Ya'll.. Snow is pricey

[tdb]

There's really so little impact a single individual can have on these numbers to reel them in so I buy them regardless. Sure, if there was a movement for change where the community would come together; I'd participate.

Ah, the good old "I'm too insignificant to matter so I won't do anything" argument. How many others do you think feel the same way? And if all of them instead thought "I'll do my part, no matter how insignificant" maybe something would come of it even without a coordinated effort?

My other cheap entertainment are books I can hold-- physical goods-- paints and art supplies .. these are digital goods and it is only a modern day anomaly that some of society measure digital worth on even grounds as physical property.

But does the entertainment value come from having the physical book, or from reading the words contained within? Would you not be equally entertained for reading the same words from a digital book on a Kindle? If you rent a movie, watch it, and then return it, does not having the movie anymore somehow invalidate the entertainment you got from watching it? It's the same with digital subscription-based games. You should put the value on being entertained by the game, not on owning it or any items within the game.

That being said, there can be some value in physically owning things. The user interface of a physical book can feel more comfortable than a digital reading device, so maybe a digital copy isn't worth as much. I prefer to buy movies on physical Blu-Ray discs, even though I then rip them and watch the movies from my computer. A subscription-based service such as Netflix would almost certainly be cheaper, but I have some misgivings about the quality and the continued availability of my favorite movies (titles being pulled has happened in the past). With a game as massive as FFXIV I don't expect to ever replay it from the start, so availability being tied to my continued monthly payments is fine. I've been a subscriber for 3.5 years and played the game for over 3000 hours. Overall it's cost me 0.20 money per hour, which is pretty good value even for a video game.

Anyways.. we're not changing any minds here; I can say that there is such a thing as a Buyer's Remorse solely due to the cost of what you get -- you can tell me my feelings are wrong. It's something we'll have to disagree on.

We're not telling you your feelings are wrong. We're trying to tell you to act on those feelings. If you continue to act as you have so far, you'll continue to have bad feelings.

[Lostar]

We're not telling you your feelings are wrong. We're trying to tell you to act on those feelings. If you continue to act as you have so far, you'll continue to have bad feelings.

This is going to sound absolutely immature but it's no less true-- No one acts on principle alone 100% of the time.. we give into our whims. My whim here is -- well, if I act on my principles; then no snow. I wanted the snow. I got it. I had buyer's remorse about it but that feeling will pass and I will still have my snow to decorate the house I'm proud to have gotten.

So I acted from the perception of; I don't like this now but I'll forget about that negative feeling eventually but that snow is forever. :P Is it wrong? I don't think there is any right or wrong here... just wish that the prices would fall in line with something that takes away that initial negativity. That is all. I .... don't understand the pushback.... I understand people wanting to tell me how to spend my money so that it doesn't conflict so with these principles I've expressed. Maybe this little clarification will make my simple request more clear,

[Lostar]

It doesn't even make sense as "required for RP". What RP event would you be holding at your house that requires it to be present? How would you explain how your house has it and all the surrounding houses don't? Please don't say you're going to pretend all the other houses have snow as well because you could just as easily pretend your house also has it.

It snows in The Mists.. and near about every housing district-- it is a weather effect they add at this time of year.. it makes less sense for every house to 'not' have snow on the ground. It would be nice if SE didn't break the immersion so much where you see snowfall and your lot is still as green as a midsummer day. When I RP at my 'leathershop' I do pretend it is snowing everywhere not that any other house in the surrounding areas matter too much to my immersion. The immediate area, however does. Is it required?.. I never said it was... I RP as an ice attuned and I mourn not having the shiva emote that came with the $200 statue... but I just as easily pretend such without emotes.. My character can snap their fingers without paying $7 ... and so on.. It's a thing I value.. maybe cause I'm a visual person .. maybe cause I like to make my lots pretty.. But I value them and $3.50 for a pile of snow isn't a terrible amount.. it's if you want 3 of them to have some coverage.... it's when your mind keeps going back to --"they must be making a killing.. if only 5% of the game population buys this snow.. they could definitely afford to lower the price to negate this terrible buyer's remorse"...

But back pushers are going to push back with their "but let me share my logic so as to tell you how to live your life/spend your money/what *I* don't value so it must not be such a big deal to *you*"

Lower the price to negate buyer's remorse.. Lower the price because it's a silly, nearly contrived amount.. lower the price so many more might consider enjoying the items as well..

[Frizze]

Considering there are only enough houses for about 40% of the player base, im going to assume the number looking to buy this on the mogstation is far less then 5%. But thats not the reason i decided to post. I cant tell you that you dont feel buyers remorse. What i can do is ask what you think the price would have to be to eliminate that feeling for you. Looking at the prices on the mogstation, most items in the same class as the snow(housing or single item wearable from past event) are either $3 or $5. And nothing i could find was less then $2(these were exclusively emotes from past events). So whats the price that you would feel good about?

[tdb]

This is going to sound absolutely immature but it's no less true-- No one acts on principle alone 100% of the time.. we give into our whims. My whim here is -- well, if I act on my principles; then no snow. I wanted the snow. I got it. I had buyer's remorse about it but that feeling will pass and I will still have my snow to decorate the house I'm proud to have gotten.

So I acted from the perception of; I don't like this now but I'll forget about that negative feeling eventually but that snow is forever. :P Is it wrong? I don't think there is any right or wrong here... just wish that the prices would fall in line with something that takes away that initial negativity. That is all. I .... don't understand the pushback.... I understand people wanting to tell me how to spend my money so that it doesn't conflict so with these principles I've expressed. Maybe this little clarification will make my simple request more clear,

The pushback is because you sound like you want SE to correct for your mistake. Acting on a whim every now and then is fine. This time the outcome turned out to be less than perfect. Now you need to either own up to your mistake and resolve on making better decisions in the future, or justify to yourself why it was still a net positive outcome and make peace with the fact that you're not infallible. It sounds like you're well on your way to the latter.

I've made my fair share of mistakes too, and some of them have cost me a decent amount of money. But each time I've picked myself up, cleaned up my mess and carried on with my life, wiser for the experience.

[Jojoya]

It snows in The Mists.. and near about every housing district-- it is a weather effect they add at this time of year.. it makes less sense for every house to 'not' have snow on the ground.

Guess you've never lived in an area where snow can melt as it falls and definitely melts once it hits the ground. Being used to that (snow here only lasts on the ground more than an hour maybe once every 10-15 years), I don't find it immersion breaking at all.

But I value them and $3.50 for a pile of snow isn't a terrible amount.. it's if you want 3 of them to have some coverage

So then you admit the price isn't actually bad. You feel it is worth it to enhance the rather specific way you want to experience the game. If you want 3, it makes sense you're going to have to pay 3 times as much. That's still only $10.50 and you'll have them to enjoy as long as you play the game in the future.

What other $10 (or less) purchases have you made lately that give you equivalent lasting value?

Lower the price to negate buyer's remorse.. Lower the price because it's a silly, nearly contrived amount.. lower the price so many more might consider enjoying the items as well..

Buyer's remorse comes from buying a product that turns out inferior to/other than what was expected, and it generally could have been avoided by doing proper research first instead of impulse buying. Are the snow piles themselves disappointing you in some way?

Every price in life is a silly, contrived amount because currency is just a convenience tool and has value that's only accepted through common agreement. People are always arguing that such and such item is not worth the price and it should cost less. Maybe we should just do away with currencies and go back to the days where we traded goods and services directly instead of pushing around digital bits of metal and scraps of paper (considering physical currency itself is slowing phasing out in favor of debit/credit cards and other digital forms of payment).

Lowering the price won't get that many more to buy in the long run because the lower price stops being a "special value" so consumers lose interest. A few major retailers tried that strategy in recent decades just to have to end up declaring bankruptcy because their overall sales ended up decreasing, not increasing. The retailer might get a sharp short term spike in sales but then end up losing out over the long term.

[ItMe]

This isn't relevant to the conversation at all, but...

Maybe we should just do away with currencies and go back to the days where we traded goods and services directly instead of pushing around digital bits of metal and scraps of paper (considering physical currency itself is slowing phasing out in favor of debit/credit cards and other digital forms of payment).

This gave me the hilarious mental image of your MMOs demanding you pay in cash.

Lowering the price won't get that many more to buy in the long run because the lower price stops being a "special value" so consumers lose interest. A few major retailers tried that strategy in recent decades just to have to end up declaring bankruptcy because their overall sales ended up decreasing, not increasing. The retailer might get a sharp short term spike in sales but then end up losing out over the long term.

That's interesting.
Where can I read up on this?

[tdb]

Lowering the price won't get that many more to buy in the long run because the lower price stops being a "special value" so consumers lose interest. A few major retailers tried that strategy in recent decades just to have to end up declaring bankruptcy because their overall sales ended up decreasing, not increasing. The retailer might get a sharp short term spike in sales but then end up losing out over the long term.

What kind of goods and how large a drop in price? Some luxury goods have positive price elasticity of demand, meaning that lowering the price will make the product less desirable. On the other hand, if it's a commonly available item but the price is too much lower than the competition, customers may suspect that something is up and the goods are counterfeit or otherwise inferior quality. Like if someone offered me an RTX 3080 for 400 money right now, I wouldn't buy it because no one in their right mind is selling them that cheap. It's gotta be either stolen or it's really a GTX 1650 with a replaced heatsink and hacked BIOS or something.

[Jojoya]

That's interesting.
Where can I read up on this?

JC Penney was of the retailers. Here's one article that mentions what happened.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmo...h=282c48c11bcf

There had been another article I had read at the time it originally happened that made mention of the other retailer who had also tried and failed with the strategy but it was long enough ago I can't remember what the name of the retailer was.

Consumer psychology is an interesting thing if you ever feel like reading up on it.

What kind of goods and how large a drop in price? Some luxury goods have positive price elasticity of demand, meaning that lowering the price will make the product less desirable. On the other hand, if it's a commonly available item but the price is too much lower than the competition, customers may suspect that something is up and the goods are counterfeit or otherwise inferior quality. Like if someone offered me an RTX 3080 for 400 money right now, I wouldn't buy it because no one in their right mind is selling them that cheap. It's gotta be either stolen or it's really a GTX 1650 with a replaced heatsink and hacked BIOS or something.

Yeah, but you're talking about the Ebay fly-by-night types looking to rip people off. That's not what I'm talking about.

[tdb]

JC Penney was of the retailers. Here's one article that mentions what happened.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmo...h=282c48c11bcf

There had been another article I had read at the time it originally happened that made mention of the other retailer who had also tried and failed with the strategy but it was long enough ago I can't remember what the name of the retailer was.

Consumer psychology is an interesting thing if you ever feel like reading up on it.

It looks like a big part of the mistake here was to forgo sales, coupons and other promotions and instead have constant low prices. Final prices weren't necessarily lower than during sales earlier, but losing the advertisement value of a limited-time sale is bad. When people see something is 50% off! Only until tomorrow! With lots of exclamation points and clipart! They're less likely to research prices elsewhere or apply common sense to whether they even need that product.

The situation with FFXIV is a little different because SE has a monopoly on FFXIV items, so there's no competitors to hog customers' attention. They do have something or other on sale fairly often (like the topical snow drifts are currently 30% off), but they don't advertise the cash shop much. The regular "new optional items" posts on Lodestone are visually very similar to other news items and don't grab attention. So rather than lowering price permanently, I think they could boost sales by increasing visibility of sales in particular. Then again a lot of players would raise a ruckus about how that's a "cash grab" so maybe it's best to keep it low key.