Cash shop pricing is getting a bit much...

[polyphonica]

So can someone please explain to me why some of you seem to think that prices are going up?

I think it's because, when they first added the shop, it mostly/only contained returning event items, and they've kept those at a lower price point. Then, after people requested they also bring over the Chinese exclusive items, they started introducing new cash shop exclusive items at the higher pricing tier (while continuing to add seasonal rewards at lower price points). So because all the "new items" are more expensive, it creates a perception that prices have gone up.

It's also often the case that the new items are added to the cash shop during patch lulls (rather than coinciding with patches and seasonal events as the others often do), which draws even more attention to these new items and their prices. Obviously introducing these items at that time is a marketing strategy (since it doesn't get buried by other news), but I think it's also partly what's fueling this perception of an increased focus on the cash shop (since it's right during those lulls when people think "they could have added this to the game!").