetic bundles available on the premium store at this very moment.

Of those 77 available bundles, only two bundles do not fit the 425 / 850 / 1700 / 2550 / 3400 / 5100 pricing, and those two bundles are the Alpha Anniversary Celebration Bundle priced at 2125 and the Wedding Party Glider bundle where each glider is 425 each but all three bundled together are 1061.

While the first can be purchased with a 425 and 1700 currency pack (totaling 2125), the Wedding Party Glider bundle is the only offender that can be argued to 'require you to pay more than what you need'.

Those that cost 2550, whether for an individual item or for a bundle of them, can be exactly priced by purchasing the 850 and 1700 currency packs.

I encourage anyone that doubts the veracity of the pricing to simply take a look for themselves. I'm all for bashing developers that push predatory pricing, and the game did indeed have a bit of that previously.. but the developers listened to the concerns of the community and have long changed their pricing back sometime around closed/open beta, long before the Steam release ever happened.

[Leo]

Originally posted by Fenrir:

Originally posted by Whiteless.exe:

And yes, some of the bundles do match up with the amounts in the packs, unfortunately the one item I want, either the single item or it's respective pack that it's tied to are not in that group. I'd have to get more currency than I need. So yes, while there are bundles and items that fits with the currency packs, not all of them do and there is my gripe. Had it been like that across the board I wouldn't have written this post.

Except that you are incorrect.

There are 77 different cosmetic bundles available on the premium store at this very moment.

Of those 77 available bundles, only two bundles do not fit the 425 / 850 / 1700 / 2550 / 3400 / 5100 pricing, and those two bundles are the Alpha Anniversary Celebration Bundle priced at 2125 and the Wedding Party Glider bundle where each glider is 425 each but all three bundled together are 1061.

While the first can be purchased with a 425 and 1700 currency pack (totaling 2125), the Wedding Party Glider bundle is the only offender that can be argued to 'require you to pay more than what you need'.

Those that cost 2550, whether for an individual item or for a bundle of them, can be exactly priced by purchasing the 850 and 1700 currency packs.

I encourage anyone that doubts the veracity of the pricing to simply take a look for themselves. I'm all for bashing developers that push predatory pricing, and the game did indeed have a bit of that previously.. but the developers listened to the concerns of the community and have long changed their pricing back sometime around closed/open beta, long before the Steam release ever happened.

I went over the math one more time and dividing the cost of the bundle instead. And yes, you can technically get the exact amount you need for a majority of the packs, you still have to buy a minimum of 2 packs, adding lots of busy work.

The Alpha Anniversary Celebration Bundle, at 50% off you can't get the exact amount, why wouldn't they make the price add up with it? Could of course be an oversight.

There's probably a reason for the devs to have a premium currency, but I'd rather not have to deal with a premium currency and just be able to buy the one cosmetic item I want in one transaction and be done.

[MadDawg2552]

This is my favorite part of the premium currency:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3236150883

[Maljen]

Originally posted by Hades:

Originally posted by gasrat:

every game does this, and while it is a scummy tactic, at least it's only tied to cosmetics ig

There's games that let you buy the amount the skin costs, but this games community is still small and they need the money to keep it running so I don't mind investing in the future of the game. It is a predatory tactic tho which sucks

They literally got $50 million from investors to make this game. S6 pissed that away and are now desperate for cash.

It is predatory, and why I'm done buying things until they can get real content out and patches that don't break half the dang game, every. single. patch.

And don't get me started on them nerfing the everloving crap out of stuff that is either a)profitable (and why they care when they've crafted the economy so one player's wealth doesn't impact another's I have no clue) and b)fun (see the original cake parties) or both. Like this is supposedly a social MMO, stop taking the fun, social aspects out of it!

[MadDawg2552]

Originally posted by PopPopPopCat:

Either stop saying we are getting bonuses or fix up the prices, that's scummy.

It's because you don't know how to do math.

$4.99 = 425 coins.

If you were to buy 20 packs at $4.99 each, you'd spend $99.80 on 8,500 coins. If you buy the $99.99 coin pack you get 11,050 coins instead. So you're getting an extra 2,550 coins FOR FREE, which is what the bonus is referring to.

So, yes, there is a bonus.

[Arkanne]

Whiteless.exe :

"There's probably a reason for the devs to have a premium currency, but I'd rather not have to deal with a premium currency and just be able to buy the one cosmetic item I want in one transaction and be done. "

YES ! Yes § Yes !

[Sir Reginald FondleBox IV]

Originally posted by Whiteless.exe:

The items themselves are perfectly fine, but the fact I have to over buy or buy double packs of currency instead of what I need to get an item,

hmm so far i only bought coins once, i spent £14 on one pack of coins that allowed me to buy the outfit i liked (I was happy with the free outfit i had, but wished to support the game), and enough for a glider skin too.

[Veegersplace]

If the game is free, I am happy to buy items that interest me from time to time. Rare pets, furniture, tools and outifits especially if it helps support a game I enjoy playing.

[MadDawg2552]

Originally posted by PopPopPopCat:

Maybe because you have bad reading comprehension. I'm saying it's not a math issue, I reiterated multiple times that if it's a "bonus" then why do the outfits cost that exact amount? if there're no coins leftover it's not a bonus.

I understand what you're saying, but you don't understand what a "bonus" is.

[Fenrir]

Originally posted by PopPopPopCat:

Can somebody tell me what ARE bonuses? How come I have to pay $15 for 1700 coins but the outfit of that tier is exactly 1700 coins and not 1405 (where you get 295 extra)?

After doing the math, this is my conclusion; the price you are paying for the base amount of coins is roughly $0.0117 per 1 pal coin, and the bonus from any other pack besides the 425 amount makes the value roughly $0.009 per 1 pal coin.

In short; if you buy anything more than the 425 pack, they give you a discount on the coins, and that discount is instead shown as a bonus amount of coins for the pack you are buying. This 'bonus' is permanent, I'd know, I've bought currency from them before. It doesn't go away when you buy that particular pack, it'll always be there.

In my eyes it is no different than what grocery stores do. Next time you swing by your local store, check the price tags on items of differing sizes (same brand, obviously) and you'll find that you pay less per oz for the larger items. You could argue this is predatory (i.e if you can sell it for that cheap, why not make all sizes use that same price?), but they can also argue that it is cutting you a deal (i.e. because logistics, risk, etc).

That being said, the pricing is still not predatory; you are getting exactly what you pay for, and the prices of the cosmetics line up perfectly. Joking about the 1 pal coin being leftover is hilarious by the way, I have no idea why some items are 849 instead of 850.